Day 35: Nehemiah

Despite being the shortest man in the Bible (sorry, couldn't resist), if you ever need a good guide for leadership, look here.

Nehemiah starts out by seeking God, seeks God in the middle of everything and ends by seeking God.  These stories of the exile are always bittersweet.  They hint of what might have been and what once was for the Israelites.  Instead, what they are left with is the skeletal remains of their city and of their people, but it is still a people of hope.

Nehemiah begins out of grief and a desire to help his people and his homeland.  He wants to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, not for himself, but for his people because they used to be a people set apart by God in this land.  Now they are God's people wandering and forced into exile and ridicule.  Now that there is a chance to rebuild something of what once was, he wants to be a part of that.  He wants it, but Nehemiah still seeks God first.

He is granted the request of his heart and returns to Jerusalem.  Nehemiah returns with the blessing and edict of the king and he also brings with him a smattering of encouragement for his countrymen.  He encourages them to join him because God is with them and indeed, it seems He is.  The people take heart and start building, but like with the Temple, they are soon face to face with opposition.  Nehemiah reports of the courage of his people: "we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their hearts" (Neh 4:6).  Then Israel's enemies plot against them and the pray to God.  They continue the work with Nehemiah's encouragement, "Our God will fight for us!" (Neh 4:20).  They continue to build with half the amount of workers because the other have stands guard with their spears and their swords, but they persevere.

Nehemiah leads his people through hardship, he comes through for them and works just as hard as they do.  When some are being oppressed by their own people, Nehemiah stands up for them and points back to what God says.  They are disobeying God by essentially enslaving their countrymen just so they can stay afloat or even make a profit.  He calls them out and they are humbled.

I think there are a lot of parallels in Nehemiah, especially to today.  How many of us desire a leader to see our toil and fear and frustration?  I know I do.  Nehemiah did because his heart was in the right place.  He sought God and He brought God and His word to the people.  The people were so distraught by this because they realized how far they had fallen short, but this time, Nehemiah doesn't chastise them.  No. He says, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.  This day is sacred to our LORD.  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."  (Neh 8:10)

That's the kind of leader I want.  I want someone who is so passionate after God they can show me the truth and though it might cause me pain, they will yet encourage me when I need it, chastise me when I need it and continue to push me to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD.  Perhaps the leader of our country doesn't fit this profile, perhaps neither does the leader of my church, but I know many who do and who are leaders in my life, in my church, in this country.  I have Ezras and I have Nehemiahs.  Those two were contemporaries of one another, so it's good that I can see and have both who exhibit the qualities of these people after God's own heart.  Thank you Scott and Maxie and Kelly and Rob and Karyn for following God's heart as you encourage us to move forward as well.  Thank you to all of you who follow God's call and push us to as well.

Day 34: Ezra

So I got a bit caught up in the dates of Xerxes/Ahasuerus, Artexerxes and Darius.  Of course, all my Bibles are still packed and well, I'm still not sure.  Sometimes titles are given instead of names and that makes sense, so Xerxes/Ahasuerus is probably not Xerxes the I, but the son of Cyrus and that makes sense as well.  Xerxes is the Greek for Ahasuerus which is the Hebrew for another Persian word which is a title.  Okay, good to know.  I know I said I wasn't going to be all scholarly, but for my peace of mind, I needed to know and that's okay too.

Moving on, Ezra: this is a book of hope, perseverance, obedience and repentance.  Where do I get that?  Well, let's find out, shall we?

Hope: Ezra picks up where Chronicles leaves off and repeats the same decree of Cyrus, but adds "...let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.  And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."

So they do.  Again, God is concerned with matters of the heart and so it comes across in His word, Ch.1:5, "everyone whose heart God had moved - prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem."  Cyrus also gives them articles from the temple that were taken by Nebuchadnezzar.  I just think God is awesome.  He worked in the King's heart to allow his people to return, just as he promised and he allowed them to save some face as well.  Yeah, He's pretty cool.

