Nehemiah 2

2:12 AND I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the dragon’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back,

16 and entered by the valley gate, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also of the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they 19 strengthened their hands for the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? 20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Ham- 2 mesh they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hannel. And next unto him builded the men 3 of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri. And the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the 4 bolts thereof, and the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, 5 the son of Meshezabel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana. And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their 6 lord. And the old gate repaired Joinda the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Beso- deiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the bolts thereof, and the 7 bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Merono- thite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, which appertained to the throne of the governor 8 beyond the river. Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. And next unto him repaired Hananiah one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem even 9 unto the broad wall. And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of 10 half the district of Jerusalem. And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired another portion, 12 and the tower of the furnaces. And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Hallohesh, 13 the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts 14 thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits of the wall unto the dung gate. And the dung gate repaired Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth- haccherem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof. 15 And the fountain gate repaired Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even unto the stairs 16 that go down from the city of David. After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, 17 and unto the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty men. After him re- 18 paired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler 19 of half the district of Keilah, for his district. After him repaired their brethren, Bavvai the 20 son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah. And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another portion, over against the going up to the 21 armoury at the turning of the wall. After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high 22 priest. After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz another portion, 23 from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib. And after 24 him repaired the priests, the men of the Plain. After them repaired Benjamin and Hasshub over against their house. After them repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of 25 Ananiah beside his own house. After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another por- 26 tion, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, and unto the corner. Palai the son of Uzai repaired over against the turning of the wall, and the tower that standeth out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah 27 the son of Parosh repaired. (Now the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against 28 the water gate toward the east, and the tower that standeth out.) After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that standeth out, and unto the wall 29 of Ophel. Above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his own house. 30 After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his own house. And after him 31 repaired Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate. After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another portion. After 32 him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber. After him repaired Malchijah one of the goldsmiths unto the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over 33 against the gate of Hammihkad, and to the ascent of the corner. And between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.

4:1 But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was 2 wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify them- selves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out 3 of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall. 4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, 5 and give them up to spoiling in a land of captivity: and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the 6 builders. So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the height thereof: for the people had a mind to work. 7 But it came to pass that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Am- monites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went 8 forward, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth; and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause 9 confusion therein. But we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against 10 them day and night, because of them. And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the 11 wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the 12 midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. And it came to pass that, when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times from all places, Ye must 13 return unto us. Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their 14 bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses. 15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his 16 work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and 17 the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They that builded the wall and they that bare burdens laded themselves, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and 18 with the other held his weapon; and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, 19 and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are sep- 20 arated upon the wall, one far from another: in what place soever ye hear the sound of the 21 trumpet, resort ye thither unto us; our God shall fight for us. So we wrought in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. 22 Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within 23 Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labour in the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, every one went with his weapon to the water.

2:12-20. Steps taken by Nehemiah prelim- inary to his building of the wall, and first ap- pearance of opposition. Nehemiah expected opposition, and as long as possible concealed his designs. He made his survey of the wall by night, that it might escape observation. The time for action being come, he laid the matter before the head men of the city (verse 17), whom he easily persuaded when he assured them of Artaxerxes’ consent and goodwill. Preparations then began to be made; and im- mediately murmurs of opposition arose. Three opponents are now spoken of—Sanballat, Tobiah and an Arabian, Geshem or Gashmu, not previously mentioned. These persons ap- pear to have sent a formal message to the authorities of Jerusalem (verse 19), taxing them with an intention to rebel. Nehemiah made no direct reply to this charge, but boldly stated his resolve to “arise and build,” and denied Sanballat’s right to interfere with him. P. C.

