Nehemiah Rebuilds the Wall

MEMORY VERSE: “Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” —Nehemiah 2:20

NEHEMIAH 2:17,18; 4:15-20; 6:1,3,15,16

NEHEMIAH, an ardent Jew, probably of the tribe of Judah, was at Shushan, the winter residence of the kings of Persia, when he dedicated himself to the task of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. He held high office as the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes. In the twentieth year of the king’s reign certain Jews, one of whom was a near kinsman of Nehemiah’s, arrived from Jerusalem and gave Nehemiah a deplorable account of the state of Jerusalem, and of the residents in Judea.

Nehemiah immediately conceived the idea of going to Jerusalem to better the condition of his people. In due time an opportunity presented itself to make his desire known to the king, and he obtained the king’s consent to his mission. The king not only gave his consent for Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem, but provided him with a troop of cavalry, and letters to the various satraps of the provinces through which he would have to pass. In addition, a letter was given him to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, to supply him with timber.

On reaching Jerusalem Nehemiah’s great work was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, which had lain in a state of ruin since before the beginning of the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon. After arriving at Jerusalem, and perhaps to confirm the report which had been brought to him in Persia, Nehemiah made a thorough inspection of the broken-down walls of the city. (Neh. 2:12-16) Up to this point he had not told anyone of the purpose of his being in Jerusalem.

This personal inspection convinced him of the need, and probably also helped him to make his plan of procedure in the rebuilding work. Then he announced to the people, “Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.”—Neh. 2:17

Then Nehemiah told the people of the overruling providences of God in connection with his coming to Jerusalem, and of the fact that the king had given his consent and help. The people said, “Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.”

But as is so often the case, when the Lord’s people set out upon some “good work,” there were certain enemies on hand to oppose. This time it was Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammon and Geshem the Arabian. These tried to discourage Nehemiah from undertaking the task, implying that to do so would be rebellion against the king. Nehemiah’s reply to these is found in our memory verse. Nehemiah had great faith in the overruling providences of his God.

Nehemiah was well aware of the dangers involved in this undertaking, and in chapter 4:15-20 we are given the details of the manner in which he protected the builders against these dangers. Apparently no serious incidents occurred during the work of rebuilding, and finally the walls were completed with the exception of hanging the gates.

Then Sanballat and his friends, realizing that they had failed to prevent the rebuilding of the wall, sought to make an alliance with Nehemiah. But Nehemiah sensed that they were not sincere in this: “They thought to do me mischief.” He replied to them, saying, “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?”—Neh. 6:3

The work was completed in fifty-two days. The enemies of the Jews were much cast down over this achievement, “for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.” Here we have a typical situation. One would think that there would be great rejoicing in the fact that God had wrought this work, but not so. However, a witness was given by Nehemiah and his co-workers concerning the power and glory of God, and that, too, was a good accomplishment.

QUESTIONS

Who was Nehemiah, and what was his position in the kingdom of Persia?

Who were the enemies of the Jews who sought to prevent the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem?

What measures did Nehemiah take to prevent their enemies from hindering the work?

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