The Book of Nehemiah – We’re on a Mission from God

I love some of what I loosely consider as “standalone” books of the Old Testament. I am probably not categorizing them correctly so let me better explain what I mean. I do not mean standalone in that they stand separate from the Bible, but those books such as Ruth and Esther which are a self-contained narratives and tell a “beginning to end” story. They are rich with God’s truths and can be almost a microcosm of God’s Bible messages condensed into one book and a good “read” to boot.

Nehemiah is also one such narrative and I enjoy reading about this dedicated Godly man of prayer, faith, leadership, and action.

Some background:

• The book of Nehemiah takes place from about 445 to 433 B.C.

• The name Nehemiah means “Comforted of Yahweh”

• During the period know as The Babylonian Exile, Nehemiah served under the Persian king Artaxerxes as his “Cup Bearer”, a position of great importance and influence within the king’s court.

• The narrative is told mostly in the first person and almost reads as a personal journal of Nehemiah.

• It is a short book of only 13 chapters with first 6 dealing with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, the remaining dealing with rebuilding God’s people in Jerusalem.

Detailed Bible studies covering many of the topics presented in this book could be done, (especially of the prayers of Nehemiah) but the two aspects of Nehemiah I would like to delve into are:

• Nehemiah is a man dependent on God, always praying, seeking to be sensitive to God’s will in his life.

• Nehemiah is also a man of action, thoughtfully, prayerfully, and decisively responding to the challenges from the enemies of God which arise while he was in active useful service to God.

A short account of this book starts in the city of Shushan, the winter capitol of the Persian Empire, with Nehemiah learning that the walls of Jerusalem were in a state of extreme disrepair. They had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and never rebuilt leaving the city and temple defenseless.  Nehemiah laments this situation and in one of several great prayers attributed to him (Nehemiah 1:5-11), he seeks God’s assistance, provision, and direction so that he may address this pressing need.

Sidebar - Walls in those days were a city’s primary means of defense and keeping them and the city gates in good repair was a tremendously big deal. To understand how formidable such walls can be, take for example the walls that surrounded the city of Babylon.  As recounted by the Greek historian Herodotus, they were some 100 feet high, 300 feet thick, and had over 200 watch towers. Think of the efforts necessary to man such a defense (or to breach it) and you can understand their importance.

In his formal position of Cup Bearer, Nehemiah would have frequent and intimate access to the Persian king, Artaxerxes, and thus have influence through his service. Due to their intimate relationship, Artaxerxes knows him well and sensing Nehemiah’s distress, asks him what is going on. Though fearful of how the king would take it, Nehemiah still explains the situation regarding the disrepair of the city walls to him. He then requests to take his leave to go to Jerusalem to see to the repairs of the walls and also seeks the king’s support to fix them.  The king seems predisposed to helping Nehemiah (his prayers at work…?) but he also wants some details regarding what Nehemiah has planned before he endorses anything. Again Nehemiah prays before answering, and again his prayers are answered as the King grants his request and further provisions him with letters to various officials to guarantee Nehemiah’s safety while travelling to Jerusalem and allow him to procure the necessary timber to complete the construction of the city walls and gates.

Nehemiah finally arrives in Jerusalem, reminds his people of their heritage, motivates & organizes his work force, and gets to work.

And as seems to be the case, when the people of God mobilize for great works in his name, the enemy then seeks to obstruct those works. It is here where Nehemiah is forced to deal some individuals who try to derail the reconstruction project and also with some internal dissent which arises among his own people. Nehemiah the Godly leader continues his pattern of prayers followed by action and takes the necessary steps to keep this project on track.

In the end, in a mere 52 days the walls are reconstructed, the gates re-hung, and the city was repopulated. The populace was also reminded and re-taught their birthright and led away from the apostasy that had been in effect for a great many years.

In chapter 5, we learn that Nehemiah served as governor of Judah during this reconstruction and did so for 12 years. He then returned to Persia for a short time after which he came back to Jerusalem, presumably for the remainder of his days. During his visit to back to Persia, the Jews did what they do throughout the Old Testament and fell back into ungodly habits and practices. Upon his return, this resulted in some righteous anger and correction by Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s narrative ends in the 32nd year of the rein of Artaxerxes and there is no account of his death, either the location or the year, in the Bible.

