Some 13 years after the second group returned with Ezra, Nehemiah led a third and last group to return to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. Nehemiah's main concern was the safety of God's people. There was no wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem, and that left the people defenseless against their enemies.
Chapters 1-6 of Nehemiah describe the drama of this rebuilding project. It was hindered by frustrating opposition and several obstacles. In chapters 7-13, Nehemiah and Ezra worked together to reform the people spiritually and morally so that the restoration of Jerusalem, the spiritual and political center of Israel, would be complete.
What does it say?
Nehemiah, while still in Persia, became gravely concerned for the situation in Jerusalem. He sought permission from his employer, the king of Persia, to return to his own land and direct the people in rebuilding a wall of protection around Jerusalem. When permission was granted, Nehemiah returned. Upon arrival, he set out to inspect the existing wall - largely destroyed in the Babylonian invasion - and make plans to rebuild.
Nehemiah exhorts the people to rebuild, facing persistent opposition from within and without, and with the help of God, rebuilds the city wall in an incredible 52 days. Nearly 100 years from the start of the resettlement, the wall was finally in place.
Faces & Places
Nehemiah, the books central character, was a Jewish cupbearer to the king of Persia, Artaxerxes. A cupbearer enjoyed the unreserved confidence of the king, for it was his duty to see that the king was not poisoned by food or drink. As the book opens, Nehemiah is serving the king in the Persian city of Susa.
Three men who opposed Nehemiah were Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshen. Sanballat was governor of Samaria, a people to the immediate north of Judah who fiercely opposed the reemergence of Israel. Tobiah was an Ammonite, from the neighboring land of Ammon which lay immediately east of Judah. The precise identification of Geshen is more difficult, but he was probably an influential leader of a northern Arabian confederacy encompassing territory southern Palestine to northeastern Egypt. He may have feared Israel's potential impact on his trade routes to the north.
Ezra the priest also appears in this book. This is the same Ezra in the book by his name.
Key Verses & Themes
Rebuilding the Wall:
Nehemiah 6:15-16 "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God."
Prayer:
Nehemiah 4:9 "But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." (See also 1:5-11; 1:4, 4:5-6; 6:9, 14.)
So what?
Nehemiah has come to be known as the Bible's management guide. It is filled with sound principles for leadership and bringing a seemingly impossible project to completion on-time, within budget, and according to specification - the dream of any good project manager, whether constructing a missile or building a family.
But within these principles comes a specific challenge - to do what God has placed before you, even when the odds are against you, and even when the people are against you. Nehemiah accomplished in 52 days what had not been accomplished in 94 years since the first exiles returned. He did it by knowing that God had called him to the task and by knowing the God who called him. His task was bathed in prayer and persistence. When the job was done, we read that Nehemiah's opponents "lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." (6:16)
