Bible Commentaries
Nehemiah 1

Verses 1-73

XXIII

THE EXPEDITION OF NEHEMIAH AND HIS WORK OF REBUILDING

Nehemiah 1-7

The period of time between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah is about twelve years. The leader of this expedition was Nehemiah, who was in all probability a man of princely Jewish blood, brought up and trained in a foreign land, a man of fine presence and splendid ability. He was a favorite of the king, Artaxerxes, and he was a true Jewish patriot. He was the "cupbearer" of the king. This was a position of great responsibility, and yet of great authority. He was skilled in the diplomacy and trickery of the Oriental courts, a man who knew men and affairs.

He received word from his brother, Hanani, that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the people afflicted. This news produced a remarkable effect upon him, and he prayed to the God of heaven and fasted, confessing the sins of the people. He prayed that God would enable him to speak to Artaxerxes the king at the right time and that he might receive favors from him.

About two months Nehemiah continued to pray, waiting for his opportunity, though he dared not manifest that sadness in his face. Kings do not like for their servants to be sad in their presence. But the deep grief of Nehemiah could not be completely hid. The king noticed it, asking him why he looked so sad, stating that it could only be sadness of heart. He gave his reason for his sadness. Then the king asked him if he had any request to make,, and in that moment Nehemiah prayed to the God of ’heaven for help. He had matured his plans and had come to a conclusion as to what he should ask of Artaxerxes. So he requested that he be sent to Jerusalem and that the king give him letters so that he might safely go on his way without being hindered by their enemies.

The date of this decree is 445 B.C. It gave to "Nehemiah the special commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, including letters to Asaph, the keeper of ’the king’s forest, which also caused much grief to the enemy. This is the first sign of opposition which grew more and more intense as the work went on. After some time Nehemiah with his bodyguard arrived safely. He was a man of great position in the empire, and must have had a strong guard with him. He makes no mention of his mission on his arrival. He preserves a very tactful silence. If his purpose had been known, his enemies would have at once set to work to defeat it. His practical turn of mind is shown in the fact that he chose the secret hours of the night to ascertain the condition of the walls of Jerusalem, thus being able to mature his plans, no one suspecting his purpose. When he had surveyed and noted the condition of the walls, and had seen just what had to be done, he summoned the leaders of the people, made his purpose known and organized his forces for the rebuilding. Then followed an appeal to the elders to consider their evil case and to arise and build and then he told them how the good hand of his God had been upon him. "So they strengthened their hands for the good work" but the opposition now is more manifest. They laughed them to scorn, but Nehemiah replied, "God will prosper us . . . you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem."

Nehemiah had organized his forces to perfection. The priest ly families began to build by the sheep gate which was the portion nearest to the Temple. They had a double incentive to work, viz: the protection of the city in which they dwelt, and the protection of that part of the city where their interests were. Nehemiah mentions many of the gates, e.g., the Fish Gate, which was probably at the northeastern entrance of the city. It was called the Fish Gate because the fish from the river Jordan and the Sea of Galilee were brought to the city from that side and through that gate. He mentions the old gate which was probably to the north of the city. The "tower of the furnace" probably refers to the potteries which existed in that day. The Valley Gate overlooking the valley of Ninnom opened west. The Dung Gate led out to the lower end of the valley of Hinnom on the southwest. The Fountain Gate probably led down to the Tyropean Valley on the south. The stairs led to the City of David. The next was the Horse Gate, but we do not know just where it was located. Thus he built the walls beginning at the east side and going around to the west and south. It is impossible to follow the construction exactly as Nehemiah built it. Only a small portion of this wall has been discovered, and that part is near Ophel. Hurlbut’s Bible Atlas is helpful here.

They built the walls in the face of opposition. No one knew that this would arise better than Nehemiah. He felt that the work must be rushed. The attitude of his enemies was characteristic. Anger in the first place gave place to scorn and contempt. Now Sanballat gathers his forces together to oppose Nehemiah. It was a trying time. The enemy mocked them (Nehemiah 4:1-3), but Nehemiah set his prayers against the enemy and went forward.

