Nehemiah was a cupbearer at the
court of King Artaxerxes, a position of high honour. The news about Jerusalem
made him very sad. This sadness could not be wholly hidden and the king
detected it. The Jews were back home for almost a 100 years, but had made no
attempt to build Jerusalem beyond the restoration of the Temple, because their
enemies made it almost impossible. He was loyal enough to his people to leave
the luxury of a king’s court and go back to rebuild Jerusalem, the capital of
his homeland. The king gave consent. Of course, we find even today Jews
everywhere long to see Jerusalem flourish, and they turn their faces there as
their homeland.
When Nehemiah reached Jerusalem
in 445 B C, Ezra had been there for 13 years. Ezra was a priest and had been
teaching the people the word of God. But Nehemiah was a civil governor. He had
come with the authority of the king of Persia to build the walls of Jerusalem. After
he had been there only 3 days, he went up and viewed the walls at night. When
he saw their dilapidated condition, he encouraged the people to begin building
immediately. The work was accomplished in 52 days by assigning a portion of the
wall to each family. Their attitude was expressed in the sentence. “The people worked with all their heart”
(Nehemiah 4:6).
First the Samaritans, the enemies
of the Jews, derided them. They hindered their work so that the Jews had to
keep watch night and day. Their decision turned to anger and Nehemiah divided
the men into 2 groups, one keeping watch while the other worked. Then opposition
rose within the ranks. Some of the Jews became tired and complained that there
was so much rubbish that the walls could not be built. All this rubble had to
be removed in a thick canvas pad on the carrier’s back; there were of course, no
wheelbarrows or, cars to convey the material. Then, the complaint arose that
the rich were demanding usury that the poor were unable to pay. Again the
enemies tried to craft to bring Nehemiah away from his building, but Nehemiah
only prayed and again he foiled his enemy.
From Nehemiah 8 to 13, all the people gathered in the street before the
water gate in the city of Jerusalem and requested Ezra the scribe to bring out
the book of Law of Moses. He stood upon a pulpit of wood and read and explained
the Law to the people (Nehemiah 8:1-13).
This public reading brought true repentance to the people and a great revival
broke out. Same way when you check the history of reformation, when Martin
Luther read the Bible, the Protestant Reformation began. We need to have the
Word read every day. 
Remember, Nehemiah left a life of
ease and luxury and security for a life of toil and danger and heartbreaks. He was
a reformer. He was also a man of prayer. We do not find a blot on his
character. He was fearless and courageous. In Nehemiah 9, we find a prayer of him. Prayer is the most important privilege
of a Christian. Let this servant of God inspire you to pray and have a real
character like him and be courageous to take God’s love to the world.
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