Life after the "Bomb" - Lessons for the Post-Pandemic Church from Post Exile heroes Ezra and Nehemiah

Ezra and Nehemiah are some of the most amazing examples of servant leaders in the entire Bible. They both have unique backgrounds, both grew up, studied, and had careers apart from the homeland of their ancestors. They both experienced great opposition to their work in helping to reestablish society after a multi-generational decline. Despite the spiritual and visible opposition, they both faced, they leaned heavily on God's Word and God's Ways to steer God's people back towards relationship with God. Both Ezra and Nehemiah had their flaws, and both have their own unique controversies. Churches (as groups) and individual Christians lose out greatly when these biblical examples of Godly servants are ignored. 

Every church servant has on their minds navigating relationships and faithfully representing the Lord in the post-covid society we are in. While many have taken down the "keep your distance" signs and done away with mask mandates, the effects of the pandemic linger in our people. Many still have fear in their hearts when they hear a fellow congregant sneeze, and our pews remind us of the places which were once occupied by faithful attenders, yet now are only empty seating. 

With all of the social, societal, and spiritual changes that have occurred within our lifetimes Ezra and Nehemiah have much to teach us. We might very well learn from those who centuries ago worshipped the same God we do, and who faced massive challenges in re-establishing and revitalizing a society that had reaped what it had sowed. Most recently society has experienced the shift of Covid-19, which in comparison with the shifts of the Old Testament Exile period is mild by comparison. If God used Ezra and Nehemiah to guard and guide his people through great distress in rebuilding and revival, why would we who desire revival neglect these books? 

Recently in "Bible Overview" class, we've been examining the books of 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. These books give historical and spiritual perspective on the "nuclear bomb" of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. 2 Chronicles gives a setting for the buildup and circumstances which led to the "bomb" going off. Further details of the destruction of the temple, king's palace, walls, and city of Jerusalem are given elsewhere (such as Jeremiah 39:1-18, 2 Kings 25:1-21). The book of 2 Chronicles has an epilogue that summarizes both the "nuke" going off and the eventual return.

15 The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah. (2 Chronicles 36:15-21 NIV)

Even with how drastic the pandemic has changed our society; it still doesn't compare with this period of Exile. For a brief moment, consider if as a society there was no recognition of Christmas whatsoever. I don't just mean in the wider culture; I mean in the church as well. Imagine if every church in your state was robbed of every dollar and valuable asset they hand. Imagine if every grocer and field was burned to the ground. We haven't even begun to discuss the number of people who were killed during this destruction. When we read of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. it really was like a "nuclear bomb" going off. 

This "nuclear bomb" of Nebuchadnezzar's army devastated Jerusalem and the surrounding region.  We are reminded that this event was allowed by God only after generations of messengers, warnings, and calls to repentance were given. 2 Chronicles doesn't end with the destruction of Jerusalem. The book ends with the start of a new story, a story of return:

22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: 

23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the LORD their God be with them.’ ”  (2 Chronicles 36:22–23 NIV)

After 70 years, the people were allowed to return to the land. Ezra and Nehemiah were among the faithful of God who lived as the people of God returned to Jerusalem decades after the "bomb". Following the above hypotheticals, how can you reestablish Christmas traditions, for people who have never in their life celebrated Christmas? How can a church budget be remade with no sense of generosity? How can grocery stores be rebuilt, and farms replanted when no one has seen a grocery store, and no one has worked in a field? 

Ezra and Nehemiah both had monumental tasks ahead of them. How did they approach the re-establishment of society? How did they navigate the opposition and challenges they faced to Godly reconstruction? What did these servants of God do to guard the people against falling into the same pitfalls that led to the disaster of the "bomb"? 

• Both men depended heavily upon the Lord in prayer. 

Ezra records several periods of prayer and a few specific prayers in the midst of his time of service and return from Exile. Sometimes Ezra's prayer life was something that was public In Ezra 3:11 and 7:27-28 there is praise in prayer among the people thanking God for his goodness. In Ezra 8:23 fasting accompanied prayer in preparation for the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. In Ezra 9:5 Ezra began to pray after a day of sitting in mourning and grief (see 9:3-4). Ezra's prayer is one of confession. It is one of the longest recorded prayers in the Bible (see Ezra 9:6-15). 

Nehemiah's life was also marked by prayer. When the reader is first introduced to Nehemiah, he is a man who has heard about the devastation of Jerusalem and its state of disrepair. How does Nehemiah respond? He "sat down and wept. For some days [he] mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven" (Nehemiah 1:4). When Nehemiah was presented with the question "what is it you want?" by the king, what did Nehemiah do before giving an answer? He prayed (Nehemiah 2:4)! In the midst of working to rebuild the walls, what does Nehemiah do? He prayed (Nehemiah 4:9). When Nehemiah received threats and intimidation how did he respond? He prayed (Nehemiah 6:9). The epilogue of the book of Nehemiah is marked by the refrains of prayer "remember me for this, my God" (see Nehemiah 13:14, 22) and "remember them, my God" (13:29) and "remember me with favor, my God" (13:30). 

