Nehemiah

Meditations on the Book of Nehemiah

H. L. Rossier.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Nehemiah 1  Nehemiah's Mission

Nehemiah 2-7  Civil condition of the people

Nehemiah 2 Nehemiah leaves for Jerusalem

Nehemiah 3 The wall

Nehemiah 4 Obstacles from without

Nehemiah 5 Obstacles from within

Nehemiah 6 Personal attacks

Nehemiah 7 The order of the house

Nehemiah 8-10 Religious condition of the people

Nehemiah 8 The book of the law and the Feast of Tabernacles

Nehemiah 9 Humiliation, separation, and confession

Nehemiah 10 Renewal of the covenant

Nehemiah 11  Jerusalem re-populated

Nehemiah 12  The dedication of the wall

Nehemiah 13  Individual energy of faith

* * *

Introduction

The book of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah does not immediately follow the book of Ezra.  It begins in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes (Longimanus), that is to say thirteen years after the arrival of Ezra at Jerusalem (cf. Ezra 7: 7): an arrival which resulted in the events related in Ezra 7 to 10.  During these thirteen years, the "Jews that had escaped" had fallen into reproach and great misery.  It is true that the temple had been rebuilt, but, in a city with no defense, these poor Jews who had escaped were in constant danger of falling under the attacks of their enemies, and the house of God, which was the great object of their concern, was in danger of being plundered anew.

The account of Nehemiah embraces a period of about twelve years.  It treats another subject and consequently it has another bearing than the book of Ezra.  In the book of Ezra we see the altar re-established in its place, the foundations of the temple laid, the house itself built, and all this work followed by the purification of the people from their profane alliances.  Thus, the object of this book is the service of worship of the people of God and the moral state which must accompany it.  On the other hand, the book of Nehemiah speaks of the restoration of the walls, the gates and the dwelling places of Jerusalem.  Thus, while Ezra presents the restoration of Judah and Benjamin from the religious point of view, Nehemiah speaks from the civil point of view and in the course of these meditation we will consider the bearing of this restoration for ourselves.

Here we do not see, as in the book of Ezra, a Zerubbabel or a Jeshua, a governor of royal descent and a high priest, set at the head of the people in order to lead them, nor do we see prophets to re-awaken them, nor even a scribe of the priestly line, like Ezra, sent to remind them of the law of Moses and to purify them.  No doubt, this scribe himself, as invested by the king, has the upper hand over the civil power, but only because of the confidence which his moral character inspires (Ezra 7: 25); and if he has the right to exercise this authority, this is not what he seeks.  All his attention and all his zeal are directed toward the spiritual condition of the people, for whom the house of God has become their center.

Nehemiah is not a man of rank or authority; as we have just said, he was invested with his functions only because of the confidence with which he inspired the king, whom he serves as his  chief cup bearer.  In virtue of this confidence (but under the governing hand of God who directs all things, even human sentiments,) the king gives Nehemiah his mission and grants him the title of Tirshatha, that is to say, of governor.

As we have seen in the book of Ezra, the character of the people was that of a remnant according to God.  Then, after a period of discouragement, the revival occurred, and lastly their moral restoration by means of the Scriptures.  Nehemiah presents a different picture to us.  In every way, the condition of the people was very low, whether considered morally or outwardly; and so, faced with this misery, the opposition of the enemy is apparently insurmountable, and all the more so as his wiles are many and varied.   Only the grace of God could remedy these things, but the instruments which He would use must be armed with patience, perseverance and energy.  These are precisely the characteristics manifested by Nehemiah.

But let us turn to the study of this book, without further preamble.

Nehemiah 1

NEHEMIAH'S MISSION

Nehemiah was at Shushan, the court of that same Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who had protected Ezra, when he returned from Babylon to Jerusalem.  One of Nehemiah's brothers and several men who had come with him from Judah brought news to Nehemiah at Shushan concerning "the Jews that had escaped"  who settled in the "province" beyond the river (that is to say, in the land of Israel) with details about the miserable condition of the holy city.  He is deeply afflicted by what he learns concerning the misery and reproach of the people, and the ruins of the city with its broken walls.  After being restored, this weak remnant was continually threatened with becoming the prey of enemies conspiring to destroy them.  They had no yet, by their own fault, established anything lasting.  What had the men of Judah done during such a long lapse of years?  Once they had the energy to purify themselves from evil, but now they lacked the energy to preserve themselves.  What would become of them now?  Ezra had foreseen that the  reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem was necessarily the next step after the construction of the temple, if the people would continue in the spirit of the revival (Ezra 9: 9); but this had not been the case.  Long years had passed by without any event indicating activity or energy; there was nothing, except increasing affliction and reproach.

When Nehemiah hears these things, like Ezra and like all men of God in a day of ruin, he deeply humbles himself: "I sat and wept, and mourned for days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of the heavens" (v. 4); although he did not do so on account of a positive sin as Ezra did (Ezra 9), but rather, on account of the misery the people had brought upon themselves through their lack of perseverance and trust in God.  Nehemiah begins by acknowledging the faithfulness of God toward those who obey Him, then he confesses the sins of Israel against God, without in any way excluding his own sins or the sins of his father's house, or their common disobedience to His Word (v. 5-7).  But although God had given warnings and had carried them out, according to what He had said to Moses (Deut. 28: 64), He also had given promises, in the event that the people should return to a condition of obedience, saying that He would gather them together and bring them back to the land.  This had actually occurred (Deut. 30: 1-6), and Nehemiah then pleads the cause of the restored people; they were now servants of the Lord.  Would the Lord disown them?  Impossible.  Nehemiah was a servant of the Lord also.  How could God fail to hear him?  Nehemiah identifies the people with himself in service, conscious that the he must continue the work; he ardently desires to do so, knowing that he is in communion with the will of God, from the moment when He had restored these escaped Jews from among His people.  But at the same time (and this is what we find in all men of faith — including Zerubbabel, Ezra, Daniel and others — in the midst of the ruin of the people), Nehemiah does not attempt to throw off the yoke of the nations, for this would mean failing to take the unfaithfulness of the people into account before God.  He merely asks God to "grant him mercy on the sight of this man" (v. 11).  This is how he calls the king when he speaks to God, for what else is he to the Sovereign God who directs the heart of the most exalted and powerful men, in order to cause them to carry out His plans?  When he stands before the king, Nehemiah changes his language and honors him as is becoming (2: 3), but, before God, he gives honor and power to Him alone.

Nehemiah 2-7

THE CIVIL STATE OF THE PEOPLE

Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah leaves for Jerusalem and inspects the grounds

In the month of Nisan (which was the first month, the same as the month of Abib when the Passover was celebrated, and which formed part, along with the ninth month of Chislev, of the twentieth year of Artaxerxes), Nehemiah give wine to the king, in the course of his duties as cup bearer.  His prayer (Nehemiah 1: 11) was answered, after he had "mourned for days", that is to say, about four months.  Fasting and sorrow had left their imprint on his face; now, it was not permitted to appear before the king with a sorrowful face (Dan. 1: 10, where the Hebrew word translated "worse liking" may also be translated "sad"); but God used this very thing in order to put words into the kings mouth which would afford an occasion for Nehemiah's request.  Such miracles, in answer to our prayers, are part of the daily circumstances of our Christian life, so completely that we hardly take notice of it.  Considering things carefully, everything is a miracle in God's ways toward us.  He diverts certain dangers, procures certain encounters, prevents others, gives us certain opportunities and closes certain paths to us: in a word, His hand is at work everywhere in order to carry out His ways of grace toward the believer or through him.  This was the case with Nehemiah: "This is nothing else but sadness of heart", the king says to him.  Nehemiah, trembling all over, perhaps not yet seeing the desired answer to his prayer, makes his request, but not without first mentally praying once again to the God of the heavens* that his request may correspond to God's mind,  Then he immediately mentions the subject of the ruin of the city and its gates: "Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?" (v. 3).  Then he asks to be sent to Judah in order to build Jerusalem.  "When wilt thou return?" the king asks him.  Nehemiah "set him a time", probably twelve years (see Nehemiah 2: 1 and Nehemiah 13: 6).

