Nehemiah, Psalm 126, and Malachi – for September 26 – September 30
Isn’t it interesting that Nehemiah refers to his writings as memoirs. Nehemiah writes from the fortress of Susa during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign. He was cup-bearer to the king. Hanani, one of his brothers, came to visit him along with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. He is naturally interested in how things are going in Jerusalem.
When he was told that things weren’t going well and that the wall had been torn down, he sat down and wept. He mourned, fasted, and prayed for days. Have you ever mourned, fasted and prayed for our nation? Nehemiah asks God to listen to his prayers and to make the king favorable to him, to let his heart be kind to him.
King Artaxerxes apparently paid attention to the people around him because he noticed how sad Nehemiah was and asked him why. Though terrified, Nehemiah told the king about the plight of Jerusalem. The kind said, “How can I help you?”
Nehemiah says “with a prayer to heaven” he asked to be sent to Jerusalem to rebuild the city where his ancestors were buried.
Did you notice that the Nehemiah 2:6 says “the king, with the queen sitting beside him?” King Artaxerxes had probably been influenced by Queen Esther and possibly Mordecai. Nehemiah asks for letters to the governors, timber from the king’s forest. The king agreed.
Nehemiah encounters some resistance in Jerusalem from Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab (even the the Arabs were giving the Jews a hard time). They accuse Nehemiah of rebelling against the king. Nehemiah sets them straight, telling them they have no share, legal right, or historic claim for Jerusalem. Nehemiah details who was rebuilding what.
Well, Sanballat had a hissy fit when he heard they were rebuilding the wall. Nehemiah appeals to God . Then, the people doing the work griped and complained. When warned their enemies might attack, Nehemiah placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. It got to the point where half the people guarded the wall and half went on with the rebuilding.
Interesting how for the entire 12 years Nehemiah was governor of Judah, nneither he nor any of his officials drew on their official food allowance. He asks God to remember everything he has done for the people and bless him for it.
Tomorrow, October 2nd, is the anniversary of the day the wall around Jerusalem was completed. The surrounding nations realized they had finished the wall with the help of God. Nehemiah’s enemies continue to try to destroy him. Nehemiah hands over the responsibility for governing Jerusalem to his brother Hanani and to the commander of the fortress, Hananiah. Nehemiah then goes on to register the Jewish exiles who had returned from captivity. On October ith, Ezra the priest read the Book of the Law aloud just inside the Water Gate where everyone gathered. The people all wept as they listened to the Law, but were urged not to mourn or weep because it was a sacred day before the Lord their God. Nehemiah wanted them to celebrate. The next day they celebrated for seven days the Festival of Shelters. Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God on each of the seven days.
On October 31st, the people began a period of fasting and humiliation. They confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They listened as the law was read aloud. They prayed and praised the Lord. They rehearsed his great goodness and faithfulness and mercy and patience. The text lists the names of the people who agreed to obey the Law of God. They swore a curse upon themselves if they failed to obey.
Finally, everyone was invoited to the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem. It must have been something to see: the two choirs and the joy of the people of Jerusalem.
Psalm 126 is a short Psalm, but a fitting song for those exiles whom God brought back to Jerusalem.
In Malachi, the Lord decries the way the people are bringing in sacrifices and offerings that were defiled. They brought in crippled and diseased and blind animals instead of the best animals. He details a number of other transgressions they are committing and then warns that the messenger of the covenant, “whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming.” He talks about putting them on trial and calls them to repent and return to him. If they do, he will return to them.
The Lord invites them to put him to the test, to bring the tithes into the storehouse and see if God does not open the windows of heaven for them. He promises to send the prophet Elijah before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.” Elijah will preach and turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and vice versa.
For today, we will read Luke 1 and John 1:1-14.
Check This Out
Big Oops! Harvard Law Review did not cleanse its 1991 yearbook Actual photocopy. Why wasn't this printed in news papers and reported on TV in 2008?
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Until later today…
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