Tag: Nehemiah

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Nehemiah

Nehemiah

The events of the book of Nehemiah follow the book of Ezra, with Ezra appearing in the book of Nehemiah and Nehemiah showing up in the book of Ezra. Ezra’s task was rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, whereas Nehemiah focuses on rebuilding the city walls.

Nehemiah’s story begins with him in exile, serving King Artaxerxes as cupbearer. Nehemiah’s brother returns from Judah and tells Nehemiah the deplorable situation in Jerusalem, with its broken walls and burned gates.

Upon hearing this, Nehemiah sits and cries. He mourns and fasts for several days. He prays to God, confessing his sins and those of his family, along with all God’s people, for disobeying the laws of Moses. He ends by asking for favor with the king. Nehemiah is specific, asking God to grant him success that very day.

God, however, delays his response. 

Four months later Nehemiah makes a bold appeal to the king to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls. He bravely asks the king to provide resources to make this happen. The king agrees. Nehemiah returns and rebuilds the wall, though not without a bit of drama and severe opposition along the way.

Though Nehemiah led this wall-rebuilding effort with God-honoring wisdom and enjoyed a successful outcome, it all started with prayer and confession.

Do we tend to pray first and then act, or act first and then pray when things don’t work out? Are there any sins we should confess for ourselves, our family, or our community? 

[Read Nehemiah’s story in the book of Nehemiah, especially Nehemiah 2:1–9.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Books of the Bible

Nehemiah

Nehemiah

The book of Nehemiah is one of the historical books in the Old Testament.

Chronologically, Nehemiah picks up slightly after the book of Ezra and over a century after the conclusion of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. The books of Esther and Daniel give us some insight into what happened during this time, when the people lived in Babylonian captivity.

Nehemiah led the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. In addition to heading up a building project, Nehemiah also became the leader of a group of returning expatriates, a project manager, a military strategist, a spokesperson for God, a spiritual leader, and he ended up being governor.

As such, Nehemiah was an extraordinary man who was called by God to do many things for which he had no skill or training. Yet by relying and depending on God, Nehemiah was exceedingly successful. At each step, Nehemiah sought God, was led by him, and obeyed him.

(Ezra was a contemporary of Nehemiah and led in the rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem and restoring worship.)

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Hananiah, Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah, and Hanan

You’ve heard about Hananiah, right?  How about Shelemiah?  Zadok?  Perhaps Pedaiah?  Or Hanan?

Although these men are all mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, don’t feel bad if they’re not familiar to you.  They did not accomplish great feats, rule a kingdom, lead an army, spark a revival, or do anything seemingly notable.

They appear to be a mere footnote in the pages of history.

Even so, they are remarkable for one thing — a most important trait — their character.

Hananiah was asked to be a leader because he was a man of integrity.

Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah, and Hanan were given responsibility because they were trustworthy.

Integrity and trustworthiness are two traits that seem to be in short supply nowadays, but they are characteristics that produce promotion and responsibility — perhaps not in grand and glorious ways, but subtly and humbly.

These are the kind of leaders, I think, that God delights in.

[See Nehemiah 7:2 and Nehemiah 13:13.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

How Soon They Forget

So, Moses receives ten commandments from God and teaches them to the people.  God gives other directions and instructions, too, which Moses also passes on.

But the people begin to disregard and then forget what God told them to do.  This displeases him, so eventually he sends a series of wake-up calls, first in the form of judges and later through prophets.  Sometimes a foreign power is used to get their attention. 

(There’s nothing like a crisis to send us scurrying back to God.)

This happens gradually, over time, right?  Not necessarily.

Several hundred years after Moses, Nehemiah comes along and reinstates the “festival of booths” — which had not been practiced since the days of Joshua, Moses’ immediate successor. 

(It is unclear if it is disregarded fully or partially or if it happens during Joshua’s watch or after, but either way, Joshua drops the ball for not perpetuating it.)

It didn’t take hundreds of years for the festival to be dismissed, but less than one generation.

In only one generation, a people can turn away from God — or turn towards him.

Which way do you want to turn?

[See Nehemiah 8:14-17.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Nehemiah’s Omission

In Nehemiah and the Wall, we saw Nehemiah’s great leadership at work, stirring up a passive and floundering people to act, quickly accomplishing what had long been languishing.  He also ushered in numerous reforms and ignited a spiritual revival.

Yet he lacked one thing.  He did not train a replacement.

After leading his people for 12 years, Nehemiah returned to Babylon.  The people quickly forgot all he had taught them and reverted to their old ways.  Specifically:

  • They allowed foreigners access to the temple
  • The Levites were not receiving their assigned portions of food and provision, so they left Jerusalem (effectively, they quit their job)
  • The people were working and trading on the Sabbath
  • The men married foreign wives

These were all prohibited by the Law of Moses, which under Nehemiah’s leadership, the people had agreed to follow.  But he left and they forget.

Although they still enjoyed the physical protection of the city wall that they had rebuilt, they retained little else.  Nehemiah needed to return and straighten them out – again.  Even then, there is no mention that he trained a successor.

Sometimes, even the best of people fail to learn from their mistakes.

[See Nehemiah 13.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Opposition to Nehemiah

Under Nehemiah’s leadership, the walls of the city of Jerusalem were rebuild in only 52 days.

That seems quick and it sounds like it would have been easy, but it was not.  Nehemiah faced severe opposition, in multiple ways, that threatened progress and could have easily derailed the project.

This opposition took various forms, from ridicule to political, bad advice to prophetic subterfuge, and well-sounding distractions to a strategy of physical attack.

In response to the plan to attack and kill the workers, Nehemiah prayed first and then took tangible action to protect themselves.

Too often, when faced with adversity, we take action first and then pray as an afterthought, if at all.

That is not what wise leadership does — and its not what we should do.  We need to seek God first — and then take reasonable precautions.

[See Nehemiah 4:9.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Nehemiah and the Wall

Nehemiah was in exile.  Though some of his people had been repatriated, he remained in Babylon.  Those who returned, had rebuilt the temple, but the city walls (their protection from attack) were still in ruins.  Nehemiah sought the king’s permission and blessing to return and rebuild the wall.

So Nehemiah goes home, surveys the situation, and tells the people the self-obvious: The walls are in shambles; we are in danger.  Let’s rebuild the walls.

The people readily agree and begin working.  Fifty-two days later, they finish.

They had lived there for years, but without walls and they were vulnerable as a result.  Yet in 52 days, less than two months, the walls were rebuilt and they were much safer.

Why did is take so long to act?  Quite simply, there was a lack of leadership.  The need was there, the solution was there, the resources were there, but leadership was not.  It took Nehemiah’s leadership to make it happen.

The next time you hear, “Someone should do something about that,” recognize that as a lack of leadership.  Might you be that leader?

[See Nehemiah 2:17-18 and Nehemiah 6:15.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.