12-16. Having rested after his long journey three days, he “arose in the night, he, and some few men with him.” To none, even of these few, had he “told what God had put in his heart to do at Jerusalem.” For resolutions which affect the Church’s life are formed by men whom the Spirit teaches to be silent until the time has come for action. So Nehemiah rode out by night, while the stars were shining into the well of Gihon and Solomon’s Pool. Then, after ascending the Valley of Kedron, he re-entered by the valley gate and returned home. During his ride he had seen by fitful gleams the tumbled masses of masonry close beside the course carefully trodden by his horse—for the rubbish choked the path, “so that there was no place for the beast under him to pass.” Again and again he came to gates consumed with fire, which, as the Assyrian sculptures show us, was invariably done with captured cities. What his thoughts were we are not fully told. But of one thing we may be sure. It was not only as a patriot that he felt bitter sorrow. As long as those walls were broken down the purposes of God must be unfulfilled and the footsteps of His Anointed must linger. For the mysterious weeks were to be counted from “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince.” Haunted by this voice of prophecy—by that other oracle of the Book of Jeremiah, which was so evidently familiar to him, “The city shall be built from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner”—he announces his purpose: “Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem.” Bp. W. Alexander.

17,18. It was necessary, first of all, to take the other authorities of the place into council. So—on the next day probably—Nehemiah summoned to his presence “the priests, the nobles, and the rulers”—Eliashib doubtless, the head of the priestly order, the elders of Jerusalem, and the head men of such villages as lay near at hand—and opened to them the extent of his powers and the nature of his designs. Artaxerxes, he said, had empowered him to rebuild the entire circuit of the walls, and to place the city in a state of complete defence. The thing must be done as quickly as possible. Preparations must be quietly made, and on a given day workmen must present themselves along the whole line of the defences, ready all of them to set to the work simultaneously, and build the portion allotted to them. New materials would not be needed, unless it were for the gates and the gate towers; the walls might be rebuilt out of the ruins and rubbish which marked their former site. The inhabitants of each quarter should repair the part of the wall nearest to where they dwelt. All classes should take part in the work—priests, nobles, tradesmen, merchants, and artisans. As the inhabitants of Jerusalem were not sufficiently numerous to acaccomplish the entire task in the short time that was needful, other workers must be called in from the country towns and villages, who might gather themselves together at the part of the wall which was nearest to them. Jericho, Tekoah, Gibeon, Mizpeh, Zanoah, Beth-haccarem, Beth-zur, Keilah, could easily send a portion of their population to share the labors of those who dwelt in Jerusalem, since none of these places lay at any great distance from the capital. A general willingness to give their services seems to have been displayed alike by the men of Jerusalem and the dwellers in the country districts, since only one abstention is noticed—that of the “nobles of Tekoah.” G. R.

20. “Then answered I them,” says Nehemiah, with noble reliance upon God—“Then answered I them”—not that the king had given me a decree to undertake the work; not that I was in reality obeying, instead of resisting him; but this heavenly hero’s sublime and magnanimous answer was, “The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we, His servants, will arise and build.” And in the might of that confidence they prosecuted their task, spite of every discouragement; spite of contempt and fraud and treachery; spite of false friends and open enemies, till, in fifty-two days, this handful of feeble men brought the mighty work to a happy issue; the walls of the city were finished, and the gates were again set up, because the good hand of their God was upon them. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Stowell.

Chap. 3. The third chapter contains an honorable register of those who despaired not of their country, but uprose, in a time of feebleness and depression, to rebuild their capital. They were of all ranks and classes. First rose up, as became him, the high priest, with his brethren the priests. The Levites, too, put their hands to the work. Then came the rulers, merchants, “goldsmiths and apothecaries”—indeed, all the well-doing population of the city. Some of the ladies of high rank showed a fine example at this emergency. The daughters of Shallum, who was “ruler of the half part of Jerusalem,” helped their father in the work. Helpers also came in from the small towns of Judea, rising superior to all petty jealousies, and preferring Jerusalem above their chief joy. There were a few half-hearted in the enterprise, such as the nobles of Tekoa, who “put not their necks to the work of their Lord.” They seem to have been the magnates of a little town; and, like petty great people in all times, thought it enough to give their patronage. They were exceptions, however, to the general rule. The builders worked with a will and on a plan which gave exercise to both public zeal and private interest. Every man built over against his own house or his own chamber if he were not a separate householder. At the same time, every one was inspired by the thought that he was filling up his part of a great design for the common good, and for the welfare, not of a gate, or street, or quarter of the city, but of all Jerusalem. D. F.

