The Jews had been taken captive because of their disobedience. Here, they return to the Promised Land and begin to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. They begin with the Temple—the place of worship. Later, Ezra restores spiritual purity to their obedience. Finally, Nehemiah rebuilds the walls for protection.
The story follows Israel as a nation. However, the nation can be used as a type of an individual. As in the case with Israel, an individual can receive the word of God, become a child of God, and then rebel against His commandments. An individual can reject God’s judgment against their sin and make things even worse. Hebrews 12:5-11 can help you make this comparison. Follow the story of the rebellion and punishment of the nation of Israel as if they represented one person.
The book of Daniel contains a wonderful set of prophecies that have thrilled and challenged Bible students for hundreds of years. But the book also tells some great stories. In this series of outlines, we will look at the first six chapters of the book where we will find a couple of the easier prophecies and several interesting stories.
We consider the Jews foolish because they did not obey the commands of the Lord. They knew that His words were always true, but they still rejected them when they did not agree with their opinions. How often do we foolishly disobey God’s word as well?
God protected His prophet even though so many were against him. It is true that Jeremiah went through many trials. We do not know the trials that we will have to face for the sake of the Lord. But we can be sure that God will be with us in those trials.
God commands Jeremiah to get His words written in a book and read to the leaders of Judah. The roll declares the judgment of God on Judah because of her disobedience. The purpose of the words is to turn the people back to God. What will the people do with the words of God?
