Little Is Much When God Is In It

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” – Zechariah 4:8-14 ESV

In 538 B.C., Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest had led the first wave of exiles who returned to Judah from Babylon. Their primary responsibility was to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces when Jerusalem had fallen. The Persian king, Cyrus, had issued a decree ordering the Temple’s

“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” – Ezra 1:2-4 NLT

However, after arriving in Judah, they made little progress on the Temple. It took two years just to lay the foundation and then opposition from the Samaritans led to another delay (Ezra 4:1-4). So, 18 years after Cyrus issued his decree, Zerubbabel received a message from Yahweh declaring His dissatisfaction with the unfinished state of the House of God.

“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”– Haggai 1:7-11 NLT 

During that same time, Yahweh provided Zechariah with a more positive message to deliver to Zerubbabel.

“Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me.” – Zechariah 4:9 NLT

Yahweh wanted Zerubbabel to know that his efforts would produce positive results. The “mountainous” task of rebuilding the Temple would be accomplished with the LORD’s help. Zerubbabel, who had laid the cornerstone of the Temple, would also lay the capstone. At that momentous occasion, the people would recognize the sovereign hand of God and shout, “Grace, grace to it!” (Zechariah 4:7 ESV). The grace of God would make the Temple’s construction possible and from this House of God, more grace would flow for generations to come.

Yahweh reminded Zerubbabel not to “despise these small beginnings” (Zechariah 4:10 NLT). Yes, the work would be difficult and the Samaritan resistance would continue, but if the people of God remained faithful and completed their task, they would one day rejoice.

“For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” – Zechariah 4:10 NLT

The Hebrew word translated as “plumbline” could also refer to a “large stone.” The people will have the privilege and joy of seeing Zerubbabel lay the final capstone for the completed project. Four years later, the people got to experience what God predicted.

The Temple of God was then dedicated with great joy by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the people who had returned from exile. During the dedication ceremony for the Temple of God, 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 male lambs were sacrificed. And 12 male goats were presented as a sin offering for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then the priests and Levites were divided into their various divisions to serve at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Book of Moses. – Ezra 6:16-18 NLT

As Zechariah listened to God’s encouraging message of future success, the angel provided a rather out-of-place explanation for the earlier vision. He states, “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:10 ESV). This refers to the seven lamps surrounding the bowl on the top of the golden lampstand. Zechariah had wanted to know what the vision meant, and now the angel explains that the lamps symbolize God’s insight into all things. Seven is the number of perfection and God knows and sees all perfectly and clearly. He can see the past and the future simultaneously. Nothing is hidden from His sight, so He can assure Zechariah that the Temple will be completed.

But now, Zechariah’s curiosity has peaked. He wants to know more, so he peppers the angel with questions.

“What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand, and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?”– Zechariah 4:11-12 NLT

The angel expresses surprise at Zechariah’s line of questioning, asking, “Do you not know what these are?” (Zechariah 4:13 ESV). The angel considers the meaning to be so obvious that he is shocked at Zechariah’s confusion. But he refuses to make it easy for the perplexed prophet.

“These are the two anointed ones who stand by the LORD of the whole earth.” – Zechariah 4:14 ESV

It’s almost as if the angel is waiting for the lightbulb to illuminate over Zechariah’s head. In effect, the angel doesn't answer Zechariah’s question directly. He describes the two trees as “the two anointed ones,” but this answer doesn't provide Zechariah with much clarity. It simply begs another question: Who are the two anointed ones? But the angel believes Zechariah should be able to discern the answer to his own question. He and Joshua are the two olive trees that stand on either side of the golden lampstand. Zechariah is the God-appointed governor of Judah, while Joshua serves as the God-anointed high priest. Together they represent the offices of priest and king. In a sense, these two men are branches in their respective trees, pouring out the oil of the Spirit of God into the bowl on top of the lampstand of God. These two men had been divinely ordained to serve the people of God by carrying out His will.

Zerubbabel and Joshua serve as representatives of the kingly and priestly roles that will one day be combined in the reign of Christ. In chapter 3, God told Joshua that he and his fellow priests were signs of a greater priest to come.

“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch.” – Zechariah 3:8 ESV

The author of Hebrews revealed Jesus to be the fulfillment of this promise.

…we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. – Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT

According to the message the angel Gabriel delivered to Mary, Jesus would also become a king in the line of David.

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”– Luke 1:32-33 ESV

Zerubbabel and Joshua represented the King-Priest who was to come. In their respective roles, they foreshadowed the coming of Messiah. The Book of Hebrews points to Jesus’ role as the priest-king when it compares Him to the Old Testament character, Melchizedek, who was “king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High” (Hebrews 7:1 NLT). The author describes Jesus as “a different priest, who is like Melchizedek” (Hebrews 7:15 NLT). With His appearance, “Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed” (Hebrews 7:16 NLT).

Jesus combined the offices of priest and king so that He might provide atonement for the sins of humanity and rule over them in righteousness and, “because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf” (Hebrews 7:24-25 NLT).

He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. – Hebrews 7:26 NLT

In this place of honor, Jesus is also recognized as the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the perfect High Priest and all-powerful King.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11 NLT

Through their obedience to God, Zechariah and Joshua foreshadowed the Branch to come, who would pour out the oil of God’s grace and mercy on undeserving sinners. Zechariah did not grasp the full significance of what he had seen and heard. The angel’s explanation must have seemed cryptic and obscure to the curious and confused prophet. But this message points to the future when God will fulfill all His promises through Jesus Christ, the Prophet, Priest, and King.

Zechariah was not to despise “the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10 ESV). He and Joshua were to fulfill their respective roles with faithfulness and diligence, and not according to their own strength. If they were obedient and carried out their divine commissions, God would do His part and carry out His will for the people of Israel and the nations of the world. One day, He would send His Son to complete His grand plan of redemption and set up His Kingdom on earth – all in keeping with God’s promises.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” – Revelation 11:15 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Light in the Darkness

1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” – Zechariah 4:1-7 ESV

The vision in chapter 3 centered around Joshua the high priest. In this chapter, the fifth vision features Zerubabbel, the governor of Judah. These two men served as the leaders of the remnant community that had returned to the land. They were also responsible for overseeing the construction of the Temple that King Cyrus had authorized and funded (Ezra 1:1-4). 

The former vision accentuated the need for cleansing. As Judah’s top religious leader, Joshua stood as a symbol for the entire nation. The description of his filthy clothes in chapter 3 was meant to symbolize the spiritual state of the people. They had been chosen by God and were expected to live distinctively different lives that set them apart from all the other nations on earth.

“…you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” – Exodus 19:5-6 ESV

But they had failed to keep the covenant they made with God. Generations of Israelites had violated their covenant commitment and proven their unwillingness to remain faithful to God. As a result, He punished them by sending the Babylonians to conquer their land, destroy their capital city, demolish the Temple, and take them into captivity. After 70 years of exile in Babylon, God had allowed a remnant to return. Joshua and Zerubabbel had led the small band of Judahites that returned to the land of promise with intentions to rebuild the Temple. But when Zechariah had these visions, the Temple was only halfway complete.

God’s cleansing of Joshua was a sign that He was willing to forgive the people for their many transgressions against Him. But having been cleansed, they would still need to obey His Law and carry out His command to rebuild the Temple. That is where Zerubbabel came in. As the governor of Judah, he represented the civil authority and was expected to provide the people with godly leadership.

At the end of the previous vision, Zechariah fell into an unconscious state and had to be “awakened” by the angel. The first thing he saw was a golden lampstand with a bowl on top surrounded by seven lamps. On either side of the lampstand stood two olive trees. Since olive oil was the primary source of fuel for lamps, it makes sense that this elaborate golden lampstand was bookended by these trees. 

In Zechariah’s world, there was no electricity, so light was difficult to come by. Lamps were the primary source of light and required oil and constant upkeep. In antiquity, darkness symbolized evil while light represented righteousness and goodness. Light dispelled the darkness, providing illumination and freedom from fear. The prophet Isaiah describes a future day when the darkness of the world will be illuminated by a great light.

The people who walk in darkness
    will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
    a light will shine.
You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
    and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest
    and like warriors dividing the plunder. – Isaiah 9:2-3 NLT

That same chapter goes on to describe the source of that penetrating and joy-producing light.

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! - Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

This prophetic passage speaks of the coming of the Messiah. In his gospel, the apostle John picked up on this when he identified Jesus as the light that shines in the darkness.

In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it. – John 1:1-5 NLT

According to John, Jesus was “the true light, who gives light to everyone” (John 1:9 NLT). He was the fulfillment of all the prophetic promises recorded by men like Isaiah. One of the repeated themes surrounding this coming Messiah was that of darkness and light. In Isaiah 42, the prophet writes about God’s chosen servant in whom His heart delights (Isaiah 42:1). Later in that same chapter, God declares that this servant will display His righteousness, be a symbol of His covenant, and a light to guide the nations (Isaiah 42:6). Then God provides a job description for His chosen servant.

Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
    I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
    a light for the nations,
    to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.” – Isaiah 42:5-8 ESV

Ultimately, Jesus fulfilled this prophetic promises. He became the light to the world. So, ultimately, the light featured in Zechariah’s vision points to Him. But Jesus was a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Judah, and the rightful heir to David’s throne.

The nation of Israel had been expected to be a light to the world, but they loved the darkness rather than the light. They even rejected “the light of the world” by demanding His crucifixion. But at the time of Zechariah’s vision, God was calling them to repent and return to Him. They needed to complete their job assignment to reclaim possession of the promised land and rebuild the Temple of God. For Jesus to come into the world, the Jewish state needed to exist. For Him to become the light that shines in the darkness, the nation of Israel had to be restored, the city of Jerusalem repopulated, and the Temple rebuilt. Jesus was born a Jew in the small Jewish community of Bethlehem. His entire earthly ministry was dependent upon His Hebrew roots and His access to Jerusalem, the Temple, and the chosen people of God.

By the time He appeared on the scene, the nation of Israel was back on the map but, once again, under the domination of a foreign power. The Temple had been expanded by their pseudo-king, Herod. The sacrificial system was in operation and the people were observing all the feasts, festivals, and required offerings. But when Jesus appeared, He entered into a time of great spiritual darkness and moral depravity. Yet, He described Himself as the light of the world. 

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” – John 8:12 NLT

This vision in Zechariah 4 is difficult to understand and it left the prophet scratching his head in confusion. He asked, “What are these, my lord?” (Zechariah 4:4 ESV). To which the angel responded with surprise, “Do you not know what these are?” (Zechariah 4:5 ESV). Even as a prophet of God, Zechariah had no way of knowing what any of this meant. He was operating at a deficit and had no idea what the lampstand, bowl, lamps, and olive trees symbolized. But the meaning would be made clear in time. For now, the angel simply said, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6 ESV).

Zechariah was given a message to share with Zerubbabel. The task of completing the Temple was formidable and stood before the people of Judah like an insurmountable mountain. They had completed half the work but ran out of steam. The building remained in an unfinished state but God wanted them to know that its completion was not up to them. It would be done by His power. He alone could provide the resources and strength needed to finish the project. God was with them and wanted them to know that He would assist them in their work.

To Zerubbabel and the people, the temple rebuilding project was impossible. It loomed over them like a mountain but God promised to transform that mountain into a plain. As the prophet Jeremiah so aptly put it, “O Sovereign LORD! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” (Jeremiah 32:17 NLT).

The Temple would be rebuilt. The walls of the city would be restored. Jerusalem would be repopulated. The centuries would pass and Mary would become betrothed to Joseph. She would bear a son who would become Immanuel, God with us. The light would shine in the darkness and the hope of the world would make Himself known.

“If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark” – John 12:44-46 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Will Make All Things New

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.

6 And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” – Zechariah 3:1-10 ESV

In this fourth vision, Zechariah is shown what appears to be a trial in the throne room of heaven. He sees Joshua (Jeshua) the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD as Satan levels accusations against him. This fits the description of Satan found the Book of Revelation.

This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,

“It has come at last—
    salvation and power
and the Kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters
    has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
    before our God day and night.” – Revelation 12:9110 NLT

Zechariah does not divulge the nature of Satan’s accusations against Joshua, but he reveals that the high priest is wearing filthy garments. His priestly robes are in a state of impurity, a sign of his sinfulness. But as Zechariah looks on, he hears the voice of Yahweh (the LORD) speaking on Joshua’s defense.

“I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.” – Zechariah 3:2 NLT

Joshua, whose name means “Yahweh saves,” is in a disheveled state, but Yahweh orders his garments to be removed and replaced with new ones. Despite Satan’s declarations of Joshua’s guilt and demands for punishment, God offers the high priest undeserved mercy and grace.

“See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.” – Zechariah 3:4 NLT

This imagery of new clothes for old is found throughout the Scriptures.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. – Isaiah 61:10 NLT

So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.…Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. – Romans 13:12, 14 NLT

…for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. – Colossians 3:9-10 NLT

Joshua’s condition symbolizes that of the nation of Judah. As the high priest, he is their God-appointed representative. The priestly cast was to set the standard of behavior for the rest of the nation. But over the centuries, they had failed at their primary responsibility.

“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
    So the priests are glad when the people sin!
 ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
    So now I will punish both priests and people
    for their wicked deeds.” – Hosea 4:8-9 NLT

Their far-from-holy behavior left the entire nation in an unacceptable state before the LORD. Joshua’s condition mirrored that of the people.

We are constant sinners;
    how can people like us be saved?
We are all infected and impure with sin.
    When we display our righteous deeds,
    they are nothing but filthy rags. – Isaiah 64:5-6 NLT

Yet, Yahweh saves. He graciously declares Joshua free from sin and, by extension, the people were also the beneficiaries of God’s abundant grace. God orders Joshua to be dressed in new, pristine priestly robes. His righteousness or right standing before the LORD is restored. The new garments Joshua receives are meant to symbolize his set-apart status as God’s servant. The Book of Exodus describes the one-of-a-kind nature of the priestly robes.

“Make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and beautiful. Instruct all the skilled craftsmen whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom. Have them make garments for Aaron that will distinguish him as a priest set apart for my service. These are the garments they are to make: a chestpiece, an ephod, a robe, a patterned tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother, Aaron, and his sons to wear when they serve me as priests. So give them fine linen cloth, gold thread, and blue, purple, and scarlet thread.” – Exodus 28:2-5 NLT

Robed in righteousness provided by Yahweh, Joshua is given a solemn charge from his gracious benefactor.

“If you follow my ways and carefully serve me, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards. I will let you walk among these others standing here.” – Zechariah 3:7 NLT

God is demanding that Joshua change his behavior. As the high priest, he had an obligation to live in a way that glorified God. He had been set apart for a higher calling and was expected to conduct himself in a selfless and God-honoring way. In this vision, Joshua serves as a stand-in for all the Levitical priests who ever served. As a priest, he held to a higher standard.

“The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.” – Malachi 2:5-6 NLT

God made His expectations clear.

“The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” – Malachi 2:7 NLT

But somewhere along the way, the priests had lost their way.

“But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.” – Malachi 2:8-9 NLT

Now, God was purifying His priests and calling them back to a life of obedience and faithful service. In the vision, the LORD tells Joshua that his restoration points to another renewal that will take place in the distant future.

“You are symbols of things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and I will remove the sins of this land in a single day.” – Zechariah 3:8-9 NLT

These two verses point to a future time when God will send another servant to bring about another cleansing that will be even greater in scope and significance. The use of the term “branch” points to the coming Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
He will delight in obeying the Lord. – Isaiah 11:1-3 NLT

“For the time is coming,”
    says the Lord,
“when I will raise up a righteous descendant
    from King David’s line.
He will be a King who rules with wisdom.
    He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
And this will be his name:
    ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’
In that day Judah will be saved,
    and Israel will live in safety.” – IJeremiah 23:5-6 NLT

In this vision, Joshua the high priest also symbolizes Jesus, the Great High Priest.

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. – Hebrews 4:14-15 NLT

But Jesus is also “the Branch” and “the stone” that will restore righteousness to the world. The Psalms speak of a stone that was rejected by men but became a vital building block in God's redemptive plan.

The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see. – Psalm 118:22-23 NLT

Jesus quoted this verse when addressing the unrighteous religious leaders of His day.

Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.’

“I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.” – Matthew 21:42-44 NLT

Jesus came to be the broken branch that brought life to sinful mankind. The branch likely represents Christ’s first advent, when He offered up His life as payment for the sins of humanity. The stone symbolizes His triumphant return when He appears as the King of kings and the LORD of lords (Revelation 19:6). All the symbolism associated with the stone in Zechariah’s vision is unclear and unexplained. The number seven represents perfection, so the seven eyes mostly likely symbolize Jesus’s perfect wisdom and knowledge. As the Son of God, He is infinitely wise and all-knowing. Unlike Joshua and his high priestly predecessors, Jesus will be the sinless, omniscient, omnipotent high priest who serves in perfect righteousness. And when He comes, He will restore righteousness to the earth, making all things new.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.” – Revelation 21:1-7 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Will Dwell In Your Midst

6 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. – Zechariah 2:6-13 ESV

God calls on the remaining exiles in Babylon to return to Judah. He references having scattered them abroad “as the four winds of heaven” (Zechariah 2:6 ESV), along with the citizens of the northern kingdom of Israel. The prophet Isaiah recorded God’s intention to return all of His exiled children to the land of promise.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
    I will gather you and your children from east and west.
I will say to the north and south,
    ‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel
    from the distant corners of the earth.
Bring all who claim me as their God,
    for I have made them for my glory.
    It was I who created them.’” – Isaiah 43"5-7 NLT

When the Assyrians and Babylonians invaded Israel and Judah, many of the people fled to neighboring countries like Egypt, Moab, Ammon, and Edom. God had warned the people of Judah not to try and escape His judgment by running to Egypt.

“Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you. Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,” says the Lord. “For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power. I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.” – Jeremiah 42:10-12 NLT

Yet they refused Jeremiah’s message and went to Egypt despite God’s warning.

“If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there, the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there. That is the fate awaiting every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the disaster I will bring upon you there.” – Jeremiah 42:15-17 NLT

Now, decades later, God calls all His people to return to the land He gave them as their inheritance. The gracious and compassionate God of Judah and Israel promised to keep His covenant promise and restore them to their former homeland – despite their disobedience and apostasy. He also affirmed the message given to Zechariah in the third vision: “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it” (Zechariah 2:4 ESV). God wanted to repopulate the promised land with the people of the promise: The descendants of Jacob.

Verses 8-9 pose a difficult problem when it comes to interpretation. It isn’t clear who is speaking or who is being referred to in these verses.

For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.” – Zechariah 2:8-9 ESV

Who was being sent to the nations? Was it Zechariah? Is he referring to yet another vision? Or are these the words of another angelic messenger who will serve as God’s agent of judgment against the nations that plundered Judah and Israel? There is no indication that Zechariah played any kind of disciplinary role against the enemies of Israel. He was a messenger and not a warrior.

These verses are prophetic in nature and refer to the end times when Jesus the Messiah will fulfill them at His second advent. In verse 5 God promises to be a wall of fire around Jerusalem and to reveal His glory among its people. Verse 10 reiterates this promise. 

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.” – Zechariah 2:10 ESV

But before this can happen, the Messiah must return and complete the work He began with His first advent. Jesus will return to earth a second time, not as a baby in a manger, but as a conquering King leading the heavenly host. The apostle John was given a vision of this future event which he recorded in the Book of Revelation.

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. – Revelation 19:11-16 NLT

Chapter 2 of Zechariah provides a look into the far-distant future when God will culminate His covenant promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When God says, “Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon” (Zechariah 2:7 NLT), He refers to the end times when His chosen people will be oppressed by a future Babylon that will be far more powerful and wicked.

“Come away from her, my people.
    Do not take part in her sins,
    or you will be punished with her.
For her sins are piled as high as heaven,
    and God remembers her evil deeds.
Do to her as she has done to others.
    Double her penalty for all her evil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror for others,
    so brew twice as much for her.
She glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so match it now with torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart,
    ‘I am queen on my throne.
I am no helpless widow,
    and I have no reason to mourn.’
Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—
    death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire,
    for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.” – Revelation 18:4-8 NLT

This future empire, ruled over by the Antichrist, will make Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon pale in comparison.

“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul spirit,
a hideout for every foul vulture
and every foul and dreadful animal.
For all the nations have fallen
because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world
have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
the merchants of the world have grown rich.” – Revelation 18:2-3 NLT

During the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist will rise to power and prominence, ruling over a one-world government that stands in opposition to God and uses its vast power to persecute Jews and Christians alike. John was given a frightening vision of this future world power. It appeared as “a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it. The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality” (Revelation 17:3-4 NLT).

On her forehead was inscribed “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World” (Revelation 17:5 NLT. John writes, “I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement” (Revelation 17:6 NLT).

In his vision, John received an explanation for the strange sights he had seen.

“The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. They will all agree to give him their power and authority. Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.” – Revelation 17:12-14 NLT

The Antichrist, empowered by Satan himself, will lead a multi-nation coalition against Jesus and His heavenly host. This epic battle will end in defeat when Christ conquers Satan and his forces once and for all.

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies. – Revelation 19:19-21 NLT

With His victory complete, Jesus will set up His earthly Kingdom in Jerusalem, where He will rule in righteousness for a thousand years. This millennial kingdom will be the home of Jews and Gentiles alike and they will have the joy of living under the reign of the King of kings and Lord of Lord.

“I am coming to live among you. Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me to you.” – Zechariah 2:10-11 NLT

Jesus referred to this day when He told His disciples, “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31 NLT). The prophet Daniel was also given a vision of this coming day.

I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed. – Daniel 7:13-14 NLT

And God told Zechariah that the day would come when He would fulfill all His promises to His chosen people.

“The land of Judah will be the Lord’s special possession in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city. Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.” – Zechariah 2:12-13 NLT

Zechariah never got to see the fulfillment of this promise. Thousands of years have passed and the events predicted in this passage still remain unfulfilled. But God keeps His word. Every promise He had made regarding the people of Judah and their return to the land had come about just as He said. The people had been released from captivity. The Temple was being restored. The walls would soon be rebuilt. The city of Jerusalem would be repopulated. However, two major promises remained unfulfilled: The incarnation of Jesus and His second coming. The return of God’s people to the land of Judah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem were the first steps in God’s plan of redemption and future restoration. Little did Zechariah and his fellow Jews know that they were laying the groundwork for a much grander plan that God had in store for His chosen people and the rest of humanity. Paul speaks of this plan in his letter to the Galatians.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. – Galatians 4:4-7 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Plans for the Future

18 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” – Zechariah 1:18-2:5 ESV

Verses 18-21 describe Zechariah’s second vision. In the Hebrew Bible, these verses are included at the beginning of chapter 2. This difference in chapter layouts seems to be due to the nature of the vision and its similarity to the third vision contained in chapter 2.

As the sequence of visions began, Zechariah was given a word of hope to share with the people of Judah.

“Shout this message for all to hear: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong.” – Zechariah 1:14 NLT

Despite their God-imposed exile of 70 years, a remnant of the people of Judah had returned to the land of Judah. But their arrival in the land had been met with opposition and their attempts to rebuild the Temple and restore some semblance of normalcy to the city of Jerusalem had been anything but easy. Yet, Zechariah was to tell the disheartened people of Judah, “The towns of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem as his own” (Zechariah 1:17 NLT).

Not only was God going to bless His chosen people, but He would deal with the nations that had done them harm.

“I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions.” – Zechariah 1:15 NLT

Verse 18 reveals the details of God’s plans for those nations that “inflicted harm” on His people. Two nations had done irreparable harm to the people of God. The first was Assyria which God used to punish the northern kingdom of Israel for their idolatry and blatant disregard for His Law. The Assyrians invaded Israel in 732 B.C., destroying the capital city of Samaria and taking tens of thousands of Israelite citizens as captives. At that time, Israel was comprised of 10 of the 12 tribes. The remaining two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, constituted the southern kingdom of Judah. While they fared better and lasted longer, they eventually fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. They two saw their capital city destroyed, the Temple demolished, and tens of thousands of their people deported back to Babylon as slaves.

In his vision, Zechariah sees four horns. Since there is no mention of animals, the horns likely appeared alone and in pairs. In ancient Near Eastern literature, horns symbolize power and authority. These two sets of horns represent the two nations God used to punish His disobedient people: The Assyrians and Babylonians. But God indicates that both nations were guilty of taking things too far. They overreached their God-ordained authority and “furthered the disaster” (Zechariah 1:15 ESV). In other words, they made matters worse. Now they would pay.

As Zechariah looked, he saw four “craftsmen.” The Hebrew word is ḥārāš, and it carries a wide range of meanings. It can refer to everything from a carpenter or engraver to a blacksmith. But it can also be used figuratively to refer to someone “skillful to destroy,” like a warrior. When Zechariah asks who these men are, he is told, “…these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it” (Zechariah 1:21 ESV).

These individuals may represent kings or nations, but Zechariah is given no further details as to their identity. Some have speculated that they symbolize Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the future Kingdom of God under the rule of the Messiah. The text provides no insight into the identities of these “craftsmen,” but simply states that they will “cast down” the four horns as payback for their role in the fall of Israel and Judah.

Before Zechariah can gather his thoughts and form any more questions, he is shown a third vision. This time, he sees “a man with a measuring line in his hand” (Zechariah 2:1 ESV). The tool the man carried would have been recognizable to Zechariah as a common construction implement. He would have seen it used by the workmen rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. Like a modern-day ruler or measuring tape, this simple device carried markings that ensured precise measurements when cutting wood or stone. It was also used to lay out the foundations of a building before beginning construction. When Zechariah asked the man where he was going, he responded, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length” (Zechariah 2:2 ESV).

It’s important to remember that Jerusalem was in a state of dilapidation and disrepair at this time. It had been abandoned for decades and was little more than a pile of rubble and ruins. But Zechariah and his fellow exiles had returned to restore the city to its former glory. They had begun with the Temple, but it remained in a half-finished state. It would be years before Nehemiah showed up to supervise the rebuilding of the walls. So, when the man stated that he was preparing to measure the city, Zechariah must have been confused. What was he going to measure?

God had already told Zechariah of His intention to rebuild and restore Jerusalem.

“I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” – Zechariah 1:16 ESV

This agent or surveyor was tasked with making all the appropriate measurements so that the construction could begin. God was signaling that the work of rebuilding Jerusalem was His alone. He would make it happen. Not only that, He had plans for Jerusalem’s future that had been carefully crafted according to His exacting standards. These verses are not simply a reference to building a city; they indicate that God has spiritual standards by which He measures His people. A restored and repopulated city means nothing if its residents don’t measure up to God’s righteous standards.

In the Book of Revelation, John has a vision in which he is told to measure the Temple.

“Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers.” – Revelation 11:1 NLT

This Temple is already constructed, so what is John measuring? It would seem that he is checking to see if the Temple meets God’s standards. Does it measure up? Was it built according to God’s specifications? He is also told to count the number of worshipers. Is the building up to divine code and is it filled with the right kind of people? Are they true worshipers or do they worship in vain (Matthew 15:9; Isaiah 29:13)?

God was interested in far more than a well-built city with beautiful buildings, strong walls, and a well-crafted Temple. He wanted people who worshiped Him in spirit and in truth. He was looking to build a city that would be filled with citizens who loved Him and lived in obedience to His will. As God wrapped up this third vision, He gave Zechariah the following message of assurance.

“Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.” – Zechariah 2:4-5 ESV

This promise carries future overtones. In time, Nehemiah would show up and help the people of Judah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But God describes something completely different in this message to Zechariah. He assured His prophet that the day will come when the city of Jerusalem will be protected by Him alone. He will be “a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem” (Zechariah 2:5 NLT). No stones will be necessary. No gates will be needed. No watchmen will need to remain vigilant and ready to report the presence of enemies. God will be the source of Jerusalem’s safety and strength. Not only that, He will be “the glory inside the city” (Zechariah 2:5 NLT).

Once again, the apostle John provides a stunning description of this future Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation.