Their third opposition was a conspiracy to fight, which was met on the part of Nehemiah by prayer and setting a watch against them, but just here a complaint came from Judah evidencing his lack of faith. It was threefold, viz: (1) The strength of the burden bearer is gone; (2) there is much rubbish; (3) the enemy is threatening. In view of this, Nehemiah made provisions for their safety, arming the people and setting them in battle array after their families and then he made a moat masterful plea: "Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses." The effect of this plea is seen in their vigilance and diligence. Half of them worked while the other half held the arms; those that worked had on the sword and worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Nehemiah set trumpeters for signal purposes; they did not take off their clothes not lay down their weapons for water, but with sleepless vigilance they pressed the work to completion and were able to say, "And so we built the wall . . . for the people had a mind to work."

Now we have followed Nehemiah’s work to the time that the walls were rebuilt. Almost as soon as this work had been completed there occurred great destitution. This is set forth in Nehemiah 5. Nehemiah had been devoting his energies to the fortification of the city; now he must give his attention to the matters in the city.

So we now take up the reforms of commercial and social abuses by Nehemiah. In this fifth chapter we come face to face with conditions that give us a painful surprise. One would think that they would be happy indeed, now, but instead, they were sorely downcast by serious circumstances, in that great wrongs were heaped upon them. Nehemiah was brought face to face with a serious condition of affairs. A great cry was raised by both men and women who were concerned. They said that they were in dire straits of poverty. They had no food, and were in danger of starvation. The suffering was intense. Others said, "We have mortgaged our fields, and vineyards and houses." The implication really is that some of these had been taken away from them. Then they were without fields and vineyards, also without corn and wheat, things necessary to life. Then again, others said, "We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon our fields and vineyards." They even had to borrow money to pay the king’s tribute. Now we see that they were in sore straits when they had to borrow money to pay their taxes. But their distress does not stop here. We are told that some of them had to sell their own children in order to get bread to eat. "Lo, we bring unto bondage our sons and our daughters . . . for other men have our fields and our vineyards." This is the condition with which Nehemiah was brought face to face.

Nehemiah was angry and said, "Then I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother." He saw what had led to this state of affairs. It was just common greed and covetousness. Nehemiah was enraged. He called an assembly et the people, something like the old fashioned "Town Meeting" of New England. He says to them: "The thing ye do is not good: . . . I likewise, my brethren, and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury." The interest was about 12 per cent. All such interest was forbidden by the law of Moses. So Nehemiah issued a command ordering them to restore all this property. He called the priests together and took an oath of them that they were to see that this thing was done. Now this shows that the priests were the leading men in national life. They were to enforce the law. In order to impress it he says, "I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house who does not do this." Just as one would take an apron with articles in it and shake them out, so God would do to them, which meant excommunication. They were to restore the fields and the vineyards which the people sorely needed and ought to have. Then he cites his own example (Nehemiah 5:14-19): "From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah . . . I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor," that is, he had not been collecting any salary. "But," he says, "the former governors were chargeable unto the people, and took of them bread and wine, and forty shekels of silver, but instead of that I fed one hundred and fifty of them at my own expense." Then in Nehemiah 5:19 he says, "Remember unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people."

During all this time, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem had been trying to entrap him. They sought some way to entangle Nehemiah and stop the work. But Nehemiah had been trained in an Oriental court. He was used to trickery and deception, common in the life of an Oriental palace. Sanballat and Tobiah invited him down to the plain of Ono for a conference. That sounds like they wanted to be friends with Nehemiah. But he says, "I cannot come down: why should the work cease while I leave it, and come down to you?" He saw through the plan. Four times they sent him that invitation, but each time he replied that he could not come down. In Nehemiah 6:5 he says that they sent him an open letter in which Geshem says, "You think to rebel. You have appointed prophets to preach among the people that you are to be king in Judah." That is a clever story. The letter informs Nehemiah that they were going to report to Artaxerxes that he was planning to be king; that prophets were preaching in Jerusalem that Nehemiah was to be king. That is the same threat that the Pharisees used on Pilate: "Pilate, if you let this man go you are not Caesar’s friend." It would have frightened an ordinary man. That very thing drove Pilate to put Jesus to death, when he knew that he was innocent. They sought to stop the work in that way, but Nehemiah prayed: "Now, O God, strengthen thou my hands." So the work went right on. In Nehemiah 6:10 is the record of another attempt. They employed a certain prophet to help them. He was one of those men who made divinations and was secured to entice Nehemiah. Nehemiah went down to the house of this man, who had been shut up under a vow. Then the prophet said to him, "Let us meet together in the house of God; . . . let us shut the doors of the Temple: for they will come to slay thee." That was a very subtle proposition. But Nehemiah was too wise even for this trap. He says, "Should such a man as I flee? I have no right to go into the Temple. Am I going to do wrong to save my life?" No wonder God cared for and used this man! Then he discovered that God had not sent the prophet, but he had been hired by Tobiah and Sanballat.

The work went right on, and the wall was completed on the fifty-second day. Now what was going on in the city? Nehemiah 6:17 tells us that the nobles of Judah sent letters to Tobiah and he to them. Nehemiah says, "They spake of his good deeds before me and reported my words to him." Now that was treachery, but Nehemiah paid no attention to that. He saw clearly through it all. They were simply trying to make him afraid.

Now when the wall had been built he set up the doors and appointed porters and singers and Levites. He appointed his own brother to be governor over the city. This brother was appointed because he was a God-fearing man. He gives instruction about the city gates, as to their opening and so on. Now we are told about the houses and the inhabitants. The record says, "Now the city was wide and large but the people were few therein." Many Texas cities are like Jerusalem in that they are large and wide, but the houses are not yet built and the people few.

Now he had built the walls and set up the gates. Next he finds the book of the genealogy. That is the same as the list in Ezra 7. The Apocryphal book, 1 Esdras, also contains a similar list. But why was it repeated here? It was taken from the same list from which Ezra’s was taken and is in accord with the great emphasis which the Jews put on their genealogies. This was necessary for the identification of all who had thus come to Jerusalem and confirms the account given by Ezra. There are no important differences – no more than we might expect in two separate genealogical lists prepared by different persons. But there is a special advantage in having the two lists, viz: they enable us to make out a more complete catalogue of those who came at the first, though either list was sufficient for the purpose of identification.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the time period between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah?

2. How did Nehemiah come to know the condition of Jerusalem and according to this report what was the condition?

3. How did this affect Nehemiah and what did he do?

4. What of the providence of God in answer to his prayer and what was the lesson on the relation of prayer and works?

5. What date of this decree and what special commission did it give?

6. What effect of this decree on the enemy?

7. How did Nehemiah commence the work of Jerusalem?

8. What his appeal, what was the first opposition of the enemy and what was Nehemiah’s reply?

9. How did Nehemiah distribute the work and what was the lesson?

10. Locate as nearly as you can the parts of the wall which were assigned to the various companies to build.

11. What was the second opposition of the enemy and what was Nehemiah’s reply?

12. What was the third opposition of the enemy and how did Nehemiah meet it?

13. What was Judah’s complaint and what was the masterful plea made by Nehemiah in reply?

14. What indicates their great vigilance and diligence?

15. What complaint came to Nehemiah from the people?

16. How did this affect Nehemiah, what course did he take and what the result?

17. How does Nehemiah show his spirit of generosity and unselfishness?

18. After the wall was completed what artful proposition came from the enemy to Nehemiah, what was his course in the matter and what lesson for us?

19. How then did they try to entrap Nehemiah and what saved him from their scheme?

20. How long was the wall in building, what effect on the enemies, what embarrassing fact to Nehemiah here revealed, and what provision was made for the continued safety of Jerusalem?

21. Why should Zerubbabel’s register of names occur here also, are there any important differences between the two lists, and what the special advantage in having the two lists?