This blog will be short due to the content of chapter 7, which mainly rehearses the genealogy of the inhabitants of Jerusalem as revealed in Ezra 2.
With the work of the walls completed and his departure to Shushan imminent the safety and repopulation of the city concerned Nehemiah. Therefore, before he leaves Nehemiah places Hanani and Hananiah men of integrity who fears God in charge of the city, he establishes rules for opening and closing the city gates, and he appoints sentinels for the evening watches who will guard the city and their properties. Additionally, in a desire to fill the city with inhabitants Nehemiah decides to take a census of the Jews, but before he began, he found the register recorded by Ezra with the data he desired. Thus, verses 5-72 repeats the genealogical record of the returning Jews that was first recorded under the tenure of Zerubbabel, and this chapter happily ends with the people dwelling in their assigned cities.
The gleaning points that I have received from this chapter are:
- For continued success place men with integrity in position.
- The requirements for leadership are faithfulness and fear of God.
- Walls without watchmen are a weak defense.
- Be prepared for a surprise attack from the enemy.
- Keep a secure record of family statistics; someone may need it in the future.
- Leaders should be seen giving.
- Everyone has a place of assignment.
- When you are not in your assigned place, proper growth is hindered.
Chapter 5 revealed some of the issues that Nehemiah encountered within the community of Jews while rebuilding the walls, and now, chapter 6 continues to share the problems and attacks from without the walls.
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and unnamed enemies heard that the walls were built Sanballat and Tobiah sent a letter to Nehemiah requesting him to meet them in Ono which was 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem or equivalent to a day’s journey. Nehemiah sensing their duplicity replied to them, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” and he had to send this reply four times because Sanballat and Tobiah continued to send him the same request.
When the opposition saw their plan was not working, Sanballat sent a letter to Nehemiah containing three rumors concerning him. First, he was leading a rebellion against the Persian government. Secondly, he was trying to become king over Jerusalem and thirdly, he hired prophets to spread the word of his elevation to kingship. All of these rumored charges were denied by Nehemiah, and he took this matter to God in prayer.
Then Shemaiah, a son of a priest, was hired to speak lies to Nehemiah and cause him to lose his credibility by luring him into the temple which was against the Law. Once again, Nehemiah discerned the plan of the opposition, declined to act in fear and leave his wall rebuilding assignment. Additionally, Nehemiah prayed and asked God to deal with the opposition.
Despite the opposition’s insidious plans and continued plotting in fifty-two days the rebuilding of the wall was completed which caused them to be disheartened and having to admit the God of Nehemiah helped His people to complete this momentous task.
The chapter ends revealing the antagonism did not cease, for letters continued to go back and forth between Tobiah and his Jewish loyalist relaying information that would endanger and demoralize Nehemiah and the returned Jewish remnant.
The gleaning points that I received from this chapter are:
- Your opposition is aware of your achievements.
- When one plan fails, Satan has another one to replace it.
- Your enemy wants to eliminate you or discredit you.
- Watch for hidden agendas.
- Resist distractions, know your priorities.
- Don’t allow the enemy to stop you from doing your God-given assignment.
- Fear is a significant tool of the enemy.
- Discernment and determination are necessary for the life of a leader.
- Your opposition loves to spread rumors concerning you. He will slander your reputation.
- When you feel weak pray, it is your sustaining power.
- The response to slander is prayer.
- No matter what men may say, follow God’s laws.
- A false prophet will contradict God’s word.
- Don’t merchandise your anointing.
- With the help of God, things can be accomplished quickly.
- In the life of a believer, the opposition is on-going.
Throughout the Old and New Testament, there are instructions on the treatment of poor individuals. Also, lest we think that the existence of needy individuals in this world is temporary Jesus informs us differently in words He spoke to his disciples in Mark 14:7a, “For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good.” In chapter 5, this issue of poverty and the treatment of the poor in the Israel community arose. Despite the laws concerning the poor (Exodus 22, 23; Leviticus 19, 23, 25; Deuteronomy 14, 15, 24) given to Israel by God via Moses there were greedy, disobedient, wealthy individuals who were oppressing their fellow countrymen. Thus, Nehemiah had to address and rectify this problem.
Three groups had come to Nehemiah and informed him of their suffering due to hunger, famine, working on the wall instead of harvesting their crop and the Persian taxes. Also, children were being enslaved, and exorbitant interest was being paid to the wealthy.
This report greatly disturbed Nehemiah, who first reflected on the matter before he took any action. Then Nehemiah chided the wealthy Jews who were exploiting the poor and using himself as an example, shared his practice of buying back and releasing the Jews that had been sold into slavery.
After being addressed by Nehemiah, the guilty parties agreed to rectify their injustices and restore all that had been taken without penalty. Additionally, Nehemiah made them take an oath before the priest to seal their pledge, and he gave them a symbolic illustration of what would happen to them if they disobeyed their oath.
