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Today, we reach the conclusion of Ezra-Nehemiah. It is a huge downer.
Nehemiah returns from a business trip to Persia to discover the people are breaking their freshly renewed agreement to follow Yahweh, and not in minor or accidental ways. With brazen disregard, they are not sending tithes of grain to the Levites who serve in Yahweh’s sacred space. The Levites rely on that food to live.
The people of Jerusalem were dishonoring Yahweh’s sacred time by working, buying, and selling on the Sabbath. Within sight of Jerusalem’s newly rebuilt walls, no less.
All this backsliding sends Nehemiah on a rampage. He beats people and pulls out their hair, screaming that they must obey the commands of the Torah. It’s intense. His last recorded words are a prayer asking that God remember him with favor because, well, at least he tried.
It’s a strange, anticlimactic ending—one that matches the whole Ezra-Nehemian book, in a way. Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah had powerful visions for rebuilding the Kingdom of Israel and the passionate determination to complete their work. It turns out all the zeal in the world can’t change the human condition.
The Israelites’ problems before the exile always traced back to hard hearts. Israel’s problem after the exile is the same. After decades of destruction and deportation, the people came home. But they never fully return to God, and God’s glory never returns to the temple.
If Yahweh’s covenant partners are ever going to love and obey their God, they’re going to need a more profound transformation than stricter law enforcement, social-system reforms, and building projects can bring. They need new, soft hearts. Hearts not of stone but of flesh. Hearts that God promised to give humanity. When will that day come?
Reflection Questions
- Look back over Yahweh’s promises to give his people new hearts in Jeremiah 31:31-36 and Ezekiel 36. How do these prophets describe Yahweh’s future restoration of Israel? How does the return from exile fall short of these expectations in Ezra-Nehemiah?
- Take a moment to meditate on Yahweh’s covenant promises to Abraham, all the way back in Genesis 12:1-3. Which of these promises have been fulfilled on the far side of Israel’s exile? Which promises have yet to be fulfilled?
About this Plan

Read through the Bible in one year with BibleProject! One Story That Leads to Jesus includes daily devotional content, reflection questions, and more than 150 animated videos to bring biblical books and themes to life. Join the growing community around the globe who are learning to see the Bible as one unified story that leads to Jesus.
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