THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH
Lesson 3
Chapters 4-6
Opposition to the Reconstruction Continues and Completion of the Reconstruction
Eternal Father,
You promised You would be with us in our earthly
struggles, but You never promised that we wouldn't have to endure those tribulations.
Give us the courage and faith of Nehemiah who not only faced opposition from
enemies outside Judah but also from within his covenant community. Encountering
ill will from those within our families and faith communities are the most painful
experiences. Help us, in those times, Lord, to be Your instruments of peace
and forgiveness, working to serve You and to heal those fractures within the
framework of the families that You intended to be our refuge in a harsh world. We
pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
+ + +
But now when
the Ammonites, and Moabites, and Samaritans, and all that inhabited Celesyria,
heard that the building went on apace, they took it heinously, and proceeded to
lay snares for them, and to hinder their intentions. They also slew many of
the Jews and sought how they might destroy Nehemiah himself, by hiring some of
the foreigners to kill him. They also put the Jews in fear, and disturbed
them, and spread abroad rumors, as if many nations were ready to make an expedition
against them, by which means they were harassed and had almost left off the
building. But none of these things could deter Nehemiah from being diligent
about the work.
Josephus, Antiquities
of the Jews, 11.5.8 (174-176)
Thirteen years after Ezra, the priestly scribe and expert on the Law, led the second group of exiles back to Judah and Jerusalem, Nehemiah arrived as the new governor of the Persian Province of Judah with a mandate to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He privately inspected the ruins of the old walls and then organized the people to begin rebuilding the city's defensive walls on the old foundations. He spent twelve years as the Persian governor of Judah before returning to Susa in 432 BC, but he returned some years later for a second term as the Persian governor of Judah.
Archaeologists have discovered during this same period (mid-fifth century BC), that fortresses were built or restored along the Mediterranean coast and in the Judean hill country. Therefore, King Artaxerxes I's change of heart concerning the refortification of Jerusalem was probably inspired by God convincing him that he needed a plan to strengthen his grip on the western provinces by fortifying their larger cities (Kenneth Hoglund, Achaemenid Imperial Administration in Syria-Palestine and the Missions of Ezra and Nehemiah, 1992, pages 165-205).
Archaeological excavations in Jerusalem have confirmed the description of the configuration of the walls of ancient Jerusalem in the Book of Nehemiah. The fifth-century BC walls he rebuilt for Jerusalem covered approximately the same area as that of King Solomon's city in the tenth-century BC but was only about one-fourth the size of the walls that surrounded Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah in the eighth century BC. Nehemiah probably limited the construction to the earlier foundation with the smaller footprint to finish the construction sooner because of the threat of armed invasion by Judah's neighbors (Neh 4:1-5).
Part One of the Book of Nehemiah Continues:
Chapter 4: Plots to Disrupt the Rebuilding
Nehemiah 4:1-7 or 4:7-13 ~ The Plots of Jerusalem's Enemies
1 When
Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that
repairs to the walls of Jerusalem were going forward, that the gaps were
beginning to fill up, they became very angry, 2 and they all plotted to come and attack Jerusalem and
upset my plans. 3 We, however,
prayed to our God and organized a guard day and night to protect the city from
them. 4 But in Judah the
saying went, "The strength of the carrier falters, the rubbish heap is so vast
that by ourselves we cannot rebuild the wall!" 5 And our opponents said, "They will never know or see a thing,
until we are in there among them, and then we shall massacre them and put a
stop to the work." 6 Now
when the Jews who lived near them had warned us ten times over, "They are
coming up against us from every place they live in," 7 men took up position in the space
behind the wall at those points where it was lowest, and I organized the people
by families with their swords, spears and bows.
Some translations number 4:1-7 as 4:7-13 (i.e., RSV, KJV).
At the end of last week's lesson, in 3:36-38 (in some translations 4:4-6), Nehemiah petitioned Yahweh to punish Judah's enemies. His prayer is an imprecation (curse) on enemies similar to Psalm 35 and 58:6-9.
The territories of Nehemiah's enemies:
Enemies surrounded the covenant people of Judah and God was their only protection. It is the continuing plight of the modern-day nation of Israel.
