TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Ezra 8:1-20
May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. - Psalm 119:173
TODAY IN THE WORD
Imagine arriving at your church today, or any given Sunday, and finding no one on duty: no Sunday school teachers or children’s workers; no ushers; no volunteers to help in the parking lot or welcome visitors; and no custodial staff to unlock the doors, turn on the lights, clean the classrooms, and arrange furniture or whatever is needed for each class. If that happened, it would be a very frustrating and chaotic day at your place of worship. Even in smaller churches, it takes the dedicated service of many people to fulfill the church’s ministry.

The analogy isn’t perfect, but the problem described above is similar to the problem Ezra faced as he and the Jewish exiles with him prepared to leave Persia for Jerusalem. The problem was that Ezra didn’t find any Levites among the families who had chosen to return with him. The group probably numbered several thousand including women and children, but apparently no Levites volunteered to go. This meant there would be a shortage of leaders to teach God’s law to the people, which Ezra knew was absolutely vital to Israel’s well-being. In fact, he refused to leave for Jerusalem until some Levites could be found to go.

Most of the families who left Babylon with Ezra were related to the families that returned with Zerubbabel many years earlier. The group camped for three days before leaving Persia for good, and it was during this time that Ezra discovered the absence of Levites.

God had designated the tribe of Levi to serve in the temple, and Ezra was determined to do things according to God’s Law. He appointed a delegation of leading men to go to a place called Casiphia and ask for Levites and temple servants who would be willing to serve at the temple in Jerusalem.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We can say for sure that there may be people among the pastors, Sunday school teachers, and other committed people, who serve at your church, who could use a note or call of appreciation. Ask God to bring a name to mind, or you may already know of someone at church who is facing a tough time and needs your encouragement. Jot down the name or names of the people you plan to contact, and make it a point to write notes or make phone calls this week.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Ezra 8:21-36
The good hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him. - Ezra 8:22
TODAY IN THE WORD
The story of missionary Gladys Aylward and her trek over mountainous terrain in China with one hundred children was so incredible that it became the subject of the classic film, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.Gladys was a British woman who overcame huge obstacles and paid her own way to China to serve the Lord after being turned down by several missionary societies. When the Japanese army invaded China in 1940, Gladys led the group of Chinese children to safety in a journey filled with hardships and danger.

We can only guess at the dangers involved in the four-month, nine hundred-mile trip that Ezra and his fellow Jews made from Babylon to Jerusalem. He recorded nothing about the trip except the all-important fact that “the hand of our God was on us” (v. 31). Ezra certainly knew the danger involved, especially considering that the exiles would be carrying gold and silver worth millions by today’s standards. Ezra may have felt he had been premature in telling King Artaxerxes that God would protect the travelers, since he was “embarrassed” to ask for a military escort. But whatever the case, Ezra can’t be faulted for his strong faith in God’s ability to see His people through a very tough trip.

It’s interesting to see the way Ezra prepared himself and the people spiritually for the return to Israel. He proclaimed a fast to seek God’s favor, which revealed Ezra’s humility. Fasting is a powerful ministry; when God’s people fast, we are telling Him that He is more important to us than the food we need to sustain our bodies.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Has God brought you through some tough times and rough “trips” of your own? If so, the story of His grace in your life is worth telling. Consider writing out your testimony--whether to share with family and friends, to keep for your children to read someday, or to use for your own blessing and benefit in reminding yourself of God’s goodness to you when times weren’t so easy. When you’re finished, spend some time offering God a “sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15). Thank Him for being with you always, in all the seasons of life.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Ezra 9:1-15
“Come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” - 2 Corinthians 6:17
TODAY IN THE WORD
Someone has said that God’s people tend to have short spiritual memories. Most of us can verify the truth of that statement. We’re usually pretty good at following God in tough times because, after all, where else can we turn for strength and help? But when times get better, or God gets us out of a tight spot, it’s easy to forget His deliverance. Worse yet, sometimes we wind up back where we started, doing the things that got us into trouble in the first place.

It seems almost inconceivable that the Israelites of Ezra’s day could have fallen into the sin of intermarrying with the idolatrous peoples around them. This was the one sin that, as much as any other, led to Israel’s spiritual downfall and captivity. God had strictly forbidden intermarriage with other nations, because He knew that His people’s hearts would be led astray by these unholy unions. This was not an issue of racial purity, but spiritual purity. Israel’s long spiritual decline can be traced back as far as Solomon, who married many foreign women who worshiped detestable idols. Solomon’s wives turned his heart from the Lord (1 Kings 11:1–8), and the worship of idols was established in Israel.

