Ezra and Nehemiah—Building God’s Temple

Anciently, in Israel, God’s chief concern was with the events happening inside the nation and temple. At that time, the temple was the only place on Earth where God’s work could be found. History shows, as things went in the temple, so went things with the nation. Study Judah’s annals. Its kings either led the people to God and His temple or astray into paganism. God holds the same concern for His temple, or Church, today. God’s primary concern is always His temple. Why? God’s work is always done from His temple.

There are many lessons we must learn from this ancient history. Hezekiah was considered one of Judah’s greatest kings. At one point in Hezekiah’s reign, Assyria was about to destroy the nation. Hezekiah appealed to God through Isaiah and God miraculously saved the nation. He turned another nation against Assyria and then dispatched an angel to slaughter 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that tried to besiege Jerusalem. God solved this major problem for Hezekiah and the nation of Judah. You can study more about this incident in Isaiah 37.

Hezekiah then had to face another big problem. “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 38:1). Isaiah came to Hezekiah and told him that he would die as a result of his sickness. This came as quite a shock to Hezekiah. At this point in his life, he handled the situation correctly.