Nehemiah had two big goals when he started out, restoring the walls of the city of Jerusalem and restoring the faith of people of Jerusalem. Big goals undertaken for the glory of God, with provision by God, but also opposed by enemies of God.

Let’s take a look at what obstacles Nehemiah had to deal with and how he overcame them.

Challenge #1 – Slander & Untruth

In chapter 2, verse 19 we are introduced to some of the “impediments” to Nehemiah’s work: “But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”

The work being done by Jews in the name of God was being mocked, criticized, and the implication was being made that the Jews intended to rise in revolt against the king. If it were true, it would have been an extremely serious charge. But the implication was totally without merit, made without any proof and despite the king’s fully documented approval and support of the work.

How often are similar charges leveled against those today who try to uphold the values of the Kingdom of God?

Believers are labeled “holy rollers” or “Bible thumpers” and said to be old fashioned and out of touch. They are ridiculed for adhering to Biblical values which many times contradict whatever is currently trendy with society. Some of the harsher critics try to discourage and insult believers and desire failure in a believer’s walk for no other reason than their own simple misguided pleasure. The potential result? Obviously no one enjoys being ridiculed, mocked, or insulted so some will turn away from God and remove themselves from his works to avoid such unpleasantness.

The Response?

But what did Nehemiah do?

 Neh 2:20 - So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

• Rather repay them in kind, insult for insult, he tells them God Himself has blessed their efforts.

• That we, His faithful & blessed servants will continue unhindered in our work, thank you very much.

• And since your opinion regarding our works for God is essentially irrelevant anyway, you have no say in how we conduct them. Don’t call us, we’ll call you, y’all have a nice day.

A confident response by a man secure in his faith, undeterred by what is essentially meaningless chatter.

Challenge #2 – Ridicule and Discouragement

In chapter 4, Nehemiah must again contend with Sanballat and Tobiah where the ridicule and discouragement continues, ramps up even.

Rather than imply untruths though, this time they scornfully deride the labors of the Jews and belittle their efforts in front of their men.

Neh 4:1-3 - But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”

Once I was watching a popular reality TV show where something very similar to this situation arose. One contestant obviously was a Christ-follower and was praying for God’s blessing and strength as a challenge competition approached. Upon hearing this, another contestant rolled her eyes and openly stated that such appeals were NOT for her, she did not understand how anyone could possibly be so silly and naïve to believe “god” (yes, she did the finger quote thing) would ever help them, and that she would NEVER consider lowering herself to depend on any God for anything.

She so very sadly and mistakenly saw a believer’s reliance and dependence on God as a weakness of character rather than the conduit & lifeline to great strength it really is.

While the words were not said to the face of the believer and were preceded by the cliché “with all due respect”, the contempt for the Christian contestant’s belief was quite evident and portrayed publically to a national TV audience.

I think also what such people fail to understand is that in their mockery and belittlement of the people of God as they exercise their faith, they are actually mocking and belittling God himself.

And we know that God tends to take a dim view of such things…

I saw this as a great teaching moment for my children. Believers will encounter sometimes scornful unbelievers in their daily everyday lives. As they continue in their own walk, they can expect anything from apathy, to a polite dismissal, to condescending laughter, to even outright hostility. It was sort of an eye opener for them.

Back to Nehemiah…

The Response?

Nehemiah’s response is classic Old Testament.

 Neh 4:4-5 “Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! 5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.”

• Nehemiah knows and appeals to the source of true strength, God Almighty.

• He appeals to God for justice for his people.

And then...?

Trusting God, he and his people go back to work and knock out a large part of the reconstruction project. He trusts God to be God and then moves purposefully on.

• Don’t even we as believers sometimes find that to be a challenge? To be able to put something into God’s hands and then wait on His solution and timing can be very hard but something every Christian should certainly strive for…

Challenge #3 – Physical Attack, Sabotage

When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the others in opposition to the Jews see that not are only their taunts and scornful words of discouragement NOT working but also that in spite of them, the wall is rapidly being repaired, well they decide to up the ante. Not understanding that God cares not at all about something as humanly mundane as numbers, they decide to take their superior forces, sneak up on the workers and their families, and attack the Jews from surprise.

