Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem

Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem
Neh. 2:19 to 13:31; Malachi 1-4


Nehemiah supervises the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.


NEWS OF NEHEMIAH'S talk with the rulers and the priests spread rapidly among the Jews living in Jerusalem. And they rejoiced because God had sent this nobleman from the palace in Shushan to help them rebuild their city. The great work began at once, and nearly everybody seemed interested. Of course there were some who stood back to find fault; but they could not crush the zeal of the busy workers. Even the women wished to help in the building, and some of the rich women hired workers to build a part of the wall.
The high priest said he would rebuild the Sheep Gate. There were several other gates to rebuild, and soon there were several other persons promising to rebuild them.
So the Sheep Gate, and the Horse Gate, and the Fish Gate, and the Valley Gate, and the Water Gate, and every other gate of the broken-down wall was soon rising up in the same place where Nebuchadnezzar had burned the former gates many years before.
And some promised to repair the wall in front of their homes, while others promised to repair longer stretches. But before this work could be done, the people set to work clearing away the rubbish and gathering out the great stones. What a busy crowd of workers they were! Nehemiah rode around the walls on his horse and directed in the building.
When Sanballat and Tobiah, two enemies who lived near Jerusalem, heard that was taking place, they were very angry. They did not wish to see this great city rebuilt, for they feared that the Jews would no longer allow them to come into Jerusalem and oppress the people who lived there.
So they planned many ways to hinder the building of the wall. First they made fun of the Jews, and pretended that the wall was not strong enough to offer protection in times of danger.
They said, "If a fox should try to walk on the wall it would tumble down in ruins again."
But Nehemiah and his workers paid no attention to the jokes and jeers of their enemies. They kept right on with their great work, and would not stop to answer back.
Finally Sanballat and Tobiah saw they must do something else to hinder the work, so they wrote letters to Nehemiah, saying, "You have come to rebuild Jerusalem and set yourself up as a king over the city. Then you plan to rebel against the king of Persia."
But Nehemiah answered, "I have not come for such a purpose," and he kept on with the building.
Now the enemies were angry, and they planned to come and fight against the men of Jerusalem, and kill them. But Nehemiah heard about their plan, and he armed the men with swords and spears on every part of the wall. Some worked with one hand while they held a spear in the other hand. And all the while, both day and night, guards stood about to watch for the approach of the enemy.
At last the walls were built, but the doors of the gates were not yet set up. The enemies had been afraid to come and fight, for they had heard that Nehemiah and his workers were armed with swords and spears, so they planned to act friendly and call Nehemiah away from Jerusalem, on a business trip, to one of their cities.
Then perhaps they intended to kill him there. But Nehemiah would not go, for he said, "I am doing a great work, and I can not leave it to come down to your city."
After fifty-two days, or nearly two months, the entire wall was finished. And the people of Jerusalem were very thankful that Nehemiah had come to encourage them and to build up the broken wall of their ruined city. They saw he was interested in them, and soon they came to tell him about other things that troubled them. They explained why they were so poor and so discouraged.
Nehemiah listened to their words, and then he called the rulers and told them what the poor people had said. The rulers were ashamed because they had never tried to help these people. Now they promised Nehemiah that they would do better.
For twelve years Nehemiah stayed in Jerusalem and acted as governor of the city. Then he knew that Artaxerxes, the King, would be expecting him back in Shushan; for he had promised to return at that time.
So he appointed his brother Hanani and another man to rule the city while he should be absent, and then he hurried back to see the King. Artaxerxes permitted him to return the second time to Jerusalem, and Nehemiah's work on this second visit was more the work of restoring the customs that God had commanded by Moses for the people to obey.
Because of the faithful efforts of men like Nehemiah and Ezra, the priest, the Jews began to pay more heed to the teachings of God's law. They began to act more like a separate people, uninfluenced by their heathen neighbors, and they refused to worship idols any longer.
By and by other teachers rose among them, and these teachers wrote law-books, which they called "traditions." These teaching were very strict; but God was not pleased with them, for he had not commanded that they should be written and obeyed.
Malachi, the last of the prophets, came to speak God's words to the people while Nehemiah yet lived. This faithful prophet told the Jews about the coming of Jesus, the Savior, into the world, and he wrote his words in a book.
The Jews kept his book with the other books that Ezra, the priest, had given to them. And Malachi's writings are the last words we find in the Old testament.
Tomorrow: An Angel Visits Zacharias

Ezra, the Good Man Who Taught God's Law

Ezra, the Good Man Who Taught God's Law
Ezra 7:10; Nehemiah 8

King Artaxerxes gives the Jews their liberty.