While the Samaritans were outraged that they were denied a part in rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple and a say in its organization, the main reasons Sanballat, Tobias, and Geshem opposed Nehemiah were political rather than religious. Nehemiah's success in rebuilding Jerusalem threatened Sanballat's authority as the governor of Samaria (cf., Neh 5:14), and Geshem was probably afraid revitalization under Nehemiah would challenge his lucrative trade enterprise. Before Jerusalem's destruction by the Babylonians, the city was a major trading center in the region.
Question: Nehemiah
responded in what two ways to the threat of invasion and a planned massacre of the
city?
Answer:
7 men took up position in the space behind
the wall at those points where it was lowest, and I organized the people by
families with their swords, spears, and bows.
Jerusalem's neighboring cities on the border with
Judah's neighbors warned them their enemies were planning an attack and massacre
(verse 6). One clever tactic Nehemiah used was to mass a group of armed citizens
in the places where the wall was lowest and visible from outside the city. Perhaps
he planned to give the impression to the enemy of a massive defensive force (part
of which the enemy might assume they could not see behind the higher sections
of the wall) and for the enemy to know they could not surprise the city in a sudden
attack as they boasted (verse 5).
Nehemiah 4:8-17 or 4:14-23 ~ Nehemiah's Plan
8
Aware of their anxiety, I then addressed the nobles, the officials
and the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the great and
awe-inspiring Lord and fight for your kinsmen, your sons, your daughters, your
wives and your homes." 9 Once
our enemies heard that we were forewarned and that God had thwarted their plan,
they withdrew, and we all went back to the wall, each one to his work. 10 From then on, half my own retainers
went on working, while the other half stood by, armed with spears, shields,
bows, and armor to protect the whole House of Judah as they rebuilt the wall. 11 The carriers were armed, working with
one hand and holding a spear in the other. 12
Each builder had his sword strapped to his side as he built.
Beside me stood a trumpeter. 13 I
then said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is
great and widely spread out, and we are deployed along the wall some way from
one another. 14 Rally to us
wherever you hear the trumpet sounding; our God will fight for us." 15 And
so we went on with the work from break of day until the stars came out. 16 At the same time I also told the people,
"Let every man, with his attendant, spend the night inside Jerusalem; we shall
spend the night on guard and the day at work." 17 Neither I, nor my brothers, nor my attendants, nor my
bodyguards, ever took off our clothes; each one kept his spear in his right
hand.
Some translations number 4:8-17 as 4:14-23 (i.e., RSV, KJV).
Nehemiah addresses the people's fears by encouraging them to trust in their "awe-inspiring" God, recalling to them the might works of God on their behalf in the past, and to have the courage to fight for their countrymen and women, their sons, daughters, wives, and homes (verse 8). Fortunately, when the enemy saw they could not take Jerusalem by surprise, they withdrew. Notice that Nehemiah continues to give credit for their protection and the withdrawal of the enemy to God who "had thwarted their plan" (verse 9) as he has in Nehemiah 1:8; 4:3.
Question: What plan did Nehemiah set in motion to continue to protect the city
and those working to rebuild the wall?
Answer: Nehemiah's plan to protect the walls, people, and city included:
15 And so we went on with the work from break of day
until the stars came out.
They worked from dawn to sunset, a
seasonal twelve hours until the beginning of the next day. See Jesus' definition
of the daylight hours in John 11:9.
17 Neither
I, nor my brothers, nor my attendants, nor my bodyguards, ever took off our
clothes; each one kept his spear in his right hand.
Nehemiah testifies that he, his
attendants, and bodyguards were so dedicated to their mission that they never changed
their clothes but remained on duty and vigilant with "his spear in his right hand."
First-century AD Jewish priest and
historian, Flavius Josephus, praising Nehemiah's commitment to his mission wrote
that Nehemiah "himself made the rounds of the city by
night, never tiring either through work or lack of food and sleep, neither of which
he took for pleasure but as a necessity" (Antiquities of the Jews, 11.5.8).
