Nehemiah served king Artaxerxes of Persia as cupbearer (Neh 1:11b). This king was a son of Ahasuerus, see The Book of Esther. Nehemiah heard that the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile and moved to Jerusalem were in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and its gates were destroyed by fire. (Neh 1:1–3). When he heard that, he wept and mourned for days, and he continued to fast and pray before God (Neh 1:4–11a). The Jews had a great love for Jerusalem (Psalm 137:1–6). Nehemiah wanted to get permission from king
Artaxerxes to travel to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The same king had previously stopped the rebuilding of these walls (Ezr 4:13, 21–23), see
The Book of Ezra. When he asked the king about this about letters from him granting this, the king approved it (Neh 2:5–8). He was appointed by the king to be governor in the land of Judah for twelve years (from 445 BC to 433 BC) (Neh 5:14, 13:6a).
He then traveled to Jerusalem (445 BC) (Neh 2:11).
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he assessed the situation. He confirmed that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and its gates destroyed by fire. (Neh 2:11–15). He then told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the others who were to do the work, to build the wall of Jerusalem, so that they would no longer suffer derision. He also said that he had the king's permission to do so. They replied that they would. (Neh 2:16–18). When the people worked with the wall it was an act of obedience (Neh 3), see This World is Not Our Home in The Book of Romans.
But they had opposition who heard about it, who despised them and wanted to stop them in their work (Neh 2:19–20). When we make a decision in our hearts to follow God, we will be persecuted and have to expect hardships and struggles (2 Tim 3:12).
The opposition mocked them, and the Jews were despised as they worked on the wall (Neh 4:1–4a). Nehemiah prayed that God would punish them for it
(Neh 4:4b–5). That isn't how we are to pray in the New Covenant. Jesus said we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Mat 5:44–48,
Luk 6:27–28, 32–35), see Love and not revenge in The Sermon on the Mount.
The Jews continued with the work with the wall despite the mockery (Neh 4:6).
When the opposition heard that the repair of Jerusalem's walls was going forward, they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it (Neh 4:7–8, 11). The Jews prayed to God and set a guard against them day and night. Half of the men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor, to protect the workers. (Neh 4:9, 16–23).
Nehemiah prayed before he acted, which is a good principle.
The Jews had food problems due to famine. The rich Jews didn't share their food with the poor, instead they sold food to them, but the poor Jews didn't have money to buy it. They therefore had to sell property to them, or borrow money, in order to buy food and pay their taxes. In order to repay those loans, they were forced into slave labor, to which they had to sell their own children. (Neh 5:1–5).
The wealthy Jews didn't follow the Mosaic Laws on how this should be handled
(Deu (5 Mos) 15:12–14, 23:19–20a). God had promised to bless the Jews, but only if they followed the Mosaic Laws (Deu (5 Mos) 23:20b). Nehemiah told them to stop charging interest on the money they had lent to the poor and to immediately return their property to them. They promised to do so. (Neh 5:9–13).
The rich repented from their sin.
Nehemiah didn't use his position as governor to tax the people because he feared God. He devoted himself to the work of the wall, he acquired no land and fed
150 Jews every day at his own expense. (Neh 5:14–19).
The opposition then tried to frighten Nehemiah, accusing him of leading a rebellion and trying to be king himself, but he denied it (Neh 6:1–9). They also tried to give him a bad name in order to discredit him (Neh 6:10–14).
The wall was completed in 52 days (445 BC) (Neh 6:15). Their enemies realized that this work had been done with the help of God (Neh 6:16). After the wall had been rebuilt and the doors were in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians, and the Levites
were appointed (Neh 7:1). The gates of Jerusalem wouldn't be opened until the sun was hot, and they would be closed and locked while the gatekeepers were still on duty (Neh 7:3). The reason was for protection of the city.
All the people came together as one. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law, to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. Ezra brought the Law before the assembly and read it aloud from daybreak to noon. The Levites taught the people the Law while the people stood there. They read from God's Law Book, made it clear and gave the meaning so that the people understood what was read.
(Neh 8:1–3, 7–8, 2 Tim 3:16).
Then they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles (Neh 8:13–18).
That feast will also be celebrated during the millennial kingdom
(Zechariah 14:16–19), see the last part of The Book of Zechariah.
The Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth (Neh 9:1). They had separated themselves from all foreigners (Neh 9:2a, 10:28, 30), see the last part of The Book of Ezra. They confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors
(Neh 9:2b, 3b, 16–18, 26–29). They confessed God as the Creator (Neh 9:6), see The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man. They promised to follow the
Mosaic Laws and taking care of the temple (Neh 10:28–39).
Nehemiah returned to the king of Persia in 433 BC. While he was gone, Israel returned to a way contrary to God's word. Nehemiah therefore returned back to Jerusalem. (Neh 13:4–7).
Many of the people had stopped following the Mosaic Laws and there was corruption (Neh 13:4–5, 7, 10, 15–16). They hadn't kept all the promises that they made when
Nehemiah was there the first time. He had to deal with this when he returned to Jerusalem (Neh 13:8–9, 11–13, 17–22, 30–31).
According to the Law, no Ammonite or Moabite was allowed to enter God's assembly, because they didn't meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them, see Balaam and Balak. As soon as the people heard the Law, they separated from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
(Neh 13:1–3, 23–28, Deu (5 Mos) 23:3–6).
As Christians we belong to a different covenant and aren't under the Mosaic Laws, see Jesus and the Law. Jesus also gave us guidelines on how to pray, see
The Lord's Prayer in The Sermon on the Mount.
See also The Old Testament of the Bible.
