Ezra 7-10, Nehemiah 1-13, and Esther 1-6

Just to be honest- I’m a little disturbed by the beginning of this week’s passage. So we meet Ezra, a teacher of the Mosaic Law. He is being sent by King Artaxerxes to Jerusalem to help with the restoration and rebuilding project. He gathers some help from other Israelite decedents. They decide to fast to humble themselves before the Lord so they could ask for his protection. Ok- up to this point, I’m good; I’m following. BUT THEN- the leaders come out of nowhere with this claim of men intermarrying. SO THEY SEND AWAY THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN that aren’t Israelite by birth? I get that God told them to destroy all previous inhabitants of the promised land; they didn’t and that’s how they get roped into worshipping other gods and the various detestable habits they picked up from the former inhabitants of the promised land. But that was a long time ago: these people are now married, some of which are parenting together- so sending them away is really the best option here? I’ve got to be honest with y’all and I’m just not following this.

But then we get to Nehemiah; this is one of my favorites (I know, it’s weird, right). A while back my small group leader did a lesson out of Nehemiah and for some reason it really resonated with me and has stuck with me ever since! So here’s this guy- he’s pretty high up, a cupbearer to the king. He is distressed about his hometown; it’s in ruin and the rebuilding efforts could use some help- naturally that seems disheartening. But instead of whining, complaining, making a scene- Nehemiah goes on about his business. He prays asking God for help- for 6 months! He stresses and prays but that’s it. Then approximately 6 months later his boss, the king, notices that Nehemiah looks sad and asks what’s wrong. But before Nehemiah answered, HE PAUSES AND PRAYS. That’s it- that’s why this is one of my favorites. How different would our lives look if we didn’t jump the gun, if we patiently waited for God to open the door, and even then, when that door opens- we didn’t just bust through and go running through it, we still took a minute and prayed. God grant me clarity, give me the right words, help me to speak intelligently, allow me the peace to not get angry or start crying- how different would our conversations be?!

Fast forward a little- the wall is getting rebuilt, the town is being restored, the people are resettling; Nehemiah does the right thing and returns to the king, even though he’s been made governor of Jerusalem. Eventually Nehemiah gets to return and of course the people have already started to return to their bad habits so Nehemiah again has to remind them of God’s rules.

Ok, now I realize this one is getting a little long winded so I apologize but I think Esther maybe one of my new favs. Embarrassing confession- I’m not sure I’ve really read or studied Esther before. I mean come on- what a feel good story (even if not so much for Haman)!! Where is Disney and why is this not a happily ever after movie?! Orphan gets adopted, eventually become queen, her adoptive father eventually (and quite timely) gets the honor and recognition he deserves from the king, the queen saves her people from the bad guy, and the bad guy gets taken care of. Now I know we aren’t done with this chapter yet so I don’t want to get ahead of myself but it seems very happily ever after here!! No major takeaways here other than I liked it.

What about you- new takeaways? Different perspectives?