Chapter 5: The Social Problems Plaguing Judah and Jerusalem
Nehemiah 5:1-11 ~ The Poor of Jerusalem Cry Out for Mercy and Justice
1 There
was a great outcry from the people, and from their wives, against their brother
Jews. 2 Some said, We are having to pledge our sons and
daughters to get enough grain to eat and keep us alive.' 3 Others
said, We are having to mortgage our fields, our vineyards and our houses to
get grain because of the shortage.' 4 Still others said,
We have had to borrow money on our fields and our vineyards to pay the royal
tax; 5 and though we belong to the same race as our
brothers, and our children are as good as theirs, we shall have to sell our
sons and our daughters into slavery; some of our daughters have been sold into
slavery already. We can do nothing about it, since our fields and our vineyards
now belong to others.' 6 When I heard their complaints
and these words, I was very angry. 7 Having turned the
matter over in my mind, I reprimanded the nobles and the officials as follows, "Each
of you is imposing a burden on his brother." Summoning a great assembly to deal
with them, 8 I said to them, "To the best of our power,
we have redeemed our brother Jews who were forced to sell themselves to
foreigners, and now you in turn are selling your brothers, for them to be bought
back by us!" They were silent and could find nothing to say. 9 "What
you are doing," I went on, "is wrong. Do you not want to walk in the fear of
our God and escape the sneers of the nations, our enemies? 10 I
too, with my brothers and retainers, have lent them money and grain. Let us cancel these pledges. 11 This
very day return them their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and
their houses, and cancel the claim on the money, grain, new wine and olive oil,
which you have lent them."
Nehemiah not only had to deal with the threats of enemies outside the city but also from within from caused by food shortages and the religious and civic leaders who opposed him. Food shortages led to massive debt. It is likely that Jerusalem's enemies were interfering with food supplies transported to Jerusalem from outlying areas since there is no mention of a famine. The people also had the burden of paying the Persian king's tax: the levy imposed on the province of Judah by the central Persian government.
Notice that the people refer to "pledges" in verse
2 and repeated by Nehemiah in verse 10b.
Question: What is the
difference between charging interest on a loan and taking a pledge on a debt according
to the Law? The Law permitted usury only when dealing with Gentiles. See
Ex 25:22;
Lev 25:35-37;
Dt 23:19-20; and Dt 24:10-11.
Answer: In Jewish tradition, usury meant
taking any interest for a loan, an act forbidden according to Mosaic when
dealing with covenant members. Pledging to repay a loan was not contrary to
the Law.
Mosaic Law offered a clear distinction between usury and making a pledge against a loan:
The nobles and officials are the lenders of money and grain who are taking pledges of repayment by seizing persons, land, and goods against the debt. Nehemiah immediately took steps to respond to the plight of the people who were pledging their sons, daughters, and ancestral lands against repayment of the loans. He confronted the wealthy nobles and officials and called for an assembly of the people. Both civic and religious leaders seemed to be involved the crimes against the poor (also see Neh 6:7, 12).
Question: How did Nehemiah confront those
taking advantage of the poor? How did they respond to his accusations?
Answer:
They did not respond because they realized he spoke the truth.
Nehemiah even honestly admitted that he, members of his family, and his retainers lent money and grain to those in need. He told the assembly that the solution is to cancel all pledges and return the land, vineyards, olive groves, houses, and family members to the debtors while at the same time invalidating any claims on money, grain, wine, and olive oil that was lent to them (verses 10-11). In effect, he is proclaiming a Jubilee Year liberation in which all debts are forgiven, Hebrew slaves liberated, and ancestral lands returned to the original owner (see Lev Chapter 25; Dt 15:1-18).
Nehemiah 5:12-13 ~ Nehemiah Convinces the Priests and
Rulers to Lighten Their Burden on the People
12"We shall make restitution," they replied, "we shall claim nothing
more from them; we shall do as you say." Summoning the priests, I then made
them swear to do as they had promised. 13Then, shaking
out the fold of my garment, I said, "May God thus shake out of house and
possessions anyone who does not make good this promise; may he be shaken out
thus and left empty!" And the whole assembly answered, "Amen" and praised
Yahweh. And the people kept this promise.
Question: What response do the wealthy
pledge holders give in verse 12a?
Answer: They agree to Nehemiah's suggestion.
It was not easy for the landowners and nobles to accept Nehemiah's plan even though they had to realize that the situation could not continue indefinitely without the whole economy of the city collapsing. Also, the costs involved in maintaining the Temple were mostly met by the wealthy in the community, which meant they had the backing of the chief priests.2
Nehemiah immediately followed up by summoning the priests and cleverly makes them swear an oath in Yahweh's name to do as they had promised, to which he adds a curse for failing to keep their oath. "Shaking out the fold of my garment" refers to turning out the pockets sewn in the folds of his garment, suggesting that as he empties his pockets, so will the possessions of anyone who fails to keep the oath be shaken out and left empty.
