Ezra and Nehemiah were originally considered one book and are often read together.
These books are "postexilic" which means that they happen after the Babylonian Exile.

Last month we read Exodus, so here's a quick summary to get us from the end of Exodus to Ezra/Nehemiah:

• After their time in the wilderness God grants the people entry into the Promised Land. The people spread out and settle in areas according to their tribe. The people are governed locally by judges.
• Then they ask God for a king.  God reluctantly agrees- God wants to be the people's king, but the people want a human king like all the other nations. We have King Saul, then King David, then King Solomon.
• When Solomon dies the people split in two - there is a kingdom in the south called Judah (made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) and a kingdom in the north called Israel (made up of the other 10 tribes). Each kingdom is ruled by it's own king.  A few of the kings are good, some are okay, but most of them are bad (you can read all about them in 1 and 2 Kings).
• The Assyrians invade Israel (the northern kingdom) in 722 BCE and exile the people.  The people are kicked out of their homes and must leave their land.
• The Babylonians kept trying to take over the southern kingdom. When they occupied a new place Babylonians banned the local people from participating in their local religion.  In 586 BCE, Jerusalem is destroyed and the temple is burned. The people, especially the leaders, were deported to Babylon.
• But then in 539 BCE, the NeoBabylonian Empire fell to the Persians under Cyrus the Great. Unlike the Babylonians, the Persians allowed the people to worship their own deities. The people were able to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

That is where we are in Nehemiah. It's after the exile - "post-exilic."

Ezra focuses on the restoration of the Temple and the people. Nehemiah focuses on the rebuilding of the wall and the repopulating of Jerusalem.

As you begin reading, you’ll notice that a lot of Nehemiah is in the first person.  Much of the book is what scholars call “the Nehemiah Memoir.” Ralph W. Klein writes, “The Nehemiah Memoir recounts Nehemiah’s role in constructing the walls of Jerusalem, expanding its population, correcting social abuses, supporting the worship life of the community, and guarding against mixing with foreigners.”

Almost all of that sounds good, but what’s the deal with not mixing with foreigners? We saw a little of this issue in Exodus.  The worry was that if the people were to marry folks from other nations, then the spouses who were not Jewish would want their Jewish spouses to worship their gods/idols. The living God requires faithfulness as we read in Exodus 20 – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.”

We must not take prohibitions like this at face value.  We must understand the reasons behind these prohibitions.  It is best to come to scripture with openness and curiosity. These types of prohibitions have a deeper issue behind them.  When faced with a list of things to avoid in scripture it’s helpful to ask, “what were they worried about?”

For Nehemiah it was the lost of religious identity of the Jewish people. The people had been through so much – the kingdom was divided in two, the Kings that lead them were mostly bad, the exile of Israel, and then the exile of Judah with the destruction of the Temple.  The people were displaced from the Promised Land and now a faithful remnant of folks were coming back.  In Ezra the people rebuilt the Temple.  It’s the beginning of a new era in which it is imperative that the people understand who God is and who they are in relationship to God without the distraction from other religions/cults.
 
Jesus is a great example of not taking rules, prohibitions, laws at face value, but getting to the root of the matter. He does this anytime he heals on the Sabbath (Mark 3, Luke 13, etc.), when he allows the disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2), when Jesus’ disciples do not participate in ritual washing before a meal (Mark 7). We know from Exodus how essential the Sabbath is to the people and to God, yet Jesus invites the people to not get bogged down in the details, but to focus on the spirit of the Sabbath.

Nehemiah serves in the Persian court as a cupbearer- he selected the king’s wine and would taste it (to protect against assassination attempts) and keep the king company.

Nehemiah questions his brother about conditions in Jerusalem.  They are not good – the city wall was broken, and the gates were burned. Nehemiah mourns the situation in the city.

Nehemiah prays and his prayer is mostly made up of quotes from the Old Testament.  He references Deuteronomy, 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Psalm 130.

