Bible test Ezra-Esther

In 2 Samuel, David unified the nation by making ______________ the capitol and the singular place of worship.

Jerusalem

Instead of the Jews being attacked and killed, the ___________ attacked and killed their enemies.

Jews

Esther's cousin. Used by God to save His people. Hated by Haman.

Mordecai

in Leviticus we see that in order to worship God there has to be ____________ and ________________.

Sacrifice sanctification

The theme of Deuteronomy is to ________ and ____________.

love listen

This is the main purpose of Esther: to show God's ___________.

providence

The victory was celebrated by a feast called ___________.

purim

The story continues with Mordecai convincing Esther that the reason she had become queen was for the ____________ of convincing the king not to let the ___________ be killed.

purpose Jews

Ezra tells of the ______________ from the Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of the ______________.

return Temple

The author of Esther is ___________.

unknown

Esther is unusual also because it is one of only two books that are named after ___________. __________ is the other book.

women Ruth

The book of Ezra began around 540 B.C. Ezra doesn't appear on the scene for another ______ years though.

82

List, in order, the four patriarchs of Genesis 12-50.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

List, in order, the four main events of Genesis 1-11.

Creation, The fall, the flood, the tower of Babel

Ezra begins in about 540 B.C. In about 539 B.C., King ______________took over Babylon, making ______________ the leading power in the world.

Cyrus Persia

The author of Ezra and Nehemiah is most likely ______________, though we don't know for sure.

Ezra

The story of events involving ____________ begins at Ezra 7:1.

Ezra

To ensure safety, Nehemiah asked the _____________ living in Jerusalem for help. After showing himself to be one of them, they __________ to help him.

Jews agreed

Though Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem made swift progress, they encountered significant _____________ from their enemies.

opposition

The Jews faced ______________, especially from the people who lived in the area that would come to be known as ______________ in the New Testament.

opposition Samaria

Just as Nehemiah faced much _________________, we will face much opposition in our lives if we choose to _____________ the Lord. But if we choose to be obedient anyway, God will use us to _______ others to Himself just as He did with Nehemiah.

opposition obey point

Esther decides she is going to risk her life in bringing the ___________ to the king. She takes her time in bringing it to him, wanting to make sure she would get a ___________ answer.

plot favorable

Though this is terrible of the king, it sets up the stage for the Lord to have someone in a ____________ of power later on when Haman will try to exterminate the ___________.

position Jews

Ezra was a _____________; Nehemiah was a _____________.

priest businessman

Mordecai does not mention God at all but it is clear that Mordecai is convinced God will ___________ His people. He tells Esther that she can either get on __________ with what God is doing or He will use ______________ _______ and then they will get the ___________ for being obedient.

protect board someone else praise

Nehemiah asked king Artaxerxes if he could return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the _____________ around Jerusalem. Not only did the king let Nehemiah go but _____________ him in the work.

walls encouraged

Nehemiah 1 records Nehemiah's response to hearing that Jerusalem was still in ruins. When he heard the news we are told he _____________, _____________, _____________, and _____________.

wept mourned fasted prayed

If we disobey, we will miss out on the ___________ He is doing, and we may even be _____________ for our disobedience.

work punished

These three books also show how God is present, even in the darkest hours in the lives of His ______________.

children

Compared to the rulers of Assyria and Babylon, Cyrus was known as an ______________ leader.

enlightened

He chose Esther to be queen and in celebration threw a huge ___________.

feast

After dealing with the Jew's disobedience, Nehemiah's work was _____________.

finished

Providence literally means "___________." It is used to refer to God's ___________ and ___________ of all things to bring about His purposes.

foresight preserving governing

However, the returning exiles did not recognize them as part of ______'__ __________ because they had ______________ with other nations.

God's people Intermarried

Persia's top appointed official. He plots the extermination of the Jewish race.

Haman

The setting of Esther is ___________, the Persian capitol. The Bible tells us that this book takes place during the reign of ___________. "Ahasuerus" was a ___________ given to some kings. Most historians think that the king who was given this title was ___________. He reigned from 486-465 B.C.

Susa Ahasuerus title Xerxes

Nehemiah refused to put heavy _____________ on the people. (Remind you of what ___________ did wrong?)

burdens Rehoboam

By the end of chapter 3, the returning Israelites had laid the ______________ of the temple with much rejoicing.

foundation

Ezra hadn't asked the king for protection, but Nehemiah did. Both men were responding to what the Lord was doing in their _____________. The Lord led them to make _____________ decisions in similar situations.

hearts different

When Nehemiah prayed, he: 1. _____________ God, 2. _____________ sin, 3. And asked things of God that were based on God's promises in _____________.

praised confessed scripture

Just as Nehemiah had a great work of _____________the wall before him, we also have a great work before us. God has given us the great responsibility of sharing the _____________ of Christ with all the world.

rebuilding love

The theme of Judges is the downward _______________ of Israel's national and spiritual life into chaos and rebellion against God, showing the need for a Godly _________.

spiral King

King Cyrus rejected the idea of ______________ conquered peoples and instead allowed captive peoples to ______________ home and ______________ their religion.