With the general purpose of doing honor to the deserving is combined the wish graphically to place the whole scene before the reader. This is done by means of a profusion of topographical details. Nehemiah takes us along the entire circuit of the wall—shows us “the tower of Meah,” “the tower of Hananeel,” “the fish gate,” “the old gate,” “the throne of the governor,” “the broad wall,” “the tower of the furnaces,” “the valley gate,” “the dung gate,” “the gate of the fountain,” “the pool of Siloam,” “the king’s garden,” “the stairs,” “the sepulchres of David,” “the pool that was made,” “the armory,” “the tower that lay out,” “Ophel,” “the horse gate,” “the gate Miphkad,” “the sheep gate,” and “the ascent of the corner”—exhibits to us the party at work in each place, repairing a portion of the wall, or rebuilding a gateway—notes the zeal of those who, completing the piece first assigned to them rapidly, then undertook a second piece (verses 11, 19, 21, 24, etc.), and altogether gives us a description which is full of life and activity. The passage is invaluable to the topographer, and though not resolving all the difficulties with which he meets in his attempts to reproduce the plan of the ancient city, furnishes more effectual help than all other existing notices on the subject put together. P. C.

The wall was parcelled out among forty-four working parties, who, on a given day, all mustered in their several places, and began the tasks allotted to them. On the eastern side of the city, in the neighborhood of the Temple, labored the priests, the Nethinim, the goldsmiths and the merchants; about the northeast corner the work was done by the men of Jericho; along the north wall were employed the Tekoites, the men of Gibeon, and the men of Mizpeh; toward the west, the inhabitants of Zanoah; toward the south, a portion of the men of Mizpeh, together with the inhabitants of Beth-haccarem, Beth-zur, and Keilah. The Levites worked at portions of the wall of Ophel. Small parcels of the wall seem to have been assigned to individuals, either singly or in pairs, who exercised a superinterdependence over the men of their trade or of their neighborhood. Particular attention appears to have been paid to the gate towers—eleven in number—which broke the line of the walls at irregular intervals. These had to be provided with guard-rooms, heavy wooden doors, solid bars, and other fastenings, as the security of the town would greatly depend upon them. So far as can be gathered from Nehemiah’s account, there were at this time five gates in the eastern wall, three in the northern wall, two in the southern wall, and one in the western wall—the “valley gate.” There were also, in the spaces between the gates, and especially at any angle formed by the walls, or at any weak point, protecting towers or bastions, which projected beyond the general line of the walls. G. R.

10,23,28. Every one over against his house.** The priests and others, whose houses were near the wall, repaired that part of the wall which was opposite each of their dwellings. This suggests the order to be observed in seeking the good of others. Let every one do the work which lies nearest to him. Let him begin with his own family. No amount of good work elsewhere will compensate for neglect there. Christian parents can do most good to the community by training well their children. Then, as ability and opportunity permit, let each seek the good of his dependents, friends, neighbors, the congregation with which he worships, the city or town, the country, the Church at large, the world. P. C.

When the Hebrews set about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, each man was instructed to build over against his own house. That was better economy than for each man to do a little everywhere, and by that means not do much of anything anywhere. The results are a good deal of the latter sort when a man stops with being simply a member of the Church universal; he neither denotes much to the Church nor the Church much to him. We get affected by close contacts with live things at specific points. It is a great thing to love all mankind. But it is better to say a single word of cheer and comfort to the man who stands next you than merely to love the whole race with a thin dilute of affection that never reaches the point of doing anything for anybody. The best way really to know how to love the man that is farthest from you is to begin by loving and blessing the man that is next you. It is a small matter, I confess, to love your neighbor, but the slumbering potencies of universal love are all in it. C. H. P.

Consider how the greatest things ever done on earth have been done by little and little—little agents, little persons, and little things. How was the wall restored around Jerusalem? By each man building the breach before his own door. How was the soil of the New World redeemed from gloomy forests? By each sturdy emigrant cultivating the patch round his own log hut. How have the greatest battles been won? Not by the generals, but by the rank and file—every man holding his own post, and ready to die on the battlefield. The victory was achieved by the blood and courage of the many. So, if the world is ever to be conquered for our Lord, it is not by ministers, nor by office-bearers, but by every member of Christ’s body being a working member; doing his own work; filling his own sphere; holding his own post; and saying to Jesus, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Guthrie.

