OVERVIEW OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH AND ESTHER

This book in named after the person who appears in chapters 7-10 of the book. Both the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the Greek Septuagint use Ezra (or Esdras) for the title. In the Hebrew Bible, the book of Ezra was joined to the book of Nehemiah.

The Septuagint included the books which we know as the Apocrypha. These were books which were reckoned by the Jews not to have the same authority as those which had been written by the prophets. The Septuagint contains an Apocryphal book of Esdras while the Latin Vulgate contains two such additional books.

Protestant Bibles

Septuagint

Latin Vulgate

Ezra

2nd Esdras

1st Esdras

Nehemiah

3rd Esdras

2nd Esdras

-

1st Esdras

3rd Esdras

-

-

4th Esdras

This book spans 92 years of Jewish history from the decree of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return to the land (539 B.C.) to the decree of Artaxerxes which halted the work of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem (446 B.C.).

539

515

Ezra 1-6

Cyrus the Great

Cambyses

539 - Return to the Land

515 - Temple completed

482

473

Esther

Xerxes

480 - War with Greece

Esther story

458

Ezra 7-10

Artaxerxes

458 - 2nd Return under Ezra

445

420

Nehemiah

444 - Nehemiah & Walls

432 - Malachi Malachi

Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther all deal with the story of Israel following the Babylonian Captivity. The Persians had a different method of maintaining their empire. They determined that a happy and prosperous people made better taxpayers, so they permitted dispossessed peoples to return to their homelands. Under the Persian rule, there were three specific returns of Jews to the land of Judah.

RETURN

FIRST

SECOND

THIRD

Reference

Ezra 1-6

Ezra 7-10

Nehemiah 1-13

Date

538 B.C.

458 B.C.

444 B.C.

Leaders

Sheshbazzar Zerubbabel

Ezra

Nehemiah

Persian

King

Cyrus

Artaxerxes Longimanus

Elements

of the

Decree

As many as wished could return & rebuild Temple.

As many as wished could return & complete the Temple. Allowed to have own civil magistrates.

Allowed to rebuild the walls around the city.

Related

Events

Work begun but then halted until 516 B.C.

Problems with inter-marriage

Wall rebuilt in 52 days.

Prophets

Zechariah Haggai

Malachi

The story of Esther takes place in the interim between Ezra and Nehemiah. However it is a separate narrative as its focus is not upon the land of Judah but deals with the Jews throughout the Persian Empire.

 

 

THE BOOK OF EZRA

OUTLINE OF EZRA

1

1st Return under Sheshbazzar & Zerubbabel

Return from Babylon

The Edict of Cyrus

2

The Exiles who returned

3

Rebuilding of the Temple

Construction begun

4

Construction opposed

5

Construction delayed

6

Construction completed

7

2nd Return under Ezra

Return from Babylon

Decree of Artaxerxes

8

The Journey

9

Restoration of the People

Problem of mixed marriages

10

Solution to the problem

As can be seen from the above outline, Ezra is a book about returning and rebuilding and restoring one’s relationship with the Lord. Such a journey is not necessarily an easy one. It can be fraught with pitfalls and temptations. But the journey home is worth the effort. Are you headed for home? There is a message in this book for you.

  1. The Decree of Cyrus.
  2. Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem." (Ezra 1:2-4).

    When we first read this, we are inclined to think that they are the words of a believer. Cyrus is attributing his victories over the Babylonian Empire to Yahweh and describes himself as an agent of the Lord is decreeing that the Temple of God be rebuilt in Jerusalem. From archaeological records, we learn that this was the policy of Cyrus toward all religions and people groups.

    Cyrus seems to have realized that a tribute-paying nation would be more profitable than a devastated country. Thus, he looked forward to turning the desolation into a profitable source of revenue.

    Here is the point. Cyrus had his own reasons for instituting his political policy and they were not God’s reasons. Nevertheless, the actions of Cyrus were also fulfilling the plan of God for His people. The actions of the king were doing the will of God even though that king was working on his own agenda.

    "It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’" (Isaiah 44:28).

    Over a hundred years before the coming of Cyrus, God declared through the prophet Isaiah that this same Cyrus would perform His will by ordering the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Cyrus had not even been born when this was written.

    "For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel, My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me." (Isaiah 45:40).