We said at the beginning of our study that Israel’s seventy-year captivity in Babylon finally cured God’s people of their infatuation with idol worship. But here were some of the former exiles, including the leaders, disobeying God and inviting His judgment again by taking foreign women as wives for themselves and their sons. No wonder Ezra tore his clothes and even pulled out some of his hair, a sign of extreme anguish. He knew what was at stake in this mess, and he was very zealous for God’s honor.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
If spiritual amnesia comes so easy to us, maybe we need to practice our “remembering.” Here’s a brief prayer checklist list you can use each day to keep your memory of God’s grace and His holiness sharp. 1) Give thanks in everything (1 Thess. 5:18). 2) Ask God to search your heart and show you any “offensive way” (Ps. 139:23–24). 3) Don’t be anxious about anything, but bring your requests to God (Phil. 4:6). 4) Ask God to cleanse you from “hidden faults” and keep you from “willful sins” (Ps. 19:12–13).

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Ezra 10:1-17
Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. - Psalm 102:2
TODAY IN THE WORD
The late Sam Rayburn, legendary Texas congressman and former speaker of the House of Representatives, once offered this advice to other members of Congress: “On any piece of legislation, if you’re convinced in your heart that something is right, do it, go after it, fight for it, even if you find yourself in a minority of one.”

Ezra wasn’t a politician, but he knew that he was doing the right thing in seeking God’s forgiveness and confronting the people who had entered into unholy marriages with non-Israelites. And in this case, he was not alone. Ezra’s deep and sincere grief brought forward a large group of people who were also deeply distressed over this violation of God’s Law.

This was a difficult issue, but the Law of Moses on this point could not have been more clear. Speaking of Israel’s dealings with the Canaanites around them, Moses said, “Do not intermarry with them” (Deut. 7:3). But apparently the practice of marrying foreign women had been widespread among the returned Jewish exiles, and these marriages must have been tolerated for some time.

Ezra called for the hard but necessary step of separating the Israelite offenders from their unlawful spouses. The outdoor meeting at which he issued this decision must have been quite

a sight: thousands of people gathered near the temple, shivering from the fear of God’s punishment and the cold winter rain that was falling on them. Ezra wanted to be sure each case was thoroughly reviewed, so he allowed local judges and elders to hear the cases in their districts. This way, any foreign wives who had become true followers of the God of Israel could make a case for staying with their husbands.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Getting involved in sin and then trying to undo the damage can be compared to driving down an extremely narrow alley between two buildings and coming to a brick wall. The only way out is to go back the way you came in, except that going back will be a lot harder. How much better to avoid those narrow alleys. Today is a good day for a mid-week checkup to examine your heart before the Lord and make any needed corrections. And our God is faithful to help you!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 1:1-11
O Lord, let your ear be attentive . . . to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. - Nehemiah 1:11
TODAY IN THE WORD
Beginning today we will probably be on more familiar ground for most Today in the Word readers. Nehemiah is a popular book among Christians, with good reason. Nehemiah’s story is dramatic in itself, and his dynamic leadership gives us many principles for church leadership and success in life. Nehemiah has also provided the biblical theme for countless church building programs, with his stirring challenges to the people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

But Nehemiah has many other important lessons for us besides the author’s leadership principles. Like Ezra, the book of Nehemiah is an example of how to follow and obey God in tough times. In fact, the two books are so closely related that they are actually one book in the Hebrew Bible.

Studying Ezra gives us a much better grasp of Nehemiah’s historical setting. The events in this book pick up the story of the Jewish exiles in 444 B.C., about fourteen years after Ezra finished his account. Ezra was in Jerusalem when Nehemiah arrived to inspect the city’s walls, so we’ll meet up with Ezra along the way.

