4. How do you see the providence of God displayed in the identification of the scroll as well as in the communications between this pagan governor and the king?
5. In your own life, how have you seen God working, providentially using whom He will for His purposes?
DAY 4
Darius Makes a Decree (Ezra 6:6–18)
1. Read Ezra 6:6–12.
• How does God provide for His people through Darius’s decree?
• How does God protect His people through Darius’s decree?
• What do you find surprising, if anything, about Darius’s decree?
Note: In Ezra 6:14, Ezra’s mention of King Artaxerxes, who ruled from 464 BC to 424 BC, anticipates his support of Ezra’s mission in chapter 7:11–26. This could be a reference to the completion of the “house of God” which included not only the temple, but also the walls which were rebuilt under Artaxerxes’ authority (Neh. 2:1 and 8). 29
29 Ezra & Nehemiah: LifeChange Bible Study, (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2011), 40.
98 | Lesson 9
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator