Pray for those
who live in conditions of spiritual or emotional oppression.
Time for some historical context!
Nehemiah
returned to Jerusalem in 445 B.C., the 20th year of the reign of
King Artaxerxes of Persia. By this
time the city had been a ruin for 141 years. Read back through 2 Kings if you’d like some perspective on
the kingdom of Judah’s up-and-down journey leading up to Jerusalem’s
destruction by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 B.C. Time and again we see the actions of
decent kings—Hezekiah, Josiah—undone by their progeny—Manasseh and Jehoahaz, in
the case of these two. It was bad King
Jehoiakim who first submitted to King Nebuchadnezzar and then rebelled three
years later. His son Jehoiachin
succeeded him, but he wasn’t any better.
Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jehoiachin, carted him off to
Babylon and installed a puppet king—Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah. He, too, decided to rebel, but he was
defeated. This defeat marked the
destruction of Jerusalem.
Take
a careful look at the last verses of 2 Kings. Something interesting happens. Jehoiachin is released by Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, the
intriguingly named Evil-merodach.
He’s treated kindly and given status in Babylon. This marks the start of
something—something that will lead to Nehemiah and to restoration, to reformation, even in the midst of a world
that is not perfect for the Jews.
More on Sunday! Meanwhile,
consider: we live in an imperfect world, but God works in the midst of our
imperfection.
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