All we know about Nehemiah is that he was a Jewish captive in Persia who was a personal servant to King Artaxerxes. He was also a godly person who was as zealous for God and His holy name as Ezra. The report that Nehemiah received from some Jewish brothers broke his heart. Jerusalem’s ruined walls and gates made people vulnerable to attack. He also realized that the holy city’s condition reflected poorly on the great God whom Israel worshiped and served.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The word simply translated “love” in Nehemiah 1:5 is, as we suggested above, a special word of God’s covenant love with Israel. It could even be translated as “loyal love.” God has shown us this same eternal, faithful love by sending Jesus to die for our sins. He loves us with an everlasting love!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 2:1-20
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. - Proverbs 21:1
TODAY IN THE WORD
Former president Dwight Eisenhower once remarked that leadership requires “persuasion, and conciliation, and education, and patience. It’s long, slow, tough work.”

Given these requirements and the hard work involved in leadership, it’s not surprising that the list of effective leaders in history is relatively short. And if you want to narrow that list even further, limit it to those leaders who accomplished the most amazing things under the toughest circumstances imaginable. Nehemiah’s name would be on this short list. He was a captive in a foreign country who had no way to return to his devastated homeland and no resources to rebuild it even if he were able to go back. Nehemiah also served a pagan king who had already stopped the rebuilding of Jerusalem once (Ezra 4:17–21) and had heard on more than one occasion that those Jews in the Persian province of Judah were rebels.

In other words, Nehemiah had a lot going against him, just as we often do when we’re facing tough times. But Nehemiah had the weapon of prayer, which was effective because he served the God of the universe who can turn even a king’s heart around. God caused Artaxerxes to be compassionate toward Nehemiah’s concern and favorable to his request. The king gave his cupbearer the time, the authority, and the military protection Nehemiah needed to return to Jerusalem and do something about the city’s plight.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Nehemiah’s requests of the king indicate that he had been specific in his prayers. Praying for people and situations by name and with specific requests is both a good prayer discipline and a great faith-builder. But it’s also hard to remember everything we need to pray for, which is why we urge you to start a written prayer journal if you don’t have one. All you need is a blank notebook with two columns--your request and God’s answer. A prayer journal is also a terrific object lesson for God’s children to observe our Lord’s faithfulness.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 3:1-16
Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. - Psalm 127:1
TODAY IN THE WORD
If one of the secrets of great leadership is the ability to delegate effectively, then Nehemiah deserves to be in the Leadership Hall of Fame for this quality alone. He organized the work on the walls and gates of Jerusalem in a masterful manner.

Nehemiah had already laid the groundwork for this project by rallying the people with the prospect of reversing Jeru-salem’s disgraceful condition and by the stirring story of God’s good hand in his life in Persia (2:17–18). This speech was so effective that Nehemiah didn’t even have to deliver the final rallying cry. The people themselves said, “Let’s get started.” They understood that, in the words of today’s verse, the Lord was with them and their labor would not be in vain.

Nehemiah assigned workers for each section of the wall, using personal interest or family concerns to motivate them for the job. For instance, the Sheep Gate, through which sheep were brought into the city for sacrifice, was repaired by the high priest Eliahshib (the grandson of Jeshua, the high priest under Zerubbabel) and the other priests. We also learn that many of the workers were assigned to work on a section of the wall near their homes, meaning they would be more likely to work hard and defend this section if attacked.

The rebuilding of Jerusalem was a huge project undertaken in very bad circumstances. Remember that the people were working amid rubble piles so high that Nehemiah had to turn back at one point on his inspection tour. The wreckage was a grim reminder of the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and a sad reminder of what the city had once been. There were also people living in the region who did not want to see Jerusalem rebuilt, so the workers had plenty of reasons to be fearful or discouraged.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We read that the work reached a point near the tombs of David and his descendants, and the “Hall of Heroes,” possibly the barracks of David’s famous “mighty men.” In other words, those builders had plenty of reminders of the people whom God had used to strengthen Israel in days past.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 3:17-32; Psalm 24:7-10
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. - Psalm 100:4
TODAY IN THE WORD
The head of the concierge service at a luxury hotel in Dallas was called to the room of a special guest one evening to fill an unusual request. The special guest was Britain’s Prince Charles, who was in town to tour certain business facilities and to give a speech. The prince wanted to be more knowledgeable of Texas and its history before his visit and speech to the businessmen, and the head concierge happened to be an avid student of Texas history. So the two sat down together in the prince’s hotel room, with the prince urging the man, “Call me Charles.” They chatted for several hours as the concierge told his stories of Texas history and the two men shared talk of family and other things. Prince Charles even gave the man his personal card--this hotel employee had a quite a story to tell!

