"They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that You performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they made for themselves a golden calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies, You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go."
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah used to be one long scroll. Despite their early placement in our Bibles, they actually occur near the end of the Old Testament. (According to my Bible timeline, the burial mounds in Illinois were being built around the same time. 🤯) Cyrus, king of Persia, is moved by God to set the Israelites free to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Almost 50,000 people go back to Jerusalem to start the rebuild, funded by their captive nation. The holy items, stolen by King Nebuchadnezzar in the original capture, were taken out of the pagan temples and returned to the Israelites for God's temple. 13 years later, Nehemiah, a Jewish government assistant in Persia, receives a report that the rebuilding is failing; the remnant who returned is facing great trouble and shame. Nehemiah mourns and prays for days. (You can find his beautiful prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11) The king, who Nehemiah serves as cupbearer, notices Nehemiah's sadness, and grants his request to go to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the wall. The Jewish rebuilders faced a lot of ridicule and opposition to their project from the people who live in the area. So, as they built, half would work and half would stand guard with spears for protection. The fight didn't just come from outsiders--the people of God fought amongst themselves, too. Finally, the wall is rebuilt! The people gathered as one and read from the Book of the Law from early morning to midday. And the people said "Amen! Amen!" and bowed in worship. They celebrated a 7 day festival that they had not celebrated in 1,000 years, and every single day, they read from the Book of the Law. Several days later, the people assembled again and confessed their sin. They confessed corporate sin from the beginning of their time as a nation, For 6 hours they read God's word, and for 6 hours they confessed and worshiped. And they begin to trace the line of the faithfulness of God. They recount the call of Abraham, the rescue from Egypt, the journey through the wilderness, and the manna. They traced the line of their unfaithfulness, too. But God is always ready to forgive, full of grace and mercy, slow to anger, stubborn and unwavering in His love for them. He has faithfully led them by cloud and by fire. And they dedicate it all back to Him.
Wow! I only scratched the surface of this amazing story. The history is so important, because it was the "chesed" of God that led them to this moment. I can talk about the faithfulness of God all day, tracing all the good. But unless I am willing to trace the path of my unfaithfulness, what made me vulnerable to being taken captive by the enemy in the first place, I may never see the single-minded love, mercy, grace, and faithfulness of God toward me. Nehemiah, in his prayer in chapter 1, recounts God saying "but if you return to me..." Return and rebuild are "second-chance" words. It carries a sense that we have turned and built a relationship with Him already. But we leave and we tear down. We return and return and return to Him (x1,000,000,00). But every time we return in confession and worship, He rebuilds and rebuilds and rebuilds. He will not abandon us. Think of your "return and rebuild" story, then bow down in worship to the One who is writing it!
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