3 <\/sup><\/b>I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEzra 1\u2013 God had king Cyrus Persia send believers home 700 miles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ezra 2\u2013 only 50k returned, most intermarried and apostate\/worldly<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ezra 3-4\u2013 work started & faced physical opposition<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Battle reopen \u201cChurch\u201d1. word 2. worship 3. witness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The people of God are weary (8 weeks vs 70 years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Daniel sees the spiritual forces behind the scenes in the unseen realm<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. The people of God are fighting an invisible enemy (viral\/spiritual)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. God has 2 realms (seen\/unseen) 1 reality & sometimes veil is lifted = overwhelm<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- 80\u2019s buried friends & is not heading home<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Feels powerless: nothing he can do<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Decide: Am I Daniel \u201cGod is my judge\u201d, or Belteshazzar \u201cBel is my God\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n- Solitude vs Isolation \u201csocial distancing\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Complex grief (avalanche, Job, boxer knocked out on feet)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
– manage the negative news in your life & home<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\nLamenting<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Daniel 10:4 <\/sup><\/b>On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) 5 <\/sup><\/b>I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 <\/sup><\/b>His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 7 <\/sup><\/b>And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. 8 <\/sup><\/b>So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. 9 <\/sup><\/b>Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Timing \u2013 remembrance of deliverance from Egypt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Divine Being of significance \u2013 possibly Gabriel (3rd<\/sup> visit 9:23, 10:11 \u201cgreat Lord\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n