Neh 4:7-8, 11 - Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.

11 And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”

Thinking they could use the debris of the earlier destroyed walls as concealment, they figured they could sneak up on the Jews unseen, surprise them while they are working and kill them wholesale, scaring the survivors enough to cause the whole project to come to a screeching halt.

In today’s world this tactic is defined as terrorism. Killing unarmed civilians with the goal of inducing fear in the population in order to discourage and force compliance with their demands; that is what terrorists do.

We must realize and ever give thanks that we live in a place and age where we are free to worship God openly and unreservedly. Christians have been persecuted throughout history for their unwavering commitment to Christ as Lord & Savior. Even in some countries today, openly worshipping Christ would lead to jailing and death.

The Response?

To be totally honest, at this point the people wavered.

This is my purely personal observation but it seems to me that when a large project initially starts up, there is usually a high degree of enthusiasm. That enthusiasm is enough to carry people over or around all those early obstacles that arise and a good deal of work is initially accomplished as a result.

And also when people see the end of large project is in sight, they also are encouraged, let nothing stand in the way, and make that big final push to the finish line. 

However, in the middle of the project, while slogging thru the” dog days”, when you have already worked so hard but there is yet so much more hard work to go, that is when the toil begins to take its toll, when the obstacles start to seem insurmountable, and when discouragement, even disgruntlement, can start to set in.

It was no different for Nehemiah’s people. They have been continually mocked and taunted by a superior force, they were physically and mentally tired, are feeling vulnerable, and it was very apparent to them that it was only a matter of time before the verbal abuse turned into a physical assault.  

Neh 4:10 & 12 Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

12 So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”

But the strategy of Sanballat, Tobiah, and the others would only work against Nehemiah and the people if they were unaware and unprepared. And if there was anything these guys should have realized is that if nothing else, Nehemiah had proven repeatedly he was supernaturally aware and always prepared.

First - As always Nehemiah knowing the true source of his strength prays (4:9) - Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God…

Second - Nehemiah took the necessary steps to protect his people from their enemies.

Neh 4:13 - Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

• He groups them by family. This gives them an established chain of command, eases communications, and provided added incentive to fight even harder to protect family members.

• He stations them behind the low points in the wall. The higher finished sections of the wall need not be defended, so the defenders are concentrated behind the low points of the wall and so have the added protection of the wall itself.

• It is obvious that any opening is a potential avenue of attack. But defended openings are also bottlenecks which funnel and limit the amount of troops that can attack at any given time thereby giving the advantage to the prepared defender. (I was once the point man on a room breach exercise done with paint ball guns while in the Navy. Things did not go well…)

Third – He then rallies his people, reminding each of them of what is at stake, who they are fighting for, and that God is with them.

Neh 4:19 - And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

It would do well for us to remember the same as we labor through adversities in our own works for the Lord.

Fourth & Finally - Recognizing that the reconstruction was at a crucial point, Nehemiah does not allow it to be sidetracked. He does not foolishly let his guard down, but nor does he become paralyzed into inactivity by the threat.

Neh 4:15-18 - And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. 18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

• Again Nehemiah seeks God’s blessing and assistance in prayer

-Do you seek God faithfully in prayer? Most of us do when times get tough but what about when things are going well?

• He took the steps necessary to protect himself from his enemies

-Do you protect yourself and your family from attack? Are you in the Word? Do you seek the counsel of fellow believers? Do you know who your children’s friends & their parents are? Are you aware of what goes on when they are visiting their friend’s houses? Do you educate your family concerning the tactics of the enemy and also train them in God’s ways?

• Nehemiah rallies his flagging people and provides them with the encouragement they need to continue on through the difficulties.

-Does your family see you walk the confident trusting walk or just talk the hypocritical Pharisaical talk? Do you provide them with the servant-leadership called for in the Bible? Do you help them up when life inevitably knocks them down?

• He does not give in to the enemy and finishes the work that God set before him.

-Do you persevere through the storm and give God praise & glory all the while? Do you recognize that God is more powerful than anything the adversary can place in your path and finish the work he appointed unto to you?

