The Nehemiah Story – Part Two
The Preacher

Judah and Jerusalem is destroyed by the Babylonians. “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” (2 Chronicles 36:19-20 NIV). The people were killed. “…who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged.” (2 Chronicles 36:17 NIV). A remnant was spared. “He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.”(2 Chronicles 36:20 NIV)

Since God already knew that Jerusalem would be a focal point in the ministry of His son, Jesus He started the rebuilding process. “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. Anyone of His people among you – may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:2 (NIV).

The exiles started returning to Judah and rebuilding their lives and the temple. But like us, they soon fell into a pattern of behavior that was not Godly. So, God sends in Ezra, the preacher. He preached. They listened and responded.

Even though EGTMInc is called by God to work in the spiritually dark states, we are not to be the ‘first in.’ Way before we go in using our ministry gifts, He has already has “sent in Ezra’s” who are building the evangelistic infrastructure.

Ezra reached a point where he needed help in completing his assignment. (Same as our modern ‘Ezra’s). Nehemiah was living a comfortable life in the king’s palace, in Babylon, but God started to place a burden on his heart for Jerusalem. In the next Newsletter, you will learn more about the burden. Maybe you will recognize the burden that God has placed upon your heart to help the “Ezra’s” reach the lost in those areas defined as Spiritual Frontiers.