Nehemiah 1-3
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
Introduction
The events of Nehemiah take place after the events of the book of
Ezra. The book of Ezra covers the
rebuilding of the Temple Temple
Nehemiah 1
:1-3 Nehemiah gets bad news
:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
Nehemiah – N@chemyah –
“Yahweh comforts”. Not much is known about Nehemiah outside of what is written
in this book. It is thought that Nehemiah was of the tribe of Judah Jerusalem
Hachaliah – Chakalyah – “whom Yahweh enlightens”
Chisleu – Kiclev – “his confidence”; the 9th month of the calendar corresponding to Nov-Dec
the twentieth year – of Artaxerxes, 445 BC
Shushan – Shuwshan – “lily”; the winter residence of the Persian kings; located on the river Ulai
Daniel was taken there in a vision:
(Dan 8:2 KJV) And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I
saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam river of Ulai
This was the home of Esther:
(Est 1:2 KJV) That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on
the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
Hanani – Chananiy –
“gracious”; brother of Nehemiah whom Nehemiah appointed governor of Jerusalem
one of my brethren – a real biological brother of Nehemiah.
that had escaped – p@leytah – escape, deliverance; remnant
:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach:
affliction – ra‘– bad, evil; unpleasant (giving pain, unhappiness, misery)
reproach – cherpah – reproach; taunt, scorn (upon enemy)
Josephus records:
that the neighboring nations did a
great deal of mischief to the Jews, while in the daytime they overran the
country and pillaged it, and in the night did them mischief, insomuch that not
a few were led away captive out of the country, and out of Jerusalem itself,
and that the roads were in the daytime found full of dead men.[1]
:3 the wall of Jerusalem
The importance of walls
Walls are the structures in ancient times that provided protection against your enemies. It’s what kept the wrong stuff out of your city.
Without walls, a city could be attacked at any time.
Gates are the structures in the wall that allow people to go in and out. It’s the place where decisions are made as to who is allowed into a city and who isn’t. When the enemy approaches your city, you close the gates and lock them.
Lesson
The need of walls and gates
We have a need in our own lives for walls and gates.
We need to have things in place to protect us from the things that can hurt us.
(Job 31:1 KJV) I made a
covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
:4-11 Nehemiah’s prayer
:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
sat down – yashab – to dwell, remain, sit, abide
wept – bakah – to weep, bewail, cry, shed tears
mourned – ‘abal – to mourn, lament; (Hithpael) to mourn; play the mourner
fasted – tsuwm – (Qal) to abstain from food, fast
prayed – palal – to intervene, interpose, pray; to intercede
Lesson
Handle bad news with prayer
This isn’t just a one time prayer.
He will be praying for several months before he does anything. This is serious prayer – it includes fasting.
:5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
I beseech – ‘anna’ – ah now! I/we beseech you, oh now!, pray now! (participle of entreaty usually followed by the imperative verb)
terrible – yare’ – to fear, revere, be afraid
covenant – b@riyth – covenant, alliance, pledge
mercy – checed – goodness, kindness, faithfulness
love – ‘ahab – to love
observe – shamar – to keep, guard, observe, give heed
:6 Let thine ear now be attentive…confess the sins of the children of Israel
attentive – qashshab – attentive
confess – yadah – to throw, shoot, cast; (Hithpael) to confess (sin); to give thanks
:7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee
corruptly – chabal – to bind; to take a pledge, lay to pledge; to destroy, spoil, deal corruptly, offend
:11 prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
mercy – racham – compassion; from racham – to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion
Nehemiah is asking that God will give the king a merciful disposition when he speaks to him.
cupbearer – shaqah – to give to drink, irrigate, drink, water, cause to drink water
This was an official position in the court of a king. The position not only included pouring wine, but tasting it first (to see if it was poisoned). A cupbearer was a person who had a close relationship to a king and was often a confidant, a counselor, and a person who had political influence.
Lesson
Using your position
Nehemiah is moved by the account of things in Jerusalem Jerusalem
A few years earlier, a young Jewish gal named Esther was faced with a similar situation. The Jews were being threatened with extinction by a man named Haman. And she was the queen of the empire. She struggled with whether or not to use her position of influence for God’s people. Her cousin Mordecai said this:
(Est 4:13-14 KJV) Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think
not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the
Jews. {14} For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall
there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but
thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou
art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Sometimes God’s miraculous deliverance comes through ordinary human beings.
We might think that God would rather do something like part the heavens and
rain daisies on everyone. Sometimes God wants to use us.
Nehemiah 2
:1-8 Nehemiah asks for help
:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Nisan – Niycan – “their flight”; the 1st month of the Jewish calendar corresponding to March or April
This is not a car, but a month. It’s been five months since the events in chapter 1.
the twentieth year of Artaxerxes – It is 445 BC.
wine was before him – It seems that this must simply mean that it was Nehemiah’s shift. He was on duty as the cupbearer.
sad – ra‘– bad, evil; unpleasant (giving pain, unhappiness, misery); sad, unhappy
Nehemiah made it a practice to keep his emotions separate from his work. It was his job to be encouraging to the king.