So it is by every one building the part of the wall which lies opposite to himself; by each one, like the Baptist of old, fulfilling his course; by each one doing the duty which devolves on him as a soldier fighting under Christ in the great army of the faithful, that the whole work is to be carried on and completed; this one taking up this field, and another that field, at home or abroad—going himself, or contributing to make others go. McCosh.

At whatever point we touch the moral desolation of society, there is our place of building. At whatever spot we touch sin, there is our place of fighting. The place where our vocation plants us, and our usual duties and relations engage us, is the one where we shall wear and use God’s armor to best effect. It probably seemed to each builder on the wall a very arduous undertaking to rebuild the whole city wall; and so it might have done if he had had it all to do. But each one did his little, and worked over against his own door, and the work was completed in two months. C. H. P.

Chap. 4. Open opposition offered to the work by Sanballat and Tobiah, and arrangements made by Nehemiah to meet it. Sanballat and his friends, when they first heard that the wall was actually being restored, the working parties formed, and the work taken in hand, could scarcely believe it. What? These feeble Jews undertake so heavy a task, attempt a work that must occupy so long a time, and for which they had not even the necessary materials? (verse 2). Impossible! Such a wall as they could build would be so weak that if a fox tried to get over it he would break it down (verse 3). But when, despite their scoffs, the working parties labored steadily, and the whole wall was brought to half the intended height (verse 6), and the gaps made in it by the Babylonians were filled up (verse 7), they changed their tone, admitted the seriousness of the undertaking, and the probability that it would succeed unless steps were taken to prevent it. Nehemiah’s work would be accomplished before the court could be communicated with. Accordingly, it was resolved to stop the building by main force. Sanballat and Tobiah, his Ammonite hanger-on, entered into a league with the neighboring peoples—the Philistines of Ashdod, the Ammonites, and some Arab tribe or tribes—and agreed with them that a conjoint attack should be made upon Jerusalem by a confederate army (chap. 3:7, 8). But Nehemiah, having learned what was intended, made preparations to meet and repulse the assailants. He began by setting a watch day and night (verse 9) on the side on which the attack was expected. When an assault seemed imminent, he stopped the work and drew up the whole people in battle array, with swords, spears, and bows, behind the wall, but in conspicuous places, so that they could be seen from a distance, and in this attitude awaited the enemy (verse 13). The result was that no actual assault was delivered. The work was then resumed, but under additional precautions. The laborers were compelled to work either with a weapon in one hand, or at the least with a sword at their side (verses 17, 18). Nehemiah’s private attendants were armed and formed into two bands, one of which worked on the wall, while the other kept guard, and held the arms, offensive and defensive, of their fellow-servants (verse 16). At night the working parties retired to rest within the city, but Nehemiah himself, his brothers, his servants, and his bodyguard, remained outside, keeping watch by turns, and sleeping in their clothes, until the wall was finished (verses 22, 23). P. C.

9. We made our prayer and set a watch. There are times when we must pray with our eyes open; when it is hardly safe to wink lest we lose sight of our danger. Praying against danger is but a sham when it takes the place of watching against danger. If we pray that we may not be surprised by the enemy, we must watch lest the enemy surprise us. If we pray for strength to resist the enemy, we must watch for the enemy’s coming, that we may use our God-given strength effectively. If we pray that the enemy may not approach us, we ought to watch for an answer to our prayers, that we may be sure that the coast is clear on every side. There is no duty of calling on God for help that doesn’t include the idea of doing something ourselves. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” “Stand, therefore; praying at all seasons in the spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance.” H. C. T.—The true way to meet opposition is twofold—prayer and prudent watchfulness. “Pray to God, and keep your powder dry” is not a bad compendium of the duty of a Christian soldier. The union of appeal to God with the full use of common sense, watchfulness, and prudence would dissipate many hindrances to successful service. A. M.

