Do You Know Your Seasons?

A Chapter a Day

• Sunday, January 31, Ezra 6
• Monday, February 1, Ezra 7         
• Tuesday, February 2, Ezra 8
• Wednesday, February 3, Ezra 9
• Thursday, February 4, Ezra 10
• Friday, February 5, Zechariah 1
• Saturday, February 6, Zechariah 2

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Think of the “seasons” in terms of:

1. Weather: , Spring, Summer, Fall
2. Life: spills, drills, thrills, , ills, pills, wills
3. Parenting: no kids, nesting, empty nest,
4. Education: preschool, elementary, MS, HS, college, grad
5. Sports: football, basketball, baseball
6. Business: start up, growth, , decline, demise
7. City, Country, Civilization
   population, economy/jobs, education, safety/crime, national security
   health care, recreation, culture/arts, religion

Acts 17:24-26 – Apostle Paul’s sermon in Athens

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, (ESV)

1. God is over all the seasons of our lives.

2. We don’t get to much about and we live.

3. God calls us to be no matter what our season or situation in life.

Seasons in the History of God’s People

1. Beginnings: Abraham & the Patriarchs
2. Captivity: Egypt
3. Deliverance: Moses & the Law
4. Wandering: Wilderness
5. Conquest: Joshua & the Promised Land
6. Monarchy: Saul, David, Solomon
7. Division & Disobedience: Israel in the North; Judah in the South
8. Defeat 722 B.C.: Destruction of Northern Kingdom by Assyrians
   586 B.C.: Jerusalem and the temple destroyed by Babylonians

9. – God’s people captive in Babylon

->  The Book of Ezra

Five Lessons from the Book of Ezra

1. This is a season for that God would raise up governmental leaders who will look with on God’s people.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
⁵ Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:1-5, ESV)

2. This is a season for (Ezra 2).

3. This is a season for (Ezra 3).

4. This is a season for to face intense (Ezra 4).

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12, ESV)

¹⁰ You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:10-17, ESV).

5. This is a season for our lives in to the word of God (Ezra 5-10).

¹⁴ And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; ¹⁵ and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
¹⁶ And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. (Ezra 6:14-18, ESV)