Introduction and Significance of the book of Nehemiah

There are three levels of narratives when we study OT narratives (G. Fee and G. Stuart, “How to read the Bible for all its worth,” p74):

1. Top level; Meta-narrative – God’s plan for the world
2. Middle level: Narrative of Israel – God’s plan through Israel
3. Bottom level: Individual narratives – Plots and historical characters

Ten principles for interpreting narratives (Fee & Stuart, p78) are:

1. Narratives do not directly teach doctrines.
2. Narratives illustrate doctrines taught elsewhere.
3. Narratives record what had happened.
4. Examples in narratives may not be good to follow.
5. Characters and their actions in narratives are far from perfect.
6. Conclusions are unknown in narratives.
7. Narratives are selective and incomplete.
8. Not all theological questions can be answered in narratives.
9. Narratives may teach explicitly or implicitly.
10. God is the hero of all narratives.

Date of Writing: 445-420 B.C.

Purpose of Writing: Nehemiah called on the Jews to volunteer to rebuild the walls and gates of the city of Jerusalem. External enemies opposed the rebuilding work. Conflicts, discouragement and injustice within the Jewish community added more obstacles to the rebuilding.

Nehemiah is a typical Old Testament narrative material.

Background: The Temple, the city walls, and the gates were destroyed by three Babylonian invasions in 606 BC, 597 BC and 586 BC.  In Susa (Babylon), Nehemiah learned of the plight of the exiles, the broken walls and fallen gates of the city of Jerusalem. He prayed to the great and awesome God of heaven, sought the Persian king’s permission and acted in faith. In Jerusalem, he recced the ruins at night and mobilized volunteers to rebuild the city walls. These volunteers sacrificed time from their families to rebuild the walls and gates. Despite external threats and internal conflicts, they completed the rebuilding of the city walls and gates in 52 days.

Nehemiah the author

Nehemiah was a Jewish cupbearer of the Persian king, Artaxerxes. The name Nehemiah comes from two Hebrew words, “Nechem” and “Yah,” meaning “Yah comforts.”  In this narrative, Nehemiah carried out three roles: cupbearer, builder and governor.

The 10 gates of the city of Jerusalem

Nehemiah chpt 3 Bible Study  – Gates of Jerusalem & Spiritual Progress (jesusplusnothing.com) accessed 4 Aug 2022

Key Verses:

• “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:20).
• Other key verses: Neh 5:19; 6:15-16; 8:8-10; 9:6

Song:

“The joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh 8:10).

OUTLINES

You can form your outlines and sub-titles as you study Nehemiah.  Examples of three broad outlines are:

Charles R. Swindoll:

1. 1. Cupbearer to the King (1:1-2:10)
   2. Builder of the Wall (2:11-6:19)
   3. Governor of the People (7-13)

Thomas L. Constable:

1. 1. The fortification of Jerusalem chs. 1—7
   2. The restoration of the Jews chs. 8—13

J. Vernon McGee:

1. 1. Rebuilding the Walls (Chp 1-7)
   2. Revival and Reform (Chp 8-13)

Foreshadowings:

God’s time clock for the two comings of the Messiah began with the counting of Daniel’s 70 “weeks”, starting from 445 BC (Daniel 9:24-27).  Each “week” is 7 years and each “year” is 360 days.  Daniel’s 70 “weeks” of years (=490 years) is divided into 3 periods:

• From 445 BC to the crucifixion of the Messiah – exactly 483 years
• From the crucifixion of the Messiah to His 2nd coming – period of the Church
• The remaining 7 years.

The Apostle Paul was given special revelation from God concerning Christ and the Church. This revelation was not made known to the Old Testament prophets.

Practical Applications for today:

In our present world, many people separate the sacred from the secular. It should not be so for Christian disciples. In 445 BC, with the decree of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and gates.  Whilst Ezra rebuilt the Temple (a sacred institution) earlier, Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem (a secular institution).  This shows that both sacred and secular rebuilding were needed to restore the faith of God’s people.

Nehemiah mobilized the heads of families and coordinated rebuilding various segments of the city walls and gates. They were building with shovels and weapons.

As Christ’s disciples, we are involved directly in the building God’s church for maturity in Christ. We are sent out as Christ’s living witnesses to be the salt and light in the fallen world.   As followers of Christ, we need to apply God’s truths from the Bible and use our vocational skills and knowledge at work. The local church must work together, despite external threats and internal conflicts, to coordinate harmoniously to build healthy families, stable small groups and effective ministries which are inter-dependent and connected to Christ, the Master Builder.

Daniel’s 70^th week (the last 7 years) will begin after a “strong covenant” has been made.

In between the crucifixion of the Messiah and the strong covenant, God revealed the mystery of Christ and the Church through Apostle Paul. We are now in the period of the Church age which is between Daniel’s 69th week and 70th week.  The Church is God’s living testimony of His wisdom and His power of salvation. In an increasingly godless world, the Church empowered by the Holy Spirit functions as a pillar and bulwark of the truth of God.  His Holy Spirit protects the Church as she battles various false doctrines and deceptive ideas from outside and inside the Church.  A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Hence, as members of the Christ’s Church, we should earnestly urge people who are spiritually thirsty to come to Jesus, to drink of the water of eternal life.

The iniquity of the Gentiles will reach its height during the middle of Daniel’s 70^th week, when the Anti-Christ is worshipped.