What doth Nehemiah, with his Jews, for their common safety? They pray and watch; they pray unto God; they watch against the enemy. And thus shall we happily prevail against those spiritual wickednesses which war against our souls. No evil can surprise us if we watch; no evil can hurt us if we pray. Bp. II.—That was the way of this good man, and should be our way; all his cares, all his griefs, all his fears he spread before God, and thereby made himself easy. This was the first thing he did: before he used any means he made his prayer to God, for with Him we must always begin. Having prayed, he set a watch against them. The instructions Christ has given us in our spiritual warfare agree with this example (Matt. 26:41), “Watch and pray.” If we think to secure ourselves by prayer only without watchfulness, we are slothful and tempt God. If by watchfulness without prayer, we are proud and slight God; and either way we forfeit His protection. H.—We are to watch and keep our garments. We are to act faith upon the victory of Christ, by which He has overcome the world. We are to commend ourselves to God in prayer that He may “keep and present us before the presence of His glory.” We are to think upon the promises, and to work them into our hearts by spiritual reasoning, and so “escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.” All these things are to be done. It is folly and presumption to think that because power is with God and from God, effort should not be in ourselves! T. Manton.

10. The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed.** The complaint seems to be that by the drawing off of men from the working parties to act as guards, those parties were so weakened that they could not continue the work, the quantity of rubbish being so great. P. C.—The state of Jerusalem today illustrates his difficulties from the “much rubbish.” Except on the area of the Mosque of Omar, ancient Jerusalem lies many feet below the present surface. Eleven times has the city been captured and dismantled, and after each siege the materials have been thrown down till we may sink a shaft from twenty to even a hundred feet before we reach the natural surface. Tristram.

10-13. Nehemiah enumerates his discouragements: 1. The Jews engaged in the work grew weary of it, and despaired of its completion. 2. The adversaries boasted and threatened. 3. The provincial Jews declared the danger of continuing the work to be great. B. C.—In these verses Nehemiah tells, in his simple way, of the difficulties from three several quarters which threatened to stop his work. He had trouble from the workmen, from the enemies, and from the mass of Jews not resident in Jerusalem. The enthusiasm of the builders had cooled, and the magnitude of their task began to frighten them. It is a great piece of Christian duty to recognize difficulties, and not be cowed by them. The true inference from the facts would have been, “so that we must put all our strength into the work, and trust in our God to help us.” We may not be responsible for discouragements suggesting themselves, but we are responsible for letting them become dissuasives. Our one question should be, Has God appointed the work? If so, it has to be done, however little our strength and however mountainous the accumulations of rubbish. The second part in the trio was taken by the enemies—Sanballat and Tobiah and the rest. They laid their plans for a sudden swoop down on Jerusalem, and calculated that if they could surprise the builders at their work they would have no weapons to show fight with, and so would be easily dispatched. Killing the builders was but a means; the desired end is significantly put last (verse 11), as being the stopping of the abhorred work. But killing the workmen does not cause the work to cease when it is God’s work, as the history of the Church in all ages shows. Conspirators should hold their tongues. It was not a hopeful way of beginning an attack, of which the essence was secrecy and suddenness, to talk about it. A bird of the air carries the matter. The third voice is that of the Jews in other parts of the land, and especially those living on the borders of Samaria, next door to Sanballat. Verse 12 is probably best taken as in the Revised Version, which makes “Ye must return to us” the imperative and often-repeated summons from these to the contingents from their respective places of abode, who had gone up to Jerusalem to help in building. Alarms of invasion made the scattered villagers wish to have all their men capable of bearing arms back again to defend their own homes. It was a most natural demand; but in this case, as so often, audacity is truest prudence; and in all high causes there come times when men have to trust their homes and dear ones to God’s protection. The necessity is heart-rending, and we may well pray that we may not be exposed to it; but if it clearly arises, a devout man can have no doubt of his duty. And how character is ennobled by so severe a sacrifice! A. M.

14. And I looked.** He saw the enemy coming. Rose up. To take command and give orders. And said. He spoke a few words to encourage his men, telling them to remember whom they fought under—viz., the Lord; and what they had to fight for—viz., their homes and all they held dear. The attack was not made, however. Perhaps the attacking party received word from their allies within the walls; perhaps they saw for themselves that the surprise had failed and the Jews were prepared. This was not the first nor the last time when thorough preparation for fighting removed the necessity of fighting. W. J. B.