Nehemiah 5:14-19 ~ Nehemiah Vindicates His Administration
14 What is
more, from the time when the king appointed me to be their governor in Judah,
from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve
years, neither I nor my brothers ever levied the governor's subsistence
allowance, 15 whereas
the former governors, my predecessors, had been a burden on the people, from whom
they took forty silver shekels a day for food and wine, while their attendants
oppressed the people too. But I, fearing God, never did this. 16 Also, not acquiring any land, I
concentrated on the work of this wall and all my attendants joined in the work
together, too. 17 Furthermore,
magistrates and officials to the number of a hundred and fifty ate at my table,
not to mention those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Every day, one ox, six fine sheep, as
well as poultry, were prepared for me; every ten days, skins of wine were
brought in bulk. But even so, I never claimed the governor's subsistence
allowance, since the people already had burden enough to bear. 19 To my credit, my God, remember all I
have done for this people.
Nehemiah testifies that for the twelves years he served as the royal Persian governor of Judah that he never took advantage of the people. According to historians, the Persians collected about 20 million darics (c. 100 million dollars) annually in taxes from their provinces. As the governor, Nehemiah was entitled to levy a subsistence allowance from the people, but he and his brothers who served in governmental offices did not take advantage of this privilege, unlike other governors who served before him.1
15 whereas
the former governors, my predecessors, had been a burden on the people, from
whom they took forty silver shekels a day for food and wine, while their
attendants oppressed the people too.
Forty silver shekels is about 1 pound of silver (about 0.5 kilograms) a day for food and wine.
Question: How does Nehemiah
defend his actions as governor of Judah in verses 14-18?
Answer: Nehemiah defends his administration as governor by stating:
Question: For what reason did Nehemiah refuse the governor's subsistence allowance
and refuse to acquire land or take advantage of the people?
Answer: He
behaved honorably in his service to God and his people because he believed in
Yahweh, God of justice and feared to offend Him.
Nehemiah 6:1-14 ~ The Intrigues of Nehemiah's Enemies
1 When
Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and our other enemies heard that I had
rebuilt the wall and that not a single gap was left, though at that time I had
not fixed the doors to the gates, 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this
message, "Come and meet us at Ha-Chephirim in the Vale of Ono." But they had
evil designs on me. 3 So I
sent messengers to them to say, "I am engaged in a great undertaking, so I
cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to
you." 4 Four times they sent
me the same invitation, and I made them the same reply. 5 The
fifth time, with the same purpose in mind, Sanballat sent me his servant
bearing an open letter. 6 It
ran, "There is a rumor among the nations, and Gashmu confirms it, that you
and the Jews are thinking of rebelling, which is why you are rebuilding the wall,
and you intend to become their king; 7 and
that you have even briefed prophets to acclaim you in Jerusalem with the cry, There
is a king in Judah!' Now, these rumors are going to reach the king; so you had
better come and discuss them with us." 8 To
this I sent him the following reply, "As regards what you say, nothing of the
sort has occurred; it is a figment of your own imagination." 9 For they were all trying to terrorize us,
thinking, "They will become demoralized over the work and it will not get finished."
But my morale rose even higher. 10 Then, when I went to visit
Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, since he was prevented from coming
to me, he said: "We must gather at the Temple of God, inside the sanctuary itself;
we must shut the sanctuary doors, for they are coming to kill you, they are
coming to kill you tonight!" 11 But
I retorted, "Should a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the
Temple to save his life? I shall not go in!" 12 I realized that God had not sent him to say this, but
that he had produced this prophecy for me because Tobiah was paying him 13 to terrorize me into doing as he said
and committing a sin, so that they would have grounds for blackening my
reputation and blaming me. 14 Remember
Tobiah, my God, for what he did; and Noadiah the prophetess, and the other
prophets who tried to terrorize me.
Nehemiah's enemies employ three successive plans to eliminate him:
2 Sanballat
and Geshem sent me this message, "Come and meet us at Ha-Chephirim in the Vale
of Ono." But they had evil designs on me. 3
So I sent messengers to them to say, "I am engaged in a great
undertaking, so I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it
and come down to you."
The Valley of Ono was about seven miles (eleven km)
southeast of Joppa and Lod (Lydda) in the westernmost territory of Judah.
Nehemiah realizes their invitation is a trap, and he refuses to go.
