Bent Oak Church

Having celebrated God's faithfulness, the people were finally ready to consider their own unfaithfulness. On the twenty-four day of the month, they came together in sackcloth and ashes to repent before the Lord. But even in their repentance, God's mercy and steadfast love were at the center. Chapter nine offers a long prayer of repentance and remembering. It offers us a model for what our own repentance can look like. 

Having completed the wall, the people of Jerusalem began to gather. They called for Ezra to return and read the law. As the law was read, they began to weep, but Ezra commanded them to stop. Instead, he reminded them that the joy of the Lord was their strength. We take a closer look at those familiar words and how they sustained the people of Jerusalem and how they sustain us as well. 

Nehemiah had faced opposition before. He often faced threats and risks from the neighboring nations, but suddenly Nehemiah found opposition coming from within the walls of Jerusalem. We take a look at how Nehemiah responded to betrayal from friends and learn why God can be trusted in times of our own difficulties. 

In the previous chapter, we saw a picture of unity. God's people shared the work, protected one another, and sacrificed to build a better city. But it didn't take long for things to fall apart. Soon they were taking advantage of one another in ways that aligned them with their pagan neighbors. It's a warning about how quickly we pick up the ways of the world and how naturally we justify it to ourselves. 

Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem began to rebuild the city. Each family took their section of the wall and built it together. But, as has been the pattern, opposition soon emerged. First, it was taunting and then the threat of violence. But the people did not give up. They guarded one another, encouraged greater faith, and committed to seeing the project through. 

When Nehemiah learned of the disrepair of Jerusalem, his heart was broken. He longed to rebuild the city, but Nehemiah also served the king of Persia. His loyalties would be questioned, and his life would be at risk, but Nehemiah prayed, trusted, and sought to return to the city. We take a closer look at the man, his situation, and the complexity of the task.

As we look at the final chapter of the book of Ezra, we ask some hard questions about the book's final image. The book has taken us from the stirring of their hearts by the Spirit to men sitting in the cold rain negotiating the abandonment of wives and children. The final image of Ezra is a complicated question of our unfaithfulness, our need for a plan to fix it, and the tension of what we can never put back together on our own. 

Having arrived in Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that many of the priests and leaders were marrying their foreign neighbors who worshiped pagan Gods. We take a closer look at the situation and Ezra's prayer of intercession. We consider why this sin continually plagued Israel and how Ezra builds our expectations for Christ's intercessions.

Having been introduced to Ezra and his plans to return to Jerusalem and teach the law, we are next given the details of his preparation. Though he returned with a group of Jews, they were small and worried about the dangers of their trip. Ezra wanted to turn their attention back to God. He called for a fast and prayer to overcome their fear. They needed to humble themselves to recognize the hand of God that was on them. 

With Ezra 7, we begin the second story of Israel's return. This return would be led by Ezra, a scholar and expert in the Law. He was commissioned to teach the Jews the Law and to see that they obeyed it. No move of God or church project is complete if it does not include new attention to God's word and a commitment to live it.