Hermeneutical Insights On Nehemiah The book of Nehemiah is an interesting book of the Bible.

It is the second-to-last of the historical books, and it is a compilation of both personal memoirs from Nehemiah, as well as other historical sources.1 It was originall one book with !"ra, and it remains as one book within the #ewish Bible. The earl church father $rigen is credited as the first to separate !"ra and Nehemiah into two books% which is how it remains in the &hristian canon toda . 's a result, I found it less comprehensi(e because it lacks man of the details recorded in !"ra that also pertain to, and set the stage for, the historical e(ents recorded in Nehemiah. )owe(er, I can completel agree that it does stand alone as a separate book because it focuses on *od+s use of a different person than !"ra. ,ntil more recentl , Bible scholars belie(ed that !"ra the scribe was the author of both -irst and .econd &hronicles as well as !"ra-Nehemiah. 's more anal sis is being done, the consensus among scholars is that the historian who wrote &hronicles was probabl not the author of !"ra and Nehemiah/ but that !"ra and Nehemiah ma (er well ha(e been compiled b !"ra as is held b #ewish tradition.0 The st le of composition is (er well done in that the book of Nehemiah reads more like a diar than it does a historical record, minus the numerous lists and genealogies. Because of its memoir feel, the reader is able to feel the weight of responsibilit and the e1citement that Nehemiah e1perienced as both cupbearer to the 2ersian king as well as the go(ernor of #erusalem. The feel of the book is important to note because Nehemiah is (er transparent with how *od worked in him and in all the persons in(ol(ed during the reconstruction of #erusalem+s walls. Nehemiah+s transparenc about the historical e(ents and his e1periences make the book a (aluable part of .cripture.
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Nehemiah is thought to ha(e been written and compiled between 0/7 and 077B.&. during the return of man #ewish families from e1ile. The intent of the author is to record for posterit *od+s faithfulness and so(ereignt in returning )is repentant people to )imself and to their inheritance. It was also intended to be a reminder and encouragement for the returning e1iles that were faced with rebuilding their li(es and their #ewish culture after more than 1:7 ears of e1ile under two different empires 4Bab lonia and 2ersia;. >ithin the book is the historical account of the rebuilding of #erusalem+s walls, se(eral lists of genealogies and records of household-heads, se(eral short personal pra ers, the co(enant renewal that the #ews in #erusalem entered into along with a list of the household-heads who signed it, and the historical account of a re(i(al led b Nehemiah and !"ra. It contains the word repaired /< times in a single chapter, stresses repentance, and portra s *od as acti(e and as the initiator of con(ictions, ideas, and co(enants. ,pon first reading Nehemiah, I was immediatel drawn to the theme of restoration. The book+s chronolog of e(ents mirrors perfectl the chronolog of spiritual e(ents that take place in a person when the are restored to *od. In Nehemiah, *od sends messengers to Nehemiah for the purpose of sharing with him the status of the #ews li(ing in #erusalem. The news is not e1actl good news. Nehemiah is con(icted immediatel , and he mourns, fasts, and pra s. ?uring his mourning and pra ing, he confesses not onl his own sins but the sins of his father+s household as well as the sins of the entire #ewish communit . 5ater, he is @uestioned b the 2ersian king as to wh he is so sad. Nehemiah responds truthfull , which demonstrates Nehemiah+s repentance in that he was obedient to the leading of the )ol .pirit rather than his flesh 4fear-of-man;. *od worked in and through both Nehemiah and the Aing to pla out )is process of restoration for )is co(enantal people. In relation to Nehemiah himself, *od restored