Lesson
Patience
It seems that Nehemiah didn’t rush into something concerning how to deal with the problem.
It seems that he was doing two things before acting:
He prayed
He waited for the right time
:2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
countenance – paniym – face
very – m@‘od – exceedingly, much
sore – rabah – be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous
afraid – yare’ – to fear, revere, be afraid
Nehemiah’s job is to serve his king, not to be bummed around him. I imagine people lost their jobs for stuff like this, perhaps even lost their lives.
:4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
I prayed – palal – to intervene, interpose, pray; to intercede
Lesson
Pray before you respond
Nehemiah has spent months praying about this. But before he responds, he stops and shoots up a quick prayer for help.
:5 if thy servant have found favour in thy sight
favour – yatab – to be good, be pleasing, be well, be glad
Lesson
Favor with your boss
I believe that one of the keys to gaining “favor” with your boss is by not working for him.
(Eph 6:5-8 KJV) Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart,
as unto Christ; {6} Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; {7} With good will doing service,
as to the Lord, and not to men: {8} Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
Do what’s right. Behave with integrity. Be honest and trustworthy. Support your boss.
But overall, do all this because you’re serving Jesus, not your boss.
Illustration
Howard Hendricks is a professor at Dallas Theological
Seminary. He does a lot of traveling and speaking and American Airlines has
made him kind of an “inspector”, a person who writes critiques about his
flights, given to the managers. He tells a story about one flight, where the
stewardess did a wonderful job. Crying babies, drunk businessmen, nothing
stopped her from smiling and politely serving. At the end of the flight, he stopped
to talk to her, to tell her that he was going to write some good things about
her. She replied, “Well Mr. Hendricks, I don’t work for American Airlines.” Seeing
he was puzzled, she continued, “I work for Jesus Christ.”
:6 …(the queen also sitting by him,) …I set him a time.
It was not customary for the queen to be present at formal banquets. It is thought that this might have been a private dinner.
set – nathan – to give, put, set; to put, set, put on, put upon, set, appoint, assign, designate
a time – z@man – a set time, appointed time, time
Lesson
Setting limits
It seems that Nehemiah stayed for twelve years.
But he didn’t have surprises for his boss. He talked about it first.
:8 timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city…
beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house –
(NLT) beams for the gates of the Temple
Lesson
Messiah is coming
This is a pretty important verse. It
begins a timeclock of sorts. A few years
before Nehemiah’s time, Daniel had wrote,
(Dan 9:25
KJV) Know therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto
the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the
street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
7 weeks and 62 weeks = 69 weeks.
Daniel worked off of the Babylonian calendar:
Prophetic year = 360 days (compare Dan.9:27,
69 weeks x 7 years x 360 days = 173,880 days
March 14, 445 B.C. + 173,880 days =
The event that occurred on
(Luke 19:41-42 KJV) And when he was come near, he beheld the
city, and wept over it, {42} Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least
in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid
from thine eyes.
(Psa 118:22-26 KJV) The stone which the builders refused is
become the head stone of the corner. {23} This is the LORD'S doing; it is
marvellous in our eyes. {24} This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will
rejoice and be glad in it. {25} Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I
beseech thee, send now prosperity. {26} Blessed be he that cometh in the name
of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
:9-10 Nehemiah’s trip
:9 …the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
captains … horsemen – whereas Ezra was embarrassed to ask for a military escort, Nehemiah doesn’t mind asking.
Lesson
Personal conviction
We ought to be careful about condemning others for not doing something that is our own personal conviction.
:10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite,
heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the
welfare of the children of Israel
Sanballat – Canballat –
“strength”; He is mentioned in the Elephantine Papyri as governor of Samaria
Horonite – Choroniy –
“native of Horonaim”; an inhabitant of Horonaim in Moab
Tobiah – Towbiyah – “Jehovah is good”; He was thought to have been an ex-slave, but now the governor of Ammon.
Ammonite – from the people of Ammon, descendants of Lot .
grieved – yara‘– to tremble, quiver
:11-20 Nehemiah encourages
:12 …the beast that I rode upon.
beast – b@hemah – beast, cattle, animal; NLT “donkey”
:14 …there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
There is too much rubble for Nehemiah’s donkey to get through.
the king’s pool – probably the Pool of Siloam
:15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
the brook – the Kidron valley
Lesson
Assessing the problem
Before Nehemiah does anything, he checks out things for himself.
Sometimes we don’t really know what the real problem is we’re facing. Then we come up with a solution for a problem that doesn’t really exist.
For example: You hear some bad news about some situation. You decide to respond to what you’ve heard. What if the person who told you didn’t get the story straight? What if things were exaggerated?
