December 18

<p><a href= "http://traffic.libsyn.com/thehighroadshow/3537S1218.mp3" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">Download</a></p> <!-- END 1492 Download Link --> <p>Nehemiah 13 - Esther 4 We are in the Nation Stream reading from the New Century Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7streamsmethod | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Lord, we see people who are caught in dilemmas - for we have been there ourselves. What an inspiration Esther is to step in for your people in this critical hour - and for Nehemiah to rise to the occasion as he did. We realize this is the family of God at work; our family. Amen. Neh. 13 - Nehemiah returns from a time with Artaxerxes and finds all kinds of shekanery in process back in Judah. Men had hitched up with foreign wives who had been raised in a cauldron of squalid paganism. Y'can hear their excuses, "yea, but she was so prrrettyyyy....". That was going on plus rooms in the Temple area were being used for storage facilities by someone who in no way deserved such privileges. The Temple grounds were being misused, and desecrated, people were not paying in their tithes. As for the Sabbath, the attitude of some was, "yeah, right, whatever...!" Nehemiah comes back to town (like Clint Eastwood - if you can picture this) and he set everything straight despite the obstacles and whining or excuses. If leaders would be so forthright today, what a change the world would see. Not one to then ride off into the sunset, Nehemiah lived long and led virtuously for God's sake the rest of his days in Judah. And he passed on around 413 B.C. Esther is a surprise book, as is Ruth. Biblical history is marching along in all its colorfrul splendor [and gore] and then Ruth is dropped in there. It's a book stating'oh, by the way' let me tell you about the heavenly grace and virtue of one of Jesus' great great grandmothers". Esther is another, "oh, by the way, let me tell you about a wonderful maiden-turned-queen who stepped to save our nation from being annhiliated." Esther happened before Ezra and Nehemiah though it i