NEHEMIAH Nehemiah 1:4-6

About Nehemiah

There seems to be little doubt of the connection of the books of Nehemiah and Ezra. a. The earliest form of the Hebrew canon, both books were one. b. The both of them were simply called “the Book of Ezra.” i. Later they were divided and called “the First Book of Ezra,” and “the Second Book of Ezra.” ii. And again later, (approximately the end of the fourth century) the “Second Book of Ezra” was called “Nehemiah.”

Getting to know Nehemiah

Nehemiah, means "consoled by Jehovah,“ please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. Nehemiah 1:6

Nehemiah as a Leader

He Agonized 4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,

He Agonized 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. Nehemiah 1:4-6

He Analyzed We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Nehemiah 1:7 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” Nehemiah 1:3

He Organized Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Nehemiah 2:7-8

He Organized So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. Nehemiah 2:15

He Supervised Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work. Nehemiah 5:16 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” Nehemiah 4:14

Things Nehemiah did not do.

Compromise with those on the outside 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

Compromise with those on the outside 5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written: It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. 7 And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.

Compromise with those on the outside 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.” 9 For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.” Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Nehemiah 6:2-9

Allow people to break their promise to God 13 Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise. Nehemiah 5:13

Allow himself to abandon his promise to God So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4:6

Lessons for us today.

1. Nehemiah was greatly saddened by the state of the people and the walls of the city. 2. Nehemiah was determined to restore what needed to be restored. He encouraged the people to care and to work to restore the walls. 3. We must not allow the world or our own “brethren” to deter us from doing good, godly works.

Conclusion

1. Do you have a determined mind like Nehemiah? 2. If not, why not? Even Christ, did not work alone.