YEARS PASSED BY, and another change came in the Persian rule. A new king, name Artaxerxes, sat on the throne in Shushan and governed the people in many lands. His kingdom included the land of Judah, where Zerubbabel had gone long before with a company of Jews to rebuild the temple of the Lord. Now Artaxerxes, wished to know how things were going in Judah, and he planned to send a messenger to Jerusalem to learn about the people and their needs. The messenger whom he chose to send was Ezra, the priest.
Ezra was an earnest-hearted Jew, as Daniel had been. He was also called a scribe, because he wrote the words of God in books. And he longed to teach the Jews everywhere about the law of God, which had been given by Moses to the Israelites.
At the King's command he assembled other Jews from Babylon and from the country places and cities near by who wished to go to Judah and help strengthen the courage of the poor Jews who lived there.
Ezra had talked much to the King about the true God, and about his great power and his willingness to care for those who love and serve him. And the King was interested.
He believed that the God of the Jews must be a very powerful God indeed. He feared to displease such a great God, so he commanded that much gold and silver be given to Ezra and his companions to carry back to Jerusalem and use in the temple of the Lord.
When Ezra and his companions were ready to start on their long journey, they first spent some time fasting and praying God to bless them and protect them from the many dangers along their way.
For the road over which they must travel led through dangerous places and wild people of the desert often stopped travelers and robbed them of their possessions.
Ezra knew this, and he had no soldiers of the king to go with him and protect him and his companions from the attack of robber bands. He was ashamed to ask the King for soldiers because he had told the King that God would care for those who served him.
So he and his companions prayed earnestly that God would bring them through the dangers without letting any harm befall them. Then they started down the long, long road.
After about four months of travel, this company of Jews reached Judah in safety. They had lost nothing by the way, for God had heard their prayers and had cared for them. And they came with joy to the city where the temple of the Lord stood, just as Zerubbabel had built it.
After resting for three days they brought their gifts of silver and gold, which the King had sent, and gave them to the priests who had charge of the temple.
Ezra soon found out that things had not been going well in Judah. The poor Jews had become much discouraged, and some of them had made friends with their heathen neighbors.
They had even allowed their sons and their daughters to marry heathen people, and they were not teaching their children to keep the law as God gave it to Moses. They had never rebuilt the city of Jerusalem, and the walls lay in ruins just as Nebuchadnezzar and his army had left them long years before.
When Ezra learned about the condition of the poor Jews, he was deeply troubled. He knew they had sinned again by marrying heathen women, and he saw that God could never bless them while they were not obeying his law. So he prayed earnestly that God would forgive their sins, and he called them to Jerusalem to warn them about the wrong that they had done.
The people were glad to have Ezra teach them what to do. They needed a teacher from God, like this good man, and they listened to his words. For a long time they had been without God's law, and now, when they heard his words, they quit their wrong-doing.
Ezra stayed with the people for some time and taught them the words of God. He read to them from the great rolls that he had written, and they never grew tired of listening.
They had no copies of God's law in their homes, for books were very few in those days and only rich people could afford them. Ezra had collected the books that Moses and Samuel and David had written, and the books of the prophets. These were the books from which he read to the Jews.
Tomorrow: Nehemiah-The King's Cupbearer

Nehemiah-The King's Cupbearer

Nehemiah-The King's Cupbearer Nehemiah 1:1 to 2:18

Nehemiah rises up quietly during the night and takes a few soldiers with him to see the condition of the wall of Jerusalem. IN THE PALACE of King Artaxerxes was a noble young man who daily waited on the great ruler. This young man's name was Nehemiah, and he was a Jew. Although he was very rich, and favored more than any of the King's servants, yet Nehemiah was a humble-minded young man. And this is a story that tells us about a part of his eventful life: "In the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign I was in the palace of Shushan as cupbearer of the King when my brother Hanani and certain other men came from the land of Judah. I was eager to see them and to hear news from the land of my fathers, so when my duties were done I asked them about Jerusalem and about those Jews who had gone back to rebuild the temple of the Lord. "My brother and his companions shook their heads sorrowfully, and replied that things were not going well in the city where David once ruled so gloriously as king of God's people. They told me that the wall which Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers had torn down and burned many years ago had never been repaired, and that the place looked very desolate, and unworthy of the great name that once had made it a glory in the earth. They also told me that the Jews who had returned were now poor and greatly oppressed by their enemies round about. "When I heard these words I sat down and wept, for my heart was grieved, and I longed to see the prosperity of my people. Then there stirred within me a desire to help them, so I fasted and prayed earnestly to the God of heaven, and besought him to grant me the favor of the King. For I knew I could do nothing to help my people except the King should give his consent. "One day while I stood by the King's table pouring wine into his goblet, I could not keep my thoughts on my work. And I could not speak so cheerfully as was my usual manner, for my heart was saddened by the great needs of my people. The King noticed my sad countenance, and he asked what had caused my sorrow of heart; for he knew I was not sick. Then I was afraid, for I thought surely he was displeased with me. But I told him that I had heard sad news from my people in Judah, and I told him about the broken walls of Jerusalem and the oppressed condition of the Jews. "The King listened patiently, then asked what I desired of him. Before answering, I breathed a prayer to the God of heaven, and then I said, 'If it please the King, and if I have found favor in your eyes, I ask that you send me to Jerusalem to rebuild the city of my fathers.' The Queen also was sitting by, listening, and the King asked how long I should be absent from his palace. I told him how long my journey would be, and that I might not return for many days. But it pleased him to send me, and to give me letters to the rulers near Judah, telling them to help me on the way. He also gave me a letter to the man who was the keeper of his forest, telling him to permit me to get trees from the forest with which to rebuild the gates of the city walls. "I did not start out on this long, dangerous journey alone, for the King sent captains and soldiers of his army with me, and we rode on horses, which he provided. After many days we came to the rulers of the countries near Judah, and I showed to them the letters that King Artaxerxes had written. These rulers were not friendly with the poor Jews at Jerusalem, and they were sorry because I had come to strengthen the city. But they dared not hinder me, so I passed on and soon came to Judah. "For three days I rested, then I rose up quietly during the night and took a few of my soldiers with me to discover the true condition of the city wall. We passed out through the entrance by the valley gate and I rode around the city. No one except my companions knew what I was doing, and none of the people of Jerusalem knew why I had come to visit them. But after my ride that night I felt prepared to talk to them about the task that I had come to accomplish. For I found the broken walls lying in heaps of ruins, and in some places my horse could not find a path. "Then I talked to the rulers and to the priests and told them why I had come. I told them that Jerusalem was a reproach among all nations, and that God was not pleased to have his people let it remain in this broken-down condition. I told them how God had answered my prayer causing the king to allow me to come; and when the rulers and the priests heard my words, they said, 'Let us arise and build the wall.'" Tomorrow: Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem