Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

The books of Nehemiah and Ezra used to be one long book, chronicling the return of the exiles after the Babylonian captivity.

In Ezra, we met the first two rounds of

leadership, Zarubabel and Jeshua, and then we met young Ezra. Today we meet another leader who comes

along during the time of Ezra, Nehemiah. He is an Israelite official who works for the Persian

government. One thing we haven't dealt with so far is why there are so many Israelites still in

Persia

after God commanded them to return to Jerusalem.

If they're Yahweh-fearing Jews, why did they disobey God's orders?

Some scholars say people like Ezra and Nehemiah and even Mordecai probably had no choice in

the matter because they were servants of the Persian government and could only do what was permitted.

If that's true,

perhaps that's one reason why it was so important to have the king's approval and support in

returning to Israel. Nehemiah has an inside track for getting the king's support. Because he isn't

a prophet or a priest by trade, he's a personal assistant to the king. In addition to that, he's a man

of prayer. There are 12 prayers recorded

in the 13 chapters of this book. He also frequently quotes or references scripture, which

shows us that he knows God's word. When we open today, he's got a family member in town from

Jerusalem, and he asks how things are going. Not well, it turns out. The people have been back in Jerusalem

for almost a century and they haven't rebuilt the walls. Nehemiah is distraught. He mourns and fasts and

prays. He also quotes God back to God regarding the specific promises he made his people in

Deuteronomy 30. God has lived up to what he said he would do,

...