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him back to the homeland of his ancestors, ele(ated him to a position of authorit and influence, and worked in and through him to restore not onl the walls of #erusalem, but to restore the communit and worship of the #ews li(ing there and returning from e1ile. The correlation and rele(ance is e(ident in how *od works toda when )e restores one of )is elect back to )imself. -irst, we recei(e news that is less than good about oursel(es.: .econd, the )ol .pirit con(icts us.9 Third, we are led to confess our sins before *od.8 -ourth, we are led to be completel dependent upon *od in repenting of our sins which is obedience rather than gratif ing our flesh.< -inall , *od continues to use us for )is so(ereign will and purpose in restoring others back to )imself. This ser(es well as an encouragement for us toda much like it did during the time of its writing. The theme of restoration is echoed in the second half of the book when *od leads !"ra and Nehemiah to call the people of #erusalem to re(i(al. ' chiasm e1ists with the restoration of Nehemiah in chapter one and the restoration of the people of #erusalem in chapters eight and nine. B seeing this chiasm, we can better grasp the true encouragement that was intended for the returning e1iles then and the e1iled &hurch toda . '. Nehemiah hears bad news 41B/; B. Nehemiah mourns, fasts, and pra s 41B0; &. 2raises *od great and awesome *od 41B:; ?. &onfesses sins of his communit , famil , and self 41B9b,c; !. 3ecalls *od+s co(enantal relationship 41B<-C; -. *reatness of *od recogni"ed D proclaimed 41B17E CB/1; !. 3ecall *od+s co(enantal relationship 4CB8-/1; ?. &onfess sins of their communit , famil , and sel(es 4CB%,19; &. 2raise *od Blessed be our glorious name 4CB:b; B. 2eople of #erusalem mourn, fast, and pra 4<BCbE CB1; '. 2eople of #erusalem hear bad news 4<B%-/;

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's this chiasm indicates, the true encouragement in the book of Nehemiah is the greatness of *od. It is true that restoration is encouraging. Being used b *od after restoration is also (er encouraging. )a(ing a mission of restoration from *od is encouraging too. But when hardships and opposition arise as a result of our restoration, like .anballat and his minions in NehemiahEC or when the mission itself becomes hard and discouraging, like it did in NehemiahE17 the greatness of *od is our true encouragement because onl a great *od can restore e1iles and broken pieces. 'nother theme I want to point out from Nehemiah is that of repair. In chapter three, Nehemiah distinguishes the work being done to the walls and gates as either built or repaired. 'ccording to Nehemiah, onl fi(e areas of the walls were built from scratch with entirel new materials. In contrast, /< areas of the walls were repaired, meaning that new material was applied to the old. The )ebrew word used, chzaq, means to strengthen, to hold, repair, or to fasten upon.11 Aeeping that in mind, let us look ne1t at what repairing the walls of #erusalem would ha(e entailed back during that timeB In ancient times the walls of cities and houses were usuall built of earth, or of bricks of cla , mi1ed with reeds and hardened in the sun. >hen an breach took place in such a mass of earth, b hea( rains or a defect in the foundation, the conse@uences were seriousE and we can easil understand how such walls could be readil destro ed b fire.1%

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This coincides with the mocker of .anballat, >ill the re(i(e the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at thatF1/ This indicates that the walls had been subGected to fire but that the were probabl built of a mi1 of earthen bricks and stones, and the gates of wood. The point being that to repair the walls, the #ews had to first sal(age the reusable material, clean and dress the damaged section, and then reconstruct that particular section of wall. It would ha(e been mess and re@uired significant work and care. >ith *od+s help, the #ews under Nehemiah+s leading, both men and women, completed the repairs in :% da sH 'll the while being threatened b attack. -or the #ews li(ing at the time of the book+s writing and publishing, this would ha(e been well understood and comprehended as a miraculous feat. The knew e1actl what repairing a wall would ha(e entailed. The would ha(e known how hard it was to labor while carr ing weapons. The would ha(e known the seriousness of the threat of militar assault. -or us toda we can onl imagine. )owe(er, the theme of repair can be used as an illustration for how mess the process of repairing our li(es spirituall is. 5ike the walls of #erusalem, we as indi(iduals are comple1. >e are conglomerates of emotions, attitudes, personalities, con(ictions, ideas, etc. >hen we are marred b sin and broken down, *od doesn+t destro us completel and start from scratch. Instead, )e sal(ages from the debris that which )e desires us to glorif )im with 4i.e. specific emotions, con(ictions, passions, etc.;. Ne1t, )e applies new material to us 4#esus, the *ospel, the )ol .pirit, etc.; to repair us and strengthen us that we might once again ser(e )im in the purpose )e created us for. It sounds eas and wonderful, and it is, but the truth is that it is a mess process. .al(aging means that *od has to rid us of what is not worth keeping, which is the sin in our li(es. -or most of us, the remo(al of sin from our li(es is painful because it is a part of our
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fleshB our fallen, sinful nature. 5ike the apostle 2aul sa s, sin has to be put to death.10 'n time we ha(e to deal with sin, it is a mess process. 5ike the repairing of the wall in Nehemiah, the repairing of our li(es re@uires hard work, intentionalit , great care, a constant guard against spiritual attack, and ultimatel it re@uires and depends solel upon *od, the great and awesome.1: The theme of mess repair is echoed in the last chapter of Nehemiah. In this chapter, we read that Nehemiah had returned to 'rte1er1es but then returned back to #erusalem. ,pon his return, Nehemiah disco(ered that one of the priests was in(ol(ed in some shad business regarding the temple, and the 5e(ites and priests were not being gi(en their allotted portions of food. The people of #erusalem were not obser(ing the .abbath, and foreign merchants were being allowed to sell their wares inside the cit and on the .abbath. -urthermore, intermarriage between the #ews of #erusalem and foreigners was rampant. In short, #erusalem had fallen into spiritual disrepairE #erusalem was in turmoil. Nehemiah, not afraid to get mess , immediatel went to work on repairing the spiritual state of #erusalem. The ordinances and actions taken b Nehemiah ha(e been referred to as Nehemiah+s 3eforms b Bible scholars. It was mess . Nehemiah ph sicall threw out things that did not belong in the temple, possibl a prophetic act that points to #esus ph sicall throwing out persons and things from the temple some 007 ears later. Nehemiah e1ecuted ordinances that prohibited foreign merchants from entering #erusalem during the .abbath. )e enforced *od+s law pertaining to intermarriage with foreigners, to the point of ph sicall disciplining (iolators. 's with the wall, spiritual repair is mess .

