Nehemiah 1 and 2:1-7
A young man of the captive Jews, named Nehemiah was a trusted servant in the palace of a king of Persia. He may have been born in that land as it was a long time since the Jewish people had been made captives by the king of Babylon, and later had served other kings. Some years before this, many of those Jews had been allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God.
Nehemiah did not forget those people. who had gone to live in Jerusalem. One day his brother and other men came from there, and he learned that the people were in great disorder and trouble, because the city walls were still broken clown, and there were no gates, so an enemy could easily go in.
This report made Nehemiah so sad that he wept, and did not eat his usual food for several days. He wished very much to go to Jerusalem to help build up its walls and gates, but he knew he could not leave the king’s palace without permission, and seems to have feared to ask this favor.
But Nehemiah remembered God’s promises to help, the people of Israel when they were sorry for their sins, and he prayed to God, confessing that he and his father’s family, as well as all Israel, had disobeyed God’s words.
He spoke in his prayer of the place where the Lord had “chosen to set His name.” That meant the special place where He could be honored. The people were to take their gifts and sacrifices to the temple, and all the people of the earth knew that the name of the Lord was honored there. All could not go into the inner rooms, but anyone could go to the outer court to ask God’s mercy and help. (1 Kings 8 : 41-50;2 Chron. 6:66But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. (2 Chronicles 6:6); Ps. 68:29).
That was why Jerusalem was the most important of all cities, and why Nehemiah wished it to be rebuilt; so he prayed to God to cause the king to allow him to go there.
After several months his prayer was answered; one day the king and queen were sitting in the palace ready to be served choice wine, which was the duty of Nehemiah to do, and was only trusted to one thought only to be honest to give the king what was pure.
The king seems to have felt very kindly toward Nehemiah and noticed that he looked sad, and asked the reason. Nehemiah told him of the ruins in Jerusalem, and asked to be allowed to go to have it rebuilt.
The king already knew of the work for the temple of God, and, although he valued Nehemiah’s services, he gave his, consent for him to leave for a certain time.
What man did this king allow before this, to go to Jerusalem to teach the people? (See Ezra 7:6,76This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. 7And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. (Ezra 7:6‑7)).
ML 12/10/1939