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Nehemiah Chapter 1
Report from Jerusalem
- Nehemiah 1:1 The
words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in
the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan
the palace,
- 2 That Hanani, one
of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked
them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of
the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
- 3 And they said unto
me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the
province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of
Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned
with fire.
With this book we know for sure who
wrote it for he begins it with "The words of Nehemiah." He hears a
sad report from Jerusalem that the walls are broken down along with
the gates. There was a remnant that happened to have escaped being
taken captive unlike most of the citizens who were carried away to
Babylon. I remember that some of the poor was left in the land after
Babylon took the rest into captivity. Somehow word got to Nehemiah
about the remnant being in great affliction.
Nehemiah's Prayer
-
Nehemiah 1:4 And it came to
pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and
mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of
heaven,
Fasting and fervent prayer with a heart
that is sincere and not just a ritualistic religious duty, but
sincerely grieved over the souls and suffering of people, is the type
of fasting that helps us pray with faith and expectation. Sometimes
God answers right away and sometimes the answer takes time as God
has to deal with others involved in the answer. God hears
however, the moment when the first prayer is given. We learn this
from Daniel chapter 9 and 10.
-
Nehemiah 1:5 And said, 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:
He realizes that God will hear prayers
of those the love Him and observe His commandments. If one prays
that doesn't usually keep His commandments, he is also heard if his
prayer comes with repentance and confession of sins as he seeks God
for help. If we pray when we get in trouble but never intend to keep
His word and have no love for God, it is doubtful that He will
answer.
- Nehemiah 1:6 Let
thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou
mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee
now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and
confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned
against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
- 7 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.
This prayer is similar to Daniel's in
chapters 9 and 10 of the book of Daniel. In it Daniel prays for his
nation just as if he had sinned himself. Ezra prays also with
confessing the sins of the nation of Israel also in chapters 9 and
10 of the book of Ezra.
- Nehemiah 1:8
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy
servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you
abroad among the nations:
- 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.
- 10 Now these are thy
servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great
power, and by thy strong hand.
- 11 O Lord, I beseech
thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy
servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear
thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and
grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's
cupbearer.
Here are the words God spoke through
Moses:
- Deuteronomy 30:1
And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon
thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee,
and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither
the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
- 2 And shalt
return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according
to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
- 3 That then the
LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon
thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations,
whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
- 4 If any of
thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from
thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will
he fetch thee:
- 5 And the LORD
thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers
possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good,
and multiply thee above thy fathers.
The land He originally promised them is found
here:
-
Genesis 17:8 And I will
give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein
thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God.
There are many other places this is found in
the bible. We today cannot deny this. They are promised to be
gathered together again before the 1st coming of Jesus and the 2nd
coming of Jesus. This prayer is answered in part by their returning
to their own land after the Babylonian captivity of 70 years and
also in the latter days, starting in 1948. DC
Nehemiah
Chapter 2
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