I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. – Revelation 21:22-27 NLT

God had plans for His people and the city of Jerusalem. Some of those plans were short-term and involved the rebuilding of the Temple and the walls during the lives of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zechariah. But God had things in store for His chosen people and their beloved capital that would take place long after they were gone. His future plans were filled with promise and a certainty of outcome that could not be questioned.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Have Returned

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ 12 Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ 13 And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’” – Zechariah 1:7-17 ESV

Zechariah, which means “Yahweh remembers,” was common among the Jews but perfectly suits the author of this book that bears his name. As a post-exilic prophet, Zechariah receives a message from Yawheh intended to encourage the generation of Jews who have returned to Judah from their exile in Babylon. Despite all the 70 years of captivity their fathers and mothers endured, this remnant of Israelites has not been forgotten by God. The LORD of Hosts had graciously restored them to the land and was calling them to repent and renew their covenant commitment to Him.

Part of the message Zechariah will deliver is God’s call to complete the rebuilding of the Temple. But while this task will be completed in Zechariah’s lifetime, much of what he has to say to the citizens of Judah involves the distant future. This book is primarily eschatological in nature, dealing with events that neither Zechariah nor his readers will ever see. One such event is described in Chapter 12.

Watch, for the day of the Lord is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you! I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken into captivity, and the rest will be left among the ruins of the city.

Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal. Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him. – Zechariah 12:1-5 NLT

The Book of Zechariah contains numerous references to the end-time fate of the nation of Israel and the role of a divine redeemer who rescues and restores them to prominence and favor with God. As the returned exiles labored to rebuild the Temple destroyed by the Babylonians, Zechariah and his fellow prophet, Haggai, were commissioned by God to encourage the demoralized people of Judah to complete the Temple. But their primary message was that of future blessing.

“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” – Haggai 2:5-9 NLT

God had plans for the people of Judah that extended beyond their immediate context and far into the future.

“Particularly prominent in the book is the Messianic element. With the exception of Isaiah, there is no other prophet whose book contains such a wealth and variety of this element, not only in proportion to the total amount of material offered, but also as a sum total of passages.” – H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Zechariah

For Zechariah, these messages came on a single night in the form of eight apocalyptic visions. These rather bizarre and disturbing dreams gave Zechariah a glimpse into the distant future and were meant to assure the struggling people of Judah that God had not forgotten them. He had plans for the future of Jerusalem that were far beyond anything they could have imagined. Their job was to rebuild the Temple. God would do the rest.

Three months after his commission, Zechariah received the first of his eight visions from God. In the darkness of night, an angel visited Zechariah. As Zechariah and his divine guest talked, he saw a vision of a man seated upon a horse among a grove of evergreen trees. This rider was accompanied by others who sat upon horses of varying colors. Curious to know the meaning of this vision, Zechariah asked his angelic messenger for an explanation, but the answer came from one of the riders. He claimed they had been sent by God to “patrol the earth” (Zechariah 1:10). The other riders spoke up and declared that they had faithfully completed their assignment.

“We have been patrolling the earth, and the whole earth is at peace.” – Zechariah 1:11 NLT

This message must have sounded strange to Zechariah. He was living among the returned exiles in the devastated remains of Jerusalem. The walls around the city were little more than rubble. All the homes remained uninhabitable. Despite their return to the land, the people of Judah remained the unwilling servants of the Persian empire. And they were surrounded by hostile nations that constantly thwarted their efforts to rebuild and repopulate Jerusalem. From Zechariah’s perspective, the world was anything but peaceful.

Even the angel seemed to contradict the optimistic report of the riders.

“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, for seventy years now you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. How long until you again show mercy to them?” – Zechariah 1:12 NLT

His prayer echoed the sentiments of the people. They continued to labor at rebuilding the Temple, but the work was slow, tedious, wearying, and seemingly unfruitful. The deck was stacked against them and their joy at returning to the land of promise had been anything but promising. The future looked bleak. They had no king, no army, a city with no walls or residential housing, and the ever-present threat of future invasion by Persia or some other world superpower.

But Zechariah heard Yahweh speak “kind and comforting words to the angel” (Zechariah 1:13 NLT). God reassured His angelic messenger and told him to deliver an assignment to Zechariah.

“Shout this message for all to hear: ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. But I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions.

“‘Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.” – Zechariah 1:14-16 NLT

The mounted horsemen appear to represent the host of heaven. They are angelic warriors who patrol the earth and ensure that God’s will is carried out. They appeared to Zechariah to let him know that all was well because God was in control. Despite the Babylonians and Persians, the LORD of Hosts remained in power and was ready to extend mercy to His people by assisting them in rebuilding their city and the Temple.

The Jews would complete the Temple five years later (Nehemiah 7:4), but it would be another 71 years before the city walls were restored (Nehemiah 11:1). Yet, God kept His word. It would be a slow and plodding process but, eventually, the city of Jerusalem would be restored.

Zechariah was to deliver this message of hope to the disheartened people of Judah. He had heard the words of the riders, declaring a time of peace. He had received God’s promise that the work on the Temple and the rebuilding of Jerusalem would not be in vain. The LORD of Hosts was on their side. Yahweh was no longer angry and was ready to bless them once again. God had not forgotten them. He had also not forgotten the role the Assyrians and Babylonians had played in the demise of His chosen people. He assured Zechariah that these nations would pay dearly for their wanton destruction of Israel and Judah. While they had served as His instruments of judgment on the disobedient people of God, the Babylonians and Assyrians did not have to be coerced to carry out their duties. They did their jobs willingly and with great pleasure. Now it was time for divine payback.

But as the visions will reveal, God had far more in store for His chosen people than a Temple that was a shadow of its former glory and a wall hastily built in 52 days. He was looking to make Jerusalem the greatest city on earth and restore the people of God to power and prominence under a King who would reign in righteousness and bring peace to the world. 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Return to Me

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’” – Zechariah 1:1-6 ESV

The year is 520 B.C. and 18 years have passed since the first wave of exiled Hebrews were allowed to leave Babylon and return to the land of Judah. When the Book of Zechariah opens, Darius reigns over the Medo-Persian empire and the book’s author serves as a priest and prophet for Yahweh. His grandfather, Ido, returned to Judah in 536 B.C. His name is listed among the prominent priests who served under Jeshua the high priest.

These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua. – Nehemiah 12:1-7 ESV

Because Zechariah was a young man (Zechariah 2:4) when his prophetic ministry started, he likely was born in Babylon during the exile. It would make sense that he returned to Judah in 536 B.C. along with his father, grandfather, and the rest of his family. Over the next 18 years, he received his priestly training and was educated in the Mosaic Law.

At some point, God deemed Zechariah ready for ministry and sent him the following message:

“I, the LORD, was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.’ Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’” – Zechariah 1:2-4 NLT

Zechariah’s introduction to the prophetic ministry was abrupt and far from encouraging. He was given an assignment that would have made even the most seasoned prophet question his calling. The LORD wastes no time with pleasantries and provides no explanation for His choice of Zechariah. He simply conveys His mood and the message He wants Zechariah to deliver to the people of Judah. God introduces Himself to Zechariah as Yahweh-Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts. This name is meant to convey God’s sovereign power over the angelic host in heaven. He rules over a vast army of divine beings who operate in the unseen realm. But, as the LORD of Hosts, God’s authority extends to the earth where He rules over every power, kingdom, army, and realm.

Of all people, the Israelites would have understood that God has the power to control any king and kingdom on earth. He had used Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army to punish their ancestors by invading the city of Jerusalem, destroying the Temple, and sending them into exile in Babylon. God later moved Cyrus king of Persia to issue a decree to send a remnant of the people back to Judah. God wanted Zechariah and the people of Judah to remember that He could use earthly kings and kingdoms to carry out His will – for good or bad.

God’s brief but pointed message to Zechariah conveys His anger with the people of Judah. He had allowed them to return to the land and orchestrated the rebuilding of the Temple. He had sent Ezra the scribe to teach them the Mosaic Law and reestablish the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. But despite all He had done to prepare a proper environment for worship and obedience, they had strayed from the path by violating His laws and compromising their convictions.

The final chapter of the Book of Nehemiah reports that by the year 432 B.C., the spiritual state of the people of Judah had reached an all-time low. Nehemiah returned from an extended stay in Babylon to find that the conditions in Judah had degraded beyond anything he could have imagined. When he arrived, Nehemiah was appalled by what he saw. Everywhere he looked, he saw signs that the people had violated the covenant they made with Yahweh. Everywhere he looked he found the “spiritual” walls of Jerusalem had fallen. The covenant had been broken and the people were ripe for spiritual attack.

Zechariah received his calling and message 88 years before Nehemiah returned to find Judah in an appalling state of spiritual decay. But God had seen the handwriting on the wall and chose to deputize young Zechariah as His official spokesman. This still wet-behind-the-ears priest would be tasked with conveying God’s message of repentance to the stubborn people of Judah, and that message was clear and direct.

“Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.” – Zechariah 1:4 NLT

It also came with a warning of consequences if they chose to ignore it.

“Where are your ancestors now? They and the prophets are long dead.” – Zechariah 1:5 NLT

The people living in Judah were one generation removed from the Babylonian captivity. Most of their parents and grandparents had died in captivity. God’s message carried the force of reality. They knew the LORD of Hosts was fully capable of carrying out His warnings of judgment because their ancestors were the proof.

God was angry with the people of Judah once again and demanded that they repent. He didn’t want this current crop of rebellious children to suffer the same fate as their forefathers. It took the destruction of Jerusalem and exile to bring their ancestors to their knees and to the place of repentance.

“…everything I said through my servants the prophets happened to your ancestors, just as I said. As a result, they repented and said, ‘We have received what we deserved from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He has done what he said he would do.’” – Zechariah 1:6 NLT

Was it going to take another disaster to wake up God’s people? Would they force God to deliver devastating judgment just like He did to their ancestors? Zechariah’s job was to deliver God’s good-news-bad-news message to the disobedient people of Judah, and it would not end well for him. Jesus spoke of Zechariah’s fate when addressing the hypocritical religious leaders of His day. He referred to these men as “whitewashed tombs.” According to Jesus’ estimation, they were “beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity” (Matthew 23:27 NLT). In a sense, Jesus was delivering the same basic message as Zechariah.

“Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” – Matthew 23:28 NLT

The people of Judah were going through the motions. They were still offering sacrifices, observing the Sabbath, attending the annual festivals, and presenting their tithes and offerings. They appeared to be righteous but, according to God, their hearts were far from Him (Isiah 29:13). Zechariah, like Jesus, would have to deliver a less-than-pleasant message to a people who were far from ready to hear it. And, according to Jesus, they eventually rejected the message by killing the messenger.

“Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar.” – Matthew 23:34-35 ESV

Jesus would suffer the same fate. He told the Jews of His day, “Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message” (John 8:37 NLT). These self-righteous Jews rejected Jesus’ Messiahship because they didn't like His message. According to Him, their Hebrew heritage was not enough to save them. They proudly claimed Abraham as their father but Jesus said they lacked Abraham’s faith.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.” – John 8:39-40 NLT

This exchange so infuriated the Jews that they attempted to stone Jesus to death. But His time had not yet come. They would eventually collaborate with the Romans to orchestrate His crucifixion and end His life, but their efforts would fail to derail His ministry or thwart God’s plan of redemption.

Zechariah would faithfully carry out God’s orders and deliver the message he had been given. He would offer the people a choice. They could repent and enjoy God’s forgiveness or reject the message and suffer God’s judgment. It was up to them.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Rebuilding the Spiritual Walls

1 On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7 and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

23 In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 25 And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

28 And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

Remember me, O my God, for good. – Nehemiah 13:1-31 ESV

The timing of these events is crucial. The opening line of this book states that Nehemiah received permission from Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem during the king’s 20th year (445 B.C.). It is estimated that he arrived in Jerusalem sometime in 444 B.C. Because Nehemiah was on the king’s payroll as his cupbearer, he was allowed to go on his journey but was expected to return to report his progress to the king. Nehemiah states, “in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king” (Nehemiah 13:6 ESV). This would have been 12 years after he arrived in Jerusalem. During his absence, things took a turn for the worse in Jerusalem. This brings to mind the old adage, “When the cats away, the mice will play.” While the teacher was out of the room, chaos broke out among the students.

It’s impossible to know how long Nehemiah was gone. He simply states that he returned “after some time” (Nehemiah 13:6 ESV). The gravity of the conditions in Jerusalem would suggest that he was gone for an extended time, perhaps years. Nehemiah likely received regular reports on the conditions in Jerusalem and was aware of the sorry state of affairs in his native land. This prompted him to approach the king and request another leave of absence to return to Jerusalem to deal with the matter.

When he arrived, Nehemiah was appalled by what he saw. Everywhere he looked, he saw signs that the people had violated the covenant they made with Yahweh.

“We promise not to let our daughters marry the pagan people of the land, and not to let our sons marry their daughters.

“We also promise that if the people of the land should bring any merchandise or grain to be sold on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will refuse to buy it. Every seventh year we will let our land rest, and we will cancel all debts owed to us.

“In addition, we promise to obey the command to pay the annual Temple tax of one-eighth of an ounce of silver for the care of the Temple of our God. This will provide for the Bread of the Presence; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, the new moon celebrations, and the annual festivals; for the holy offerings; and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel. It will provide for everything necessary for the work of the Temple of our God.” – Nehemiah 10:30-33 NLT

The opening lines of Chapter 13 reveal that God’s law prohibited the Israelites from having anything to do with the Ammonites and Moabites. These two nations were the descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. They were the result of his incestuous affairs with his daughters and had stood opposed to the Israelites when they were attempting to enter the land of Canaan. God had specifically told Moses, “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you” (Deuteronomy 25:3-4 NLT). 

God made His views clear concerning Israel’s interactions with these two nations.

“As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.” – Deuteronomy 25:6 NLT

Yet, when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he found that Tobiah the Ammonite had been given private accommodations in the Temple. This man was not only a pagan and a foreigner, but he had been one of the most vocal opponents of Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the walls. It seems that Tobiah was a relative of Eliashib the high priest (Nehemiah 13:28). This servant of God had taken it upon himself to empty out one of the Temple’s storerooms and convert it into an apartment for his Ammonite relative. 

