Ezra

173 – Ezra

Ezra 7:1 – 10:44

Ezra was an expert in the laws of God. Therefore, it was decided he should go to the new Temple in Jerusalem and teach the people.

The king of Persia gave him letters authorizing him and his helpers to go to Jerusalem. The king sent along a large amount of gold and silver.

Ezra was also authorized to appoint judges who knew the laws of God. He was told the kingdom of Persia would punish anyone who disobeyed those laws.

Men volunteered to go with Ezra and move their families to Judah. They suddenly realized there were no Levites in the group. So Ezra sent out a plea, and several Levites volunteered to go.

Everyone knew going from Persia to Jerusalem was a dangerous trip. They had families, their possessions, and a large amount of gold and silver. Yet they didn’t have soldiers to protect them. Ezra didn’t ask the king for armed guards because he had said, “God is our protector. His strong hand is upon people who serve him.”

So the group prayed and fasted, asking God for his protection. They set out on their journey, and God protected them as they traveled. No one tried to ambush them along the way. They arrived safely in Jerusalem, and took all the gold and silver to the Temple.

Several leaders went to Ezra as he made preparations for his instructions about the laws of God. They said, “Many of our people have not separated themselves from the non-Jews that live in the area. They have married their women, and these wives have brought their pagan ways with them.

Ezra was shocked when he heard this. He ripped his clothes and went to the Temple and fell on his knees and spread out his hands to the Lord. He prayed “Oh God. We’re doing it again—just like our forefathers. You sent them into captivity because they took foreign wives and started worshiping idols.

“Now you’ve given us a brief moment, allowing us to come back here. And what did we do? We married foreign wives. Oh, God we’re not worthy of your blessing. You have the right to totally destroy this small group of people who live here.”

Ezra continued to cry, and pray, and confess sin. As he did, people came and sat and prayed with him. More and more came until there was a large crowd gathered around. They all cried and confessed their sins.

Finally the people said, “We know we’ve done wrong, but there’s still hope. We’ll make a promise before God. We’ll send away our foreign wives and their children. But you must help us if we’re to do this properly. Get up! Take action! Show us what to do and we’ll do it.”

So Ezra agreed to oversee this and make sure it was done properly. All the people sent their foreign wives away and turned from idols. They then totally committed themselves to the Lord.

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Esther Saves Her People

176 – Esther Saves Her People

Esther 5:9 – 10:3

Continued from the previous story

The king and Haman attended Queen Esther’s banquet. Afterwards the king said, “Now tell me your request so I can give it to you.”

“Oh king, if it’s true you want to grant my request, please bring Haman and come to another banquet tomorrow. I’ll tell you my request at that time.”

Haman was proud as he left the court that day. He had been invited to the queen’s banquet two days in a row! Suddenly his joy turned to anger as he noticed Mordecai once again not bowing before him. He was with friends that evening and told them how this Jew had ruined his joy.

They said, “Build a 75-foot gallows. Go to the king early in the morning and ask him to order Mordecai’s death. Hang him on the gallows right away so you can enjoy the queen’s banquet.” Haman sent for a servant and ordered the gallows to be built.

The king couldn’t sleep that night. So he had someone come to his bedroom and read official records. The servant read how Mordecai had saved the king’s life by revealing a plot to kill him. The king said, “How was this man rewarded?”

The servant looked back at the records, then said, “He wasn’t, my king.”

“Nothing was done to reward this man?! Go into the court and see if anyone is there.”

The servant found Haman waiting to see the king. The king said, “Bring him in.” Before Haman could talk, the king said, “What should I do for a man I want to honor in a special way?”

Haman immediately thought of himself. He said, “Oh, my king. You should honor this man by putting your royal robe and crown on him. Place him on your horse and have your most noble official lead him through the streets yelling, ‘This is what the king does for a man he wants to honor!’”

The king was pleased. “Excellent. Go and find Mordecai and do everything you’ve said. Be careful not to leave anything out.”

Haman stood there in shock, but he had to fulfill everything he had suggested to the king. He put the royal robe and crown on Mordecai, placed him on the royal horse, and led him through the city yelling, “This is what the king does for a man he wants to honor.”

