The book of Nehemiah is unique because it is more of a journal by a man who volunteered to be used by God. Many of the other books of the Old Testament are prophetic in nature or the hearers are warned of judgment to come because of their resistance to repentance. Others are poetic in nature while telling of a relationship with God. In our case as we study the book of Nehemiah, we have what seems to be impossible odds for any man to accomplish.
It all started with Nehemiah hearing bad news about the condition of his home city Jerusalem. He was one of those who had been kidnapped to a foreign land and later found himself in the good graces of the king over Persia. The Babylonian Empire had fallen under the weight of the Persians. The king of Persia looked more favorably on the Jews.
Nehemiah had the responsibility of testing the wine for the king to be assured it was not poisoned. This brought him in close relationship with his Royal highness. The king noticed the sad countenance of Nehemiah and asked the cause. After he explained to the king the condition of Jerusalem that had earlier been sacked, the king granted permission for him to return to his home city and rebuild the walls.
As we begin our study of the book of Nehemiah, the most important observation we can make is it only took one person to make a difference in God’s plans. Other people knew of the destruction of Jerusalem but none of them were burdened by it. This is reminiscent of the conversation Isaiah had with the Lord in which the prophet said, “send me.” (Isaiah 6:8) This book works in conjunction with the book of Ezra. In fact, Ezra played a key role with Nehemiah in the resurrection of the city. From this book we can derive hope for anyone who feels his circumstances are truly hopeless.
Immediately we are faced with the fact that the Jews in the homeland were in a distressful situation. They were people who had been beaten down. They wondered about it aimlessly. Some even left the city creating places for them to live elsewhere.
As soon Nehemiah initiated the work to rebuild the wall, distractors appeared and did so several times during the narrative. They mocked. The complicated matters. They did their best to interfere in whatever way possible. Nehemiah’s response to them was, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but you have no portion, nor right, nor Memorial, in Jerusalem.” (2:20) This tells us that even when we feel hopeless, we must still take a stand relying on God.
The work was hard, but they were determined against the distractors. Nehemiah encouraged his people not to be afraid of the enemy. In their fight he reminded them that this was not just to build a wall but was in behalf of their loved ones and their homes. A strategic plan was developed. Half of them would be armed while the other half worked so that nothing would interfere with her effort. (4: 14-18) It was beautiful to see a great complement recorded about the people saying, “they had a mind to work.” (4:6)
The priest Eliashib betrayed Nehemiah by allowing an unauthorized person to take residence in the house of God. Just about the time that we think we have overcome our hopelessness, low and behold something else can happen! The lesson in this regard is that we cannot relax once encouragement has returned. We must be as strong at the end as well as at the beginning. There may be those times in which a distraction from our hope comes from the most unlikely source. However it comes, it must be addressed. The evil must be cleansed from our lives. It is not a matter of the evil surrounding us. It is a matter of our determination to continue serving the Lord.
Christian Writer 