Chapter 15 "Nehemiah"

"Nehemiah" Restoration of the Walls of Jerusalem In the 20th year of Artaxerxes in Persia, Hagariah's son Nehemiah was an official in the rich, and one of his brothers Hanani and several people came to him from Judah.They told Nehemiah that the people of Judah had been reviled, that the walls of Jerusalem had been pulled down, and the gates were burned. When Nehemiah heard all this, he sat down on the ground and burst into tears. His heart ached for his homeland and his fellow countrymen.For several days, he did not eat or drink, and prayed to Jehovah: "Lord, God of heaven, please open your eyes and see, and listen to your servant's prayer for your servants of Israel. I recognize that we Israel Confess that I and my family are guilty, that we have not kept the commandments and statutes that you commanded through your servant Moses. Save us by remembering what you commanded your servant Moses to say: If you sin, I will separate you and scatter you among the peoples; if you turn from your evil ways and obey my commandments, even if you are scattered to the ends of the earth, I will gather you back. Lord, please listen carefully to your servants. prayer."

Nehemiah was the cupbearer, and one day he poured wine for the king, the king suddenly asked him, "Nehemiah, you have always been smiling, but recently I noticed that your face is always sad, there must be something wrong? " "Long live my king, long live! Your Majesty, I dare not hide anything from you. I heard that the city where the tombs of my ancestors are located was destroyed, and the city gate was burned. How can I not be sad?" ?" "Then just say what you want," Nehemiah said to Artaxerxes while praying silently in his heart, "if I have found favor in your Majesty's sight, please send me to the tombs of your ancestors. to Judah, so that I may rebuild my homeland."

Artaxerxes agreed, and Nehemiah asked again: "Send me an edict and inform the governor west of the Great River, allowing me to pass through there and go directly to Judah; please issue another edict to manage Your Majesty's gardens. Asaph's gave me wood for building the city and my own house." The king agreed because God was helping Nehemiah. Artaxerxes also sent several generals and many soldiers to escort Nehemiah.When Nehemiah arrived in Hexi Province, he handed over the king's edict to the governor, passed Hexi smoothly, and arrived in Jerusalem. There, for three days he inspected the fallen walls and the burnt gates, and then he said to the people of Judah, the priests, the nobles, and the rulers: "Look, everyone, how desolate our Jerusalem is, that even the gates are No, think about what we have suffered, do we still want to continue to live in disgrace? Come on, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, this is God's will!" Nehemiah divided the construction of the wall To every household, including the priests.The people of Jerusalem worked together and wanted to see the repaired city wall one day sooner.

But Sankelah the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite the slave, and Geshem the Arabian mocked them.Sanballat said to his brethren and the officers and men of Samaria, "What are these weak men of Judah going to do? Are they going to defend themselves? Are they going to take out burning stones from the mound and build another wall?" Dobia, who was standing beside him, echoed, "The walls they built would collapse if a fox climbed them!" Although they looked down on the Judahs and kept laughing at the Judahs, when the Judahs really wanted to repair the city wall, they became anxious and decided to join forces to attack Jerusalem.Nehemiah found out about their plot, and sent guards to guard them day and night.He encouraged the people of Jerusalem: "Don't be afraid of them. God is on our side. We must fight for our brothers, our children, our wives, and our precious property." They all carried weapons, and he himself slept with the guards without taking off his clothes. He also let the horn blower stand beside him: "The project is huge, and we are far away on the city wall; wherever you hear the sound of the horn, gather there ."

However, what Nehemiah faced was not only to defend his homeland from foreign aggression, but the crisis inside the city was also becoming more and more serious.Many families have no rice to cook, some have pawned their fields, vineyards, and houses, and some have sold their children and daughters.Seeing all this, Nehemiah was very angry. He rebuked those nobles and officials for profiting from their brothers: "You do not do good deeds and do not worship God. No wonder the Gentiles will slander us. My brothers and I will put You have lent money and grain to the people, and now I beseech you to give them back their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, their houses, and the money, grain, wine, and oil that you have lent them."

Everyone agreed.Nehemiah called the priests again and made them take an oath that they would do as they were told.He himself shook the lapel of his chest and said, "Anyone who doesn't do what he said, may the gods shake off all the seasonal produce from his hard work like this." Seeing that they are well-organized and guarded against them, the enemy dare not act rashly or attack openly, but wants to take them secretly.Sanballat and Geshem sent to Nehemiah, saying, "Go to a village in the plain of Ono, and we will talk." Knowing that they wanted to harm him, Nehemiah sent people to them and said, "Such a huge project cannot be stopped. I really can't get away." They sent people like this four times in total, and Nehemiah said Rejected for the same reason.The person who sent the fifth time held an unsealed letter in his hand, which said: Now there are rumors, and Geshem also says the same, saying that you and the people of Judah are plotting rebellion.You build the walls, and you will be their king; and you have sent some men in Jerusalem to preach to the people by your point of view, that there will be a king among the people of Judah, and now this word will surely reach the ears of the king, so we ask You come here and want to discuss with you. Nehemiah sent someone to tell him, "What you said is completely fabricated out of thin air. I will not be fooled." Someone advised him to hide in the temple and lock the door. He also refused: "How could I run away? How could I hide in the temple to save my life?" Nehemiah knew that Sanballat and the others just wanted to scare him, make him afraid, and then spread evil words to slander him, so he remained calm. calm.

In the month of Elul, which is June, on the 25th, the city wall was completed, and it took 52 days to repair it.Then, the city gate was installed and guarded.Nehemiah put Hanani and Hananiah in charge of Jerusalem because of their devotion to God.He said to them, "Wait until the sun rises before you can open the city gate. When the enemy is watching, you must fasten the bolt." Jerusalem is sparsely populated, and houses are pitifully few.Nehemiah summoned the nobles, officials, and common people to calculate how much space each family occupied according to the genealogy, so that everyone could find their own place.

On the first day of July, the Israelites gathered in a wide place and asked the priest Ezra to explain the book of the law that Jehovah passed to them through Moses.The next day all the heads of the tribes, the priests, and the Levites gathered around Ezra to hear him read from the Book of the Law.It is written in the book: The LORD commanded the Israelites through Moses to go up the mountain in the seventh month and take branches from the olive tree, the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, and other trees that grew vigorously, and build booths according to what is written in the book. People are to live in it.So all the people in Jerusalem built tents on the roofs of their houses, in their yards, and in open spaces.From the first day to the last day, Ezra read from the book of the law every day, and all the people kept the festival for seven days.

On the 24th of this month, the people of Israel gather together to fast.Dressed in sackcloth and dusty on their faces, they began to repent.They confessed the sins of themselves and their ancestors, read the Book of the Law of the Lord, and sang praises to the Lord.They swore and swore that they would obey the law and keep all the commandments and statutes of the LORD.Do not allow your children to marry the residents here, never buy any goods or food on the Sabbath, never farm in the seventh year, and never press for any debts owed to them.Repaying oneself with fish is included in the regulations, and each person donates a certain amount of silver to the temple every year to be used for burnt offerings and Sabbaths; the first batch of ripe crops and fruits are enshrined in the temple of the Lord every year; To the priests, in the treasury of the temple, etc.

Nehemiah was governor of Judah from the 20th to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes.During these 12 years, he and his brothers did not eat the governor's salary, did not buy any land, and his servants also worked with the people.He knew the people's burden was heavy, and he sympathized with their suffering.The country of Judah is peaceful and the people are peaceful, all wastes are prosperous, and the country is flourishing day by day.Nehemiah left that Jerusalem in peace and returned to Artaxerxes. A few years later, Nehemiah missed his homeland and asked the king for leave to go back to Jerusalem to have a look.Unexpectedly, it was completely different from what it looked like when he left.Tobiah had prepared a house for himself in the courtyard of the temple. Nehemiah was so angry that he threw all Tobiah's furniture out of the house. Hesuji moved in again. The Lilai people were originally serving in the temple and singing songs, but because they couldn't get wages, they all went home to farm.Nehemiah recalled the Levites and reassigned the faithful to manage the treasury.On the Sabbath, some people got drunk, and the people of Tire brought goods to Jerusalem to sell to the people of Judah. ​​Nehemiah rebuked the officials of Judah: "How can you do such a thing? Have you forgotten that your ancestors Have you ever been punished by God for such evil? You are going to bring even greater disaster to Israel!"

The day before the Sabbath, as soon as it got dark, Nehemiah ordered the city gates to be closed until the Sabbath had passed.At the same time, he also sent several servants to manage the city gates so that no one would enter the city to do business on the Sabbath.But some merchants and peddlers did not give up, and lived outside Jerusalem several times in a row, hoping to wait for an opportunity to enter the city.Nehemiah warned them: "If you do this again" I will arrest you all. "They never dared to come again. Nehemiah also found that some Judahs married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Maya, and their children could not speak Judah well, but could only speak foreign languages.Nehemiah called all these violators to the front, severely reprimanded them, cursed them, punished them, and made them swear to God that they would never marry their daughters to foreigners, nor would they let their sons marry foreigners. wife.He also drove out of Jerusalem a descendant of a priest who married a foreign woman. (Neh 1-13)