When it was all over, Haman went home in humiliation, but his summons to the queen’s banquet was waiting for him. So he had to rush to get there.

After they had eaten, the king asked Esther, “Tell me what you want so I can give it to you.”

“Oh king, if it pleases you to grant my request, spare my life and the lives of my people. A man has plotted to have my entire race destroyed.”

The king was shocked, “Who is this man and where is he?”

Esther pointed at Haman. “Our enemy is this wicked man.”

Haman was terrified. He couldn’t even speak. The king looked at him and became angry. He got up and walked into the garden so he could think.

Haman ran over and fell down next to Esther to beg for his life. The king walked back into the room and saw Haman lying next to the queen. He said, “Are you going to rape the queen with me standing right here?”

As soon as he said this, servants rushed over and put a hood over Haman’s head. One of them turned to the king. “Haman has built a gallows to hang the man who saved your life.”

This angered the king even more. He pointed to Haman, “Hang him on it!”

Haman was immediately taken out and hanged on the gallows he had built. After this, the king replaced him with Mordecai.

So the Jewish people were saved from the disaster Haman had planned for them, and Mordecai became the highest-ranking official in the government.

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Valley of Dry Bones

165 – Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-28

Ezekiel was taken into captivity, along with many other Jews. He became a prophet of God.

One day the Lord took his spirit to a valley. He saw that it was filled with bones. They were so dry, they would turn to powder if you touched them.

The Lord said, “Son of man, can these bones become alive again?”

“Oh Lord, only you can give the answer to that.”

God said, “Stand among them and say, ‘Dry bones, hear what God says to you. Yes, the Lord is talking to you. He’s telling you he’s going to put breath back into you, and you’ll once again be alive. You’ll have flesh, and muscle, and skin … and life. Then, you’ll know he’s the Lord.’ ”

So Ezekiel stood and told this to the bones. Suddenly he heard the sound of rattling all across the valley. The bones had become solid, and were reconnecting themselves. Soon there were complete skeletons lying all over the ground.

As the prophet watched, tendons and muscles formed on the skeletons. And then skin stretched over the flesh. They were like dead bodies lying on the ground, all across the valley. But even with all of this, they didn’t have life.

The Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, preach to breath. Say, ‘Hear what God says to you. Yes, the Lord is talking to you. He’s telling you to ride on the four winds and come and enter into these dead bodies.’ ”

So Ezekiel said this to breath. Suddenly the wind blew and breath entered into all the dead bodies, and they became alive! They sat up … and then got up. It was then Ezekiel realized they were a vast army.

The Lord said, “Son of man, these bones represent all twelve tribes of Israel. Right now they’re saying, ‘We’re no longer a nation. There’s no hope for us. Our bones are dried up.’

“Preach to them! Say, ‘Hear what God says to you. Yes, the Lord is talking to you. He is telling you that he’s going to open your graves of exile and bring you back to the land of Israel. He’ll put his Spirit in you, and you’ll live again. Then you’ll know that he is the Lord.’ ”

The Lord spoke to Ezekiel again. “Son of man, find a small piece of wood. Carve the word ‘Judah’ on it. Find another piece of wood and carve the word ‘Israel’ on it.”

Ezekiel did this. Then the Lord said, “Hold them together as if they are one piece of wood. Carry them around until people ask you what it means.

“Tell them the Lord God is saying, ‘There’ll come a time when I’ll bring both nations together again. They’ll no longer be two nations, but one. I’ll give them their own land, the land I gave Jacob. They’ll have one king. David will rule over them. They’ll no longer corrupt themselves with idols. I’ll make them clean and they’ll be my people, and I’ll be their God.’ ”

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Jerusalem Under Siege

162 – Jerusalem Under Siege

2 Chronicles 36:10-16 2 Kings 24:18 – 25:2 Jeremiah 37:1-21

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah king of Judah. After he had been king for nine years, he rebelled against Babylon. He thought Egypt would help him. Jeremiah said, “If you do this, the king of Babylon will totally destroy Jerusalem.”

Zedekiah didn’t listen to the prophet, so Nebuchadnezzar brought his army and circled the city, not letting anyone in or out. Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to pray and ask God for help. Suddenly the Egyptian army came up from the south. With that, the Babylon army moved away from Jerusalem.

