Day 138. Nehemiah 1-4

Nehemiah's expedition to Jerusalem represents the third phase of the return of the exiles from Babylon. The first group to return from captivity is led by Zerubbabel, the governor, and Jeshua, the high priest. The second group is led by Ezra, the priest and scribe. The third phase of the rebuilding of Jerusalem is spearheaded by a remarkable leader named Nehemiah. At the beginning of his first-person narrative, Nehemiah is cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes 1 (465-424 B.C.E.). The position he holds is one of the highest trust, because as the king's cupbearer he is charged not only to select the king's wine, but also to make certain that it is not poisoned (1:11). Obviously there are Jews who occupy positions of greatest trust in the Persian regime.
While he is serving the monarch at the Persian court in Susa, Nehemiah inquires about the state of the Jews who had "escaped the captivity" and are resident in Jerusalem. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, he is told, and the gates have been destroyed by fire (1:3). The returned exiles are weak and vulnerable to hostile neighbors.
Nehemiah says that he weeps over this woeful state of affairs, confessing his own sin and the sins of his people, and calling upon the LORD to remember his promise to gather his scattered people and bring them back to the Land of Promise to the place he has chosen to establish his name (1:9). Nehemiah prays that God will bless him with success and "grant him mercy in the sight of this man"—meaning the Persian sovereign (1:11).
So when Nehemiah next approaches the king, Artaxerxes questions him about the reason for his downcast looks. Nehemiah tells him that his sorrow stems from the fact that his ancestral home "lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire" (2:3). The king then inquires what he can do. Nehemiah again prays before he gives an answer (2:4), and then he asks for leave to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and letters that will empower him to oversee the task and procure the materials to complete it (2:7-8). Again, God is using a Persian monarch for his own purposes, and Nehemiah's request is readily granted.
We are told nothing of Nehemiah's long journey from Susa to Jerusalem, only that upon his arrival, he inspects the walls by night in order to avoid the scrutiny of the local officials, who are greatly displeased that anyone should come "to seek the welfare of the people of Israel" (2:10). He finds the fortification of the city in miserable shape, and he calls upon its Jewish residents, who have not as yet been told the reason for his visit, "Come, let us start building!" And they readily respond to the call, committing "themselves to the common good" (2:18).
There is opposition from the local officials of the Persian bureaucracy—Ammonites and Arabs—who suggest the Jews are rebelling against the Persian king (2:19). But Nehemiah ascribes the project to the will of God and tells these meddling foreigners that they "have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem" (2:20). (We hear an echo of this same kind of language by Israelis to the Palestinians today.)
So the work of rebuilding the wall begins, and we are given a full account of the names of those who worked on its various sections. Their adversaries mock their progress (4:1-3), and Nehemiah hurls curses back at them (4:4-5). But the work continues apace, "for the people [have] a mind to work" (4:6). But when the wall is about half built, the adversaries of the Jews move from abuse to armed aggression, and "plot together to come and fight against Jerusalem and . . . cause confusion in it" (4:8).
The Jews under the leadership of Nehemiah pray to their God—at the beginning of every effort there is prayer—and "set a guard as protection against [their enemies] day and night" (4:9). There are words of discouragement (4:10-12). But Nehemiah, whose real genius is as an inspiring leader and community organizer, tells the people not to be afraid and instead to "remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes" (4:14). From then on half the people work on the walls and the other half hold the spears (4:21). It sounds very much like the situation in the early days of the Israeli state—the city is an armed. There is a constant state of watchfulness, and we are told by Nehemiah with considerable pride that neither he nor his brothers nor his servants "nor the men of the guard who followed [him] ever took off [their] clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand"
(4:23).