The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, the frankincense, various articles for the Temple, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil (which were prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers), as well as the offerings for the priests. – Nehemiah 13:5 NLT

To make matters worse, one of Eliashib’s grandsons had married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, another prominent opponent of the rebuilding effort. The most prominent spiritual leader in Judah was guilty of fraternizing with the enemy and violating the law of God. His actions set an unacceptable precedence for the rest of the nation by promoting compromise and accommodation. God had set this man apart and tasked him with teaching the law to the people. Instead, he demonstrated an open disdain and disregard for God’s commands.

With the spiritual leaders modeling unrighteous behavior, the people followed suit. They became lax in their commitments to God, refusing to bring “their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple storerooms” (Nehemiah 13:12 NLT). Their neglect of God’s commands had left the Levites and the Temple servants without enough food to survive and forced them to fend for themselves. They returned to farming and shepherding to make ends meet, abandoning their duties at the Temple.

On the first Sabbath after his return, Nehemiah discovered that the people’s vow to keep the seventh day holy had also been abandoned.

I saw men of Judah treading out their winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in grain, loading it on donkeys, and bringing their wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce to Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath. So I rebuked them for selling their produce on that day. Some men from Tyre, who lived in Jerusalem, were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise. They were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah—and in Jerusalem at that! – Nememiah 13:15-16 NLT

The Sabbath day had become just like any day of the week. Work was being done. Business transactions were taking place. Foreigners were entering the city to trade and sell. It was a free-for-all and in direct violation of God’s command.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” – Exodus 20:8-11 NLT

When Nehemiah had first returned to Jerusalem in 444 B.C., he “inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire” (Nehemiah 2:13 ESV). But those dismal conditions were nothing compared to the sorry state of affairs he found this time. Everywhere he looked he found the “spiritual” walls of Jerusalem had fallen. The covenant had been broken and the people were ripe for spiritual attack. The people had even violated God’s ban on marrying foreigners. It was a fiasco of epic proportions but Nehemiah took charge and began to set things right. He threw out Tobiah. He banished Eliashib’s grandson. He demanded that the people pay their delinquent tithes and offerings. He beat and cursed those who had allowed their children to intermarry with outsiders. He restored the Levites and priests to their duties. He locked the city gates on the Sabbath and shut down all business transactions.

In essence, Nehemiah orchestrated a community-wide revival. He single-handedly instituted a spiritual revitalization program that transformed an entire nation virtually overnight. What he accomplished on this occasion was far more important than building the walls of Jerusalem. The physical stones that comprised the wall could not keep out the apathy and moral decay that threatened to destroy the nation of Judah. The gates couldn’t prevent the enemy from infiltrating the hearts of the people and leading them to disobey God and disavow their allegiance to them. It took one man committed to God to rescue a city filled with people who had broken their vow to God. This faithful layman did what the high priest had failed to do.

In the Book of Ezekiel, God describes the real problem that existed in the land of Judah when Nehemiah first returned.

“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” – Ezekiel 22:30 NLT

But Nehemiah proved to be the right man for the job. He not only built a physical wall to protect the city of Jerusalem, but he also built a spiritual wall that restored a fallen people to their former status as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6 ESV).

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Joy of Jerusalem

27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35 and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; 36 and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.

38 The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, 39 and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah, and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. 40 So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; 41 and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. – Nehemiah 12:27-47 ESV

 The joyous scene portrayed in these verses starkly contrasts the taunts of Sanballat and Tobiah recorded in Chapter 4. These two men were determined to undermine Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the walls, even resorting to biting sarcasm to demoralize the workers.

“What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” – Nehemiah 4:2 NLT

Not to be outdone by his friend Sanballat, Tobiah added, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” (Nehemiah 4:3 NLT).

But both men were proven wrong. Not only had the wall been built, but it was sturdy enough to carry the weight of two choirs and a host of joyous celebrants who gathered for its dedication. Despite opposition and setbacks, the work had been completed and the day had come to thank God for making it all possible. This elaborate and meticulously staged ceremony was nothing less than a worship service designed to express gratitude to Yahweh for His goodness and greatness. He had kept His promise to return the people of Judah to their land and had divinely orchestrated the rebuilding of the city, its walls, and the Temple.

Years earlier, when the people were still reconstructing the Temple, God sent a message of hope through His prophet Zechariah.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!

“And now the Lord says: I am returning to Mount Zion, and I will live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem’s streets with their canes and will sit together in the city squares. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west. I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God.” – Zechariah 8:2-8 NLT

While Jerusalem remained relatively empty and more work needed to be done, this was a day of celebration. God had done the impossible. He had used a small remnant of former captives to complete a massive construction project in record time and against all odds. Nehemiah had provided the plan and oversight of the effort, but he knew God deserved all the glory. So, in preparation for the big day, he arranged for Levites from all over Judah to join him in Jerusalem for the dedication. This was going to be an all-hands-on-deck event requiring the presence of every priest and Levite to pull off. The day would feature music, singing, sacrifices, offerings, and a special dedication service. 

It all began with a massive purification ceremony.

The priests and Levites first purified themselves; then they purified the people, the gates, and the wall. – Nehemiah 12:30 NLT

Nothing could be done until the priests and the people had been consecrated. The worship of Yahweh would be useless if the proper cleansing ceremonies were neglected. The sequence of the purification ceremony is vital. First, the priests had to be cleansed so they could enter into God’s presence as mediators. Once purified, they were able to perform the necessary rites to cleanse the people. Finally, they purified the recently completed gates and walls.

For God to show up, the people and the place needed to be cleansed from sin. In essence, this elaborate ceremony was designed to decontaminate Jerusalem so that God could dwell there once more. This entire purification process began in the Temple. Leviticus 4 describes the steps necessary to remove corruption from the priests, people, and places so that God could dwell in their midst.

“If the high priest sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects. He must bring the bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain of the sanctuary. The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then the priest must remove all the fat of the bull to be offered as a sin offering. This includes all the fat around the internal organs, the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. He must remove these along with the kidneys,  just as he does with cattle offered as a peace offering, and burn them on the altar of burnt offerings. But he must take whatever is left of the bull—its hide, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and dung—and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.” – Leviticus 4:3-12 NLT

While the Temple is not mentioned in Nehemiah 12, no cleansing ceremony could have taken place without the above-mentioned step occurring first. Sin was a barrier to God’s presence and Nehemiah knew that both he and his people were guilty and in need of cleansing. The past two months had been difficult and filled with every opportunity to violate God's commands. There is little doubt that some, if not all, of Paul’s list of sins of the flesh happened as they worked on the wall.

…sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. – Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

Tempers flared. Some escaped the drudgery through acts of sexual sin. Weary workers imbibed a bit too much alcohol at the end of the day to ease the pain and monotony of their labor. A lot can happen in two months. So, if the people wanted to enter into God’s presence and proclaim His goodness and greatness, they had to be cleansed. And because their sins infected anything and everything, the city and its walls also needed to be decontaminated.

Once all had been purified, the processional began. Nehemiah “led the leaders of Judah to the top of the wall and organized two large choirs to give thanks” (Nehemiah 12:31 NLT). These two groups began at the same place but then marched in opposite directions along the wall, singing and worshiping as they went. The plan was to meet again at a spot along the wall nearest the Temple.

The two choirs that were giving thanks then proceeded to the Temple of God, where they took their places. So did I, together with the group of leaders who were with me. We went together with the trumpet-playing priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah—and the singers—Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. They played and sang loudly under the direction of Jezrahiah the choir director. – Nehemiah 12:40-42 NLT

What followed was a joyous and boisterous celebration, replete with sacrifices and loud singing. Nehemiah states that “the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away” (Nehemiah 12:43 ESV). Jerusalem was one big party as the people celebrated, sang, danced, and delighted in all Yahweh had done for them. The noise could be heard from miles around, and Sanballat and Tobiah must have been beside themselves with rage as they listened to the din rising from inside the newly constructed walls. Their worst fears had come true. The people of Judah had done the improbable and now they were celebrating their God who had made it all possible.

Inside the walls, the people were ecstatic. They could barely contain their joy as they considered what God had done. But it would have benefited them to consider the words spoken by God through Zechariah.

“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I was determined to punish you when your ancestors angered me, and I did not change my mind, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. But now I am determined to bless Jerusalem and the people of Judah. So don’t be afraid. But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the Lord.” – Zechariah 8:14-17 NLT

While the walls had been completed, their work was far from done. Jerusalem was once again a city and it would soon be populated with citizens. But one day of worship and celebration would not be enough. God wanted heart change. He expected His people to live set-apart lives every day of the year. As their ancestors had learned, the Temple, walls, and gates provided no protection from the wrath of God when His people refused to obey His commands. Whether they realized it or not, their most difficult days were ahead of them, not behind them.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Kingdom of Priests

1 These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.

8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9 And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them in the service. 10 And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, 11 Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

12 And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14 of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 15 of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20 of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. 24 And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates. 26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe. – Nehemiah 12:1-26 ESV

With the lottery completed to determine the residents of Jerusalem, Nehemiah turns his attention to the spiritual needs of the people. In this chapter, he lists the priests and Levites who returned in 537 B.C. with Zerubbabel and Jeshua the high priest. These men would be essential to securing the long-term success of Nehemiah’s rebuilding and repopulating initiative. It would be useless to fill the city with citizens whose hearts were not right with Yahweh. That is why the priests and Levites were so vital to Judah’s future. Their role within the corporate community of Judah was essential because God had ordained them to serve as mediators between Him and the people. They were tasked with offering sacrifices on behalf of the people, teaching them the Law, modeling moral behavior, and leading them in worship. 

Two of the original priests were Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, the first high priest. Leviticus 10 records the story of these two men offering “unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them” (Leviticus 10:1 ESV). They were guilty of offering sacrifices that were unsanctioned by God and in violation of His commands, and their actions resulted in their deaths. Yahweh consumed them with fire. After having designated their replacements, Yahweh gave Aaron the following command.

“You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean. And you must teach the Israelites all the decrees that the Lord has given them through Moses.” – Leviticus 10:10-11 NLT

Nadab and Abihu had misused their divinely appointed positions as priests. Their actions were out of step with God’s commands and they paid with their lives. The Almighty made an example of them, sending a powerful message to Aaron and the remaining priests that they were to use their positions to illustrate God’s holiness. Immediately after learning of the deaths of his two sons, Aaron received this message from God: “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified’” (Leviticus 10:3 ESV). The priests were expected to live set-apart lives, adhering to a higher code of conduct that demonstrated their close relationship with Yahweh. 

What complicates the actions of Nadab and Abihu is the story of their encounter with God on Mount Sinai. These two men had been part of a special contingent of leaders who were privileged to ascend the holy mountain with Moses.

Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence! – Exodus 24:9-11 NLT

Nadab and Abihu had shared a meal with God. They had seen His glory and lived to tell about it. Yet, not long after this life-changing event took place, they entered the Tabernacle and desecrated His glory by offering unauthorized and unacceptable sacrifices. They robbed God of glory by ignoring His will and carrying out their own. They made it all about themselves and suffered the consequences.

As God’s servants, the priests were obligated to make much of Him. Their roles were never to be about self-promotion or personal glory. Their whole purpose for being was to glorify God. Their garments, diet, living arrangements, and daily responsibilities were unique and meant to set them apart as servants of the one true God.

When King David offered to build a house for God, he was told that his son, Solomon would receive that privilege (2 Samuel 7). Though he was denied the joy of building the Temple, David set about to make preparations for its construction and operation, even organizing the priests, Levites, musicians, and gatekeepers who would serve within its walls. When Solomon finally completed the Temple, he carefully followed his father’s plans for its administration.

In assigning the priests to their duties, Solomon followed the regulations of his father, David. He also assigned the Levites to lead the people in praise and to assist the priests in their daily duties. And he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates by their divisions, following the commands of David, the man of God. Solomon did not deviate in any way from David’s commands concerning the priests and Levites and the treasuries. – 2 Chronicles 8:14-15 NLT

The Temple of God was to be the hub of all life within the nation of Judah. It symbolized God’s presence and power and served as the sole source of forgiveness and atonement for the people. The Temple was a place to worship and realign with God. His presence dwelt within the Holy of Holies. His purifying power was present in the perpetual flames of the bronze altar. The gold, silver, fine fabrics, and elaborate furnishings of the Temple were intended to reflect the glory of God. It was His dwelling place on earth and was to be treated with dignity, honor, and respect.

But those who served within the walls of the Temple were to be distinctively different as well. From their garments to their lifestyles, the priests, servants, gatekeepers, and musicians were to display the uniqueness of their roles and their distinctive relationship with Yahweh. They belonged to Him.

“Look, I have chosen the Levites from among the Israelites to serve as substitutes for all the firstborn sons of the people of Israel. The Levites belong to me…” – Numbers 3:12 NLT

But while God had set apart the Levites for special service, He held all of His chosen people to a higher standard. He gave Moses the following message for the people of Israel:

“Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.” – Exodus 19:5-6 NLT

God expected obedience and obeisance from all His people, not just the Levites. The entire community was to hold Him in high esteem and treat Him with honor. Their lives were to reflect their status as His special treasure. For generations, the Israelites had failed to live up to His standards, choosing instead to worship false gods, pursue sensual pleasures, and compromise their convictions by fraternizing with the godless cultures around them. That is what led to their eventual fall and exile. But now that they were back in the land of Judah, Nehemiah was helping them to turn over a new leaf and renew their commitment to Yahweh.

Nehemiah knew his days in Jerusalem were numbered. He had promised King Artaxerxes that he would return when the work was done and that day was fast approaching. So, he made the most of his final days by focusing the people’s attention on their need for Yahweh. They had accomplished a lot in a short period of time. The people had worked hard and rebuilt the walls of the city in less than two months. The Temple had been restored. The city of Jerusalem was in the process of being reoccupied. The sacrificial system, feast days, and priesthood had been reinstituted. But Nehemiah knew that the future success of Judah was dependent upon God. Without Him, Jerusalem was doomed to fall again. If the people failed to honor Him, they would suffer the same fate as their ancestors.

