Nehemiah 3 - 8

Nehemiah — Steve Gregg

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Nehemiah 3 - 8

NehemiahSteve Gregg

In this exposition of Nehemiah 3-8, Steve Gregg provides insights into the chapter's events and their significance. He focuses on the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, highlighting the unity and dedication of the people involved in this immense task. Gregg also explores the challenges Nehemiah faced, including opposition from adversaries like Sanballat and Tobiah. Additionally, he discusses the importance of maintaining relationships and the community's commitment to God's word as Ezra read the law and the Levites offered explanations. Overall, this lecture provides a comprehensive analysis of the historical and spiritual aspects of Nehemiah's efforts.

Transcript

Let's turn to Nehemiah chapter 3. It's just a list of names and where they were. Now, what it really is is a description of the building of the wall in sections by different family groups. When Nehemiah organized the rebuilding of the wall, he set different families to work different segments between measured points.

In some cases, these people were appointed to work on the wall nearest to their own homes. This would of course give them a special incentive to do a good job, since their homes would be protected by the wall sections they built. They would be very concerned about it being made sturdy and well.

Really, this chapter is a long one. It takes a long time to read it in its entirety. I don't think it really needs to be read in its entirety.

Let me read a few verses so you get a feel of what we're talking about here. It says, Then Eliashiv the high priest... Now, this man was the grandson of Joshua the high priest who had come back with Zerubbabel back in the early days of the return of the exiles. That man, Joshua the high priest, was now long dead, and this was his grandson.

Then as far as the tower of Hananiel... Next to Eliashiv, the men of Jericho built, and next to them, Zachar the son of Emry built. Also the sons of Hazaniah built the fish gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with the bolts and bars.

And next to them, Merimoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz made repairs. Next to them, Marshalem the son of Berekiah, the son of Meshuzahbel, made repairs. Next to them, Zadok, the son of Zabannah, made repairs.

Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs. But their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their lord. Apparently their nobles... Tekoites are from Tekoa, a village slightly to the south of Jerusalem.

Their nobles were too good to really dirty their hands with this kind of work, but others did work on it. Moreover, Jehoiada the son of Pisiah and Meshulam the son of Besodia repaired the old gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

Next to them, Melatiah, the Gibeonite, Jadah the Meromithite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the river. Next to him, Uziel the son of Harahiah and so forth. We see in verse 10, next to them, Jadahiah, the son of Harumah, made repairs in front of his house.

And in verse 23, it says after him, Benjamin and Heshub made repairs opposite their house. And over in verses 28-29, beyond the horse gate, the priest made repairs each in front of his own house. After them, Zadok the son of Emer made repairs in front of his own house.

So here's how we see many of them were working near their own homes. It would make it convenient, they'd go home for lunch in the middle of the work day and they could easily get to and from the work site since it was near their home. And as I said, they would have special interest in having a strong wall guarding that part of the city where their homes were.

And so it goes on and to the end of the chapter, just again, more names and more sections of the wall, which to tell you the truth, I don't think are worth laboring. What we find though is that these are the men who are working in the sections and the wall is built by sections. And it's just as in the edify or the building up of the body of Christ.

Each person has a section, a part of the work to do. It is not really required to concern yourself with other people's sections, other people's work. My friend Danny Layman, who's now a YWAM leader, has been for many years.

When he lived in Santa Cruz as a young Christian, he worked at a mushroom factory there. And his job had something to do with pulling a lever to drop mushrooms into flats on a conveyor belt. And there were others doing the same thing in the room.

And he said that as long as he was doing the work he was supposed to do, he never had any trouble doing it right. But from time to time, he wondered if others were getting as much done as he was. And he'd look around and as soon as he did, he'd miss one of his flats.

And he said as long as he just concentrated on the work he was supposed to do, everything went fine. But it was by being concerned about whether someone else was doing their job adequately that he failed to do his work as he should. And when Jesus in John chapter 21 was talking to Peter, you may remember he was predicting to Peter how Peter would die.