Challenge #4 – Deception

Sanballat, Tobiah, and their crew were not fairing so well in their efforts to disrupt the work of Nehemiah. When their scornful mocking did not sufficiently discourage them, they tried innuendo and slander. But that did not succeed either. And what do bullies do when you don’t back down to them? They try to get physical and so did the enemies of Nehemiah. But again, rather than back down from a potentially bigger and stronger foe, they took precautions and prepared to meet them. And again, the Jews under Nehemiah’s organized leadership prevailed and their enemies did not even try to attack despite their advantages.

However the enemies of God are not so easily discouraged. Seeing the wall completed and lacking only the hanging of the gates, they became desperate and turned to the final tactic left to them, deception.

Neh 6:1-2 - Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.

Four times they made this request of Nehemiah. “Come meet with us so we can talk it over. It’s all good, Nehemiah, no worries.”

Nehemiah though correctly surmises that they had no intent whatsoever to negotiate any sort of peaceful conclusion and instead were trying to entice him away from the safety of the city and his people in order to capture or kill him. So four times Nehemiah, not being a complete idiot, defers.

Sanballat then sends him a different sort of letter….

Neh 6:5-7 - Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written:

It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. 7 And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.

Even after all their previous attempts had failed, the Axis of Evil still thought they could blackmail and bully Nehemiah into complying with their demands by saying they would send word (false at that) to the king that Nehemiah was planning to revolt.

The Response?

Nehemiah was not a foolish man, nor with his faith in God so strong was he going to be intimidated by unfounded & unsubstantiated accusations by enemies he had already thwarted at every turn. His response back to Sanballat in 6:8 was simple and succinct:

Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”

Simply put - You are mistaken and your words are untrue, figments of your own imagination.

Further, in verse 9 he recognizes their intent - For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

And the words of Nehemiah, being the man of God that he is…? - Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

As he has done throughout this work, Nehemiah appeals to God.

And then?

He completes the work.

Rather than allow himself to be drawn into a war of words, engage in repeated battles of accusation & denial, or become subject to distractions that could easily devolve into real showstoppers, he sets the record straight one time and then keeps his and his people’s focus on the task at hand, the finishing of the wall.

Even today, many non-believers try to entice Christians into mud-slinging public battles over the particulars of their faith. Believers get pointed to as “intolerant” or “elitist”, “anti” this and “phobic” that. Claims are made that Christians self-righteously judge and condemn those who are not part of their exclusive churchy social club. Why? Because they hope for a response in kind (or even in thoughtless anger), just so it can then be pointed out how hypocritical we are, how we are no better than anyone else.

(Truthfully, we are no better than anyone else aside from one important item which allows us to transcend our own inadequecies, but that is a different topic...)

It is totally understandable that as believers we do not wish to see our faith denigrated and misrepresented and our God slandered. But we must be careful though to not allow ourselves to be drawn into an argument or situation where our response brings discredit upon ourselves or God. When unfounded allegations and accusations are made, as Nehemiah did then, we should do now - Respond (or not) appropriately to the situation all the while keeping God at the forefront and the completion of His work our priority.

I mentioned in the beginning that Nehemiah had two goals when arrived in Jerusalem:

• Restoring the city walls

• Restoring the people’s faith and their walk with the Lord

With his dedicated, focused, and God-fearing leadership, he successfully accomplished both.

Neh 6:15-16 - So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, (covers parts of August & September for us non-Hebrews) in fifty-two days. 16 And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

• The wall was finished in a mere 52 days and accomplished during the hottest part of the Middle Eastern summer.

• Its completion evidenced God’s glory & power even in the eyes of his enemies.

The restoration of the walls also played a key role in the restoration of the Jews, something the last 7 chapters of Nehemiah detail.

Neh 8:5-6 - And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

• The people recognizing the greatness of the Hand of the Lord at work with them, guiding them, protecting them during the rebuilding of the walls have moved back into the city and give Him honor and thanks.

In closing, I think it appropriate to recognize our own leadership in the faith and to say thank you to the Trustees, Deacons, Elders, and Pastors at my Church.

Without your dedicated efforts, we would be nowhere close to the Christ-focused, Word-centered, and Worshipful Church we are today.

May your walk with the Lord be a blessed, strong, and confident example to all.

Rich