*"The God of the heavens" is the name of God, mentioned continually in Ezra and Nehemiah, as the One who had given dominion to the Gentiles.  He is no longer called the God of the earth, for, after He had given the land to His people in His character as God of the earth, and after His people had been declared Lo-ammi, on account of their unfaithfulness, God had abandoned this title which He will not take up again until later.  (See Ezra; Dan. 2: 18, 19, 28, 37, 44)

Notice an important difference between Ezra and Nehemiah, which nevertheless does not throw any blame on Nehemiah.  In Ezra, faith alone is active: "[He was] ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help [him] against the enemy in the way" (Ezra 8: 22).  On the contrary, Nehemiah recommends himself to the protection of the governors on the other side of the river and does not oppose the king's proposition that his army captains and horsemen should escort him there (Nehemiah 2: 7, 9).  He acknowledges the support of the protective power which he serves, not because of any lack of faith, but because, in these low times, faith does not manifest itself with the same simplicity.  When the temple was completed, Ezra had only to carry gifts to the house of the Lord.  The greater the treasure confided to him, the more necessary it was to show the world that faith turned to God to keep that which belonged to Him.  Nothing of this kind took place in the case of Nehemiah; here it was not a matter of gifts, or treasure, or even protecting a few believers confided to his responsibility.  Nehemiah was alone; his mission was not to begin until his arrival at Jerusalem.  Until that moment he must acknowledge and accept his dependence on the Gentile power.  Only on his arrival at Jerusalem, would he be called on to demonstrate his love for the work of God and his perseverance in pursuing it through all the difficulties occasioned by the extreme weakness of the people and the strength of their enemies.  From that moment on, we shall see these qualities manifested in him in the course of this account.

Having arrived in the province of Judah, Nehemiah finds himself in contact with leaders hostile to the people of God: Sanballat and Tobijah.  The names of the enemies have changed (cf. Ezra 5: 6), but the hostility remained.  Likewise today, the world still is the same world which crucified Christ twenty centuries ago, although the names have changed.  "It grieved [these enemies] exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel" (v. 10).

At Jerusalem, the end of his journey, Nehemiah considers it of primary importance to personally inspect the extent of the evil.  He had come to Judah with the captains and the horsemen of the king of Persia, but when the work was in question, he keeps only "the beast that [he] rode upon", that is to say his own resources and in no way does he depend on the resources which the world might offer him.  Here his faith manifests itself.  Jerusalem was defenseless against the enemy, and her ruin was such that, the city did not even afford a path where Nehemiah's mount could pass (vv. 13, 14).  It was indeed the place where faith was called on to demonstrate itself.  When God entrusts a work to us, we are to take counsel with Him alone, and like Nehemiah, we depend upon neither the world, nor even the priests, nobles or rulers (v. 16); this is a very important principle for all those whom the Lord sends.  Only after he has taken account of the evil in detail under the eye of God alone, can Nehemiah, who is convinced of his mission, exhort the people to activity in order to remedy the ruin.

In verses 17 and 18, he presents them with three motives to engage them to "come… and build up the wall of Jerusalem".  The first motive is the extreme ruin and misery in which they themselves and the city are found.  The second motive is the grace of God which had encouraged him: "the hand of [his] God… had been good upon [him]".  The third motive lies in the king's words and his assistance, which were themselves ordained of God, as it is said in v. 8: "According to the good hand of my God upon me".  In these words we see that Nehemiah was of the same spiritual stock as Ezra.  He counted on God who answered his confidence fully in grace (see Ezra 7: 6, 9, 28; Ezra 8: 22, 31). Like the Lord later, Nehemiah could "bear witness of that which [he had] seen" (John 3: 11).  But instead of meeting, as the Lord did, people who did not receive his testimony, he finds, to encourage him, hearts driven by their need and the realization of their humiliation, and he has the joy of hearing these words from their mouth: "Let us rise up and build".  And we are told "they strengthened their hands for the good [work]."  Thus, God had prepared everything: the instrument and the hearts to accept his encouragement and exhortations.

The enemies, Sanballat and Tobijah, and Geshem mock this insignificant remnant and despise them.  How could they, who did not know God, guess that fearful creatures without strength could accomplish a work judged impossible by the human spirit?  But they do not limit themselves to this and they seek to intimidate those who are now decided to resolutely go to work: "Will ye rebel against the king?" they cry; but nothing moves Nehemiah.  He answers: "The God of the heavens, he will prosper us, and we his servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem".  This is the same principle which characterizes the people in Ezra 4: 3.  Indeed, whether it is a matter of building the house, or of raising the walls of the city, this principle does not change.  The people of God can not in any way associate with the world for any aspect of the work of God.  

One of the dominant characteristics of the book of Nehemiah is that separation from that which was not Jewish is carefully affirmed and maintained, in spite of the lax principles of a few.  Nehemiah's statement: "Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem", is confirmed by the subsequent conduct of the people, and even though their leaders lack conscience in this matter, they are reproved and put to shame before one and all (see Nehemiah 9: 2; Nehemiah 10: 30; Nehemiah 13: 1, 3, 28, 30).

 

Nehemiah 3

The wall

Before considering this chapter in detail, let us say a few words about what the building of the wall signifies for us, just as in the book of Ezra we have sought to set forth the typical meaning of the reconstruction of the temple.

It is a high calling for the Christian to work at the edification of the Assembly, to bring material to the house of God, and to build on the foundation which is Christ (1 Cor. 3; 10-16); but there is yet another responsibility: the rebuilding of the walls of the holy city.

At one and the same time, the walls serve as a separation from people without and a defense against the attacks of the enemy.  They surround and enclose the city and serve to mark it off as a unity.  Thus the walls form an administrative unity, having its own laws, customs, self-government, which is self-sufficient and separated from foreign elements, and shielded from any mixing.  At Jerusalem, these walls surrounded the people of God and at the same time they defended the sanctuary.

The walls are also a means of defense, as we have just said: they repel the assaults of the enemy and offer security to the inhabitants of the city and her citizens.  If we apply this description to the present circumstances, we easily see their importance.  The city of God, His habitation, the Assembly, is in ruin through our own fault, and has become invisible to the eyes of man.  Should we abandon this state of destruction?  In no way.  - If we have the understanding of a Nehemiah, we will understand that it is urgent to gather together the citizens of the heavenly city, to work toward their visible unity, even though we know perfectly well that this unity no longer exists except in the counsels of God.  If Nehemiah had waited until all the inhabitants of Jerusalem dispersed in Persia, Media and the province of Babylon, were re-integrated in their home, before he undertook the construction of the wall, his mission would have been in vain and he would never have set to work.  Once the city had been enclosed, God did not leave it deserted, as we shall see, and His Spirit re-awakened the zeal which in some feeble measure filled in the gap left by those still absent from Jerusalem.  -We will also see that faced with the world's assault, under the leadership of Satan, to prevent helpless believers from standing firm for Christ, we must rebuild the wall which preserves them.  This wall is Christ; it is God, it is His Word, the Word of salvation and praise (Zech. 2; 5; Jer. 15: 20; Isa. 60: 18; Isa. 26: 1), the only security we can offer the children of God.  And finally we will see that the duty of every servant of God is to separate the family of faith, fellow citizens of the saints, from all evil, in whatever form it may present itself: whether individual or collective, whether moral or doctrinal, whether religious or worldly, carnal and earthly, so that the family of faith may be visible to the eyes of the world and may be acknowledged by the world.

"Let us rise up and build", the people say.  Let us not speak of the impossibility of the task.  What is impossible to man is never impossible to God.  And even though we may be only two or three believers, occupied with "[repairing] over against [our own] house", God will approve us and His good hand will be upon us!

Nevertheless our work does not consist only in raising up the wall: we must also work on the gates.  The enemy knew very well what he was doing when he consumed the gates of Jerusalem with fire (Nehemiah 2: 3, 13, 17).  The gates of a city are just as important as the wall, and even more so.  They may be opened to allow the inhabitants of the city to go in and out freely, but they may also exclude any foreign, sinful, contagious, or criminal element which might seek to take up residence within the city.  The gates are closed at night to protect the citizens from leaving the city during the hour of danger, but also to prevent anything contrary to the laws of the city from entering in, and above all to prevent the infiltration of traitors who might open the gates to the enemy, taking advantage of any laxity in surveillance.

Likewise, the city according to God has gates through which the world and its lusts, lying doctrines and heresies, and false brothers may be introduced or repulsed, and which, on the other hand, are open wide to all that is of God, of Christ and of His Word.

