Daily Devotional--12/15/09

Nehemiah 4:1-6

Restoration of God's People

¹ When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, ² and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?"

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"

⁴ Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

• While Ezra deals with the reiligious restoration of Judah, Nehemiah is primarily concerned with Judah's political and geographical restoration.
• Why did Ezra's work precede Nehemiah's?
• Have you allowed God to "restore" you spiritually so He can then "rebuild" your life to His purposes?