5/6/2021 0 Comments Nehemiah Commentary722 BC: God sends Assyrians to deport the 10 northern tribes. 605 BC: First deportation of Israel by Babylon 597 BC: Second deportation of Israel by Babylon 586 BC: Third deportation of Israel by Babylon 539 BC: Cyrus the Persian overthrows Babylon. 538 BC: Zerubbabel leads the first return to Jerusalem. 458 BC: Ezra leads the second return to Jerusalem. 445 BC: Nehemiah leads the third return to Jerusalem. Ezra continues the story from the personal diaries of Nehemiah ("Jehovah comforts"), returning back to their land with the third wave of exiles. Ne 1
Jesus, the master of OT language, clearly declares His deity by quoting the phrase, “love Him and keep His commandments” to refer to Himself. Nehemiah’s sense of identity, for better of for worse, is bound up with the wayward people of Israel, and mourns in solidarity as if he personally sinned the sins of all generations. With all prayers raised up for the sake of the nation of Israel, and God’s distinct character as covenant-keeping God who always preserves the remnant, and promises the flood of blessing to be poured out and bring back the scattered Israelists from the impossible remote pats of the earth, it is logically contradictory to think that there is no future plan for Israel in the timetable, or to think the church is somehow the new Israel replacement. Ne 2 Nehemiah is caught off guard by the granting of his prayer: the King recognizes the emotional states of Nehemiah, expressing his concern for his cupbearer. Perhaps the influence of Esther the stepmother of the king may have played in the emotional inclination of the king. Eminently practical, Nehemiah prepares all necessary tools to make his path smooth: official permission letters for safe passage, and use of natural resources for construction, and military force just in case. Practical, and shrewd as a serpent, Nehemiah executes a reconnaissance mission in the cover of night, having placed the success of hte mission in hte hands of trusted few. Being an empathetic and natural leader, Nehemiah motivates his fellow men through solidarity: we are in a bad situation. We are in humiliation. We are going to rebuild and remove our shame from us. God through king is on our side. Nehemiah wisely looks through the true intent of his enemies’ words, and almost dares Sanballat to do his worst attempt at stopping them, because God is with them, and they are nothing to Israel. Ne 3 Each credit is given to all those who have partaken in the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Hard work deserves proper credit. Ne 4,5 Nehemiah shows himself as natural leader once again, inimitable in his fashion: practical as always, wisely orienting properly to dangers and possible scenarios, effectively motivating his men through empathetic solidarity, and executing his plan with zeal: Nehemiah, permitted in his conscience by the fact that God and king are on Israel's side, is freed to prepare for an unlimited warfare. Nehemiah effectively implements components for success: morale support through divine authority, intel gathering, lookout, vigilance and battle readiness, shift work, decentralized command teams, and I think there are even hints of mosaic warfare (interchangeable, quickly replaceable roles). First the enemy tries to sabotage from within. If that fails, they use demoralizing verbal assault. If that fails, they resort to physical violence. It is not only permitted but necessary to pray imprecatory curses on political leaders, even to their damnation for personal purity. Nehemiah thoroughly flays the Jewish leaders for greed. Nothing is more heinous to a natural leader than power abuse. Nehemiah forms an official attack against the guilty leaders to show there is no limit to the levels to which he is willing to escalate in order to nip at the bud all hindrances to their work: Nehemiah makes them take an oath before God, and pronounces a curse on them should they not keep their promise. Far from being a hypocrite who does good only to seek honour from men, Nehemiah properly seeks reward privately from God. It is humane to seek reward for good behaviour. It is good for our personal motivation: it is only a matter of what source and when we seek our rewards. Ne 6-8 The enemy leaders continue to hurt Israel: conspiracy to kill Nehemiah through deception, effort to destroy Nehemiah's reputation of being a fearless God-fearing leader with integrity by tricking him to do something foolish, threat of spreading false rumour of treason, by enemies without and without. Nehemiah casts all his anger through imprecatory prayers and rests on God for judgment. The only way to dismay your enemies is to never stop working toward your goals and make them recognize that your progress is through God's own strength. All their attempts to stop you are nothing to you and God. Nothing is more pathetic to a fully engaged, motivated leader than having to deal with fence-sitters who are courting the enemy and taking sides, like picking a flavour of ice cream. Disciplined and highly organizational and prepared, Nehemiah sets up guidelines for access to Jerusalem and its around the clock watch. He also in order to control people enrolls them to membership. The entire national gathering to hear the Word of God, which convicts and grieves people for having lived ignorantly and rebelliously. To reinforce the righteousness of mourning, they were forced to reward themselves with unmerited joyful celebration of nation wide festival. Sure enough, they are motivated to seek after the Word of God for obedience more and more, creating cycle of obedience and joy. Ne 9 In order to walk uprightly before the Lord, it is necessary to remember our history, and learn from our pains. God is always faithful. We are not always obedient, and have it coming when bad things happen. Yet God is compassionate, and in control over our enemies. ne 10 Official document declaring Israel's corporate agreement to obey God's law and worship God, and to carry out each of their duties to upkeep the ceremonies.. ne 11 living in Jerusalem is hard and laborious. Meticulous record keeping of membership of Jerusalemites were done to organize and stay prepared for threats. ne 12 The entire nation gathers together for worship. They learn to cooperate and support each other in their work for the Lord and Israel. ne 13 Without a faithful leadership in place, Israel quickly falls into lawlessness. Upon his return, Nehemiah cleanses the temple like Jesus did, making the house of God holy. Marriage partnership with pagan women, who as mothers have the most influence in the early days of childhood, leads the children to grow up as pagans. Marrying a Gentile, thinking you can convert them or even when they are converted, will lead others to do the same. Ruth and other exceptions make the rule. Nehemiah acts out his frustration and treats a people, who is characterized by lack of conviction and faithfulness. as if they will not heed unless being prodded and forced. Nehemiah does not take his own revenge, but leaves room for the wrath of God through imprecatory prayer. He is tracking wicked deeds of his enemies. And his motivation for his obedience is favour from God, and Nehemiah is keeping track of his deeds.
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CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
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