Bible Men: Nehemiah: Building More than Walls 

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace. Neh 1:1 

East or West Home is Best!

The name of Nehemiah means “The Lord Comforts.”

The setting of this wonderful book is Shushan the palace. This is also the setting for the story of Esther, and Daniel was carried there in a vision.

Nothing is known of Nehemiah’s childhood, youth or family, except that his father’s name was Hachaliah, and that he had a brother called Hanani.

It is presumed his great-grandparents were taken into captivity when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He may have been born in Persia in or after Zerubbabel’s ministry in Jerusalem.

His ministry is closely tied with that of Ezra, the “ready scribe in the law of Moses.” The setting of their work is the postexilic era when the faithful Israelites were returning from Babylon to Judah to reestablish their temple worship, which they had neglected before the exile.

There were three returns from Babylon to the land of Israel: the first was led by Zerubbabel in 538 B.C., the second was under Ezra in 458 B.C., and the third was led by Nehemiah in 444 B.C.

Nehemiah was in the position of a cupbearer to the king when he learned of the deplorable state of his people back in Jerusalem. He subsequently got himself appointed governor in Judah with authority and resources to rebuild the city walls.

Nehemiah was a man of singular skill and daring. He first surveyed the walls at night to avoid detection by his adversaries, and then he assembled a labour force and, dividing the walls into sections, he supervised the building until the end, finishing the work in the short time of 52 days.   

The book reads like Nehemiah’s personal diary in its conciseness and brevity.

His work faced intermittent harassment though from three of his fiercest enemies: Sanballat the Horonite (a Samaritan), Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshen the Arab. 

Nehemiah was a deeply pious man, and his oft repeated words during his prayers were “O God, strengthen my hands.”

Drought in a Palace

The immediate thing which strikes one is that Nehemiah lived in a palace, in a far country, and yet his heart reeled with the love of his country and his folk in Jerusalem.

That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. Neh 1:2 -4 

You may wonder why the earlier arrivals from Babylon never saw the ruin that their city was in. But remember it is possible to live in the midst of ruin and not notice it. Poverty, or intense pain, can do that. And love can also do that! The people in Jerusalem were in great distress. Their lives and country were falling apart. And yet they did not see it.

The Covenant Faithfulness of God

God delivered Israel to Babylon, and it was God who delivered them back from Babylon. “If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee” (Deu 30:4).  

God may deliver a man into his exile because of his unbelief, and only God may deliver him out of it again.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Rom 1:24-25 

Love can go to the uttermost to save, and it usually does. Love still believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, because love never fails.

I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Hos 5:15  

For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Lam 3:31-33  

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Psa 119:67  

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Psa 119:71  

There is no Rest in Babylon

We hated our parents once because they were too severe. But then we grew up, and we learnt that the rod can also mean love. We finished our years “in Babylon”, and, at the mercy of God, the heart returned home where it always belonged.

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Luk 15:4  

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luk 15:17-20  

Coming Home

Which other bible prophet chose self-exile over a palace life? Moses lived in the palace of the Pharaoh king of Egypt. He might’ve been content, but Moses knew his extraction was of a better kind than that of Egypt.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Heb 11:24-26  

A guy, the palace is good but it’s not our home. Heaven is!

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst

thereof. 

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 

            How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? Psa 137:1-4