People of the Bible: Nehemiah

Book of the Bible: Nehemiah 

Who was Nehemiah?

Nehemiah’s story begins with him as a slave in a foreign land. He hears news that his home city of Jerusalem is in dire need of help but he is trapped where he is. Nehemiah prays and fasts and God provides an opportunity for him to go to Jerusalem and serve as its governor. Nehemiah takes the opportunity.

Jerusalem’s walls had fallen approximately 70 years before when the Babylonians attacked, captured, and destroyed the city. Nehemiah, along with Ezra, took the responsibility of rebuilding the city and the walls. Having strong walls around the city was important to guard it against attacks. Nehemiah showed great leadership and rallied the people around his cause.

Unfortunately, while they were rebuilding the walls, the Israelites faced great opposition from the surrounding countries. The surrounding countries feared that if they were successful at rebuilding the walls, then God would make Jerusalem a powerful nation once again.

Nehemiah was a great leader and encourager. He knew his enemies were trying to stop his people, but he didn’t go out to fight them. He had faith and trusted that God would deliver them from their enemy like he had done so many times before. He encouraged the people while they were under persecution and together they rebuilt the walls that had previously laid in ruins for 70 years. It only took them 52 days!

The story of Nehemiah shows us how strong leadership can influence a situation. But, beyond that, we are shown the power of prayer. It was Nehemiah’s prayers and his relationship with God that led to immense success. We see this in Jesus’s life as well. Jesus would often go out on his own to pray and spend alone time with God. This strong relationship with God helped Jesus follow God's will every step of the way and gave him the ability to lead people with his vision and the truth of the coming of the kingdom of God.

Prayer gives us the ability to be in a close relationship with God and discern what He wants from us. Jesus even taught us in Mark 11:24- “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Let me encourage you, prayer changes everything! Begin your day with prayer. Fill your day with prayer. End your day with prayer. Have faith, like Nehemiah, that God will answer your prayers!

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about the life of this Nehemiah Sunday, both in-person and online. Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids. To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Ezra

Book of the Bible: Ezra & Nehemiah 

Who was Ezra??

In approximately the 400 BCs the Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland after being exiled for 70 years. Jerusalem was destroyed due to Israel’s disobedience, but God was giving them another chance. While Zerubbabel was rebuilding the temple, and Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall, Ezra was responsible for leading the people of Israel back to worshiping God. During this time, Ezra was the nation’s spiritual leader. He served as a priest and a scribe.

When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem he expected the people to be praising God and following his commands. After all, they had been in exile for 70 years. You’d think they would have learned their lesson, but Ezra was saddened to find out this wasn’t the case. He knew the people needed to change, so he gathered the people and read the word of God to them for hours. 

The reading of God’s word pierced their hearts and they began to see their faults. Ezra was able to bring spiritual reformation to the nation because he read them what God had said. He led people to confess their sins and seek God for forgiveness. Ezra encouraged the people to continue to magnify God and worship only Him. 

Ezra and the rest of the Israelites faced great opposition during this time because the surrounding nations didn’t want to see Israel succeed. They tried everything they could to stop the Israelites from building. The other nations had heard the stories about how great the God of Israel was and they knew if the people ever aligned themselves up with Him again they would be unstoppable. And that’s exactly what they did. Because they returned to God, God established them as a strong nation once again.

When looking at the life of Ezra, we see the significance of having the hand of God on our life. Ezra 7:9b-10 (NLT) tells us, ‘for the gracious hand of his God was on him. This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.” I would encourage you to be like Ezra, to be determined to study the word of God, to obey it, to teach it to your family and those around you. Then, pray the hand of God over your life and your children’s life. Believe for God to do a great work in and through you like he did Ezra. Because God can use anyone to make a difference in His world and His kingdom. God can use you to make a difference when you surrender and obey His Word.

By diving into the word, the people of Israel renewed their relationship with God. John 1:1 says that Jesus is God’s word made flesh. That means that we can renew our relationship with God by diving into a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is our way to the Father, Jesus died to give us eternal life. Once we align our life with him, we can begin to experience this eternal life. When we keep God as our number one priority, we will always know He has our backs, and Jesus will show us the way. 

Key Takeaways:

• God’s Word is Important

• Read God’s word

• Pray the hand of God over your family’s life

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about the life of Ezra this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Elisha

Who was Elisha? 2 Kings 2-9

Elisha was the prophet that took over in the nation of Israel after Elijah was taken up into heaven. Elisha helped serve Elijah for about 7-8 years, during this time Elisha saw some amazing things and learned what it meant to know God and to be a prophet. When Elijah was getting ready to be taken into heaven, he asked Elisha what he could do for him. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and it was granted to him. Elisha was a great prophet who performed several miracles. We read about these miracles in the book of 2 Kings. Here are just a few:

• Elisha purifies the toxic water

• Elisha multiplies oil for a widow

• A Shunammite woman and husband give Elisha a room to rest; God grants her a son; son suddenly becomes sick in the fields and dies; God uses Elisha to resurrect the boy

• During a famine, men in Gilgal accidentally use poisonous gourds in a soup; Elisha purifies the food for the hungry

• Elisha shared bread and fed 100 men

• Elisha cleans Naaman of Leprosy

• Elisha anoints Jehu as King of Israel, and Jehu ends Joram (current king) and Jezebel Even after Elisha’s death, a dead body was healed after it touched his bones. Elisha was filled with God’s spirit and brought happiness to many people through his miracles of healing and restoration. We see that Elisha brought great happiness to people’s lives but it was temporary. Elisha’s name in Hebrew means “God is salvation”. During the time of his ministry, we see that God did not prevent all bad things from happening but he required people to have faith and put their trust in Him. The same is true today, bad things still happen, but we can put our trust in Jesus who is our once and for all salvation. We also see that Elisha did many great works, but it wasn’t by his works or might but by the power of the Lord. When you obey and surrender as Elisha did in 2 Kings, God too can work in and through you. He can use you to do great things on his earth. Again, not by your might but by the Lord’s power. Say yes to the Lord and have faith that you can do all things with God! (Matthew 19:26).

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Elisha this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids. To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.