“For several decades, Derek Thomas has exhibited the highest caliber of expository preaching. His sermons are well known for their faithfulness to the biblical text, theological precision, and rich application. Dr. Thomas has also shown an entire generation of Christians how to preach the Old Testament. This commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah is a rich resource for preachers and for any other Christian who wishes to understand how these Old Testament books fit within the biblical story line and their meaning for Christians today. This commentary is a model of faithful evangelical interpretation with a pastoral heart.”
“Derek W. H. Thomas’s Ezra-Nehemiah is a must-have for the serious Bible student, whether a layman or a pastor. Thomas’s keen engagement with the text brings to life the struggles and success of the leaders of Israel as they sought to rebuild the temple and walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. With penetrating insight and judicious selections from pertinent commentators and theologians from the past and present, this commentary on a fascinating epoch of the redemption story speaks richly to the needs of our souls. The themes explored throughout Dr. Thomas’s exposition address the timeless issues of God’s people who are committed to the Word and prayer. Not only are seeming problems such as numbers, genealogies, and imprecatory prayers addressed, but so are the nourishing truths of the sovereignty, promises, redemption, and providence of God for his oft-discouraged people. Wisdom and encouragement are provided for those who seek to labor and to lead well in seasons of opposition, inequality, government intimidation, personal adversity, and even conspiracy. Study Ezra and Nehemiah with Derek Thomas to discover a renewed sense of joy in worship, holiness, generosity, and mission.”
“During Israel’s dark night of exile, God raised up two leaders: Ezra the churchman and Nehemiah the highly placed civil servant. As a wise and careful pastor-teacher, Dr. Derek Thomas unfolds their stories before us, displaying the sovereignty and goodness of God amidst difficult and distressing times. Dr. Thomas exhorts us in our moment not to cower in the shadows, but to set a watch, to pray, and, above all, to return God’s Word to its rightful place at the center of our lives.”
“We may not be naturally drawn to this record of the gray days of the kingdom of God and the yo yo experiences of success and setbacks there, but Derek Thomas wades into Ezra-Nehemiah and, with a firm confidence in the ‘instructability’ of all Scripture, takes us all the way from the theology of pots and pans to the semi-anticlimactic conclusion of the whole. He allows no wall to be built between the ancient context and our ‘today.’ Nor does he consider it sinful to cause his reader to squirm. You may wonder what you can make of these strange books with their memoirs and lists, sins and prayers, conspiracies and providences, tenacity and anger. I can think of nothing better than to take your Bible text and use Dr. Thomas’s commentary as a ‘pony’ to ride through it.”
“Ezra was an author, Nehemiah a cupbearer—and Derek Thomas is a master teacher and chef who combines many of their gifts to prepare a meal for today’s church. Here are the best of biblical ingredients served in a rich variety of courses calculated to nourish the mind and spirit. Dr. Thomas loves great narrative, traces plotlines with skill, understands how biblical theology works, and brings out telling contemporary application. In his hands the books of Ezra and Nehemiah express their inherent power to reveal the character of God, the power of his Word, the nature of the life of faith and prayer, and the purpose of the church. A feast indeed—the courses simply get better and better!”
“Derek Thomas has the happiest knack of leading his readers right into the heart of the biblical text. Think of his eye-opening ‘God delivers’ on Isaiah. In the present volume he tackles the intriguing (and too-neglected) books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and through him we not only enter into fruitful contact with the Bible but also meet with two of the most attractive characters that the Old Testament offers. Rightly, he refuses truck with that silliest of ‘liberal’ Old Testament ‘problems’ (did, in fact, Nehemiah precede Ezra?). As ever, what matters is the testimony that this history bears to the nature and working of the Lord. We find ourselves in the safest of hands, and possessors of a book of solid worth.”
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