Ezra & Nehemiah

(21 days)

Ezra and Nehemiah give us a wonderful account of a crucial period in the history of God’s chosen people. As a result of their disobedience and rebellion against God, they had found themselves living in Babylon, in exile. It was a strange land to them, in which they had to toil under tyrannical masters with very di  erent beliefs and values to their own, and they were treated very badly. After 70 years, through a miraculous change of heart of the ruler Babylonian ruler, Cyrus, they were allowed to return to their beloved Jerusalem, to the land God had promised to them many many years before.

Many had got used to their lives in exile and chose to remain in captivity, and not to return, even though this was the promise of God upon their lives. Some did make the long journey back to Jerusalem – you get a snapshot of the emotional roller coaster that this was in Psalm 126. The reality was that they then had the even longer and harder journey once they had returned and started to rebuild the temple and the city (with its Godly governance and rule). All this is what is described in Ezra and Nehemiah.

As you read through these books (that should be read as one) you will see that key moments of decision on the journey are marked by times of worship, prayer and fasting, as were signi  cant moments of challenge or breakthrough. Let’s keep this in mind as we read and meditate upon these books during our time of prayer and fasting and seek the Lord for what September Daily Readings he is saying to us at this time.