Then we have a list of those who return 42,360 plus servants and animals.  That is sad because it truly is only a remnant.  But then there is rejoicing because the first thing they go about doing is building the altar and they celebrate to the LORD, the Feast of Tabernacles and burnt offerings.  Then they lay the foundation for the temple, bittersweet, joyful that the LORD's temple is being rebuilt, sad because it is only a shadow of what it once was.

Next comes the trickiness of it all.  So I'm guessing the "enemies of Judah and Benjamin" are probably the Samaritans who kind of sort of want to worship, have kind of sort of been "sacrificing" to God along with all of their other gods.  I'm pretty sure God said He is a jealous God, so I think it may be safe to say that it's kind of like facebook, they just want to have as many friends/gods as they can get.  The Israelites say no, and then trouble starts.  Eventually it ends with Darius (hence my timeline confusion), but because he does his homework and he too, like Cyrus, recognizes the LORD God.  Again the Israelites go with gusto and the temple is finally finished, Passover is celebrated (obedience), and then enter Ezra.

So even amidst obstacles from neighbors and edicts from kings, the Israelites persevere.  They do put off the building of the temple for a while, but they pick it back up despite the edict not to.  They build, despite fear for their safety.  They press on because God is worth it.

Ezra brings with him more support from the King, a different King again at this time, and the Law.  Ezra's account may seem, perhaps a little pretentious, but it is also transparent.  I believe he really did seek the LORD and encourage the Israelites to do so.  That was his calling, his job.  He was like the high priest, at least descended from him and how many other people could really claim that lineage... just saying.  God was with and he led the people to repentance.  Despite the past sin, God showed mercy and allowed his people, albeit a remnant, to return home.  He also showed them mercy again as they had committed the same sins, marrying the people of the other nations around them.  To try and start things right again, this time, Ezra calls them into account, to obey, immediately, and asks them to do what God had asked them to do from the beginning.  Harsh?  Perhaps, but this path had led them to destruction before.  Ezra is trying to keep them from making the same mistakes.

I think I could use an Ezra, someone to point me toward truth and right and God's way.  Oh wait, I do have Ezras.  I have Dani and Kelly and my mom and Janine and Paula and Kelsey and Kyla and Stacia and Erin and so many more.  Thank you for allowing me to see your example of faith.  Thank you for pushing me to follow, persevere, obey and repent.  Thank you for giving me hope.  May I be that for you as well.  Blessings to you all!

Day 31-33: The Rest of Chronicles

So I decided to take my own advice.  I got a little behind in the reading, so I'm picking up where I left off, the end of Chronicles.  I also am a bit behind on the blogging, but moving, chasing after hormonal teenagers, more moving, falling down stairs and being sick all day will do that to you.

Let's finish up Chronicles then and may I say I really enjoyed this retelling of the annals of the kings of Judah.  It's like reading different versions of the Gospel, you get different perspectives.  It's quite fascinating and I didn't want to mesh too many things into one, so I'll cover the end of Chronicles and move onward to post-exile with Ezra and Nehemiah the next few days.  As always, follow at your own pace and feel free to dialogue with me at any point in your journey.  Don't forget to check out back posts.

1 Chronicles 25 - Check out Asaph.  We'll get to read his and his sons psalms later.  Pretty cool.

If you ever need info in a pinch about genealogies, Chronicles is the place to go.

1 Chronicles 28 David announces that Solomon will follow him and build a Temple for the LORD.  Solomon mentions that in Kings, but we don't really see that by David.  David does give Solomon a charge on how to handle some of his officials, but not the temple.  So now we see that David does give Solomon this charge.

2 Chronicles 5:11-13 - I will always remember this passage from Kid's Praise 7: Psalty's Hymnological Adventure through Time.  Oh memories.  Dani and I sang this in a play for our church, "For He is good and his mercy endureth fore -e -e -ever."  Good times.  I will always remember the names Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun.  I am particularly fond of Jeduthun.

