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Series: Faithful among the Ruins

After decades of captivity, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem, only to find the city in ruins. These books detail God’s faithfulness to his people as they rebuild their homeland.

Faithful among the Ruins

A Proclamation from the King

Read: Ezra 1 The exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem. (v. 11) Exiles: those forced to leave their native country—banished from their homes against their will. For the Jews,

Faithful among the Ruins

A Place to Begin Again

Read: Ezra 3 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping. (v. 13) In many ways, we are still dealing with

Faithful among the Ruins

A Pattern of Opposition

Read: Ezra 4:1-16 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build. (v. 4) The apostle Peter reminds us, “Beloved, do not be

Faithful among the Ruins

A Pernicious Lie

Read: Ezra 4:17-24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped. (v. 24) Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote, “A lie that is half-truth is the darkest

Faithful among the Ruins

A Project Renewed

Read: Ezra 6:1-12 Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt. (v. 3) The work of rebuilding the temple of God and the city of Jerusalem came

Faithful among the Ruins

A Passover Observed

Read: Ezra 6:13-22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful. (v. 22) Seventy years after Solomon’s temple was destroyed

Faithful among the Ruins

A Priest’s Arrival

Read: Ezra 7:1-10 Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes. (v. 10) Eighty years after the first

Faithful among the Ruins

A Prayer of Confession

Read: Ezra 9 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. (v. 3) The book

Faithful among the Ruins

A Penitent Population

Read: Ezra 10:1-15 We have broken faith with our God . . . but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. (v. 2) When you drive past the rescue