The chapter ends with a short synopsis of Nehemiah’s tenure as governor, how he served the people, cared for those in his household, and his desire for God to bless him for his actions.
The gleaning points that I have received from this chapter are:
- When people are in oppressive situations, they will cry.
- People want to be fed.
- Disobedience results in hardship.
- Think before speaking.
- Speak directly to wrongdoers.
- When you are wrong, don’t attempt to justify your wrongdoings.
- Don’t give the world reasons to criticize or judge you.
- Restoration is needed to rectify injustices.
- Be true to your words.
- Your actions reveal your servanthood qualities.
Chapter 4 of Nehemiah shares several accounts of opposition toward the reconstruction efforts of the Jews.
The work was being accomplished, and the walls around Jerusalem were being built; however, everyone was not happy with this project. Sanballat the Horonite who was the governor of Samaria and Tobiah the Ammonite, a local official continued in their ridicule and attempted to discourage the Jews. In response to their actions, Nehemiah prays and places them in God’s hands requesting severe judgment to be bestowed upon them.
Thankfully, the Jews were not deterred for they continued working and half of the intended height of the wall was reached which served to infuriate further the opposition who then gathered others to their side. Nehemiah 4:7-8 records their responds as, “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.” Thus, this possible enemy convergence caused the Jews to pray and establish a 24-hour watch while continuing to work.
Consequently, the spirit of discouragement attempted to overtake some of the Jews. First, the people of Judah became discouraged because of the workload and secondly when the Jews that lived near to the vast surrounding opposition came privy to their plans of attack they repeatedly came and shared the information with Nehemiah. Therefore, Nehemiah placed guards behind the walls and on top of the walls by families with their weapons prepared to fight, and he spoke encouraging and inspirational words to the people, reminding them, they were fighting for Jerusalem and their families. As a result of these actions, the enemy abandoned their plan of attack.
Additionally, Nehemiah divided his servants into two groups: one group worked with their weapons on them, while the others stood guard with their weapons. Also, he kept a trumpeter near-by to sound an alarm which would assemble the people at a set place to war, and for extra precautions, during the building process, he persuaded the Jews to stay in Jerusalem rather than return to their homes in the surrounding communities.
The last verse of this chapter ends showing the determination and tenacity of Nehemiah and the people; it says, “So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that everyone put them off for washing” (Nehemiah 4:23).
This chapter contained a myriad of gleaning points, so I am posting those that I feel will be beneficial and they are:
- The enemy becomes angry when he sees the work of God progressing.
- The enemy will attempt to discredit your efforts.
- When one plan of the enemy does not work, he comes with another; he has an arsenal.
- The enemy has people standing by to join his attack against you.
- Prayer should always be the foundation of problem-solving.
- God will allow the enemies plan to be exposed.
- Building and fighting are to be done simultaneously.
- Pray and watch.
- When people have a mind to work, they will not be easily deterred.
- Rather than speaking to a man about your problems, speak to God.
- Weak areas need to be fortified.
- Believers must be vigilant twenty-four hours a day.
- The greatness of our God helps us to overcome the fear of men.
- Don’t become complacent with past achievements continue to work; pursue new goals.
- Protect your accomplishments.
It was time to do the work. Previously the walls and gates of the city had been shattered and burned down, and without them, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were left defenseless. Therefore, under the leadership and coordination of Nehemiah, the Jews reconstructed the walls and gates with their assigned work location near their homes and business. Plus, when some completed their assignment, they went to helped others.
Willingly people of every status and occupation volunteered and worked side by side. There were priest, Levites, rulers, artisans, merchants, goldsmiths, apothecaries, commoners, women, and children. This included those that lived in Jerusalem and their countrymen who lived in the surrounding area.
The walls of the city encompassed ten gates whose names were: the sheep gate, the fish gate, the valley gate, the dung gate, the gate of the fountain, the water gate, the horse gate, the east gate, and the gate Miphkad. For an orderly fashion of work to be achieved the walls and gates were divided into sections and Eliashib, the high priest and his brethren were the first to start the wall reconstruction near the sheep gate which was close to the temple and when they were completed, they sanctified their area.
Finally, there was a group of nobles from Tekoa who refused to participate in the work; however, the work continued without them.
The gleaning points that I received from this chapter are:
- Leaders are to be seen leading.
- There will always be those who feel they are above others. They are unwilling to share in the work, but they want to receive the benefits of those that labored.
- Everyone should have a specific place in which to work.
- People are more committed to their task when it does not separate them from their family and livelihood.
Nehemiah petitioned God for favor with the king in the month of Chisleu (December), and it is now Nisan three months later that while he is doing his job, the king finally responds to Nehemiah’s demeanor. After being questioned by the king concerning his countenance, Nehemiah explains his sadness is caused by the ruinous conditions of his homeland, and he asks the king if he would permit him to go there and work on its restoration.
With King Artaxerxes permission and blessing, Nehemiah is given leave to go to Jerusalem. Also, the king sends captains of the army and a cavalry to accompany him, gives him a letter to give to the governors beyond the river which would provide him with protection while he is traveling, and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest to provide him with lumber for his home and the gates and walls of the city.
