Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 14, 2012 Read – Nehemiah 4 & 5 Today’s chapters deal with the continued struggle that returning exile had with rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Another problem Nehemiah faced was the oppression of the ordinary people by their nobles and official. What these stories point to was the growing disappointment that must have been emerging among the returned exiles and their descendants. This story was not turning out like they had hoped and thought it would. It was a struggle. This sense of disappointment and even failure is one of the defining marks of the experience of the people of God at this time. How they must have longed for the “good old days” – of course we already know that they were often not so good.