Alas! when like Nehemiah, we go around the rubble, we do not find a single vestige of all this in the great house which bears the name of Christ.  But let us not become discouraged.  If we have the construction of the walls at heart, we will also apply ourselves to rebuilding the gates, and the good hand of our God will be upon us.  It is not time to rest: let us encourage one another in this work.  Our work will necessarily be feeble and incomplete, but let us not forget that God recognizes it and that one day He will substitute His own workmanship for ours in the new Jerusalem, "and its gates shall not be shut at all by day, for night shall not be there…  And nothing common, nor that maketh an abomination and a lie, shall at all enter into it; but those only who [are] written in the book of life of the Lamb" (Rev. 21: 25-27).  "Blessed [are] they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and that they should go in by the gates into the city.  Without [are] the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loves and makes a lie" (Rev. 22: 14, 15).

These preliminary remarks will help us in the detailed examination and application of the chapter presently before us.  This chapter is divided into two parts.  The first part treats the reconstruction of the wall which surrounded Jerusalem (vv. 1-15); the second part, treats this reconstruction in relation to the "city of David" and the temple.

Under the impetus of a man of faith, or rather under the energetic action of the Holy Spirit who spoke by means of this man, both great and small rise up and demonstrate their fervor to undertake the work.

Of course, the first person we meet is the spiritual leader of the people, Eliashib, the high priest, and his brothers the priests.  They rose up "and they built the sheep-gate.  They hallowed it, and set up its doors; and they hallowed it even to the tower of Meah, to the tower of Hananeel" (v. 1).  At first glance, the extent and execution of their work seems to leave nothing to be desired.  The sheep-gate was the gate closest to the temple, toward the north.  The portion of the wall rebuilt consisted of two towers: a work which was particularly important and difficult.  The sheep-gate itself was  provided with hinges, but it lacked locks and bars.  Thus, from the outset, this entrance to Jerusalem was not well guarded against those who might desire to infiltrate the city.  It is possible that Eliashib had a personal interest in this omission.  He was  allied to Tobijah the Ammonite, one of the three great enemies of the people of God, and he had even prepared a chamber in the court of the temple for this enemy! (Nehemiah 13: 5, 7).  A grandson of this same Eliashib was the son-in-law of the second great enemy of the Jews: Sanballat the Horonite.  Was Eliashib behaving dishonestly in this matter?  No one can say with certainty, but it is a constant principle that association with the world, through the fact that we accommodate it, always marks our work with a character of incompleteness, which the enemy takes advantage of when an opportune moment arrives.  This negligence is all the more serious when the worker has a high profile, as is the case here.  And nevertheless there was a work undertaken, even a very important work since it directly touched the house of God: it was a work which God took account of, but a work which would have left an open door to a prompt and irremediable ruin, were it not for the vigilance of Nehemiah.

The men of Jericho built next to the priests (v. 2).  They had come up from their city (cf. Ezra 2: 34, 70; Neh. 7: 36) in order to help their brothers at Jerusalem.  Their work does not appear significant: they do not build a gate or a tower, but they do contribute to the city's defense against evil from without.  Part of this task is entrusted to one man, Zaccur the son of Imri.  The instruments God uses are most varied, but each one is useful and none can be replaced, or chose his work himself.  Whether several are associated together, or whether a worker is alone, their sole responsibility is to work at that place which God assigns to each one.

After them, the sons of Senaah (v. 3) (perhaps Senaah is a city, or perhaps it is a district in the region of Jericho) distinguish themselves.  They built the fish gate; "they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars."  This gate, situated in the northern sector of Jerusalem, was, along with "the gate of the old [wall]", especially exposed to the attacks of the enemy.  It was from the north that the Assyrian armies approached the city in order to surround it and besiege it.  The sons of Senaah realized its importance; they did not leave off their work until the gate's locks and bars were in position.

In verses 4 and 5, we see first of all Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest, a faithful and respected man, to whom Ezra's companions had entrusted all the free-will offerings sent from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 8: 33, 34).  His zeal goes beyond the restoration of just one portion of the wall.  He is the first (for afterwards others imitate his example) to repair "another piece" (this second portion was in connection with the city of David and the temple) in front of the house of Eliashib the high priest (v. 21).  His zeal leads him to defend the representative of the people before God.  The same thing took place in the days of the apostles, and the situation is the same for us today.  Faithfulness shown in a service of modest appearance, qualifies the laborer for an activity which relates directly to Christ, our high priest.

Meshullam, whom our chapter mentions after Meremoth, was a man of doubtful character, for he had allied himself to Tobijah, to whose son, named Johanan, he had given his daughter (Nehemiah 6: 18).  From all appearances, he was of the priestly race, and perhaps Eliashib had exercised an influence upon him by his own example.  In spite of this vexatious alliance, he shows zeal for the house of God, but not the same zeal as Meremoth.  Although he next works at the "city of David", his work is directed first of all at protecting his own living quarters (v. 30).  After him, Zadok is among those who do not fear to the work in isolation, at their own risk and peril.  Next to these three men the Tekoites repair.  They belong to a city of Judah, not far from Bethlehem (Amos 1: 1; 2 Sam. 14: 2).  "But their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord."  On the whole, this lack of zeal, this indifference of the nobles does not — and may it always be so —  occasion the consequences which are so frequent in similar cases.  On the contrary, since the Tekoites are not dependent upon their leaders, they redouble their zeal all the more.  In verse 27 we see them repair "a second piece" of the city of David "over against the great tower which lies out, as far as the wall of Ophel".  Ophel, where the dwellings of the Nethinim were located, was connected to one of the gates of the temple.  This place is also mentioned in Isaiah 32: 14: "[Ophel] and watchtower" (see footnote JND).

Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodiah (v. 6), two men with no other reputation in Scripture, repair "the gate of the old [wall]", a gate which was situated in the north west of the enclosure and which, surmising from its name, was no doubt one of the oldest gates of the city.  These two men associate themselves together for this important work, whereas, for a similar work, the cooperation of all the sons of Senaah had been required.  The mutual agreement of these two men produces a considerable result: a lesson which is most instructive for us.  The expression "next to them", so frequently used in this chapter, is lacking here, when their work is in question.  They occupy a distinctive place, being in no way dependent on their brothers, although they contribute to the common work.  Such men acquire a good degree.  Their work is very contentious; there is nothing missing in the gate they construct: neither beams, nor doors, nor locks, nor bars.  And so they serve as a model for others.

Indeed (v. 7), Malatiah, a Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, of Galilee, repair "next to them".  Although the origin of these two persons is obscure and despised in man's sight, it is not so in God's sight.

Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths, and Hananiah of the perfumers (v. 8), are not associated like their predecessors, although they work in concert.  Their functions which served the luxury of the world were not incompatible with the reconstruction of the city of God, for the Lord chooses His workers in all classes and all positions, and not where men would be tempted to look for them exclusively.*

*A certain obscurity in the text would lead to the thought that the Chaldeans had not completely destroyed this side of the wall (as well as the "broad wall": the side of which the "gate of Ephraim", (which is not mentioned here), formed part (see 8: 16).  The "open space" of the gate of Ephraim, formerly enclosed by the wall, appears not to have been included in the reconstruction (see schema).

This same remark applies to Rephaiah the son of Hur, "the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem" (v. 9).  The case is the same with Shallum, a respected man who fulfilled the same functions as Rephaiah; only, in speaking of him, the Word adds: "he and his daughters".  The work here is carried out by women, but as it is a matter of a work of public nature, they carry it out under the responsibility of their father and in dependence upon him.  But, how touching it is to see them, commit themselves to a work to which their sex was not called and for which their strength seemed insufficient, out of love for the city of God and in view of the restoration of His people.

Jedaiah (v. 10) repairs "over against his house".  His first care is to preserve his own family against the invasions of the enemy.  The case is the same for Benjamin, Hasshub and Azariah (v. 23), for the priests and Zadok (vv. 28, 29).  All these men take it to heart to begin by sheltering those of their own house; and how desirable and profitable is this exercise among the saints at all times.  How can one stand as a defender of the people of God, if one doesn't know how to protect his own home from evil?  This same zeal brought honor to Gideon, when he was called to judge Israel (Judges 6: 25-35).

In verse 11, the example of Jehoiada and Meshullam continues to bear fruit.  Two men Malchijah and Hasshub repair the tower of the furnaces which dominated the entire western wall, a work which was as important for signaling danger as for defense; but, the two of them also undertook "a second piece", proof of their untiring zeal.  

