Introduction The book of Nehemiah can be divided into two main parts: chapters 1 to 6 which we've already studied and chapters 8 to 13 which we'll study in the weeks to come. The first half of the book was about the wall; the second half of the book is about the people. The first … Continue reading Nehemiah 07 →

Chapter 5 A lot of people were away last weekend, because of the Bank Holiday; or unable to be here, because of the marathon. And so, in order to let you catch up, I should explain that while Nehemiah 4 was about the trouble Nehemiah faced from outsiders, Nehemiah 5 was about the trouble he … Continue reading Nehemiah 06 →

Introduction We've been studying the books of Ezra and Nehemiah for several weeks. The book of Ezra records for us how the Lord moved the heart of King Cyrus -- the king of the Persian Empire -- to let the people of Israel return to Jerusalem from their exile in order to rebuild the temple … Continue reading Nehemiah 05 →

Introduction I've said often that the whole of the Bible from beginning to end is God's revelation to us of what God has done to deliver his people by his Son from their sin and misery in this present, evil age in order to bring them into his glorious presence in the world to come. … Continue reading Nehemiah 03+04 →

Introduction We've spent a number of weeks on the book of Ezra and on how the Lord enabled his people to return to the Promised Land and to the city of Jerusalem to rebuild the temple which has been destroyed many years before, when the Lord -- in his anger -- sent his rebellious and … Continue reading Nehemiah 01+02 →

Introduction We're coming to the end of Ezra today. And I'm sure you remember that the entire book is in two parts; and the second half of the book is a kind of repetition of the first half of the book. In the first half of the book, we had the king's decree to let … Continue reading Ezra 09+10 →

Introduction I explained last week that the book of Ezra is in two parts and the second part is -- in a sense -- a repetition of the first part. In the first part, we have a decree by a king to let the exiles return to the Promised Land. The family names of the … Continue reading Ezra 08 →

Introduction The book of Ezra -- which we've been studying for several weeks -- is in two parts. The first part is from chapter 1 to chapter 6. The second part is from chapter 7 to chapter 10. And really, the second part is a kind of copy of the first part and mirrors what … Continue reading Ezra 07 →

Introduction Chapter 4, which we studied last week, was about the opposition the returning exiles faced when they tried to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. That opposition went on for many years. However, chapters 5 and 6 are about how the temple was finally rebuilt. Despite the best efforts of their enemies, … Continue reading Ezra 05+06 →

Introduction We saw in Ezra 1 how some of the exiles from the land of Judah returned to the Promised Land, just as the Lord promised they would. And in chapter 2, the family names of those who returned from exile were listed. And then, in chapter 3, we read how they rebuilt the altar; … Continue reading Ezra 04 →