The Book of Nehemiah: Introduction
Please refer to the Preface to the Book of Ezra (Scriptural Reflection Ezra 1:1-4) in Year 2 Week 45 Day 309 for information concerning the authorship and historical background to the book of Nehemiah. While the prophets Haggai and Zechariah succeeded in encouraging the people to resume and finally complete the rebuilding of the temple by 516 B.C., and Ezra returned in 458 B.C. to restore the teaching and observance of the Law of Moses, it appeared that relentless political opposition from their neighbors had ruined the city of Jerusalem, with its walls burned down, and many returnees from the exile had chosen to move away from the city. It was in the year 445 B.C. in the 20th year of Artaxerxes that God moved Nehemiah, a trusted personal attendant to the king (as a cup-bearer) to return to rebuild the city itself (and was appointed governor of Judea), and to seal a national commitment to return to truly practice the Law of Moses as their national religious, civil and moral code of Law.
(1) After a period of 141 years after the fall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah would be a 3rd or 4th generation foreign born Jew serving in the court of the Persian King.
a. Spend a moment to put yourself in his shoes, and try to get a sense of his cultural, religious and educational makeup as a, say, 4th generation foreign born Jew.
b. Why then would he be so concerned about both the remnant and the city of Jerusalem?
(2) Within the comfort and luxury of the court of the king, how did Nehemiah react to the news of his people and his hinterland?
(3) Have you ever wept, mourned, fasted and prayed before God? What was it about?
(4) There were several great prayers recorded in this book. Let’s reflect on this prayer of Nehemiah in greater detail:
a. Adoration (v. 5): How did he address the Lord? What was his emphasis?
b. Petition (v. 6a): Judging from his prayer, can you get a sense of whether he prayed for Jerusalem only after the news he just heard, or it had been his habit to pray for his people and his homeland?
c. Confession (vv. 6b-7): How special was his confession?
d. Confidence (vv. 8-10): In spite of their sins, where did Nehemiah find his confidence in pleading to the Lord? (Note that vv. 8-9 was a rather free but accurate quote from Deut. 30:1-4.)
e. Petition (v. 11): It is likely that through his fasting and praying for “some days” (1:4), that Nehemiah had arrived at a decision. Before acting on it, he now laid it before the Lord. From the way Nehemiah approached his decision, what can you learn from him, especially in this petition?
(5) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days, I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” (Neh. 1:4)
As a 3rd or 4th generation foreign born Jew, Nehemiah was obviously rather educated and cultured and was fully immersed in the Persian society, to the point that he could occupy the position of cup-bearer for the king—though not as a high-ranking office, but one that had earned the total trust of the king. This speaks volumes of the impeccable character that he must have exhibited in his social and political encounters with the elites of Persia.
One can also imagine the relative comfort and luxury which Nehemiah enjoyed in the court of the king.
However, it is obvious that he had never forgotten who he was—not only a Jew, but part of the Chosen people of God—a people of divine destiny. If we are impressed with his grief over the misfortune of his people and the city of Jerusalem, we should be even more impressed with his spiritual life. It is true that upon hearing the bad news about the people and the land of his homeland, Nehemiah “wept…mourned and fasted and prayed” (1:4). In fact, it was not a one-time act of intercession, but a spiritual habit (or discipline): “your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel” (1:6).
As an official in the court of Persia, Nehemiah obviously was privileged to up-to-date and accurate news concerning the kingdom of the Persian king. The situation in Jerusalem must have been something that he was aware of and that he had prayed for “day and night” for his people and his homeland. However, such news was probably 2nd or 3rd-hand information. Now that he heard it directly from his own brother, he was greatly moved not only to pray even more fervently, but to go into action. But before such a monumental task was given to him, he had prepared himself well as a man of prayer! No wonder God could use him to steer the whole nation toward a recommitment to worship Him only, something that lasted for centuries.
(1) Although a cup-bearer was not a high-ranking officer in the court, he was nonetheless a very personal attendant to the king, and one that would have earned the complete trust of the king. How then could a foreigner hold such a position? What might this say about the person or character of Nehemiah?
(2) Do you think Nehemiah purposely looked sad before the king? Why or why not?
(3) The king’s question was obviously God’s answer to his prayer. Why then was Nehemiah afraid when asked by the king?
(4) What was Nehemiah’s reply? Why would he think that the king should care about the city where “his fathers were buried”?
(5) Upon being asked by the king about what he wanted, why did Nehemiah feel the need to pray (likely in his heart) at that time? Did he not pray about it for days already?
(6) How improbable was his request? Did he just blurt it out or was it premeditated?
(7) The king’s reply was a favorable one:
a. Why did the king set a time limit?
b. How long a time did Nehemiah request? (See 5:14)
(8) What else did Nehemiah ask of the king?
a. How does it reflect the risks associated with such a mission?
b. How does it reflect the political leadership potential of Nehemiah?
