The people had agreed to build the wall, but now the work had to be done. Nehemiah organizes his workers around the wall of the city and they begin to work. However, they had not gotten far before opposition came. Sanballat and Tobiah mocked them and when that did not work, they planned a surprise attack on the workers. When Nehemiah heard of their plans, he organized the people to fight. But the work did not stop for long. Soon, the people went back to work with weapons ready in case they needed to fight. The wall would be finished.
Are we saved by works? Has man ever been saved by works? Outline study by David Reagan.
The temple was indeed completed by Zerubbabel. But that was almost sixty years ago and the people have again come to a place of spiritual deadness. They need a revival and God has prepared a special man. Ezra had dedicated his life to learning, doing, and teaching the law of the Lord (Ezra 7:10). God gives him favor with the king of Persia and he organizes a successful return to the land of promise.
The first return is a trip into the fog. They do not know exactly what will greet them. They do not fully know the condition of the land. The journey of hundreds of miles will take them weeks to complete. Yet they go because they have a higher purpose in mind. They go to rebuild God’s holy temple and to reestablish the true worship of God in God’s chosen city of Jerusalem. They go also to replant the land given to their father Abraham.
In this chapter, we see the call of Jeremiah. He complains that he is just a child and therefore too young to do such a great work. Jeremiah served as a prophet for the Lord to Judah for over 40 years. He wrote the 52 chapters of Jeremiah and the five chapters of Lamentations.
