Nehemiah 8-9

“For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets ...” (9:30). As the returned exiles in Jerusalem listened to God’s Word being read out loud and explained, they wept (8:9). They heard about God’s “covenant of love”, how He led their ancestors miraculously to a “spacious and fertile land”, yet they still rebelled against His “great goodness” (9:35). Now, their land was ruled by others (9:36), but God was still with them, still patiently drawing them back to Himself through His Word.

“You are a gracious and forgiving God, slow to anger and abounding in love” (9:17). God’s patient love still reaches out, calling us back from destruction and into the kingdom of his Son.