exiling return practice

Ezra's ministry ______________ for several more years. In the book of Nehemiah we find Ezra reading the ______ of the Lord and the people responding in __________ concern.

expanded word genuine

A person's relationship with God will determine how the person _____________ other people. God intends for our _____________ to Him to _________ every part of our life: our school, our family, our friends, jobs, etc.

treats commitment affect

Once arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah found that the _____________ was not the only dangerous part of rebuilding the walls. Just as Ezra had experienced, Nehemiah found that many _____________ in, and around, Jerusalem did not want the walls _________.

trip people rebuilt

Esther is a ___________ book in that it is the only book of the Bible that never mentions the name of ___________ in any form.

unique God

There was also ______________ by those who had seen the _______ temple and knew what it was like to have God residing in the temple.

weeping original

Nehemiah served as a _____________ governor. This was a period of building and _____________ for the people living in Jerusalem.

wise hope

Ezra's response was intense ____________ and prayer. That response produced a response on the part of the _________.

grief people

Nehemiah later faces a very similar situation but asked for ____________ without hesitation

guards

Remember that this is just a ____________ account. When trying to interpret books of History in the Bible, we have to use the ____________ to give us commentary on the Bible. In other words, we have to look at what ______ of Scripture says on this matter.

historical Bible all

To the people living in the land, the Israelites were ______________ trying to take their land.

invaders

The purpose of Ruth is to highlight God's grace through a __________-_________

kinsman- Redeemer

The book of Esther continues the ___________ of Ezra and Nehemiah.

message

Unfortunately, the temple wouldn't continue to be worked on for _______ years after the foundations were laid.

14

Ezra _:_ begins in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia.

1:1

In ________ BC he learned that the people of Jerusalem had broken their _____________ with God. Nehemiah loved the Lord and His people too much not to do anything. So, he returned to Jerusalem.

433 covenant

Even though Ezra had the ____________ of the king and his blessing to go, he was afraid of the journey. It was a very _______ and _____________ trip.

Favor Long Dangerous

The primary message of Joshua is that _______ gave Israel the land of Canaan.

God

The people rejoiced and celebrated the ______________. They rejoiced over the Lord's faithfulness to complete the Work _________ had started.

Passover He

Nehemiah returned to ________ to serve king Artaxerxes, but he was still concerned for the people of ___________.

Persia Jerusalem

In chapter 1 we see the king banishing ___________ for refusing to be shown off like a pretty painting.

Vashti

That message is that even when His people are living outside of Israel because of their ___________, He still loves and cares for them.

disobedience

Lessons to learn from Esther: 1. Esther's main point is that despite ___________, "God's absence," and Israel's moral wickedness, God has not abandoned His ___________. 2. Esther shows that God's name doesn't need to be directly ___________ to be able to clearly see His ___________ at work.

exile promises mentioned hand

Ezra was appalled that many of the Jews had married ____________ women. God had forbid any Jew to marry a foreigner. This was to guard against _______ wives influencing their husbands to practice ____________.

foreign pagan idolatry

He had helped to rebuild the wall but more importantly, he had helped to preserve _____________ and promoted true _____________ of the Lord.

Judaism worship

King of Persia. One of the most powerful men in the world.

Ahasuerus/ Xerxes

We can't date Esther precisely, but it generally fits into the time frame of ___________ and ___________. Possibly right after chapter 6 of Ezra.

Ezra Nehemiah

The books of ______________, ______________, and ______________ describe people who lived in difficult times.

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

After basically a 12 month ___________ contest, God caused ___________ to find more favor with the king than any of the other women.

bachelor Esther

Which was right? I would say ____________. We are responsible to seek God for ____________ and make decisions based on our relationship with Him. Not on what someone ____________ relationship looks like.

both ourselves else's

Ezra loved the ____________ of the Lord and sought to teach it to others. He wanted to teach the law in ____________ and journeyed there from Babylon, believing God's good hand was on him.

law Jerusalem

List in order the five divisions of the Old Testament.

law, history, wisdom, Major Prophets, minor prophets.

This section will cover the period of Israel's history right after the ______________ captivity.

Babylonian

Lessons to learn from Ezra 1-6: Ezra is about the Jewish return from the ______________ exile to rebuild the ______________. The return and rebuilding was only accomplished because of the ______________ God gave Israel in the eyes of the kings of ______________.

Babylonian Temple Favor Kings

Not mentioned but still the director of history, leading from the shadows, protecting his people.

God

His good policy as governor came from his relationship with _____________. He refused to overburden the people. He served because of his _______ of God

God Fear

Even though He is not mentioned, you cannot read this book without coming away knowing ___________ was the one working through the ___________ to bring about His ___________.

God events purposes

Through the leadership of ______________ (the leader who took over for Sheshbazzar), in ___________ B.C. the people of Israel celebrated the _______________ of the house of the Lord and dedicated the temple for use in worship of the Lord God of Israel.

