DBG - May 31 - Nehemiah 6-7

In this chapter the enemy attempts to hamper Nehemiah’s work but cannot stop it from being completed.

vs. 1-4 – As work on the wall is nearing completion, the trio of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem resort to conspiracy to stop the work.  The ask for Nehemiah to come and meet them.  It was of course a trap.  Nehemiah’s response in vs. 3 is tremendous and should be the practice of any Christian worker.

vs. 5-9 – The next scheme by Sanballat is to threaten to report lies about Nehemiah to the king.  Considering the king knew and trusted Nehemiah it is doubtful this would have worked.  The work continues as Nehemiah prays for strength to finish the task.

vs. 10-14 – The next attack comes from within. A priest named Shemaiah tells Nehemiah that assassins are coming and he needs to lock himself in the Temple for safety.  Shemaiah is said to be “shut up”, meaning either he is confined to his home or is practicing some kind of ascetism.  Nehemiah correctly discerns that the man has been bought off by Sanballat and Tobiah and ignores the false prophecy.  In vs. 14 it is hinted that multiple prophets and a prophetess were likewise employed by the enemy.  It is cunning trap, as Satan presents it in a religious package.

vs. 15-16 – It is only by the power of God that the work was finished at all, let alone in 52 days!

vs. 17-19 – We see here the depth of the conspiracy of Tobiah and the web he has spun among the Jewish leaders.  Tobiah, who you must recall is an Ammonite, was married to a descendant of Arah, who had returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in Ezra 2:5.  Tobiah’s son had also married the daughter of one of the wall builders named Meshullam (see 3:4).  We learn later in 13:4 that a priest named Eliashib was also allied with Tobiah.  It is strange to see these intermarriages because it has been only a few years since Ezra dealt with the issue.  It appears that Tobiah was a powerful official under Sanballat, and the Jewish aristocracy believed allying with him was beneficial, even to the hurt of their own people. 

In this chapter Nehemiah begins to face the probably of the intermarriage of the Jews and the pagans around them.

vs. 1-4 – The work is now completed and turns over the command of Jerusalem to his brother Hanani.  The inhabitants were safe behind the walls, but the space enclosed for the walls certainly built for a larger population.  Defensive precautions were still necessary. 

vs. 5-69 – This chapter parallels Ezra 2.  It is now 80 years after those initial settlers arrived that Nehemiah works to untangle the genealogies of the Jews in his time.

vs. 70-73 – There are differences between Ezra 2 and this section.  The totals differ greatly  61,000 gold darics versus 41,000, 5,000 mina of silver versus 4,200, and 100 priestly garments versus 597.  I think the key to understanding these differences is the end of vs. 73 (“…and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.”).  This is obviously not part of Ezra 2 and transitions to into Nehemiah 8.  What this shows it that at some point the narrative shifts from repeating the historical record of Ezra 2 to the current day of Nehemiah.  That shift is not in vs. 73, but in vs. 70.  Comparing vs. 70 to Ezra 2:68-69 shows this is were the two parallel accounts diverge.  Instead of reporting the previous offering made when Zerubbabel first came to Jerusalem, this is recording an offering in Nehemiah’s day celebrating the finishing of the wall. This easily explains the difference and the inclusion of the offering by the Tirshatha (governor), who at this time is Nehemiah.

It amazes me that the issue of intermarriage is still an issue for the Jews for Nehemiah.  It was clearly taught for them in the Law and Ezra had just dealt with the issue a few years prior.  It illustrates again the depravity of the human heart.  The people were choosing to willfully sin.  It was not an education problem, nor was it a case of something that was forgotten in history.  They knew better and yet they could not help themselves.  Before we start casting stones at them, may I remind you that the Bible often acts like a mirror to reveal our own shortcomings?  I can just about guarantee that you issue is not the same as theirs.  The ban on intermarriage is for the Jews.  For believers we are warned to not be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers, but nowhere does it say to divorce an unbelieving spouse.  Paul deals with this issue in I Corinthians 7.  No, our sins are personal to us.  We all have those impulses that we fail to keep in check.  The secret?  Do not rely on yourself but rather on God to sanctify you.

Today’s hymn is “Nehemiah’s Request”.  It was written by John Collins and appears in The International Lesson Hymnal of 1878. 

My father’s graves lie desolate,
Jerusalem is waste,
Broken and burnt is ev’ry gate,
Her glory all defaced.
How can I, then, but deeply mourn
My exiled people’s doom,
Or pray that they may yet return
To their Judean home. 

Wilt thou no send me the to build
The city of my sires?
For prophecy yet unfulfilled
Enkindles my desires;
I long to see its fallen wall
Again in beauty stand,
I Long to hear from Zion’s hill
Praise echo o’er the land.

Hear my request, my lord, O king!
Tho’ captive I may be,
End these long years of suffering,
And set our nation free.
So shall the peace of God be thine,
Obeying this his will,
While trusting in his word divine,
Thy throne shall prosper still.