You might ask if that’s important to know. Yes, it is, to get a real picture. Sometimes people read the Bible and don’t even know. Do you know where Esther fits in? Esther fits in between Ezra chapter seven and then chapter eight through ten. That’s where Esther took place. So, you don’t know that. You see the book in their orders and sometimes they’re out of place.  I’m giving this to you from an historical defined place, so you’ll know how Ezra really played out. Remember, Esther had ‘come for such a time as this’… to help them get out of captivity. Ezra is important to understand. He was responsible to build the temple and Nehemiah was coming to build the wall. It wasn’t until a dozen years later after Nehemiah built the wall. And, actually sixty two years total, before they actually brought worship back into the temple.

You can build the church and never have worship. You can walk with Jesus and never be a worshiper. You can go to church and never know what worship is. We’re dealing with Babylon, here.

This took place in Northern Africa to India. One of the Jewish brothers had just returned from visiting Jerusalem. You have to understand that it’s a thousand miles from Persia (Persia is today’s Iran) to Jerusalem. So, one of the brothers comes and gives Nehemiah a disturbing report about the condition of the city of Jerusalem. You have to understand that Babylonian captivity has taken place. Israel is back there. Remember, Ezra 8 tells them they came out. He was assigned to bring them out of Babylon and back into Jerusalem. He fasted and prayed. I’ve talked about it since we started the Corona Virus shut down. It was one of the lead verses that I used to tell us that it’s going to be an interesting time, but we’re going to have to learn how to come out of captivity. Much of Israel’s story is about them going into captivity, and then going out of captivity.

We know how to get in trouble, but boy, do we have a challenge learning how to get out of it and stay out of it. A lot of us get in trouble because we get our mouths in front of our life and we put our foot in our mouth. That’s why so many people have shoe polish on their lips, because they’ve got their foot in their mouth.

 Nehemiah 1:3, “The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire. They said to me, ‘The survivors who are left from the captivity in province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and it it’s gates are burned with fire. ’ ” It’s important to understand why fire was at the gates.

There is more to this message! You can watch it on YouTube at RockCCBaltimore!