Nehemiah: Intro

TRUE REVIVAL

HARD WORK IN HARD TIMES

Some 1,000 years after the time of Moses and some 400 years before the birth of Jesus, the nation of Israel and the Jewish people were in a desperate state.

The nations of Israel & Judah had been destroyed. The city of Jerusalem had been completely conquered by the Babylonians and the once glorious temple of Solomon was in ruins.

When the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, they deported almost everyone from the city and the region for 70 years and the Holy City was almost a ghost town, and had the potential to end up like many ancient cities, forgotten except to history.

When the Jews were deported to Babylon, they began to make homes for themselves there. They settled down, and many still followed the God of their fathers, but they did it from Babylon, unable to return to the land God had promised and given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Some of these faithful Jews were raised up to places of prominence in the governments they were deported to. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego became leaders in Babylon. Esther was made queen in the court of a Persian king.

But after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, they were given the opportunity to return to their homeland, the Promised Land. Out of almost 3,000,000 Jews deported originally, only 50,000 decided to return. But these few did indeed return, and in the days of Ezra, they rebuilt the temple and laid again a spiritual foundation for Israel.

The book of Nehemiah begins 15 years after the book of Ezra ends; almost 100 years after the first captives came back to the Promised Land, and some 150 years after the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed. After this long time, the walls of the city were still in rubble.

Those in the city had tried before to rebuild the city walls but had failed. In Ezra 4:6-23, we see that some 75 years before they tried to rebuild the walls, but were stopped by their enemies. No one thought this obstacle could be overcome, so the walls lay in ruins and the people were unprotected.

Nehemiah stands out as one of the noble men of the Old Testament.  As he began to fulfill the most important mission of his life, he demonstrated the highest level of dedication and courage, both in the practical matter of rebuilding walls and in the spiritual matter of rebuilding the religious life of his people.

HIS HARD WORK IN HARD TIMES BROUGHT TRUE REVIVAL.

The book of Nehemiah carries the history of the Jewish people down to a later date than any other of the history books in the Old Testament. The value of the book is its most vivid portrayal of the noble character himself. His career presents  an exceptional combination of strong self reliance with humble trust in God, of shrewdness coupled with simplicity of purpose, of persistent prayerfulness with the most energetic activity, and of faith in his Lord.

Little is known of the background of Nehemiah himself except that he was a Jew born while the Jews were in exile. His age is not given but it seems likely that he was born after Cyrus had decreed that Jews could return at will to their homeland. His family must have been one of those who chose not to return and they were also likely to have been a family of some influence, as Nehemiah held the position of cup bearer to the king, assuring that the king's food and drink were safe to consume, which was a position of great trust and responsibility.

Even though he was in Persia enjoying power and importance, Nehemiah had not forgotten his people or his homeland. When he heard of the poor conditions there, he fasted and prayed for his people.

The greater part of the book was likely written by Nehemiah himself but he revealed in chapter 7 that he had found a written register to help him. This was the register of the generations given by Ezra in chapter 2 of his writing. It is thought the book was written near the end of his life and there is some evidence of that fact in the incident given in chapter 13:23-29, which historical documents tell us happened in 413 B.C.

The book falls into three general sections, Nehemiah's prayer and commission (chapters 1 through 2:10), his first visit to Jerusalem (chapters 2:11 through chapter 7), and his second visit (chapters 8-13). His second visit seems to have been made 13 years after the first visit, which would have been in 432 B.C.

The structure of the message moves us from physical restoration of city walls to covenantal restoration with God through the energy and new leadership of a man who gave up position and power to serve the Lord. He believed that God would guide him to succeed and it was so.