Reading: Nehemiah 4-6, Psalm 49
Well, Nehemiah has gotten the people up and building the walls of Jerusalem. The obvious next thing to happen is for someone to get upset at them. This happens in the persons of Sanballot the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. These two malcontents, who were also both officials of the Persian empire, gather their own crew and start using threats to try and stop the wall building. Their first tactic is mockery. Their second is subversion. The third is sending raiding parties. Nehemiah answers all three effectively. He also answers the internal tensions of the returned exiles, particularly the manipulation and exploitation of the poor. If you are a returned exile in his day, you might start to wonder, is this The Guy? The one who can restore and bring about the promises of the God of Israel?
The rest of the book of Nehemiah is an answer to that question, and the answer is no. It is not because Nehemiah faces the moral failure of many of the kings of Israel and Judah, or because he begins worshiping other gods, or because he attempts to go beyond his scope of authority by initiating things like mass divorce. No, Nehemiah says no because he simply knows better. In the regular course of ancient history, there was a real possibility of Nehemiah claiming the kingship, the priesthood, and either launching a revolution or negotiating for an even more privileged position than he already had. I mean, let’s look at this guy’s qualifications and abilities. He parleyed his role at cupbearer into provincial governor. He organized a largely demoralized band of returned exiles into an effective construction crew and fighting force. He successfully dealt with the political and military gambits of local opponents. He has the respect of the people and the support of the empire. What was stopping him from using his position to climb ever higher on the social ladder, perhaps an even higher appointment in the Persian hierarchy?
Nehemiah actually believed and cared about the commands of the God of Israel. He knew that he was neither king nor priest. He protected the people, provided for them out of his own wealth, put a stop to their exploitation of one another, and fought off their enemies. Given the history of the people of Israel, what might we call Nehemiah? I would call him a Shepherd. He does all things that the priest and the king were supposed to do, but was fully aware that he was not the Anointed One predicted by the prophets. He was never made king or priest, and he will not reach out and attempt to claim either role.
Nehemiah is coming up really well in our book of post-exile drama. Zerubbabbel, the heir of the king, and Ezra, the heir of the priests, did not live up to expectations. The temple is not the prophesied temple, the leaders are not the prophesied leader. Nehemiah comes along, who is none of the above, and he gets things moving. He sets high standards of behavior for his people, and they accept his correction. As long as he is on the scene, it appears that the returned exiles are ready to become obedient to their God. Today’s reading closes with the successful completion of the walls of Jerusalem in record time. After the anticlimactic peaks of the stories of Zerubbabel and Ezra, this is a refreshing moment.
It doesn’t last long. Immediately following the announcement of the successful building, letters begin arriving from Tobiah, and we are told that he and his family have intermarried with the priests among the exiles, and that many of the exiles have bound themselves to him by oath. We had one good moment, but once again Israel is living up to it’s name.