5 The
fifth time, with the same purpose in mind, Sanballat sent me his servant
bearing an open letter. 6 It
ran, "There is a rumor among the nations, and Gashmu confirms it, that you and
the Jews are thinking of rebelling, which is why you are rebuilding the wall,
and you intend to become their king;
Gashmu is a variant of Geshem, the Arab governor. They
have no proof of their accusations, but they continue to repeat and spread their
lies. Part of their strategy is to hope the citizens of Judah will become so
frightened of a Persian invasion that they will renounce Nehemiah and reject
him; perhaps even assassinate him. To have designs on becoming King of Judah
would be a treasonous act against the Persians. In modern-day political
parlance, the enemies of Judah are suffering from "Nehemiah derangement syndrome."
They interpret his every action as having an evil intent. Nehemiah's enemies
tell lies, and they know what they say are lies, but like many trying to tear
down the reputations of others, they think the more they repeat the lie, the
more likely it will stick to the detriment of their opponent. Nehemiah denies
their allegation, telling them it is all "a figment of your own imagination."
Question: Their letters and accusations
were intended to demoralize Nehemiah. Instead, what is his response?
Answer: Instead of discouraging Nehemiah,
their opposition only encourages him to work harder.
10 Then,
when I went to visit Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, since he was
prevented from coming to me, he said: "We must gather at the Temple of God,
inside the sanctuary itself; we must shut the sanctuary doors, for they are
coming to kill you, they are coming to kill you tonight!"
Their third tactic is to have Shemaiah son of
Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, a prophet and influential member of the Jerusalem
community hired by Tobias, to convince Nehemiah into believing his life is in
imminent danger, and the only safe place is the Temple Sanctuary. They tied to
use a fear tactic to persuade Nehemiah to place himself in a vulnerable position
and to violate the rules of the Sanctuary which only an ordained chief priest
could enter. Although a person could claim the privilege of sanctuary to the
altar (1 Kng 1:50ff; 2:28f), a privilege later extended to other parts of the
Temple courts (1 Mac 10:43; Ps 27:5). But specifying "inside the Sanctuary"
was an attempt to get Nehemiah to violate the law. The
law pertaining to priestly descendants of Aaron stated: You and your sons
will undertake the priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and all that
lies behind the curtain. You will perform the liturgy, the duties of which I
entrust to your priesthood. But an unauthorized person approaching will incur
death (Num 18:7).
Question: How did Shemaiah intend to use the
Law of the Sanctuary to do away with Nehemiah? See Num 18:7c.
Answer: If anyone discovered Nehemiah inside
the forbidden sacred space of the Sanctuary's Holy Place, under the precepts of
the Law, they could denounce him and legally kill him by claiming they were protecting
the holy space.
14 Remember
Tobiah, my God, for what he did; and Noadiah the prophetess, and the other
prophets who tried to terrorize me.
Once again, Nehemiah petitions God to protect him
from his enemies and to hold them accountable, including the false prophetess
Noadiah. Nehemiah has the authority of the Persian government behind him to
control the political situation in Jerusalem, but he must rely completely on
God to control the external political forces working against him and those conspiring
against him within the city.
Scripture mentions eleven prophetesses in the Old and New Testaments: nine are true, and two are false:
| Prophetess | Scripture Reference |
| Old Testament Prophetesses | |
| Miriam, sister of Moses | Exodus 15:20 |
| Deborah Judge and Prophetess | Judges 4:4 |
| Hulda | 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22 |
| Isaiah's wife | Isaiah 8:3 |
| Noadiah, the false prophetess | Nehemiah 6:14 |
| New Testament Prophetesses | |
| Anna | Luke 2:36 |
| Philip's four daughters | Acts 21:9 |
| "Jezebel" the false prophetess | Revelation 2:20 |
Nehemiah 6:15-19 ~ Completion of the Wall but Opposition Continues
15 The wall was finished within fifty-two
days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul. 16 When all our enemies heard about it and
all the surrounding nations saw it, they thought it a wonderful thing, because
they realized that this work had been accomplished by the power of our God. 17 During this same period, the nobles of
Judah kept sending letter after letter to Tobiah, and letters from Tobiah kept
arriving for them; 18 for he
had many sworn to his interest in Judah, since he was son-in-law to Shecaniah
son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of
Berechiah. 19 They even
cried up his good deeds in my presence, and they reported what I said back to
him. And Tobiah kept sending letters to terrorize me.