And he said, Peter, when you were young, you put on your own clothes, you girded yourself, you went where you wanted to go. But when you're old, others will bind you and will take you where you don't want to go. And John tells us in this, Jesus was predicting how Peter would, by what death Peter would glorify God.

But then Peter looked over his shoulder and saw John a little distance back. And he said, well, Lord, what on him, what's he going to do? And Jesus said, well, if it's my will for him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You go and follow me. In other words, don't worry about what he's going to do.

Now, he might not have such a bad lot as you do. You're going to be crucified upside down. Maybe he won't.

That's not your problem. You just follow me. You don't worry about what someone else has got to do.

Each person is to concentrate on the one part of the work that God has given him. And that part of the work is defined by what gifts God has given him. There's different things that need to be done in order for the kingdom of God to prevail in the world.

And in Romans chapter 12, verses 6 through 8, Paul said, Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministry.

He who teaches in teaching. He who exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with liberality.

He who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy with cheerfulness. In other words, if you have a gift of showing mercy or helping or teaching or exhorting or giving or prophesying, then concentrate on that and do it according to the faith that God gives you and the best you can do.

Well, what about the other people? What if they're not doing what they're supposed to do? Well, that's their problem, not yours. Now, unless you're an exhorter. If you're an exhorter, maybe you're supposed to exhort them to do what they're supposed to do.

But the point is that many times we have tasks to perform that don't involve our being nosy about what other people are doing. But if we would all concentrate on the part we're supposed to do, as each person worked on the one section that was assigned to them, the whole wall went up. They didn't have to worry about whether other people were doing their job.

As long as everyone was doing their own job and paying attention to what they were required to do, the building of the walls progressed and was finally completed in chapter 6, but not without opposition. And it's that opposition that we read about in chapter 4. It says, But so it happened when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, that he was furious and very indignant and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, What are these people Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned? Now, the stones, many of the stones were limestone.

And one of the ways that invading armies would destroy a wall would be to build large fires at the foot of a wall and burn them extremely hot so that the limestone would kind of crumble. The limestone would melt and crumble. And so it's referring in this case to the stones are in heaps and many of them are burned.

They're not even whole stones anymore. So how are they going to build this wall? Well, that is going to be a challenge. No question about it.

But with a man like Nehemiah leading, you can be sure that if it can be done, it's going to get done because he's determined. And we see his determination in the way he deals with opposition and the way he deals with problems within the country. It says, verse three, Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and he said, Whatever they build, even if a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.

Now, this is just kind of silly mockery, saying, you know, whatever wall they build would be so weak that even a fox bumping against it would knock it down. Well, of course, there's no wall so weak as that made of stone. But there's this being using hyperbole, trying to demoralize the Jews and tell them that they're really not going to be able to do it.

And his response, Nehemiah's response is to pray. He says, Here O God, for we despise, turn their reproach on their own heads and give them as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their iniquity and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they have provoked you to anger before the builders.

Now, this is what we call an imprecatory prayer. Some of the songs are imprecatory. Some of Jeremiah's prayers are imprecatory.

An imprecatory prayer is one where you're praying for something bad to happen to somebody. And Christians often have a serious problem with this kind of prayer because Jesus said, Bless those who curse you and do good to those who despitefully use you and love your enemies. And so forth.

So it seems like wishing evil on these people isn't a very Christian attitude. And maybe it is. Maybe it is.

Nehemiah was not a Christian. He had not heard the Sermon on the Mount. He did not know the name of Jesus.

All he knew was that these guys were opposing the work of God. And he believed that one of their problems was they had no sympathy for the Jews. They had never been in captivity themselves.

They didn't have any way of appreciating what these Jews had been through and giving them some pity. And so he says, Well, take them into the land of captivity. Let them be plundered.

Let them experience some of this. Maybe they'll come out a little more sensitive in the end. So he built the wall.

And the entire wall was joined together up to half the height. So that's a progress report. They no longer had any breaches in the wall.

They were all connected. All the sections were connected. But not full height yet, which means they're still vulnerable to attack.

And this progress alarmed their enemies because they saw that their advantages were disappearing quickly. And it says it was to half its height for the people out of mind to work. Now it happened when Sambalik, Tobiah, and the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored, that the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry.

And all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Now we don't know what form of attack really occurred or if they even did. They decided to do so.

They conspired to do so. But whether they ever brought an attack or not is not reported. They probably did not because Nehemiah took precautions.

His first precaution was to pray. He says, nevertheless we made our prayer to God. And because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

Now there was this conspiracy to do a sneak attack probably at night. So he set a watch day and night, which made it inopportune for the attacks to occur. He also armed the people.

Verse 10 says, Then Judah said, The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we're not able to build the wall. There's just so much to remove before they can build on the foundations. And our adversaries said, They will neither know nor see anything until we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.

So it was when the Jews who dwelt near them came that they told us ten times, from whatever place you turn, they will be upon us. Now there's like three things going on here discouraging them. One is that the laborers are getting tired.

They're lifting heavy rocks all day long. And there's still so much rubbish it looks like they'll never get done with the task. They're getting discouraged and their strength is waning.

In addition to that, their enemies are saying, We're going to sneak up on them when they don't know we're there. They won't even know we're there until we dare to kill them. And then besides that, there were Jews who lived in nearby regions near Jerusalem, probably whose relatives, sons and fathers and so forth, were working on the walls, who tried to persuade them to come off the project because of the danger from the enemies.

Let's come back to a place of safety, to their villages. Verse 13, Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, the parts that were not tall enough to really defend the city, at the openings, and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses. And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their counsel to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was from that time on that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held spears, the shields, the bows, and wore the armor.

And the leaders were behind the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves, so that with one hand they worked at the construction, and with the other hand they held a weapon. Now this probably was not true 24-7, that they had one hand with a weapon and one hand with a trowel, or whatever they were using to work with.

There would be times they would have to use both hands, obviously, in building projects. There's lots of things you can't do with one hand. It's probably a slight hyperbole.

They certainly had weapons on them, probably a sword hanging at their belt. And maybe sometimes when the enemy was visible, they actually did take a sword in one hand and use the other hand to keep slapping on mortar, or whatever. They probably actually did at times have a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other hand.

But that certainly could not have worked out to be the case at every moment. But this is how he had things going. People like to compare it to not only be involved in building, but also in defending.

And so there are the two aspects, of course, of God's work, and that is building the kingdom of God and defending against the enemy. Building is constructive. Defending is, of course, a defensive matter.

So that it depends more on how active the enemy is coming against you. You keep building in times of peace or not, but sometimes you have to be prepared to be fighting while you're building. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside him.

So everyone was armed and laboring on the wall. And just a trumpet blast from him would call all those swords out of their sheaths and have every Jew ready to fight off the invaders. Apparently this prevented the invaders from carrying out their attack.

Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, the work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Therefore, wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.

So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. Now that meant the work would go slower since they had to have half the people working and half the people guarding, really. And so it would have gone faster if they could all just work, but this is what they had to contend with.

At the same time, I also said to the people, let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day. So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, that is, they wore them day and night. Usually you take off your work clothes to go to bed at night, but they didn't.

They slept in their clothes. They only took them off to wash them, it says, except everyone took them off to wash them. Now, chapter 5, there's internal problems as well.

They not only have enemies outside, they've got problems with the people inside. The relationships are not as they should be. And this is so unnecessary.

I mean, later on, when Jerusalem was besieged in 70 AD by the Romans, every Jew in the city should have been armed and ready to fight off the Romans, but do you know what they were doing? According to Josephus, they had three camps within the walled city fighting each other, all Jews. Just rival groups under rival leaders inside the city. There were these civil wars going on inside the city while the Romans were outside, threatening them.

And groups within Jerusalem were killing each other off. It's like they've gone crazy. And yet, the church is that way sometimes too.

