Jerusalem had been demolished for about hundred and fifty years. The original Jerusalemites taken into exile by Babylon had become hand-me-down exiles in Persia. It had been a very long time since God’s people had worshiped in their Temple or had had their freedom and their homes. They had had to find a way to be faithful away from home.
But about 458 to 444 BC, first Ezra and then our hero Nehemiah turned their hearts toward home! As the book opens, Nehemiah was working as trusted cupbearer to the King of Persia, Artaxerxes. Nehemiah had a visit from his brother, who had been to Judah and who knew the terrible conditions in which people were living. He described it all to Nehemiah, who wept and mourned—and then he prayed and planned.
The King noticed Nehemiah’s grave expression and asked about it. Nehemiah had been planning what to ask for. He asked to take a leave of absence to go home to Jerusalem and rebuild it. He also asked for letters of safe conduct through the territories between Susa and Jerusalem, and construction materials from the king’s forests. He got all he asked for, as well as soldiers and horsemen to accompany him and attend him there.
Two main enemies immediately were on alert and disapproved of Nehemiah’s plans to rebuild Jerusalem. Sanballat was a ruler over Samaria to the north of the city, and Tobiah was the ruler in Ammon, to the east of the city. Both of them had benefitted from the turmoil and disgrace of the shattered Jerusalem, and they didn’t want it rebuilt.
But Nehemiah went on horseback at night to survey the damage. He saw burned walls and gates gaping open. He spoke to his most trusted companions: “‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work” (Nehemiah 2:17-18).
Immediately, Sanballat and Tobiah accused Nehemiah of being in rebellion against the King of Persia back in Susa. Their accusations, plots, and ridicule were a fairly constant problem to Nehemiah and his builders (Nehemiah 4:1-3).
Nehemiah took his worries to God: “‘Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.’ So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart” (Nehemiah 4:4-5).
The way Nehemiah assigned the rebuilding duties is worth noting. He assigned each section of the wall with its gate to the families or professional guilds of those who would live and work in that part of the restored city (Nehemiah 3:23). As the wall rose, it would keep the builders safe when they turned their attention to buildings inside the wall (Nehemiah 3:28-29).
So angry were Sanballat and Tobiah that they planned attacks. The building did not stop, but Nehemiah and his restorers changed their stance during as they built: “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat…Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked” (Nehemiah 4:9, 16-18).
As the city walls went up, Nehemiah became more than a construction supervisor. Wealthy Jews were preying financially on others. Poor Jews were having to mortgage land and even sell their children into slavery to buy food, and richer Jews were reaping the financial advantage from the suffering of their own kind. When Nehemiah became aware, he summoned the priests and nobles and made the extortionists swear an oath to make restitution and never to take advantage of their fellow Jews again: “Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people” (Nehemiah 5:19).
When the wall was finished in 52 days, Nehemiah’s enemies lost confidence. Nehemiah appointed guards and created a schedule for the opening of the gates (Nehemiah 7:1-3). The city was still unpopulated, so Nehemiah located genealogies of all those who had a claim to residency in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 7:4-73).
Nehemiah not only provided for the physical restoration of the city and the physical safety of its residents, he helped to restore them spiritually. All the years of exile meant that much of their memory of Scripture had been erased. The people assembled and heard the Law read to them by Ezra the Priest. Their reaction to hearing the Law was at first, sorrow: “Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.’ Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength’” (Nehemiah 8:9-10).
Nehemiah helped bring a dream of returning to Jerusalem into reality by his courage, integrity, and skillful servant leadership. He was not deflected from his mission to restore Jerusalem by enemies, criticism, or the frailty of his own people.