(Prov 18:13 KJV) He that answereth a matter before he
heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
:17 how Jerusalem
The walls have been broken down since Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city in 586 BC. It is now 445 BC.
:18 Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
the hand of my God which was good upon me –
they strengthened – chazaq – to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore
Lesson
Encourage others to build
(Heb 10:23-25 KJV) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) {24} And let us consider
one another to provoke unto love and to good works: {25} Not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one
another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
:19 …Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us
Geshem – Geshem – “rain”. A
powerful chieftain of Dedan in NW Arabia.
laughed us to scorn – la‘ag – to mock, deride, ridicule
despised – bazah – to despise, hold in contempt, disdain
Nehemiah 3
:1-32 The Builders
:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and
they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it;
even unto the tower of Meah tower of
Hananeel
Eliashib – ‘Elyashiyb – “God restores”
the sheep gate – (gate #1). This was on the northern wall of the
city, close to the Temple Temple
sanctified – qadash – to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate
There is a sense in which these people see this building project as a “holy” thing.
Meah – Me’ah – “hundred”
Hananeel – Chanan’el – “God has favoured”
Map of walls:
There were ten gates:
1. Sheep (vs. 1)
2. Fish (vs. 3)
3. Old (vs. 6)
4. Valley (vs. 13)
5. Dung (vs. 14)
6. Fountain (vs. 15)
7. Water (vs. 26)
8. Horse (vs. 28)
9. East (vs. 29)
10. Miphkad (vs. 31)
In the New Jerusalem, there will be 12 gates:
(Rev 21:12
KJV) And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates
twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve
tribes of the children of Israel
(Rev 21:21
KJV) And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one
pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
:2 And next unto him builded the men of Jericho
Jericho Jerusalem
:3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build
the fish gate – (gate #2) located on the northern part of the wall, to the west of the Sheep Gate.
:5 but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.
nobles – ‘addiyr – great, majestic; great one, majestic one; of nobles, chieftains
necks – tsavva’r – neck, back of neck
Lesson
Humility to help
It appears that these men thought they were too good to be doing manual labor.
Yet the high priest helped. Nehemiah helped. You will see lots of groups of “rulers” building as well.
Perhaps they were simply too lazy
:6 Moreover the old gate
the old gate – (gate #3) located on the northwest corner of the city.
:7 unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.
(NLT) the headquarters of the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River
This was located in Mizpah.
:8 …the goldsmiths…the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem
goldsmiths – tsaraph – to smelt, refine, test; smelter, refiner, goldsmith (participle)
apothecaries – raqqach – ointment-maker, perfumer
broad wall – the western wall.
:10 even over against his house
Lesson
Build where you are
Sometimes God has many things for you to do right in your own neighborhood.
God has put you in places that are unique. Places only you can go.
:11 Malchijah the son of Harim
This was one of the guys a few years back who had married a foreign woman but had repented:
(Ezra 10:31 KJV)
And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
:11 the tower of the furnaces.
furnaces – tannuwr – furnace, oven, fire-pot, (portable) stove. Maybe this was near the bakery?
:12 he and his daughters.
A “father-daughter” kind of thing
:13 The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah
the valley gate – Did the people who built this gate, like, come from a cool place, for sure! (gate #4)
Zanoah – Zanowach – “cast off”
:14 But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem
the dung gate – (gate #5) This was in the southern part of the
wall. Trash and refuse were taken through
this gate into the Valley of Hinnom
Bethhaccerem – Beyth hak-Kerem – “house of the vineyard”
:15 But the gate of the fountain
the gate of the fountain – (gate #6) near the southern part of the wall, near the Pool of Siloam
:16 …unto the house of the mighty.
the house – bayith – house
of the mighty – gibbowr – strong, mighty
(NLT) the House of the Warriors.
Lesson
Offense AND Defense
Though there had been a “house of warriors”, the people had come to find they still had a great need for walls.
They say that the best defense is a good offense. But it’s not a matter of either/or in the Christian life. We need defenses AND offenses.
I’ve seen guys who get excited about following the Lord. They study their Bible and off they go witnessing out in the streets.
But I’ve seen some of these same guys who are strong offensively be very weak defensively. And without “walls” around their lives, they are attacked by the enemy.
:21 from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.
Lesson
Building for others too
Even though some people built near their own houses, it appears that Eliashib the High Priest did not build near his own house. He let someone else do that part.
Where did Eliashib build?
The “sheep gate” (Neh. 3:1)
It reminds us of sacrifice
The “sheep gate” was where the sheep were brought in to be
sacrificed in the
It reminds us of people.
God’s people are often called “sheep”. They built the gate for the people.
It reminds us of Jesus.
(John 10:7-10 KJV) Then said Jesus unto them
again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. {8} All that
ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
{9} I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go
in and out, and find pasture. {10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and
to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly.