Nehemiah 8:13-10:39 It was time to celebrate. A Jewish remnant had returned and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. As Ezra read the Book of the Law, they realized it was time to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. They prepared their tents with branches to recall how their ancestors lived in tents when God brought them from Egypt to the promised land. The peoples’ “joy was great” at this celebrati...  Read More

Nehemiah 7:4-8:12 We can read the Bible and not understand it. We often need people to come alongside us to make the Scriptures clear. Ezra read the law to the people, but it needed to be explained. We are told the Levites "instructed the people in the Law" (Nehemiah 8:7). They made it clear and gave the meaning of what was read. This is hopefully what every church does on Sunday mornings. We are ...  Read More

Nehemiah 3:1-5:13, 6:1-7:3 We often divide our lives into the secular and sacred. We think certain parts of our lives do not matter to God (leisure, work etc.) while others are important to him (Bible reading, prayer, evangelism, etc.). As we read about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, it may seem on the surface this work is far less significant than the work of Ezra, who was teaching the...  Read More

Ezra 9:1-10:44; Nehemiah 1:1-2:20 There is no place for racism in the church or in our hearts. This is clear from Scripture and from God's heart for all nations. Christians have tried to find rationalization for racism and prejudice in the Bible. Perhaps a passage offered up as support for these racist attitudes is the end of Ezra. Ezra condemns the Israelites for intermarrying with neighboring pe...  Read More

Ezra 4:7-23, 7:1-8:36 What do you pay attention to more in life, the good stuff or the bad stuff ? The fun stuff or the hard stuff ? Since most of life is filled with a mixture of all these things, we need to intentionally watch what we give our attention. The Israelites had been continually pestered by those already in the land and were commanded to stop rebuilding the city. This would have been ...  Read More

Esther 5:1-10:3 My daughters love the story of Esther. When they were young, Esther was in the pantheon of Disney princesses alongside Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, and others. Yet the story of Esther is about far more than a princess. Ultimately, it is a story that points us to Jesus. There was a death sentence over the Jewish people, and only when Esther stepped forward as a righteous mediator/petitio...  Read More

Ezra 6:14-22, 4:6; Esther 1:1-4:17 Some of us may feel like our lives are just one trial after another. We may feel like we are playing whack-a-mole or trying to plug holes in a dam with our fingers, as we experience hardship after hardship. If you feel like this, then you should feel right at home in the Bible. The Israelites had experienced exile and now faced what would have seemed like certain...  Read More

Zechariah 9:1-14:21 Why do you believe Jesus is the Messiah? It is vital that we have an answer to this question along with others, i.e., why do you think Jesus is divine, or why did Jesus have to die on the cross? When it comes to why we believe Jesus is the Messiah, the clearest answer is the prophecies he fulfilled. There are several of these Messianic prophecies in Zechariah. Statements that s...  Read More

Zechariah 6:1-15; Ezra 5:3-6:14; Zechariah 7:1-8:23 We often expect when we follow God, he will lead us down a smooth, straight path without complications or difficulty. The reality is God often works in surprising ways and uses what we conceive of as distractions and difficulties to accomplish his will. The Israelites began rebuilding the temple but faced consistent opposition for years, with the...  Read More

Haggai 2:1-9; Zechariah 1:1-6; Haggai 2:10-19; Ezra 5:2; Haggai 2:20-23; Zechariah 1:7-5:11 How do you respond to new opportunities? Are you filled with excitement, anxiety, concern, joy, or a mix of all these things? The Israelites have started returning to the Promised Land and are resettling. Amid this new opportunity, God speaks. He speaks through Haggai, Zechariah, and others. God's command f...  Read More

Daniel 10:1-12:13; Ezra 4:24-5:1; Haggai 1:1-15 What an incredible passage today! Daniel is so packed it is a challenge to pull out one central idea from each verse let alone a couple of chapters. In these verses I think it is clear Daniel’s interaction with God is referring to the ultimate final judgement. You can read 20 different commentaries and get 20 different answers to how long a “time, ti...  Read More

Ezra 2:1-4:5; 1 Chronicles 3:19-24 First things first. This proverbial statement speaks to the issue of priorities. Generally, the first thing we do shows what is important to us. Do we check social media accounts first thing in the morning, scan the news, check our emails, read our Bible, or something else? As the Israelites returned from exile, one of the first things they did was build an altar...  Read More