Nehemiah exhibited faith in leaving his safe and secure job as a civil servant working for the king of Persia. It took faith for him to go before the king and risk his anger by asking permission to return to his native land and rebuild the walls. It took faith for him to ask the Jews living in exile to make the long journey back to Judah and take on the formidable task of doing construction work on walls that had been destroyed decades earlier. It took faith for him to face the unceasing attacks of his enemies and continue to build in the face of opposition and the mounting discouragement of the people. It took faith for him to call the people to renew their covenant with God and give up their foreign wives and the children they had born.

All Nehemiah had to go on was the word of God. He couldn't see the outcome of his efforts. He had no guarantee how things were going to turn out. There is no doubt that Nehemiah had second thoughts along the way. He got discouraged. He had misgivings. He questioned himself and his calling. But he kept trusting and building.

The writer of Hebrews provides us with a wonderful definition of faith: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT). The apostle Paul expresses a similar sentiment: “…for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV).

In this life, we can't always see the outcome. We aren't always given a crystal clear image of how things will turn out. We simply receive a word from God and are expected to trust Him – sight unseen. That is the essence of faith. Like Nehemiah, we must learn to trust God, not circumstances. While everything around us may point to a less-than-satisfactory conclusion, we must keep our eyes focused on God and His unchanging character. We must trust in His power and unwavering commitment to keep His promises.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

All for the Glory of God

1 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

3 These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon's servants. 4 And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez; 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

7 And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, 8 and his brothers, men of valor, 928. 9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

10 Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, 12 and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, 13 and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

15 And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God; 17 and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise, who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in the holy city were 284.

19 The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. 20 And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, every one in his inheritance. 21 But the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. 23 For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, as every day required. 24 And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's side in all matters concerning the people.

25 And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27 in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, 28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 29 in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom. 31 The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. 36 And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin. – Nehemiah 11:1-36 ESV

The walls of Jerusalem had been painstakingly restored in record time and the Temple had been rebuilt, but the city remained a ghost town. Nehemiah knew that there was a powerful stigma surrounding the city. Despite his aggressive renovation efforts, he knew he would have difficulty getting anyone to move into the city because of its less-than-flattering reputation. Everyone knew that the city’s demise had been the will of God. While the Babylonians had done the dirty work, God had orchestrated the city’s fall. The Book of Lamentations records the pervading sentiment that the destruction of the City of David and the Temple was divinely ordained.

The Lord in his anger
    has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem.
The fairest of Israel’s cities lies in the dust,
    thrown down from the heights of heaven.
In his day of great anger,
    the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple.

 Without mercy the Lord has destroyed
    every home in Israel.
In his anger he has broken down
    the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.
He has brought them to the ground,
    dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers. – Lamentation 2:1-2 NLT

For decades, the ruins of Jerusalem had served as a stark reminder of God’s anger against His disobedient people. He had not only ordered the destruction of Judah’s capital city and the house that bore His name (Jeremiah 7:11) but He also orchestrated the capture and exile of its inhabitants. The aftereffects of this epic event were devastating and long-lasting.

All who pass by jeer at you.
    They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem, saying,
“Is this the city called ‘Most Beautiful in All the World’
    and ‘Joy of All the Earth’?”

All your enemies mock you.
    They scoff and snarl and say,
“We have destroyed her at last!
    We have long waited for this day,
    and it is finally here!” – Lamentation 2:15-16 NLT

When God placed His “Good House Keeping” seal of approval on the Temple that Solomon built, He warned what would happen if the people of Israel failed to keep His law.

“But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’ “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’” – 1 Kings 9:6-9 NLT

Nehemiah had his work cut out for him. Trying to promote Jerusalem as a prime piece of real estate and a great place to live was going to be like selling a house where a brutal murder has occurred. Jerusalem’s market value was extremely low and it didn’t help that very few homes were still standing or occupiable. While he and a handful of leaders had set up residence within the city walls, there were not enough occupants to make Jerusalem viable and liveable. So, as Nehemiah was prone to do, he came up with a plan.

During the reconstruction process, most of the returned exiles lived in the surrounding countryside. So, Nehemiah came up with a lottery system that would select one in every ten families to relocate to Jerusalem.

A tenth of the people from the other towns of Judah and Benjamin were chosen by sacred lots to live there, too, while the rest stayed where they were. – Nehemiah 11:1 NLT

No details reveal how the lottery was implemented but it worked. The relocation effort was not compulsory. Evidently, those who were chosen had the right to refuse the offer. All those “who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 11:2 ESV) were commended for doing so because everyone knew they were taking a big risk. Not only would these volunteers have to construct homes, but they would need to help rebuild the city’s tarnished reputation.

A significant number of the initial residents were those who served in the Temple. Priests, Levites, and Temple servants were required to live within the city calls. This was true for the gatekeepers as well because of the nature of their responsibilities. Like any city, Jerusalem needed infrastructure to function well. Administrators, civil servants, merchants, tradesmen, and citizens were all necessary if the city was to survive.

When Nehemiah’s repopulation plan was put in place, it created a solid foundation on which to build for the future. It is estimated that his efforts produced a population of between 4,000 to 8,000 people. These “early adopters” were pioneers who risked it all so that the former city of David might rise from the ashes and regain its former glory.

The sparse population of Jerusalem had their work cut out for them. As they surveyed the empty streets and demolished houses, they must have questioned their decision and doubted the viability of Nehemiah’s plan. All around them were the constant reminders of their ancestors’ sins and God’s righteous wrath. But they may have found solace in the words of a prayer found in the closing chapter of Lamentations.

Our hearts are sick and weary,
    and our eyes grow dim with tears.
For Jerusalem is empty and desolate,
    a place haunted by jackals.

But Lord, you remain the same forever!
    Your throne continues from generation to generation.
Why do you continue to forget us?
    Why have you abandoned us for so long?
Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!
    Give us back the joys we once had!
Or have you utterly rejected us?
    Are you angry with us still? – Lamentations 5:17-22 NLT

Each day would require them to place their hope and faith in God. They would need to recall and rest in His unchanging, unwavering faithfulness. He was the covenant-keeping God who had restored them to the land, helped them rebuild the walls, and financed the reconstruction of the Temple. He was good, gracious, forgiving, and willing to give His disobedient children a second chance. The days ahead would be difficult but, with God, all things are possible. The work would be hard but well worth the effort. Repopulating Jerusalem was a worthy task because God had proved Himself praiseworthy and He deserved a city that echoed His glory.

How great is the Lord,
    how deserving of praise,
in the city of our God,
    which sits on his holy mountain!
It is high and magnificent;
    the whole earth rejoices to see it!
Mount Zion, the holy mountain,
    is the city of the great King!
God himself is in Jerusalem’s towers,
    revealing himself as its defender. – Psalm 48:1-3 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

God Intentions Are Never Good Enough

1 On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

28 “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.” – Nehemiah 10:1-39 ESV

For 70 years, God set the people of Judah aside and forced them to live as exiles in the land of Babylon. He warned them about the consequences of their disobedience, and this was the fulfillment of the warning they received when He first gave them His Law. Centuries earlier, Moses had shared the blessings and curses that accompanied God’s commands. If the people willingly obeyed God’s holy code of conduct, they would experience His abundant blessings. But disobedience would prove costly.

“…if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” – Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV

“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” – Deuteronomy 28:25 ESV

“The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away.” – Deuteronomy 28:36-37 ESV

“The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.” – Deuteronomy 28:49-5-7 ESV

When the returned exiles stood for six hours listening to Ezra recite the Mosaic Law, they recognized that God had kept His word. Every warning had become a reality. The threats were no longer faint possibilities; they were history. Everything had happened just as God said it would. God had fulfilled His warning of punishment but had also kept His promise of restoration. The 70 years had passed and God allowed a remnant of His people to return to the land of Judah. These descendants of the original exiles had made their way to Jerusalem and, against all odds, rebuilt the Temple and restored the city’s walls. They had re-established the Levitical priesthood, reinstituted the sacrificial system, and reacquainted themselves with the Mosaic Law. Now it was time to commit.

A covenant was drawn up and written down. This document was then ratified and signed by Nehemiah and other prominent leaders. These men affixed their names to the document on behalf of the people of Judah, committing the entire community to live according to God’s commands. This official signing ceremony was followed by a corporate oath of commitment.

They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the Law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the LORD our Lord. – Nehemiah 10:29 NLT

The curse they swore reflects their understanding of Deuteronomy 28:15-68). They understood that nothing about the Law had changed. During their time in captivity, God had not revised the Law or lessened the intensity of the curses. Obedience would still result in blessings and disobedience would bring about curses. By swearing an oath, they acknowledged their understanding of the covenant’s conditions. They were willing to accept the consequences.

Their oath contained the following verbal commitments:

1. They agreed to maintain the purity of their community by refusing to give their sons and daughters in marriage to outsiders.

2. They agreed to honor the sabbath day by keeping it holy.

3. They agreed to restore the observance of the sabbatical year.

4. They agreed to fund the care and maintenance of God’s house by paying the Temple tax.

5. They agreed to give their firstborn and firstfruits to God.

6. They agreed to supply the needs of the Levitical priests.

7. They agreed to never neglect the Temple of God.

It’s impossible to know whether the people understood the gravity of the oath they were swearing. The mention of the curses reveals that they understood the consequences but it is difficult to believe that they fully grasped the weight of their commitment. Perhaps they assumed they had no choice. The Law had been read and explained and its requirements were non-negotiable. It wasn’t a list of options from which to choose. They couldn’t opt out or self-select the laws they wanted to obey. It was all or nothing.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” – Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ESV

Their ancestors had also made an oath to keep God’s law.

Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” – Exodus 24:3 NLT

But they failed miserably. From the moment they entered the land of Canaan to the day God cast them out, they had lived in disobedience to His laws. Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would be held captive for 70 years because of their disobedience to God's laws, including the Sabbath-rest ordinance.

“When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.” – Leviticus 25:2-5 NLT

From the time of Israel’s first king to the Babylonian captivity, 490 years passed. During that time, the people of Israel failed to observe a single sabbatical year and their 70-year captivity was God’s way of allowing the land to “rest” in their absence. God had warned the Israelites that all His laws must be obeyed.

“You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 18:4 ESV

Failure to obey would result in their forceful rejection, a sudden and violent act that God compares to vomiting.

“…do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.” – Leviticus 18:28 NLT

Nehemiah and the people knew that if God had done it once, He could do it again. So, they swore an oath to keep His commands. They meant well. But their well-intentioned efforts were doomed to fall short. The apostle Paul later wrote “no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT).

As a former Pharisee, Paul was an expert in the Mosaic Law. He had been a faithful law-keeper. But upon coming to faith in Christ, he realized the futility of trying to gain a right standing with God through obedience to the law. He wrote the following insight to the believers in Galatia:

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” – Galatians 3:10-12 NLT

Moses had told the people of Israel, “Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice” (Deuteronomy 27:26 BSB). But Paul revealed the good news that the curse has been lifted by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. – Galatians 3:13 NLT

The law can't save, it can only convict. Obedience to the law can’t justify, it can only condemn. So, while the people of Judah sincerely meant to fulfill their oath, they would never be able to pull it off. God required complete obedience. There could be no grey areas. To disobey one law was to disobey them all (James 2:10). 

God knew the people of Judah would never keep their oath. He was well aware of their shortcomings and the law’s impossible standards. But in His grace and mercy, God has promised a future day when He will do for His chosen people what they could never have done for themselves.

“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – Jeremiah 31:31-33 NLT

The people of Judah ratified a covenant and swore an oath. But without God’s help, they would never be able to keep their commitment. No one can earn a right standing with God through human effort. No one can live up to His holy standards in their own strength. That’s why He sent His Son to take on human flesh and do what no other man had ever done: Live a sinless life that reflected full obedience to the law of God. It was His sinlessness that made Him the perfect sacrifice. He became the unblemished Lamb of God who paid for the sins of the world (John 1:29).

The people of Judah meant well, but God knew the truth.

“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.” – Isaiah 29:13 NLT

They didn’t just need the law, they needed a lawkeeper. They needed the Messiah, the Savior who would come to make righteousness and holiness available through the offering of His sinless life as a substitute for their own.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Marvelous Mercies of God

16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

22 “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25 And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.

26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

38  “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests. – Nehemiah 9:16-38 ESV

While God had been faithful, the people of Israel had not been. The next part of this communal prayer was their corporate confession of ancestral culpability. To put it in modern terms, the people of Judah threw their ancestors under the bus, graphically detailing their many transgressions against God. In the second half of Chapter 9, they juxtapose their forefathers' unfaithfulness with Yahweh's grace and mercy. These people had heard the horror stories of Israel’s wilderness wanderings. They knew all about God’s miraculous deliverance of Jacob’s descendants from Egypt. Still, they were also keenly aware of how their forebearers responded to God’s goodness with grumbling and ingratitude as soon as their journey to Canaan took a turn for the worse. 

The trip from Egypt to the Promised Land was filled with delays and disappointments. There were times when water became scarce and their food supplies ran low. These unexpected setbacks led the people to respond with unbridled anger and frustration at Moses for his lack of leadership.

“If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” – Exodus 16:3 NLT

These confrontations with Moses were far from rare but despite their stubbornness and ingratitude, God continued to shower them with grace and mercy. He quenched their thirst with water that flowed from a rock. For 40 years, He satisfied their hunger by providing quail they didn’t have to catch and bread they didn’t have to bake. Yet, they continued to complain and disobey His commands. This track record of insubordination culminated with the incident at Mount Sinai when the people of Israel decided to give up on Moses and turn their back on Yahweh.

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” – Exodus 32:1 ESV

While the people plotted their insurrection, Moses was on the mountaintop receiving the Ten Commandments from God. His lengthy absence caused the people to panic and plot a new strategy for reaching the Promised Land. They appointed Moses’ brother Aaron as their new leader and tasked him with making a new god. 

This unflattering episode from the past was common knowledge among the people of Judah. They included it in their prayer of confession and used it to highlight the longsuffering nature of Yahweh.

“…they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.” – Nehemiah 9:16-17 NLT

What makes this story so amazing is that God had revealed Himself to the people of Israel in a powerful and impossible-to-miss manner.