The Lord sent a message to Zedekiah. “Here’s what I am going to do. Pharaoh’s army will return to Egypt. Babylon will come back and burn this city to the ground. You can’t stop them. Even if your army went out and defeated them, leaving only a few wounded men alive, those few men would get up, come into the city, and burn it to the ground.”

Jeremiah decided to go outside the city walls and look at some property he owned. A guard saw him walking out of the city gate. He said, “You’re going to the Babylonian army.”

The prophet said, “No, I’d never do that.” But the guard didn’t believe him, and took him to the city officials. They were furious with him and had him beaten and put in a dungeon. He stayed there a long time.

Soon the Babylonians came back and once again encircled the city. Zedekiah secretly sent for Jeremiah, and brought him to the palace. The king said, “Do you have a message from the Lord?”

Jeremiah said, “Yes I do. He says, ‘You’ll be defeated by the Babylonians.’ ”

Then the prophet said to the king, “Don’t send me back to that dungeon. I’ll die if you do. What have I done? Everything I’ve said has come true. Where are the prophets who said Babylon wouldn’t return? I beg you. Don’t send me back.”

So King Zedekiah gave the command that Jeremiah wasn’t to go back to the dungeon. He was kept in the palace prison, where he received better care.

Soon there was no food in the city because the Babylonians had stopped everything from going in or out. The rulers of Jerusalem sent a message to Jeremiah. “Please, pray and ask God to deliver us! Perhaps he will give us a miracle like he’s done in the past.”

The Lord sent a message back to them, “No! I won’t deliver you. I’m the one fighting against you. I’ve given you to the king of Babylon. You’ll suffer hunger, disease and plagues. People and animals will die. Those who live through this will be given to the Babylonians.”

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Broken Pot

159 – Broken Pot

Jeremiah 1:1-19 18:1–20:18 II Chronicles 36:1-5 II Kings 23:28-37

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

During the time of King Josiah, the prophet Jeremiah was called of God to preach to the people of Judah. The Lord said, “You’re to tell them they’re wicked, and Babylon will come and take them away. It’ll be useless to resist this invasion because I’m the one making it happen.”

Jeremiah said, “Lord, I don’t want this job. I’m too young, and I’m not good at public speaking.”

The Lord said, “I chose you for this job before you were born. I’ll tell you exactly what to say. Still, the people won’t listen, and they’ll try to kill you. But don’t worry. I’ll be with you and protect you.”

For years, during the time of King Josiah, the Lord told Jeremiah all the reasons why Judah would be punished and sent into exile. Jeremiah was burdened for the nation, so he cried and prayed for them. God said, “Stop that! These people are heading for disaster and there’s nothing you can do about it. I wouldn’t listen even if Samuel and Moses stood before me and pleaded for them! This situation is beyond religious acts and the giving of prayers.”

The Lord sent Jeremiah to the potter’s house. There he saw the potter working with a clay jar on the turning wheel. Suddenly he found a flaw in the pot. So he simply crushed the clay down and started over.

The Lord said, “Oh Israel, this is what I’m doing to you. You’re like clay in my hands and I’ll crush you so I can make you into that which will have my blessing and joy.”

The Lord told Jeremiah to buy a clay pot and go to the rulers of Judah. The prophet bought the pot and stood before the leaders of the people. He held it up in the air and said, “The people have forsaken the Lord to worship idols. Therefore, listen to what God is saying to you!”

He threw the pot down and it shattered into pieces! He said, “Jerusalem will be like this clay pot. I’ll totally destroy the city. Your enemies will slaughter the people. The city will lie in ruins just like this clay pot.”

One of the priests got angry and had Jeremiah beaten and put in stocks. The next day the priest went to release him. Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has changed your name. It is now ‘Terror’. In terror, you’ll see your friends killed in the streets. In terror, you’ll watch the city be destroyed. You’ll be taken to Babylon where you’ll die; and there you’ll be buried.”

King Josiah was killed when he fought the army of Egypt. The people of Judah made his son king. Three months later, the pharaoh of Egypt captured Jerusalem and took the new king to Egypt, where he died. The pharaoh set up another son of Josiah to be king of Judah. His name was Jehoiakim.

