Joel Jonah Ezra

This week we make a transition from the minor prophets to the last three historical books: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.  It's impossible to separate the prophets from their historical periods, so this transition shouldn't be too hard to make.

Joel is focused on the Day of the Lord, the day when God will judge and punish sin and show mercy to those who have been faithful to him.  Jonah tells the amazing story of what happened to Jonah when he tried to run away from God, but also tells the even bigger story of how God's compassion reaches even beyond Israel.

As we get into Ezra, we are in the post-exile period where the people are returning to Jerusalem.  While we might be optimistic that the lesson has been learned in captivity, the account of Ezra tells us that eventually God's people went back to their old ways.  However, as they return from exile, their first order of business is to rebuild the temple, the place where God lives.

Again, as we've seen multiple times, God's judgment and mercy are side-by-side.  Yes, he judges sin and, yes, he has mercy and compassion on his people.  Even people outside Israel.  As those who would be considered "outside Israel," we can be thankful that this is how God works!

Enjoy your reading!  Please share your reflections and questions.  Be sure to use the guiding questions as you read.

Our guiding questions are these: 

• What stood out to you in the reading?
• Was there anything confusing or troubling?
• Did anything make you think differently about God?
• How might what you read change the way you live?