Daily Bible Devotionals

“Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.  And next to them Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.” Nehemiah 3:3-5 (NKJV)

I believe that Jerusalem is the center of the world. I know it may seem a bit mystic to some, but I am not alone in that belief. Israel dominates news coverage more than any other country in the world, and what is happening in Jerusalem dominates the coverage of Israel. Furthermore, according to Revelation, the entire world will be driven to Israel for a final battle. When it is all said & done, the city that will descend from Heaven is literally the “New Jerusalem  .”Center of the world.

In ancient days, the center of Jerusalem was the Temple, with the Ark of the Covenant at the Temple’s center. Because of Jerusalem’s “central” position in the world and God’s presence in the Temple, many theologians consider the gates of Jerusalem to be symbolic of how one must “enter in” to meet with God. Perhaps, we should consider their rebuilding… Going with that thought, the “Fish Gate” is considered to be representative of evangelism.  

“Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’” Luke 5:10b (NIV)

To be honest, the narrative of “who was rebuilding & where” can be pretty dull. But here, in chapter 3, we have a bit of drama. The nobles of T’koa would not labor toward the Fish Gate. As another translation puts it, “they would not submit themselves to supervision.”  Regardless of the debate concerning the symbolic nature of Jerusalem’s gates, one thing is true: Nobility does not mix with evangelism.

Here is what I mean. To evangelize, we must make ourselves uncomfortable and literally be “servants.” We must be willing to risk our images, dignity, and reputations to share the gospel. It takes getting out there among the “unwashed masses,” so to speak. In other words, we must be willing to smell like fish to catch them!  

Nobility, by definition, is directly opposed to evangelism. Nobility rejects servanthood and is preoccupied with “deserving.”  Nobility says, “I am too good for this. I don’t deserve to be treated this way!”  And when you break it down, “de-serve” means to “lessen, or completely diminish” a servant’s role. Nobility cannot evangelize.

Are you living out your calling to share the gospel? Are you boldly evangelizing with humility, or are you paralyzed with nobility? Do you refuse to do the work of an evangelist because it is “beneath you,” afraid of what people might think of you?   As Jesus did for you, do for others. Let’s humble ourselves and build that Fish Gate!

“And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.’ So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, ‘May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?’ Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’” Nehemiah 2:1-5 (NKJV)

I have spent my whole adult life as a touring musician and speaker. During that time, the Lord has given me a unique experience in which I have visited over 1000 churches scattered throughout the United States (and several countries). One thing I have observed is that when God decides to move in a mighty way, He doesn’t just tell one guy His plan. He begins working in the hearts of several people, giving them pieces of a vision, and then He starts bringing those people together. Then, BOOM! A movement develops.

The rebuilding of Jerusalem is the best observable example of what I am talking about. First, God spoke to Isaiah, who prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem unless the people repented. Then we have Jeremiah, who was the “on the scene” reporter during Jerusalem’s destruction, who also prophesied the season of Israel’s exile (and the terms of their return). Today’s passage can seem like Nehemiah was a random lucky guy. But when we connect the Bible’s books like pieces to the puzzle, we see God was preparing the hearts of several men scattered abroad. Then, He drew them together to accomplish great things. Notice how Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra all had pieces of the same vision:

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.’” Ezra 1:1-3 (NKJV)

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” Daniel 9:1-3 (NKJV)

As you pursue God’s Word every day, and He reveals pieces of His great plan to you, He is actually preparing you to join others to accomplish His perfect will in our days

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Nehemiah 1. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, ‘We have trespassed[a] against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.’” Ezra 10:1-4 (NKJV)

At times, God appears to turn a deaf ear to prayer. Isaiah wrestled with this problem:

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you.” Isaiah 59:1-2 (NIV)

Sin was separating the Jews from God in the days of Ezra. It was, therefore, essential that Ezra’s prayer of confession in the previous chapter should be followed up with repentance, which took form in the separation from foreign wives.

