Neh 1:1 | KingComments | STEP | As has happened several times before, I wrote this commentary after giving sermons about this book of the Bible. It was with great joy that I was able to share the rich lessons from this book with the believers who attended the sermons, in Gummersbach, Germany. What I have been able to gather in the preparation, I have edited in such a way that the whole, now as a commentary, can be offered to anyone who wants to take knowledge of it. The book contains rich lessons for those who are leaders in the church of God. By this I do not mean by people appointed leaders, but believers who show in their lives that they want to live according to the norms of God’s Word and are examples to others ( ). These are the more mature believers who take care of God’s church ( ; ). Such believers will not rule, but serve ( ). Their great example is the Lord Jesus, who was in the midst of the disciples “as the one who serves” ( ). That does not mean that this book would not have lessons for those who are not leaders. The Lord Jesus is the example of service for every believer. Every one of God’s children is called to learn from Him as the Exemplar Servant. Because Nehemiah is so similar to Him, this book is full of applications for every believer. The history and person of Nehemiah provide a variety of situations that we can translate into our time. In every situation we see Nehemiah act in a way that suits that particular situation. It seems as if he is present everywhere and has an appropriate answer to everything. He also knows how to step back in time. We will discover that the secret is his intense prayer life. Being subservient does not mean being a ‘softy’. Nehemiah is not a weakling. He makes himself small before God; that is why he is fearless in his actions before people. He acts with authority and, if necessary, harshly, no matter whom he has in front of him. In this way he puts a stop to evil practices and brings about a reversal in wrong situations. What a blessing this man has been for God’s people! May God grant us to be like Nehemiah and to take to heart the lessons of this book. I have tried, as much as possible, to give a verse by verse commentary, with the emphasis on the application. In the study of Nehemiah 1-2, I base each verse on questions I can ask about the text. There will certainly be other questions to think of. I will gladly leave that to the reader for the next chapters. It can be a tool to better understand and apply the text. The question is followed by an explanation or clarification, with applications interwoven into it. In the first two chapters, as a kind of summary, I close each verse with some lessons I see in it. I hope it will be a stimulus for the reader to discover these lessons for themselves in the following chapters. Ger de Koning Middelburg, Dutch version revised 2017 / English version April 2022 Introduction to the book of Nehemiah The book is written by Nehemiah himself and is therefore an autobiography. Yet he tells no more about himself than is necessary to see his connection with the people of God and his service to them. The subject of the book of Nehemiah is the rebuilding of the city wall around Jerusalem. The city is the area where everyday life takes place. The book deals with the civilian life of the Israelites, but in a situation where they are subject to the Gentiles. Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Arthahsasta (Artaxerxes). That is thirteen or fourteen years after Ezra, who returned in the seventh year of Arthahsasta. There are about ninety years between the return under Cyrus, mentioned in , and the arrival of Nehemiah in Jerusalem. With the arrival of Ezra and later that of Nehemiah, God has His own intentions. Nehemiah respected the position that Ezra has. Nehemiah appreciated it, as shown in his book ( ). There was no jealousy. Ezra was a scribe and also a priest. He was an examiner of the Word of God, in which he had his sources, providing him with strength to act. Nehemiah was more of a practical man, a man busy with everyday things. They both had the same mind. How is it that the situation had become so that a Nehemiah was needed while Ezra was in Jerusalem? Had Ezra’s energy faded a bit? The people we meet in the book of Nehemiah are those who had returned in the book of Ezra, but sometime later. The decay had come. Nehemiah is characterized by a deep sense of the decay of God’s people. On the other hand, Nehemiah is also characterized by an awareness of the faithfulness of God. Fortunately the Lord can send men like Nehemiah when Ezra’s service was no longer so emphatically present. In Nehemiah it is about building a wall around the city of God, in which the temple of God stands. He dwells with His people. The personal application of the book is that we build a wall around the city of our souls, realizing that our “body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” ( ). As we build this wall, we meet resistance. We must overcome this resistance. This gives rise to struggle and requires vigilance. When the people say “let us rise and build”, the enemy says “I will rise and resist”. The book of Nehemiah is perhaps the most fundamental book of the Bible when it comes to personal service to God. For man in general, and for the believer in particular, there is no right to choose one’s own fulfillment of life. To start a study for a profession or to set up a career in business or to engage in any other work, without asking for the will of God, is not only foolish, it is also sin. The Lord’s claims must be fully acknowledged. He needs to occupy the first place in all things. Our prayer must be: “Lord what do you want me to do and how and where and when do you want me to do it?” To this end, all areas of our lives must be handed over to Him: family, profession, church. Then God can reach His goal with us and our lives will be successful in the true sense of the word. A division of the book 1. The servant and his special commission (Nehemiah 1-3). a. The servant is prepared, the hidden exercises of the heart (Nehemiah 1). b. The way is prepared, the circumstances controlled (Nehemiah 2). c. The rebuilding of the wall and the gates (Nehemiah 3). 2. Resistance and measures against the attacks of the enemy (Nehemiah 4-7). 3. Restoring the authority of God’s Word (Nehemiah 8-10). 4. The government of the city (Nehemiah 11-13). Name and origin of Nehemiah Nehemiah means ‘comforted by Yahweh’. As an exile he is far from the place chosen by the LORD for His Name to dwell, but he experiences the comfort of the LORD. That means that he has sought that comfort. We need comfort when we are sad. The cause of sorrow will be unique to each person. To be a Nehemiah it is necessary to know the comfort of the Lord. He is the son of Hacaliah. Hacaliah means ‘wait for Yahweh’. Before he receives a task from the LORD for the sake of His people, he must learn to wait for the LORD (cf. ). Patience is often a big stumbling block in the work for the Lord. Having a desire to do something for the Lord is one thing. It is another thing to wait for His time. The time in which Nehemiah lives We write “the month Chislev, [in] the twentieth year”. On the Jewish calendar, the month Chislev is the third month of the civil year, the beginning of winter. With us, November/December is then on the calendar. From about 165 BC onwards, on the twenty-fifth of this month, the “[feast of] the consecration of the temple” ( ) is celebrated. This feast, also called “Chanukah Feast”, is celebrated to commemorate the restoration and cleansing of the temple by Judas, the Maccabee. The latter nullified its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes and rededicated the temple to God. “The twentieth year”, is the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes ( ). Artaxerxes became king in 465 BC. So something is told about the life and work of Nehemiah in the period from 445 or 444 BC. The year is named after the time when a foreign ruler has control over Israel. We can call the indication of the year a ‘rough’ dating and the indication of the month Chislev a ‘fine’ dating. Both time indications are important for the servant. He must know God’s calendar (Chislev) and the calendar used in the world (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes). He must have the awareness that God rules, while satan is still “the ruler of the world” ( ). The servant observes what the world leaders decide, but he does not allow himself to be guided by those decisions; he tests those decisions against the Word of God. Where Nehemiah is The description of Nehemiah’s service begins when he is “in Susa the capitol”, the residence of the Persian kings. This means that he is completely surrounded by enemies of God’s people. He lives in the midst of people who do not take God into account, while his own eyes are fixed on Him. His heart is constantly in the land where he belongs. He is at the court of the most powerful man of that time. In it we see that God has a remnant for His Name in all places. So we also know of a God-fearing Obadiah in the court of Ahab ( ) and of saints in the house of Caesar. Some lessons 1. Anyone who wants to do something for the Lord should be able to tell who he is in his relationship with the Lord, how he experiences it, Who the Lord is for him and what the Lord expects of him. 2. He must feel the spiritual climate of God’s people. Winter is approaching. The church, God’s people now, is for the most part in a lukewarm “Laodicéa” condition, not yet completely cold, but no longer warm either. Nevertheless, the faithful believer can devote himself completely to the Lord at this time. His desire will be that the temple, which in the New Testament means both the church and the body of the believer ( ; ), will again fulfill God’s purpose. 3. He must know that he has no rights in the world. He depends on the favor of those above him. 4. He should also be aware of the spiritual climate of the world in which he lives. The enmity against God and His Word manifests itself in an ever bolder way.

