Nehemiah

1
Nehemiah

• The People Remember

2
Finishing the Wall
- What was the force of Tobiah and Sanballat's
last threat (66-7)?
In it was written, It is reported among the
nationsand Geshem also says itthat you and the
Jews intend to rebel that is why you are
building the wall and according to this report
you wish to become their king. 7 You have also
set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem
concerning you, There is a king in Judah! And
now it will be reported to the king according to
these words.
Where have we seen this tactic used before?
3
Ezra 411-16
this is a copy of the letter that they
sent) To King Artaxerxes Your servants, the
people of the province Beyond the River, send
greeting. And now 12 may it be known to the king
that the Jews who came up from you to us have
gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that
rebellious and wicked city they are finishing
the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now
may it be known to the king that, if this city is
rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay
tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue
will be reduced. 14 Now because we share the salt
of the palace and it is not fitting for us to
witness the kings dishonour, therefore we send
and inform the king, 15 so that a search may be
made in the annals of your ancestors. You will
discover in the annals that this is a rebellious
city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that
sedition was stirred up in it from long ago. On
that account this city was laid waste. 16 We make
known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt
and its walls finished, you will then have no
possession in the province Beyond the River.
4
Style in Nehemiah

• What does Nehemiah share in common with parts of
  Ezra and Daniel?

An excerpt from the Cyrus Cylinder I returned
the divine statues from many sacred cities to
their sanctuaries, which had been in ruins for a
long period of time. I reestablished permanent
sanctuaries for them. At the command of Marduk,
Great God of Babylon, I restored the gods taken
by Nabonidus. He had angered Marduk by taking
captive the gods of Sumer and Akkad and placing
them in Babylon. But I resettled them peacefully
in their former chapels where they are happy.
5
The Genealogies (75-73)
Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the
nobles and the officials and the people, to be
enrolled by genealogy.
Was this really important? Yes! Chapter 7,
Verses 61-65
The following were those who came up from
Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer,
but they could not prove their ancestral houses
or their descent, whether they belonged to
Israel 62the descendants of Delaiah, of Tobiah,
of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two. 63Also, of
the priests the descendants of Hobaiah, of
Hakkoz, of Barzillai (who had married one of the
daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was
called by their name). 64These sought their
registration among those enrolled in the
genealogies, but it was not found there, so they
were excluded from the priesthood as unclean
65the governor told them that they were not to
partake of the most holy food, until a priest
with Urim and Thummim should come.
6
God's Word Returns

• Ezra dictates the law from his platform.89 So
  they read from the book, from the law of God,
  with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that
  the people understood the reading.
• The people cry when they hear the law read.
• The feast is proclaimed, the people make
  booths.817 for from the days of Joshua son of
  Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done
  so.
• Solemn assembly is held on the 8th day.

7
Ezra makes the people Remember
916-18 But they and our ancestors acted
presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did
not obey your commandments 17they refused to
obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that
you performed among them but they stiffened
their necks and determined to return to their
slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to
forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love, and you did not
forsake them. 18Even when they had cast an image
of a calf for themselves and said, This is your
God who brought you up out of Egypt, and had
committed great blasphemies
8
929-33 And you warned them in order to turn them
back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously
and did not obey your commandments, but sinned
against your ordinances, by the observance of
which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn
shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not
obey. 30For many years you were patient with
them, and warned them by your spirit through your
prophets yet they would not listen. Therefore
you handed them over to the peoples of the lands.
31Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not
make an end of them or forsake them, for you are
a gracious and merciful God. 32 Now therefore,
our Godthe great and mighty and awesome God,
keeping covenant and steadfast lovedo not treat
lightly all the hardship that has come upon us,
upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our
prophets, our ancestors, and all your people,
since the time of the kings of Assyria until
today. 33You have been just in all that has come
upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we
have acted wickedly
9
Recommitment to the LORD

• Firm agreement in writing (938)
• Promise not to intermarry with other Canaanites.
• Upholding the Sabbath and Jubilee.
• Tithes, Offerings, and Upkeep of the
  Temple.1039 We will not neglect the house of
  our God.
• Repopulation of Jerusalem.

10
Falling Back to Old Ways
Nehemiah leaves (136-7) and returns to find the
Temple dishonored, the Sabbath ignored, the
Priesthood neglected, and the people
intermarrying.
8And I was very angry, and I threw all the
household furniture of Tobiah out of the room.
9Then I gave orders and they cleansed the
chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the
house of God, with the grain-offering and the
frankincense. 11So I remonstrated with the
officials and said, Why is the house of God
forsaken? And I gathered them together and set
them in their stations.
11
17Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah
and said to them, What is this evil thing that
you are doing, profaning the sabbath day? 18Did
not your ancestors act in this way, and did not
our God bring all this disaster on us and on this
city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by
profaning the sabbath. 19 When it began to be
dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the
sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be
shut and gave orders that they should not be
opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of
my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden
from being brought in on the sabbath day. 20Then
the merchants and sellers of all kinds of
merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem
once or twice. 21But I warned them and said to
them, Why do you spend the night in front of the
wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on
you. From that time on they did not come on the
sabbath. 25And I contended with them and cursed
them and beat some of them and pulled out their
hair and I made them take an oath in the name of
God, saying, You shall not give your daughters
to their sons, or take their daughters for your
sons or for yourselves. 26Did not King Solomon of
Israel sin on account of such women? Among the
many nations there was no king like him, and he
was beloved by his God, and God made him king
over all Israel nevertheless, foreign women made
even him to sin... 28 And one of the sons of
Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, was
the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite I
chased him away from me.
12
Nehemiah in History

• 538 Decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1)
• 520 Work on Temple Renewed
• 515 Completion of the Temple.
• 458 Ezra's Return to Jerusalem.
• 445 Nehemiah's Journey to Jerusalem.

What else is going on at this time? Rome is
becoming a republic (509 BC) Athens is defending
itself at Marathon against the very same Persian
Goverment served by Nehemiah (490 BC). Almost
100 years after the wall is rebuilt, Alexander
the Great deals some serious blows to the Persian
empire. (333-331 BC)
13
All these things are preparing the way for the
ministry of Jesus Christ!