It is hardly surprising that a large crowd gathered around Ezra when they saw him weeping and throwing himself down before the Lord. This was strange behavior for such a prominent leader, as it is strange for our generation’s otherwise dignified leaders. The cause of Ezra’s intense agitation was the marriage of God’s people to non-Jewish, idol-worshipping wives. It has been said that children live by rules and adults live by principles. With that in mind, the whole scenario of today’s chapter can be viewed, in principle, as a metaphor for any intimate relationship that believers may be considering, personal, social, or business. The apostle Paul knew this very well:

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NKJV)

As stated yesterday, it was not as much the nationality of the foreign wives as it was their idolatry that the Lord was opposed to. For the record, this specific instance of putting away foreign wives and children is one of those moments - like Peter’s suggestion to cast lots to choose another apostle after Judas committed suicide - where the Lord makes no comment as to His approval or disapproval. We are simply given the facts. According to the Torah, both the Israelite men and their foreign wives should have been removed from the community of Israel. We know from reading Nehemiah that it was still a problem in his day (Nehemiah 13:23-27). The questions that arise are: 1.) How strongly do we believe God’s Word, and 2.) Are we willing to put away those “foreign wives” (aka Worldly sins) that separate us from the Lord?

“Now, after all this has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our deep guilt – and even so, you, our God have punished us less than our sins deserve and have given us a surviving remnant – are we to break Your commands again by making marriage with the peoples who have these disgusting practices?  Won’t You become so angry with us that You would destroy us completely, so that there would be no surviving remnant and no one escapes?  The Lord, God of Israel!  You are just; yet we have been left a surviving remnant that has escaped, as is the case today.  Look, we are before You in our guilt; because of it, no one can stand in Your presence.” Ezra 9:13-15 (CJB)

A few years ago, I was in my living room, watching TV, when I heard my son Wyatt in his room, playing CDs on his stereo.  This was usually not a problem, but on this occasion, he was only playing the intro to one of the songs over and over.  Finally, I got irritated with the whole stop-start, so I busted into his room and told him to let the entire song play.  That’s when I realized he wasn’t playing a CD.  He was playing the song on his guitar.  I was amazed because it sounded like a recording from the original artist.  How quickly he had become a really good guitar player!  I have never seen someone pick up an instrument and absorb it so quickly.  When I asked how he had learned the song, he pointed to his computer: YouTube.

It helps to have an instructor, someone to sit right there and teach us.  But, sometimes, the video instructor is better than a living, breathing person.  The video is free; you can rewind, pause, and replay infinitum until you have mastered the course.  

One of the values of books like Ezra and Nehemiah is that they let us observe how they petitioned and prayed to the Lord.  Just like YouTube, we can read and reread their prayers.  And every time we do, we learn a bit more.  They are not parading their spirituality by including the text of their prayers for all to see.  They are teaching us how to beseech our Heavenly Father, and today’s chapter is just that.

Ezra knew how to pray in times of crisis because he was familiar with the path to the throne of grace.  He was on “speaking terms” with God at all times.  In today’s chapter, the central theme of his prayer is confession.  It was the condition of the nation which prompted him.  The widespread moral failure of Christians and unbelievers should not result in paralyzing despair but in sincere supplication to Almighty God.  Only He can heal our wounds, restore our standing with Him, and save us from inevitable judgment.

It is also important to note that many Christians and Jews alike have misinterpreted today’s passage to say that God is against people of different nationalities intermarrying.  We know from the Bible that God is not against His children intermarrying the “peoples.”  Otherwise, the book of Ruth would be tough to explain…as well as other Gentile women listed in the genealogy of Messiah Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife).  If we read closely, it was not the “nationality” but the “morality” God was concerned with.  He was against “making marriage with the peoples who have these disgusting practices.” (v. 14)

“Then, there at the Ahava River, I proclaimed a fast; so that we could humble ourselves before our God and ask a safe journey of Him for ourselves, our little ones and all our possessions. For I would have been ashamed to ask the king for a detachment of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the road, since we had said to the king, ‘The hand of our God is on all who seek Him, for good; but His power and fury is against all who abandon Him.’ So we fasted and petitioned our God for this, and He answered our prayer.” Ezra 8:21-23 (CJB)

