Nehemiah 1:3-9 [Nehemiah’s Humility and Faith]

 

 

[Things to Meditate On]

1. Nehemiah heard from Hanani, one of his brethren who had come from Judah, and from certain men, that the Jews who had escaped the captivity were in great affliction and reproach, and that Jerusalem was also broken down and its gates were burned with fire. When Nehemiah heard this deeply sorrowful news, he showed humility and faith before God (verses 4-5), and we also must learn the humility and faith that Nehemiah showed.

 

2. At that time, those who were suffering affliction and reproach were the Jews, and the city that was broken down and burned was "Jerusalem," the city of the temple of God. Therefore, because of this event, it could have been easy for people to fall into unbelief toward God, or even if they acknowledged the existence of God, to think that God did not care for them.

 

Psalm 10:4 "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."

Isaiah 40:27 "Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?"

 

3. However, because of the affliction that came upon his people and Jerusalem, Nehemiah did not fall into unbelief toward God, nor did he complain or murmur against God. Rather, by faith he acknowledged that "God is the One who keeps covenant and shows mercy."

 

"I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments (verse 5)."

 

Also, as follows, he humbly confessed that all this calamity had happened because of his own sins and the sins of his father's house, that is, the sins of the people of Israel.

 

"Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant... and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses (verses 6-7)."

 

The faith and humility that Nehemiah showed in this way teach us to "fear God" (Deuteronomy 31:13). What we must learn through the captivity of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem is the fear of God, because through this event we can know that God is just and fair toward everyone.

 

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 "3Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."

Psalm 96:10 "Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously."

 

[Decision and Application]

Long ago, God had Solomon, the son of David, build the temple where He would put His name. And when the building of that temple in Jerusalem was finished, God spoke to him as follows.

 

1 Kings 9:3-9 "3...I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 5Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 6But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 7Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil."

 

As this passage says, God had already told Solomon that if the nation of Israel and even Jerusalem disobeyed the word of God, He would bring calamity upon them and make them a proverb and a byword among all nations. Therefore, we can know that in Nehemiah's time, the reason the Jews were taken captive and Jerusalem was broken down was found in the Jews themselves. So if people look only at the bad result and then fall into unbelief concerning God's existence, or complain and murmur against God, that is certainly wrong.

 

Proverbs 19:3 "The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD."

 

Thus, when we see that even the Jews were taken captive and Jerusalem was broken down, we must understand that even if we have been chosen by God, we too can be judged if we disobey the word of God.

 

Romans 11:21-22 "21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

1 Corinthians 10:11-12 "11Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

 

Therefore, when God rebukes and chastens us, we must not complain against Him or harden our hearts. Rather, like Nehemiah, we must humbly confess our sins. Nehemiah rightly discerned where the cause of all these things lay. That is why he was able to humbly repent before God. Now we also, whenever suffering and trials come upon us, must not complain against God or blame others, but must have a heart that humbly examines itself through the word of God and repents, just as Nehemiah did.

 

Proverbs 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Isaiah 57:15 "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

 

Also, Nehemiah remembered the word of God in order to obtain God's mercy, and humbly relied on that word. Even if we receive God's wrath because of our wrongdoing, we too must remember that the only One who can restore us again is God Himself. Therefore, we must humbly turn back to the word of God, that is, to Jesus Christ, and believe in and rely on Jesus all the more.

 

Hosea 6:1-2 "1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."

Joel 2:12-14 "12Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?"

Nehemiah 1:9 "But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there."

 

Amen.