    The Lord states that He chose Cyrus to perform certain things even though Cyrus himself was an unbeliever who did not know the Lord. God is not restricted to using believers to carry out His plan. In the same way that He used Cyrus, so also He used the pharaoh of the Exodus.

    "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’" (Romans 9:17).

    It was the Lord who raised up the unbelieving pharaoh of the Exodus to his position of leadership over Egypt. He did this so that, by bringing him to defeat through the plagues and through the incident at the Red Sea, the name of the Lord might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.

    Are we to take these instances of Cyrus and the pharaoh of Egypt as being the exceptions rather than the rule? Does God’s plan only extend to the great and the powerful while ignoring the humble and the weak? Not at all! If there were anyone who was said to have "free will," it was the king. He could point to someone and say, "Off with his head" and that head would topple. Thus, when the book of Proverbs states the principle of God’s sovereignty over rulers as a general principle, the implication is that God is sovereign over ALL men.

    "The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes." (Proverbs 21:1).

    It has been said that man’s free will flows in the channels which have been dug by the sovereignty of God. Such a concept is presented here. The Lord carries out His plans and protects His people, not merely in spite of a pagan king, but He actually uses that pagan king to work out His will.

    Paul takes this principle a step further to teach that the rulers themselves are placed in their positions of authority by the Lord.

    "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." (Romans 13:1).

    Paul was not speaking in the context of a Christian king or governor. It was during the reigns of the Roman Emperors that he penned these words. He did not say that only those authorities which are obedient to divine laws are established by God, but ALL authorities.

    This means that, whether a leader has taken a throne by force of arms or through inheritance or even through a national election by the vote of the "free will" of the populace, it is ultimately the Lord who places in office those whom He has chosen.

  3. The Response of the People.
  4. Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

    All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. (Ezra 1:5-6).

    As the call went out for people to return and rebuild the Temple, there were two responses which are mentioned in this passage. First, there were those who went. We are told specifically that God had been as work in stirring up their spirit to go and to do this work. We have already seen how God can motivate a pagan king to accomplish His will. Here we see how He also motivates His own people to do His will.

    The second group is made up of people who did not make the journey, but who nevertheless supported the word with gifts and offerings.

    There is a lesson here. Not everyone is called to be a missionary to a foreign country. But those who do not go themselves are nevertheless able to support those who do go.

    2. Opposition in the Land.

    Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." (Ezra 4:1-2).

    The inhabitants of Israel had long since ceased to be Israelite. When the Northern Kingdom of Israel fells to the Assyrians, the people of the land were deported to other countries while other similar refugees were transported to settle in the lands which had belonged to Israel.

    Thus as this chapter opens, there are people living in the land who have come to worship Yahweh, the One whom they perceive to be the God of that land. As they learn that a Temple is being built to Yahweh, they come and offer their services. After all, they are all worshiping the same God. It seems only right that they pool their resources in a true ecumenical effort.

    But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, "You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." (Ezra 4:3).

    The offered assistance from their neighbors is coldly refused. This brings up a question. Were the Jews correct in refusing the aid that was offered? In the previous chapter they actively sought such aid in the form of building supplies from the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon. Solomon had used Phoenician craftsmen in the work of constructing the Temple. Could this not have been an opportunity to take these worshipers of God and to lead them more correctly in the worship of the Lord? There are several answers:

    a. The Fickleness of False Friends.

    This offer of friendship would quickly turn to hatred. Why? Because the offer was a false offer. These neighboring people had their own agenda.

    Here is the principle. False friends will continue to pretend friendship as long as it means that they can get what they want from you.

    b. The Fabrication of False Fidelity.

    The claim of these foreigners was that they had been worshiping the same God as the God of the Israelites. They reasoned that, since they were all worshiping the same God, then they ought to get together and hold hands and sing "Kumbaya" together around a campfire.

    But we know that theirs was a false fidelity. They worshiped a god of their own making. They had heard that Yahweh was the God of this land, so they said, "Let’s take all of our previous idolatry and we will just change the names. Instead of Baal, we will worship Yahweh."

    They even went so far as to accept the Pentateuch. But because they didn’t like certain portions of it, they took it and they rewrote it to be more culturally acceptable.

    c. The Fable of Formulaic Fellowship.

    We live in the age of syncretism - when the only sin over which society is intolerant is the sin of intolerance.