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Fifteen Years

155 – Fifteen Years

II Kings 20:1-21 II Chronicles 32:24-33

King Hezekiah became extremely sick. The prophet Isaiah went to him and said, “God told me this sickness will kill you. So prepare to die.” He then turned and left the room.

Hezekiah cried out to God. “Oh Lord! I’ve walked with you and lived according to your commandments. Please spare my life.” He turned his head to the wall and cried bitterly.

Once again, God talked to Isaiah. “Go tell King Hezekiah I’ve heard his prayer and have seen his tears. Therefore I’ll add fifteen years to his life. I’ll also give him a sign so he’ll know that this promise is true. I’ll cause the shadow on the sundial to go backward ten degrees.”

Hezekiah watched the shadow on the sundial and saw it move back ten degrees. Immediately his sickness began to leave him until he totally recovered. He sang before the Lord and gave thanks.

After he recovered, a delegation came from Babylon with gifts. They gave him a letter from their king saying he was glad about Hezekiah’s recovery.

Hezekiah was pleased with this, and honored the delegation with a tour of his palace and government buildings. He took them to the treasury house and showed them all of the nation’s treasures—including gold, silver, spices, and precious oil.

After the men from Babylon left, the prophet Isaiah asked, “Who were those men and what did they say to you?”

The king said, “They’re from a far-off country, a place called Babylon.”

“What did you show them?”

“I showed them everything. I didn’t hide anything of value from them.”

The prophet said, “Listen to the words of the Lord. ‘A day will come when Babylon will invade Judah and take everything they’ve seen back to their country. Your descendants will become personal slaves to the king of Babylon.’ ”

Hezekiah bowed his head, and finally said, “This message from the Lord is good. None of this will happen in my lifetime. While I live, there will be peace and security.”

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Jonah & the Vine

147 – Jonah & the Vine

Jonah 3:1-4:11

Once again, God said to Jonah, “Leave right now and go to Nineveh. You’re to tell them I’m going to judge them because of their wickedness.” This time, Jonah immediately got up and went to Nineveh.

The city of Nineveh was extremely large. It took three days to walk from one side to the other. So Jonah started his walk across the city. He shouted, “God is going to destroy this city in 40 days!”

The people of the city heard him preach and believed that what he said was true. They passed a law that said everyone was to fast—no exceptions. Everyone was to go without food, and they were to wear burlap sacks. They prayed and asked God to be merciful to them.

The king stepped down from his throne and laid aside his royal robes. He put on burlap sacks and sat on a pile of ashes. He sent out another law that said, “No one is to taste any food or water. That includes animals as well. Everyone is to wear burlap sacks, and stop any evil they are doing. Maybe God will change his mind and allow us to live.”

The Lord saw all they were doing. He knew they had turned away from their wickedness, so he stopped the judgment that was about to kill them and destroy their city.

Jonah was furious when he heard about this. He said, “I told you this would happen! I knew you were a merciful God. I knew you were quick to forgive. That’s exactly why I didn’t want to come here. That’s why I ran away. Kill me right now. I don’t want to live.”

The Lord said, “Do you think it’s right to be so angry about this?”

Jonah didn’t answer, but went to the east side of the city. He made a small shelter so he could sit and see exactly what God was going to do with the city.

While he was sitting there, God caused a vine to grow up next to him. The vine had large leaves, which provided shade from the hot sun. Jonah was pleased with the plant, and enjoyed the shade it provided.

The next morning, God caused a worm to attack the vine and kill it. As the sun got hot, the plant withered. Then God caused a hot east wind to blow on Jonah. As the day went by, the sun and the wind got hotter and hotter, and there was no vine to protect him. Jonah cried, “I don’t want to live anymore. I want to die!”

God said to him, “Is it right to be angry about the vine?”

“Yes, it’s right for me to be angry. I’m so mad I want to die.”

The Lord said, “You’re angry about a simple vine. You didn’t plant it. You didn’t water it. It came up one day and died the next.

“Shouldn’t I also care for the people of this city? If for no other reason, there are over 120,000 children living here, not to mention all the animals.”