(9) Throughout this book, Nehemiah repeatedly attributed his success to the gracious hand of God. In these eight verses, how many different times can you detect the working of the gracious hand of God?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.” (Neh. 2:8)
One of the features in the book of Nehemiah is the constant credit Nehemiah gave to God in every success that was achieved. If we study every situation in which he gave credit to God, we will notice that it was given not just after the fact, but it was already anticipated as expressed in the total trust he had in God throughout the process. His first request to the king is a case in point.
We know that before he approached the king with his bold request to return to Jerusalem, Nehemiah had been fasting and praying. He had prayed to God about his plan to approach the king with the request and he asked God to give him success (1:11).
- I do not think that he purposely put on a sad face, but it was an imperceptible sign of grief that he just could not hide from the king. So, for the king to notice his sadness, he knew it was of God;
- While his reply to the king might have been rehearsed, for the king to ask him, “What is it you want?” must be another sign that God was at work;
- Even though he had been praying about it for quite some time, Nehemiah still found it necessary to pray silently in his heart before he laid out his request—a sign of total dependence of God (2:4);
- For the king to consent to send him away for a long period (of twelve years) was nothing short of a miracle—it had to be God’s doing;
- God perhaps had emboldened Nehemiah to ask for a military escort and supplies of timber to rebuild the city and his own residence.
For all these, Nehemiah concluded that it was “because the gracious hand of God was upon me” (2:8).
It is true that there are Christians who attribute everything that happens to them as the hand of God in too casual a manner, but Nehemiah did not simply say so out of habit, but rather, it sprang from a continuous attitude of total dependency that allowed him to discern without a doubt that God’s hand was in each of these situations.
It may be helpful to understand that Artaxerxes’ reign was marked by instability. First was the revolt of his own brother at the beginning of his reign, followed by an Egyptian revolt in 460 B.C. and the rebellion in 455 B.C. by a satrap in the Trans-Euphrates region. Therefore an armed escort for Nehemiah was a necessity. According to extra-biblical documents, Sanballat the Horonite was the governor of Samaria. However, it was unclear as to what kind of an official Tobiah was. In any case, v. 10 sets the tone for the kind of political opposition that awaited Nehemiah.
(1) Why did Nehemiah choose to inspect the city for himself at night?
(2) Why did he choose to hide his plan from even the priests or any of the Jewish nobles or officials?
(3) What kind of condition did Nehemiah find Jerusalem in?
(4) What was the response of the people upon his call to rebuild the city? Why would they respond positively given the opposition they had experienced in the past?
(5) The adversaries of Israel were successful back in Ezra 4:12. Now knowing Nehemiah had the backing of the king, what tactic did they use to frighten the people?
(6) How did Nehemiah respond to their ridicule and threat? How special was it?
(7) Why didn’t Nehemiah appeal to the king’s authority?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials of any others who would be doing the work.” (Neh. 2:16)
As much as Nehemiah had spent a lot of time praying and saw the gracious hand of God at work in having the king send him back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he was a realist.
Yes, his special office in the court of the king in itself was something that the adversaries of Israel would not take lightly. Now with military escort, plus letters from the king, Nehemiah should have confidence that no one would dare to hinder his mission. But years spent in the court of the king had taught Nehemiah many practical lessons about politics. He was not just a cup-bearer. From how he conducted himself in the rebuilding work of Jerusalem, we can see that he was a very astute political leader.
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he did not proceed with his work right away. Instead, he spent three days, likely, to get a sense of the political situation of their adversaries and the spiritual condition of his people. From the events recorded in the ensuing chapters, we come to understand that not only would there be fierce and violent opposition from the enemies (a fact of life in that the Persian empire occupied a very vast area and local insurrections were not uncommon), but that many of the local leaders (and even prophets) had close ties to the enemies and would betray him.
As a result, Nehemiah needed to assess both the extent of the repair work that needed to be done, and also the potential opposition he would encounter, both external and internal. It was the reason why he chose to scout the extent of the ruins at night, and would not disclose his plan even to the local Jewish leaders. This man of prayer, while totally dependent on God in all his plans and actions, was a realist who exercised caution as an astute politician. Prayer and brains are not mutually exclusive.
As a devotional reflection, we will not concern ourselves with the exact location of the various gates, not to mention that “after the lapse of so many centuries, during which great changes have been made in the positions of the gates and walls” (Bertheau), and “how little has been discovered in Jerusalem from the Persian period” (Avigad), any determination would only be speculation:
(1) Nehemiah began the work (or at least the description of the work) with mentioning the high priest. What might be the significance of this?
(2) What does the remark about the nobles of the men of Tekoa indicate in v. 5?
(3) What does the mentioning of perfume makers and goldsmiths indicate?
(4) What does the mentioning of the help of Shallum’s daughters indicate in v. 12?
(5) What other descriptions caught your attention?
