He is in ultimate control and His purposes will be carried out in His own way and time (example: Jesus' death Acts 4:24-28). We need to be as serious about it as Nehemiah was. We also note that even as Nehemiah pled unto God for mercy because of past sins, that all men have sinned. Loving God and obeying God are inseparable. Nehemiah prayed both kinds of prayer, and so should we longer, pouring out of our hearts as well the shorter “emergency” type prayers that are responses to opportunities and challenges of the moment (Philippians 4:6).Īlso, we see how that God protects and keeps those who love Him and observe His commandments. Many prayers are just like that one… not long elaborate affairs, no particular posture must be assumed. Nehemiah's prayer before the king was short, took just a moment, and addressed a present need. One thing we learn from these events is that God answers prayer. Finally, the wall was completed (6:15-19). Nehemiah rebuked the nobles and rulers for exacting usury from their brothers. The rich were using the difficult times to enrich themselves at the expense of the common good (Nehemiah 5:1). As if the opposition from without was not enough, even some among their own were greedy and taking advantage of the situation. And there were also internal difficulties to deal with. The Jews with one hand worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon for protection against the raiding parties of the enemies (4:17). They conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion (Nehemiah 4:7-8). Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites were very angry upon hearing that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored. One of the enemies, Sanballat, mocked the Jews (4:1).But the work continued because the people had made up their minds (Nehemiah 4:6). Nehemiah and the people were laughed to scorn and despised (2:19).īut Nehemiah had confidence that God would bless them, so they would continue the work. They now lived in the area and did not like to see these Israelites returning home. However, enemies of Nehemiah and his people despised the work. The Bible says that the people set their hands to do the good work of rebuilding the wall (2:18). The first thing he began to do was to encourage and organize the people (2:17-20). When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he found a destroyed city (2:11,17). King Artaxerxes granted Nehemiah permission to return to the city of his fathers to rebuild it. This is followed by a request for aid in handling the immediate situation the city is in ruins and unprotected (1:11). This is accompanied by a confession of sin (1:6). In this prayer, we see a recognition of the need to love and obey the Lord (1:5). We read Nehemiah's prayer in the first chapter of the book that bears his name (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The Bible says that he wept and mourned for many days (Nehemiah 1:3-4). The Reconstruction Of The Wall (Nehemiah 1-6).įar away, serving on a foreign king's court, Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates were burned with fire. The second part deals with the re-instructing of the people in the ways of the Lord (chapters 7-13). The first part deals with the reconstruction of the walls of the city for protection (chapters 1-6). The book of Nehemiah, which is a natural sequel to the book Ezra, consists of two main parts. About twelve years elapsed between the beginning of reformation under Ezra and the coming of Nehemiah to Jerusalem. The remnant of Israel had returned home after spending seventy years in exile and captivity.
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