Now doth Nehemiah arm his people; and for the time changes their trowels into swords and spears and bows; raising up their courage with a vehement exhortation “to remember the Lord, which is great and terrible; and to fight for their brethren, their sons, their daughters, their wives, and their houses.” Nothing can so hearten us to the encountering of any evil as the remembrance of that infinite power and wisdom, which can either avert, or mitigate, or sanctify it. We could not faint if we did not forget God. Bp. H.

Remember the Lord, and fight. Trust in God quickens activity, not slackens it. It nerves the strong arm, not paralyzes it. It is while we remember God’s readiness to make our honest labor effective that we work with a will for our daily bread, that we push forward in business, that we study and write and preach in the conviction that our toil will tell on ages, tell for God. The men who remember the Lord in His power and goodness are the men who rise up against all odds, and battle evil in high places and low, with never a thought of being overborne and defeated. It is those who back up against the Rock of Ages and defy the universe who have true faith in God and prove it as courageous soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. A readiness to fight for God’s cause is a test of loving, faith-filled remembrance of God. H. C. T.

“Remember the Lord,” said Nehemiah, when he wanted to arouse the courage of the languid people. To a man in discouragement the very thought of God is like a cool wind after a day of oppressive heat. It refreshes him, and gives him renewed courage to bear and to do. It adds somehow to the totality of his being something that gives to all the rest an invincible pluck, and so doubles his force. A man who knows that God is on his side will watch and fight and work all the better for keeping this truth uppermost. It takes away from him the fear of man “that bringeth a snare,” and puts the fear of God so high that all other fear disappears. Such a man is hard to beat, for he never knows when he is beaten. He always picks up his weapons again and renews the fight. Schaupffer.

The calm heroism of Nehemiah and his wise action in the emergency are told in verses 13-15. He made a demonstration in force, which at once showed that the scheme of a surprise was blown to pieces. The walls were manned, and the enemy would have to deal not with unarmed laborers, but with prepared soldiers. The work was stopped, and trowel and spade exchanged for sword and spear. “And I looked,” says Nehemiah. His careful eye travelled over the lines, and, seeing all in order, he cheered the little army with ringing words. He had prayed (Neh. 1:5) to “the great and terrible God,” and now he bids his men remember Him, and thence draw strength and courage. The only real antagonist of fear is faith. If we can grasp God we shall not dread Sanballat and his crew. Unless we do, the world is full of dangers which it is not folly to fear. Note, too, that the people are animated for the fight by reminding them of the dear ones whose lives and honor hung on the issue. Nothing is said about fighting for God and His temple and city; but the motives adduced are not less sacred. Family love is God’s best of earthly gifts; and though it is sometimes duty to “forget thine own people and thy father’s house,” as we have just seen, nothing short of these highest obligations can supersede the sweet one of straining every nerve for the well-being of dear ones in the hallowed circle of home. So the plan of a sudden rush came to nothing. It does not appear that the enemy was in sight; but the news of the demonstration soon reached them, and was effectual. Prompt preparation against possible dangers is often the means of turning them aside. Watchfulness is indispensable to vigor of Christian character and efficiency of work. Suspicion is hateful and weakening; but a man who tries to serve God in such a world as this had need to be like the living creatures in the Revelation, having “eyes all over.” “Blessed is the man that (in that sense) feareth always.” The upshot of the alarm is very beautifully told: “We returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.” No time was wasted in jubilation. The work was the main thing, and the moment the interruption was ended, back to it they all went. It is a fine illustration of persistent discharge of duty, and of that most valuable quality, the ability and inclination to keep up the main purpose of a life continuous through interruptions, like a stream of sweet water running through a bog. A. M.

15. Three things go well together in work for God—prayer, promptitude and perseverance. Had the builders ceased until they should go out and attack Sanballat or Geshem, it would have been long ere their task was finished. But no, attack was not for them, only defence; and the moment that the display of readiness to defend themselves has caused the enemy to retire, they turn eagerly to finish the wall. Every course of masonry laid was better than a hundred victories. Having arms in their hands did not tempt them to fight; success did not uplift them; they knew that it was God who had brought to naught the counsel of Sanballat, and they went on doing His work with all their might. A. Symington.