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah (v. 13) repaired the valley-gate southwest of the city, with the same care as the sons of Senaah; but in addition to this they repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung-gate in the south-east, that is to say, the entire portion of the wall facing directly south.  What zeal! and it would seem that Hanun (if it is the same Hanun) did not limit himself to this work, for it is said, in v. 30, that he repaired a second piece.

Malchijah the son of Rechab (v. 14), a recognized leader, repairs the dung-gate in the south-east.  He is the first to build a gate by himself alone.  And let mention be made of his Rechabite character which qualifies him for the perseverance of faith.

Shallun (v. 15), another respected leader, goes even further.  He single-handedly repairs the gate of the fountain in the east, restores it to a complete condition of defense, and he also repairs the "wall of the pool of Shelah [Siloam]", and continues to work along "the king's garden" to the stairs that go down from the city of David.  Happy Shallum!  And how he deserved the people's respect and appreciation!  The gate offering protection, the fountain offering refreshment and healing, and the shade affording rest: all fall within the circle of his activity.  Jerusalem owes the enjoyment of these inestimable blessings to him as the result of his efforts to procure the good of his brothers!

With v. 16, we come to the city of David, properly speaking.  We have begun at the north of this city, which was built, along with the temple, on mount Zion, and we have gone around the city to end at the south of the city of David, at the stairs which go down.  Thus nothing remains to be repaired but the last and most important part of the holy city, which was nevertheless preserved, in virtue of its position and elevation above the valley of Kidron, from any direct attack by the enemy.  The uncertain topography of this region makes some of the details difficult to understand, but since they have only a very secondary interest for us in these pages, they may easily be omitted.  Furthermore we notice, from v. 16 on, the words "next to him" are generally replaced by "after him", which seems to indicate that the work can be attacked from several sides simultaneously.

Nehemiah the son of Azbuk (v. 16) is unknown to us like many others, although here he occupies an eminent position.  Through his activity he opens the way for works of great importance.

Verses 17 to 21 speak of the work of the Levites.  Rehum had returned with Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12: 3).  Later he is among those who signed the covenant (Nehemiah 10: 25), as was, likewise (Nehemiah 10: 12), Hashabiah who repaired "for his district", and who is also a chief Levite especially established to give praise (Nehemiah 12: 24).  In every way, these two men are qualified to work "next to" one another.  Bavvai (v. 18) has the same dignity and the same district as Hashabiah, but he is not mentioned later.  Ezer is found again when the choirs meet, on the occasion of the dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12: 42).  Baruch (v. 20) seems to be the son of this same Zabbai who, in Ezra 10: 28, had taken a foreign wife.  Such a thing happening in his own family must have produced, in this godly man, a redoubling of vigilance to preserve the priesthood from profane contact.  He "earnestly" repaired from the angle to the entry of the house of Eliashib, the high priest, who had urgent need of this solicitude, as we have seen.  Meremoth (v. 21), already mentioned in v. 4, had been faithful from the beginning.  He feels, like Baruch, and even more deeply than he, the danger that threatens the high priest.  His "second portion" (see footnote: "another piece" is "a second piece" in Hebrew) of work is very precious: in complete accord with Baruch he repairs "from the door of the house of Eliashib as far as the end of the house of Eliashib".

From v. 22 on, we find the priests; the men of the plain do not seem to have had a special purpose in view.  Benjamin (v. 23) later took part in the dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12: 33).  Hasshub signed the covenant (Nehemiah 10: 23).  Azariah who, like Benjamin and Hasshub sought to safeguard his own house, is very distinguished later: he explains the law to the people (Nehemiah 8: 7), seals the covenant (Nehemiah 10: 2), and takes part in the dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12: 33).  Only the "second piece" of Binnui (v. 24) is mentioned,  which seems to indicate that he helped Azariah to protect his house.  This Binnui seals the covenant in Nehemiah 10: 9.  Palal repairs, turning his attention to the structures which were witnesses of royal authority and the judgment of the guilty (v. 25).  In this same verse we find Pedaiah the son of Parosh.  Several of his brothers had taken foreign wives (Ezra 10: 25).  Later he is present at the reading of the covenant (Nehemiah 8: 4), and served as one of the storekeepers over the storehouses of the Levites (Nehemiah 13: 13).  Here he seems to concern himself with the portion of the Nethinim, in Ophel (v. 26).  The priests (v. 28) have their own houses at heart, like so many others, but they do not seem to have concerned themselves with "the horse-gate".  Zadok the son of Immer (v. 29) is a different Zadok than the one mentioned in v. 4.  One or the other of these two men later signs the covenant (Nehemiah 10: 21) and is established over the storehouses (Nehemiah 13: 13).

Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah is the "keeper of the east gate", the main gate of the temple precincts.  His name is found later on all the principle occasions.  If Shechaniah, his father, had been the keeper of the gate, Jerusalem would have been in grave danger from Tobijah (Nehemiah 6: 18).  Hananiah and Hanun repair a second portion (v. 30, cf. v. 8 and 13).  Malchijah (v. 31) had taken a foreign wife (Ezra 10: 25 or 31) and had purified himself.  In v. 32 great number of goldsmiths and dealers put their hand to the work and rejoin the walls of the city of David to the sheep-gate, where the work had begun.

The greater part of these men acquire, as we have seen, "a good degree" (1 Tim. 3: 13) through their zeal to build the wall of the city of David.  Shouldn't we draw a lesson for ourselves from this?  Doesn't the silence and incapacity of so many children of God in the ministry stem in large part from the fact, that at the outset, when God placed some work before them to accomplish for Him — a work requiring effort, perseverance and the sacrifice of their time — they, like the nobles of the Tekoites, have not put their necks to the work of their Lord?

Nehemiah 4

Obstacles from without

Nehemiah 3 has given us a complete, uninterrupted overview of the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem; Nehemiah 4 tells us what happened during the course of this work.  "And it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.  And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said,  What do these feeble Jews? shall they be permitted to go on?  Will they offer sacrifices?  Will they finish in a day?  Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, when they are burned?  And Tobijah the Ammonite was by him, and he said,  Even that which they build, if a fox went up, it would break down their stone wall." (vv. 1-3).

These implacable enemies of the Jews hated them so much the more as they themselves had some knowledge of the true God.  Sanballat was at the head of the forces of Samaria, where their idolatrous system of worship was not completely separated from the worship of Jehovah.  This is what we will always find.  The mixture of the true with the false, in the domain of religion, is much more hostile to the Christian testimony than simple paganism.  The world which has drawn its religion from the Bible and the gospels, and has made its credo from certain scriptural truths, is frequently at the head of this opposition.  It cannot endure those who build the wall and the gates of the city of God, for these defenses are against itself.  The world's hostility begins by mockery, which frightens the timid more than hatred does.  This was one of Sanballat's weapons (Nehemiah 2: 19; 4: 1).  We all easily feel the influence of mockery if our hearts have not broken former associations with the world.  In such a case we will fear ridicule and disdain and we will draw back from public communion with this humbled people, "these weak Jews", who claim to repair the breaches and help their brothers to rebuff the attacks of the enemy.

In vv. 4 and 5, Nehemiah calls the judgment of God down on these men who "have provoked the builders".  We cannot make a request like this to God, for our cry in His presence is not and cannot be anything other than the petition of grace: but we know this certainly: God feels the hostility of the world against the family of faith as an insult.  "[It is a] righteous thing with God to render tribulation to those that trouble you" (2 Thess. 1: 6).  And on the other hand we know that the opposition of the enemy cannot prevent the work of God from being accomplished.  We ourselves need only faith which confides in God and the Spirit which encourages our hearts for the work.  Nehemiah adds:  "But we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work" (v. 6).  Whether it is a matter of defending Jerusalem or of conquering it, these principles remain the same.  Tobijah says: "If a fox went up, it would break down their stone wall"; but Nehemiah says, "we built the wall".  The Jebusites said to David: "Thou shalt not come in hither, but the blind and the lame will drive thee back"; but "David took the stronghold of Zion" (2 Sam. 5: 6, 7).