We act as if there isn't some kind of a deadly enemy to the kingdom of God out there, like the very gospel itself is not threatened by developments in our society, in our culture. It is. And yet we think we have the luxury of dividing and having relational problems with other Christians.

It seems so petty and stupid. I've never understood why two Christians can't get along. Because, I mean, it's like we both have an enemy, and we're both needed in the warfare against the enemy.

But instead, we get caught up in stupid conflicts, and self-interest and so forth within the body of Christ, so that the enemy doesn't even have to fight it. We'll just pick each other up. And that is what the church has often done and still does.

It's definitely a ploy of the enemy to deceive us into thinking that we have enemies within the camp. And yet our brothers are not our enemies. They may act like it when they're being carnal and stupid, but we don't have to war with them.

We're supposed to be maintaining relationships with them. And the Bible says, you know, if your brother sins against you, you go to him and you do what you can to peaceably bring about restoration and reconciliation. And there are steps given that Jesus gave about how to do that.

But Christians don't always follow that. And the conflicts in the relationships among Christians is a greater reproach and greater danger to the church than whatever's going on from the outside. And here they have problems inside the Jewish community.

In chapter five, there was great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. For there were those who said, we, our sons and our daughters are many. Therefore, let us get grain for them that we may eat and live.

There were also some who said, we have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses that we might buy grain because of the famine. There were also those who said we have borrowed money for the king's tax on the lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh, our brethren, is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children.

And indeed, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters are brought into slavery already. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and our vineyards.

Now what's really happened here is there is an economic problem. All the able-bodied men are working on the wall. And therefore, the farming is being probably handled by their children and women, and perhaps not being done completely.

So the product of the land is not as much as it should be. And the women come and say, listen, we don't have enough food here. There's not enough grain.

Therefore, let us get grain for our families, our children. And that's because the husbands were working on the wall, no doubt. And then because of that, many of them had not had so much income.

They had to mortgage their lands to pay taxes and to pay just the cost of living. Some of them even had gotten to a place where they had had to sell their children into slavery, which was an option in an economic crisis. This would only be a seven-year servitude, but still, that's a long time.

It would be without your children. And the problem was there were rich Jews who were lending money to these people, but charging them interest on it so that they couldn't pay it back. And they were being exploited by those who were forcing them to sell their children into slavery and things like that.

And he says, I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers and said to them, each of you is exacting usury from his brother. Now, exacting interest on a loan from your fellow Jew is absolutely forbidden in the law.

In Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy, all three of those books forbid charging interest on loans to your brother, a fellow Jew. Exodus 22, 25. Leviticus 25, 36.

And Deuteronomy 23, verses 19 and 20 all have this law, that they should not charge interest on loans to their brothers. And that's what these men were doing. And he says, so I called a great assembly against them.

And I said that according to our ability, we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now, indeed, will you even sell your brethren? In other words, we're all laboring hard to get our sons and daughters out of the captivity in Babylon and Persia and get them back to our land. And now you're bringing them back into captivity by making them sell their children as slaves? He says, or should they be sold to us? Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.

They were ashamed. Then I said, what you're doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of God because the reproach of the nations are enemies? I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain.

Please let us stop this usury. Now, it's not clear whether he's saying that he too had been an offender and he had lent them money and charged interest, and therefore he was now going to stop doing that. It's possible.

He may be saying, yeah, okay, I'm asking you people to forgive these loans or at least cancel all interest, and I'm willing to do that myself on the debts that I've lent to people. He said, let's stop this usury. Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses.

Also the hundredth part of the money of their grain, the new wine, and the oil that you have charged them. So they said, we will restore it, and we'll require nothing from them. We will do as you say.

Then I called the priests and required an oath of them that they would do according to this promise. So before the priests, these people who held the titles on these lands and had taken the slaves and so forth, they had to make an oath before the priest that they would return them and not impose any debt upon these people. So they said, we will restore it, and we'll require nothing from them.

We will do as you say. Then I called the priests and required an oath from them. Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, so may God shake out each man from his house and from his property who does not perform this promise.

Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said, amen, and praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise.

So he got that thing fixed. Nehemiah, whenever he heard about a problem, he just jumped on it and said, OK, this isn't going to happen anymore. And, oh, OK, you need to forgive those people that debt and that interest and so forth.

He was the governor with the king's commission, so he could kind of dictate such things. He could be a dictator if he wanted to. But he wasn't really interested in being a dictator generally.

He just, he could dictate solutions to problems when people were doing the wrong thing. And we see that he did so without any intimidation at all from the people. He just always just stepped right up and said, OK, here's what we're going to do, and do it.

And it says, moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year until the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes, 12 years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor's provisions. But the former governors who had been before me laid burdens on the people, means they had expected them to pay them for their services, and took from them bread and wine besides 40 shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of God.

So somehow Nehemiah managed to be self-supporting. Perhaps he had a good income from when he was working in Assyria, I mean, in Persia. So no, I keep saying Assyria.

Sorry about that. In Persia, he had a high position, probably was wealthy, and he might have been living on his own wealth. He had been lending money to people, he said earlier, so he had some money.

And so he didn't charge for what he was doing because he feared God. But other governors before him in charge. Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land.

All my servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there was at my table 150 Jews and rulers besides those who came to us from the nations around us. So he apparently fed a lot of people at his table and didn't charge.

He must have done this out of his own pocket. Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me.

Once every ten days, an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this, I did not demand the governor's provision because the bondage was heavy on this people. Remember me, my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people.

So he's saying his regular provisions included an ox and six sheep and a bunch of fowl and wine and so forth. And he didn't ask anyone to pay for that. He covered that himself so that he wouldn't further oppress the people.

He just asked that God would remember him for that because he wasn't looking for any reward from the people, just a blessing from God. Now, chapter six, it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, that there were no breaks left in it, though at the time I had not hung the doors and the gates. That Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.

But they thought to do me harm. Now, I'm not sure what they were suggesting to meet with him about. Maybe they wanted to make a pact.

Maybe they wanted to suggest they would be cooperative with him in the project. They wanted to negotiate something. But he knew that they just wanted to get him away from safety where they could probably kill him.

So I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave and go down to you? In other words, I don't need to have any conferences, thanks. I'm actually involved in something that's producing something.

I'm not a committee kind of a guy. I mean, all these management meetings and so forth just take the managers away from their jobs. And I don't want to leave what I'm doing to go down and have a meeting with you guys.

It's not necessary. But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner. So four times they tried by intrigues to get him away from the safety of Jerusalem, to come out somewhere else where they could get at him.

But he steadfastly resisted their invitation. Then Sembalic sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. And it was written.

It is reported among the nations, and Geshen says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel. Therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah.

Now these matters will be reported to the king, meaning a Syrian, Persian king. Mark, I keep doing that. So come, therefore, and let us take counsel together.

In other words, now if you don't agree to come and talk with us, this is the report that the Persian king is going to hear. The king of Persia will be told that you're declaring yourself king, that you've hired prophets to proclaim you king in Judah. Well, of course, that was totally a fabrication.

And yet it'd be frightening to Nehemiah to hear that that's what the Persian king is going to hear, because that would be, that would seem like the king who had trusted him would see him as guilty of a breach of that trust. And yet Nehemiah did not respond to them. He didn't accommodate them.

He says, Then I sent him, saying, No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart. Now, we don't know, but it may be that the reason he went back to Persia after 12 years there might have been because this letter was sent to Artaxerxes. And if so, then he may have had to go back and give a report of himself.

But at this point, he was not going to be bothered with it. He just sent back a denial of the charges. It's not happening.

No such thing is going on. You're making it up. I'm not paying attention to you.

For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done. Now, hands being weakened is a Hebraism. It means that they'll be discouraged.

There's many references to weakening the hands of people in the Bible. It just means that discouraging them from what they're doing. He says, Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

That is, encourage me, because there are a lot of discouragements in the work. Afterward, I came to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Mehebibel, who was a secret informer. And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you.

