Nehemiah is an amazing book filled with rich history. It details Nehemiah’s quest to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, per a deep yearning placed into him by God. There’s lots going on in this work, including lots of building, families coming to Jerusalem and long, historic prayers. But the book isn’t simply a recount of events from Israel’s past. It is a stunning metaphor for ideals we can build in our own life. Aside from Nehemiah’s leadership (the book is highly regarded and used as a model for leadership), it is also a thoughtful look of how sin and discouragement actively attack and how we, as Christians, can build a stronghold against it.
Before we begin, however, we have to first acclimate ourselves to when and where this story takes place. The events of the book of Nehemiah take place in and around the year 445 BC. This is an important date for a few reasons, which we will discuss. But in the grander scheme, the story takes place about 1000 years after the Exodus (1446 BC), and about 450 years before the birth of Christ (4 BC).
At this time in their history, the Jewish nations have been destroyed. After the reign of Solomon, the nations were split. Solomon was the last great king of Israel. Under his Godly reign, his kingdom was blessed. It became the richest nation on earth and Israel saw their borders increase to the widest levels in their history (all the way to the Euphrates in the north and to the wadi of Egypt in the south). Yet, Solomon had a problem. With all the prestige a king carries, we see Solomon slowly slipping throughout his story, and in 1 Kings 11, we see that his sin catches up with him:
11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
So God tells Solomon that because of his great service and subsequent sin, God will show him mercy: He will take his kingdom away, but not in his lifetime. So Solomon is allowed to live out his life in surrounding luxury, knowing that the kingdom he built will soon perish. The problems begin with his son Reheboam. Reheboam is a spoiled kid and doesn’t understand the complexity of dealing with people. There is an uprising in the community. A leader emerges, his name Jeroboam, who is the leader of the people performing Solomon’s construction projects. Solomon was a great builder, and even after his death there are multitudes of building projects on the dockets. So much that the people are overwhelmed. Jeroboam’s plea is for the king to lighten the load. If the new king does so, then the people will follow his diligently.
It seems like an easy decision for the new king. But instead of listening to Solomon’s old advisors (they plead for him to accept the people’s plea), he instead listens to his friends, who tell him to work the people harder. This, in effect, splits the kingdom. Jeroboam splits off from Judah and takes the northern tribes with him. That leaves Judah and Benjamin with Reheboam.
The two different kingdoms act fairly independent of each other for a good 250 years. In that time there is a rash of kings on both sides. On the northern tribes side (Israel), each one of the kings are bad. They start off bad (with Jeroboam) and continually get worse. In 722, Assyria swoops in and overtakes Israel (northern tribes). They deport many of the Jews back to Assyria and send many others to Babylon, where they intermarry and essentially wipe out the bloodline. The new capital of Israel is Samaria. This intermingling of bloodlines results in the Samaritans.
In the south, the reign of the kings is more muddled. There are good kings (Asa, Jehosophat, Josiah, most notably), plus a mixed bag of okay kings and finally a good number who miss the mark completely. By the time we get to the end of Judah’s timeline, after the reign of their best king (Josiah), they ultimately conquered by Babylon in 606 BC. Solomon’s temple is destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar, the city is routed, the best people are deported to Babylon and the walls are broken down. Jerusalem is horribly lost and the times are bleak. The Jews who have been deported to Babylon remain there for 70 years. This is a trial given by God for them to understand their sin. But it isn’t all bad. The Jews make a life for themselves while in Babylon. As Jerusalem sits in ruins, Nebuchadnezzar allows the culture of the Jews to continue. They are allowed to build businesses. They are allowed to live together. And they are allowed to worship. Since they had no temple to worship in, they created localized places of worship. This is the birth of synagogues.
Some of the Jews even gain lofty positions. In the book of Daniel, we see Daniel and his friends living life inside the king’s castle. Through their acts of courage and faith they all attain high positions in Babylon while still retaining their faith.
But Babylon does not stand forever. In 539 BC, the Persians overtake Babylon. Cyrus, the Persian ruler, is swayed by God to let the Jews return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of Solomon. Cyrus wanted to appease the gods of the people he conquered, so when he learned the temple had been destroyed many years before, he allowed the Jews to leave Babylon to rebuild. Only 2% of the Jews return to Jerusalem. The reason for this is plain: many, who only knew Babylon, had no interest in leaving their comfort zone. It was too difficult, to dangerous- there were most likely a plethora of excuses for leaving their cushy place for a more dangerous one. But the real concept is this: God wants those who are willing to take chances.
The temple is rebuilt in 516 BC and the wall is attempted to be rebuilt (Ezra 4:6-23), but the Jews are stopped via opposition of the Samaritans. The walls continue to lay in rubble, and they’ve been down for close to 100 years when the story of Nehemiah begins.
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
One of the great things about this book is that Nehemiah gives us a number of markers to tell where he is and what the date is. We first learn that the story begins in Kislev (winter) in the twentieth year (20th year of King Artaxerxes rule, which amounts to 445 BC), and he is at the citadel of Susa (Shushan), which is the capital of the Persian Empire. This location is noteworthy because anyone in the citadel is an important person.
Nehemiah is joined by a brother who has been to Judah. Nehemiah questions him about what’s going on there. The report is bleak: they are seeing hardship; the wall is still down. The reason a wall is so important is because in the old world, a city without a wall is destined to be overrun. In other words, there is no protection for the inhabitants inside.
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah’s reaction is profound. He cannot stand. He sits down and weeps for many days. He reaction is palatable, a great pain, for his heart is really with his people and not in the citadel. But we can also see that God is beginning to work on Nehemiah as well. God has put this deep need into Nehemiah. This is not exclusive to Nehemiah, but is put by God, into all people, to do goos works in our life. Ephesians 2:10 shows us that God has preselected good works for us to do in our life. It is up to us to rise to the occasion.
Part of Nehemiah’s reaction is sorrow and deep longing, but his reaction isn’t to stay in that space. It is to connect to God deeper. He fasts and prays. Fasting is a deprivation of the things we need, like food or water, in order to get to a place of dependency with God. Praying is the communication part of it. And you’ll notice one more thing: Nehemiah prays to the God of Heaven. He is in the Persian stronghold, the very center of polytheism. Nehemiah knows who the real God is.
5 Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
His prayer is simple and deep. First, it is a prayer of humility. He understands the connection he must have to God, and he confesses not only for himself, but for all of Israel. He owns the deep losses of sin and separation and understands that he must come to God in dependence, not independence.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ 10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah understands that God delights in granting us His promises. He has no way of knowing if everyone is alignment with God, but he is. His heart and soul are strongly turned to the Lord, and for this he prays, and continues to pray. His prayer is to have a chance to be in front of the king with his request (v.11). And he does have a great opportunity: he is the cupbearer to the king. In other words, he is one of the most trusted servants to Artaxerxes. He is the guy that checks the food and drink for poison. He has an opportunity to be in front of the king each day, yet he still prays that God will give him the proper timing for his trip to Jerusalem.