The Bible Recap - Day 269 (Nehemiah 1-5) - Year 3

Episode Date: September 26, 2021

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap. The books of Niemaya and Ezra used to be one long book, chronicling the return of the exiles after the Babylonian captivity. In Ezra, we met the first two rounds of leadership, Zerubabal and Joshua, and then we met young Ezra. Today, we meet another leader who comes along during the time of Ezra, we met the first two rounds of leadership, Zerubabel and Joshua, and then we met young Ezra. Today we meet another leader who comes along during the time of Ezra, Nehemiah. He is an Israelite official who works for the Persian government. One thing we haven't dealt with so far is why there are so many Israelites still in

Persia after God commanded them to return to Jerusalem. If they're Yahweh-fearing Jews, why did they disobey God's orders? Some scholars say people like Ezra, Nehemiah, and even Mordekai probably had no choice in the matter, because they were servants of the Persian government and could only do what was permitted. If that's true, perhaps that's one reason why it was so important to have the King's approval and support in returning to Israel. Nehemiah has an inside track for getting the King's support, because he isn't a prophet

or a priest by trade, he's a personal assistant to the King. In addition to that, he's a man of prayer. There are 12 prayers recorded in the 13 chapters of this book. He also frequently quotes or references scripture, which shows us that he knows God's word. When we open today, he's got a family member in town from Jerusalem, and he asks how things are going. Not, well, it turns out, the people have been back in Jerusalem for almost a century, and they haven't rebuilt the walls. Nehemiah is distraught. He mourns and fasts and prays. He also quotes God

back to God, regarding the specific promises he made his people in Deuteronomy 30. God has lived up to what he said he would do, but Nehemiah knows the people have not lived up to what God asked of them, so he wants to go do something about it. When Nehemiah asks the king for his approval, the king gives him everything he asks for. Time off work, which ends up being 12 years, a travel visa and building supplies.

On top of that, he sends military officers with him for the journey. Nehemiah acknowledges God's role in every level of this plan moving forward. God put the idea in his heart, according to 2-12, and in 2-8, he says God granted him favor with the King when trying to work out the plan. Because what God initiates, he will sustain, and he will fulfill. That's not to say it won't come without opposition, though, and Nehemiah meets that pretty immediately in the form of sandballet and tabaya. They're governors of the area surrounding Judah, and they're not pleased that anyone who works for the King of Persia would go to help the people of Judah. Even though the King has sent Nehemiah on this journey, they seem to think it was a bad military decision on the King's part. Once Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem, he initially stays pretty hush-hush about his plans,

mostly sneaking out at night to inspect the status of the city's roads and walls. He gets a good overview of the south side of the city, especially, then he shows up as the new governor of Judah and presents his plan to the locals. His pep talk is a hit, and all the people are on board. Hooray! Then word gets back to sandballad and

Tobiah and another governor, and they accuse Nehemiah of rebelling against King Artisercces, which we know and they know is a completely false accusation. It seems like they were trying to dissuade the locals from helping by making them think this construction job wasn't approved by the King. Nehemiah isn't deterred though. He says they'll keep working on the thing God has started in them. Trusting God will finish. He also reminds the neighboring governors that Jerusalem doesn't belong to them. It belongs to God and his people.

So why do they care? Chapter three gives a solicit of who worked on which projects and even calls out a few nobles who thought they were too good to help out. Then chapter four brings us back around to the opposition again. Send ballot kicks in with the trash talk and to buy a jumpson board too. Meanwhile, Nehemiah asked God to turn their words back on them.

We definitely saw God do that in the book of Esther so we know He can. The people keep their heads down and continue building no matter what their enemies say or do. Then, since the enemy can't discourage them, they decide to attack them. Nia Maya asked God for help and sets up a guard for protection. But as word gets out to Jerusalem, that their enemies actually want to kill them in order to stop their progress, their morale drops. They're in an especially vulnerable situation because they're rebuilding the very wall that would normally serve as military defense, and they're barely halfway done getting it rebuilt, so the enemy has ample opportunity to invade.

Nehemiah tells them, do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight, and they do. After the enemy sees God working on their behalf, they back off, but the Jews are not letting their guard down. They take off their construction vests and put on armor. They pick up weapons and they work with one hand on offense and one hand on defense. Talk about commitment. Did I mention all this is happening in the midst of a famine?

And because of the shortage of supplies, some of the locals have started enslaving and oppressing other Jews. Neomyah finds out about it and boy is he angry. This is a breath of fresh air compared to the pre-exile leaders. They led the way in oppressing the poor and the prophets were the ones revoking them. But here's Nehemiah, a governor, not a prophet,

and he's standing up for the poor. He commands the other leaders to give back the land they've taken and stop charging interest because those things go against God's laws for the Israelites and they're dishonoring him by taking advantage of the needy. They promise to do what he says. Then, even though Nehemiah isn't a prophet, he has this moment where he does something that's very prophet-like. He shakes out the fabric of his clothes and says, may God shake out from his home and his job anyone who doesn't live up to his promise. But good news, God doesn't have to do any shaking

because the people actually do what they agree to do. Nehemiah does his part to solve the problem too. Even though governors have the right to take an income from the people, he doesn't, because he knows they're already hard pressed, plus he has the financial support of King Artisercces. So for 12 years, the King pays Nehemiah's bills instead of the people,

and Neomy uses the king's money to bless a lot of other locals as well. But he doesn't do all of this to impress the people, he never asks for them to notice or approve. He only asks for God to approve and bless him. My God shot today was in God's protection of the people during the enemy's attack. If you think back on Israel's history, you may recall that sometimes they didn't even have to live to finger to win a battle. Sometimes God just did it all on his own. But sometimes, like today, you want to work through his people. So they're praying, they're working, and they're ready to defend the city.

God works in a variety of ways, sometimes in the miraculous, sometimes in the mundane. That's one reason why it's key to stay tuned into him like Nehemiah did here, always touching base with God for direction. He has a plan. We just have to ask what role we're playing in it. Sometimes he calls us to be active. Sometimes he calls us to sit back and wait for him to work, but he always has a plan. So ask him about it. His plan is good, and he's where the joy is.

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