A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

project would take. Soon Nehemiah had his supplies and letters of passage and was on his way to
Jerusalem.
Some believe this king of Persia, Artaxerxes, was the grandson of Esther and Ahasuerus
(Xerxes). If this is true, the king would have some understanding of the desire of the Jews to
preserve their culture and migrate back to the land promised them.
Nehemiah’s first concern when he got to Jerusalem was to make a personal assessment of
the condition of the walls. Three days after arriving, he took a few men with him on a tour of the
walls one evening. At that time, no one in the city had been told specifically what Nehemiah
intended to do. Carefully, he went from place to place to assess the damage and get a better idea
of what needed to be done to rebuild the wall. Only after making his inspection did he share his
burden with the officials of the city and challenge them to join him in this task. “Then they set
their hands to do this good work” (2:18).
Building a wall around the city of Jerusalem was a task that could only be accomplished
if many workers agreed to work together. Nehemiah gave different families different parts of the
wall to build. First the rubble had to be removed so the workers could get to the walls. Then
repairs were made by each worker in the section of the wall assigned to him. Together, the
people began to lay stone on stone, and a wall began to rise around the city.
Not everyone rejoiced to see the project progress. Among those who opposed the
rebuilding project were two men, an Horonite named Sanballat and an Ammonite official named
Tobiah. When they learned of the project, they laughed, mocking the Jews for what they
intended to do. As work began, they ridiculed the idea, suggesting a wall could not be built
around the city. Then as the wall began to rise, they ridiculed the quality of the wall, claiming it
would fall if so much as a fox ran across it. Then as the wall approached completion, these men
plotted to attack the city and create confusion.
Nehemiah led the people to continue building the wall in the face of both ridicule and
threats. As each challenge faced him, he took the situation to the Lord in prayer. When it
appeared an attack on the city might be a real possibility, Nehemiah had his people working with
both their tools and weapons handy. They were at all times prepared for both building and battle.
But the threats of Sanballat and Tobiah were not the only problems Nehemiah
encountered in rebuilding the wall. Many of the people were deeply in debt and having difficulty
securing the basic necessities of life. The rulers of the people were taking advantage of the
unfortunate situation and that made the problem even more severe. When Nehemiah heard of the
problem, he challenged the morality of the rulers’ business practices. Because he had not taxed
the people as he had every right to, Nehemiah could speak to the rulers with authority. They
agreed to restore the mortgaged properties back to the people and bring an end to their practice
of usury.
Even as the final stages of the work were being completed, Nehemiah encountered subtle
forms of opposition. First, Sanballat and Tobiah tried to distract Nehemiah from the work by
inviting him to meet with them in another city. When continued attempts along this line failed,
they issued a slanderous letter claiming Nehemiah was building the wall to enhance his political
ambitions. On another occasion, they hired a religious leader to try to talk Nehemiah into hiding
in the, temple to escape a possible threat on his life. Constantly, there were letters being
exchanged between Tobiah and those close to Nehemiah. Nehemiah recalled, “Also they
reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to
frighten me” (6:19).