Day 134. Nehemiah 1-3

Brother V · **Day 134. Nehemiah 1-3 -** 03-18-2008, 04:54 PM

Nehemiah 1-3

Today we get:

Hanani tells Nehemiah of the sad state of Jerusalem
Nehemiah leaves Persia
Nehemiah scouts the wall and then starts building

Nehemiah 1

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

Most people think that Nehemiah was the author of the book as well as the main character. Nehemiah is not one of the Jews favorite people, because they think he's boastful. Yet these people just LOVE Moses who claimed to be the most humble man... EVER. The Jews don't even consider Nehemiah to be it's own book, it's part of Ezra. We'll get to see Nehemiah talking about himself as I (me) and as Nehemiah. No, he was not the shortest man in the Bible (KJV1611)!!!

2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

What jews that had escaped? Did Nehemiah consider the 5000 people who went before in Ezra to have escaped? What year are we talking about? Is this before the 42,000 people and later 5,000 people with Ezra went back to build the temple? No, this is in Artaxerxes in about 445 or so. The first people in Ezra went back in 536. Nehemiah was 90 years later. The temple was completed in 516.

3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Apparently after Ezra went and broke up all the families he just sat around and worshiped, and didn't do anything else for at least 10 years. (Ezra went to Jerusalem in 457).

4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

Why did Nehemiah take such a personal stake in the welfare of Jerusalem. He wasn't in David's lineage and he wasn't a Priest or even a levite. He was just some guy of the tribe of Judah. No wonder modern jews don't think highly of him. His story is buried as he's just an average guy who rose to greatness; as opposed to a guy who was proclaimed to greatness. Sound familiar (Saul/David) they hate Saul, but loves them some David.

Anyway, Nehemiah prayed. Begging the LORD for His mercy.

6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

Why is this average Judah guy making prayers for the whole of the remaining children of Israel?

7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

For being of Judah, taken into captivity 100 plus years before, he seems to know the statutes and commandments; which is really weird since the people who were WITH Moses couldn't remember them.

11 O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

No AMEN, he just ended his prayer "For I was the king's cupbearer".

Nehemiah 2

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

Apparently the cupbearer had the additional role of jester, but Nehemiah couldn't even fake being happy when he was concerned about the wall of Jerusalem.

Oh, the 20th year of Artaxerxes is 445/444.

3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

He said, "why shouldn't I be sad when my home city is in ruins".

Now, why would Artaxerxes really care about his cupbearer's hometown? Well, a cupbearer was a person who was highly regarded by the king, as he would be the person who made sure that the wine wasn't poisoned. He would be relatively close to the king and be highly trusted. So the king might actually care about his cupbearers happiness; but probably not too much.

5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

The king asked how long he'd be gone, Nehemiah said for a while; then Nehemiah asked the king for letters that would give him free passage and one that would have Asaph the king's forester to give him timber for the repairs. Artaxerxes gave them to him.

Why?

During that time, the Egyptians revolted from under Persian rule. Greece had just finished fighting the First Peloponnesian War and they were building up a stronger unified military presence (and were probably somewhat angry at Persia for almost conquering them).

If Egypt was going to attack the heart of Persia, it would have to go close to Jerusalem. If Greece was going to attack they would also have to go near Jerusalem to get there. Rebuilding the Jerusalem wall was not done just to keep his cupbearer happy, it was done to preserve Artaxerxes empire.

9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

Captains of the army and horsemen? It's obvious these people weren't sent to protect Nehemiah, but to scout the area and fortify it as a buffer zone, should anyone decide to attack.

13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

Nehemiah and some of the captains scouted out the whole wall to determine how much work was needed to repair the wall.

16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

He didn't really trust the people who were already there. They were lazy slackers to that point anyway.

17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Nehemiah was actually able to talk them into doing the work.

Some of the locals (who were just like the ones before) tried to get Nehemiah to stop the building. Those people thought that the city was going to be rebuilt to DEFY Persia, when it was Artaxerxes who NEEDED the walls to be built.

Nehemiah 3

1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

Pretty much everyone who had a job in Jerusalem stopped working to help build the wall. From the high priest to the lowest hebrew.

12 And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.

Heck, they even had girls building the walls.

It probably was like when the amish build a barn.

32 And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.

Nehemiah 3 is a list of the people building and their situation next to one another. Look, even the goldsmiths and the merchants helped build. This was probably the last time that jewish goldsmiths (goldschmidt) did any manual labor.

So what have we learned today?

1. Nehemiah got really really sad because the walls in a town he's never been to or seen were down.

2. After building the temple, the jews just sat around for 10 years.

3. Artaxerxes allowed Nehemiah to go, not because it would put a smile on his cupbearers face, but because it would make the Egyptians or Greeks have to fight through another city before they got to Persia proper.

YIC
V

Brother Temperance · **Re: Day 134. Nehemiah 1-3 -** 03-18-2008, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brother V

Nehemiah 1-3

13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

I've missed a few days, so sorry if this has already been explained, but what exactly are are the dragon well and the dung port? A dung port sounds quite unpleasant, I have to say. And a dragon well...is that like the well the soup dragon gets soup from?

Brother V · **Re: Day 134. Nehemiah 1-3 -** 03-18-2008, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brother Temperance

I've missed a few days, so sorry if this has already been explained, but what exactly are are the dragon well and the dung port? A dung port sounds quite unpleasant, I have to say. And a dragon well...is that like the well the soup dragon gets soup from?

The dung gate was on the western wall and was where people from the city would go out into the Valley of Hinnom and burn their poop. The valley of Hinnom is also Gehenna.

Apparently the dragon well was named that because it looks like a dragon and the stream of water looks like fire coming out of it's mouth.

Brother Temperance · **Re: Day 134. Nehemiah 1-3 -** 03-18-2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brother V

The dung gate was on the western wall and was where people from the city would go out into the Valley of Hinnom and burn their poop. The valley of Hinnom is also Gehenna.

So is there a connection between Hell and burning poop? ...Actually, I suppose that's one of those questions where answering it is almost redundant.