A new study -- two books!

I've got a surprise for everyone today . . . we've just completed working our way through I Peter and II Peter, and now we are moving on.

Which book of the Bible will we study next?
Well, we actually will study two!

We will bounce a bit between the two books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
They are kinda linked, and I thought it would be good to study both!

In fact, in the Hebrew writings, they are put together as one book. We consider them as two; for one thing, the lists in the second chapter of Ezra and the seventh chapter of Nehemiah are almost identical. I kinda think that would mean that they were separate books, originally.

The book of Ezra is named for a priest by that name, and it's about the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the revival of God's people spiritually. The book of Nehemiah is about rebuilding the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and renewing the spirit of the Jewish people.

The book of Ezra is the one we will tackle first. It can be divided pretty logically into two sections: chapters one through six tell us of the return of a remnant from Babylonian captivity, under the leadership of Zerubbabel. This was in approximately 538 BC. The aim of this expedition was to restore the plundered and ruined temple in Jerusalem. The construction project actually got underway in 536 BC, but as happens with most good things, opposition arose.
We'll talk about that when we get there, but for now, we will just note that the project was abandoned for sixteen years.
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were instrumental in the restoration project starting up again, and it was completed in 515 BC.
Between chapters six and seven of Ezra, there's a gap of almost sixty years! The events of the book of Esther actually take place in this gap, according to the scholars. Then, in chapter seven, Ezra leads a smaller group back to Jerusalem, to bring renewal to the people there (457 BC). It appears they were already drifting into a comfortable assimilation with the surrounding peoples and cultures.

The themes we will encounter in Ezra have to do with God keeping His promises, His renewing His people, and His restoring His people spiritually.

I guess all of us (at some time in our lives) have found it easy to settle into a routine in our Christian life. We settle into a comfortable routine and become less fervent in our walk. It's safe. It's warm. We don't have the old yearning for Him:

As the deer pants for streams of water,    so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.    When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1-2)

You, God, are my God,    earnestly I seek you;I thirst for you,    my whole being longs for you,in a dry and parched land    where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

We lose our focus. We don't have a clear vision of God and what He would have us do. We aren't longing to spend more time with Him. We don't yearn for more knowledge of Him, or for a closer walk . . .
What we need at these times is for God's Spirit to renew us, spiritually. And we're humans, and He knows that we need this repeatedly.

I hope I have piqued your curiosity about the book of Ezra. We'll start there, and then move on to Nehemiah. I think the Spirit has a lot for us to learn from these books!

I hope you will hang in there and study with us!