The gates of Jerusalem also had quite a story to tell, one of the royalty, glory, splendor, and victory that the city had witnessed in the years before the inglorious defeat and exile of God’s sinful people. The second half of Nehemiah 3 is a pretty straightforward account of the rebuilding, important in itself but absent of spiritual detail. But Psalm 24 reminds us that the gates of Jerusalem were important for God’s people beyond their function of providing protection and access to the city.

David may have written Psalm 24 when he brought the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6). Most Bible commentators agree that the greater fulfillment of Psalm 24 will be realized when Jesus, the King of glory, returns to establish His kingdom.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Yesterday we talked about looking back to a time when the Lord blessed you. Today, let’s bring the focus back to the present. It’s great to remember what God did for us, but we also need to experience His power at work in our lives today. With that in mind, here’s a question to reflect on today:

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 4:1-23
Our God will fight for us! - Nehemiah 4:20
TODAY IN THE WORD
It’s appropriate that our topic for President’s Day is the opposition of the enemy. This federal holiday honors the February birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who led this nation through two great wars and faced some of the hardest times the United States has ever experienced.

Washington wasn’t president during the Revolutionary War, but he was certainly the emerging leader of the country. And Lincoln faced possibly the greatest opposition any leader has ever faced during the Civil War. One writer said that Lincoln was constantly being attacked from all sides.

Nehemiah also encountered stiff opposition from all sides as the work progressed on the wall of Jerusalem. When the enemies of the Jews saw that the laborers were actually getting somewhere on this staggering job, they realized it was time to act. Sanballat, Tobiah, and their friends may have wanted to rule Judah themselves, or they may have been motivated by hatred of the Jews. More-over, Tobiah was an Ammonite, a people who were the ancient foes of Israel.

These men started with ridicule, and when that didn’t work they plotted to kill Nehe-miah and the workers. Nehemiah knew their threats were not empty, so as a leader of prayer and action, he turned to the Lord for help and then put a plan into effect. It is amazing how Nehemiah set up his defenses without stopping the work. But we also need to remember that he and his workers were in a dangerous position, and the people were exhausted from the hard work. Nehemiah realized that if the enemy attacked in force, it would be a fight for survival. So he kept a trumpeter with him who could rally the people at any point of attack.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Nehemiah’s response to opposition is a good reminder of our need to be always on guard against our enemy, the devil. He may hit us with a frontal assault, but more often than not he uses tactics like discouragement, lust, anger, or pride to try and trip us up. Do you know where your spiritual defenses are the weakest? Search God’s Word with the help of a concordance or topical index and find verses to fortify you in your area of greatest spiritual need.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 5:1-19
If there is a poor man among your brothers . . . be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. - Deuteronomy 15:7-8
TODAY IN THE WORD
“Slavery” is certainly one of the ugliest words in any language. The destructive nature of slavery on a people was foreseen by some of America’s early leaders, who had to deal with the issue in the decades leading up to the Civil War. When Missouri applied for admission into the Union as a slave state in 1818, former presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams had deep forebodings for the country’s future. Jefferson told President James Monroe that the controversy over Missouri’s request was “like a fireball in the night.” Adams called it “a mere preamble–a title page to a great tragic volume.” Their fears of tragic conflict for the nation proved to be well-founded.

The Jews of Nehemiah’s day had come out of virtual slavery as ex-captives in Persia. So it seems unbelievable that some of the returned exiles would stand by while others sold their children into slavery to pay their debts. But that was the situation Nehemiah faced as he turned from Judah’s external enemies to deal with internal problems that threatened the existence of the exile community.

Economic hardships began to press hard on some of the people. The demands of the rebuilding left the workers little time to plant and harvest crops, and an apparent crop failure had created a famine. The results were devastating. Some of the people lacked food. Sometimes they were forced to mortgage their property to buy food. Some were borrowing money to pay taxes to Persia, and their Jewish brothers were profiteering by charging them high interest. And then there were the desperate Israelites who had to sell their own children into slavery.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We can follow Nehemiah’s example of generosity today. God’s Word, in Deuteronomy 15:10, offers this promise to those who “give generously”: “Because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 6:1-7:3
The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? - Psalm 27:1
TODAY IN THE WORD
After the American colonists’ victory over the British in the Revolutionary War, conditions in the new nation were far from perfect. Rampant inflation and other severe problems led one army officer to write a letter to George Washington on May 22, 1782. The letter suggested that the commander seize power with the help of the army, declare himself king or dictator, and establish a stable government that could meet its financial obligations. Washington reacted to the idea with scorn. “I must view [the proposals] with abhorrence and reprehend with severity,” he wrote back. “I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to [this idea] which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my Country.” The officer quickly dashed off a letter of apology.