2 Chronicles leaves out Solomon's fall from grace (his lusting after all his wives and building of the high places).  Interesting...

I like the added information, like about Rehoboam, 2 Chron 11:16 "Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their fathers."  I like that, there were still people in all Israel who were devoted to the LORD.

It's so amazing, here throughout what we've read previously and continuing through Chronicles, it still shows you that it is a matter of the heart.  The Israelites turn away, and then they turn back, like in 2 Chron 12 and God hears them, just like Solomon asked in his prayer at the dedication of the temple.  So you get this more intimate look into the lives of the Kings of Judah and how exactly they were and were not devoted to the LORD.  Abijah, Kings says, wasn't fully devoted to the LORD and yet here in Chron we get to see how he was devoted in some way.  For Asa we see how he fully did right in the eyes of the LORD and how he called the people to enter into covenant with him to serve the LORD their God with all their heart and soul (no wonder Jesus said that was the greatest commandment.  It is literally said again and again).  We also see how Asa did not fully seek the LORD toward the end of his life.  Then we have Jehoshaphat (another great name) who wholeheartedly sought the LORD, again until the end when he made an alliance with Israel.  Still we have soooo much more information.  And it goes on and on.

I could summarize forever, but the point is clear.  Just look how many times wholeheartedly or faithfully or seeking the LORD with all their heart, etc. are mentioned.  That's the point.  You can clearly see how things go well for Israel/Judah and its people when they are devoted to seeking the LORD and how things get messed up when they are devoted to seeking everything else besides God.  Too often my heart strays.  I wonder how many amazing blessings I may be missing out on.

I love seeing another side to these kings how good and how bad they were.  Kings hints at these things, but with Chronicles you get a deeper inside look.  At the end we are left with the exile, but hope, for the King of Persia, Cyrus, says: 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you--may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.' (2 Chronicles 36:23)

As for the rest of the events of the Kings of Judah, are they not written in God's Holy Bible?  Check it out!  :)

Playing Catch up: Day 28 The rest of 2 Kings; Day 29 & 30 The Recap that is 1 Chronicles (1-23)

Because these deserve to be divided up.

Day 28: 2 Kings 16-25

So in the end the Israelites get carted off by the Assyrians and Samaria was resettled.  Thus became the hodge podge of combined religions that existed in Jesus' day.  That was really cool for me to kind of understand that a little.  Good foreshadowing and good background for later.

Now into the meat of things.  My favoritist kings are in these verses: Hezekiah and Josiah.  Hezekiah, there was no one like him, either before or after him.  Josiah, I see him as a champion of the LORD.  Both men had hearts that yearned after God, but although Hezekiah did what was right in God's sight and he destroyed the high places and Asherah poles that the kings before him failed to do.  He did some other pretty amazing things too, like bringing water into Jerusalem (I think it was an aqueduct).  So Hezekiah was pretty awesome.  He was also peeps with Isaiah, as in the prophet.  That's not to say that Hezekiah didn't make his fair share of mistakes and his response to the LORD's saying that disaster will come to Israel/Judah was relief that he would be safe.  (I'd probably have the same reaction).  Still it is not perfect, but Hezekiah followed after God without turning from him.  He was faithful, not without fault, but faithful.  On the downside again, he fathered, perhaps the most wicked king Judah would ever know, Manasseh and he did not do what Josiah would do - bring back the Law.

 

So after Manasseh and Amon comes the second boy king, Josiah.  He was eight when he became king.  He brought back the heart to Israel.  He found the Law of Moses and his reaction, I love his reaction.  He tears his robes in absolute grief for not having followed God as he should.  It's the most appropriate response and its sincere.  If only my sincerity for my sin and neglect would be as much.  And then his next response is also wonderful, he inquires of the LORD and what does the LORD say, "I have heard you" (2 Kings 22:19).  

