Categoria: Nehemiah

Upon reading the Law the people realized that Ammonites and Moabites should not be admitted into the assembly of God so they excluded from Israel all foreigners. Then while Nehemiah was away back with the king of Babylon, Eliashib the priest was given a room in the temple. When Nehemiah returned he was most upset by the news of the foreigner Tobiah haven been given a room in the temple and he threw out his belongings, purified the room and put the equipment and stores back in their rightful place. Nehemiah also discovered that the Levites were not being cared for correctly and he rebuked the officials and asked why the house of God was being neglected? This corrected the tithe-giving blip. However then Nehemiah noticed that people were working on the sabbath and engaging in commerce which he severely reprimanded. He locked the doors on the sabbath to enforce the keeping of the sabbath. Nehemiah also condemned the intermarriage occurring in Judah and he even beat up some men over the topic and pulled out their hair! Nehemiah closes his book asking God to remember him for his work.

The first part of this chapter lists the priests and Levites that returned from the Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel. The lists serve to legitimize the religious life of the restored Jerusalem and Judah.

Then came the great celebration of the dedication of the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem. The Levites sang songs of thanksgiving to the sound of cymbals, harps and lyres. The priests and Levites purified themselves and the people, the gates and the wall. The leaders went up on the wall and 2 large choirs were organized. Some priests sounded trumpets and great sacrifices were offered in gratitude to God and as an expression of the people’s joy. Then people were appointed to take care of the storerooms to take care of the annual tithes of the people for the sustenance of the priests and Levites.

 Now that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt the repopulation of the city was organized on top of the leaders and priests who were already there. 10% of the people were chosen to live in Jerusalem by casting lots. The 90% remaining lived in the widespread towns of Judah with part being of the descendants of Judah, some from the descendants of Benjamin plus priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers and people in general. The lists of names of the people involved in this reorganization of the population of Jerusalem and Judah is laid out in this chapter.

Having confessed and repented of their sins in the previous chapter, chapter 10 relates the written pact which the Israelites sealed as a binding agreement of faithfulness to the Lord. Starting with the governor Nehemiah, then the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, nobles and people in general they sealed their pact of faithfulness before God. They promised not to permit inter-racial marriage or to allow commerce on the sabbath, and they vowed to provide for the temple through their tithes and offerings. For the people vowed: “We will not neglect the house of our God”.

This chapter is a long detailed confession of sin by the people, confession for the sins of their ancestors, and praise to God. Initially the people fasted wearing sackcloth with dust on their heads, confessing their sins and that of their fathers. They read the book of the Law for a quarter of the day and confessed and worshiped for another quarter. Then some Levites told them to stand up and praise the Lord.

Then the people praised and exalted God as the sovereign giver of life. God is praised too as the God of Abram and as the God who delivered his people from Egypt. God is also worshiped as the giver of the Law and as the provider of food and water in the wilderness. They then confessed the stiff-neckedness of their forefathers but recognized the gracious forgiving compassion of God. God’s compassion is exalted during 40 years in the desert. God is praised for giving his people Canaan and they ate to the full and were well nourished. Yet Israel confessed disobedience and rebellion, the killing of the prophets and blasphemy. However God heard their cry for help and compassion from heaven. Despite God’s mercy they again practiced evil and God warned them to return to the Law, but as the people ignored God he had turned them over to neighbouring peoples. But the justice of God in everything was recognized together with God’s faithfulness, and Israel despite this strayed far from God. Thus it is confessed that because of their disobedience  the Jews today are slaves in their own land. So the people made a binding agreement before God to change their wicked ways.

In the 7th month the people assembled in the square in front of the Water Gate and they told Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. So Ezra read it aloud from day break to noon and the people listened attentively. Ezra stood on a high wooden platform so that all the people could see him and Ezra praised the Lord and all the people said amen and bowed down and worshipped. Then many Levites read the Law to the people and explained it to them. The people wept but Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites told them to stop crying and to go and enjoy this day which was sacred to the Lord because “the joy of the Lord is your strength”. So the people celebrated with great joy because now they understood the words of the Law. And the people came to realize that they were in the 7th month when the Festival of Booths was to be celebrated so they went out and gathered branches to make booths and celebrated the Festival with great joy. So on each day of the Festival of Booths Ezra read from the Book of the Law of Moses and there was great celebration.

