Introduction Of The Book Of Nehemiah – Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls —(BLB)— —(TecBib fillin)— —(BibRef)—

Book of Nehemiah

Nehemiah

A personal memoir of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls

By Nehemiah, a leader with great vision

In the fifth century B.C., the Jews are continuing to emerge from their exile in the Persian Empire.

Invaded in 605 B.C. and 597 B.C., and then conquered in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, the people of God are scattered throughout the Babylonian Empire and eventually witness the Babylonians’ own fall to Persia.

Now that they are living under a new regime that is accepting of God’s people and willing to let them return home to rebuild their nation, God raises up a series of leaders to take charge of that home going.

Two of these are Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor of Judah.


Two Books, One Volume

The story of these two dynamic leaders and the rebuilding in Jerusalem stretches across two books in the Christian Bible, but the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are originally one volume.

It is not advisable to read one without the other because together they provide a full account of God’s restoration of Jerusalem.

After the temple is rebuilt and dedicated in 515 B.C., Ezra returns to Jerusalem in 458 B.C. and restores God’s law as the foundation to the new Jewish community.

Nehemiah comes along a few years later and is responsible for fortifying the holy city, managing foreign affairs, and rebuilding the population.

Together they build a new society that grows and changes into the precursor to the modern Jewish faith.


Revitalizing Jerusalem

At the heart of the Book of Nehemiah is a memoir, written by Nehemiah himself and preserved and edited by later Jewish scribes. His story picks up in 445 B.C., when he is a trusted advisor to Artaxerxes I.

When he learns that his countrymen are in trouble and that Jerusalem’s walls and gates are still in ruins, Nehemiah gains permission to return to Jerusalem and fortify it.

In only 12 years, he completes most of his work revitalizing Jerusalem (with the repair work on the Jerusalem walls taking only 52 days), giving as much of his own time and more of his own resources than he requires from anyone else.

With the holy city secure, the people come together to celebrate and renew their commitment to God and His call on their lives. Nehemiah’s story proves that energy, intelligence, unselfishness, and above all, trust are essential to living faithfully in covenant with God.

Click chapter tabs to study in-depth. 

NEHEMIAH CHAPTERS
1 4 7 10 13
2 5 8 11
3 6 9 12


Nehemiah 2:1

Nehemiah’s job is to taste the king’s wine and food, checking for poison. Because of these duties, Nehemiah is constantly needed, so he must seek God’s favor so that Artaxerxes I, will allow him to travel to Jerusalem.


Nehemiah 2:10-11

[11] When the Assyrians conquered Israel’s Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C., the Samaritans were exiled to other Assyrian provinces, and other Assyrian prisoners were settled in Samaria.

Based on the etymology of their names, Sanballat’s family is probably one of those relocated families who adopted the worship of the Eternal once they moved to Samaria.

Now, almost 300 years later, Sanballat is the first of his family appointed governor of Samaria under the Persians. Following 15 years of political unrest, he has managed to form a loose federation of Persian provinces in the area that includes Jerusalem.

Tobiah is a Persian official who has taken care of Jerusalem until a new governor arrived.

Now that Nehemiah has arrived, Sanballat’s power over Jerusalem is uncertain. Nehemiah has not agreed to be part of his federation, so Jerusalem could become a threat to it.


Nehemiah 3:16

Instead of repairing the old, these people build entirely new sections of wall inside the former wall’s perimeter, because reterracing the steep incline and clearing the rubble would be far too time consuming.


Nehemiah 4:2

It is hard to imagine the intense pressures and various points of opposition that Nehemiah has to deal with.

First, he has an internal struggle with those Judeans who have married foreign wives — Babylonian, Edomite, Ammonite, Moabite, Samaritan — and have adopted their religious and cultural behaviors that are quite distinct from what is laid forth for Israel in the law of Moses.

Further, Nehemiah has an external struggle with individuals like Sanballat the Moabite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab who are violently opposed to the restoration of Jerusalem and her people.

These are ancient political, social, and religious enemies to the Jews, and they will stop at nothing to halt Nehemiah’s rebuilding efforts.


Nehemiah 5:6

Nehemiah is the picture of a benevolent ruler. As a Persian-appointed official, he has the right to exact a sizable tax on the people of Jerusalem. Previous governors have had special jars made for collecting grain and oil and fruit from the people. This food went to support the governor and all of his formal dinners.

But Nehemiah does not exact this special tax because he realizes his people are already burdened by the Persians’ heavy taxes. As Artaxerxes’ cupbearer, certainly Nehemiah is a wealthy man; therefore he has no need for additional resources from Jerusalem’s people.

On his own, Nehemiah is able to regularly host all 150 of Jerusalem’s officials and frequent diplomats from other provinces, and the abundant meat and wine served at those functions proves that Nehemiah spares no personal expense.

He manages to fulfill every duty assigned to him — those required of a Persian governor, and those required of a man of God.


Nehemiah 7:66

Much like the Urim and Thummim, the exact identity of this book of the law ( 8:3) cannot be positively known. Most assume this law is some form of the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Old Testament.

Those books are the foundational principles for the Jews’ proper worship of God, containing some 613 specific laws, so it is likely the text (or at the very least the knowledge) of the Pentateuch would have survived the exile because of its importance.

Priests would have cared for it and not let the laws be completely forgotten among their people. Because of their separation from Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, proper worship of God has been impossible during the exile.

After 100 years in foreign lands, the layperson may have remembered to observe the major laws such as “Do not murder,” but the details of festivals and Sabbath observance are surely forgotten.

