These chapters look prophetically to the day of the Lord. This will be a day when God will come in wrath and will judge the wicked. However, all is not lost. Those who fear the Lord will be remembered and will be spared. To them, the Sun of righteousness will rise will healing and will care for them as calves that are brought up in the stall. In closing, they are told to look backward to the law of Moses and forward to the coming of Elijah as the herald of the day of the Lord and the Messianic Kingdom to follow.
Are we saved by works? Has man ever been saved by works? Outline study by David Reagan.
The temple was indeed completed by Zerubbabel. But that was almost sixty years ago and the people have again come to a place of spiritual deadness. They need a revival and God has prepared a special man. Ezra had dedicated his life to learning, doing, and teaching the law of the Lord (Ezra 7:10). God gives him favor with the king of Persia and he organizes a successful return to the land of promise.
Esther had kept the identity of her people a secret from the king. Now, by Haman’s influence, the king has issued a decree to destroy the entire Jewish race. If she appears before the king without being recognized, she will be put to death. If she reveals her people and the decree stands, she will be put to death. The only solution is for her to die to herself before she acts. This she does with integrity and honor.
The first return is a trip into the fog. They do not know exactly what will greet them. They do not fully know the condition of the land. The journey of hundreds of miles will take them weeks to complete. Yet they go because they have a higher purpose in mind. They go to rebuild God’s holy temple and to reestablish the true worship of God in God’s chosen city of Jerusalem. They go also to replant the land given to their father Abraham.