 

It's beautiful.  I may sound rather gushy, but I love the heart of these two kings.  I love how Josiah doesn't just keep the Law to himself, but he calls all the people, "This is what we should be doing!  Let us consecrate ourselves to the LORD anew."  That's his job as king, to set an example and to bring the people closer to their Heavenly King.  Again, that may sound simplistic or trite, but sometimes God is pretty basic.  That's usually all he really wants is the basic things.  It doesn't mean he doesn't want us to question or think, but when it comes down to it, what He wants most is obedience and surrender.  That obedience and surrender is a safe thing because God is good and loving and just and if we share faith in his Redeeming Son, then we have nothing to fear.  

This is why I love the Old Testament.  This is why I love these kings, the good ones; my heart breaks for the ones who follow evil.  They've missed it.  I cheer when Israel is shown mercy and my heart is wrenched when destruction and punishment befall them.  My heart is wrenched, but I know it is also justified because I ultimately trust that God knows so much better than I.

Josiah is the last blazing beacon of hope before Judah falls.  There is redemption, it is a long time coming, but through it all God is faithful.  The rest of the story will only prove this more and more.

 Day 29 & 30 1 Chronicles 1-23

So Chronicles is not the easiest of reads as anyone can attest.  Not only is it chock-full of genealogies, but it is also a retelling of the history of Judah.  It's not a complete repeat of Kings, but it is a retelling of those things dealing with the kingdom of Judah.  So be prepared to hear some things again.

On a bright note, it may add some different insight to what has been said before.  I found out that Joab was David's nephew.  At least that's what I think I can tell from the genealogy (1 Chron 2:13-17).  It's always fun to see where the odd sister is listed.  Makes me smile because I know God appreciates women and their names are there for a reason.  (Like all the kings of Judah listed their mommas.)  

Here we see more of the militaristic exploits, like how many men were exactly with David across the tribes of Israel.  Small but interesting details, at least to me.  Couple of questions though, Elhanan killed Goliath's brother, but 2 Samuel says he killed Goliath.  A copy error or another name for David?  I've heard both explanations and both are plausible.  Neither one takes away from the truth of God's word.  What happened, happened: David killed Goliath.  Perhaps someone else killed his brother or perhaps David had another name.  Seemed to be a lot of that going around: Abram/Abraham, Jacob/Israel, Saul/Paul...  The second question I have, did God incite David or Satan?  Contradiction?  No I don't think so.

Ultimately all things are under God's control, even Satan.  God allows Satan certain freedom, like us.  So, God could have allowed Satan to do what Satan desired, which ultimately achieved God's purpose: David repented and sought the LORD instead (another example would be Job).  God is not evil or vindictive though.  God hardened Pharaoh's heart/Pharaoh hardened his heart.  Either way, God's will was accomplished: by such wonders and divine miracles His people were released from bondage.  Perhaps this is too simplistic for you, but trust me, I spent a lot of time questioning this in the past.  I understand.  Keep asking, keep wrestling, but always point your questions to God and to His people and to prayer.  God will not abandon your seeking.  He did say, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jer 29:13).  I don't question this as much anymore.  Now it's more of trust.  I still question, but this, I've let it go to God.  I pray that someday you will be able to take whatever is keeping you mired below and release it to Him.  It is freeing.

Enough for now.  Blessings all!

Second Hiatus: Becaus Garth deserves it!

See you in a bit.  Garth, here I come!!!!!!!

Day 27: Lots of Evil and a Little Good (2 Kings 5-15)

So I don't have much to say.  Elisha does his miracle things so check him out.  Quite frankly I prefer Elijah, but that's okay.

Namaan (it's like vacuum, two a's and two u's) puts down his pride and gets healed of leprosy.


