honor God – Page 3 – Be Still…

Lamentations 2:1-22 – God’s Anger

Read Lamentations 2:1-22

While the first lament was of a sorrowing widow, Jerusalem, the second poem comes from the perspective of God’s anger and the devastation it can wield. The author was consumed with sadness and fear. What was going to happen? Writing these words in his own anguish would help people never forget. Do you think that was the author’s intent in the moment?

Lamentations is a book to read in Hebrew, if you can, because some of these poems are acrostic. That means each of the 22 verses starts with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet. One thought as to why the author wrote the laments like that was to facilitate memorization. We, as well as the original audience, should never forget what God’s anger can do. Lamentations helps us remember.

Nehemiah 6:15-19 – It’s Done!

Read Nehemiah 6:15-19

The wall is completed. It only took fifty-two days. That’s not even two months! Granted, there were many people working on that huge project, but I’m amazed at the short duration of time it took. I don’t imagine there were any cranes or bulldozers around to help move away the debris. Construction sites would have looked a lot different back then.

One of my favorite lines in this reading is about what the enemy’s thought about this great feat. Nehemiah said, “They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.” I feel like going into my storage boxes to find my cheerleading pom poms! It’s always a victory when people who don’t belong to our family of believers (yet) recognize God’s hand at work and give him the credit. It doesn’t happen much these days.

Nehemiah 4:1-6 – Handling Big Bullies

Read Nehemiah 4:1-6

Construction of the Jerusalem wall continues. We hear more about the bully, Sanballat, in this passage. Sanballat is spouting off his taunts to discredit the work of the Jews. I couldn’t help but think of when Jesus was taunted during the final hours before his crucifixion. People can be so mean.

We can only suppose what Sanballat’s problem is with the rebuilding process. Could it be he feels threatened and wants to show his superiority? Sanballat tries to get others to agree and join in on his mockery.

Ezra 8:24-36 – By God’s Gracious Hand

Read Ezra 8:24-36

Ezra likes lists. I like lists because they keep me organized. For Ezra to take on such a big mission, being organized would certainly be a good attribute to have. This reading lets us know who did what and more about their responsibilities during this transition or rebirth of a people. The hand of God played a huge role in the success of this mission back to Jerusalem!

God was giving his people a second chance to love him and live honorably following the laws given to Moses. This whole return had been orchestrated by God, even down to the last gold bowl and who was responsible to get it to Jerusalem. Was I the only one that still ponders how you move 24 tons of silver? Tons!

Ezra 4:1-5 – Stay on Track

Read Ezra 4:1-5

Can our enemies also worship our God? That’s a good question. Maybe we should explore what makes someone our enemy? For me, it would be anyone who doesn’t believe as I do who is trying to harm me or distract me from my mission. With that understanding, I don’t think my enemies would be Christians who love Jesus.

The enemies discussed in our reading were giving good “lip service” to those working on the temple. Their attempts to trick the workers in believing they could also be worshiping the LORD failed. The help they offered as a lure was also rejected.