Nehemiah 1:1-11

The *Jews build Jerusalem’s city wall again

Nehemiah

Robert Bryce and Robert Betts

About the Book of Nehemiah

Explanation

There are many dates in this *introduction. These dates are the number of years before the time when Jesus Christ was born. Each date has the letters ‘BC’, which mean ‘before Christ’, after it. This *introduction also refers to places in the Bible where you can read about these things.

The history of the *Jews before their *exile

These are the events that happened in *Israel before the time of Nehemiah. This account will help us to understand the Book of Nehemiah better. We can read about these events in Nehemiah 9:5-37.

The people in *Israel do not obey God

God chose the nation called *Israel to be his special people (Leviticus 20:26). He wanted the people to love him and to *worship him. And he wanted them to obey him. In the city called Jerusalem, which was their capital, they built a great *temple. The people *worshipped God and gave *sacrifices to him in this *temple. *Israel became a powerful nation.

But the people in *Israel did not obey God (Nehemiah 9:16-18; Nehemiah 9:26). They *worshipped the gods of the other nations. So God caused the people in *Israel to suffer trouble and difficulties.

The *Israelites continued to *sin against God (Nehemiah 9:28). God sent many *prophets to warn them about this. But the *Israelites did not listen to these men. Instead, the *Israelites continued to do bad things (Nehemiah 9:29-30). So God allowed them to suffer terrible difficulties. God loved the *Israelites because they were his people. He only allowed them to suffer like this so that they would remember him. He wanted them to obey him. Then he could do good things for them again.

The nation divided into two parts. The northern part was called *Israel and people called the inhabitants *Israelites. The name of the southern part was *Judah and people called the inhabitants *Jews. Jerusalem was in the southern part. The book of Nehemiah is about the people in *Judah. However, sometimes Nehemiah calls them the people of *Israel. God gave Jacob the name *Israel when he promised to make Jacob’s *descendants God’s special people. By the time of Nehemiah, only the people in *Judah remained, but they were still God’s special people.

Assyria overcomes *Israel

In 722 BC, God allowed a powerful nation, the *Assyrians, to overcome *Israel (2 Kings 17:1-23). The *Assyrians forced many *Israelites to live in other countries (2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:10-11). And they brought other people to live in *Israel (2 Kings 17:24). These other people *worshipped false gods. They also tried to *worship the real God, but they did not *worship him in the right manner (2 Kings 17:25-41). People called them Samaritans because their chief city was called Samaria (2 Kings 17:24). Samaria was only about two days walk from Jerusalem. The Samaritans became Nehemiah’s enemies. One of their leaders was Sanballat, who was Nehemiah’s chief enemy.

The beginning of the *exile of the people of *Judah

Many of the kings of *Judah did not obey God. But some of them loved God and they encouraged the people to obey him. But the *Jews usually refused to obey God (Nehemiah 9:28-30), as the *Israelites had done. So after many years, God had to punish them too.

In 701 BC, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, overcame some cities in *Judah (2 Kings 18:13). But he did not overcome Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:32-36). God saved the city on that occasion.

Many years later, the *Assyrians became weak and the *Babylonians took control of their country, Assyria. The *Babylonians were the *Jews’ enemies, as the *Assyrians had been. The king of the *Babylonians was Nebuchadnezzar. The *Babylonian army overcame *Judah. The soldiers took most of the *Jews to Babylonia and forced them to live there. This is called ‘the *Babylonian *exile’. It lasted for about 70 years.

God used a foreign king, Nebuchadnezzar, to punish the *Jews. Nebuchadnezzar took them away from the land that God had given to them. At that time, Nebuchadnezzar did not give honour to the real God. Instead, Nebuchadnezzar was serving false gods. But God still used Nebuchadnezzar to punish the *Jews. In Jeremiah 25:9, God said that Nebuchadnezzar was his servant. But Nebuchadnezzar did not know that. In Jeremiah 25:12, God also said that he would punish the *Babylonians 70 years later. God would punish them because they were wicked too (see Daniel chapter 5). God is in control. He can even use people who do not know him.

The *Babylonians overcame *Judah in three phases:

1. In 605 BC they took king Jehoiakim’s family and the people who served the king (2 Chronicles 36:5-7; Daniel 1:1-7). They forced them to go to Babylonia and to live there. Daniel was one of these people and he became a very important official in Babylonia (Daniel 1:17-21; Daniel 5:29-6.3; 6:28). He wrote the Book of Daniel.

2. Then, 8 years later, the *Babylonians took Jehoiachin, the next king of *Judah, to Babylonia. And they appointed his uncle, Zedekiah, to be king of *Judah. They also took all the leaders, soldiers and skilful workmen. The *Babylonians also stole the beautiful and valuable things in the *temple and they took them to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17).

3. Later, in 586 BC, the *Babylonians came. They destroyed the *temple and the city of Jerusalem. They took king Zedekiah, and most of the people who remained in *Judah, to Babylonia. They allowed only the poorest people to live in *Judah (2 Kings 25:1-12).

God had warned his people before these things happened. He would allow these events to happen if the people refused to obey him (Leviticus 26:27-39; Deuteronomy 28:15 and Deuteronomy 28:64-68; 2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Isaiah 39:6-7 and Micah 4:10). God gave his people a long time to ask him to forgive them. He gave them the opportunity to obey him. But the people did not listen to him. They did more and more evil things and they gave honour to false gods.

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah are two parts of the same story. They tell us about the time when the *Jews returned from Babylonia to their own country called *Judah. Babylonia was about 4 months’ walk east from *Judah. The *Babylonians had defeated the people in *Judah. The *Babylonians had forced most of the *Jews to go to Babylonia and to live there. After many years, the *Persians defeated the *Babylonians. Then Cyrus, the king of Persia, allowed the *Jews to return to *Judah.

The Book of Ezra is the first part. It tells us about the first two groups of *Jews who returned to *Judah. The first group returned about 70 years after the *Babylonians had taken the *Jews into *exile. The book also explains how the *Jews built their *temple again. Then, many years later, a man called Ezra helped the *Jews. He helped them to know God’s commands and to obey them.

The book of Nehemiah is the second part. It tells the story of a man whose name was Nehemiah. He was a very important official who worked for the king of Persia. God sent Nehemiah to *Judah in order to do a special task. Nehemiah would help the *Jews to build the walls round Jerusalem again. He arrived in *Judah about 13 years after Ezra went there. The king appointed Nehemiah to be the ruler of *Judah. Nehemiah, like Ezra, helped the *Jews to obey God’s commands.

About city walls

In ancient times, most cities had city walls. The wall was an important defence that surrounded the city.

The wall would be strong and high. Many such walls were several metres thick. And they would make the city like a large castle.

The top of the wall would be flat. The city's guards would walk on top of the wall. From there, they could watch for any criminals who were inside the city. Also, the guards would be able to see if an enemy army approached the city.

There would be some *towers along the wall. These were tall, strong buildings that the guards could use. And they would be very useful if there was a war.

The wall would have large gates. During the day, these gates were open. Traders and travellers could enter the city. And they could go to the market. But by night, the guards closed the gates. Then, nobody could enter. And the city would be safe.

Because the wall was so strong, people would use it for other purposes too. For example, people might build their houses against it. In some cities, these houses actually became part of the city wall. So, the wall became a row of houses.

Chapter 1

v1 This is the record of Nehemiah, who was the son of Hachaliah. It was the month called Kislev in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes’ rule. I was in Shushan, the king’s castle.