Reading: Nehemiah 1-3, Psalm 48
Well, the book of Ezra ended on a bit of a sour note, but maybe it will help if we recall that this is not the intended ending to the book. It does appear to be the last entry by Ezra himself, as the book of Nehemiah is written largely in the first person from the perspective of the title character. Even though the voice changes from Ezra’s to Nehemiah’s, the purpose of the book remains the same: to document the attempts to return from exile and restore a place for the descendants of Jacob in the promised land. We ended yesterday after two attempts at restoration. The first, under Zerubbabel and Joshua, stalled out due to legal legerdemain on the part of various locals. The second, under Ezra, managed to complete the temple and get things rolling again, but got caught up in fear and attempts to create their own purity. The glory of God never occupied the temple, and it became a place of division rather than the source of a new creation that the people were hoping for and that was prophesied by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
The opening chapter of Nehemiah has our protagonist back in the capital of Persia, serving as cupbearer to the king. There are a series of scenes in which Nehemiah learns that the remnant living in Jerusalem is in desperation, prays in repentance for help for his people, and asks the king’s leave to go and see what the real condition of Jerusalem is and get it put back together. Nehemiah is apparently a trustworthy servant, because the king is agreeable. Nehemiah credits God’s good hand on him for this.
When he arrives in Jerusalem he surveys the walls and finds things quite abysmal. He rallies the people living there, basically telling them that if they want to be protected from banditry they will need to get the city walls rebuilt. To a large extent, they get right to it. There are complaints and threats from two locals, our primary story villains, Sanballot and Tobiah, who will be plaguing Nehemiah’s attempts to get Jerusalem and the people in good shape for the rest of the book.
All in all Nehemiah has started off pretty well. He has a project going in which the returned exiles are working together. He has permission to be doing the things he is doing. He prays to the God of Israel like he means it, and does not appear to have any desire to go beyond his place as governor of the province. One of the bigger problems the Jewish people would face in their attempts to create a stable homeland during this part of history was their incessant revolts against higher authorities. He who struggles with God and man. They never get away from their name. What remains to be seen is whether Nehemiah’s reforms will get the people anywhere. Zerubabbel and Ezra started off well too, but look where they ended up. Nehemiah is the third try at restoration, and if he stalls out, one has to start wondering where the people of Israel can possibly turn.