Commentary - Nehemiah 1:1-3

Bird's-eye view

The book of Nehemiah opens not with a bang, but with a burden. We are introduced to a man, Nehemiah, a high-ranking official in the most powerful empire on earth, whose heart is nevertheless tethered to a pile of rubble hundreds of miles away. This is a book about rebuilding, but the first thing to be built is a case before the throne of God. The narrative is set in motion by a bad report. News of the disgrace and vulnerability of God's people in Jerusalem reaches Nehemiah in the opulent Persian capital. His immediate reaction of weeping, fasting, and praying reveals the character of a true covenant man. He understands that the physical state of Jerusalem's walls is a direct reflection of the spiritual state of God's people and the public reputation of God's name. This opening section establishes the problem: the reproach of God. The rest of the book will be the Spirit-led solution, a practical and political outworking of a deeply theological and personal piety.

This is not a story about an escapist spirituality. Nehemiah's prayer is not a substitute for action but the necessary foundation for it. He is a man of affairs, a cupbearer to the king, and he will use his position, his skill, and his God-given authority to address this problem. But it all begins here, with a man whose heart breaks for the right reasons. He sees the shame of his people as his own, and he takes it to the only one who can do anything about it. This is the genesis of a great reformation, and it begins with a faithful man, a bad report, and a burdened prayer.

Outline

Context In Nehemiah

Nehemiah 1:1-3 serves as the prologue to the entire book. The events here are the catalyst for everything that follows. The book of Ezra describes the first two waves of return from the Babylonian exile, focusing first on the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel and then on the spiritual reforms under Ezra the scribe. However, despite the temple being rebuilt and the sacrificial system being restored, the people of God are still in a precarious and shameful position. The city of Jerusalem, the capital of God's kingdom on earth, lies undefended and in ruins. This report of the city's condition, nearly a century after the first return, sets the stage for the third great movement of restoration. Nehemiah's subsequent prayer in chapter 1, his appeal to the king in chapter 2, and the massive rebuilding project in chapters 3-6 are all a direct response to the bad news delivered in these opening verses. This is the inciting incident of the entire story.

Key Issues

A Reformation Begins with a Burden

All great movements of God in the world begin this way. They do not begin in committees or with strategic plans. They begin when God lays a burden on the heart of one of his servants. A problem, a sin, a reproach, a ruin that the world takes for granted, or that the church has grown accustomed to, becomes an intolerable burden to a man of God. For Martin Luther, it was the corruption of indulgences. For William Wilberforce, it was the abomination of the slave trade. For Nehemiah, it was a broken-down wall. The Spirit of God does not birth reformation in the abstract. He works through particular men in particular places at particular times. And it always begins with a clear-eyed assessment of what is wrong, a report that brings grief, and a heart that is soft enough to be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, and I was in Susa the capitol,

The book begins by identifying its human author, Nehemiah. His name means "Yahweh comforts," a fitting name for a man God would use to bring comfort and security to His people. We are told his father's name, but not his tribe, though later evidence suggests he was likely from the tribe of Judah. The dating is precise: the month Chislev (our November/December) in the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes I of Persia, which would be 446 or 445 B.C. The location is also specific: Susa, one of the Persian empire's capital cities. Nehemiah is not in Jerusalem. He is a high-ranking official, the king's cupbearer (1:11), living in the heart of pagan power and luxury. This is a crucial point. God's man was perfectly positioned in providence, holding a secular office of great trust and influence, in order to accomplish God's sacred purposes. True faith is not about escaping the world, but about serving God faithfully right where He has placed you.

2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

Into the sanitized environment of the Persian court comes a delegation from home. Hanani is identified as "one of my brothers," which could mean a literal brother or a kinsman. They come from Judah, the land of the covenant. Notice Nehemiah's immediate response. He does not ask about the economy, or his family's property, or the latest court gossip from back home. He asks two things. First, he asks about the people, the remnant, the Jews who had survived the exile. Second, he asks about the place, about Jerusalem. This is a man whose heart is defined by the covenant. His identity is wrapped up in the fate of God's people and God's city. Though he lived in Susa, his heart was in Jerusalem. He was a true patriot of the heavenly city, and so he cared deeply about its earthly manifestation. His question reveals his priorities. What do you ask about when you get news from home?

3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”

The answer is bleak. It is a three-part report of ruin. First, the people are in great calamity and reproach. Calamity refers to their difficult circumstances, their poverty and oppression. But the key word is reproach. This is a theological term. It means shame, disgrace, dishonor. The people of God were living in a state that brought shame upon the name of their God. A king's reputation is tied to the state of his capital city and his people. Because Jerusalem was a shambles, the God of Jerusalem was being dishonored among the nations. Second, the report specifies the tangible sign of this reproach: the wall of Jerusalem is broken down. A city without walls in the ancient world was vulnerable, weak, and insignificant. It was open to any passing band of marauders. It was a place of contempt. Third, its gates are burned with fire. The gates were the center of a city's strength, commerce, and justice. Burned gates meant the city was utterly defenseless and its civic life was in chaos. This report was more than seventy years after the temple had been rebuilt. It showed that the restoration was incomplete and the people were still living under the curse of the covenant, exposed and ashamed.

Application

The spirit of Nehemiah is desperately needed in the church today. We live in a world where the walls of Christian civilization have been systematically dismantled and the gates of our culture have been burned with the fire of secularism and paganism. The church, the people of God, often lives in great calamity and reproach. We are divided, compromised, and too often an object of contempt in the world, bringing shame on the name of Christ.

The first step in any reformation is to feel the reproach as Nehemiah did. We must stop making excuses for our condition. We must stop pretending that our cultural and spiritual ruin is acceptable. We need to ask the hard questions about the state of the church and the state of our cities. And when we get the bad news, we must not shrug. We must let it break our hearts. Nehemiah's response was to weep, fast, and pray. Our response must be the same. We must own the sin and the shame as our own, confessing it before God. But like Nehemiah, our prayers must not be the end of our involvement. They must be the beginning. God has placed us in our various vocations, in our businesses, our schools, our homes, our city councils, for such a time as this. We are all cupbearers to some king. Our task is to leverage our positions for the glory of God and the rebuilding of the ruins. It begins with a burdened heart, which leads to a bended knee, which in turn leads to a busy hand.