Nehemiah

If the book of Ezra is all about the rebuilding of the Temple, the book of Nehemiah is all about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah, like the book of Ezra, is told in the first person. Nehemiah is a royal cup-bearer for the king of Persia, who asks permission (much like Ezra) to go back to his homeland to check things out. He's heard the walls surrounding the city have fallen to ruin and when he gets there it turns out the rumours are true. The king gives Nehemiah an armed escort to go on the journey back to Jerusalem and also funds to rebuild the walls.

The people are organized into families who are told to work on the section of the wall closest to thier homes. They're motivated to work hard because the wall means protection from enemies. The catch-22 is, however, that once they start rebuilding the walls, their enemies (the Samaritans and others) assume the Jews are planning to rebel, and so they try to attack the Jews while they build. The Jews therefore build, "with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon." -- Nehemiah 4:17

Having your enemies trying to attack you while you fortify your city is probably motivation enough to get on with it in a hurry, and they finish rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem in just 52 days.  So they're happy and have a party, but then...

When Ezra reads the Law of Moses (the Torah?) to his people, who have forgotten, the people feel terrible and mourn the loss of their history and connection to God and then profess their sins and re-dedicate themselves to the Lord. All is well, except...

There are again foreigners in their midst. And Nehemiah, like Ezra, makes sure to drive them all away in order to ensure the inhabitants of Jerusalem are all descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Isreal) and not of any other nation. I'm guessing the reason for the purification of the Jewish community at that time was to keep the Jewish teachings from becoming diluted with outside traditions and culture.

Though why foreigners who married into the Jewish community couldn't simply have been converted, I still don't undertand. Regardless, I suppose you've got to admire them for their continual attempts to get back to being good, despite the many times they lose their way on the path. The Jews in the Old Testament are always inclined to get back on the horse, no matter how many times they fall off.

**NEXT: Esther

Long Run (2:15)

Running on the seawall (two laps) today, with the sun shining and all the pretty people out with their dogs and frisbees, was just great. I love being all sweaty and imagining people all impressed with me flying by at warp speed. "Did you see her?" I can almost hear them whisper loudly, "Look at her go!"

These Sunday long runs I pretty much just do a fast jog, but I like to imagine it's so much more than that. Feel like a hero.

The first hour was cake, the second hour was just painful. This is only the second time I've run for this amount of time (besides the half-marathon) and found the muscles in my legs ache as soon as I stop. It's weird. I don't know if I'm missing some vitamin or mineral or something. Maybe I need to eat more bananas. Also, the giant blister under my left arch is really gross and annoying. I'd post a picture but no one wants to see that.

After today's run I went out for a steak dinner with a friend and we had frosty beer and watched the Canadian women's soccer team play Germany in the World Cup. What an awesome way to finish a good hard run.

Ezra

The book of Ezra is only 10 chapters. I like that. I can read the whole book in a day and feel I've read a nice, neat little part of the Bible. Like Ruth. The two other aspects of Ezra I like are:

1. This is the first book in the Bible written in the first person.
"And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me," -- Ezra 7:28
It's a very different tone when the author narrates in the first person. It's more personal.

2. This book begins with such hope. Cyrus, king of Persia, allows the Jews not only to return to Jerusalem, their homeland, but encourages anyone staying behind to send them on their way with gold and silver and animals for sacrificing to God. Time goes by, however, and the Persian officials forget about Cyrus's decree and start harassing the Jews about their building and make them stop. But then King Darius finds Cyrus's written statement and agrees it should continue, that the Jews should be allowed to continue their building of the temple of God, with an added bonus of it being paid for with Persian funds. Good news in Jerusalem, and the temple is finally completed (though not to quite the same awe-inspiring standard as the first one).

But then there's some more bad stuff. Ezra, an expert in Jewish law, is sent by the latest Persian king, Artaxerxes, to find out how things are going in Judea. Not so good, as it turns out. While the Judeans/Jews are happily doing their thing and worshipping God at the new temple, they get chastized by Ezra for having taken foreign wives in the last few generations. Now, I'm no biblical scholar or historian, so I know there must have been some really great transgression in marrying a foreigner (who evidently couldn't be shown the light and converted to Judaism) but I just don't fully understand why Ezra freaks out (tearing his clothes and his hair out!) and orders all these men (hundreds of them) to divorce their wives AND their children. Basically Ezra is saying that to keep the traditions and the holiness of the people, they have to get rid of the impure members that have been integrated into their society and their family. To me this seems racist and closed-minded. And in a case of blatant irony, smacks of a terrible event that took place in Europe in the last century.

Anyway, something else to learn more about when I can sit down with a rabbi or priest or at least a biblical scholar to get the answers to the questions that burn in my mind as I read this weighty tome.

**NEXT: Nehemiah

I & II Chronicles

Finished reading the first and second book of Chronicles today. They're basically a repeat of I & II Kings without all the details of David's and Solomon's failures (which I think were actually quite interesting) and adds a positive spin at the end: After the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and the Jews are sent into exile, the Persian king Cyrus gives permission for them to return to their homeland (around 539 B.C.E.).

The two books are basically a re-telling of the monarchies from the time of king David to the Jews' return to their homeland. Again, it's a bit frustrating to read these two books since there's only ONE king in the entire list (and there are many) who has a perfect heart and follows God's laws and "does that which is right in the sight of the Lord." Obviously being good is difficult, but it's disheartening to read of SO MANY rulers who fail. And God is often not nice to them. One gets leprosy and another dies of some incurable bowel disease. That's pretty rough.

Those who do good, however, are rewarded. I like some of the verses that encourage good actions.
"Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded." -- II Chronicles 15:7

**NEXT: Ezra

Long Run (2:00)

Ran for exactly two hours this morning on the seawall at Stanley Park with my brother. We did just under two laps. After an hour I started to ignore any sensations below my waist. Felt like the cartilage in my knees was gone and my legs were only moving out of habit. It was a hard run, but it made the veggie dog I had for lunch and the sushi I had for dinner that much more tasty. And I imagine I'll sleep REALLY well tonight. So far, the training is going well.

Registered for Marathon

Well, today I paid $102 for this year's Royal Victoria Marathon, Sunday, Oct. 9. So I've got about four months to train. I've only been running three times in the last six weeks, so I'm going to have to step it up, and fast. My brother says he'll train with me, so I've got a running buddy for the longer runs. I've never run for more than two hours at a stretch, and I can imagine it might be more the boredom than the physical effort that would wear me down. Plus, it's just nice to run with someone every now and then.

I took my orthotics in to Kintec Footlabs this afternoon to get them refurbished (getting kinda worn out over the last few years of running) and I'm going to get new runners next month. I might get myself a nice water bottle belt, but I'm not sure I really need it. Other than that, it's just a matter of pounding the pavement and eating and sleeping more. I know a marathon is a hell of a lot of time and pain, but I think I'm as ready to takle the "Everest of running" as I'll ever be. One step at a time.

WCT Blues

Darn. Looks like another summer will pass by without my having hiked the West Coast Trail. Tried to get a booking for August, but even calling first thing in the morning on the first day of registration it was already all booked up. Seems people go online at midnight to get their spots. I shouldn't be surprised -- it's considered the best trek on Earth, surpassing even Milford Sound for beauty and adventure. Ah, well. At least I'll save some money; it's not cheap to buy hiking boots, camping supplies, food and pay the trail fee. Now I'll have enough to go skydiving this summer... and I'll make SURE I register in time to go next year!