Indeed, at night they will come and kill you. Now, this person was apparently prophesying. We find that a few verses later, it mentions that he was hired to prophesy this to him.

In verse 12, it actually says that. So this man was acting as if he was a prophet of God, coming to me, and I said, Oh, the Lord has shown me that they're going to come and kill you. The only safe place would be to go into the temple and close the doors there.

And the temple would be a safe place. Now, why this man wanted to get him in there is hard to say. Maybe it's just to get him out of circulation, having him hiding out, so that he wouldn't be there to provide leadership for the people, knowing that the people had not had any motivation or incentive to do the work until Nehemiah came and started cracking the whip.

So if they could just get him hiding in the temple all the time, then the work would slow down. Or maybe they thought that they could actually somehow ambush him there. Hard to say that also.

In any case, he didn't listen to that. He recognized that this man was hired by Sanballat and Tobiah to bring this to him, this message to him. He said, I said, should such a man as I flee, and who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.

It would be improper for him to go into the temple. He was not a Levite. The Levites and the priests alone were allowed to go into the temple.

And yet this person said, well, it's a fortress. You can go in there and hide from those who want to kill you. He said, that would be improper for me to go into the temple.

That's not something I would do. I'm not going to go there. And why should I flee anyone? I'm the leader here.

The leader doesn't run away when there's threats, unless he's a hireling. Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 10 and verse 12, about the hireling is the one who sees the wolf coming and he runs away and he leaves the sheep defenseless. Because he's a hireling, he doesn't care about the sheep.

He's not a true shepherd. Nehemiah said, I'm not like that. I'm the leader here.

I'm not going to go and hide. I've got work to do. He says, then I perceive that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have occasion for an evil report, that they might reproach me. It sounds like it was like if he went into the temple to hide, and violated the sanctity of the temple that way, that they would have something, they could accuse him of under the Jewish law. So he prays, my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

Now we don't know who Noadiah is, except that she's a prophetess, and apparently one of people like this person, this person was a Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, who prophesied, but apparently there are other false prophets who were hired by his enemies, to prophesy against him and make him afraid. Nonetheless, he succeeded in getting the complete wall done. So the wall was finished on the 25th day of the month of Elul, in 52 days.

And it happened when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes, for they perceived that this work was done by our God. Moreover, in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters to Tobiah came to them. There were some of the nobles that were actually on Tobiah's side, sympathetic with him, against Nehemiah, which was another problem that Nehemiah faced, with people within his own camp on the enemy's side.

For many in Judah were pledged to him, that is to Tobiah, because he was the son-in-law of Shekeniah, the son of Ara, the son of Jehohenim, had married the daughter of Meshulim, the son of Berechiah. Also, they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him, and Tobiah sent letters to frighten me. So, this little section, after the wall was finished, we're just told this, as something that had been going on, apparently, all the time, is that Tobiah had his agents, had his people, who were sympathetic toward him, they respected him because he had married into a Jewish family, apparently a prominent Jewish family, that gave him some status in the community, so that some people were loyal to him, Tobiah.

And they also spoke well of Tobiah to Nehemiah, to try to win him over to trusting the man. But Nehemiah did not trust him. So, this comes to the end of the first section of the book.

Nehemiah really divides into two sections pretty naturally. The first six chapters are about the rebuilding of the wall, and we see that that has been completed in verse 15. The rest of it is about his governorship, and how he dealt with problems in the city, and in the returned exiles.

He still has yet to dedicate the wall. There's going to be a celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, where they read the law to the people. He's going to go away and come back again, and find a lot of things have been done wrong, that he has to fix.

And he's, one thing he also does, is he leads the people in making a new, renewed covenant with God. These are some of the things that are going to go on between now and the end of the book. But they all have to do with his leadership as governor of the people, as opposed to wall builder.

So, in the first chapter he was a cup bearer in Persia. In chapters two through six, he's a wall builder. And now he's the governor of the city.

