Day 140 (Saturday) - Nehemiah 11:22-13:22

Nehemiah the watch dog! This poor guy has to be the police for these people. They quickly fall into their old patterns and Nehemiah has to jump in and correct the problem. I especially love the way he handles the men who remarried foreign women. He confronts them, calls down curses on them, beats some and pulls their hair out…ouch!

Day 139 (Friday) - Nehemiah 8:9-11:21

The people do two interesting things in these chapters. They remember. We have seen this pattern of remembering to help the people have a reason to trust God and turn to him. Remember What God has done in the past and you are better prepared to trust him today and tomorrow. The second thing the people do is make a vow to obey God. They are going to re-implement the laws of God and obey them. They feel so strongly that they are willing to add a curse to it if they stray. Remember and commit…trust and obey.

Day 138 (Thursday) - Nehemiah 6:1-8:8

The work of rebuilding is done and pastor Ezra gets up and gives an expository sermon that seems to last all day long. Reading the text and explaining it. The Scriptures are so important that the people stand to their feet when it is opened and fall to their face in worship. The dedication service is a huge event and it signifies the return of God’s people, not only to the temple and city, but to the true worship of the God of their ancestors.

Day 137 (Wednesday) - Nehemiah 2-5

I like Nehemiah; he is a take action kind of guy. He sees a problem and he gets to fixing it right away. He does his due diligence by surveying the problem, but he does not waste time getting after it. No obstacle will keep him from the task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall; not labor, threats or squabbles. He reminds me of Larry the Cable Guy when he says, “Git-R-Done!”

Day 136 (Tuesday) - Ezra 8-10; Nehemiah 1

It was important to protect the purity of the Jewish nation, not because interracial marriage was bad (physically), but because of their religious practices and traditions. Over time, these marriages would start to turn the hearts of the people away from God to the pagan gods of these women. It would have been a difficult thing to divorce a person you love and I don’t pretend to fully understand the cultural situation but there is a real importance to being equally yoked. Ezra does understand the seriousness of this situation and he takes the action he believes is the best for resolving the sin issue.

Day 135 (Monday) - Ezra 4-7

Again, the Temple is worked on with help from another Persian king. God’s power had made its way into the official record books and there was a fear that if they (Persians) interrupted or prevented the rebuilding of the Temple, that some calamity would strike them.

Ezra has come on the scene and if you noticed he is a descendant of Aaron, the high priest. He is also a scribe, one that copies the scriptures and interprets them as well as teaches them. This is the beginning of what will later be the rabbi. Ezra is special in his role as a scribe but more so as is role as a priest in the line of Aaron.

Day 134 (Sunday) - 2 Chronicles 35:20-36:23; Ezra 1-3

It is a Persian king, Cyrus, who proclaims that the Jewish people were to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple…wow! It is amazing how God works and who he chooses to use. It’s just as fascinating to see who obeys as well as who rejects God. A lot took place between chapter 36 of 2 Chronicles and Ezra as King Cyrus defeated king Nebuchadnezzar. It was customary for the Persians to allow captives to return to their homes. God used this custom to bring his people back to their homes.