the exact point at which the change of human authorship took place. Nehemiah first appears on the scene in the royal palace at Shu- shan. Shushan was called by the Greeks Susa and was the capital of the province of Elam. The name of the city means lily and is said to have been given because of the abundance of lilies which grew in the locality. The monarch of Persia maintained a winter residence there. It will be recalled that Shushan was the place where Daniel received his vision of the ram and goat (Dan. 8:2). Subsequent to Daniel’s time, it was the home of Mordecai and Es ther; in its palace Esther lived as queen. For some reason a group of Per sian Jews had just visited Jerusa lem, then had returned to Shushan. Included in their number was Nehe-
miah’s brother, Hanani. When he saw them, Nehemiah asked the trav elers regarding “the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the cap tivity,” meaning the remnant that had returned to the land of Judah, in contrast with those who had re mained in foreign countries. It was clear that Nehemiah knew a num ber had returned and were living once more in the land. However, he had no recent information as to the manner in which they were prosper ing. The answer he received (v. 3) was a sad one. The people of Judah, he learned, were “in great affliction and reproach.” It was difficult for them to get by, facing as they did the reproach of various enemies and adversaries. The root of their trou ble at Jerusalem was the exceed ingly dilapidated condition of the walls and gates of the city. It seems very clear that although the rem nant had finally reconstructed the temple and certain portions of the city, they had never been able to re store the walls of Jerusalem. Some attempt may have been started to accomplish this work, but if so it had been unsuccessful. Until such a wall was absolutely completed, it would be of practically no value whatever. It is hard for us to un derstand just how essential a city wall was in ancient times. It was an indispensable p ro te c tio n both against the attacks of the armed forces of enemy communities and against dep rada t ions of robber bands, especially at night. The news produced a striking re action in Nehemiah, a reaction that brought him to his knees in prayer (vv. 4-11). Apparently he had little knowledge before this of actual con ditions at Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s first action, after he received the bad news, was to sit down and weep. Then for an ex tended period—“certain days”—he mourned, fasted and prayed. After
Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson, pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church of West Covina, member of the Board of Directors, and Radio Bible teacher for "The Biola Hour" is shown in the post office at Bukavu, Congo. Rebels had shot up the post office and a number of bullets had gone into the mail boxes. Dr. Anderson, whose penetrating Bible studies are heard on "The Biola Hour" every Tuesday and Thursday, was privileged to take a missionary survey of Africa visit ing not only Biola missionaries, but also those who are affiliated with the Conserva tive Baptist Foreign Mission Society.
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