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Southern Altai Language in Siberia – Throat singing with captions

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Four Lepers

139 – Four Lepers

2 Kings 6:24 – 7:20

The king of Syria once again invaded Israel. His army surrounded Samaria and set up camp just outside the city walls. They cut off all supplies going into the city. Eventually there was no food, and the people started to starve. It was so bad that a donkey’s head sold for two pounds of silver, and a small bowl of dove’s droppings sold for two ounces of silver.

A woman saw the king walking along the top of the city wall. She asked him to help her. He said, “I don’t know if I can. What’s your problem?”

She said, “My friend won’t keep her promise. We agreed we’d eat our two sons, mine on the first day and hers on the second. So, we boiled and ate my son, but now she has hidden her son.”

When the king heard this, he ripped his clothes. He said, “I’ll get Elisha for this if it’s the last thing I do.” He sent a guard to cut off the prophet’s head.

Elisha was sitting in his house with several elders of Israel. He said, “Our murdering king has sent a guard to cut off my head. The king is right behind him.”

Just then the king walked in. He yelled at the prophet. “You said all this trouble is from God. So why should I serve him if he acts like this?”

Elisha said, “I have a message from God. He said this disaster is almost over. Tomorrow at this time, people will buy a sack of fine flour for a few coins. They’ll buy a large sack of barley for the same price.”

The king’s chief adviser said, “Impossible! We couldn’t have that much food around here even if God opened up the windows of heaven.”

The man of God said, “You’ll see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.”

During the night, the Syrian army heard a loud noise like a large army marching toward them. The noise got louder and sounded like the army had many horses and chariots.

The Syrian soldiers thought Israel had hired other nations to come and help them. They yelled, “Let’s get out of here!” They got up and ran away, leaving everything behind.

Before light the next morning, four lepers were sitting just outside of the city gates. One said to the others, “Why are we just sitting here slowly dying of hunger?”

Another one said, “Well, it’s no better in the city. If we go in there, we’ll still die of hunger.”

“Well that’s true, but we can’t stay here. Let’s go into the Syrian camp. If they kill us—well, we’re about to die anyway. But maybe they’ll have pity on us and give us food.”

So, the four men got up and walked toward the camp, not knowing it was empty. They went into the first tent and found food, gold, silver, and expensive clothes. The first thing they did was eating the food. They then took the other things away and hid them. They came back and hid what they found in the next tent.

Finally they said, “What we’re doing isn’t right. People are dying of hunger on the other side of the wall. God will punish us if we don’t go tell them about this.”

So they went to the city gate and yelled to the gatekeeper, telling him exactly what they found. When the king heard about this, he thought it was a trap. He said, “The Syrian army is hiding out of sight, waiting for us to come out of the city.”

So he sent a few soldiers to scout out the land. The men found the route the Syrians had taken. It was full of clothes and equipment the army had thrown away so they could run faster.

The soldiers went back and told the king what they had found. With that, people flooded out of the city to raid the Syrian camp. The price of food immediately dropped.

The king gave his chief adviser the job of crowd control at the gate. Soon, he was trampled to death. All of this fulfilled what the prophet had said.

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Oil, Stew, Bread, and Ax

134 – Oil, Stew, Bread, and Ax

II Kings 4:1-4 38-44 6:1-7

Elisha was in charge of the school of the prophets. There are several miracles associated with that group of young men:

One of the prophets died. His wife came to Elisha and said, “You know my husband followed the Lord and honored him. When he died, he owed a man some money. Now that man is coming to collect. He is going to take my two sons and sell them as slaves.”

The prophet said, “Let me think. Surely I can help you. Tell me, do you have anything in your house that is valuable?”

She said, “No, I don’t have anything of value in the house. Well, I do have a small jar of oil.”

Elisha said, “Go to all of your neighbors and borrow as many containers as they have. Don’t stop with just a few. Once you have them, go into your house with your sons and close the door. Pour oil into all those containers. Each time one is full, set it aside and fill the next one.”

She and her sons went to every house and borrowed as many jars as they could. They took them into their house and closed the door. She then started pouring the oil into each jar. Her sons kept bringing her the empty ones. When they were all full, she turned and said, “Son, bring me another container.”

