Today's Reading:

Nehemiah 5
Nehemiah 6
Nehemiah 7
Nehemiah 8

The wall around Jerusalem was miraculously completed in 52 days. This could not have happened without God’s help.

Nehemiah asked God to remember the prophetess Noadiah, who was recorded as one of the prophets who had been trying to intimidate and scare him. She was using her religious authority to try to stop the work of the wall. Very few prophetesses were recorded in the Old Testament: Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Isaiah’s wife. Noadiah was remembered for standing against what God was building.

God showed two sides of grace. He was able to use the tired hands of the people to complete the wall in 52 days. He was also able to leave a warning with a name on it. A title of authority does not mean a person is doing His will. The work still got done, and the scare tactics did not get the last word.

When someone with a religious title tries to scare you off the work God put in front of you, how do you tell their voice from His?

There was a famine in Jerusalem, and the king’s taxes placed a burden on the people. They did not cry out to the king but to their own nobles and officials. There were three levels of pain: some had large families without grain, some had to mortgage their fields and land in order to buy food, and others sold off their children as slaves to pay the king’s taxes. Nehemiah accused the nobles and officials. The people had been brought home from exile, and then their very own leaders had sold them again. There was silence. None of this was good. They needed to be walking in the fear of God; Even Nehemiah had been lending money and grain. He declared that there would be no more charging interest, and they must give back the houses and fields. The leaders agreed by oath. Nehemiah shook out his robe to symbolize the oath with God.

He was a governor, not a prophet, but still chose to help the poor. For the last twelve years as governor, he did not eat the food allotted to the governors, in order to create less of a burden on the people through taxes. The leaders are not to abuse their position of authority, and Nehemiah was one to share all that was given to him by the king. He understood the burden already on the people.

Again, Sanballat had opposed the wall, which was being finished, asking for Nehemiah to come and talk. The fifth letter included false accusations that the Jews were planning a revolt and appointing him as their king. Nehemiah again prayed to God and denied the charges. He sent word to the king of Persia of his loyalty. Shemaiah was hired by the Jews’ enemies who were trying to scare him, and he wanted Nehemiah to hide in the temple. Nehemiah refused. He stayed at home; he did not want to be a leader who runs off to hide, especially not one who disobeys the temple laws by going inside where only a priest was allowed to be. Intimidation would not make him sin. The wall was miraculously completed in 52 days. This could not have happened without God’s help.

Even with the wall finished, the opposition did not stop. Through marriage, Tobiah had ties inside of Judah and continued with the letters. Judah’s own leaders, through marriage alliances and political loyalty, had become part of the enemy.

There was a large celebration, like a grand opening, with the newly fortified city. While not many were living there, the guards were still on duty. Nehemiah was moved by God to create a census, which was almost identical to Ezra 2. The priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers were listed. Then the descendants of Solomon’s servants, and those who could not prove their ancestry. This created an identity of the Israelites who returned after the exile to Babylon. Ezra was one of those who had returned to Jerusalem. This genealogy was how the community kept track of who belonged and allowed holiness to continue. The chapter ended with the people, town, and calendar turning to the 7^th month, which was an echo of Ezra’s reading the law, having the Feast of Tabernacles, confession, and covenant in Nehemiah 8-10. Scripture leads us to know who the city was for, who was running it, and who was living within the walls.

Today's Discussion question:

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