Nehemiah Review

 Like Ezra, Nehemiah was a part of the people of Israel who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city and the Temple after their exile in Babylon.  He had been given permission to do this by Cyrus, the king of Persia.  He had been a cup bearer to Artaxerxes and not a military man nor a prophet or priest.  We as followers of Christ may have ordinary jobs, but if we are doing God’s will, then we become extraordinary people, whether the people of the world ever acknowledge this or not.   

Nehemiah was passionate about rebuilding the wall and the Temple, and even though he still faced opposition, with people from other nations around Jerusalem even lying about his intention, he never gave up on this mission.  We as Christians will face opposition but should never give up on what God calls us to do. 

The priests of Nehemiah’s day had not kept themselves spiritually clean, so the Levites who had cleansed themselves spiritually had to do the job of the priests for a while.  If we are a born-again believer we are called for a purpose, but we cannot fulfill our purpose if we allow ourselves to become spiritually unclean.  Then, someone else will have to do what we should be doing, but God’s work will still be done.  Our disobedience does not stop God’s work but only costs us our reward for doing it.  

The people worked together in an orderly manner to rebuild the wall and were able to complete it, but they still were guilty of not following God’s law, in particular by marrying non-Jews and Nehemiah had them correct this.  They were told to divorce their foreign wives, and they did.   It might seem that Nehemiah was having them disobey God’s law about marriage, but they were already guilty of doing that in marrying foreign wives who often led them to disobey God’s law.  If we have married a non-Christian, which would still not be in accordance with God’s will, we are not told to divorce them, unless they ask for a divorce.  Still, we cannot allow them to pull us away from God’s will.   

The Persian king had provided much of the materials needed for the rebuilding, but the people of Israel were still required to bring their tithes and offerings to God.  Even if God’s work is somehow funded by those in power, we are still required to be faithful in giving to God.        

Next. we will look at Esther.