Week Nineteen Reading Assignment:
Nehemiah 2 - Job 1

“The Bible isn’t all easy to understand.  Picking bits at random can be dangerous. Only serious, reverent study secures its treasures.  This takes time -- and we have crowded our lives with other things. So let us resolve to know this book better, to learn to live in it, to give time to it daily, to wait on the Holy Spirit before we turn a page, to let God apply it to our soul.”

(William Sangster)

This Week's Teaching Video: Late Old Testament Geography

Charting Our Progress

Character Profile:
Hero in the Rubble

When the Book of Nehemiah opens, things are in ruins.

The ruins to which we are introduced first are the material ones.  The walls and gates of Jerusalem, torn apart and bro-ken down by the Babylonian army a gen-eration before, are still rubble. Worse, they are now overgrown rubble: a symbol of both defeat and neglect.

When Nehemiah hears the news, he is moved to tears.  Then to prayer.  And then, by God’s providence and the em-peror’s permission, Nehemiah is moved to Jerusalem.

When Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, the walls are not the only ruins he finds.  The courage and the hope of the people living in the land was also very fragile.  There was much opposition and many obstacles to discourage them.  Further-more, there so much about the day-to-day life among the Jews there that was in shambles.  There was economic oppres-sion of some, widespread carelessness about the Sabbath and other holy days, neglect of God’s Temple, and a cavalier attitude toward the practice of inter-marrying with foreign women.

Nehemiah met each of those challenges with a bold brand of righteous indignation and determination.  He was no-nonsense in his rebukes, uncompromising in his reforms, fearless in his actions, faithful in his vision, and tireless in his obedience. 

By the end of the book, the gates and the walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt, tall and strong.  And so, too, are the lives and the lifestyles of the its inhabitants.

The Good Book Review:
Unsung Hero

Because Nehemiah’s story is tucked away at the neglected end of Old Testament history, and because it lacks the flashy miracles of some other
stories, he may be unfamiliar to us. He does not enjoy the prominence in preaching, teaching, and children’s songs and books that other Old Testament people like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, and Daniel do.  

But Nehemiah is every bit the hero of faith that those more famous folks were. 

Nehemiah lived in post-exilic Persia, where he held a position of significance and responsibility at court.  Moved by troubling reports from Judah, however, he left his place at the emperor’s side to oversee a rebuilding process in the rubble that the Babylonians had left behind when they destroyed Jerusalem well over a century before. 

Nehemiah encountered every kind of opposition. There were the human foes, with their weapons, taunts, and threats.  There were covert attempts to thwart his work and undermine his reputation. 
There was also the monumental task itself.  And then there were the complicating factors of the fears, lethargy, and unfaithfulness of Nehemiah’s own people. 

Through it all, we see in Nehemiah a man of purpose, a man of prayer, a man of faith, and a man of action.  He relies upon God. He is undaunted by obstacles and opposition.  He fixes whatever needs fixing — structurally, spiritually, and behaviorally.  And he gets the job done.   

The Good Book Review:
Invisible God

The Book of Esther has a strange claim to fame within the larger library of Scripture.  Of the 66 books in the Bible, Esther is the only one that does not explicitly mention God. 

That fact surprises folks in one of two ways. 

Some find it surprising for a book that doesn’t even mention God to be included in the Bible.  While others, having read the book, may be surprised to learn that God is not mentioned in it, for He is so obviously and unmistakably involved in it. 

The story of Esther makes an interesting comparison with the Book of Exodus.  They come at opposite ends of Israel’s Old Testament history, yet they are both accounts of how God saved His people. 

In Exodus, God is front-and-center.  He speaks.  He works miracles.  He tells what He is going to do, then does it. His presence is visible and audible. 

In Esther, by contrast, God is invisible and inaudible. He is not credited with speaking to anyone or doing anything. Instead, the Jews are saved by a series of events — an insubordinate
queen, a beauty contest, an uncovered plot, a king with insomnia, etc. The agnostic sees luck and coincidence. The believer sees the hand of God’s
providence. 

Esther’s book does not mention God, but it reminds us of His versatility.  He can save as the star of the show, front-and-center; or He can save without credit from behind the scenes.