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Nehemiah 1-4    Listen

The Book of Nehemiah: it's not just history!
What's the big deal about Nehemiah? Well, here's the significance of these events. The Book of Ezra records the decree from the Persian King Cyrus and the resulting completion of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. However, the city at this point has not been restored; the walls around the city are a mess. The Book of Daniel contains a prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27 (see notes) which covers a number of issues, but the one we are most interested in here is the decree to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Daniel 9:25 says, "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times." That term "weeks" is translated from a Hebrew word (shaw-boo´-ah) which means a group of seven. So, here's where we are: Daniel 9:25 says that the time that lapses between the decree that actually results in the rebuilding of Jerusalem until the Messiah's coming will be (7x7)+(60x7)+(2x7)=483. "483 what?" you ask. Well, the decree went out in Ezra 7:7-28 (see notes) in 457 B.C. to rebuild the city. However, twelve years later the project had stalled; the walls had not been rebuilt - worked on, yes, but not completed. Nehemiah gets the project back on track, and by the time we finish reading Nehemiah, the task is complete. That being the case, according to Daniel 9:25, 483 units of something will pass from the issuing of the decree until the coming of the Messiah. It just so happens that 483 years passed between that decree in Ezra 7 and the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ. Here's the really astounding part: Daniel's prophecy was issued over 100 years before these events in Ezra and Nehemiah even begin to take place. How's that for useful prophecy? Click here to see a fuller explanation of Daniel 9:24-27 .

So, as you read Nehemiah, keep this in mind: Satan respects prophecy; he believes prophecy; he does not want the countdown to the Messiah to begin. Satan's mission in Nehemiah is to STOP THAT WALL FROM BEING BUILT. Satan knows what a fully-rebuilt wall means, so obviously he's bent on stopping it's completion. And that's what Nehemiah is all about.

So, how do the events of Nehemiah fit into the whole chronology with the Book of Ezra and Esther? Click here to see the chronology of events. The temple dedication (Ezra 6:15-18, see notes) had taken place back in 516 B.C. The events in Nehemiah take place beginning in 445 B.C.

Nehemiah - the cup bearer (Nehemiah 1)

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. ¶ It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel,
2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
4 ¶ So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 ¶ And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,
6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.
8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;
9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’
10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.
11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” ¶ For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Nehemiah gets word from a fellow Jew about the condition of the broken-down walls in Jerusalem. Something must be done! First step: Pray about it. That prayer begins in verse 4 and continues to verse 11 where we see Nehemiah's request to God for an opportunity to discuss the subject with the king. We are told in verse 11 how Nehemiah gains regular access to the King; he was King Artaxerxes' cupbearer - a daily attendant to the king of Persia - his bartender. It's going to be difficult to be cheerful in the king's presence after hearing that the people in his hometown are so miserable

Why the sad face, Nehemiah? (Nehemiah 2:1-8)

1 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.
2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” ¶ So I became dreadfully afraid,
3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”
4 ¶ Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” ¶ So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
6 ¶ Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 ¶ Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah,
8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

The date is 445 B.C. ("twentieth year of Artaxerxes"). The temple in Jerusalem had been rebuilt 71 years ago (516 B.C.), but the wall around Jerusalem was still a mess. Equipped with prayer, Nehemiah delivers the cup of wine to the Persian King.
"Why the long face, Nehemiah?" asks King Artaxerxes.
"Just depressed about my hometown," replies Nehemiah.
So, King Art authorizes Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem to fix the wall. We see in verses 7-8 that Nehemiah even gets letters of authorization to rebuild the wall from the king himself to take to Jerusalem with him.

Nehemiah looks over the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:9-20)

9 ¶ Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.
11 ¶ So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.
13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.
14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.
15 So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.
17 ¶ Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. ¶ So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
19 ¶ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
20 ¶ So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

The term, "Beyond the River" in verse 9 is a reference to everything west of the Euphrates River. Nehemiah travels to Jerusalem with a military escort and looks over the situation. He has his letters of authorization from the king in hand and presents them to those charged with the governing of the area; it's not clear to them at this point what Nehemiah intends to do.