We have just seen the opposition which the reconstruction of the first half of the walls of Jerusalem encountered  (v. 6); but when the breaches began to close, the enemy's wrath increases.  "they… conspired all of them together to come to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it" (v. 8).  What would become of this poor people, no longer faced with the opposition of isolated individuals, but now faced with a coalition animated by the same murderous design?  In v. 9 we learn that in such a case two things were necessary: "We prayed to our God, and set a watch against them day and night".  Just so, the first thing is confidence in God alone and dependence upon Him, expressed in prayer.  "We prayed to our God."  He is the great resource.  This conviction moves Nehemiah to say, a little later: "Be not afraid of them: remember the Lord who is great and terrible" (v. 14), and again, in v. 20: "our God will fight for us".  That is where our strength lies: it is in God and is always granted to us, when we take a position of dependence before Him.  - The second thing is vigilance: "Be sober therefore, and be watchful unto prayers" (1 Peter 4: 7).

Despite these words, discouragement grips Judah!  "And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens faileth, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build at the wall" (v. 10).  How many times when the task is crushing and the enemy is powerful, have we not seen this discouragement produced?  Or have we not experienced this discouragement ourselves?  The burden is too heavy and the rubbish is too great: we cannot build.  Certainly, those who reasoned in this way were not associated with Nehemiah's prayer or with setting the watchmen.  Instead of looking to God, they looked at themselves and the obstacles.

If Nehemiah had listened to these complaints, what would have become of Judah, for during this time the enemy took every advantage?  "They shall not know, neither see," the adversaries say, "till we come into the midst of them and kill them, and put an end to the work" (v. 11).  

Another inopportune element adds to the confusion.  The Jews who "dwelt by [the adversaries]" came ten times to warn the workers at Jerusalem.  No doubt, these Jews had no bad intentions, but their relationship with the adversaries was not the element needed in order to strengthen the heart of the people.  In days of trouble, how many times have we heard warnings from that quarter: someone has a grudge against us; the enemy is powerful.  Be on your guard, if you persist you will provoke a general attack.  Notice that those who give advice had no remedy to propose, and thus they increased the anguish of those who were weak.  But the man of God, already convinced of the path to follow, draws fresh courage from their warnings, and strengthens himself.  Thanks to the energy which he finds in communion with his God, the scene changes, and those of the people who had been only laborers up to this point, become soldiers, ready to drive off the enemy.

We Christians ought also to bear these two characteristics in order to labor effectively at the work of God, during the difficult times in which we live: we must have perseverance and energy.  Here we find various categories of combatants.  At the first moment, when the attack is imminent, all, indistinctly, take up arms.  "I even set the people, according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows" (v. 13), says Nehemiah.  Thus everything was foreseen: the sword for hand to hand combat, the spear to keep the enemy at a distance, and the bow to strike at a distance.  For us, the word of God comprehends all these weapons simultaneously, whose purpose is "fight for [our] brethren, [our] sons and [our] daughters, [our] wives and [our] houses" (v. 14).

Then when this determined attitude had defeated the counsel of the enemy, "[they] returned all of [them] to the wall, every one to his work" (v. 15).  "And from that time forth the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held the spears, and the shields, and the bows, and the corselets", that is to say, both offensive and defensive weapons.  Those that bore burdens and those who loaded these burdens worked with one hand and they held a weapon in the other hand.  Lastly, each of the builders had their sword strapped by his side.

All these details carry instruction for us.  It is the duty of every one to defend the work of God in certain pressing dangers.  At other times, an attitude of defense exclusively may slow down the work.  At such times offensive and defensive weapons are entrusted to certain of our brothers.  But those who assist in the work, and even those who are fully given to it, must never slacken in their vigilance.  If they can not hold their weapon in one hand, let them gird their sword by their side.  No child of God should leave entirely to others the care of using the Word, that two-edged sword.  Some may be more qualified than others to apply it at any given moment and in any circumstance; but it is no less true that we must all bear it in every circumstance, and that every member of the family of God should be able to use it on occasion.

Obviously such an attitude can not suit the enemy.  When the workers girded their swords to their sides, the enemy could have said to them: Give your swords to others, more qualified than you for combat.  Take care of your work: don't attempt to do two things at once.  Don't concern yourself about the rest, and everything will be fine.  No, the worker replies, everything will not be fine, if I allow your words to lull me to sleep.  It is in invaluable privilege to allow the Lord to act, but am I not responsible to fight for Him?  To say: the Lord will intervene, when I myself abandon the sword of the Spirit, vigilance, prayer, and perseverance is to run after certain defeat.

But even this is not enough.  Nehemiah tells the nobles: "The work is great and extended, and we are scattered upon the wall, one far from another: in what place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, thither shall ye assemble to us; our God will fight for us" (vv. 19, 20).  To be effective, the work must be a combined effort.  When the enemy appears, believers must not be found scattered, and if there is no combined resistance at the point of attack, they are sure to succumb.  The adversary takes advantage of the scattered condition of the children of God, and their gathering together is what is most contrary to him, because he knows that this multiplies their strength.  And so his first concern, when he attacks them, is to sow discord and divisions among them.  That is the reason why this call of God: "Assemble to us",  still resounds on every side, as in the days of Nehemiah.  We have a center of gathering.  Let us gather together around our Head.  The trumpet has already resounded so as to be heard by one and all.  Let us make haste; let us not say: My work is enough for me.  No, our Head says, it is not enough, for if the enemy finds you isolated, he will destroy both you and your work.  The danger is threatening.  Let us gather together instead of scattering.  May we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the assemblies.  It is all very well to build in front of one's home, but it is the general interests of the people of God which claim all our energy in view of our brothers.  That is why the trumpet calls us together.  Soon, when the battle is over, the trumpet will gather us for the last time where there is no more question of building or of self-defense, but where we will enjoy eternal rest in peace!

Nehemiah 5

Obstacles from within

Nehemiah 4 has shown us the necessity of being armed to accomplish the Lord's work, for, at every instant, we may be called on to fight the enemy.

Nehemiah 5 reveals a very humiliating scene to us.  Although the outward testimony of the people was accompanied by praiseworthy activity, their inward testimony left much to be desired and was hindered by scandalous events.  What had the brotherly relationships among the members of the people of God come to?  Could devotion, pity, and sympathy for the poor be found; and did love manifest itself as it should have?  No; "There was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews" (v. 1).  A great cry! complaints, and recriminations, which were moreover perfectly justified!

The poor asked for corn so that they might live (v. 2).  Where was love?  When the rich, following the example of Christ, ought to have laid down their lives for their brothers, did they help them in the ordinary things of life?  "Whoso may have the world's substance, and see his brother having need, and shut up his bowels from him, how abides the love of God in him?" (1 John 3: 17), or, as it is said again: "Now if a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one from amongst you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled; but give not to them the needful things for the body, what [is] the profit?  So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself" (James 2: 15-17).

Others said: "We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth" (v. 3).  Now, who had taken advantage of them when, in their hunger, they needed bread?  It was their brothers: and nevertheless the law of Moses prohibited them from doing this.  The Israelite was allowed to lend to the nations, but he was not permitted to charge his brother interest (Deut. 23: 19, 20; Ex. 22: 25).  Thus the love of money caused them to commit this great sin.

Others said: "We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and vineyards; yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and behold we must be bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage [already]; neither is it in the power of our hand [to redeem them], for other men have our fields and our vineyards" (vv. 4, 5).  This king's tribute (Middah. Ezra 6: 8; Ezra 4: 20) was exacted of them.  Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards — and in this way, since they could not repay the debt, not only was the land no longer their own, but they also had to employ their children as slaves, without being able to redeem them, since the fields were in the hands of their brothers.  What a miserable predicament!  And how forcefully this demonstrates that a testimony which is outwardly in order is no security for us, and that it may even be a great snare to us in relation to our practical life, for the satisfaction of occupying a position of separation from the world may feed our spiritual pride, and cause us to pass lightly over our moral laxity in our relationships with our brothers.  Jeremiah also warned the people against this same danger: "Confide ye not in words of falsehood, saying, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple is this.  But if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye really do justice between a man and his neighbor, [if] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow… then will I cause you to dwell in this place" (Jer. 7: 4-7).

Faced with this disorder, Nehemiah was very irritated.  He did not go seek counsel from anyone concerning what he must do, any more than he had done on the night when he went around the walls of Jerusalem.  "I consulted with myself," he said.  He knew within himself what his responsibility was, whether concerning the public testimony, or whether concerning the moral life of the assembly.  He did not fear to unmask the chief men in the presence of a large congregation; human respect did not stop him when it was a matter of the truth.  Just so, Paul reproached Peter before everyone at Antioch and resisted him to the face, because he was to be blamed (Gal. 2: 11, 14).  Here, Nehemiah shows the nobles and rulers that their brothers, who dwelt among the nations, acted quite differently and much better than they did.  The dispersed had redeemed their brothers, who had been sold as slaves to the Gentiles,  whereas they, in the land, would sell their brothers into bondage!  And they would sell themselves to us!  What a shame!