Washington’s reply is strikingly similar to the answer Nehemiah gave to those who charged that he was scheming to set himself up as king of Judah. Nothing in his conduct as governor of the province could have given anyone reason to think he was making a grab for power. The charge that Nehemiah was plotting treason against King Artaxerxes was just one of the tactics of his enemies trying to destroy him and God’s people.

These people were serious about harming Nehemiah, and he knew what they were capable of. He saw through their offer to meet him for a “peace conference” near Sanballat’s home area in Samaria. Nehemiah’s offer to meet elsewhere was rejected, revealing the plotters’ true intentions.

Then these evil men turned to the charge of treason, and when that failed, they hired one of Nehemiah’s fellow Israelites to trick him. The idea was to scare Nehemiah into hiding in the part of the temple where only priests were allowed, which would have destroyed his testimony and credibility.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
There is no real secret to Nehemiah’s rock-like steadiness in the face of intense opposition. He was a person who knew and trusted in God, and turned to Him in prayer as his first response to trouble. Nehemiah had faced the question posed in Psalm 27:1, and he had reached the same conclusion as the psalmist. He didn’t have fear. And we, too, don’t need to fear anyone if the Lord is our salvation. Meditate on today’s verse, and to remind yourself of this truth, write this verse on a card and put it where you’ll see it often.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 7:4-7; 8:1-18
The joy of the Lord is your strength. - Nehemiah 8:10
TODAY IN THE WORD
Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson tells of a memorable experience he had while bringing Christmas presents to the children of prison inmates. Colson and his wife met a small boy who told them his name was Immanuel. When Colson opened his Bible to Matthew 1:23 and showed Immanuel that his name meant “God with us,” the boy jumped up excitedly and said to his mother, “Mommy, God is with us! God is with us!”

What a refreshing, exuberant response to God’s Word. We don’t see that very often, because most of us move in circles where people have been reading the Bible for years. But when its truth is fresh and new, people can’t help but be moved. That’s what happened when Ezra began to read God’s Law to the returned exiles in Judah.

Jerusalem was secure behind its walls and gates, and Nehemiah wanted to encourage more people to build homes and settle in the city. To ensure that only those of pure Jewish descent were included, he called for an assembly of the people and opened the genealogical records of the families who had first returned under Zerubbabel. This list is very similar to Ezra 2. You can read about the slight numerical discrepancies in any good Bible commentary.

The amazing thing happened when the people assembled. They asked Ezra, the priest and teacher of the Law, to read God’s Word to them while the Levites “[made] it clear and [gave] the meaning” (8:. It could mean that they translated from the Hebrew Ezra was reading to the Aramaic language the people spoke. Some years before this, Ezra had exercised his ministry of teaching the Law and reforming the people, and it appears that he was still influential with them.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Today’s opening illustration begs application in our lives. We may not jump up and run with childlike excitement to tell someone what God’s Word says–but then again, it wouldn’t be a bad idea!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 9:1-21
Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. - Nehemiah 9:5
TODAY IN THE WORD
Someone has said that the most miserable person on earth has to be an atheist who suddenly feels grateful and has no one to thank. That’s one problem God’s people don’t have. In fact, we are commanded to live in an atmosphere of continual thanksgiving (1 Thess. 5:18).

The community of God’s people who had been restored to their land had a long list of reasons to praise God. The Levites, who led them in worship, called on the assembled people to do just that. This remarkable public service of confession, praise, thanksgiving, and commitment to obedience included three hours of listening to the reading of the Law, and another three hours of confessing sin.

All this came about two days after the former exiles had observed the Feast of Tabernacles with great joy. After a one-day interval, they came back together to acknowledge and confess their sins and pledge their obedience to the Mosaic covenant. The people came to this service after fasting, wearing sackcloth, and putting dust on their heads as signs of their sorrow for sin and repentant hearts before God.