He said, “Mother, there are no more.” With that, the oil stopped.

She ran and told the man of God what had happened. He said, “Go and sell the oil. Pay your debt and live on what is left over.”

At another time, there was a famine so severe that there was very little to eat. When Elisha returned from a trip, the prophets gathered around to listen to him teach. He said to a servant, “Fix a large pot of stew for these men.”

One of the young men went into the forest to get some herbs for the stew. He found a vine of wild gourds and didn’t know they were poisonous. He gathered as many as he could carry, cut them up, and put them in the stew.

Once it was ready, some men tasted it and realized what had happened. They yelled, “Man of God. Watch out. There is death in the pot. Don’t eat it.”

Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” They gave him the flour and he threw it in the pot.

He then said, “Come, eat.” Everyone ate, and there was nothing wrong with the stew.

Once a man came to Elisha with 20 small loaves of barley bread. It was the first bread from the harvest. The man of God said, “Serve this to the prophets so they can enjoy it.”

“Sir, there are 100 men, and we only have 20 loaves of bread. There isn’t enough for everyone.”

Elisha said, “Give it to them. The Lord says there will be enough, and we’ll have some left over.”

So the bread was served to the men, and it was just like the Lord promised. There was enough for everyone, with some left over.

There came a time when the prophets realized their facilities were too small for them. Elisha gave them permission to go to the Jordan River and cut some logs for a new building. He even agreed to go with them.

One of the men borrowed an iron ax and was using it to cut down a tree. Suddenly the ax head fell off and went into the water. The man yelled, “Master! I borrowed that ax and now it’s ruined.

Elisha said, “Where did it fall into the water?”

The man pointed to the spot. Elisha then cut a stick and threw it in the water at the spot the man showed him. The ax head floated to the surface. The man got it and fixed the ax.

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Naboth’s Vineyard

128 – Naboth’s Vineyard

I Kings 21:1-29

In the town of Jezreel, a man named Naboth owned a vineyard next to the palace of King Ahab. The king told Naboth he wanted to buy the vineyard and make it into a vegetable garden. He said, “I’ll pay you full value in silver or, if you prefer, I’ll give you a better vineyard someplace else.

Naboth said, “No. I couldn’t sell this vineyard. It has been owned by our family for several hundred years.”

At first, this made the king angry. He went home and refused to eat anything. Finally, he became depressed and went and lay in his bed facing the wall.

Jezebel, the king’s wife, asked him what was wrong. He said, “I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard and he told me no! I even offered him a better vineyard in exchange for his.”

Jezebel said, “Oh, is that all? Well, come have something to eat, and don’t worry about Naboth’s vineyard. I’ll get it for you.”

She wrote a letter to the town officials. It said, “Go get Naboth and have him stand before you. Bring in two liars that will swear he cursed God and the king. Then take him out and stone him until he’s dead.” She signed Ahab’s name to the letter and sealed it with the official seal.

The city leaders did exactly as they were told. They got Naboth and condemned him to death. After the stoning, they sent a message back to Jezebel saying, “Naboth is dead.”

She went to her husband and said, “You now own the vineyard you wanted. Go and enjoy it because Naboth is dead.” When the king heard this good news, he went to see his vineyard.

At that same moment, the Lord said to Elijah, “King Ahab just stole Naboth’s vineyard. Go tell him this. ‘You murdered Naboth and the dogs licked his blood from the ground. Dogs will lick your blood at that exact spot.’”

Elijah went and found Ahab at Naboth’s vineyard. When the king saw the prophet coming, he said, “Well, look at this. My enemy has found me.”

“Yes, I found you. And you have found every way possible to do the things God hates. Now it’s time for judgment. Your punishment will be just like King Jeroboam. You’ll have no descendants. First, dogs will eat the body of your wife Jezebel. After that, your entire family will be eliminated from the earth. Dogs will eat all your relatives that die in the city. Birds will eat those who die in the country.”

This struck Ahab in the heart. He ripped his clothes in sorrow. He fasted and wore sackcloth day and night. Finally, the Lord said to Elijah, “Ahab is truly sorry for what he did. Therefore, I won’t destroy his family until after he’s dead. All that I said will happen when his son is king.”