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Nehemiah 13:14, 22, 29, 31 Nehemiah's book begins and ends in prayer. The "action" begins with Nehemiah learning of the sad condition of the Jewish remnant in and around Jerusalem. His first act? To praysee 1:4-11. The very last act in the book? A prayer, the tenth time Nehemiah records his prayerssee 13:31. And the very heart of the book: a prayer (chapter 9). We don't...
Keep Reading"Remember meO my God[for] what I have faithfully done" (Nehemiah 13:14). "Some time later [Nehemiah]came back to Jerusalem" (10:6b-7a). Had he been away months, years? However long it's been, and it appears to have been years, the people have moved past the great rebuilding project and instead of a "happily ever after," Nehemiah finds they have dramatically forsaken all t...
Keep Reading"Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God broughtall this calamity upon us and upon this city?" (Nehemiah 13:18a). Sanballat and Tobiah. Do those names ring a bell? (It would be totally understandable if they didn't!) These two showed up in Nehemiah 2 "very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites." Shortly after th...
Keep ReadingNehemiah 13:4-30 Why couldn't Nehemiah have ended his book with chapter 12? The wall has been rebuilt, that accomplishment has been joyfully celebrated (chapter 8), and then we come to the dedication of the wall (chapter 12)another joy-filled celebration with a restored Temple, rebuilt walls, a repopulated capital city. It's like the days of Kings David and Solomon! After...
Keep ReadingThe whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great. Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days (Nehemiah 8:17-18). ...
Keep ReadingAnd all the people gathered with one mind at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel (Nehemiah 8:1). At the start of the quarantine our family chose to have a deeper devotional and worship time together. A highlight from this has been that our kids are asking m...
Keep Reading"Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve" (Nehemiah 8:11). The people of Jerusalem have completed the wall, a great physical work worthy of celebration. But a work is still needed in their hearts. The temple had already been rebuilt, but perhaps reading of scripture had not been routine for the people are hungry enough for the Word to stand for six hours during ...
Keep ReadingFor all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law (Nehemiah 8:9b). The thing that most intrigues me about Nehemiah 8 is the intensity of the Israelites' interest in and reaction to the reading of the Law. What, I wonder, accounted for this? As I write, wildfires rage across our Pacific Coast states. Millions of acres are destroyed and thousands...
Keep ReadingNehemiah 8 As we continue our "Let's Rebuild!" series this week we enter the heart of the Book of Nehemiah, chapter 8. And, at the heart of the heart, God's Word, and our responses to it. It's been several weeks since the rebuilding of the walls was completed. The opposition of their enemies has quieted, the predatory practices of some of their nobles ended. The people h...
Keep Reading"Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table,as well as those who came to us from surrounding nations"(Nehemiah 5:17). My husband I recently headed out with our kids and another family to paddle to an island we love. Our friends had never been, and they enjoy the great outdoors as much as we do. As we drove our paddle boards out to the boat launch,...
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