The Levites mentioned in verses 4 and 5 led the Israelites in worship by voicing the prayer that we will study over the next two days. Like many of the Bible’s great prayers, this one begins with praising God for His uniqueness as the only Creator and Lord. Then it rehearses the many ways God blessed and preserved His people, despite their times of unfaithfulness and even idolatry in the wilderness while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Law (Ex. 32).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
On February 1 we suggested that you write Jeremiah 29:13 on a card to use as your Bible bookmark this month. God said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Have you used this tremendous promise and challenge as a guide to your daily prayer and study time this month? If you didn’t record the verse at the start of the month, you could memorize it today and remind the Lord each day of His promise to reveal Himself to those who truly seek Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 9:22-38
[You are] the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love. - Nehemiah 9:32
TODAY IN THE WORD
The American elm tree has had an amazing history. George Washington transplanted these tall, majestic shade trees from the shores of the Potomac River, where they grew wild, to his home at Mount Vernon. American settlers often left elm trees standing when clearing the land, and they were a popular feature of the American landscape until the 1960s. At that time, American elms were almost wiped out by Dutch elm disease that had been accidentally imported into the United States from Europe in the 1930s. But elm trees have not totally disappeared, as horticultural specialists have had some success in finding and developing strains of the American elm that can withstand the onslaught of Dutch elm disease.

The history of this beautiful tree reminds us in some ways of the history of Old Testament Israel. The Bible says that God “planted” Israel in her land (Ps. 80:, and the nation grew and flourished under God’s blessing. This blessing was praised in the prayer that the former exiles of Nehemiah’s day offered in their worship to God. We pick up this prayer today in verse 22, where the Levites who were articulating this prayer turned from Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness to their experience in the Promised Land.

But a hideous disease attacked Israel at its roots, and eventually the nation almost disappeared. The problem wasn’t “imported,” although idol worship was introduced into Israel from its pagan neighbors. The disease of sin originated in the hearts of the people themselves, because, as Solomon had confessed many years earlier, “There is no one who does not sin” (2 Chron. 6:36). The Jews had put God’s Law “behind their backs,” and had even killed God’s prophets whom He sent to call the nation back to Him (vv. 26–27). As a result, Israel went from being a far-reaching kingdom to being slaves in a foreign land.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Each one of us is infected with sin, which destroys eternally if left un-treated. The Bible says that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) and deserve the sentence of death (Rom. 6:23). Christ died for our sins even when we were in rebellion against Him (Rom. 5:, and if we trust in Jesus who died for our sins and rose again, we will be saved (Rom. 10:9–10). Have you taken the “Romans road” to the cross, admitting your sin to God and relying on Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life? If you’re in doubt, come to Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Nehemiah 10:28-39; 11:1-4
We will not neglect the house of our God. - Nehemiah 10:39
TODAY IN THE WORD
There’s a footnote to the story of the America elm tree that we shared yesterday. According to author Lee Alan Buttala, the American elm was the first symbol to be associated with the American colonies’ struggle for independence from Britain. Revolutionaries in Boston used a huge elm, called the Liberty Tree, as their meeting place. The British must have got the message, because their troops chopped the tree down in 1775.

Israel’s enemies had chopped down the nation that had once flourished, and unlike the American colonies, Israel lost its independence. But God did not abandon His people even after their sin provoked Him to carry out severe judgment. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were carried away into slavery, and the community that eventually returned to Judah from Babylon knew there was serious business to be done with God.

Part of that business involved rebuilding the temple, re-establishing the worship of God, and repairing Jerusalem’s walls. But now that God had

prepared a place for His people, He needed to prepare His people for that place. Bringing the Jewish people to a right standing before God is what the latter chapters of Nehemiah are about.

The leaders’ willingness to sign the agreement binding them to obey the Mosaic covenant was another major step in preparing the nation to live before God. Nehemiah was the first person to sign, again setting the example. The people didn’t sign the agreement, but made a verbal oath to obey.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Along with providing the necessary support for God’s work, biblical giving is designed to teach us that when we honor God above all, He is pleased and will richly bless us. Here are some biblical principles to guide you. Giving to God’s work should be systematic and according to our ability (1 Cor. 16:2), which means we don’t have to be limited by a percentage. And our giving should be generous and joyful (2 Cor. 9:6–7). How does your giving measure up these days?