Nehemiah 9 (part 1)

Nehemiah 8:13-18

From the Pulpit Commentary (1909): "The careful student of God's word is rewarded by important discoveries. He will find truths, precepts, and promises which are new to him, or come with all the freshness and force of a new revelation, to correct his beliefs or his conduct, or to give him new comfort and joy. The Bible is an inexhaustible mine of eternal treasures. It will repay the constant study of a life."

Nehemiah 8 When the people hear the "Book of the Law of God" read and explained to them, they weep and mourn. But Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites tell them not to grieve "for the joy of the LORD is your strength". This is such a powerful truth!

Nehemiah 7-8 (part 1)

Soon after after the walls are finished "all the people" Gather together and ask Ezra to read "the Book of the Law of Moses" to them. They don't want Ezra to wax eloquent with his own musings on life and faith and they aren't gathered to swap their own ideas about God, they want to know how GOD has revealed Himself!

(Back from our East coast vacation to visit family)

Nehemiah 6

Nehemiah faces a persistent battery of temptations to stop him from his God-given effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 5 is a terrific example how Christians (individually) and the church (collectively) should respond to opposition and hardship. Mistreatment & opposition from outsiders is to be expected (to some degree); but sometimes, the opposition originates from those expected to be allies! What then?

Nehemiah 4

We begin by spending some time confirming the late juncture in which Nehemiah arrives -- by all accounts, in very close connection with Malachi. Otherwise, in chapter 4, we see that as Nehemiah makes progress on the rebuilding effort, his opponents intensify their efforts to stop him!

Nehemiah 2-4

Nehemiah has only known life outside of Israel. He is living a very comfortable, secure life serving the King of the Persian empire -- so WHY does he even care about what's happening in Jerusalem nearly 1000 miles away?