Nehemiah “quotes” Moses in verses 8 and 9.  Nowhere in the Torah do we see those exact words.  What the quote communicates is very similar to the message of Deuteronomy 30:1-4:

“When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, if you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you and return to the Lord your God, and you and your children obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today, then the Lord your God will return you from your captivity and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you back.”

Nehemiah means “Yahweh has comforted.” It reminds us of Isaiah 40:1 “Give comfort to my people Israel.”

What does comfort mean to you?

Klein writes, “Comfort includes more than sympathy; it can also denote complete restoration of the people, as in Isaiah 52:9- ‘Break forth; shout together for joy, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah’s prayer communicates that he doesn’t feel that Israel is fully restored in Jerusalem.  That could be because the wall is incomplete, and the gates are destroyed.  Nehemiah is looking for that promised land flowing with milk and honey.

Are they not Israelites anymore? In last month’s book, Exodus, the people were called Israelites.  Now in Nehemiah the people are referred to as Jews. This change happened around the same time as the Babylonian Exile.

Nehemiah asks the Persian king for permission to go home to rebuild Jerusalem. Notice, he doesn’t call the city by name but refers to it as “the place of my ancestors’ graves.” Nehemiah displays tact and a shrewd understanding of how to get approval for his plan. He waits until the time is right, he gives a good outline of his plan, he let’s the king be the one to make the final decision.

Nehemiah takes a pause in his conversation with the King to pray.  Before you have a tough conversation do you take a moment to connect with God?  Try it next time and see what happens.

Why do you think Nehemiah does his inspection of the wall at night?

Klein writes, “For Nehemiah it was a shame and a disgrace for Jerusalem, God’s chosen city, to lie in ruins. After all, this was the city God had chosen ‘to put his name there.’ (1:9).”

Nehemiah has another one added to his opponents – Sanballat, Tobiah, and now Gesham.  Why do they try to thwart Nehemiah’s mission?

Here is a list of those who worked on the wall and the gates, helping to restore Jerusalem. It shows Nehemiah’s gifts of organization and administration.

What gifts has the Holy Spirit given you? How are you called to employ those gifts for the glory of God? Does using your gifts have you in front of others or behind the scenes?  Take some time this week to think about your gifts and to notice how others in our church community utilize their gifts – behind the scenes or otherwise.

Mark Throntveit writes, “Chapter 3, while it deals with the “repair” of the walls, is actually yet another of the many lists that punctuate this material. We have seen at other junctures that these lists, originally designed to provide historical information, serve the theological purpose of charting the community’s status as they move toward becoming the reconstituted people of God. Here, the solidarity of the people is being lifted up. Priests, Levites, lay people, merchants, and political leaders all work as one on the project. By bringing these disparate elements of the society together, Nehemiah was also forging them into a cohesive community.”

What do you appreciate most about being part of a community?  How can our church community better live into the promise we make at every baptism:

With God's help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ.
We will surround these persons with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God, and be found faithful in their service to others.
We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.

Nehemiah responds to the verbal threats of Sanballat and Tobiah with prayer.

There are external and internal threats to the work they are doing to restore Jerusalem.

Nehemiah takes measures to prevent external threats and gets the people organized so that the internal threat of not knowing what was coming is neutralized.

How has God guided you in times of distress? Has prayer been a help to you in times of turmoil?

Many of the families living in Jerusalem face economic crisis during the wall-building.

The people who cry out were experiencing famine. Because they needed so many workers in Jerusalem there weren’t as many workers able to work to bring in the harvest.

People were unable to purchase food, others could only buy food by mortgaging their property, others needed to mortgage their property or sell their children into debt-slavery to pay the Persian taxes.

Throntveit writes, “Nehemiah’s response was speedy and effective. On his own authority, he summoned those holding these perfectly legal pledges to release them and to forgive the debts, as would he. The lenders agreed to this sacrifice and released their holdings.
The text closes with a sketch of Nehemiah’s own generosity and financial sacrifice drawn from Nehemiah’s second term as governor. Though entitled to live off the provincial taxes (food allowance of the governor) Nehemiah led by example and refused this compensation.”

Nehemiah insisted that this problem involved the whole community – it’s not just the creditors and the people suffering involved but everyone together. The people had just bought back a lot of Jewish folks who were sold into debt-slavery to Gentiles so they could go to Jerusalem, to rebuild the city and live there together.  Now they’re selling themselves to each other in debt-slavery? Unacceptable.

Klein writes, “Nehemiah appeals to the creditor’s faith (‘should you not walk in the fear of our God?’) as well as to their pride (‘to prevent the taunts of the nations.’).”

Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem try to get Nehemiah to meet with them far from Jerusalem in a remote village about twenty miles northwest of Jerusalem. What follows is dramatic enough to be in a TV show or movie.

It’s not clear why they try to lure him away from the city, from his work, since the wall is complete, save for the doors in the gates.

They try the same message four times and then change tactics when Nehemiah won’t come and meet with them.

They send an “open letter” that accuses Nehemiah of rebellion against the Persian empire. The fact that the letter is “open” communicates that this message has been spread around, that the accusations are public knowledge.  The accusations will create distrust among the people about Nehemiah’s motives.

The “report among the nations” is that the Jews intend to rebel against the Persians and that’s why they’re rebuilding the wall. However, we know that the Persian king gave permission for this to happen and even supplied the timber!

The letter sent by Sanballat also claims that Nehemiah wans to be king in Judah and that he’s appointed prophets to help with his campaign to become king.

Klien writes, “To meet with Sanballat under these circumstances would give some validity to these dangerous accusations. If Sanballat really thought Nehemiah was traitorous, why would he want to meet with him?”

Tobiah and Sanballat continue to antagonize Nehemiah by hiring a “prophet” to tell Nehemiah he should hide in the Temple to disrupt an assassination attempt.
Nehemiah rejects the prophet’s plan for three reasons – he doesn’t want to flee from his enemies, he doesn’t want to go into the temple (only priests can enter and he is not a priest), and he can see that this prophet is not a prophet sent from God.
Tobiah and Sanballat do the thing they accused Nehemiah of doing earlier- hiring a prophet to say what they wanted, not a message from God.

Nehemiah’s choices help him to maintain his respectable reputation. He lets God be the judge, asking God in verse 14 to remember what these three had done.

Who is the prophetess Noadiah? We’re not sure. We don’t get her story in Nehemiah. But her inclusion in this passage makes us think that using a prophet to discredit or foil Nehemiah’s plans happened more than once.

The wall was completed in just 52 days. It was about six months from the time that Nehemiah was allowed to go to Jerusalem by Artaxerxes to the completion of the wall.

Klein writes, “When the enemies of Nehemiah hear about the completion of the wall, they and their allies (‘the nations’) are afraid and lose their self-confidence. They recognize that the completion of the wall is the work of ‘our God’—again Nehemiah seems to know the innermost feelings of his opponents. They have become victims of the same terror they had wanted to impose on Nehemiah.”

Sort of like the letters we have in the New Testament, Nehemiah shows us one person’s perspective. We get just one side of the story. We do not know the motives or perspective of Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem.

The wall is complete, the gates are in place, gatekeepers guard the gates.

Then we have a list of all the people who returned to live in Jerusalem.  This list is also included in Ezra 2, but some differences in spelling and totals.

Did you notice among all the names Urim and Thummim?! We learned about this last month, while reading Exodus.  Urim and Thummim were probably dice that the priest would use to get answers from God. Three priestly families were unable to prove their relation to Aaron so they were kept from serving as priests and eating the most holy food (see Leviticus 7:1-10).  The plan was to wait until a priest with the Urim and Thummim could ask God if these families ought to be included as priests or not.

We’re starting a new section in Nehemiah today.  Everything up to now has been about the return of Nehemiah and rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Now we’re focusing on Torah, confession, and covenant.

This section is not the “Nehemiah Memoir.” It’s a sort of interlude between deciding to repopulate Jerusalem (what we read yesterday) and the work of getting the people to the city (chapter 11).

Now Ezra is the leading actor.

Klein writes that there are “a variety of difficult questions about [this section’s] origin and function. Why is the joyous Festival of Tabernacles followed by a ceremony marked by mourning, sackcloth, and ashes in chapter 9, especially in light of Ezra’s and the Levites’ admonition not to mourn in 8:9-11? Why does the community observe a festival of penance that is not commanded in the law, and why does the sad festival not precede the joyous one?”  The questions posed go on and on.

The people are the ones who ask the law to be read to them. Klein tells us, “the public reading took place on the day that was to become known in Judaism as new year’s day, the first day of the seventh month, late in September or early October.”

Scholars believe that they read the Pentateuch, or what we know now as the first five books of the Bible. There was no way they could have read all five books during that time. We do not know which sections they read.

Men, women, and children who could understand what was happening were included in the crowd. Ezra read from a scroll and the people respond with their bodies – “all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground” (8:6) Klein writes, “the twofold ‘Amen’ of the people expresses agreement with the blessing of the Lord and acceptance of the law; the people’s raised hands connote expectation and dependence. Obedience and submission are articulated by their bowed heads and by the prostration on the ground.”

Spend some time thinking about how we use our bodies in worship nowadays. We stand in worship because it symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus. How else do our bodies come into worship? How do we use our bodies to worship?

Why do you think the people cried when they heard the law? Were they sad because their lives were so different from the vision God give in the law? What are other reasons for their tears?

A portion of the crowd sticks around the next day and continues to study the law.  They notice a requirement to celebrate the Festival of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles so they do it! The author added some requirements of celebrating the festival to what it says in Leviticus 23. Klein writes, “they had made inferences from the written law, and this exegesis [interpretation] was described as that which is written in the law.”

The people ready themselves for repentance.   Klein writes, “Fasting, wearing sackcloth, and placing dirt or ashes on one’s forehead are regular parts of mourning rites in the Old Testament and may suggest that the worshippers felt themselves to be under a sentence of death.” We’re reminded of this on Ash Wednesday when we wear ashes on our foreheads as we confront our own mortality and confess our sin.

This prayer of repentance tells the story of God and God’s people. The story is told from the perspective of the people. Take a minute to imagine how the Cannanites would tell this same story? How the Egyptians might tell this story? How God would tell the story?

This section ends in a rather startling way. Ezra declares that they are still slaves, having to pay the Persian taxes. Klein writes, “This view of the imperial power seems much harsher and much less nuanced and cautious than the usual attitude toward the Persians reflected in the books of Ezra and Neimiah.”

After the reading of the law and the great prayer of repentance the people make “a firm agreement in writing.”  We’re used to thinking about this sort of thing as a covenant – like what God made with Abraham and Sarah, or David. Klein writes, “The ‘firm agreement’ is not called a ‘covenant,’ perhaps to identify it as a human pledge rather than as a divinely initiated promise.”

Many people sign the agreement. And then make promises which all have to do with being a set-apart people, distinct from others.

We talked a bit about the whole not marrying or giving in marriage to “the peoples of the land” in the notes for chapter 1. The worry was that these spouses would bring their idol worship into the homes of the Jews, when they were supposed to worship God alone. Whenever you see a prohibition in scripture it’s a signal to think “what were they afraid of? What are they worried would happen?”

They make plans to provide for Temple worship – how they’ll get the wood they need to keep the fire burning, etc.

Chapter 11 is not part of the Nehemiah Memoir. It’s in third person and Nehemiah is not mentioned.  We get the names of folks who return to help repopulate Jerusalem. There is a similar list of people who returned to the land after the exile in 1 Chronicles chapter 9, but the two lists differ greatly.

It seems like Jerusalem has attracted a lot of leaders, but not enough ordinary people, so they do a sort of “people tithe” and cast lots, sending a tenth of ordinary people to live in the city. Klein writes, “the people destined for the move willingly consented to it and so set an example for anyone who would move to Jerusalem in the future.”

The city is now considered holy since the Temple has been rebuilt, the wall is restored, and the law was publicly read and agreed to.

We get the names of folks from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin who returned plus leaders and clergy (priests, Levites, gatekeepers). Klein explains why we are given their genealogies- “the long genealogies give legitimation to the individuals in these verses. In a holy city, purity of laypeople is as important as purity of priests.” Purity, as in, connection to the tribe they claim.

In verses 25-35 we get a list of towns. The towns described here make up a much larger geographical area than the actual area where the people lived after the exile. Maybe the author exaggerated because that’s what they wished it was like, or because it would make them look better?  Why do you think the author exaggerated about all the towns where the people live?  

More names today! Lots and lots of names.  This section is a list of priests and Levites.

Klein writes, “verses 12-21 consist of a master list of twenty-two priestly houses, followed in each case by the name of the head of that house in the time of the high priest Joiakim.”

Jeshua and Joiakim were the first two high priests after the return from exile.

The author thought it was very important for us to know about the priests and Levites in Jerusalem after the exile- continuing Temple worship as they had before the exile.

Who are Levites again? Levites are descended from Jacob’s son Levi, they are from the Tribe of Levi. They are set apart to serve God. Remember how in Genesis Jacob wrestled with God and was renamed Israel? The descendants of Jacob are organized into tribes based on which of the sons you descend from. When the Levites (descendants of Levi) were set apart, only 11 tribes were left, so they divided Joseph’s tribe in two – one tribe for each of Joseph’s two sons (Manasseh and Ephraim). Fascinating, right?! The Levites play an important role in the wilderness after the exodus – they were in charge of packing up, carrying, and then setting back up the tabernacle and everything the tabernacle contained.  Aaron and Moses were descended from Levi.  Aaron is the first priest. Priests must be descended, not only from Levi, but from Aaron as well. 

In today’s section we learn that they’re reestablishing various systems that were not functioning during the exile.  They appoint officials to be in charge of the donations to the Temple and to the clergy.

You can learn more about the banning of Ammonites and Moabites to the tenth generation from participating in the worship of Israel in Numbers 22-24.

The people read the law of Moses, probably Deuteronomy 23:3-6 and decide to take action. Remember! When we read about exclusion or prohibitions in the Bible our first questions is, “Why? What were they worried about?”

Up to this point in Nehemiah they’ve repaired the wall, the Temple is functioning, they have priests and Levites and leaders living in the city, ordinary people move there to live and work, they dedicated the wall with great joy – it’s all ready, everything is complete.  What do you think they’re worried about? Maybe they worry that if they allow foreign folks to participate in worship, they will have to endure another exile? What do you think?

Klein writes, “The people heard the law and did it (13:3). In Jewish tradition, the festival called Simhat Torah (Joy in the Law) is a celebration at the end of the annual reading of the entire Pentateuch. The community rejoices because once more it has experienced the fullness of the Torah. Joy in the Torah can also be expressed by the willingness to follow its teaching and advice, even in such mundane matters as ecclesiastical contributions and separating oneself form anyone whose character is flawed by inhospitality.”

In this chapter Nehemiah tells us all the corrective action he took in making sure that things were done properly, in accordance with the law:

Tobiah was living in the Temple, in a room especially for grain offering, frankincense, vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil. Nehemiah threw out all of Tobiah’s furniture and put the room back to its intended use.

The Levites and singers were not getting food from the offering, so they had to go back to farming. Nehemiah corrected that, making sure they could do their duty and not have to worry about creating food for themselves.

Nehemiah stopped people working and buying things on the sabbath. He was adamant that they keep the sabbath day holy. Why do you think God established the sabbath? Why do you think Nehemiah made keeping the sabbath holy a priority? What good comes from setting time aside to rest and worship? When the people were in exile observing the sabbath was one of just a few ways the people were able to maintain their identity. Perhaps that’s why Nehemiah is so concerned that they continue to observe the sabbath properly.

Do you have any rhythms of your week or day that helps you maintain your identity as a Christian? That connects you to the church community? What are they?

Nehemiah wants to keep the community complete and dedicated to the same thing- pulling together in the same direction. He is worried that marrying foreigners will inhibit this goal. He has the people take an oath saying they won’t let their children marry foreigners.

Nehemiah asks God to remember him and his deeds three times in this section. What do you make of this prayer? Do you ask God to remember you?