Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 33 results

Ezra 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

This passage launches the first of the three missions narrated in Ezra-Nehemiah. The other two missions will focus on individual leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah, and their God-given work within the restored community. This mission, announced here and carried out in 1:5–6:22, involves restoring the Judeans to their own territory and rebuilding the temple for the worship of God. Throughout the story, the...

2. The List of Exiles Who Returned

Ezra 2:1-70

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The text now informs us of the composition of the returnees, who duly set out and arrived in Judah and prepared to rebuild the temple. The narrator, writing considerably later than the events of the first mission, drew on this list, which appears again in Nehemiah 7:6–73a. First, Nehemiah found this list in the Jerusalem archives and incorporated it into his memoirs, but the narrator in Ezra did n...

3. Rebuilding the Altar

Ezra 3:1-6

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Here the first of the two implementations of the divine mandate given through Cyrus is completed. A nucleus of the exiled people had come home in order to rebuild the temple. To this end they brought with them Gentile gifts and recovered vessels from the first temple (ch. 1) and then added gifts of their own (2:68–69). Now they were to take the first step of reestablishing the worship of the Jerus...

4. Opposition to the Rebuilding

Ezra 4:1-5

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

So far, so good. The return home, the construction of an altar to get worship started, and the laying of the temple foundation had marked the first phase of fulfilling the mission given through Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The second phase, building the temple itself, was to last longer than twenty years. We have to wait until 6:15 to read of its completion. This second phase, with its long delay ...

5. Tattenai's Letter to Darius

Ezra 5:1-17

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

5:1–2 The narrator apparently did not know of any political factors that would have brought about the shift from work stoppage to renewed activity in rebuilding the temple. All he had to illustrate this next stage was the edited text of messages from two postexilic prophets, Haggai and Zechariah (Hag. 1–2; Zech. 1–8), and copies of the Tattenai correspondence. Verses 1–2 are based on the biblical ...

6. The Decree of Darius

Ezra 6:1-12

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

This chapter draws to a triumphant close the accomplishment of the first mission given by God through the Persian king Cyrus in 1:1–4. Stage one was realized by chapter 3. Now stage two is brought to a satisfying finale in the completion of the temple-building project. The temple represented the heart of Israel’s spiritual life as the sign of God’s presence with the people, the focus of their wors...

7. Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

Ezra 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Chapter 7 introduces us to the person and mission of Ezra. His mission is the second of the three presented in Ezra-Nehemiah. It has two parts: first to take back to Jerusalem valuable supplies and pledges for the temple, along with a fresh group of returning exiles; and second to implement the adoption of the Torah to regulate the life of the Judean community. We notice, looking over the chapter,...

8. List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

Ezra 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Ezra was given two mandates in chapter 7. The first was to lead a party of immigrants back to the homeland and to take along the sacred contributions of the Persian court, the Babylon satrapy, and Jews remaining in exile, and deliver them to the temple authorities in Jerusalem. This first assignment is accomplished here. Apart from the conclusion in verses 35–36, this section comes from the Ezra m...

9. Ezra's Prayer about Intermarriage

Ezra 9:1-15

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The mission assigned to Ezra had two parts. While we have seen the first part carried out in chapter 8, the second part remained to be done. In 9:1–10:44, we shall read how the Judean community, complying with Artaxerxes’ decree in 7:14, 25–26, accepted the Torah. Comparison with the latter passage shows that the editor’s presentation of Ezra’s work was highly selective, and that here the issue of...

10. The People's Confession of Sin

Ezra 10:1-17

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The story continues so smoothly from chapter 9 that, although it switches to third-person references to Ezra, this must be an editorial change made to the Ezra memoirs. He is labeled Ezra the priest in verses 10 and 16, for he was engaging in priestly work as he instructed the people about their uncleanness and pointed to the remedy, along the lines of Leviticus 10:10–11. In this way he discharged...

11. Nehemiah’s Prayer

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The two missions in Ezra 1–6 and 7–10 were launched by the decree of a Persian king, behind which lay the sovereign will of the God of Israel, disclosed in Scripture and providence. The third and last mission, spread over 1:1–2:8 and summarized in 2:18a, also follows this pattern. The focus on Nehemiah in 1:1–10 corresponds to the description of Ezra’s qualifications by birth and training in Ezra ...

12. Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

Nehemiah 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

2:1–3 For some reason, Nehemiah had to wait four months after receiving the bad news about Jerusalem, before his chance came to present his case to the king. Verse 1 describes the procedure for serving the wine: servants brought it into the royal presence and Nehemiah poured it, probably after sampling it to check for poison. Evidently he had hidden his grief while on duty, but this time it showed...

13. Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

Nehemiah 2:11-20

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

2:11–15 Jerusalem at last! One might have expected Nehemiah to seek the public support of verses 17–18 from the outset. As verses 12 and 16 clearly state at key points, he chose instead to make a private inspection of the wall under the awkward cover of darkness, mounted and escorted by a few of his staff walking with him. An emotional factor cannot be discounted: this was a matter that had weighe...

