E419 Navigating the Bible Nehemiah

“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’ “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” Nehemiah 1:5-10 The book of Nehemiah continues the post-exilic story of the people of Israel that we started in Ezra. The people of Israel had been living in exile and the temple of Jerusalem had been destroyed. Yet now they had been allowed to return to rebuild the temple. Nehemiah is a book about the workers, about the real people who took up God’s call to rebuild the temple. It’s a book about putting God first, about leadership amidst trials and opposition – but ultimately it’s a book about the truth that as much as we can build and rebuild buildings, it doesn’t take the place of letting God build his temple in your heart. To help us navigate the book of Nehemiah is Dr. Dean Ulrich, author of the book Now and Not Yet about Ezra and Nehemiah. Doable Discipleship is a Saddleback Church podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 400 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and