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After 70 years in captivity, the descendants of the former inhabitants of Judah were allowed to come home. King Cyrus of Persia signed the decree, and settlers began to return to the ruins of their former home.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the reconstruction that followed their return. The dillemma faced by these leaders can be illustrated by two principles taught in the Book of Mormon:

1. Nephi taught that “all are alike unto God” and that “he denieth none that come unto him” (2 Nephi 26:33). Jesus later commanded Nephi’s descendants to allow everyone into their worship services. “Ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away,” He emphasized, “but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world.” And then He added, “whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation” (3 Nephi 18:25). Inclusiveness is important, because God loves all of His children.
2. On the other hand, people are not always trustworthy, as Zeniff learned the hard way. Seeing “that which was good” among their enemies, the Lamanites, he led a large group of families to recolonize the land where their ancestors had lived (Mosiah 9:1-3). The Lamanite king graciously offered them two lands: Lehi-Nephi and Shilom. Zeniff and his people moved in, and “began to build buildings and to repair the walls of the city” (Mosiah 9:6-8). Unfortunately, the king had ulterior motives, as Zeniff later discovered. “They were a lazy and an idolatrous people,” he said of the Lamanites, “therefore they were desirous to bring us into bondage, that they might glut themselves with the labors of our hands; yea, that they might feast themselves upon the flocks of our fields” (Mosiah 9:12). Zeniff’s people were able to defend themselves, but two generations later, they were conquered by their Lamanite enemies and lived in bondage for a time.

Like Zeniff, Ezra and Nehemiah led an effort to repair walls, rebuild a city, and rebuild a covenant people. Along the way, they and their predecessors dismissed outreach from their new neighbors, with comments like “Ye have nothing to do with us” (Ezra 4:3) and “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3). Many of their actions seem exclusionary, but they might be best understood in the context of a quandary: rebuilding a covenant people in the midst of strangers whom they weren’t sure they could trust.

This week, as we study Ezra and Nehemiah, let’s watch how they navigate this quandary. Let’s consider how their decisions affected their relationships with their neighbors and with God.