On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply. The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain. – Exodus 19:16-20 NLT

The people of Israel were terrified by the devastating display of God’s presence and power. The sights and sounds emanating from Sinai scared them to death.

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” – Exodus 20:18-19 NLT

But their fear didn’t prevent them from disobeying God. In fact, their demand for Aaron to craft them “new gods” was actually a desire for a different manifestation of the one true God. They weren’t trying to replace Yahweh, they simply wanted Him in a more familiar and easy-to-manage form. When they saw what Aaron had crafted, they responded, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4 ESV). The Hebrew word for “gods” is 'ĕlōhîm, which is the most commonly used name for God in the Scriptures. They were replacing the unattractive image of Yahweh as a God of fire, smoke, lightning, and thunder with a more user-friendly version. Aaron’s golden calf was Yahweh 2.0, a more accessible and amenable rendition of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But God didn’t let this affront to His glory prevent Him from keeping His covenant promises.

“But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!” – Nemeiah 9:19-21 NLT

This prayer expresses the people’s shock at God’s grace and mercy. As they reflect on the dark nature of their past, they can’t help but stand in amazement at their track record of disobedience and God’s outpourings of love, compassion, and undeserved mercy.

“In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!” – Nehemiah 9:28 NLT

He faithful led them, fed them, protected and provided for them. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, He helped them conquer and occupy the land of Canaan. He supplied them with victories over more powerful nations. When they disobeyed, He lovingly punished them by allowing their enemies to gain the upper hand. Then He faithfully rescued and restored them. During their times of rebellion, God sent His prophets to call them to repentance, but rather than change their ways, the people turned on God's messengers. So, He kept His word and allowed them to suffer the consequences of their actions.

“But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!” – Nehemiah 9:31 NLT

Verse 32 brings the prayer full circle, placing the emphasis on the current state of affairs in Judah. The returned exiles have rebuilt the Temple and restored the walls of Jerusalem, but they are still suffering the aftereffects of their forefathers’ sins. They find themselves living in a “land of plenty” (Nehemiah 9:36 NLT), but they confess, “The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins” (Nehemiah 9:37 NLT).

They describe themselves as little more than slaves. While they are back in the land they still have to endure foreign oppression and are unable to enjoy the many benefits the land has to offer. This prayer is a call for repentance on the part of the people and a request for God to intervene. They are ready and willing to renew their commitment to God and agree to put it in the form of a legal document. 

“…we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.” – Nehemiah 9:38 NLT

This corporate pledge of allegiance will bind them “to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes” (Nehemiah 10:29 ESV). God has proven Himself to be faithful, loving, merciful, and compassionate. Now it is their turn to declare their faithfulness and pledge their commitment to Yahweh alone.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You Are the LORD

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. 12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. – Nehemiah 9:1-15 ESV

Despite all the festivities, the people remained somber and sorrowful because of their awakened awareness of their sinful state. Ezra’s reading of the Mosaic Law left them without any doubt as to their guilt. They had clearly broken God’s commands and were deserving of His judgment. Those who tried to explain the meaning of the laws to the people tried to manage their sense of shame by stating, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God” (Nehemiah 8:9 NLT). Nehemiah added, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10 NLT).

But just days after celebrating the Feast of Booths when the people gathered together for a second solemn assembly they were in a mournful state.

…the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. – Nehemiah 9:1 NLT

Some had taken steps to remedy their problem by separating themselves from their foreign relationships. They now understood that, as God’s chosen people, He had called them to live set-apart lives that would maintain their distinctiveness. But over time, they had compromised their convictions and determined to coexist with the nations around them. Their interactions with non-Jews had left them spiritually contaminated and morally compromised. After hearing God’s law read the people became aware of their complicity in the nation’s many concessions of convenience.

When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. – Deuteronomy 7:2-4 NLT

Having purged the foreigners from their midst, the Israelites stood for six hours, listening to the reading of the law and confessing their sins before Yahweh. This six-hour-long ceremony was a worship service in which the people reunited with their God. It was a painful and gut-wrenching experience that exposed the extent of their wickedness but also reminded them of the grace and mercy of God. He took His Law seriously but He was also a covenant-keeping God. The reason they were able to stand inside the recently rebuilt walls of Jerusalem and hear the Mosaic Law being read within earshot of the newly restored Temple was because God had kept His word.  He had fulfilled His promise to end their 70 years of captivity and return them to the Land of Promise.

“You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:10-11 NLT

The walls were intended to provide the people with protection. The Law would be a reminder of God’s moral and ethical code of conduct and their violation of it. The Temple would be a constant source of forgiveness and atonement for the sins they ultimately committed. All of this was God’s doing and the Levites encouraged the people to “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” (Nehemiah 9:5 NLT).

Over the last few days, the people had experienced a revival, a renewal of their relationship with Yahweh that had produced a strange mixture of emotions. They experienced joy, sorrow, delight, despair, peace, fear, and an overwhelming sense of God’s power and presence. This was a watershed moment in the lives of the people of Judah. They were back in the land and their work on the walls was complete. But with the reading of the Law, they realized their toughest challenge was ahead of them. Now they had to live as God’s chosen people. By now, they understood that the walls and the Temple could not protect them from God’s wrath. If they disobeyed His commands and refused to submit to His authority as the one true God, they would face the same consequences as their ancestors. But these newly invigorated citizens of Judah embraced the challenge enthusiastically, shouting, “Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise” (Nehemiah 9:5 ESV). They were ready to obey and offered a corporate prayer of confession and commitment to the LORD.

They opened their prayer with an admission of Yahweh’s unparalleled status as the incomparable and unrivaled God of the universe.

“You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” – Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

He has no equals. There are no alternative gods or competing deities worthy of sharing the limelight with Yahweh. He alone is the one true God who revealed Himself to their ancient patriarch.

“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham.” – Nehemiah 9:7 NLT

From among all the people on earth, the Creator-God chose this undeserving pagan idol worshiper and called him to become His servant. He promised to produce a great nation from this elderly man and his barren wife. Not only that, God assured Abram that his many descendants would have a land in which to live. And the people of Judah, standing within the recently rebuilt walls of Jerusalem, knew that God had kept His word.

“…you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. And you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word.” – Nehemiah 9:8 NLT

But they recalled the days when Jacob and his small family had been forced to seek shelter in the land of Egypt because of a famine in the land of Canaan. What was intended to be a short-term sojourn in the land of the Pharaohs stretched into four centuries and culminated with the people of Israel living as slaves to their Egyptian overlords. But Yahweh stepped in again.

“You saw the misery of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cries from beside the Red Sea. You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his officials, and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly they were treating our ancestors. You have a glorious reputation that has never been forgotten.” – Nehemiah 9:9-10 NLT

The stories of God’s past deliverance rang in their ears. The plagues, the Passover, and the crossing of the Red Sea came to mind as they worshiped the greatness of Yahweh. The entire Exodus story took on a whole new meaning as they stood within the walls of Jerusalem and considered their own deliverance from bondage in Babylon. They too had experienced God’s gracious and miraculous hand, just like the Israelites in the wilderness. In a way, their solemn assembly was not unlike the appearance of God on Mount Sinai. It was there that God first gave Moses the Law. He appeared on the mountaintop accompanied by smoke, fire, thunder, and lightning. His presence shook the ground and struck fear into the people of Israel.

Now, centuries later, the people of Judah stood in awe and fear as that same Law was read and they recognized the power and presence of God in their midst.

“You came down at Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and instructions that were just, and decrees and commands that were good. You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbath. And you commanded them, through Moses your servant, to obey all your commands, decrees, and instructions.” – Nehemiah 9:13-14 NLT

God’s laws had not changed and neither had He. Yahweh remained steadfast and true, faithful and forgiving. But He also remained firmly committed to His call for absolute allegiance and unwavering obedience to His commands. The people of Judah knew from personal experience that God punishes the disobedient. Their 70-year tenure in Babylon was ample proof that failure to obey comes with serious consequences.

Their ancestors had chosen to break God’s commands repeatedly and without remorse, and they did this despite God’s ongoing care and compassion for them. He had proven His faithfulness time and time again. He had showered them with love that took practical form and met real-world needs.

“You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty. You commanded them to go and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.” – Nehemiah 9:15 NLT

This entire first section of their corporate prayer is a resounding declaration of God’s goodness and grace. They could look back and see Yahweh’s track record of faithfulness and lovingkindness. He was the deliverer, redeemer, provider, protector, Law-giver, and guide who never left them or turned His back on them. Yet, as the rest of their prayer will reveal, the people of Israel proved to be less than grateful and far from reciprocal in their love and faithfulness.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cause to Celebrate

1 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

13 On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. 14 And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule. – Nehemiah 8:1-18 ESV

The walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt – in just 52 days. The temple had already been restored under the leadership of Ezra. But the city was a virtual ghost town. Most of the people who had returned to the land lived in towns and villages outside the city’s walls. So, Nehemiah knew that his work was incomplete. While he had accomplished his primary objective of rebuilding the walls, he chose not to return to Susa as he had promised King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:6). Instead, he stayed because he knew that rebuilt walls did not make a city; it had to be repopulated and its citizens needed to be made right with God.

With the construction work completed, Nehemiah shifted roles from project manager to pastor. He assembled the congregation of Judah and arranged for Ezra to read from the Book of the Law. This could have been the entire Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, or just the book of Deuteronomy along with portions of Leviticus. But whatever it was that Ezra read, it took hours for him to do so, and the people stood the entire time. This was in keeping with the command Moses gave the people just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan.

And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” – Deuteronomy 31:10-13 ESV

It seems that the completion of the walls coincided with the celebration of the Feast of Booths which inspired Nehemiah to call for this holy convocation. He enlisted the aid of Ezra who was a scribe and priest. The law was read and explained in detail so the people could understand it. This lengthy recitation of God’s laws had the desired effect, convicting the people of their sins. They wept and mourned as they heard how they had violated the commands of God. But Nehemiah told them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep” (Nehemiah 8:9 ESV). Instead, he encouraged them to focus their attention on God.

“Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” – Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

While the law had reminded them of their sin, he wanted them to remember their gracious, merciful God. It was time to celebrate because God was their strength. He had provided a means for them to receive forgiveness for their sins. These events took place in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. Part of what was read to them out of the law was God’s command to keep the annual festivals. They were to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Booths, and the Day of Atonement. These festivals were intended to remind them of all that God had done for them in the past. They were to culminate with the once-a-year sacrifice made on their behalf by the high priest. On the Day of Atonement, he would enter into the Holy of Holies and make atonement for the unintentional sins they had committed that year. This sacrifice was to culminate in a celebration. While their sins alienated them from God, He graciously provided a means of receiving forgiveness and pardon.

When God gave the people of Israel His plans for the Tabernacle and His commands for observing the sacrificial system, it foreshadowed greater things to come. It was an earthly picture of a heavenly reality but was designed to be temporary and incomplete. The author of Hebrews says, “They serve as a copy and shadow of heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5 ESV). The Mosaic Law, associated with the Old Covenant, was not intended to be a permanent solution to man's persistent sin problem.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. – Hebrews 8:7 ESV

God told the people of Israel, “Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Hebrews 8:8 ESV). He had a plan for a new and improved covenant that would be permanent and complete. Everything that the people of Israel had done in association with the Tabernacle and the temple had pointed toward something greater to come. Under the Loaw, one of the key elements involved in man's atonement was the shedding of blood.

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. – Hebrews 9:22 ESV

Every year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins before he could intercede for the people because he was a sinner just like those to whom he ministered. Once his sins were atoned for, he had to offer another sacrifice and mis the blood with water and, using scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled it on the Book of the Law and the people, declaring, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you” (Hebrews 9:20 ESV).

With that action, the covenant between God and His people was ratified and renewed. But again, it was just a foreshadowing of things to come. That event had to take place every year because their atonement was temporary and incomplete. The Book of Hebrews goes on to state, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 ESV). Complete and permanent forgiveness of sins could never happen through the sacrifice of bulls and goats. But God had a better solution.

Our sin is an ever-present reality that follows us wherever we go. It is a permanent part of our experience as fallen human beings. When we read God's Word, we are reminded of our sinfulness. It convicts us by revealing our unfaithfulness and consistent rebellion against a faithful, loving God. But rather than weep and mourn over our sins, we must learn to rejoice in the gift of our Savior. God has provided a solution to our sin problem, one that is far better than the one the Israelites had.

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. – Hebrews 9:24 ESV

Christ didn't enter into an earthly Tabernacle or Temple. As our high priest, He presented His sacrifice before God the Father, once and for all.

But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. – Hebrew 9:26 ESV

He gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins and, unlike the animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant, His sacrifice was a permanent solution to man's sin problem. His death provided complete atonement for the sins of mankind – past, present, and future. He secured an “eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12 ESV).

So what should our reaction be to this news? We should rejoice and celebrate. We should recognize that the joy of the Lord is our strength because He has provided for our salvation. He has made a way for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him that is not based on human effort. God has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. – 1 John 4:9 NLT

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. – Romans 5:8 NLT

That is cause for celebration and ample reason for rejoicing. Our God is great, His love is unimaginable, and His grace is immeasurable. Yes, our sin is real but so is our salvation. Those of us who have placed our faith and hope in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross can celebrate because our redemption is eternal and our atonement is complete. The truly great news is, “Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28 NLT).

Celebration is the proper response to God’s goodness and grace. So, when the Law had been read, and the people understood their guilt and God’s grace, they were prepared to celebrate. With the Feast of Booths at hand, they “went out and cut branches and used them to build shelters on the roofs of their houses, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of God’s Temple, or in the squares just inside the Water Gate and the Ephraim Gate” (Nehemiah 8:16 NLT). This feast was to serve as an annual reminder of God’s provision during Israel’s years of wandering in the wilderness. When their ancestors had refused to enter the Promised Land, God banned that generation of Israelites from ever entering His “rest,” condemning them to spend their lives outside the borders of Canaan until they died off. But during those days, and despite their disobedience, He graciously provided them with food and shelter. He met their needs and ensured that their descendants were the recipients of His covenant promises.

This celebration of the Feast of Booths was the first one to be held in nearly 150 years. It is unlikely that they celebrated the feasts during their exile in Babylon and there is no indication that the feasts had been reinstituted since the first exiles had returned. So, Nehemiah records that this celebration was an especially joyous occasion.