‏ Nehemiah 1:1

Introduction

As has happened several times before, I wrote this commentary after giving sermons about this book of the Bible. It was with great joy that I was able to share the rich lessons from this book with the believers who attended the sermons, in Gummersbach, Germany. What I have been able to gather in the preparation, I have edited in such a way that the whole, now as a commentary, can be offered to anyone who wants to take knowledge of it.

The book contains rich lessons for those who are leaders in the church of God. By this I do not mean by people appointed leaders, but believers who show in their lives that they want to live according to the norms of God’s Word and are examples to others (Heb 13:7). These are the more mature believers who take care of God’s church (Heb 13:17; Acts 20:28). Such believers will not rule, but serve (1Pet 5:1-3). Their great example is the Lord Jesus, who was in the midst of the disciples “as the one who serves” (Lk 22:26-27).

That does not mean that this book would not have lessons for those who are not leaders. The Lord Jesus is the example of service for every believer. Every one of God’s children is called to learn from Him as the Exemplar Servant. Because Nehemiah is so similar to Him, this book is full of applications for every believer.

The history and person of Nehemiah provide a variety of situations that we can translate into our time. In every situation we see Nehemiah act in a way that suits that particular situation. It seems as if he is present everywhere and has an appropriate answer to everything. He also knows how to step back in time. We will discover that the secret is his intense prayer life.

Being subservient does not mean being a ‘softy’. Nehemiah is not a weakling. He makes himself small before God; that is why he is fearless in his actions before people. He acts with authority and, if necessary, harshly, no matter whom he has in front of him. In this way he puts a stop to evil practices and brings about a reversal in wrong situations.

What a blessing this man has been for God’s people! May God grant us to be like Nehemiah and to take to heart the lessons of this book.

I have tried, as much as possible, to give a verse by verse commentary, with the emphasis on the application. In the study of Nehemiah 1-2, I base each verse on questions I can ask about the text. There will certainly be other questions to think of. I will gladly leave that to the reader for the next chapters. It can be a tool to better understand and apply the text. The question is followed by an explanation or clarification, with applications interwoven into it. In the first two chapters, as a kind of summary, I close each verse with some lessons I see in it. I hope it will be a stimulus for the reader to discover these lessons for themselves in the following chapters.

Ger de Koning

Middelburg, Dutch version revised 2017 / English version April 2022

Introduction to the book of Nehemiah

The book is written by Nehemiah himself and is therefore an autobiography. Yet he tells no more about himself than is necessary to see his connection with the people of God and his service to them.

The subject of the book of Nehemiah is the rebuilding of the city wall around Jerusalem. The city is the area where everyday life takes place. The book deals with the civilian life of the Israelites, but in a situation where they are subject to the Gentiles.

Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Arthahsasta (Artaxerxes). That is thirteen or fourteen years after Ezra, who returned in the seventh year of Arthahsasta. There are about ninety years between the return under Cyrus, mentioned in Ezra 1:1, and the arrival of Nehemiah in Jerusalem. With the arrival of Ezra and later that of Nehemiah, God has His own intentions. Nehemiah respected the position that Ezra has. Nehemiah appreciated it, as shown in his book (Neh 8:1-2 ; 10 ; Neh 12:27-43). There was no jealousy.

Ezra was a scribe and also a priest. He was an examiner of the Word of God, in which he had his sources, providing him with strength to act. Nehemiah was more of a practical man, a man busy with everyday things. They both had the same mind. How is it that the situation had become so that a Nehemiah was needed while Ezra was in Jerusalem? Had Ezra’s energy faded a bit?

The people we meet in the book of Nehemiah are those who had returned in the book of Ezra, but sometime later. The decay had come. Nehemiah is characterized by a deep sense of the decay of God’s people. On the other hand, Nehemiah is also characterized by an awareness of the faithfulness of God. Fortunately the Lord can send men like Nehemiah when Ezra’s service was no longer so emphatically present.

In Nehemiah it is about building a wall around the city of God, in which the temple of God stands. He dwells with His people. The personal application of the book is that we build a wall around the city of our souls, realizing that our “body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1Cor 6:19). As we build this wall, we meet resistance. We must overcome this resistance. This gives rise to struggle and requires vigilance. When the people say “let us rise and build”, the enemy says “I will rise and resist”.