16-20. Nehemiah’s precautions concerned six classes of men—viz., his personal retainers, two classes of workmen, the officers, the trumpeter, and the general. My servants (cf. verse 23 and chaps. 5:10, 16; 13:19). These were trained men, who could be depended upon. Half of them wrought in the work, while the other half, themselves armed doubtless, had armor in readiness for the working half. It was impossible for a man to wear armor while working on the wall; but by this arrangement there was always a little effective band of armed men ready to take the initiative in resisting an attack from foes without or traitors within; and their number would be doubled with no delay except while their comrades were putting on their armor. W. J. B.

God’s workers must be prepared for warfare as well as building. There have been epochs in which that necessity was realized in a very sad manner; and the Church on earth will always have to be the Church militant. But it is well to remember that building is the end, and fighting is but the means. The trowel, not the sword, is the natural instrument. Controversy is second best—a necessity, no doubt, but an unwelcome one, and only permissible as a subsidiary help to doing the true work, rearing the walls of the city of God.

“He that sounded the trumpet was by me.” The gallant leader was everywhere, animating by his presence. He meant to be in the thick of the fight if it should come. And so he kept the trumpeter by his side, and gave orders that when he sounded all should hurry to the place; for there the enemy would be, and Nehemiah would be where they were. “The work is great and large, and we are separated . . . one far from another.” How naturally the words lend themselves to the old lesson so often drawn from them! God’s servants are widely parted, by distance, by time, and, alas! by less justifiable causes. Unless they draw together they will be overwhelmed, taken in detail and crushed. They must rally to help each other against the common foe. Thank God, the longing for manifest Christian unity is deeper today than ever it was. But much remains to be done before it is adequately fulfilled in the recognition of the common bond of brotherhood, which binds us all in one family if we have one Father. American and English Christians are bound to seek the tightening of the bonds between them and to set themselves against politicians who may seek to keep apart those who both in the flesh and in the spirit are brothers. All Christians have one great Captain; and He will be in the forefront of every battle. His clear trumpet call should gather all His servants to His side. A. M.

There are pressing difficulties in the believer’s way while he is engaged in the prosecution of his work. The Christian life is a scene of perpetual conflict. Heart corruption is the greatest foe of the Christian. From that he cannot flee. And had he nothing else than this corruption to fear while he strives to rear up the spiritual edifice—i.e., to advance in grace and in godliness—he would yet require to be furnished, as the people were under Nehemiah, with the weapon to defend as well as with the implement to build. When we consider the very dangerous position which the Christian occupies, with a crafty adversary on the one side—viz., Satan—an alluring and sometimes a threatening foe on the other side—viz., the world—and a treacherous heart within, his proper attitude is that which was assumed by the people spoken of in the text, every one of whom, while with one of his hands he wrought in the work, with the other hand held a weapon. These Jews were in the exercise of constant watchfulness. They knew that there was evil meditated against them; but they knew not the moment when the onset might be, and therefore, like wise men, they stood prepared for it. Christian watchfulness is one of the most indispensable, and, at the same time, one of the most comprehensive duties to which the disciples of Jesus are called. The Jews were careful to furnish themselves with the means of defence. The Christian has the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The attitude of the Jews indicates the firmest determination to make progress in their work. Advancement is the watchword of the Christian. A. D. Davidson.

21. So we labored; and half of them held the spears.** This is a summary of the main points previously related: “So we continued to work; and one half of my personal followers continued to keep watch and to hold the spears” (verse 16). From the rising of the morning, etc. This is additional, and shows how early the work commenced each morning, and how late it continued. P. C.

The closing verse tells again how Nehemiah’s immediate dependents divided work and watching, and adds to the picture the continuousness of their toil from the first gray of morning till darkness showed the stars and ended another day of toil. Happy they who thus “from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve,” labor in the work of the Lord! For them, every new morning will dawn with new strength, and every evening be calm with the consciousness of “something attempted, something done.” A. M.

The section is rich in analogies for spiritual things. As believers, we have an important building work to do, and we have to do it in the presence of spiritual enemies without and within. There are few Bible characters from whom the practical worker can get so many points as from Nehemiah. And, among other things, he is especially characterized by this: the more utterly he feels his dependence upon God (“our God shall fight for us,” verse 20), the more carefully does he attend to every minute detail which may insure success. W. J. B.

