Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
Cross References
Ezra 7:28and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.
Ezra 9:10And now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandments
Nehemiah 9:36So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness--here we are as slaves!
Psalm 106:46He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.
Psalm 109:12May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
Psalm 138:7If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.
Isaiah 14:3On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
Treasury of Scripture
For we were slaves; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
we were bondmen
Nehemiah 9:36,37
Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: …
yet our God
Psalm 106:45,46
And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies…
Psalm 136:23,24
Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: …
Ezekiel 11:16
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.
in the sight
Ezra 1:1-4,7-11
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, …
Ezra 6:1-12
Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon…
Ezra 7:6,8,11-28
This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him…
to set up
Ezra 6:14,15
And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia…
Haggai 1:9
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
Zechariah 4:6-10
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts…
repair.
Isaiah 5:2,5
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes…
Daniel 9:25
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Zechariah 2:5
For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
