I am again currently in the middle of reading the Bible in its entirety. This past week, I read the Book of Nehemiah. I was intrigued by what I read, so decided to try a new TGIF format by summarizing the message that I took from Nehemiah. This is the first time I have attempted to do this, so please bear with me. Note that I will be adding a number of commentaries provided by my Bible so will consistently report them using this highlighting.
Note that although Nehemiah is the name of the book, the author is believed to be Ezra. Very few people would have been allowed access to the royal archives of the Persian Empire, but Ezra proved to be the exception.
Note that the previous book in the Bible, Ezra (written by Ezra) reports on the first two returns by the Jewish people to Jerusalem, first in 538 BC, and then again in 458 BC. The focus of the Book of Nehemiah is on the third, and final, return in 445 BC. This third, and final, event takes place after God chastened His people with 70 years of captivity in Babylon (Jer 25:11). My commentary continues Nehemiah chronicles the third return to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem … Rebuilding the walls of conquered cities posed the most glaring threat to the Persian administration. Only a close confidant of the King himself could be trusted for such an operation. At the most critical juncture in Judah’s revitalization, God raised up Nehemiah to exercise one of the most trusted roles in the empire, the King’s cupbearer and confidant.
Careful attention to the reading of God’s Word in order to perform His will is a constant theme in Nehemiah … A second major theme, the obedience of Nehemiah, is explicitly referred to throughout the book due to the fact that the book is based on the memoirs or first person accounts of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah spent 3 days discerning what course to follow before informing anyone of his plan; then, he wisely viewed the terrain in secret and surveyed the southern end of the city, noting the broken and burnt condition of the walls and gates.
Nehemiah 7:5 – Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled…
It was He who accomplished it. Another theme in Nehemiah, as in Ezra, is opposition. Judah’s enemies started rumors that God’s people had revolted against Persia … In spite of opposition from without and heartbreaking corruption and dissension from within, Judah completed the walls of Jerusalem in only 52 days.
Nehemiah 6:15 – So the wall was completed on the 25th of the month Elul, in 52 days.
Nehemiah’s conclusion was seen through the eyes of his enemies – God works through faithful people, but it is God who works.
I firmly believe this conclusion still can guide us today, that we as dedicated Christians to serving God, can achieve Godly results, but only if we follow His plan! Plans can have setbacks and take time to achieve, as reported in Nehemiah. For those people reading this message, I would strongly recommend reading this short book of 10 chapters (certainly chapters 4-6) to understand the frustration and temporary human setbacks we may experience when trying to follow God’s Will for us. However, we can follow through and conquer, with God’s support and guidance, to achieve what may even seem like impossible tasks … like Nehemiah!
I believe this book in the Bible represents a lot of the feelings we have today as we navigate this increasingly complex world. As I concluded in last week’s TGIF message, it is critical for us to seek Him and hear His voice, we must seek Him above all else! Only then can we find our footing to the Peace, Hope, Love, and Joy that we all desire in our lives.