After Nehemiah spends some time looking over the broken-down wall around Jerusalem, he then meets with the Jewish leadership there and unveils the plan; the folks are excited about the decree to rebuild the wall; they are ready to build. Not everyone is happy though. Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab are going to be problems here - guaranteed! These men are not Jews, and have some type of leadership positions among the people in that region. They waste no time in their resistance to the plan as we observe in verse 19, "But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?'" That was a suggestion that the only reason a city needs a wall is for the purpose of resisting the Persian kingdom.

All right, who repairs what? (Nehemiah 3)

1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.
2 Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3 ¶ Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.
4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs.
5 Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.
6 ¶ Moreover Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.
7 And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River.
8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
9 And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.
10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs in front of his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabniah made repairs.
11 ¶ Malchijah the son of Harim and Hashub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens.
12 And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs.
13 ¶ Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.
14 ¶ Malchijah the son of Rechab, leader of the district of Beth Haccerem, repaired the Refuse Gate; he built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.
15 ¶ Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he built it, covered it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David.
16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs as far as the place in front of the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and as far as the House of the Mighty.
17 ¶ After him the Levites, under Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, leader of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.
18 After him their brethren, under Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of the other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs.
19 And next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the Ascent to the Armory at the buttress.
20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai carefully repaired the other section, from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
21 After him Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, repaired another section, from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib.
22 ¶ And after him the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs.
23 After him Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house.
24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress, even as far as the corner.
25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the buttress, and on the tower which projects from the king’s upper house that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.
26 ¶ Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the Water Gate toward the east, and on the projecting tower.
27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 ¶ Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.
29 After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs.
30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his dwelling.
31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants, in front of the Miphkad Gate, and as far as the upper room at the corner.
32 And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.

Let's divide up the task by sections and get to it. All 32 verses of chapter 3 tells us what group was assigned what task. It was a very well-organized venture. Sections of the wall are assigned to different groups for completion in these verses. Barring any problems, this should be an easy task. Remember though, Satan knows that we're not simply talking about repairing a wall here. If this task succeeds, start the countdown to the Messiah's coming. For more details on this, see the introduction above. The next chapters should be interesting.

Because Satan knows that the successful completion of the wall begins the countdown to the Messiah, Satan wants to use every available means to stop this rebuilding. His tactics here are very Satan-like. As a matter of fact, he still uses tactics like these today against Believers. That fact gives us a whole new interesting perspective to the Book of Nehemiah. Let's give a nickname to the Book of Nehemiah, "Satan, and His Bag of Tricks."

Intimidation through ridicule (Nehemiah 4:1-5)

1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.
2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
3 ¶ Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
4 ¶ Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity!
5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

Sanballat and his buddies come to poke fun maliciously at the efforts of the Jews to rebuild the wall. Verse 1 says they "took great indignation, and mocked the Jews." Well...that didn't stop them; the Jews continue to rebuild despite the taunting from the enemy. Ever been discouraged? Does Satan use other people to get you down? They just work right on through it. Oh...they did pray AGAINST Sanballat and Tobiah.

Threat of physical safety (Nehemiah 4:6-23)

6 ¶ So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
7 ¶ Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry,
8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.
9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
10 ¶ Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”
11 ¶ And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”
12 ¶ So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”
13 ¶ Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 ¶ And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19 ¶ Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.
20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21 ¶ So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared.
22 At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.”
23 So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.

"They won't work if they feel that their lives are at risk!" Satan must have conjectured. But he was wrong! Sanballat and Tobiah declare war on these construction workers; look at Nehemiah 4:8, "and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion." Well...that's going to slow us down, especially considering that they intend to "slay" (verse 11) these Jewish workers if that's what it takes to halt the work on the wall. However, those scrappy Jews strapped their weapons to their sides, posted guards around the work areas and kept working on that wall. They worked from sun up to nightfall every day and slept in Jerusalem at night to guard their work. Another Satanic tactic...FAILED! However, Satan won't be giving up quite this easily - too much at stake!

Click here to see the continuation in Nehemiah 5.