Zerubbabel 516 completion

Jerusalem isn't just an ____________ city. Just like when Assyria took over a nation and deported the inhabitants and then brought new inhabitants to the nation, Babylon did the same thing to ______________.

abandoned Jerusalem

Even though they were ________ of these people, the first thing Sheshbazzar had the people do when they returned was to set up an ______________ to the Lord and pray and make sacrifices to Him.

afraid alter

We should keep that in mind in our lives also. God's purposes will be ___________ whether we obey Him or not. But if we obey, we will get to ___________ in the glory of what He is doing and will be rewarded in ___________ for our obedience

completed share Heaven

After getting permission, Nehemiah asked for _____________ from the king which would ensure safe ___________ in the travels back to Jerusalem from Persia.

passage

To ensure their safety, Nehemiah _____________, posted _____________, and _____________ the workers.

prayed guards armed

He wants to show he is trusting God but also knows that God sometimes uses things like asking for help. So what did he do? He ____________ and asked God to ____________ them.

prayed protect

In Ezra we saw the _____________ aspect of the return; in Nehemiah we will see the _____________ aspect of the return.

religious political

The people responded with ____________ and also wanting to make their sin right by ____________ away their foreign wives.

repentance sending

When we live _________, thinking only of ourselves, we harm the work of God. When the _____________ (all believers) sees its purpose as proclaiming Christ, then we have the ____________ to work together and make Him known.

selfishly church opportunity

Ezra could have just asked the king to send along ____________ to protect them, but he had an issue with that. He had told the king and lots of people that he had the ____________ of God and God would ____________ them. Ezra 8:22 says this.

soldiers favor protect

Nehemiah served as a _____________ to King ______________. This title meant he tasted the king's food to make sure it wasn't poisoned, but it meant more than that most likely. It probably meant Nehemiah was a trusted _____________ to the king.

cupbearer Artaxerxes advisor

The story ends showing how the king overturned his own decree to allow the Jews to be killed through making a new law which allowed the Jews to ___________ themselves.

defend

The king sent army _____________ and _____________ to protect Nehemiah.

officers horsemen

Ezra and Nehemiah were most likely _______book originally.

one

Lessons to learn from Ezra 7-10: 1. Ezra set his heart to ____________, ____________, and ____________ God's law. This should be the desire of all believers as well. 2. God used Ezra to help preserve the ____________ of Israel even though it wasn't done how we might have expected.

study, practice, and teach religion

Lessons to learn from Nehemiah: Nehemiah is about the rebuilding of the _____________ around Jerusalem. A person's relationship with _____________ will determine how the person treats other people. Just as Nehemiah faced much _____________, those walking in obedience to Christ will face much _____________ in this life.

walls God opposition opposition

Numbers is about the ___________________ of a rebellious people

wanderings

In Exodus 19-40 God gave Israel the __________________and the _________________.

10 commandments, tabernacle

Nehemiah's ministry began around ______ years after Ezra journeyed to Jerusalem. This was almost _______ years after the first exiles were allowed to return to Israel.

13 100

Amazingly, Nehemiah and his workmen finished the walls in ______ days because God helped them.

52

The new beauty queen of Persia. A Jewish orphan raised by her cousin, Mordecai.

Esther

Even though Nehemiah 1:1 is written in the first person, most scholars seem to think _____________ was the writer but was copying from Nehemiah's ______________. We do know that whoever the author is, he wrote both Ezra and Nehemiah since they were originally ______ book.

Ezra Journal one

______________ led the returning group. Ezra 2:1-70 records the list of all those returning to Jerusalem. In total there were ______________ people returning.

Sheshbazzar 42,360

What is the main event that takes place in Exodus 1-19?

The Israelites were freed from Egypt

What Made Nehemiah a Good Leader (5:14-19)? He did not follow the example of pervious _____________ He did not permit his assistants to act as if they were more _____________ than the people He acted in all things out of his _____________ for God He devoted himself and his assistants to the _____________ He _____________ personally the expense of feeding 150 Jews plus guests He did not accept the governor's _____________ allotment

governors important reverence work paid food

While this action was ____________, it did serve to keep the __________ of Israel alive and made the people of Israel _________.

harsh religion stronger

All through this story it is evident that God was the one at work softening the ______________ of the kings to allow Israel to build the temple. He had not forgotten His people.

hearts

The problem then is that the Israelites are returning to a city that people have made their ______________ for at least the past ___ years and they aren't happy about welcoming back some new people.

home 50

Ezra helped preserve God's ______ and God used Ezra to preserve ____________ own people

law His

These people were the Jews who had been _____ in the land when the others were carried into captivity. These Jews considered themselves __________ followers of the law of ______________.

left faithful Moses

The purpose of 1 Samuel is to highlight two major events: the establishment of the ______________ in Israel (ch. 8-12); and the rise of _________ to be king after Saul (ch. 16-31).

monarchy David

Just as Nehemiah called on God in his time of _____________, we also should call on God in our time of _____________. He hears our prayers and cares for our burdens and needs.

needs needs

Nehemiah had _____________ been to Israel before. He would have been a _____________ of one of those whose heart God did __________ stir to return to Israel when the 42,000 left to rebuild the _________.

never descendent not temple

Up until this point, Esther has ___________ made it known that she is a Jew

not