Can we not find instruction for ourselves in this?  Brothers, who are still bound to the world in many ways, often conduct themselves much better, out of their devotion to their brothers, than others who strongly insist on outward separation.  If these two things do not go hand in hand, the Christian testimony has no real value.  But let us not forget that the world will be more impressed by a testimony given through brotherly love than by a testimony given through outward separation.  This is why Nehemiah said to the chief men, "Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, so as not to be the reproach of the nations our enemies?" (v. 9).

His own position — unreserved devotion for his people and absolute renouncing of his personal interests — allowed Nehemiah to speak like this.  He had brought his private conduct and his public conduct into agreement .  He could say: "But I did not so, because of the fear of God.  Yea, also I applied myself to this work of the wall, and we bought no fields; and all my servants were gathered thither for the work" (vv. 15, 16).  He also had the rights of the governor, that is to say: to be fed at the people's expense, but he had completely renounced this right.  And the apostle Paul did likewise at Corinth.  He who serves at the altar has the right to eat of the altar, and this is the case of all ministering servants, but Paul had accepted nothing from the Corinthians, in order to serve as an example to this dear assembly, which was in danger from those who were spoiling it.  As for Nehemiah, he spent his own possessions in order to feed 150 Jews and rulers daily, without counting visiting guests.  Thus, he was qualified to exhort, and moreover to require, that this state of things should cease.

Thanks be to God, Nehemiah had the joy of receiving a positive response.  Did his exhortations deeply reach the consciences to those who had sinned?  We cannot say.  In any case, their words seem a little spiritless for people who are contrite and humbled: "We will restore [them], and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou hast said" (v. 12).  But however that may be, they obeyed, and this simple act of obedience produces joy in Israel: "And all the congregation said, Amen!  And they praised Jehovah" (v. 13).

Then Nehemiah turns to God, as he will often do hereafter: "Remember for me, my God, for good, all that I have done for this people!" (v. 19).  His simple heart is sure that God approves him; He can stand before God and men with a good conscience.  He has abandoned all his rights as Tirshatha for the sake of the service of the Lord and His people, and he has no doubt that God is pleased with himself.  But what gives such authority to his exhortations is the fact that he can say in all truth: "[Walk] thus as you have [me] for a model" (Phil. 3: 17).

* * *

Nehemiah 6

Personal attacks

We have noted above that Nehemiah 3 contained an overall description covering the entire period during which the wall was built.  Nehemiah 4 to 6 deal with the difficulties which the people met during this work.  Nehemiah 4 informed us of the effort of enemies to constrain the laborers to leave off their work.  This effort was thwarted through the energy of Nehemiah, who had directed the men of Judah to take up arms, without abandoning their character as laborers.  In Nehemiah 5 we have seen Satan's activity to stir up discontentment and disputes between brothers called to a common work.  The example of Nehemiah, who sacrificed his rights and his interests for the welfare of his brothers, powerfully served to tranquilize their spirits and to restore contentment and peace.  Nehemiah 6, which we will now consider, presents the attack of enemies in a new form.  Nehemiah was the instrument used of God in these difficult circumstances: the adversaries attempt to do away with him.  If their plan should succeed, the entire work would fall along with the servant to whom God had confided it.  This effort, the most dangerous of all, was foiled, as we shall see in the course of our chapter.  Nehemiah demonstrates rare qualities to resist the enemy's attack, but what is outstanding in him is his complete confidence in the Lord and absolute mistrust of himself.  His confidence is conveyed by this expression in verse 9: "Now therefore strengthen my hands!"  For he knows that he has no strength and he seeks the strength which is in God.

The attack directed against the person of Nehemiah presents two successive characteristics which it is well to pay attention to.  As always, the more dangerous attack comes last.  The enemy uses skillful gradation in this business, and it is only at the end that he sends out his best reserve troops against the man he would annihilate.  In verses 1 to 9, the attack comes from without; in verses 10 to 14, it is infinitely more dangerous, because it springs up from within the very precincts of Jerusalem.

(vv. 1-9) — The wall had been rebuilt, but the doors had not yet been set up in the gates.  In only a few days, the city would be protected against a surprise attack.  Before it should be too late, the enemy hastens to take advantage of this imperfection.  First of all, the leader of the people must be done away with.  Sanballat and his allies invite him to a conference "in the villages in the plain of Ono".  Nehemiah answers them with real prudence: "I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.  Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?" (v. 3).  He opposes the importance of the work to the proceeding by means of which they had sought to take him by surprise.  This is like the exhortation: "Be wholly in them", of 1 Tim. 4: 15.

This refusal does not repulse the enemy.  Indeed, it often occurs that we may oppose him with a non-receptive plea at the beginning and then, when we have grown only a little weary, we end by yielding to him.  After four unfruitful efforts, Sanballat makes a fifth attempt, with a most dangerous ruse.  He sends his servant with an open letter in his hand.  Everyone might know what that letter contained, and the enemy did not spare to communicate it, for the accusations and threats which it contained must reach the ears of the people in order to gain auxiliaries for Sanballat.

These accusations and threats pressed five charges.  Firstly, It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says that you and the Jews think to rebel.  Secondly, the construction of the wall has no other purpose than this rebellion.  Thirdly, there is a rumor spreading (how often souls are frightened by these words: "there is a rumor!") that you have ambitious designs.  You want to become their king and you will be accused of desiring to substitute yourself for the sovereign ruler's authority.  In the fourth place, you are attempting to carry out this design (as always, according to rumor) through prophets whom you have established to say: There is a king in Judah!  In the fifth place,  now these things will be reported to the king.

There was enough here to cause even the greatest courage to succumb.  There was suspicion cast upon the character and purpose of the Lord's servant and there was fear of seeing his conduct calumniated before the king who had put his confidence in him!  The conclusion of the letter was an invitation repeated for the fifth time: "Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together".

Nehemiah is not ignorant of the enemy's designs; he knows that the enemy must be resisted so that he will flee; he opposes the truth to the lies destined to frighten him: "And I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thy own heart" (v. 8).  Moreover, as was his custom, he accompanies his acts by prayer to God: "Now therefore strengthen my hands!" (v. 9).  Oh! how good it is to trust in God!  If the enemy comes to us, let us not fear him: at the opportune moment we will be delivered, if we persevere in prayer.

Satan's second effort, even more dangerous than the one just mentioned, arises within Jerusalem itself (vv. 10-14).  Shemaiah, who was perhaps of priestly origin, here assumes the role of prophet, addressing himself as such to Nehemiah: "He pronounced this prophecy against me" (v. 12).  "[He] had shut himself up", when Nehemiah came to his house, simulating fear, when there was nothing to fear.  This man was hired by Tobijah and Sanballat: the love of money had made him become a traitor.  He says: "Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple; for they are coming to kill thee; even in the night are they coming to kill thee" (v. 10).  He pressures Nehemiah to one possibility or the other: either to flee, driven by fear, or else to hide himself in the temple, where only the priests had access, in order to escape his would-be assassins.  Now, if he had run away, he would have been accused of having a bad conscience, and if he had hidden himself in the temple, he would have been accused of profaning it by disobeying God's direct commandment.  In either way, Nehemiah would have embarked on a path of sin which would have given him a bad reputation and put him to shame (v. 12).

The answer of this man of God is an example both of dignity and humility.  He asserts his dignity before these men, his enemies: "Should such a man as I flee?"  Had he not engaged the people in the work?  Had he not courageously armed them?   Had he not intervened authoritatively when conflicts erupted between his brothers?  Did they think that he would deny his own character before these lying accusations?  But Nehemiah also speaks a word of humility, which is more important than the first expression: "And who is there, that, being as I am, could go into the temple, and live?" (v. 11).  Who is there, being as I am!  He uses the same phrase as in his first reply in order to humbly place himself in the presence of God.  In the first case, one might accuse him of pride; in the second case, he shows that pride is very far from his heart.  How could he go into the temple which God allowed only the priests to enter?  A king of Judah had dared to do this, thus setting himself, as king, above the priesthood; for this he had been punished by leprosy (2 Chr. 26: 16-21).  Did Nehemiah dream of renewing this profane act?  Did a man like him have some value before God, or some right to violate His commandments?  Through fear, the enemy attempted to provoke him to do so.  This proposition came from the ancient Serpent.  This is how Satan acted from the beginning, luring Adam into disobedience.

