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And 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,...
Keep ReadingNehemiah 5:1-12a As disconcerting as the disturbance in Nehemiah 4 was, in Nehemiah 5 an even more troubling disturbance occurs. This time the actors causing the disturbance are not from outside the community, but from inside. Having an outside enemy can unite a community. Consider the unity in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Having an enemy within, however, c...
Keep Reading"Restore to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses,also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oilthat you are exacting from them" (Nehemiah 5:11). Prior to Covid one of my sons told me about a time in his school hallway where he witnessed a bully picking on another student. What he remembered ...
Keep ReadingBut out of reverence for God I did not act like that (Nehemiah 5:15). You might remember from Nehemiah 3, the "job assignments" chapter, that some nobles from Tekoa "would not put their shoulders to the work" of rebuilding the walls. We gave them a dismissive brush-off ("Selfish entitled jerks!") and moved on, assuming we were done with them, that their only role in the s...
Keep ReadingNehemiah 5:1-13 Nehemiah has motivated the Jews to overcome 100+ years of inertia. They are rebuilding their crumbled walls while summoning courage to resist foreign opposition. That is hard enough, but they continue to face decades-long oppression from their own rulers: exorbitant interest, high taxes, demands for collateral, even slavery. What kind of courage is needed ...
Keep ReadingMeanwhile, the people of Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble we cannot rebuild the wall." Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will kill them and put an end to the work." The Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us" (Nehemiah 4:10-12). Ah, it se...
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