Day 1

Ezra 1-10

I started reading through the last 25 books of the Old Testament today. I realized that once I started reading that I didn't want to stop or put the it down because the word of God is truly amazing. I read through Ezra today. I learned that there were a lot of men that were returning from exile that married into foreign cultures when God had given them clear instructions not to early in the Bible. I was also happy to read about the rebuilding of God's Temple in Jerusalem during this time. I learned that Ezra was a learned man of the Law and was a priest for the Lord. Ezra had to look over and take care of the Jews that were returning from exile in Babylon at that time. When they were rebuilding the temple there was other people trying to discourage them to continue rebuilding God's Temple but nothing could stop them from rebuilding his temple. These passages have encouraged me not to give up in anything that I take on in the future because if I do then someday I will be rewarded in Heaven.

"So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia." Ezra 6:14 NIV