Chapter seven, then it was, when the wall was built, and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah, the leader of the citadel. For he was a faithful man, and feared God more than many. So, these men were like the ones given charge over those who would guard the city, permanently.

So, it was not going to be Nehemiah's task anymore. And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. While they stand guard, let them shut the doors and bar them.

Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station, and another in front of his own house. So, he made arrangements for the opening and shutting of the gates, and for the guarding of the gates, and for the ongoing security of the city. It says, Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt yet.

Then my God put it in my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return, and found it written, or found written in it. And now, the rest of this chapter, verses 6 through 72, is pretty much the same list that we already encountered in Ezra, chapter 2. The names are essentially the same.

In about 20% of the cases, the numbers are different. There's how many came from different houses and clans and so forth. And the numbers differ in about 20% of the cases between the two lists.

Other than that, the lists are the same. And the difference in the numbers would normally be chalked up to scribal errors. Though it's hard to know why scribal errors would occur between two lists that are both in the same book.

Ezra and Nehemiah are thought to be written both by Ezra. Now, why would there be scribal error between them? But of course, the question would be how, not so much that Ezra made the mistake, but that some copies perhaps made a mistake in one or the other of the lists. The solution to the problems of the discrepancies in the numbers is one that scholars can set their heads to.

We certainly don't have time to worry about that. And if it is a scribal error, then it's not a defect in the scriptures themselves, but in somebody who was copying them later on. Anyway, we don't need to go over this list, even if we're encountering it for the first time, but we're encountering it for the second time.

And it gives all the different families and so forth of those who came back. In the days of Zerubbabel and Joshua, as I said, we saw the same list in chapter 2 of Ezra. We don't need to go through it again.

In verse 73, though, it says, So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, and some of the people, the Nephilim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities. Now, this next line, which is at the end of chapter 7, really belongs to chapter 8. It starts a new narrative. When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.

Now, all the people gathered together as one man in the open square, because it was the seventh month, and that's when the Feast of Tabernacles was to be celebrated and the law was to be read. In Deuteronomy 31, verses 11 and 12, it says that every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles, they should read the whole law to the gathered congregation. Now, they would have the Feast of Tabernacles every year in the seventh month, but every seventh year, every Sabbath year, they would add to the normal ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles the reading of the complete law to all the people.

And so that's what we're going to see happening here. All the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the water gate, and they told Ezra, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra, now here we have Ezra again from the book of Ezra.

He has not been mentioned in this book previously. Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation of men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, probably meaning everyone who was old enough. On the first day of the seventh month, then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the water gate from morning till midday.

Sort of like us here. From morning till midday we're reading the scriptures and commenting on them. And that's what they did here too.

This is actually an exposition of the law. They read the law, and we find that the Levites gave exposition, giving the sense that, as we'll see, this is actually the only place in the Bible that we have a record of what we might call expositional biblical teaching going on. Many churches believe that Bible exposition is the very best form of preaching and teaching, and it probably is, but we only have this one example of it in the scriptures.

We don't have it in the book of Acts, we don't have it in the Gospels, we don't have it in the time of Moses, but we do have it here. Ezra was the scribe, the expert in the law, and so he read the law, and he gave the meaning. And I think since the whole congregation would be too large to hear him by himself, probably the Levites were stationed at different points in the crowd, and they relayed what they heard him say, and projected it out further out than maybe the... There were other relays.

In any case, they'd read a portion of the law and expound on it. Verse 4, so Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside him at his right hand stood a bunch of priests, whose names were given.

And verse 5, Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above the people, so they could all see him. And when he opened it up, all the people stood up. There's still customary in many churches for people to stand during the reading of the scripture.

It's just a mark of respect for the word of God. And so, this is probably where that originated. They stood to hear the law read.

And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Also, a bunch of priests and the Levites helped the people to understand the law, and the people stood in their place. So, they read distinctly from the book in the law of God, and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. So, that's really just biblical exposition.