After the walls of Jerusalem were completed and the gates were put in place Nehemiah put his brother Hanani in charge of the city and made Hananiah the commander of the citadel because he was a man of integrity who feared God more than most. He then organized the gate keepers and the times for opening the gates. Nehemiah then noted how few exiles had returned from Babylonian exile so he decided to register all the families according to their genealogical records and the chapter lists all the men of Israel now present in Jerusalem which totalled 42,360 plus 7,337 slaves, 245 singers, 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys. Men who claimed to be priests but could not prove it from their records were discarded. Then the people contributed gold, silver, bowls and priests garments, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their own towns.

Now Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and the other enemies of the Jews schemed against Nehemiah when they learnt of the excellent progress in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem so they tried to arrange a meeting with Nehemiah to do him harm. Nehemiah saw through their evil scheming and repeatedly turned down invitations. With the fifth invitation they sent a letter accusing him of planning a revolt and that he would soon be declared king! Nehemiah rejected their accusations telling them they were inventing stories. Then one day Shemaiah suggested that Nehemiah should hide from danger in the temple, but Nehemiah said no to this too, and the wall was rebuilt after 52 days work. When the surrounding nations heard this they were afraid because they realized God was with them. However Tobiah continued in opposition to Nehemiah and sent him intimidating letters.

Now there was a famine and the poor came to Nehemiah in their vulnerable situation saying that they were being exploited by the nobles who were charging them interest upon loans which was contrary to the law, taking their children into slavery and they were being forced to mortgage their fields in order to pay their debts. In other words for many who had returned from exile in Babylon their lot had not improved! When Nehemiah heard this outcry of charges he confronted the nobles and told them straight that what they were doing was not right and he told them to stop charging interest and to return the confiscated fields and vineyards. The nobles agreed to do this, so Nehemiah summoned the priests to make the nobles and officials take an oath to fulfill their promise. Then during the 12 years that Nehemiah was governor he did not use all his food allowance so as not to be a burden on the people as previous governors had been. 

The opponents of the Jews, Sanballat and Tobiah, ridiculed the Jews’ building endeavors saying that the walls were so fragile that just a fox could break them down! Nehemiah didn’t argue with them. He prayed asking God to turn their insults back on their own heads, and the building continued with the walls now reaching the half-way stage. In the light of this the opponents of God’s people plotted to attack them so Nehemiah prayed and posted guards day and night. In the light of possible imminent attacks half the men worked and half the men guarded. Then too men worked with one hand but had a weapon in the other hand, but nothing could stop the Jews progressing with their building work for the glory of God.

This chapter relates how the re-building of the wall of Jerusalem was organized with different groups made responsible for different sections of the wall. This was team work with everyone doing their part for the benefit of all and for the glory of God. Thus sections such as the Sheep Gate, the Fish Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, the Valley Gate, The Dung Gate, the Fountain Gate, the Water Gate, the Horse Gate and the Inspection Gate and their respective sections of wall were divided between all the workers available and committed to the task.

In the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes Nehemiah was serving the king with wine when the king noticed that Nehemiah was low in spirit and asked him what was the matter. Nehemiah said that he was sad because his homeland’s capital city of Jerusalem was in ruins and the gates had been burnt down. He then plucked up courage and asked the king to send him to Jerusalem to rebuild it. He asked for covering letters to guarantee him safe passage and to give him the supplies necessary for the building work, and God answered Nehemiah’s prayers and the king granted his requests. However Sanballat and Tobiah, regional officials, were opposed to all this.

But Nehemiah therefore went to Jerusalem with King Artaxerxes’ blessing and after being there 3 days he set out on a secret mission of appraisal of the precise situation of the city, but he told nobody of his plans at this stage. When he had a complete understanding of the situation Nehemiah approached the priests, nobles and officials of Israel calling them to join him in rebuilding the walls and telling them how God was with him in giving him the backing of the king, and the Jews agreed with Nehemiah’s plan. But when Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem heard this news they mocked and ridiculed them suggesting that in fact they were conjuring up a rebellion. Nehemiah rejected their criticism saying that God would give them success in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. 

The book of Nehemiah may well have been originally one book together with Ezra as it covers the same historical period when the Jews were returning to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile. Nehemiah was an Israelite in Persia who led the re-building of Jerusalem’s walls and led the spiritual renewal of God’s people. He was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. 

Nehemiah learns of the sorry situation in which Jerusalem finds itself with its walls broken down and its gates burnt. He learns that the survivors of the exile are in great trouble and disgrace. Nehemiah mourned, fasted and prayed about the situation because above all else Nehemiah was a man of prayer. Nehemiah therefore confessed his own sin and that of the people. He acknowledged their disobedience and wickedness. But he beseeched God’s mercy and help as he is about to intercede with the king on behalf of Jerusalem and its people.