The book of Nehemiah is perhaps the most fundamental book of the Bible when it comes to personal service to God. For man in general, and for the believer in particular, there is no right to choose one’s own fulfillment of life. To start a study for a profession or to set up a career in business or to engage in any other work, without asking for the will of God, is not only foolish, it is also sin.

The Lord’s claims must be fully acknowledged. He needs to occupy the first place in all things. Our prayer must be: “Lord what do you want me to do and how and where and when do you want me to do it?” To this end, all areas of our lives must be handed over to Him: family, profession, church. Then God can reach His goal with us and our lives will be successful in the true sense of the word.

A division of the book

1. The servant and his special commission (Nehemiah 1-3).

a. The servant is prepared, the hidden exercises of the heart (Nehemiah 1).

b. The way is prepared, the circumstances controlled (Nehemiah 2).

c. The rebuilding of the wall and the gates (Nehemiah 3).

2. Resistance and measures against the attacks of the enemy (Nehemiah 4-7).

3. Restoring the authority of God’s Word (Nehemiah 8-10).

4. The government of the city (Nehemiah 11-13).

Nehemiah, Ancestry, Time and Place

Name and origin of Nehemiah

Nehemiah means ‘comforted by Yahweh’. As an exile he is far from the place chosen by the LORD for His Name to dwell, but he experiences the comfort of the LORD. That means that he has sought that comfort. We need comfort when we are sad. The cause of sorrow will be unique to each person. To be a Nehemiah it is necessary to know the comfort of the Lord.

He is the son of Hacaliah. Hacaliah means ‘wait for Yahweh’. Before he receives a task from the LORD for the sake of His people, he must learn to wait for the LORD (cf. Lam 3:26). Patience is often a big stumbling block in the work for the Lord. Having a desire to do something for the Lord is one thing. It is another thing to wait for His time.

The time in which Nehemiah lives

We write “the month Chislev, [in] the twentieth year”. On the Jewish calendar, the month Chislev is the third month of the civil year, the beginning of winter. With us, November/December is then on the calendar. From about 165 BC onwards, on the twenty-fifth of this month, the “[feast of] the consecration of the temple” (Jn 10:22) is celebrated. This feast, also called “Chanukah Feast”, is celebrated to commemorate the restoration and cleansing of the temple by Judas, the Maccabee. The latter nullified its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes and rededicated the temple to God.

“The twentieth year”, is the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes (Neh 2:1). Artaxerxes became king in 465 BC. So something is told about the life and work of Nehemiah in the period from 445 or 444 BC. The year is named after the time when a foreign ruler has control over Israel.

We can call the indication of the year a ‘rough’ dating and the indication of the month Chislev a ‘fine’ dating. Both time indications are important for the servant. He must know God’s calendar (Chislev) and the calendar used in the world (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes). He must have the awareness that God rules, while satan is still “the ruler of the world” (Jn 14:30). The servant observes what the world leaders decide, but he does not allow himself to be guided by those decisions; he tests those decisions against the Word of God.

Where Nehemiah is

The description of Nehemiah’s service begins when he is “in Susa the capitol”, the residence of the Persian kings. This means that he is completely surrounded by enemies of God’s people. He lives in the midst of people who do not take God into account, while his own eyes are fixed on Him. His heart is constantly in the land where he belongs.

He is at the court of the most powerful man of that time. In it we see that God has a remnant for His Name in all places. So we also know of a God-fearing Obadiah in the court of Ahab (1Kgs 18:3) and of saints in the house of Caesar.

Some lessons

1. Anyone who wants to do something for the Lord should be able to tell who he is in his relationship with the Lord, how he experiences it, Who the Lord is for him and what the Lord expects of him.

2. He must feel the spiritual climate of God’s people. Winter is approaching. The church, God’s people now, is for the most part in a lukewarm “Laodicéa” condition, not yet completely cold, but no longer warm either. Nevertheless, the faithful believer can devote himself completely to the Lord at this time. His desire will be that the temple, which in the New Testament means both the church and the body of the believer (1Cor 3:16; 1Cor 6:19), will again fulfill God’s purpose.

3. He must know that he has no rights in the world. He depends on the favor of those above him.

4. He should also be aware of the spiritual climate of the world in which he lives. The enmity against God and His Word manifests itself in an ever bolder way.