Whether they were leading worship, rebuilding projects, undertaking a bold question, confronted by evil opposition, or in grief, what did Ezra and Nehemiah do? They leaned on the Mighty God by speaking their hearts in confession, bringing praise, making requests, and adoration to God in prayer. For the servants of the church today in a post-pandemic society, we too must be heavily depending on the Lord in prayer. 

• Both men depended heavily upon the Word of sacred scripture. 

Ezra was a noted scholar of God's Word when he came from Babylon back to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:6). His status as a priest and teacher of God's word was known even to the king (Ezra 7:11). The knowledge that Ezra had regarding the specificity of articles to return to the temple and associated temple ceremonies denotes a high level of careful study (Ezra 8:15-36). Ezra wasn't some haphazard novice. Ezra was a man who diligently searched the scriptures. His work sorting through files and paperwork helped lead to the restored homesteads of thousands of returning exiles. If there was ever a biblical superhero-like administrative servant of God's word, it was Ezra. 

From the very first scene with Nehemiah, he's a man steeped in the word of God. In his opening prayer seeking God's favor, he cites the Old Testament heavily (see Nehemiah 1:5-11). During Nehemiah's governorship of Jerusalem, he was often working in conjunction with Ezra to support and encourage the teaching of the word of God (Nehemiah 8). We can gather that Nehemiah also had high regard for the genealogical records and land appropriation methods as recorded in the times of Moses and Joshua and prior to the exile (Nehemiah 7 & 10). Nehemiah also had high regard for the instructions for the Levites and specific worship of God (Nehemiah 10 & 12). Nehemiah was there for the dedication of the walls which included extended readings from the Book of Moses (Nehemiah 13:1). Unlike Ezra, who was of a priestly lineage, Nehemiah had no such background. Yet, even without a priestly lineage, Nehemiah leaned heavily on God's word. Nehemiah wasn't a lone-star leader who was making his own decisions with no guidance. Nehemiah was a man in devoted relationship to God reliant on God's revealed word in the scriptures. 

Whether they were dealing with career politicians, angry crowds, starving refugees, leading worship, or setting social policies, both Ezra and Nehemiah were men deeply marinated in God's word. These servants of God looked at the texts of scripture from the past in order to look forward in setting a people on a trajectory of faithfulness to God. For the servants of the church today in a post-pandemic society, we too must be diligent and studious in our learning of the scriptures. 

• Both men enacted things that were considered extreme by their opposition

Not everyone agreed with Ezra and Nehemiah and their approach to life post-exile. In these two books that are filled with names and lists, another list is the list of opposition these servants of God faced. 

When Ezra led a return from Babylon there were deadly perils along the way. The king of Persia (Artaxerxes) may have been willing to send soldiers and horsemen along with the caravan of exiles returning to Jerusalem. Still, Ezra saw it as a moment to boast of God's protection (see Ezra 8:21-23). I cannot highlight this detail enough. The trip from Babylon was going to be perilous, so much so that armed guards would have been the pragmatic, practical, and expected thing. The caravan was traveling with considerable people and material wealth. Ezra needed to trust in God before he ever experienced the pushback that would occur upon reaching Jerusalem. Upon reaching Jerusalem, Ezra begins a set of reforms which includes the divorce of many of the leaders from their wives (See Ezra 9 and 10). Then as the reforms begin to take place, there were some (Jonathan son of Asahel, Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite) who objected to a delay that was administratively unavoidable (see 10:12-15). It's like Ezra had survived and navigated the "hard" parts only for all his work to be put in jeopardy by squabbling over procedure. 

For Nehemiah, he faced opposition in a different way than Ezra. While Ezra faced a deadly journey and then mostly internal disagreements about the enactment of policy, Nehemiah faced external pressures threatening his life and the life of his fellow returning exiles. Two men (Sanballat and Tobiah) were at the center of political letters, schemes, and subterfuge to halt the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The intimidation and threats were so near and real that Nehemiah instructed the workers to build in shifts with guards offering protection (Nehemiah 4:13, 21). An assassination plot was supposedly in the works at one point to kill Nehemiah, yet it wasn't his person that was the target this time, it was his character. The man who came to warn Nehemiah had been hired by Sanballat and Tobiah to try and intimidate Nehemiah so he would sin and thereby discredit his leadership (6:10-14). After the walls were built, and the city was secure, the epilogue of Nehemiah tells of several incidents which were disturbing and threatened to undo all the hard work of rebuilding the temple and city (Nehemiah 13:15-22). 

The truism "you can't make everyone happy" is one that echoes in the ears of anyone who has ever needed to make a decision. Ezra and Nehemiah both experienced serious opposition to their work and understanding of what God was doing among the people. As servants of God, the aim is not to please everyone. The aim is to please God. Neither of these servants let doubt, or paranoia take over their focus. They remained steadfast in their missions and always remembered the "bomb" that had gone off as a motivating context for their work. Their faithfulness and effectiveness in serving would be instrumental in either the future feasting or famine of the people. For the servants of the church today in a post-pandemic society, we too must remain relentless in the gospel mission which Christ Jesus has commissioned. 

In a world after 2020 the culture, circumstances, and context of ministry have certainly changed, the call to make disciples has not. Fellow church servants, lean heavily upon God in prayer, be studious and diligent in searching the scriptures, and remain relentless in making disciples of Jesus.