Upon arrival, Nehemiah did not inform the people of his commission but took three days to quietly assess the city before doing a secret survey at night of the disrepair, and then he addressed his countrymen with his testimony, findings, and plan which needed their assistance to be accomplished. Their response, as recorded in Nehemiah 2:18b was, “Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.”
Nevertheless, some district magistrates Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem who were opposers of the Jews confronted Nehemiah with derision, accusations, and mockery but Nehemiah response to them was, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 2:20).
The gleaning points that I received from this chapter are:
- Some answers to prayer are not quickly attained.
- Don’t allow your emotional state to stop your assignment.
- Though you may be sad, you still must work.
- Speak to your employer, tactfully, and respectfully.
- Request help as needed from those who have power.
- Be strategic in your movement and planning.
- Leaders are awake while others sleep.
- Before talking, have a plan.
- Share your testimony; it builds faith.
- Seek the cooperation of your fellow laborers.
- Don’t become sidetracked or discouraged by your adversary.
- With the good hand of God upon you, you will be successful.
Nehemiah was serving as the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Persia when he receives a discouraging verbal report from some fellow countrymen concerning Jerusalem. This report revealed that the remnant Jews in Jerusalem were under opposition and the walls and gates of the city remained in a deplorable state.
Previously, during the time of the Ezra, and the second remnant groups return to Jerusalem an erroneous report from their opposition had been sent to King Artaxerxes which resulted in him stopping the rebuilding of the walls (Ezra 4). So, since that time, no repairs had been done, and the Jews were defenseless, disgraced, and discouraged.
Nehemiah’s response was similar to Ezra and mournfully, he retreats to prayer and fasting. In his prayer he acknowledges the greatness and mercy of God, he requests God to hear his prayer, he confesses the sins of the Jews, he reminds God of the covenant that He made with his forefathers, and he asked Him to cause the king to grant him a favor.
The gleaning points that I received from this chapter are:
- Bad news will find you.
- Don’t forget your homeland
- When faced with issues, pray.
- Before petitions, confession of sins is needful.
- God is our complete source, and it is He who causes men to respond positively to us.
- Put God in remembrance of His Word.
I just completed blogging the book of Ezra, and I thought it is only fits that I also do the book of Nehemiah since they were considered one book in the Hebrew Bible until they were separated in the fifteenth century A.D.
It is believed that the book of Nehemiah was written by Ezra and Nehemiah and the recording of this book took place in the postexilic period of Jewish history.
Thirteen years after the second group of Jews returned to Jerusalem, Nehemiah the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes of Persia travels there with his primary concern being the political and geographical restoration of Jerusalem. He became the governor of Jerusalem from 444 to 432 B.C.at which time he returned to Persia and then came back to Jerusalem in 430 B.C. and resumed his post. Under his leadership, the Jews experienced opposition; however, he did not allow it to deter them from accomplishing his God-given assignment.
Both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are a testament to what believers can accomplish with the help of God. As you read the blogs on Nehemiah, I pray they will inspire you to keep moving ahead despite what you see, hear, or feel. God richly bless you and may His hand rest heavily upon you.
At the conclusion of Ezra’s praying, confession and lamentation, a massive congregation of repented Jews gathered around him, and a spokesperson named Shecaniah addressed Ezra first acknowledging the trespasses of the people and then with the hope that if the nation repented God would possibly extend His mercy to them. He also proposed that Ezra make a covenant with the people requiring those who married foreign women to divorce them and to shun the children born to that union.
With the cooperation of his fellow countrymen, Ezra sent an order to the residence of Judah to gather themselves in Jerusalem within three days, and those that failed to assemble would forfeit their property and be excommunicated from the congregation. With all assembled Ezra shared the covenant proposal to which the people agreed; however, due to the adverse wintry months, they were experiencing they requested that Ezra allowed them to return to their homes and let the judges in their cities oversee this mandate with the completion date of three months given. At the end of the set time, Ezra and specified leaders sanctioned the findings and actions of the judges; plus a register of those that had married Canaanite women which included priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, and commoners was made. Thus, ends of the book of Ezra.
The gleaning points that I received from this chapter are:
- Those of us that can see the sins of our nation should be weeping, praying, and fasting for the nation.
- There is a need for national repentance.
- Our only hope is in God for we need His mercy to exist.
- Those that are willing and obedient will stand correction.
- No one is above the Law of God.
- Covenants are to be taken seriously.
- Separation from the world remains a mandate for believers.
- Repentance is not repentance if there is no change.
- The prosperity and blessings of God on a nation can be determined by the obedience of its people to the Laws of God.
I conclude this study of Ezra with a statement found in the Holman Bible Handbook, which I believe applies to all believers today as it was in the days of Ezra. “The Jews survived because they found their identity as God’s people not in nationalistic dreams but a renewed commitment to God’s Word.”
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