depressing condition. Although by this time they had dwelt in their land for almost a century since Ze- rubbabel returned and long since had completed the temple structure, they were still harassed by their enemies. Never had they been able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, a very necessary protection in that day and time (1:3). Although Ezra was still present with them, they were “in great affliction and reproach.” Securing the appointment of gov ernor, Nehemiah came to them with official instructions to “rebuild the city” (2:5). Before that actually could be done, however, the walls had to be rebuilt (2:17). The book shows how this was accomplished and the people spiritually revived under the leadership of Nehemiah. The main theme is “Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem” (see 1:3; 2:13, 15, 17; 4:6; 6:15; 12:27). The words wall and walls are used 32 times in the narrative, while build is used 23 times. To us today the book is of great significance because it is filled with practical spiritual lessons, applicable to the people of God in any age as they seek to carry on His work. Es pecially is its message challenging in times of spiritual depression and discouragement. N ehem iah R eturns to J erusalem and R ebuilds th e W alls (1-6) Nehemiah learns of the afflictions of the remnant of Jerusalem. (1.) This is the only Bible book of his tory that begins with the name of the author as is here given. Tradi tion has it that originally the Jews placed Ezra and Nehemiah together as one book. If so, this sentence very likely was written in order to show 32
L uck , “It is plainly stated in the opening v e rse that Nehemiah was the human author of this book. The fact that he sometimes speaks of himself in the third person need not disturb the reader; Ezra did the same. This was a common practice of authors in the past and almost down to the present day. Nehemiah’s name means “Jehovah comforts.” His father was Hachaliah (“Jehovah is hidden”). He had a brother named Hanani (1:2; 7:2). Beyond this we know nothing of the man’s f a m ily. We do not even know from which of the twelve tribes he came. It is clear that he was bom in cap tivity. Through circumstances now unknown, he rose to the position of cupbearer of King Artaxerxes Lon- gimanus (Neh. 1:1; 2:1). This is the same monarch referred to in Ezra 7:1. At Nehemiah’s request, the king made him governor of Ju dah, which position he apparently held for about twelve years (5:14; 8:9; 10:1). As to his subsequent life and death following this period, the Bible is silent.” MacClaren, “A comparison of Ezra 7:8 and Nehemiah 1:1, 2:1, will show that the events of Nehemi ah’s record began approximately twelve years after the closing scene in Ezra. The narrative of the Book of Nehemiah covers another twelve- year period (cf. 2:1; 5:14; 13:6). The history here recorded occurred approximately 445-433 B.C.” As in the Book of Ezra, the au thor of this book presents a plain, straightforward account of a most important period of Jewish history. By the time that twelve years had passed after the revival with which Ezra closes, the people of Judah again had declined to an extremely
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