    There are times when Christians SHOULD get together and cross denominational lines. But that does not mean that we automatically join in fellowship with every single person that says something nice about God. The Bible warns against the acceptance of heretics.

    Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, 11 knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11).

    A factious man describes one who makes divisions where there should be none. There are some people who delight in starting arguments. They should not be permitted to remain in the church and sow their seeds of discontent.

  5. A Suspended Work.
  6. Once they had been rebuffed, the enemies of the Jews banded together and sent a letter of complaint to the King of Persia, accusing the Jews of intrigue.

    "Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings. 14 "Now because we are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore we have sent and informed the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste. 16 We inform the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River." (Ezra 4:6-16).

    Have you ever been falsely accused? It cuts to the quick when someone says an untruth about you. What is even worse is when there is a little truth mixed in with the lie. That is the case here.

    The city of Jerusalem HAD been a rebellious city. Against the advice of Jeremiah, the people had revolted against Nebuchadnezzar on at least three different occasions. It was for this reason that the city had been destroyed.

    What was not true was the charge that the Jews were preparing to do it again. Their motivation in rebuilding the city and the Temple was so that they could worship God, not so that they could rebel against Persia. The remaining history of the Jews shows that, when they were finally allowed to complete the work of rebuilding the Temple and the walls of the city, they did not return to their rebellious ways. To the contrary, they continued as faithful subjects of Persia even when Alexander the Great marched into Palestine as a self-proclaimed liberator from the Persian Empire.

    Unfortunately, the lie was believed by those in authority and the proclamation when out to cease and desist the work on the Temple. As a result, the work was halted for a number of years.

  7. The Work Resumed.
  8. When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, 2 then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them. (Ezra 5:1-2).

    As we read this, we must understand that the books of the Bible are not arranged in an exact chronological order from Genesis to Revelation. There are occasional overlaps. This is one of them. As we turn from the end of chapter 4 to begin chapter 5, we must understand that the books of Haggai and Zechariah have been written in the interim.

    Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" (Haggai 1:3-4).

    The Jews had already returned to their homeland and had set about rebuilding their homes. This initial work was now completed. They had resettled in the land. They had even set out to rebuild the Temple. But at the first sight of opposition, they had given up on that endeavor. It is like the old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough quit." They instead had focused their attention upon themselves and their own farms and properties. And so, Haggai calls them to account.

    Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." (Haggai 1:5-6).

    Haggai describes the situation that existed among the people of the land. There were housing shortages, disappointing harvests, lack of clothing and jobs, and inflation had taken its toll. People were working more and more for less and less.

    Haggai uses a play on words as he proclaims that because the Lord's house had remained "a ruin" (hareb, Haggai 1:4, 9), the Lord would bring "a drought" (horeb, Haggai 1:11) on the land. The reason that things were going hard for the Jews was because they were not giving their full devotion to the Lord.

    Ezra’s account does not give us the exact dates of when this took place. But we do find that information provided in the books of Haggai and Zechariah.

    Prophet

    Date of his Ministry

    Haggai

    2nd year of Darius, in the 6th month (Haggai 1:1).

    August - December, 520 B.C.

    Zechariah

    2nd year of Darius, in the 8th month (Zechariah 1:1).

    October, 520 B.C.

    In obedience to the instructions of the prophets, the people resume the work, even though no permission had been given by the Persian governors. There is a principle here. It is that we ought to obey God rather than man. This is not an excuse for rebellion against authority, but it does mean that we recognize the Lord as a higher authority.

    When the Persians learn of the work of rebuilding, an appeal is made on the basis of the initial decree of Cyrus. A search is made and the decree is located. As a result, the present king of Persia issues a decree that the work on the Temple is to be continued to completion.

    Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. (Ezra 6:13-14).

    Once permission has been given, the full weight of the Persian government lends itself to assist in the project. There is a symphony of effort as the elders and the prophets and the Lord and even the kings of Persia combine their mutual efforts to rebuild the Temple of God.

    This temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. (Ezra 6:15).

    Chapter 3

    Chapter 4

    Chapter 5

    Chapter 6

    The work of rebuilding is BEGUN

    The work of rebuilding is HALTED

    The work of rebuilding is RENEWED

    The work of rebuilding is COMPLETED

  9. The Dedication of the Temple.

And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

They offered for the dedication of this temple of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. (Ezra 6:16-18).