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Taking a step back now and sur(e ing the book of Nehemiah in its entiret , it is a powerful book. Not onl does it gi(e us a glimpse into the histor of the return of the #ews from e1ile, but it offers us a wealth of spiritual encouragement as well as some prophetic allusions to #esus+ ministr . It definitel contains the theme of covenant as *od+s co(enantal relationship through 6oses is referenced and proclaimed at least three times. The theme of grace is e(ident throughout the book as well, since it was onl because of *od+s grace that Nehemiah and the #ews of #erusalem were able to accomplish an thing. In regards to the allusions to #esus+ ministr , it appears that Nehemiah himself ser(es as the t pe of &hrist character in the book. )is passion and "eal for his countr men and for *od+s 5aw mirror that of &hrist. Nehemiah mourned o(er the state of #erusalem 41B0;, #esus mourned o(er the state of #erusalem 46atthew %/B/8-/C;. Nehemiah cleared out the temple 41/B<-C;, #esus cleared out the temple 46atthew %1B1%-1/;. Nehemiah interceded for his people before the king 4%B/-<;, #esus intercedes for )is people before the -ather 43omans <B/0;. These are Gust a few that I was enlightened to right awa . I was e(en surprised to find a reference to the )ol .pirit b name in CB/7, which is not common in some of the $ld Testament books belonging to the )istor genre. To conclude, I was (er surprised and am (er humbled now b the depth of spiritual food that can be found in the book of Nehemiah. 2rior to this assignment, I knew that the book was about the rebuilding of #erusalem+s walls, but I had no idea how much *od+s initiati(e and greatness were proclaimed. I did ha(e to fight against a humanistic mindset because I assumed that it simpl recorded the acti(ities of men. This was reinforced when I scoured the internet looking at what sermons e1ist toda based on this book. The maGorit of them focus on what Nehemiah and the people contributed to the restoration of the walls and the communit , and

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what we as &hristians ha(e to contribute to our own li(es. But as I looked, and as I pre(iousl stated in this assignment, the book of Nehemiah is about the greatness of *od. >e certainl can draw lots of illustrations from it that pertain to our contributions to the mission of *od, but what reall struck me the most is the theme of restoration. The wall and the people of #erusalem ser(e as illustrations of us - broken down, sinful, and in need of a great and awesome *od to restore and repair us. Now, therefore, our *od, the great, the might , and the awesome *od, who keeps co(enant and steadfast lo(e, let not all the hardship seem little to ou that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all our people, since the time of the kings of 'ss ria until this da . Iet ou ha(e been righteous in all that has come upon us, for ou ha(e dealt faithfull and we ha(e acted wickedl .19

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