Mathew James

Esther:

• Prayer warrior
• Community organizer
• Beauty pageant winner
• Ambassador
• Babylonian queen
• Teenager

Esther is the only book in the Bible besides Song of Solomon that never mentions God by name. Instead, it uses the life and choices of its major characters to show how the God of Israel loves and cares for both the nation of Israel and a young woman and her family.

Did you ever analyze your growth?

• Charts
• Tape measure
• Calendars

When we were younger, getting bigger was a big deal, even if it was only a couple of inches. It seemed that as we grew, we were better off.

In chapter 43, Ezekiel saw “the glory of the God of Israel.” God’s glory is the visible manifestation of the invisible nature of God. Whenever the Lord reveals himself to someone, it comes in a package of goodness: it could be mercy, compassion, forgiveness, loving kindness, or justice. Just like Moses, we can’t look directly at the face of God, but we can hear and see the Lord declare how good he is.

You can sum up the words of Ezekiel as the good news of Jesus Christ. Ezekiel warned cities,  nations, animals, and nature of judgment that was coming according to their evil actions. But after he warned them, he promised them blessings beyond measure according to his mercy.

All of God‘s promises are realized in his son Jesus Christ. Therefore, every promise that was prophesied by Ezekiel finds their fulfillment in the son of God.

The most repeated phrase in the book of Ezekiel is this: ”The word of the Lord came to me, saying—” This phrase is an introduction to a prophetic word spoken to the prophet from the Lord God.

Throughout the chapters, over and over again, we are told that God speaks a message directly to his servant.