Church Rebuilding - Repentance and Restoration)
Ezra and Nehemiah should be read together, as they both complement one another.
We need to remind ourselves why Jerusalem and the people of Israel found themselves in such turmoil and living in Babylon. In the previous book 1 Chronicles chapter 36 the last chapter we read that Israel totally forsook the Lord. God then took His hand of protection from them, resulting in them being captured and taken to Babylon. If I forsake the ways of the Lord and reject Him although I am one of His children, His hand of guidance and protection will no longer be with me, and I have to live in the dearth of those circumstances. But as Psalm 40 says He can bring us up again out of that pit of despair and re-establish our goings putting a new song in our mouth. Thank God for His abundant mercy.
Ezra describes how God helped him to rebuild the temple. It was important for the altar to be built first. We are the temple of God, likewise it is important that the Lord, who became our supreme sacrifice, is central in our lives.
Further studies to this book will be given at a later date.