They read distinctly a portion of the law, and then the priests who are named in verse 7, as well as some Levites, would expound to the people the meaning of it. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

Hearing the law read, either moved them, you know, sentimentally, or else convicted them of their own violations of it. This is sort of like what happened when Josiah read the law. There was great response on the part of the people, an emotional response.

And rightly so, they were law breakers, but they hadn't really heard the whole law read recently. And so they began to hear how much they had fallen short of it, and they were convicted. And they came under conviction and probably repented, and wept that way.

Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, those who don't have any food. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

And I know you've probably heard that expression, the joy of the Lord is your strength, that's from this passage. Apparently what it means is that their strength, you know, against their enemies, depends on their morale being up, not them being demoralized by guilt and so forth. When you're feeling guilty, you're weakened, you're not really, it distracts you from other concerns.

And your strength as a people is going to be in having joy and confidence in God, not in feeling condemned and demoralized. So it says, The Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grieved.

And all the people went their way to eat and drink, send portions and rejoice greatly because they understood the words that were declared to them. Understanding the words properly, understanding the scriptures, resulted first of all in, you know, mourning, but then in rejoicing. And those things happen pretty much in that order.

If you really, if the word of God has its proper impact on you, it will convict you, but then the grace of God will cheer you. And then knowing the truth will make you free. And that's a very encouraging thing.

And it says they rejoice because they understood the words that were declared to them. In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, in verses 19 and 20, Jesus is explaining some of the images in the parable. And he said in Matthew 13, 19, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

This is he who received the seed by the wayside. So the first type of seed that's swallowed by the birds is stolen by the devil because the people did not understand it. Apparently those in the other cases did understand it.

And verse 20 says, but he who received the seed on stony places is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. He does understand it. And it's an indication of joy to him.

But unfortunately in this case, he does not sink his roots down very far. And therefore he doesn't last long. And there's other examples of the word actually bearing fruit in better soil.

But understanding the word of God is an indication of joy to those who are on God's side. And so these people, though they were lawbreakers in many respects, they were ignorantly breaking God's laws because they didn't know His laws. Then they hear His laws and it makes them weep because they know they're lawbreakers.

But then because they are on God's side, God is forgiving of them and they can rejoice to know what He wants them to do now. Understanding God's words is an indication of them rejoicing in the end. Now in the second day of the month, the heads of the fathers' houses and all the people with the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe in order to understand the words of the law.

And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out into the mountain and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees and make booths as it is written. Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God and in the open square of the water gate and in the open square of the gate of Ephraim. So the whole congregation of those who had returned from captivity made booths and sat under the booths.

For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so and there was very great gladness. Now, when it says that they had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun, this doesn't mean they had not celebrated the feast of tabernacles. We know that they did.

For example, in 1 Kings chapter 8, when Solomon finished the temple, it says they had a celebration of the feast of tabernacles in 1 Kings 8. Also, when Ezra returned from Persia to Jerusalem, they had a feast of tabernacle celebration then in Ezra 3.4. It mentions it. So there have been celebrations of the feast of tabernacles since the time of Joshua, but apparently it means not like this. Probably what it may mean is that they had not actually gone out and gathered the branches as they did on this occasion.

It was often done that they set up some kind of tent instead, some kind of little tabernacle. But the word tabernacle, sukoth in Hebrew means booths. And it was, you know, a tabernacle or a booth, they're both the same word in Hebrew.

And apparently they had set up tabernacles, but they had read this time in the law that the law said to go out and gather branches and build booths. And they hadn't done that since the time of Joshua apparently. So that's the way it was different in this case.

Also day by day from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God and they kept the feast seven days. And on the eighth day, there was a sacred assembly according to the prescribed manner. So they kept the feast of tabernacles or booths and they read the law every day.

And apparently every day as Ezra read the law, there was this exposition going on. And they did this from morning till noon, till midday. So in a sense, they were doing every day what you're doing every day here, from morning till midday.

The law is read and expounded and then we do the rest of the things that we do. And that's one of the things we have to do right now is take a break. And we'll take the rest of the book in our next session.