(6) From your reading of this passage, what impression do you get from this list of walls, the various participants and some of their backgrounds?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and sets its doors in place….” (Neh. 3:1)
Nehemiah compiled a rather comprehensive list of the names and the kinds of people who responded to his call and took risks to participate in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in spite of threats from their adversaries. Although commentators in general opine that it is not a complete list, it is interesting to note the following that Nehemiah has chosen to highlight:
1. He listed the name of the high priest, Eliashib: Perhaps he did so at least for two reasons. Firstly, he was trying to show us that such a rebuilding work was endorsed by the high priest. Again, it is a sign that God is at work because this high priest was closely associated with one of their chief enemies, Tobiah. Even so, he had chosen to take the lead in rebuilding Jerusalem. Secondly, it was the rebuilding of the Sheep Gate which was closest to the temple. As a result, it was not only built, but consecrated—a sign of dedication of the entire work to the Lord.
2. The many “next to” phrases gave a picture of teamwork and non-stop effort that involved basically everyone within Jerusalem.
3. In addition to the residents of Jerusalem, some came from outside Jerusalem, like “the priests from the surrounding region” (3:22) which signifies not only unity but sacrifices.
4. The mentioning of goldsmiths and perfume-makers is most interesting. Does it mean that blacksmiths and bakers did not participate? Obviously they must have. But the mentioning of goldsmiths and perfumer-makers probably signifies that everyone, irrespective of how profitable their trades might be, took time off to give to this work.
However, Nehemiah was a realist, he had no illusion that everyone could be of one heart, and so he also highlighted that “the nobles (of Tekoa) would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervision” (3:5). In spite of the non-cooperation of a minority, the work was carried out with unity by the great majority of the people. He was not deterred or discouraged by the opposition of a few, and the list, in a sense, is not so much for glorifying the people, but for counting the blessings of God.
(1) Why do you think Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, was so upset with the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem?
(2) Sanballat was mocking the Jews with five questions. What was he trying to achieve? (See if each question carried some kind of significance.)
(3) What impact, do you think, did Sanballat’s ridicule together with that of his ally, Tobiah, have on the Jews? Should they even be bothered by their ridicule?
(4) Presumably Nehemiah took their ridicule seriously:
a. How did he respond to their ridicule?
b. What did he ask God to do?
c. Should he have bothered with their ridicule? Why or why not?
(5) Did their ridicule have any impact on the people and the rebuilding work? Why or why not?
(6) It is believed that the Arabs moved into the southern part of Transjordan in Persian times, the Ammonites resided to the east of Israel, the Ashdodites were their western neighbors and the Samaritans were their northern neighbor. With these geographical locations in mind, what kind of a situation do vv. 7-8 depict?
(7) What actions did Nehemiah and the people take, as a result?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.” (Neh. 4:4)
As the Israelites were able to unite together to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem, their adversaries, led by the governor of Samaria, hurled ridicule and insults on Nehemiah and his people. At first sight, one might be surprised at how incensed Nehemiah was because he cursed his enemies before the Lord. As those were empty words uttered by the enemies, was he not over-reacting? Was he being mean spirited, repaying evil with evil?
However, we should examine the scornful words of Sanballat and understand the historical background to his ridicule which could potentially be very intimidating and discouraging to the builders.
First, he ridiculed the Jews as feeble—indeed the Jews were. Earlier in Ezra 4, as the first returnees began the rebuilding of the temple, at the first sign of opposition and harassment by their enemies, the Bible literally says that it caused the “weakening of the hands of the people of Judah” (Ezr. 4:4). The opposition had yet to take any violent action, but the people were already weak and timid that they had no strength to carry on.
Then, Sanballat mocked rhetorically, “Will they restore their wall?” In essence, he was saying that this generation of Jews was no different from their fathers and he was also encouraging his own people (his associates and the army of Samaria) to harass the Jews, implying that the same result would happen. They would stop their work.
But I believe that the ridicule that irks Nehemiah most was the next one, when Sanballat said, “Will they offer sacrifices?”. He was directing his insult against the God of Israel, saying that at their opposition, the Jews could not draw strength to continue, so their only recourse was to ask their God for help, by offering sacrifices. This was a direct insult to the God of Israel.
And Sanballat followed up his insult against God by asking, “Will they finish in a day?”. This, in essence, was mocking the Jews for dreaming of a miracle. In other words, he was challenging God to perform a miracle to prove that He was real.
Finally, he drew the builders to the impossibility of the task: “Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are.” This was the reality. The devastation of the city was such that the walls of Jerusalem were a ruin—so badly burned and destroyed that repairs were in fact quite impossible. They would have to build a new one, which would cost a lot of money and manpower, and with their opposition, it would not be a possibility.
In other words, these were not merely empty words of ridicule, but they were words that reminded the people of their past failure, of their apparent futility of trusting Nehemiah and God, and of the impossibility of the task at hand.
As we know, these people were indeed easily discouraged, and with the insult directed ultimately at God, no wonder Nehemiah was infuriated and turned to God immediately for vindication. While his spirit was indeed bitter, he did not use his royal influence to vindicate himself and his people, he still turned to God as his own source of help. What a godly example for us to learn from!