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Perhaps you were made for such a time as this! This is the theme of the book of Esther; our next lesson from The MANual, my NIV Bible for Men. It’s a story about how God used a queen and her cousin at His perfect time, for His greater purposes. About the Book of Esther The ten chapters of Esther were written about 470 B.C., about 10 years after Esther becomes queen. The author is unknown though some presume it was Ezra or Nehemiah, the writers of the two previous books in the Bible. Others presume the author is Morcedai, Esther’s older cousin, who plays a prominent role in the book.  Although it follows the book of Nehemiah, the events in this book actually occur prior to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that we learned about in MANual Lessons from Nehemiah. The setting is the Persian Empire after Xerxes the Great

The book of Nehemiah is full of examples in leadership. In this next lesson from The MANual, we will see how one person can accomplish great things when they talk and walk with God. Nehemiah saw a problem and was distressed by what he heard. But instead of complaining, he took action and God used him to accomplish one of the Bible’s seemingly impossible tasks: rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. About the Book of Nehemiah Nehemiah is the last of the historical books of the Old Testament (along with Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, and Ezra). Each book reminds us about trusting in God’s promises and recommitting ourselves to right living.   The likely author is Nehemiah since much of the book is written in the first person. However, another source, my New Living Translation Study Bible, says that Ezra, the

Our next lesson from The MANual comes from the book of Ezra. Most discussions about biblical heroes likely do not include Ezra, but probably should. He was a humble, obedient man who served God and taught about God’s faithfulness. About the Book of Ezra The ten chapters of Ezra in this NIV (New International Version) Bible are about how God can restore broken remnants. Similar to the lessons from the prophet Samuel, the lessons of Kings, and lessons from the Chronicler, Ezra is another of the historical books of the Old Testament that explains how God restored the Israelites whenever they kept His commandments. But the account of Ezra shows how one man can make a difference.  The setting is around 538-450 B.C.; approximately 48 years after King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and sent the Israelites to Babylon as captives. Nebuchadnezzar has died in 562 when King Cyrus of Persia overthrew