Nehemiah

MEMORY VERSE: “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” —Psalm 90:17

NEHEMIAH 4:6-14,21-23

ALL that is known about Nehemiah is contained in the book which bears his name. His service to God and to God’s people was in connection with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, particularly its walls. Jerusalem was laid waste at the time the nation was taken into captivity in Babylon, and even though Cyrus had issued a decree giving the Jews their liberty to return to their land, many of them did not return, and those who did made little or no progress in a rebuilding program, especially in so far as Jerusalem was concerned.

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, of Persia. In the 20th year of the king’s reign a close relative of Nehemiah arrived from Judea and gave him an account of the deplorable conditions in Jerusalem. Nehemiah immediately conceived the idea of rebuilding Jerusalem. In due course he obtained the king’s consent for a leave of absence in order to do this. He also obtained much help from the king and other non-Jews.—Neh. 2:1-11

Arriving in Jerusalem he investigated the situation, and rallied the responsible leaders of the people to join with him in rebuilding the city. There were enemies, as there are always enemies who seek to oppose the work of the Lord. But Nehemiah was not discouraged over this, and he organized the workers for the formidable task in hand.—ch. 2:12-20

The enemies of God’s people—those people who worked with Nehemiah to build the walls of Jerusalem—were insistent and threatening, and it became necessary for Nehemiah to make suitable arrangements for the defense of the workers. Nevertheless it was a strenuous and dangerous operation. Recounting it, Nehemiah wrote, “So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the day. 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 every one put them off for washing.”—ch. 4:21-23

Nehemiah made wise provisions to protect the workmen and the city from attacks by their enemies, but the main factor in being able to proceed with the work, and to complete it, was that the Lord blessed their efforts. Nehemiah knew that the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem was something which the Lord wanted done.

Having failed in their efforts to intimidate Nehemiah and his workmen from proceeding with their work of rebuilding the walls of the city, the enemies then asked for a conference, with the implication that some understanding be reached which would enable all to work together in peace. Nehemiah recognized that this was not sincere, but a plot; that they sought to do him “mischief,” so he replied, “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?”—ch. 6:1-3

The work of the Lord today is not to build city walls, but as Paul put it, to work out our own salvation. (Phil. 2:12) This is accomplished by learning and doing the will of God. We learn the will of God through the study of his Word, and as we apply its instructions in our lives we are working out our salvation.

These instructions are not difficult to understand. We are to be faithful witnesses of the truth; and we are to give all diligence to root out from our hearts all selfishness, and to be filled with and controlled by the love of God which manifests itself in joy, peace, longsuffering and brotherly-kindness.

And today, even as in the case of Nehemiah, we have our enemies, the chief one of which is Satan, who seeks to intimidate and to discourage. But we also have the Lord on our side, and he is more powerful than all our enemies, and has provided us with an armor of righteousness for our protection.—Eph. 6:10-18; Phil. 2:13

Our memory verse suggests the proper motive for our service to the Lord. It is that his glory might rest upon us. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”—Matt. 5:16

QUESTIONS

Who was Nehemiah, and what important work of God was he privileged to accomplish?

In this present evil world, do the Lord’s people always have enemies?

What is the work of God today for his consecrated people?

Who is their chief enemy?

What should be the motive for all that we do in the Lord’s work?

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