So, many years later, it only takes half a day of reading to remind the Jews of their covenant with God and reinvigorate them to serve Him.

Effective Tools

Not much is known about these ancient divination devices called Urim and Thummim. They are first mentioned in Exodus as 28:30 when God is giving Moses instructions on the clothing for the high priest.

These tools were to be carried in the breast piece of judgment, and presumably were only used by the high priest. Suggestions as to their form and function come from the discovery of similar devices in other cultures of the ancient Near East.

They may have been flat stones painted different colors, metal objects engraved with symbols, large dice, small sticks, or anything else imaginable. However they may have relayed God’s will, they were clearly effective tools used to discover God’s will in political situations.


Nehemiah 10:1

So moved by the instructions Ezra reads in the book of the law, the Jews cannot help but respond to them.

After honoring God with a lavish feast — the Festival of Booths — acknowledging His role in liberating the Hebrews from Egypt and the Jews from Persia, everyone confesses God’s greatness and their own people’s shortcomings.

Ezra has reminded them that God is fair; He gives them the law to warn them of and protect them from His judgments. And even when they break that law, He is unendingly merciful and faithful.

God always remembers His people, rescues them, and begins fresh relationships with them. It is no wonder that everyone is so eager and joyous to sign a renewed covenant with Him.


Nehemiah 12:31

Two very important characteristics of Jewish belief and behavior that set them apart from other peoples are endogamy and Sabbath: The Jewish people can only marry within and among their various tribes.

After the exile the choices are limited to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but there is still opportunity for marriage and family. However, the Jews are forbidden to practice exogamy, which is marriage outside their ethnic group.

The Eternal does not want the ideas and activities of other nations to influence His special people. Second, as with many of God’s instructions to Israel, the Sabbath observance reflects God’s activities in “creation week” in Genesis 1–2.

The Sabbath or seventh-day rest is unique in the ancient world; and it signifies that Israel’s Eternal One is over all aspects of creation, work, play, and rest. Nehemiah understands this, and he is direct in his instructions to this new Judean community.

 



 

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12 thoughts on “Introduction Of The Book Of Nehemiah – Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls —(BLB)— —(TecBib fillin)— —(BibRef)—

  1. It’s good to learn so many things about the history of Persian Empire. I’m not a christian but irrespective of the religion I normally like to learn and gather all the knowledge about religion. I’ve never heard of Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor of Judah, their story about rebuilding the nation is worth reading. 

    Your article is very good and does deliver a good impact on people who read this. 

    Thanks for sharing your article, from now on I will be a regular browser of your blog.

    1. Thank you for reading, commenting on this article and considering it very good while delivering a good impact on people who read this.

      You are most certainly welcome for the sharing of this article.

      Many Blessings To You!

  2. This is a very good article keep up the good work. You are helping millions of people and I believe people will definitely get benefit from you.

    May god bless you With love from India.

    1. Thank you kindly for reading and remarking about how you think this is a very good article. I really appreciate your time, and my mission is to reach out to as many people as I can.

      May GOD’s Grace and Mercy continue to be with you!

  3. Thank you for sharing the Book of Nehemiah with us, I appreciate it.  

    It is quite impressive to read about life from such a long time ago. Your article is highly informative and a good source to improve understanding and knowledge of the Book of Nehemiah.

    Even though I m not a Christian, I grew up going to Sunday School and learned about the Bible, however, my knowledge on the book could definitely use improvement.

    I am sure many people will be thankful for this excellent source of information you put together. 

    Many thanks for sharing this, and I am wishing you all the best in your future endeavours.

    Kind regards, 

    Jude

  4. Hello dear, 

    Nice work you’ve done here, I also want to thank you for the hard work you put into bringing these websites together. Your choice of words and writing skills are really amazing, and the description of each of the words you shared makes it easier for the readers to form an opinion. 

    I already saved these post so as to come back for future references.

    1. Hello,

      There are a lot of changes that must be made and challenges that must be overcome for growth to begin to take place in order to become any type of positive example in our environment. 

      Thank you for considering my choice of words and writing skills to be really amazing.

      Blessings To You My Friend!

  5. I would like to learn how to write a great study book of the gospel like you have here.

    The book of Nehemiah assess a lot of messages to us, and one of which is to remind the people of God of how God had worked to bring them back to their land and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. 

    Throughout both Ezra and Nehemiah, readers are reminded that it was God who orchestrated the historical events to bring the people of Israel back to their home.

    1. There is value to be found in everyone where love and tolerance is exercised. It seems to me that GOD is Always exercising a very high level of tolerance when dealing with our sinful ways. The most important thing we can do, is make sure we are constantly praying to GOD.

      Thank you for utilizing a portion of your time for reading and delivering heart felt comments about the Introduction Of The Book Of Nehemiah – Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls.

      Stay blessed and stay safe! 

  6. Hey nice biblical article you have here. 

    The walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins, the gates burned to rubble. So Nehemiah fasted and prayed. It appears he prayed for four months, confessing the sins of Israel, asking God to remember his Covenant with His people, asking God to grant him favor with the King. 

    Nehemiah demonstrates a unique quality as a leader by interceding on their behalf.

    1. Thank you for reading and commenting on this being a nice Holy Bible Study. 

      When I take a look at: “The walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins, the gates burned to rubble.” 

      I think to myself, could this actually be an analogy of our own lives, with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our King interceding on our behalf communicating with GOD? 

      Many Blessings To You My Friend! 

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