The boy king Joash gets help from Jehoiada the priest and takes the kingdom from his mother.  Joash rules in goodness and that starts a stretch of good for Judah, not following in the ways of David, but Joash, which I guess is pretty good.  The high places remain.  He also repairs the temple.  Good for you boy king!  Then we have Amaziah and Azariah/Uzziah - good names, good kings.

In Israel, though, evil reigns.  There is a glimmer of hope with Jehu.  He does the will of the LORD by destroying the evil king of Judah, Ahaziah (not to be confused with Amaziah or Azariah) and the rest of Ahab's family.  We get to read the lovely verses of how Jezebel's blood and body are licked up by dogs with nothing left but her skull, feet and hands.  Oops!  Oh the Bible you are not a delicate read.

I had some hopes for Jehu.  I mean he seemed to want to follow the LORD and the LORD allowed his family to reign for four generations.  That is something in the kingdom of Israel.  However, he still did evil in the eye of the LORD.  He did not worship Baal, but he still followed Jeroboam (as all the Israelite kings do) and he worshiped the golden calves.  Why?  Why when the LORD is clearly in front of you?  I don't know.  Maybe Jehu didn't know either.  Maybe he still didn't trust God.

It takes trust, right?  It's an important thing.  In the end too, we have to be willing to give up control and step into the unknown.  It is kind of an unknown thing, following God, because we are never sure what he will ask.  Whatever he asks though, as hard as it may be or seem, I have found it to always be worth it.  God is worth the risk.  He has never disappointed.  The disappointment usually comes from my own failings.  Forgive me for my unbelief God and help me believe and follow you strongly every day!

Lastly I leave you with this: "So Pekah killed Pekahiah" (2 Kings 15:25).  Oh silly kings of Israel and your names.  :)

Day 26: Do you ever feel alone? (1 Kings - 2 Kings 4); The Kings and Elijah

Do you ever feel alone?  Do you ever feel like you are constantly at odds with everyone around you?

I certainly feel that way many days.  I feel abandoned by the very God who called me.  I feel as if I am one against thousands in this broken and corrupt world and then I read the story of Elijah.  Wouldn't you know?  He felt that way too.

Elijah did amazing things through the power of God.  He brought the widow's son back to life.  He called fire down from Almighty God to consume the sacrifice he had prepared to the LORD God.  He put himself at odds with Ahab and Jezebel time and time again.  And then, it's too much.  He's afraid and he runs for his life, alone, into the desert.

In the desert Elijah prays a prayer I am very familiar with, not because I read this passage a lot (though indeed I am familiar with the passage itself), no it is because I've prayed this prayer in one form or another throughout my life.  "I have had enough, LORD, Take my life; I'm worthless."  I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but the sentiment is powerful and it resonates with me.  "God I'm done.  Just let me die.  I'm alone.  I'm tired.  I'm persecuted.  I'm hopeless."

God's response is simple, "Get up and eat."  God doesn't even address Elijah's self-esteem issues, not here, not now.   God reminds me of my mother right here, "Eat something, you'll feel better."  God knows best.  Elijah gets some strength and courage and goes off to the mountain of God (Mt. Horeb).  There he again encounters God in a profound way, not in fire, not in earthquaking, not in wind, but in a gentle whisper.  Again Elijah brings his complaint and exhaustion and frustration to God and again God responds.  Of course God doesn't coddle or sooth Elijah here either.  He gives Elijah another assignment, because He knows he can handle it and then, as almost an afterthought, God says, "I've reserved 7,000 in Israel who've not bowed to Baal..."

I imagine Elijah's wondering, where are these 7,000?  Seven thousand!  No Elijah, you are not alone and your work is not in vain.  God is doing powerful things through you.  Do not lose heart!

That's a good reminder: when I feel alone and discouraged, I need to remember the the LORD says, "Take heart!  You are not alone.  I have millions the world over who are serving me and doing my will.  Are you not as blessed as they?"  Thanks God.  I needed that.