365 Reflections

Jerusalem's walls were built and her temple was operational. The work of Ezra and Nehemiah in guiding the exiles back to the Holy City was accomplished. There was just one very important event that needed to happen. They had to live there.  Now you can imagine that the "idea" of living there seemed grand from Babylon, but to actually live there knowing how it was destroyed a century ago had to be scary. Nebuchadnezzar had starved the city out, ripped open the pregnant women, and slaughtered their children. The city had also experienced several attacks from the outside before and several troubles from inside since. In other words, this was a fearful place to be.  So Nehemiah 11 opens by telling us who goes in: Nehemiah 11:1–2 (ESV) Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willi...

Nehemiah 9 is the recounting of God's faithfulness throughout Israel's history and apostasy. It ends with the returned exiles ratifying a covenant before the Lord. Nehemiah 9:38 (ESV)   “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests. Chapter 10 opens with the names of those who ratified the covenant with the Lord.  Nehemiah 10:1 (ESV) “On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah... and the list goes on. What I love about that list is they put themselves out there in public. This was no silent ceremony or commitment of the inward person. They wrote their names down and sealed the documents for keeps!  These are the commitments they make: Nehemiah 10:28–29 (ESV) “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of G...

Nehemiah 9:1–2 (ESV)  Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. They say confession is good for the soul. Nehemiah 9 is an amazing chapter in that regard. In this one chapter, the people who have returned to the land and now completed the walls of Jerusalem gather for worship, the reading of the Word and confession of their sins. Nehemiah 9:3 (ESV) And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it t hey made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. If you read the chapter, you will see they literally go chapter by chapter through the narrative of their nation starting with Abraham. They move right through the history of Egypt, the wilderness, the judges, the...

There's one thing that has kept the work of God moving from the first moment of creation - the proclamation of His Word. Nehemiah may have built the walls, organized the people, and fended off the negative attacks from within and without but there's nothing more powerful than the Word of God to bring God's purpose to completion in God's people. Nehemiah 8:1–3 (ESV) And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. You have here a picture of two ef...

Nehemiah and the team have finished the wall in the face of attacks from within and without as well as the last chapter's events of accusations of insurrection against the Empire. The best thing Nehemiah did in the midst of all his trouble is what you and I must do as well: JUST KEEP BUILDING. Now, at the conclusion of the work, Nehemiah's attention shifts to the maintenance, protection, and population of the city. After all, the purpose of the work was more than just setting up the city. It was about bringing God's people to a home of safety. So Nehemiah goes to work to protect and fill it. Nehemiah 7:1–4 (ESV) Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2 I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. An...

The narrative of Nehemiah is dead on about leadership. I can attest from experience. There are constant attacks facing the work of the Lord. I have only two decades of ministry leadership experience and as I read this text I'm overwhelmed by the corollary realities presented which Nehemiah faced. God's people are hard to get moving in the right direction, you'll always have enemies, you'll face internal struggles, and the organization will grow weary and discouraged on a regular basis. Nehemiah 5 left off with Nehemiah reversing the unfair economic practices among the Jews who were enslaving and extorting each other. Nehemiah not only stops the vicious financial practices of Jews against each other, but he also models remarkable generosity toward the workers, hosting regular feasts at his own expense and refusing the normative financial perks as governor.  The last line of chapter 5 is a call for God's remembrance of these acts: Nehemiah 5:19 (ESV) Remember for my g...

The Lord's people have a bad habit of not supporting each other. Many times throughout history, they have exploited and taken advantage of one another. Such was the case in Nehemiah 5. Having had great success against the external threats toward them from the Samaritans and neighbors, the internal threats begin again. This time in a matter that aggravated families. Jews were enslaving each other. The result was poverty and outcry: Nehemiah 5:1–2 (ESV) Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” The text continues to lists what had transpired as a result: Nehemiah 5:3–5 (ESV) There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4 And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our ...