Ezra-Nehemiah presents its readers with a question: What if God hit the reset button? What if God’s exiled people suddenly regained their land, rebuilt the temple, and were allowed to renovate the city walls? The answer is that without a new heart, God’s people remain in exile.

The book(s) of Ezra-Nehemiah has held a special place for me from my earliest days as a disciple. In my childhood Sunday School classes, I remember felt board cutouts of the second temple and pictures of Nehemiah’s workers holding swords and trowels. It is an exciting story. However, the more I study Ezra-Nehemiah, I find that the real story is less about the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s ruined temple and walls and more about the ruined human heart.

Ezra-Nehemiah presents its readers with a question: What if God hit the reset button? What if God’s exiled people suddenly regained their land, rebuilt the temple, and were allowed to renovate the city walls? The answer is that without a new heart, God’s people remain in exile.

Most Things New

Ezra-Nehemiah is filled with a whole lot of new. First, there was a new world government, the Persian Empire, which was far more sympathetic toward religious freedom than the previous Babylonian regime. Cyrus issued a decree freeing the exiles, and a fairly sizeable group of more than 42,000 people journeyed to Jerusalem. Though they faced initial opposition, the exiles rebuilt the temple. In celebration of this new temple, the people observed the Passover, and “the Lord made them joyful” (Ezra 6:22). The exciting restoration continues as Artaxerxes commissions Ezra to teach the Law and personally funds the beautification of the temple.

Moving into Nehemiah (about twelve-years later), the theme of newness progresses as King Artaxerxes commissions Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. “The good hand” of God was on Nehemiah, and Artaxerxes graciously donates the timber for the beams of the gates (Neh. 2:7-8). Though the walls were in terrible condition, the people under Nehemiah’s leadership were able to rebuild them in an astounding fifty-two days. Ezra read from the Book of the Law of Moses, and the people celebrated the Feast of Booths to commemorate the restoration. The exiles even confessed their past wickedness and recommitted themselves to the covenant.

The Same Sin

With all this restoration, however, some things did not change. Namely, the Judahites were still desperately held captive in their sin. Though both Ezra and Nehemiah begin relatively cheery, both sections end with a gloomy conclusion. Even with a partial restoration, the Judahites had the same old, sinful heart.

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