Now the Jews enter into a service of dedication as they present the results of their labors to the Lord. It is a joyous time of sacrifice of worship as the priests are appointed to their appropriate divisions - the priesthood was divided into 24 courses so that each course would officiate twice per year in the temple. All of the courses would come together at the times of the great feasts.

Now as they come, it is for a time of celebration to the Lord. We are told the number of sacrifices that are brought and the number is considerably less than was brought for the initial dedication of the Temple in the days of Solomon. There are considerable less worshipers gathered. And the Temple may be considerably smaller. But that is okay. The issue is not the size of the offering, the number of people or the size of the structure. The issue is the heart of worship.

One key thing that is lacking in this dedication which was observable in the previous dedications of the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple was the visible presence of the Lord in the Shekinah Cloud. After the Tabernacle was erected, we read that the cloud of the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle so that even Moses was not able to enter in (Exodus 40:34-35). In the same way, when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated, the cloud of God filled the Temple so that the priests were for a time unable to minister (2 Kings 8:10-11).

But this time there is no mention of the cloud. There is no visible presence of the Lord. The people celebrate, but there is silence from heaven. The book of Malachi contains a promise of the coming of the Lord’s presence.

"Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1).

The promise was that the Lord would one day come to His temple. But that coming would be preceded by a messenger who would prepare the way before Him.

This was literally fulfilled in the persons of John the Baptist and Jesus. John was the messenger of God who broke the prophetic silence after 400 years. And Jesus is the Lord incarnate who came suddenly to His Temple, overturning the tables of those who had defiled it and presenting Himself as the very Messiah of God.

THE BOOK OF ESTHER

 The book of Esther follows a chiastic outline with the central actions of Esther being the pivotal point of the book. As such, there is both a rising action and a descending action.

1:1 - 2:18

2:19-23

3:1-15

4:1 - 7:10

8:1 - 9:17

9:18-32

10:1-3

Esther becomes Queen

Mordecai saves the King’s Life

Haman plots against Jews

Esther acts to deliver her people

Jews to defend themselves

Jews celebrate

Mordecai rewarded

Esther & Modecai in the Persian Court

Trouble for the Jews

Victory for the Jews

Esther & Modecai in the Persian Court

Esther is a Jewish orphan who is living in the kingdom of Persia. She is raised by her cousin Mordecai and finds herself at the center of events where she is able to play a key role in the delivering of her people from the threat of destruction.

The name Esther is actually Hadassah. It is similar to the Akkadian word hadassatu, meaning "bride."

Haman

Mordecai

A descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites whose life Saul spared in disobedience to the command of God

From the tribe and family of Saul (Esther 2:5).

Enemy of the people of God

Savior of the people of God

Saul did not recognize the danger that Agag posed to the people of God. He was blind to the real issues.

Mordecai was alert to the real issues and overheard that which brought salvation to the people of God and death to the evil Haman.

 

POINTS TO PONDER

 

LESSONS FROM ESTHER

  1. God wins.
  2. When God wins, the person that He uses is often unexpected. You have only to read the resumes of people such as Moses, David, Peter, Paul, James & John to see that God delights in using people that would be rejected by the world.
  3. When God wins, the person He uses is usually unpretentious. God raises up the humble and He brings down the proud. This does not mean that you ought to go out and try to LOOK humble. Real humility is on the inside.

 

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH

Ezra was already in Jerusalem, but God needed someone else. He needed a politician. Imagine that! God used a politician named Nehemiah to do great things. We ought to pray for our leaders to be anointed with this Spirit of God. Nehemiah was such a man.

Under the ministry of Haggai and Zechariah, the people had rebuilt the Temple.

Then Ezra had led a return to the land with a second group of returning Jews and had instituted a revival in the land. Nehemiah came on the scene about 12 or 13 years after Ezra had made his return to the land. The book of Nehemiah can be divided into two major parts:

1:1-11

2:1-10

2:11-20

3:1 - 6:19

7:1-73

8:1 - 12:47

13:1-31

Nehemiah talks to God

Nehemiah talks to the King

The work planned

The work completed

Number of the people

Covenant renewal

Further reforms

Conception

Completion

Consecration

Work

Worship

Rebuilding the Wall

Revival of the People

Cupbearer of the King

Builder of the Wall

Governor of the People

The book of Nehemiah begins and ends with prayer. The prayer at the beginning of the book takes place when Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king of Persia, hears of the sad state of affairs back in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah responds by going before the Lord with a prayer of repentance. That is striking because Nehemiah wasn't a party to the sins that had resulted in the scattering of the nation and the destruction of Jerusalem. They had taken place long before he was born. But he nevertheless realizes the truth of a national guilt.

