The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:1,2)
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messenge.rs, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. (2 Chronicles 36)
Thoughts: Nehemiah was a great leader. In some ways he was greater than David or Solomon. He showed astute leadership skills that led to the rebuilding of his nation from absolutely nothing. He did this without falling into great and obvious sin (unlike David and Solomon). He was a political leader who had great faith and concern for the church- the people of God, If you want to learn leadership skills from the Bible he may be the best one. Chuck Swindoll wrote a commentary on Nehemiah in this regard, "Hand Me Another Brick." I will be writing my blog on Nehemiah for a few months with the idea of the need to build up and protect the remnant of the church.
We would not want to visit Fort Sumter without knowing something of the American Civil War, We would not want to visit St. Petersburg without reading some Russian history. So we need to know the context for Nehemiah to make sense. 2 Chronicles above gives the context. Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem- both the house of God (The Temple) and the wall in 586 BC. The reason why is described above- the people had forsaken God and brought shame instead of glory to His name. Some in the church are doing this today- going their own way instead of listening to God's Word.
There were three groups who came back to Jerusalem- Under Zerubabbel, under Ezra, and a small group under Nehemiah- over a thirty year period about seventy years after the first group was taken into exile.
The immediate context of this book is described in verses 1,2 of Nehemiah. Nehemiah lived in Susa the political capital of the world at that time. It was 445 BC under king Artaxerxes I. It was the month of Kislev (December). God had placed Nehemiah in a powerful position to do some good- to build up His people- His Church.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the mightiest king of that time. The cupbearer was not just a butler but was a poison tester- who was with the king every meal and every snack and every sip of the day. God had placed one of His people in a position to do something positive. Maybe God has place you in such a position. All of us who read this have the ability to read, have some digital device- so we have been given skills to use for God's glory. God may be calling you to do something simple, something little, or something big- but listen to His call. There is something you can do- someone you can reach that no one else can. Nehemiah was in a providential place, found the need, turned to God, and then acted. This is good leadership- that can take the downtrodden discouraged ashes and turn it into a city of God in just a few days. Nehemiah's wall was preparing the way for Jesus. Without Jerusalem, Jesus' ministry would have meant nothing. We may think that what we do has no spiritual significance. But doing our work, answering our call to the glory of God makes all the difference.
We would not want to visit Fort Sumter without knowing something of the American Civil War, We would not want to visit St. Petersburg without reading some Russian history. So we need to know the context for Nehemiah to make sense. 2 Chronicles above gives the context. Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem- both the house of God (The Temple) and the wall in 586 BC. The reason why is described above- the people had forsaken God and brought shame instead of glory to His name. Some in the church are doing this today- going their own way instead of listening to God's Word.
There were three groups who came back to Jerusalem- Under Zerubabbel, under Ezra, and a small group under Nehemiah- over a thirty year period about seventy years after the first group was taken into exile.
The immediate context of this book is described in verses 1,2 of Nehemiah. Nehemiah lived in Susa the political capital of the world at that time. It was 445 BC under king Artaxerxes I. It was the month of Kislev (December). God had placed Nehemiah in a powerful position to do some good- to build up His people- His Church.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the mightiest king of that time. The cupbearer was not just a butler but was a poison tester- who was with the king every meal and every snack and every sip of the day. God had placed one of His people in a position to do something positive. Maybe God has place you in such a position. All of us who read this have the ability to read, have some digital device- so we have been given skills to use for God's glory. God may be calling you to do something simple, something little, or something big- but listen to His call. There is something you can do- someone you can reach that no one else can. Nehemiah was in a providential place, found the need, turned to God, and then acted. This is good leadership- that can take the downtrodden discouraged ashes and turn it into a city of God in just a few days. Nehemiah's wall was preparing the way for Jesus. Without Jerusalem, Jesus' ministry would have meant nothing. We may think that what we do has no spiritual significance. But doing our work, answering our call to the glory of God makes all the difference.
Prayer: Help me to learn from those who have gone before and succeeded for you, O Lord. Give me a listening heart.
(Jerusalem destroyed, the wall and Temple burned, the people led into exile. Image by Gary Kapp)
See below for dates and tables
TABLE OF EXILE AND RETURN
King
|
Date (BC)
|
Event
|
Date
|
Deport/Return
|
Date
|
Sargon II Assyria
|
Conquest of North Israel
|
722 BC
|
|||
Ninevah destroyed
|
612
|
||||
Josiah killed by Egyptians
|
609
|
||||
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
|
605-562
|
Carchemish-Egypt defeated
|
6/605
|
Jehoiakim & Daniel deported
|
605
|
Jehoiachin deported
|
605 3 months later
|
||||
Jerusalem destroyed
|
597
|
||||
Temple destroyed
|
586
|
||||
Cyrus of Persia
|
539-529
|
Babylon fell
|
10/16/539
|
||
Decree to allow Jews to return
|
538
|
||||
Zerbuabbel returns
|
520-515
|
||||
Darius I
|
522-486
|
Haggai and Zechariah encourage the Temple build
|
518
|
||
2nd Temple Built- 70 years after ruined.
|
dedicated 516
finished 3/12/515
|
||||
Xerxes I (Esther)
|
485-465
|
||||
Ezra returns
|
~457
|
||||
Artaxerxes 1
|
465-424
|
Nehemiah
Rebuilds wall
|
445-444
|
||
Malachi
|
445-432
|
||||
Alexander the Great conquers Persia
|
333
|
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