So everyone who had returned from captivity lived in these shelters during the festival, and they were all filled with great joy! The Israelites had not celebrated like this since the days of Joshua son of Nun. – Nehemiah 8:17 NLT

God had been gracious and good. His people had wandered away into the wilderness of Babylon, but He had graciously returned them to the land. He was a loving and forgiving God who kept His covenant promises. And that was cause for celebration.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Move-In Day

1 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2 I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” 4 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

5 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

6 These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. 7 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: 8 the sons of Parosh, 2,172. 9 The sons of Shephatiah, 372. 10 The sons of Arah, 652. 11 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. 12 The sons of Elam, 1,254. 13 The sons of Zattu, 845. 14 The sons of Zaccai, 760. 15 The sons of Binnui, 648. 16 The sons of Bebai, 628. 17 The sons of Azgad, 2,322. 18 The sons of Adonikam, 667. 19 The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. 20 The sons of Adin, 655. 21 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 22 The sons of Hashum, 328. 23 The sons of Bezai, 324. 24 The sons of Hariph, 112. 25 The sons of Gibeon, 95. 26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. 27 The men of Anathoth, 128. 28 The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42. 29 The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 30 The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. 31 The men of Michmas, 122. 32 The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. 33 The men of the other Nebo, 52. 34 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. 35 The sons of Harim, 320. 36 The sons of Jericho, 345. 37 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. 38 The sons of Senaah, 3,930.

39 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. 40 The sons of Immer, 1,052. 41 The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. 42 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74. 44 The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. 45 The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

46 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 47 the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, 48 the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai, 49 the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, 50 the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, 51 the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, 52 the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim, 53 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 54 the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 55 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 56 the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

57 The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, 58 the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon.

60 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.

61 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers' houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 62 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. 63 Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). 64 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65 The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise.

66 The whole assembly together was 42,360, 67 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. 68 Their horses were 736, their mules 245, 69 their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.

70 Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments and 500 minas of silver. 71 And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. 72 And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments.

73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns.

And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns. – Nehemiah 7:1-73 ESV

The wall was completed and the gates were hung, bringing the nearly two-month-long construction project to a close. The next thing on Nehemiah’s agenda was securing the Temple infrastructure so that the sacrificial system could be properly maintained. The whole purpose behind rebuilding the walls was to provide a safe and secure environment for the worship of Yahweh. At this point, the Temple was the primary focal point of the city because little work had been done on the rest of the civic buildings and homes. Nehemiah alludes to the fact that the city was virtually unoccupied.

At that time the city was large and spacious, but the population was small, and none of the houses had been rebuilt. – Nehemiah 7:4 NLT

Without walls, the city of Jerusalem would have been an unsafe environment, so most of the returning exiles took up residence in the smaller villages and communities outside the walls. In 537 B.C., a large contingent of exiles made the trip back to Judah under the leadership of Zerubabbel. These individuals had been required to provide proof of citizenship and their legal status as heirs to property within the land of Judah. Some of them would have been the descendants of those who owned homes within the walls of Jerusalem, but to date, none of them had bothered to rebuild or reoccupy those homes. This state of affairs led Nehemiah to take on yet another project. He determined to repopulate the city of Jerusalem to ensure its vitality and future as a thriving urban center. He knew the city could not survive without citizens.

Nehemiah had discovered “the genealogical record of those who had first returned to Judah” (Nehemiah 7:5 NLT). This is the very same list that Zerubbabel compiled nearly 100 years earlier to determine who could provide proof of citizenship and heirship to property rights. The list found in verses 6-67 is virtually identical to that of Ezra 2. In his official capacity as governor, Nehemiah had come across this list and must have questioned why no one had bothered to avail themselves of their rights to property within Jerusalem. The homes remained in ruins and unoccupied. Nearly 50,000 people had made the long journey from Babylon to Judah, but only a fraction of them had settled within the city of Jerusalem.

Now that the walls were complete, Nehemiah hoped to persuade these reluctant settlers to transform the empty city into a bustling metropolis again. God had promised to restore and repopulate the city and Nehemiah was doing his part to see that God’s will was accomplished.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem’s streets with their canes and will sit together in the city squares. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” – Zechariah 8:4-6 NLT

The Book of Jeremiah contains another promise from God concerning the future fate of the land of Judah.

Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
    With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.
    You will again be happy
    and dance merrily with your tambourines.
Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria
    and eat from your own gardens there.
The day will come when watchmen will shout
    from the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem
    to worship the Lord our God.’” – Jeremiah 31:3-6 NLT

God describes a day when He will restore the fortunes of His people and shower His favor on the city of Jerusalem once again.

“The day will come when watchmen will shout
    from the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem
    to worship the Lord our God.’”

7 Now this is what the Lord says:
“Sing with joy for Israel.
    Shout for the greatest of nations!
Shout out with praise and joy:
‘Save your people, O Lord,
    the remnant of Israel!’
For I will bring them from the north
    and from the distant corners of the earth.
I will not forget the blind and lame,
    the expectant mothers and women in labor.
    A great company will return!” – Jeremiah 31:6-8 NLT

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!’ Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness. For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.” – Jeremiah 31:23-25 NLT

Nehemiah longed to see the vacant city reoccupied and God’s promises fulfilled. So, he set out to encourage the people to do the right thing and begin rebuilding and reoccupying the homes in Jerusalem. God had brought them back, now it was up to them to bring the city back to life.

Once again, God had foretold of the people’s restoration and Jerusalem’s revitalization.

“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.’

“Say this also: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The towns of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem as his own.’” – Zechariah 1:16-17 NLT

God had done His part, now it was their turn.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

To God Be the Glory

1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. – Nehemiah 6:1-19 ESV

After nearly two months of back-breaking, round-the-clock effort, the citizens of Jerusalem could see the fruits of all their hard work. The walls were nearing completion and the next step was to hang the gates on their hinges. Nehemiah must have experienced a deep sense of relief and satisfaction as he considered the magnitude of what they had accomplished. The last 52 days had been difficult and filled with setbacks, threats of violence, bitter infighting, and moments of doubt and despair. But despite the odds and with the help of God, the people remained focused, committed to their cause, and completed the project in record time.

This rag-tag group of returned exiles accomplished a project of herculean proportions, a job that should have taken years even under the best of circumstances. But their joy at having completed this massive defensive structure would be shortlived. Even when the gates were hung and everyone was snuggled safely inside the walls, their enemies would remain relentless in their attacks. No swords were drawn and no blood was spilled, but the animus of their enemies never dissipated. In fact, it only increased and took on a more clever and clandestine form.

As the last stones were placed on the wall, the enemies of Judah became more frightened and demoralized than ever, but why? Because they sensed that this project had been divinely ordained. Yahweh, the God of Judah was somehow involved; there was no other explanation. They had done everything in their power to stop the work, but it continued unabated. They had tried to discourage Nehemiah and the people from finishing their work but had failed. Their conclusion? The deity of Judah had somehow been involved. They could recognize that the completion of the wall in just 52 days was the result of divine intervention. This had been no ordinary construction project.

Desperate to forestall the hanging of the gates which would finalize the project, Sanballat and Geshem the Arab sent a message to Nehemiah requesting a meeting at an off-site location. These men were desperate to put an end to Nehemiah’s efforts and devised a plan to lure him out of Jerusalem under the guise of a peaceful parley. The invited him to join them at a small village in the plain of Ono located about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem, close to the border of Samaria.

Nehemiah saw through their ploy and turned down their invitation, stating, “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 NLT). He knew their intentions were evil so he refused their deceptive request for a “peaceful” conclave. But these men refused to take no for an answer and sent four additional requests that produced the same results. Finally, they sent a servant with a handwritten message intended to frighten Nehemiah.

“There is a rumor among the surrounding nations, and Geshem tells me it is true, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel and that is why you are building the wall. According to his reports, you plan to be their king. He also reports that you have appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim about you, ‘Look! There is a king in Judah!’

“You can be very sure that this report will get back to the king, so I suggest that you come and talk it over with me.” – Nehemiah 6:6-7 NLT

Sanballat tried to portray himself as a concerned subject of the king and a well-meaning friend who was trying to inform Nehemiah of a potential problem. According to Sanballat, a vicious rumor was going around that accused Nehemiah of fostering insurrection and fomenting rebellion among the Jews. Sanballat suggests that he doubts the accusations but will have to share them with the king unless Nehemiah agrees to meet with him. This was a form of blackmail plain and simple. These trumped-up charges are completely fabricated but they are dangerous nonetheless.

But Nehemiah is unphased by Sanballat’s poorly veiled ploy. He matter-of-factly responded, “There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing” (Nehemiah 6:8 NLT). Although the rumors were lies, Nehemiah knew these men would not hesitate to follow through with their threat and present these slanderous accusations about him to the king. But he refused to be intimidated or deterred and continued to encourage the people to complete the project “with even greater determination” (Nehemiah 6:9 NLT).

But Sanballat and his co-conspirators would not give up. They enlisted the aid of a local citizen of Judah named Shemaiah. This man was confined to his home for some undisclosed reason. It could have been for the fulfillment of a vow or ceremonial uncleanness. Perhaps he had sustained injury while working on the wall. But whatever the case, he invited Nehemiah to come to his home where he shared a “prophecy” he had received. This man claims to have received a word from God that Nehemiah’s life is in danger and he must seek shelter in the Temple.

“Let us meet together inside the Temple of God and bolt the doors shut. Your enemies are coming to kill you tonight.” – Nehemiah 6:10 NLT

Nehemiah knew Shemaiah well and had no reason to doubt his sincerity and concern. But Shemaiah’s “prophecy” made no sense. His recommendation for Nehemiah to seek shelter in the Temple directly violated the Mosaic Law. No one but the Levitical priests was allowed access to the inner recesses of the Temple, upon penalty of death (Numbers 1:51; 3:10; 18:7). Shemaiah’s solution to the supposed assassination attempt on Nehemiah’s life was non-sensical. To escape death, Nehemiah would come under a death sentence from God. This ploy was the handiwork of Sanballat and his friends. They were hoping to induce Nehemiah to seek shelter in the Temple and violate the laws of his God.

It seems that Sanballat was attempting to discredit Nehemiah among the Jews by getting him to violate the Mosaic Law. If Nehemiah had taken Shemaiah’s advice, he would have shown that his life was more important than God’s commands. This would have tarnished his reputation among the people and given credence to the rumor that he was a self-centered and self-promoting aspirant to the throne of Judah.

But Nehemiah recognized Shemaiah as a pawn in their thinly veiled plot to discredit him.

They were hoping to intimidate me and make me sin. Then they would be able to accuse and discredit me. – Nehemiah 6:13 NLT

Sanballat and his companions were pulling out all the stops. They were using their financial resources to buy informants and grease the palms of greedy prophets who were willing to use their positions for personal gain. But their efforts failed.

After 52 days, the walls were completed and the gates were hung. But this didn’t prevent the letters, accusations, payoffs, and personal attacks on Nehemiah from continuing unabated. God’s work will always face opposition. The enemy will always attack and do everything in his power to thwart the will of God.

But the efforts of God’s people brought God glory.

When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. – Nehemiah 6:14 NLT

On how many occasions does our work bring God glory? Do the projects we take on reflect the power of God or simply our own initiative and self-sufficiency? God wants to reveal His glory through His people. He wants to demonstrate His power despite our weakness. He wants to display His might through us as we accomplish His will.

God is not interested in seeing what we can do. He is not impressed with our strength and organizational abilities. That doesn't mean we don't have to do our part but we always have to remember, when all is said and done, God is the one who should receive the glory. The rebuilding of the wall was God's idea. He had predicted it long in advance through the words of Daniel (Daniel 9:25). God had arranged for the people to return to the land of Judah. He had led Nehemiah to request permission from King Artaxerxes to lead back a group of exiles to rebuild the walls. God had protected and provided for them all along the way and now the work was done.

Yes, the people had worked hard. They had sore muscles, aching backs, and blistered hands to prove it. But all their efforts would have been nothing without the help of God, and even their enemies knew it. Nehemiah had led the people well, orchestrated their work flawlessly, and encouraged their efforts successfully, but without God, none of it would have mattered.

We do the work. God gets the glory. That's the way it's intended to be.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Destruction from Within

1 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” 3 There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4 And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them 8 and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11 Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. 13 I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

14 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 15 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. 16 I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. 19 Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.” – Nehemiah 5:1-19 ESV

As the walls went up, the people’s morale plummeted. This unexpected outcome must have left Nememiah perplexed. Was it his plan for a division of the labor that had ended up dividing the laborers? Were the people frustrated with their job assignments or workload? Had they become disgruntled about their benefits package or lack of time off?

It seems that their discontentment had nothing to do with the work on the walls. There was a festering problem among the people of Judah of which Nehemiah was completely unaware. In his haste to rebuild the walls, he had overlooked a more pressing need that posed an even greater threat than Sanballat, Tobiah, and their companions. 

The people of Judah were divided. While they had managed to work side by side on the walls, they harbored long-standing resentment toward one another that stretched back long before Nehemiah’s arrival. The wall project had managed to unify them temporarily but it had also exacerbated a long-standing issue that threatened to undermine Nehemiah’s plans and all their hard work.

Since his arrival in Jerusalem, Nehemiah had made the rebuilding of the walls the highest priority. He had successfully organized the former exiles into work crews and provided them with the tools and motivation to get the job done. However, the intense work schedule forced many of them to neglect their own affairs. Fields went unplanted and harvests were neglected. The round-the-clock construction schedule made it difficult for parents to care for the well-being of their families. Household chores went undone. Sheep went unsheared. Flocks went unfed. And old resentments bubbled to the surface.

The complaints came in three forms. The first had to do with the division of food. Because everyone shared in the work, Nehemiah had arranged for everyone to get a fair share of the communal provisions. But it seems there were holes in his plan that allowed inequities to exist. Some of the larger families expressed frustration over their insufficient food allotments.

“We have such large families. We need more food to survive.” – Nehemiah 5:2 NLT

To make matters worse, a local famine had driven up food costs, forcing some to take drastic measures just to feed their families.