Years ago, the Southern Baptists decided to hold their national convention in Las Vegas. I know it’s ironic. When the Las Vegas mayor showed up on the first day of the convention to welcome the pastors, the SBC president asked if there was an area of need in the community that the Baptists could pray for. The mayor said, “Well, we’re in the middle of the desert, and we could sure use some rain.” So, the pastors prayed for rain. The next morning, the keynote speaker arrived early, placed an umbrella on the pulpit, and asked, “How many of you brought one of these this morning?” The crowd nervously laughed because nobody had brought an umbrella. Then, the speaker went on to say, “We need to learn to pray, believing that God is listening. Otherwise, our testimony about God is ineffective.” Perhaps they should have read Ezra 8.

Verses 15-31 record the results of Ezra’s three-day stocktaking at the canal and also give us insight into the character of this remarkable man of God. Ezra displayed five traits that equipped him to be God’s “man of the hour”: Wisdom, Piety, Faith, Management skills, and Gratitude.

Today’s passage focuses on his Piety and Faith. Ezra “proclaimed a fast” as an acknowledgment of his sinfulness and an expression of his earnest desire to obtain divine guidance and the protection that comes with following Him rightly. Ezra asked God to be the guardian of the people. His mention of the “children” was a tender-hearted plea to the compassionate heart of the loving Heavenly Father. As a parent, I am always asking for God’s spiritual and physical protection of my children. Verse 23 says he “fasted and petitioned” the Lord. The idea of “petitioning” indicates more than a simple prayer. It was more like pleading with God. How did God respond? “He answered our prayer.” How slow we are to pray when God is willing to answer our supplications!

Concerning Ezra’s faith, he used strong terms to tell King Artaxerxes that the Lord was a mighty God who would indeed protect those who trusted and obeyed Him. With the journey imminent, Ezra began to realize the serious hazards he would face. To ask for assistance would have lessened the king’s esteem of Israel’s God, so Ezra put His faith where his mouth was, so to speak. How easy it is to proclaim the Lord’s greatness and sing of His might, but when trials test our faithful proclamations, how often do we seek shelter in the World? Like Ezra, we must READ God’s Word, BELIEVE it, LIVE it, and PROCLAIM it.

“On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:9-10 (NKJV)

The rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity came in stages.  First, Ezra came and restored the worship.  As worship was restored, Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple, the place of worship.  Then, Nehemiah arrived and rebuilt the walls and gates of Jerusalem.  The wall acted as a barrier against attack and protected those living within the city.  Stability radiated outwardly.  It is not enough to fortify the walls and build a place of worship.  Is that really “revival”?  Revival begins with the individual’s heart before the community is strengthened.  That meant YOU.  

From the moment Ezra puts his suitcase down in Jerusalem, we learn why God had chosen him to rebuild worship.  Ezra had prepared his heart to 1) Seek the Law of the Lord, 2) do it (live according to God’s Word), and 3) teach statutes and ordinances.

Do you want to be used by God?  Would you like to have the faith to stand firm and commit to being a “kingdom builder”?  Then you also must SEEK God’s Word, discipline yourself to OBEY His Word, and be a disciple-maker, TEACHING others how to seek and serve the Lord.  Anything that falls short of (or adds to) that simple formula will not perpetuate and sustain discipleship.  That is because anything other than God’s prescribed pattern of discipleship will never develop a firm spiritual foundation from which to stand against the troubles and attacks of this World.  Consider Jesus’s words:

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?  Whoever COMES TO ME, and HEARS My sayings and DOES them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” Luke 6:46-48 (NKJV)

The good news is that God does not leave the task of fulfilling that pattern of seeking, doing, and teaching entirely up to us.  Every follower of Jesus, at the moment of their belief in Him, is given the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit).  The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the truth of God’s Word and enable believers to perpetuate the gospel effectively.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1: 8 (NKJV)

So, boldly seek God’s Word and commit to living faithfully and sharing it with others!

“Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was made in the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. And at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found, and in it a record was written thus: In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: ‘Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber.’” Ezra 6:1-4a (NKJV)

As a high school senior, I was nominated to the United States Air Force Academy.  My father, being an Air Force Lt. Colonel, was very proud of me.  In fact, it had been my dream to fly fighter jets.  But there was one problem: My eyesight was way below the vision requirements for entrance into the Academy.  Still, I went forth with the procedures and interviews all the way up to the medical physical.  I had asked my eye doctor to write me a “dummy” prescription, hoping to slip past the exam, but I wasn’t counting on the Air Force doctors.  They used special drops to dilate my eyes.  When I walked out of the eye exam that day, I knew I had failed the physical, but I still had some youthful hope, some naïve notion that I would magically be allowed into the institution. Thus began my waiting for the official Air Force Academy decision.  

It can be challenging to await the arrival of an important letter.  The Jews must have felt some apprehension about the reply Tattenai would receive to the letter he dispatched to the powerful Persian King Darius.  Would Darius bother to search the old dusty records and back up the claim of the Jews that Cyrus had commanded them to build their Temple in Jerusalem?

Some of the Jews may have been dreading the answer from Darius; perhaps, ALL of them feared that the king would force them to stop building.  Are you afraid of something that might happen in the future?  You might be anxious about an upcoming medical procedure, impending unemployment, or family problems – the list is as vast as our imaginations!  God may surprise us and turn a terrifying prospect into a blessing.  Whatever happens, whether the future is better or worse than we imagined, it will be overseen by our loving, ever-present, all-knowing Heavenly Father.  The God who cared for His anxious people awaiting the reply of King Darius watches over us and plans the path ahead. (Proverbs 3:5-7)

By the way, I did not pass my Air Force Academy physical: eyesight.  I dejectedly accepted a track scholarship at a state college in Arkansas.  One night two years later, on our way home from a track meet at the University of Indiana, I heard the gospel and decided to follow Jesus.  Sometimes, what we think is bad news turns out to be the best news ever.

“Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them. At the same time Tattenai the governor of the region beyond the River and Shethar-Boznai and their companions came to them and spoke thus to them: “Who has commanded you to build this temple and finish this wall?” Then, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were constructing this building. But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius. Then a written answer was returned concerning this matter.” Ezra 5:1-5 (NKJV)

Turning from Ezra 4 into Chapter 5, we move fourteen years from Cyrus’s reign to that of Darius 1. Cyrus was killed during battle in 530 B.C.  Darius came to the throne in 522 and reigned until 486 B.C. He was Persian by birth and brought up in Zoroastrianism, which is based on the concept of an ongoing struggle between good and evil. Darius established this religion as the state religion of Persia, which was most likely the motivation for his support of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. While he did not believe in the Lord, rebuilding His Temple was simply to provide a “balance” of religions. God uses a myriad of means and motivations to accomplish His purposes.

The mood of God’s people at the time of Ezra 5 was one of abject depression. The people were so downhearted that they abandoned their attempt to renovate the Temple. They never wanted to see another brick or trowel (4:24). The two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, had their work cut out as they tried to cure the “cancer” of discouragement raging among the Jews. And that’s what discouragement is, isn’t it? Cancer. It begins growing slowly, and by the time you notice, it has traveled throughout the community and threatens to kill progress in its tracks.

Most believers in Messiah Jesus sometimes feel dejected while doing the Lord’s work. There are Saturday evenings when the pastor vows never to preach another sermon and when Sunday School teachers are ready to quit their classes. Volunteers grow weary of their duties amid their busy lives. The layman who goes out, sharing the gospel among the community, sometimes wonders if all his efforts are actually worthwhile after a street full of people refuse to engage in spiritual conversation. Ezra 5 can teach us how to cope with discouragement.

God did not forsake His people in their sadness or leave them to wallow in their self-pity. Instead, He sent two prophets to spur them on to action. Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to the Judeans in Jerusalem. Then, they set out to join in the work. The gospel speaks best with “sleeves-up.”  That is, the prophets were not simply messengers telling the people to have courage; they were also willing to practice what they preached! And that is what we are called to do: Know God through His revealed Word, and then roll up our sleeves, getting to work by mixing the “spit” of our preaching with the “sweat” of our brows. Lead with your labor.