Nehemiah 13 closes the book of Nehemiah with an important warning:

A great spiritual moment does not guarantee permanent faithfulness.

The wall had been rebuilt.

The Word had been restored.

The people had confessed.

They had made a covenant.

They had celebrated.

But by chapter 13, some of the very commitments they had made were already being neglected.

The house of God was being misused.

The Levites were not properly supported.

The Sabbath was being violated.

And spiritually dangerous marriages were again threatening covenant faithfulness.

Nehemiah returns and begins correcting what had drifted.

Then we enter the book of Esther.

Esther 1–2 takes us into the Persian Empire.

God’s name is not explicitly mentioned in the book of Esther, yet His providence can b ...