Ezra was one of God's prophets. He was involved in taking some of God's people back to Jerusalem. He was a great encourager to the children of Israel to do good. They began rebuilding the Temple.

In Ezra 9, we read a prayer that Ezra prayed to God. In verse 8, we read, "And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage."

It was common in that day to place very large nails or pegs into the walls of rooms. These were used to hang things on. The nails were placed while building the room's walls. Thus, the nail was very secure and could hold a large amount of weight without coming out.

The spiritual picture that Ezra is giving is that God had made those who had come back to Jerusalem secure. They were able to withstand immense troubles and pressure of life while attempting to do God's will. Ezra is acknowledging that their strength was not their own, but from the work of God in their lives. God was the one who had made them strong. They could hang on him and his Word.

Today, we can hang on a nail in God's holy place. The church is his holy place under the New Covenant. God adds us to the church when we become Christians. He makes us strong and able to bear great problems. If we stay close to his Word, we can hang all our troubles on him.

Study your Bible. Learn God's wisdom. Obey his Word and hang on his nail in his holy place. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

In Amos 6:12 we read, "Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock."

Israel had become very evil. They worshipped idols at the same time that they gave sacrifices to God. They did all sorts of evil in the name of other gods. The rich had no sympathy for the poor. In fact, they were always looking for another way to make the poor poorer. All they could think about was making more money.

God is saying that these evils were spiritual rocks. Just as a farmer would never try to plow a field full of rocks, the worshipper of God cannot live for God if all he is plowing is evil rocks. Proper seeds cannot be planted. Proper plowing cannot be done. Fruit cannot be produced if our spiritual field is full of rocks.

Through Amos, God was condemning Israel. He was telling them that because of their sins, he was going to severely punish them. Nothing would change his mind. He was tired of their consistent and persistent sinning.

Do not try to spiritually plow rocks with oxen. Study your Bible. Learn how to properly serve God. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.