15 The wall
was finished within fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.
The last date Nehemiah gave us was six months earlier (as
we count). It was early in the month of Nisan (March) in the twentieth year of
Artaxerxes in 2:1 when he presented his petition to King Artaxerxes. His trip
to Jerusalem probably took not more than three months since he traveled with a
small group by horseback, which would mean he arrived in Jerusalem after the change
of the Persian year in the twenty-first year of King Artaxerxes I (still 445 BC
by our modern calendar). The Persian new year began on the spring equinox in
March 20th/21st. The month of Elul is the sixth month in the liturgical
calendar with the end of the month equating to our September. Therefore, it was
in the early fall of the twenty-first year of King Artaxerxes's reign when Nehemiah's
workers completed the wall.
It may seem unreasonable that Nehemiah's work teams could have completed the walls within fifty-two days; however:
The foundations were already there, and Nehemiah only rebuilt the walls from the time of King Solomon's tenth century BC city that was much smaller than the area covered by Jerusalem when the Babylonians destroyed the city in 587/6 BC. Also, Ezra had started some of the restoration thirteen years earlier until Sangallat was able to bring pressure on him to end the work (Ezra 4:6-23).
16
When all our enemies heard about it and all the surrounding
nations saw it, they thought it a wonderful thing, because they realized
that this work had been accomplished by the power of our God. The underlined
words are difficult to translate.
Several ancient manuscripts read When our enemies heard
about it, they were afraid because they realized this work had been
accomplished by the power of our God." Other versions translate this verse
our enemies lost much face in the eyes of the nations (NAB), or they
were very much lowered in their own eyes, since the Hebrew word wayyippelu
means "they fell" (IBHE, vol. page 1275). The Jewish Tanakh has When our
enemies heard it, all the nations round about us were intimidated, and fell
very low in their own estimation; they realized that this work had been
accomplished by the help of our God.
17 During
this same period, the nobles of Judah kept sending letter after letter to
Tobiah, and letters from Tobiah kept arriving for them; 18 for he had many sworn to his interest
in Judah, since he was son-in-law to Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan
had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
While the surrounding Gentile nations were said to desist
from opposing Nehemiah (verse 16) because they recognized that the success of
rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was the work of the God of the Jews, Tobiah
was still trying to intimate and thwart his efforts. Tobiah, the Persian governor
of Ammon, was a Jew with connections to influential families in Jerusalem who,
among others, supported Tobiah's opposition to Nehemiah's success.
St. Bede saw Nehemiah and his builders working with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other (4:7) as symbols of the Christian of the New Covenant Church Militant. Called by God to build up the Kingdom of Jesus Christ by works of love and charity, the Christian must, at the same time, work to defend himself or herself and the Church against the evil intrigues of Satan and the enemies of Christ. St. Bede wrote: "In the spiritual edifice too, if we are always clothed with the apostolic armor, the stratagem of the devil and his angels who desire to subdue us will be foiled" (Ezra and Nehemiah, 3.19).
Questions for discussion or reflection:
Moral and social abuses within the Church are the sins of
men and women who have no fear of God. In those cases, it sometimes takes laymen
like Nehemiah who loves the Lord and fears offending Him to call to account the
sinners within the hierarchy of the Church and set things right again. Jesus
instructed us how to go about correcting the sins of covenant members within
the Church in Matthew 18:15-18. What course of action does He outline? What
is the danger of knowing about the commission of a sin or sins within the community
and ignoring it? See CCC 1866-68
Endnotes:
1. Scripture applies the Hebrew/Aramaic word for governor
to Sheshbazzar (Ezra 5:14) and Zerubbabel (Hag 1:1, 14; 2:22), and also for Persian
officials in other provinces (Ezra 5:3, 6; 6:6-7, 13; 8:36;
Neh 2:7, 9; 3:7).
The archaeological discovery of ancient seals and seal impressions confirms the
Biblical reference to the previous governors of Judah before Nehemiah.
2. Nehemiah will establish a new system for financing the Temple and its clergy in Nehemiah 10:32-39. He institutes a general Temple tax in a plan specifying when each family should provide fuel for the Temple altar of sacrifice, and a commitment by the people to give the first fruits of their harvests to the priests and tithes to the Levites.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2019 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.