“We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.” – Nehemiah 5:3 NLT

A third group complained about the high taxes levied against them by King Artaxerxes. While they had labored long and hard on the walls, the king had not called off his tax collectors. This forced many of the Jews to take out high-interest loans using their property as collateral. Worse yet, some had become so desperate that they sold some of their children into slavery just so the rest could eat.

“We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.” – Nehemiah 5:4-5 NLT

What made this state of affairs even more shocking to Nehemiah was that Jews were taking advantage of their own. In other words, this was an in-house problem. The haves were abusing the have-nots. The wealthy were loaning money to their fellow Jews at high interest rates, in direct violation of God’s law.

“If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you. Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative. Remember, do not charge interest on money you lend him or make a profit on food you sell him. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.” – Leviticus 25:35-38 NLT

Abuse of this law had been going on for some time. Long before Nehemiah showed up, the more affluent Jews had been using their God-given resources to profit from the hardships of the less fortunate among them. This kind of behavior had been forbidden by God.

“If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would.” – Exodus 22:25 NLT

Nehemiah became incensed when he discovered what was going on and gathered the Jewish nobles together so he could read them the riot act.

“You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” – Nehemiah 5:7 NLT

Their behavior was unlawful and unacceptable, and it had to stop. It seems that Nehemiah and others had used their personal resources to purchase the freedom of Jews who had become enslaved to Persian masters. These recently redeemed individuals had returned to Judah with Nehemiah and helped in the construction of the walls. Nehemiah never expected to hear that his fellow Jews were selling one another out just to line their own pockets. In his mind, this was far worse than anything Sanballat or Tobiah could have come up with. The Jews were actually destroying themselves from within.

Like a good leader, Nehemiah took action and demanded that reparations be made. He knew the walls couldn’t protect against this kind of self-destruction. It was Jesus who said, “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:25 ESV). The Proverbs put it this way: “Greed brings grief to the whole family, but those who hate bribes will live” (Proverbs 15:27 NLT).

The prophet Micah also wrote about his pressing problem.

What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,
    thinking up evil plans.
You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out,
    simply because you have the power to do so.
When you want a piece of land,
    you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone’s house,
    you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property,
    stealing his family’s inheritance. – Micah 2:1-2 NLT

And Micah went on to share God’s prescribed judgment for those who do such things.

“I will reward your evil with evil;
    you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose.
You will no longer walk around proudly,
    for it will be a terrible time.” – Micah 2:3 NLT

And Nehemiah pulled no punches either, unapologetically calling out all the guilty parties and demanding immediate restitution.

“What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest. You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.” – Nehemiah 5:9-11 NLT

Surprisingly, the people were convicted and willing to comply with Nehemiah’s demands. They wholeheartedly agreed to make things right, at great personal cost. Confiscated land would need to be restored. All interest would need to be repaid. On top of all this, the people agreed to cease and desist from further abuse of God’s law. It all ended here.

The walls of Jerusalem were little more than a symbol of the spiritual state of Judah. The fallen stones represented the fallen condition of God’s chosen people. Their spiritual lives lay in ruins because they had chosen to disobey His commands. Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the physical walls of the city would accomplish little if the people continued to operate in a state of spiritual fallenness and mutual self-destruction. Judah’s enemies could simply stand back and watch as the nation destroyed itself from within.

Their actions exhibited a disregard for God's law and a flippancy toward God's justice. They had no fear of God's retribution. And yet Nehemiah was a living example of what God expected. He feared God and demonstrated it by his actions. Rather than live off the salary available to him as governor, he paid his own way. Not only that, he fed and provided for 150 people – out of his own pocket. As the king-appointed governor, he didn't sit in his palace overseeing the work of rebuilding the wall. He got his hands dirty. He worked alongside the people and put up with the daily threats of his enemies. He had to deny their vicious rumors and continue to encourage the people to remain strong and faithful to their God-given task. Despite this serious setback, Nehemiah’s efforts proved successful and the wall was completed in only 52 days.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Leading from the Knees

1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. 5 Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8 And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

10 In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12 At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” 13 So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand. – Nehemiah 4:1-23 ESV

Leading others can be difficult even in the best of times. When things aren’t going well, it can become nearly impossible. Nehemiah was encountering the very real challenge of trying to motivate a workforce burdened with the overwhelming responsibility of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This massive civic work project was overwhelming in both its scale and importance. It is estimated that the walls of Jerusalem were more than two miles in circumference and high enough to serve as a formidable barrier against enemy invasion. These walls had lain in ruins for nearly 150 years and Nehemiah was attempting to rebuild them using a civilian workforce comprised of priests, peasants, merchants, and government officials.

Despite the size and complexity of the task, progress was being made. The walls were going up and the gates were being installed. But while their hard work paid off, it had produced a growing resentment among their enemies. The local non-Jewish residents were incensed that Nehemiah had been successful in his efforts to rebuild the walls. Sanballat and his co-conspirators used sarcasm and ridicule to demoralize Nehemiah’s workforce.

“What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” – Nememiah 4:2 NLT

But while their childish taunts failed to halt the rebuilding efforts, they did have an effect. The Jews began to question the validity of their work. Were they wasting their time? Was their labor in vain? Weary from the back-breaking work of rebuilding the walls, they were susceptible to doubt and despair. Nehemiah could sense that the people were struggling and took the matter to the Lord.

“Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” – Nehemiah 4:4-5 NLT

He asked Yahweh to hold their enemies accountable for their actions. Nehemiah wasn’t interested in mercy; he wanted vengeance. There is no indication that God answered Nehemiah’s prayer, but He did provide protection so that the people were able to complete 50 percent of the project. 

Once again, their success only served to stoke the anger of Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites. The higher the wall went, the more intense the opposition became. No longer content to use words as weapons, the enemies of Israel began to plot physical violence. If they couldn’t demoralize the Jews with cutting words, they would cut them down with swords.

Nehemiah had his work cut out for him. He knew he had to keep the people working but the threat of armed opposition made his task even more difficult. So he prayed and took steps to prepare the people for the possibility of hand-to-hand combat. He “placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas” and “stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows” (Nehemiah 4:13 NLT).

Sensing the growing apprehension among his workers, Nehemiah tried to remind them of the nature of their cause and the presence of their God.

“Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” – Nehemiah 4:14 NLT

The people rallied to his charge and continued the work. While half labored on the walls, the rest served as armed guards and watchmen. But this division of labor didn’t come without its own set of problems. Nehemiah was learning that there was far more to leadership than he ever imagined.

He knew some of his workers felt they were getting the short end of the stick. As they worked, their companions stood around and “guarded” the walls. For one-half of the labor force, the work doubled. Real or perceived inequality and inequity make it extremely hard for people to want to follow. If they feel like they are getting the raw end of the deal, they will resist and sometimes even rebel. The construction project they were tasked with was seemingly insurmountable, requiring around-the-clock effort and robbing the people of much-needed rest. It wasn't long before they began to lose heart.

Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” – Nehemiah 4:10 NLT

Nehemiah was charged with leading the people and ensuring that the construction of the wall continued, despite persistent opposition and the waning hopes of the people. Nehemiah prayed, organized, encouraged, prepared, and took steps to ensure that the work could continue and the people were safe. He relied on the grace of God, but he understood that God's grace is opposed to earning, but not effort. The steps he took to organize the people and defend the wall were not an attempt to earn favor with God, but to ensure that the work of God could continue uninterrupted. Nehemiah knew that the job they had to do was difficult and would require even more work on the part of the people. He knew their enemies were real and the threats they were making were not imaginary. So he did what what was necessary to see that the people were safe and the work could continue. They worked in shifts. Some built, while others guarded. They all carried weapons and were prepared to fight at a moments notice. But Nehemiah also knew that they would not be fighting alone. "Then our God will fight for us!" (Nehemiah 4:20b NLT).

As if their enemies were not enough, Nehemiah also found himself dealing with some significant problems within his own camp. The bickering began over inequities taking place. Some people were mortgaging everything they had just to buy food. Others had been forced to sell their own children into slavery just to pay their taxes. The sad thing was that the culprits who profited from all this were the nobles and officials of Judah. The haves were taking advantage of the have-nots. So Nehemiah took charge once again and demanded that the greed, graft, and corruption come to an end. And all along the way, he set the example for godly leadership, never drawing his official food allowance, even though he was entitled to it. He worked as hard as anyone else, never claiming exemption from labor due to his role as governor. Nehemiah was a model of godly leadership. Why? Because he feared God. He had a reverence and respect for God that would not allow him to live in a way that brought shame or dishonor to the name of God through his actions. Nehemiah was motivated by his love for God and his belief that he worked for and was responsible to God for the people, the wall, and his own attitudes and actions. For Nehemiah, leadership was not about power, position, authority, or respect. He was not interested in lining his pockets or padding his resume. He simply wanted to use his God-given position to lead the people through exhortation and example. He would trust God for whatever reward God chose to give him for his efforts. He performed for an audience of one – God.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Constructive Faith

1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Gate of Yeshanah. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of the governor of the province Beyond the River. 8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18 After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, repaired. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. – Nehemiah 3:1-32 ESV

Nehemiah had a plan for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem but he would need manual labor to carry it out. This would be back-breaking work that required both strength and precision. Each work crew was assigned a gate to repair and, once the gate was completed, they were to construct the wall that led to the next gate. Their efforts needed to coordinate with the next team of builders so that the walls could be joined together seamlessly. This massive undertaking required brute force, keen engineering skills. craftsmanship, and a great deal of patience. But the people took on the project wholeheartedly and enthusiastically. Individuals from every walk of life joined in the effort, working side by side to see that the walls of their beloved city were rebuilt.

The work of rebuilding the walls began at the Sheep Gate at the northeastern corner near the Temple Mount. This section of the wall was repaired by the priests under the direction of Eliashib the high priest. He was the grandson of Jeshua, the former high priest, who had played a major role in rebuilding the altar of God so that the sacrificial system could be reinstituted.

Jeshua son of Jehozadak joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening. – Ezra 3:2-3 NLT

The Sheep Gate played an important part in the sacrificial system as well. Located near the Temple Mount, this gate provided easy access for the shepherds who tended the flocks used for the Temple sacrifices. The reconstruction of this gate became a high priority and was taken on by the priests themselves. Even the high priest rolled up his sleeves and joined in the work. Once they completed their gate, they consecrated it, setting it apart as holy to the LORD. This symbolic act was meant to remind the people that their work was to be done “as to the LORD” (Proverbs 16:3). The gates and walls were intended to provide protection, but they would also be a constant reminder of God’s presence, power, and provision.

It is interesting to note that the men of Jericho worked beside the priests. This brief reference would have struck a chord with the Jewish audience who read Nehemiah’s recounting of this momentous occasion. The mention of Jericho would have conjured up the stories they had been told as children. When the Israelites first crossed over the Jordan in their attempt to conquer the land of Canaan, they encountered the fortified city of Jericho. God gave Joshua the following instructions for taking this seemingly impenetrable city.

Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.” – Joshua 6:1-5 NLT

Just the day before, Joshua had encountered an unknown and well-armed soldier. When Joshua asked whether he was a friend or foe, the man said, “I am the commander of the Lord’s army” (Joshuah 5:14 NLT). This pronouncement caused Joshua to fall to the ground in fear and reverence. It was from this divine messenger that Joshua received his orders to take the city of Jericho. By following the LORD’s command, the Israelites enjoyed a surprisingly easy victory over their enemies.

When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it. They completely destroyed everything in it with their swords—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys. – Joshua 6:20-21 NLT

The city of Jericho was eventually rebuilt and occupied by the Israelites. The walls that had fallen were restored, and the men who called this city their home came to assist in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Those who had the joy of living in the place where God gave the Israelites their first victory were more than happy to play a role in rebuilding the walls of their capital city.

Nehemiah goes on to chronicle the various groups that participated in the rebuilding process. While these names are unknown to modern readers, their inclusion gives the impression that people from every walk of life took part in this God-ordained project. The work was not done by peasants alone. Everyone from the high priest to the local government officials played their part. It was a community-wide effort. But there is one side note that reveals at least one group who chose to bow out of the proceedings.

…the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. – Nehemiah 3:5 ESV

These elitist upper-class snobs deemed themselves too high and mighty to get their hands dirty. But Nehemiah paints a much more harsh reality. He describes them as unwilling to serve their Lord. They were too good to serve Yahweh.

Yet, their less affluent neighbors labored diligently and willingly to rebuild not just one section of wall, but two.

…the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. – Nehemiah 3:27 ESV

No indictment is leveled against these unnamed nobles, but the Proverbs have much to say about men like them.

A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor. – Proverbs 29:23 BSB

When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom. – Proverbs 11:2 BSB

Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. – Proverbs 18:12 BSB

Despite the pompous attitude of the nobles of Tekoah, the work continued. Others pitched in and, over time, the gates were rebuilt and the walls were restored. This communal project was a testament to Nehemiah’s organizational skills and his powers of persuasion. He had successfully convinced the people of Judah to pool their efforts and accomplish a seemingly impossible task under less-than-ideal circumstances. They labored side by side for months on end, enduring harsh weather conditions and putting up with constant harassment from their enemies. Nehemiah’s description of their efforts makes it sound like everything went off without a hitch. He describes no injuries, setbacks, mishaps, or arguments. This was a do-it-yourself project of epic proportions that would have featured endless opportunities for frustration and confrontation. Mismeasured blocks would have needed to be repaired or replaced. Pulled muscles and broken limbs would have sidelined many, slowing down the work and increasing the workload of others. 

And as the following chapter will reveal, the entire project was met with increasing hostility from the local inhabitants. Sanballat and Tobiah were relentless in their attacks, mocking the people of Judah for Don Quixote-like quest to do the impossible.

“What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” – Nehemiah 4:2 NLT

“That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” – Nehemiah 4:3 NLT

But the work went on and the walls went up. Perseverance and patience were necessary. Faith was a non-negotiable requirement. Determination and cooperation were indispensable. And the people would need to constantly remember that they had Yahweh on their side. The words of Nehemiah needed to ring in their ears as they hammered, hauled, chiseled, and chipped their way to completion.

“The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall.” – Nehemiah 2:20 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.