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W O W - T H E B I G P I C T U R E
by Thomas Nelson Publishers
Nehemiah's Return to Rebuild
-- Nehemiah 1-2; 4:7-20; Psalm 97:10-12; Proverbs 17:15
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the
month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the
citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I
asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the
captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 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."
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.
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, 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. We have acted very
corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the
statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.
Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses,
saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;
but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though
some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I
will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have
chosen as a dwelling for My name.' Now these are Your servants and Your
people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong
hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of
Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear
Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him
mercy in the sight of this man."
For I was the king's cupbearer.
And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of
King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and
gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.
Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not
sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart."
So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, "May the king live
forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my
fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"
Then the king said to me, "What do you request?"
So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, "If it
pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I
ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I
may rebuild it."
Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), "How long
will your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king
to send me; and I set him a time.
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, 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.
Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave
them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and
horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite
official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to
seek the well-being of the children of Israel.
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the
night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my
heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the
one on which I rode. And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to
the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem
which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Then
I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no
room for the animal under me to pass. 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. And the officials did not know where I
had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests,
the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.
Then I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how
Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let
us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach."
And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and
also of the king's words that he had spoken to me.
So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to
this good work.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and
Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and
said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against
the king?"
So I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will
prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you
have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem."
Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and
the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored
and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry,
and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and
create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and
because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
Then Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is
so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall."
And our adversaries said, "They will neither know nor see anything,
till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to
cease."
So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us
ten times, "From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us."
Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the
openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their
swords, their spears, and their bows. 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."
And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and
that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to
the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half
of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the
spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were
behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those
who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they
worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of
the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one
who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, "The
work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another
on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us
there. Our God will fight for us."
Nehemiah 1-2; 4:7-20
WORSHIP:
You who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
Psalm 97:10-12
WISDOM:
He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
Proverbs 17:15
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