14. Builders of the Wall

Nehemiah 3:1-32

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Here, by contrast, is a list of those who had a “share,” a “claim,” and a “historic right” in Jerusalem (2:20), and who proudly exercised their privileges by rebuilding its wall. Nehemiah evidently persuaded them that the “welfare of the Israelites” (2:10) was at stake. This section seems to have originated as a separate list found in the temple archives: it gives pride of place to the high priest...

15. Opposition to the Rebuilding

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

This section deals with a cluster of obstacles that had to be overcome. It is closely tied into the pattern of opposition we have already observed. Strictly speaking, verses 1–5 round off chapter 3: progress in wall building was countered by enemy opposition triggered by news of it (heard), which in turn was checked by a response from Nehemiah. Verses 6–9 reproduce this pattern of chess-like moves...

16. Nehemiah Helps the Poor

Nehemiah 5:1-19

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

We seem to move into a different world in this chapter. Gone is the battle zone of chapter 4. In its place is a seemingly unrelated area of social tension, where one would scarcely think that rebuilding the wall was a top priority. The recurring pattern, from chapter 2 onward, of progress on the wall, the response of enemy opposition, and Nehemiah’s counterresponse, is put on hold. The enemy respo...

17. Further Opposition to the Rebuilding

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The keyword of this chapter is intimidation. Of the major English versions, only the NJPS is consistent in its fivefold rendering of the same Hebrew verb for intimidation. It occurs regularly at the conclusion of paragraphs, in verses 9, 13–14, 16, and 19. The first main section, consisting of verses 1–14, is divided into two parallel subsections describing different attempts to intimidate, in ver...

18. The List of the Exiles Who Returned

Nehemiah 7:4-73a

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Was Nehemiah’s mission complete with the rebuilding of the wall? Did that satisfy his ambition to rebuild Jerusalem (2:5)? At the very least, security measures were required. In this section we read of such measures and also initial steps taken to increase the number of residents in Jerusalem. Since the Hebrew verb “to build” can connote community building, the definition of Nehemiah’s mission in ...

19. Ezra Reads the Law

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Nehemiah’s work of repopulating Jerusalem is put on hold until chapter 11. The editor has put chapters 8–10 together and placed them here in pursuit of a different but related agenda. This chapter presents the first two of a series of readings from the Torah. At first sight, the topic of the Torah seems irrelevant to Nehemiah’s practical measures. In fact this material develops chapter 1, where Ne...

20. The Israelites Confess their Sins

Nehemiah 9:1-37

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

This chapter follows in the wake of 7:73b–8:12 and 8:13–18. The people “assembled” (REB) once more for a third public reading of the Torah and a communal response. This time their response is one of repentant confession. As soon as the festivals of joy ended (8:12, 17), it was appropriate to act on the instinct to respond to the Torah with lament in 8:9. Set in the new literary jigsaw that chapter...

21. The Agreement of the People

Nehemiah 9:38--10:39

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Before Jerusalem could be repopulated in line with Nehemiah’s plan in 7:4–5, the last part of the program laid down in chapter 1 had to be implemented. The community had started to take the Torah into account in the readings and responses of chapter 8, but they had to go further. Their prayer of repentance in chapter 9 must logically lead to wholehearted obedience to God’s commands. The divine con...

22. The New Residents of Jerusalem

Nehemiah 11:1-36

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

At last the time was ripe for the editor to pick up, from 7:4–5, the story of the repopulation of Jerusalem. First, the ideals in Nehemiah’s prayer had to be realized on a communal level: the new focus on the Torah as determinative for the life of the community in chapter 8, the prayer of repentance in chapter 9, and the pledge of commitment to the Torah and the temple in chapter 10. Now 11:1–2 gi...

23. Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

Nehemiah 12:27-47

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

It was time for a celebration. We need to remember that the edited account continues from 11:1–20, and what intervenes is a compilation of supplementary material. The first half of chapter 11 briefly told the story of the repopulation of Jerusalem and enumerated the families who were involved in it. It used a source other than Nehemiah’s memoirs—one that focused on the role of the people and their...

24. Nehemiah's Final Reforms

Nehemiah 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Was there anything else left to do after the grand finale of the wall dedication ceremony? Indeed there was, according to the editor. At the close of Ezra 1–6 the narrator recognized in the dedication of the rebuilt temple an opportunity to put into place normative guidelines that echoed the Torah concerning the regular staffing of the temple. Similarly here, the editor supplements the wall dedica...

25. Rebuilding the Temple

Ezra 3:7-13

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

3:7 The closing statement of verse 6 serves as a headline for the next paragraph. But first, wider preparations for rebuilding the temple are noted, although the opportunity to use these materials was to await chapter 6. Here again we are meant to hear echoes of the first temple in the details relating to its royal building and repair. The hiring of masons and carpenters recalls Jehoash’s repair w...

Showing 1 to 25 of 33 results