These books were written 14‐16 years after the Jews went back to the land after their captivity. The return itself was a glorious work of God.
Once in the land, there were challenges when the surrounding people tried to stop them, but God intervened there also. The Israelites had seen God conquer and give victory in much greater problems and He took care of this situation also and they got permission from the king to continue building.
But they didn’t—even though God miraculously provided permission for them to continue building the temple, they got distracted, a lot like we do from the work God gives us to do. [Read more…]
When people think of the Old Testament prophets, most often two areas come to mind:
After studying the life of David, we couldn’t have a greater contrast between his life as a man “after God’s own heart,” and what we find in his son Solomon. 
The Bible calls David, a man “after God’s own heart.” This phrase is part of a sermon of Paul’s in Acts 13:22—where he is talking about the history of Israel, and Paul says, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ 
Have you recently had someone say to you, “You aren’t listening to me?”
There is a popular song that boasts “I did it my way!” Though it sounds appealing, is this really the best way to live?
What is the purpose of the stories in the Bible?
If you are having a hard time in your Christian life, this lesson will teach you 9 lessons on how to fight and win, and the first step to winning the battles of life is to realize you are in a battle.
