[Stuff we're skipping:
* Sanballat and his boys tried to stop the building of the walls. First, they tried 5 times to get Nehemiah to meet him in the wilderness. Each time, Nehemiah said he didn't have time. Then they invented a conspiracy in which Nehemiah was leading his people to rebel against the Persian government. But, Nehemiah just called them out and said it was a lie. Their last attempt to get at Nehemiah was through a guy named Shemaiah. This guy lied that he heard the "locals" were coming to get Nehemiah and that he should hide in the Temple. This was exposed as a lie, and Shemaiah was hired to get Nehemiah to do something disgraceful (like run and hide in the Temple).
* They finished the walls, and Nehemiah set up guard to watch the walls of the city. We also get a list of who was there at the time along with all the gifts that were given for this endeavor.]
1. Imagine this: Ezra reading the Law (more than likely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) to all the people. Wow…and he preached from morning until midday! But, when you think about it, how else could everyone be on board? They didn’t have Bibles of their own to read. So…this is how they all heard God’s Word.
2. I bet this was a cool scene. Temple built. New walls built. And now it’s time to worship God.
3. The people wept, but they were encouraged to be filled with joy. Interesting. Why do you think they were crying? Why do you think that Ezra and Nehemiah didn’t want them to continue weeping?
4. Instead of mourning, they were called to feast with everyone. Hmm…that’s cool.
5. Then they decided to celebrate the Feast of Booths for the first time since the time of Joshua. It’s been a long time coming…
Isn’t it cool that God gave the Jews a chance to start over, and they took it?
