Book of Nehemiah

 September 15-18th, Nehemiah.

For the next four days, we're diving into the famous book of Nehemiah—the ultimate MEN-AT-WORK story in the Bible. If you’ve ever thought that building and construction was tough, just wait till you see how Nehemiah pulls it off! But first, let’s rewind a bit: this book follows right after Ezra, making it clear that God’s priority is to get His people spiritually ready before they start tackling life's physical challenges. Sound familiar? It’s a lot like living out Matthew 6:33—seek first the Kingdom of God, and then… deal with your walls!


Now, fun fact: Ezra and Nehemiah were originally ONE BOOK in the Hebrew Bible, and together with Esther, they form the post-captivity historical books. These two guys are basically covering 110 years of Israel's history. Yep, they’ve got stories!


Ezra—our resident priest, scribe, and all-around spiritual leader—was busy aligning hearts with God. Think of him as the guy who gets the spiritual Wi-Fi back online after a major outage. And then comes Nehemiah, a master of leadership and organization. This guy gave up a classy, wealthy job in Persia to return to the broken-down homeland of his ancestors. Not just to retire though—Nehemiah was here to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem! Talk about hands-on leadership.


Though these two were different in personality and calling, God used them both to lead His people. Ezra handled the spiritual REVIVAL, while Nehemiah led the physical RESTORATION. In the end, balance was key—they rebuilt both the hearts of the people and the walls of the city.


But wait, there’s more! After we wrap up with Nehemiah, we’ll shift gears to the last book of the Old Testament, where God ties up a few loose ends before going silent for 400 years. Yep, four(more or less) major themes will surface, and then… total radio silence! Can you hear me? Hello!? Margaret?😂 But we’ll get to that.


So, buckle up—it’s time to see how these men-at-work get stuff done!


Additional:
As you read Nehemiah, kindly realize that it's part of the fulfillment of the utterance by the Angel as a response to Daniels prayer in...

Daniel 9:22-25
He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision: “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, BUT IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.

... A testament to the fact that Gods word never returns to him void. They were rebuilding and there was trouble from all over.


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