We must know God's word if we are His people, but we must also have it in our hearts. This word is for all of us, not just the clergy. We must drill it into our children's hearts so that we can act on it rather than knowing the word but not acting on it. We must act with justice toward all in the Christian community, as we cannot lift out hands to God if there is injustice in the community.
Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah all show for us how heroic our leaders should be. Like them, we must continually labor to renew and reform the Church to God's will. There are those who are those who do not work to reform the Church, or even work against them, but we must not be fearful, as God will take care of His Church. We must work on and have patience. God is being patient for us, which He can afford to do, as God controls history.
These books, like all of the Bible, should be read not simplistically. There is an adult reality with realistic lessons for all of us and applications to our lives today. To the faithful, Ezra and Nehemiah show us many duties that we have to the Church today.
We must have faith.