Having refused to enter this evil path, Nehemiah goes no further and leaves the matter in God's hands.  It is important to notice this.  This man of God could have stirred the people up against Shemaiah, he could have accused him of being a false prophet, he could have publicly proven that he was a traitor, and he could have revealed the ignominies of Sanballat and Tobijah.  But he did nothing of the kind!  He commits their judgment to God: "My God, remember Tobijah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have put me in fear!" (v. 14).  The names of the adversaries who were enemies of the people come first; the name of Shemaiah does not appear at all here.  What a lovely example of a heart which does abandon itself to personal resentments against one who had so seriously wronged him!  And what a lovely example of delicacy toward a brother whom he knew to be corrupted and bribed, to whom he might have said: Get behind me, Satan!  Noadiah appears only here: a true prophetess who had lent her hand to this intrigue with the other prophets.  This woman was inexcusable as were her companions, for iniquity hidden under the cloak of the prophets must be pointed out!

Thus Nehemiah resisted the attacks and ambushes of the adversary.  He had an inflexible object before his eyes and in order to attain it, to faith he added virtue, the moral courage which overcomes difficulties, by rejecting the sin which surrounds us so easily.

In spite of all this opposition, the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, the sixth month of the Jewish year which began with the month of Abib, when the ears of grain ripen: the month of the Passover and the exodus from Egypt.  Due to the intervention of divine power, it had taken only 52 days to carry out this immense work.  This was the proof to all the surrounding nations that "this work was wrought by our God"; and so it is not surprising that when they learned of these things, "[they] were afraid and were much cast down in their own eyes".  But at this point a last danger looms up, instigated by men of consideration among the people.  "In those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobijah, and those of Tobijah came to them.  For there were many in Judah sworn to him."  Why had they submitted to him and why had they accepted his authority?  This is a sad and common occurrence, alas!: this association was to their personal advantage.  As we have said above, Tobijah was the son-in-law to Shechaniah, the son of Arah, one of the most respected men among the people; and Johanan, the son of Tobijah, was himself the son-in-law of Meshullam the son of Berechiah, who was of the priestly race.  These nobles of Judah were double-hearted: they attempted to win over Nehemiah, by speaking to him of Tobijah's "good deeds."  No doubt they said that he was a likable man who had sought an alliance with the people of God.  How many times have we not heard the personal qualities of an adversary vaunted in order to attenuate his hostility and to solicit souls to receive him as an associate!  Now these same intriguing men brought the words of Nehemiah back to Tobijah.  The purpose of this written correspondence was certainly not to win over the enemy, but to frighten the leader of the people (vv. 16-19).

In this way the adversary sent all his reserve troops out to attack a solitary man.  But God was present, and He strengthened the hands of His servant.  As He had previously said to Jeremiah, He could now say to this new witness: "I will make thee unto this people a strong brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, to save this and to deliver thee, saith Jehovah; yea, I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible" (Jer. 15: 20, 21).

* * *

Nehemiah 7

The order of the house, the government of the city

and the genealogical register

The wall was built; the doors and their bars were set up; the enemy was disappointed in all his attempts to foil this project and finally gave up his ventures.  Now, Nehemiah's first concern is the organization of the service of the Lord.  The doorkeepers, the guardians of the house, the singers who led praises, and the Levites to whom is confided the ministry of the word (cf. Nehemiah 8: 7) — for the Levites no longer had the charge of bearing the sacred objects of the tabernacle, as had been the case in the wilderness — all these men are established in their functions.

But it is still necessary to entrust surveillance of all this to leaders who have the right to make themselves heard.  Nehemiah, through the authority which God confided to him, chooses two men for this purpose.  Similarly, we later see Paul choose Timothy and Titus, in virtue of his apostolic authority.  The Church no longer possesses this delegated authority, and it were outright presumption to pretend otherwise; but, in spite of ruin, God does not leave His Church without resources, and His Spirit affords the help needed.  The activity of the Spirit will never fail the Church.

Nehemiah proceeds to make this choice with wisdom which is given him from above.  His brother Hanani had been the first to bring him news of the miserable conditions at Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1: 2).  Therefore it was suitable that he who had borne in his heart the shame of the holy city and who had undertaken the long voyage to Babylon for the purpose of rebuilding the ruins should occupy a place of honor and authority among the people.

The second of these men was Hananiah, the ruler of the citadel; he had served his apprenticeship in the restricted charge which he had occupied in the "city of David" properly speaking.  But he had yet other qualifications in addition to this one: "he was a faithful man and feared God above many" (v. 2).  The service of God can be confided only to faithful men.  If they are not faithful, how can they qualified as leaders?  Thus Paul, like Nehemiah, surrounded himself with servants of Christ, who had been proven and found faithful (1 Cor. 4: 17; Eph. 6: 21; Col. 4; 7, 9; 1 Tim. 1: 12.  See also 1 Peter 5: 12; Rev. 2: 13).  Even today, without the apostolic institution, leaders must have this characteristic.  Local churches, taken as a whole, are very rarely called faithful, even in the days of the apostles.  In fact, this term is applied to them only twice: in Ephesians 1: 1 and in Colossians 1: 2.  Would to God that the case were otherwise, there where the unity of the body of Christ is realized by the gathering together of the children of God, but how rare this is at any time!  Of course it is impossible where there is the pretension to form "churches" through the alliance of Christians with the world.  In any case, in the Word we do not find overall faithfulness except when the heavenly position in Christ is known and realized, as in the assembly at Ephesus; or when, as at Colossus, the worth of the person of Christ, the Head of His body, is appreciated, despite the efforts of the enemy cause the loss of the enjoyment of this.

Moreover, it is said of Hananiah that he "feared God above many".  The fear of God is always accompanied by humility: no one can attribute importance to himself when he stands in God's presence, and this is one of the real sources of the authority of leaders.  Someone who thinks that he is something is not living in the fear of God, and his ministry will not be profitable to the saints.  Sooner or later, God will be obliged to humble him, if He would employ him, so as to render that person useful.

Let us take notice of what the functions of these two men consisted of.  They were responsible to scrupulously survey the gates (v. 3).  Nothing was to enter the holy city without being carefully controlled.  Nehemiah was so fearful of foreign elements being introduced into the city under the cover of night, or even dusk, that he ordered that the sun must be already well risen before opening the gates.  In this way, no one could slip into Jerusalem unperceived.  Likewise today, except for the fact that we have to do with spiritual enemies, we must watch that doctrines which are subversive to Christianity do not creep into the city of God.  These are not necessarily heresies.  We often must confront doctrines which are true in a certain measure, but which are displaced in relation to other truths and which, being falsified by this displacement, are all the more dangerous.  At all times, leaders worthy of this name must watch that such elements do not take up residence among the children of God during the night or twilight.  

The two leaders charged with the government of Jerusalem were responsible to personally watch over the closing of the gates.  They were not to delegate this concern to others, because any negligence in this service would have been fatal, and they needed to be perpetually on guard.

But, on their side, the inhabitants of Jerusalem also had their responsibilities: "There should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house".  Today, watchfulness against evil is also the responsibility of everyone, without distinction.  Everyone must stand "over against his house".  If we allow the enemy to enter our houses, he will ruin the people of God just as effectively as if he should succeed in entering through the gates.  We must be vigilant against every form of evil, whether it be evil doctrines or worldliness.  Worldliness is even more contagious than evil doctrines, and is so appealing to the tendencies of our natural hearts, that we can not be sufficiently on our guard to repulse it.

Yet another difficulty arises.  The city, which was surrounded by walls, was spacious and large, but the people in its midst were few in number, and "no houses were built"; not that there were no houses, for all the existing houses had not been destroyed, and at the time of the people's return under the leadership of Zerubbabel, many families were able to recover their former dwelling places and had even occupied themselves to decorate and panel them (Hag. 1: 4), when the work on the house of God had been interrupted.  Thus, we have seen many of them reconstruct the wall in front of their house.  Our passage means only that the houses which had been torn down had not been rebuilt; no doubt there existed great spaces which were entirely empty in Jerusalem.  Daniel alludes to this work which began in the days of Nehemiah.  He distinguishes the first seven weeks (of years) of the sixty-nine weeks elapsed before the Messiah's coming and he adds that during these forty-nine years "the street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublous times" (Dan. 9: 25).  The street is the place where the activity of the city is concentrated, the meeting place which is the first to be furnished with houses; the moat is a supplementary defense destined to protect the city.  It seems to me, that "the street" in Daniel refers to the open place which was situated in front of the water-gate (Neh. 8: 1) in the city of David, in Ophel, and which was not included in the enclosure during the reconstruction of the wall.   The word of God does not take us historically to the troublous times spoken of by the prophet Daniel — a period concerning which even the testimony of history is not very explicit.

