Nehemiah - a prayerful and active leader

In this month’s copy of The Christian Science Journal, Sandy Sandberg has written (p. 22): “The opposite of reflection is self-absorption… [which is] always attempting to satisfy its own sense of lack, or incompleteness.”  And later “Christian Science teaches that healing takes place when the human consciousness is turned away from self-absorbed, materialistic thinking, and acknowledges and affirms the spiritual mode of thought, the reflection of divine Mind’s thoughts.”

In thinking about Nehemiah, I realize that he is anything but self-absorbed. Instead, he reflects His Creator dynamically in qualities such as vision, intelligence, leadership (including encouragement of others), faith, integrity, alertness, graciousness, courage, diligence, and steadfastness, all stemming from deep prayer and listening.

“Nehemiah was a genuine leader, an excellent administrator, and a man of prayer. …Nehemiah’s single-mindedness of purpose, attention to detail, and dependence on God were combined in a man who can simply be labelled as a servant of God.” M. Breneman “Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther” p. 59 – quoted in NLT Bible.

Position

Nehemiah is placed right after the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, and, as mentioned in an earlier blog by Joyce Voysey, the two books are like a duet.

Authorship

The NLT Study Bible tells us that Ezra is the most probable author of both Ezra and Nehemiah and that the author “often works from actual sources (such as letters and decrees of Persian kings)”.

History (from NLT Study Bible)

·        586BC – 538BC Exile

·        605BC – 562BC Nebuchadnezzar II is king of Babylon. Skilled Israelites (e.g. sailors, leaders, musicians, carpenters, monkey keepers, guards) are taken captive. See 2 Kings 25: 8-12 and compare Daniel 1: 1-5). Some of the elite prospered e.g. Daniel (Dan 1: 17, 21) and Mordecai (Esther 10: 1 – 3).  

·        586BC Jerusalem destroyed; end of the kingdom of Judah

·        It was in 538BC that Cyrus II the Great (the Persian king) granted permission for the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. See Ezra 1: 2-4.  NLT explains that “Israel regarded Cyrus as called and empowered by God to free them. Cyrus was not the Messiah, but what he did served as an example of what the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would later do in setting God’s people free from servitude.” (P. 790)

·        538BC – 400BC return from exile – see 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

·        479BC – 478BC Esther becomes queen of Persia

·        458BC Ezra (the scribe) travels to Jerusalem

·        445BC Nehemiah returned to Judea to successfully rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and organize the community.

I love the three questions given to us by Madelon Maupin on Sunday at our recent Bible Workshops:

1.      What does the text say?

2.      What does the text mean?

3.      What does the text mean to me?

Happy reading,

Julie Swannell