Book of Ezra -God lead Cyrus the King of Persia to end the Babylonian captivity. Zerubabel an Ezra lead the Israelites from exile back to their home land to rebuild the temple. They face obstacles but the temple was completed. Ezra teaches them the law and reminds them that God commanded them not to marry Canaanites. Those that did should put their wives and the kids away. They agreed because they knew they were wrong but not all of them obeyed.
Book of Nehemiah – Nehemiah gets permission from King Artaxeres to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. The King gave him armed escort and resources but he faced opposition. He is reminded that the prophet Zachariah said this will be a city without walls, God’s presence will surround it and people from all nations will come and join the covenant people, but Nehemiah thinks the people surrounding Jerusalem have no part in the city and he continues to build.
Ezra and Nehemiah tried to bring spiritual reversal amount of people by reading the laws to them for 7 days, and celebrating the Feast of the Tabernacle to remember where God brought them from. They vowed to renew their Covenant with God and follow God’s commands, but they violated God’s laws. Nehemiah was so upset that he beat the people, pull out their hair and yelled at them. God continued to love them although they continued to disobey, which shows us how much he loves us.