From verses 5 to 73, we find the repetition of the genealogies contained in Ezra 2.  Rationalists have not failed to attack this passage.  Eighteen of the figures indicated in Ezra offer variations here: sometimes being a lower figure, but ordinarily being a higher figure.  The people, priests, servants of the sanctuary, etc. number 29,818 in Ezra, with a total of 42,360 persons, including those not enrolled.  Among this same total of 42,360 persons, Nehemiah indicates 31,089 enrolled persons.  Leaving aside the conjecture of errors made by copyists, a conjecture as easy to be made as it is unlikely, we observe firstly, that the enumeration of the leaders of the people contains a name, Nahamani (v. 7), in Nehemiah which is not mentioned in Ezra 2.  Secondly, we see that the genealogical registers drawn up by Zorobabel were brought up to date during a longer or shorter period of time (see Nehemiah 12: 23).  Thirdly, a rather remarkable fact is that, if we add to the genealogy of Ezra the 1396 persons who came to dwell at Jerusalem in Nehemiah (Neh. 11), we obtain the number of 25, 540 for the people: a number which corresponds almost exactly to the number of 25, 406 in Nehemiah 7.

We could add other details, but whatever assumptions we may make, we learn here, as always, to mistrust our own reason, even when material details of the word of God are concerned, and to wait on Him to explain them, if He judges it well to give us necessary enlightening at the appropriate moment.  No reader who is submitted to the Word has failed to happily experience this time and again.

* * *

Nehemiah 8-10

RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE

Nehemiah 8

The book of the law and the Feast of Tabernacles

Nehemiah 8 to 10 concern the religious condition of the people and form a sort of parenthesis, with Nehemiah 11 directly relating back to Nehemiah 7.

Relative order had been established, the wall had been completed, and men from among the people dwelt each in his own city.  And now we see them gather together "as one man" (in Ezra 3 they had previously done this when the altar was set up) to the open place that was before the water-gate, in the immediate vicinity of the temple, with no other desire than to hear the word of God.  This though had arisen in their own hearts, and had not been suggested to them by others: "They spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel" (v. 1).  Now, this occurred in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, corresponding to the feast of the new moon, otherwise called the feast of trumpets (Lev. 23: 23-25; Num. 10: 3-10: Ps. 81: 3), a figure of the renewal of Israel's light, which had disappeared for a time.  In Ezra 3, at the time of this same feast, the altar (worship) had been re-established; and now, on this same date, the entire people realize the need to receive instruction from the Scriptures.  These two things, worship and interest in the Word, will always characterize an enduring revival according to God, I am sure.  The need to be established on the books of Moses fills all these chapters of Nehemiah (see Neh. 8: 1, 14, 18; Neh. 9: 3; Neh. 10: 34; Neh. 13: 1).  As soon as the Word is in question, we see Ezra reappear, for his gift and his mission were to teach and thus to contribute to the religious development of the people.  Although Nehemiah was clothed with the high dignity of his position as Thirshatha, he immediately gives place to Ezra.  How good it is to see gifts exercised in mutual communion, without any jealousy, and without some attempting to infringe on the domain of others!  Nehemiah exercises government on behalf of God; Ezra, on his side, teaches and applies the law of Moses.

The whole congregation gathers together to hear the reading of the law: both men and women, and even those with intelligence, that is to say, children capable of understanding what was read.  Thus God made provision, in a touching way, so that even young children might profit from His Word.

As Josiah had done previously (2 Kings 23: 3), Ezra stood on an elevated platform, with the elders, or chief fathers at his right and at his left.  With a solemn gesture he opens the book in the sight of all the people and above their heads, thus giving the law the place of authority which belonged to it.  Then he blesses Jehovah, the great God.  Certainly, it was in this book that God had revealed Himself and laid claim to obedience.  All the people add their amen to Ezra's prayer;  they lift up their hands, bowing their heads and worshipping.

The Levites, who were no longer responsible to carry the sacred vessels (1 Chr. 23: 26), fill the functions of servants of the Word by causing the people to understand the law, and we see with what care they do this (v. 8).  They read distinctly; this is not without importance.  How many times do we not see the Lord's laborers read the Word with a low voice or too quickly, or nonchalantly: and then hasten to speak of themselves, as though it were not more important to hear the word of God than their own word.  Here, on the contrary, in the first place it is a matter of bringing the people into direct relation with the law, then of giving its meaning, and lastly of causing the people to understand it (v. 8).  Here the Levites play the role of school teachers, and this is all the more striking because children take part in this instruction, a feature which should never be forgotten.  A good teacher does not rest until all his students have understood what he wants to explain to them.

The day when Ezra made this gesture and the consequence which followed from it, may rightly be called, as someone has said, "the day of the open Bible".  The Bible addressed both the conscience and the heart of the people, and it is touching to see the result.  All the people are afflicted and weep when they hear the words of the law, but Ezra tells them: "this day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not nor weep!"  And again: "Be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength" (vv. 9, 10).

May we never forget this wonderful expression!  Humiliation, however precious and necessary it may be, does not give us strength.  When we must face difficulties, we find this strength by occupying ourselves with the Lord, revealed in His Word.  This meditation is a source of unspeakable joy for our souls, and the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Wasn't this what the apostle, although afflicted and besieged with troubles, recommended to the Philippians, as the fruit of his own experience?  "Rejoice in [the] Lord always!" (Phil. 4: 4).

In another passage (Isa. 30: 15), we find a second truth: "In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength".  How often have we not experienced this?  Leaving the enemy to agitate himself and redouble his attacks, the Christian rests in the full consciousness that all the activity of man will only weaken the work of God, and with complete assurance that God can act without him.

In Nehemiah, the people obey the word addressed to them; they cease to mourn and weep, and they make great rejoicing: They had understood!  May this be our portion as well!

As in Ezra 3 (we have noted the reason for this in the study of this book), Nehemiah omits the mention of the great day of atonement, which took place on the tenth day of the seventh month.  But the chief fathers, the Levites and the priests had gathered together to Ezra on the second day of the month "to gain wisdom as to the words of the law" (v. 13).  They who had just been involved in teaching the people, gathered together to be taught of God themselves.  This should always be the case for the Lord's laborers; it is not enough for them to instruct others.  They themselves are weak and know only in part;  therefore they need to find new illumination in the Word for their personal use, in order to "gain wisdom".  This is what we see happen here; they learn, by seeking instruction in the Scriptures, something which they had not known before: "They found written in the law which Jehovah had commanded through Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim through all their cities, and at Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mount, and fetch olive-branches, and wild olive-branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written." (vv. 14, 15; cf. Lev. 23: 33-44).

Once they have learned these things, they communicate them to the people who hasten to do them.  Now everyone knows how the feast of tabernacles ought to be celebrated.  The roofs, the courts of the houses, the temple courts, the open space of the water-gate and the open space of the gate of Ephraim which was outside the city walls, are covered with tabernacles (v. 16).  This feast had not been celebrated in this way since the days of Joshua, when the people had entered Canaan (v. 17).  The feast itself had been celebrated in Ezra 3, but not according to the details of the ordinance.  Thus it signified only that the land had been once again opened up to the people, following the time when the captivity had closed access to it.  In the book of Nehemiah, this feast is celebrated according to the prescriptions of the law, and this fact is the happy consequence of everyone's ardent zeal to receive instruction from the Word.

It might seem extraordinary that a passage so clear and so explicit had up to that moment escaped the priests and Levites, but this is a phenomenon which occurs at all times in the history of the people of God.  Truths which are even more important, as, for example, the coming of the Lord, have been hidden for eighteen centuries, although the New Testament is full of them.  This is because the activity of the Spirit of God is necessary in order to discover these things, and the most extraordinary human intelligence is incapable of discerning them.

In Nehemiah and in Ezra we find the feast of tabernacles as an antici