REBUILDING THE WALL

  1. Nehemiah before the King (Chapter 2:1-10).
  2. Nehemiah makes his request of Artaxerxes, the king of the Persian Empire. He specifically requests letters of authorization for his travels as well as for the acquisition of the building materials he shall need to perform the task.

    When he is asked by the king how long this project would take and how long it would be before Nehemiah could return to his palace duties, we read that Nehemiah "gave him a definite time." This tells me something about Nehemiah. He was a man both of prayer as well as of planning. He wasn't "shooting from the hip." He had carefully thought through what would be needed.

  3. Reconnaissance by night (2:11-16).
  4. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

    13 So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. 14 Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. 15 So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who did the work. (Nehemiah 2:11-16).

    We are given some considerable detail as to the reconnaissance. We are specifically told that Nehemiah was in the city for three days. This is striking because he has been waiting to get to Jerusalem for over four months and he gets the permission and he gets the funding and he finally arrives at the city and then, for three days, there is no apparent activity. Why?

    There is a lot that goes on in ministry behind the scenes. A lot of it is planning. Nehemiah is seen to be the master planner. A part of that plan involves going through the city by night and developing a vision. He then will go on to share that vision with the people.

    Here is the principle. You've got to have the vision yourself before you can give it to others. Don't try to infect others with your Christian faith unless you have the real disease yourself. If it is not real in your life, then don't try to export it.

  5. Delegation of Labor (Chapter 3).
  6. Throughout chapter 3 we are given a listing of each section of the wall and the names of those to whom that portion of labor was assigned. Why is this included? I'm not certain, but I find it interesting that Nehemiah knew their names. That tells me something about leadership. It has to be PERSONAL.

  7. Opposition (Chapter 4-6).

Opposition comes in each of these three chapters. It comes both from without as well as from within.

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Opposition from Without

Opposition from Within

Opposition from Without

Sanballat and Tobiah conspire against the work with a planned attack

Jewish nobility taking financial advantage of their Jewish brothers

Sanballat and Geshem plot to assassinate Nehemiah

And it came about from that day on, that half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. (Nehemiah 4:16-18).

The fact that Nehemiah and the people of Israel were trusting in the Lord did not mean that they did not make careful preparations against the attacks of their enemies.

Have you ever known someone who was described as being so heavenly minded that he was of no earthly good? We ought to be Street-smart Christians.

 

COVENANT RENEWAL OF THE NATION

The first part of the book of Nehemiah deals with the rebuilding of the wall of the city of Jerusalem. The latter part of the book deals with the rebuilding of the spiritual life of the nation.

  1. The Place of Revival.

And all the people gathered as one man 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.

Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. (Nehemiah 8:1-3).

Where do you go to find revival? I would expect it to be in the temple. That was the place of Jewish worship. It was the place where the sacrifices were made every morning and every evening. It had been rebuilt in the years prior to Nehemiah's arrival in Jerusalem.

Yet this revival did not begin at the temple. It started at the Sha'ar Ha-Mayim - the Gate of the Water. This gate faced eastward toward the Mount of Olives. Its name came from the fact that it was near to the Gihon Spring and people would go out this gate to get water.

Where do you find real revival? In the parking lot of a shopping mall? On a wilderness mountainside by a burning bush? In a lion's den of Babylon? In the belly of a whale? With a Samaritan woman by a well?

Jesus said that the place is not important. What is important is that you learn to worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

This revival began with:

  1. A Celebration of Revival.

And all the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them. (Nehemiah 8:12).

The initial reaction to the reading of the law was anything but joyful. The people heard the law and they recognized that they had fallen far short and this led them to mourn and to grieve. But then Ezra and Nehemiah called them to rejoice and to celebrate. Why? The answer is seen in verse 10.

"Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

The bad news is that you are not good enough or strong enough or righteous enough to stand in the presence of God. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus was good enough and strong enough and righteous enough. He was strong in your place. His strength is such that He took your sins upon Himself on the cross.

A message like that will result in celebration.


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