Cultivated, scientific man is fast becoming passionless intellect. Religion resides in the affections, imagination, emotions, conscience. These are to be utterly extirpated; and religion must wither away in its very roots before the positive philosophy. Yes; in many a tone the epigram is uttered that burns and stings. “What of these feeble Jews, these clerics and clerically minded laymen? Will they revive the stones which modern thought has overthrown or pulverized? Not to speak of the colossal strength of organized German science, the light brush of the fox of French criticism shall even break down their miserable walls of dogma!” Yet, for all that, God’s people “have a mind to work.” The Church will be repaired. One day God’s summer light shall strike upon the topmost row. Christ, the Divine Healer, will own the work of restoration by miracles of love at the “sheep gate” and the “pool of Siloam.” The wall shall stand, uncrumbled by the assaults of unbelief, unscathed by the fires of criticism, untouched by the tooth of time. The songs that were murmured in the night among the ruins by voices half choked with sobs shall be exchanged for hymns, wafted upward by the music of silver trumpets, and chanted by the long processions circling round the walls.

No miracle is recorded of Nehemiah’s restoration; and it is all the more precious for us. Yet how marvellous was the rapidity with which the renewal was accomplished. So with that other and greater work of building up God’s temple of restored humanity from the ruins of the fall, wrought out between Good Friday and Whitsuntide. “The work was finished in fifty and two days.” Give us a year for a day, and who shall say what God may have wrought?

Yes; Nehemiah’s journey in darkness and sorrow was not more different from the festal processions, sweeping on with light and song, when the visionary’s dream among the moonlit ruins stood palpably in majestic stone, than the beginnings of our work here and now from the joy that waits us—perhaps even here—certainly in the city that is above. ‘Tis a book where all spiritual restorers may have their names written. There is a work that does not end when the worker’s weary hands are folded and the thinker’s busy brain is still. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each to profit others.

Woman has her honored place in our restoration. Is it not written, “Shallum repaired, he and his daughters?” Sister, deaconess, district visitor, parish helper—all are wanted. Let it not be said of our men of intellectual culture, “Their nobles put not their neck to the work of the Lord.” Thoughtful Christians, laymen especially, are called upon to grapple with social and economical questions, which are as urgent for us as the question of “the hundredth part” (or twelve per cent interest) was for Nehemiah’s contemporaries—such as the Church’s duty in relation to strikes and labor, to the organization of charity, to the temperance movement. Educated Christian men are specially needed to repair the part of the wall “over against their house.” Some of them are required to adjust the boundary lines between science and faith; to show us that law is not a chain coiled round the living God, but rather a thread which He holds. Others are needed to quicken interest in theological thought by helping men to a more living knowledge of the Bible. Others should devote themselves to the centre of all Christian thought—the theology of the incarnation—the dogma enshrined in the transparent depths of the angel’s word, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

The age is impatient of miracle; it is patient of fact. To minds impatient of isolated miracles such a theology will show the central, unquestionable miracle, Jesus Himself—that is, one from the cradle to the grave, walking in a spotless purity, through all temptation wearing a conscience without a scar; treading the great deep of human life, and never wetting His feet with the spray; equally at home with saints in the glory of the Mount, and with men writhing in misery at its base; elect to wipe away the tears of humanity, to bear it undwarfed and undimmed to the heavenly places—yet to whom we can go when the shame burns in the cheek and the sweat stands upon the brow. Men will recognize in this a new humanity formed by a new contact with the creative power. The theology of the incarnation will prove itself by enabling men to understand what is otherwise a tangled mass of contradictions—the life and character of Jesus. To our age, which appeals to fact, such a theology will go on to unfold the fact of the spiritual life, of which faith tells us that its light is the written Word, its breath prayer, its food the [ineffably precious promises]. Away with the cant which would make theology destructive of the beauty of religion. As well assert that a knowledge of botany destroys the beauty of a flower. Listen not to those who speak of it as if it were like the bent grass fastened to its place, describing forever the same monotonous segments of circles, according to the wind. The words of the God Man have illimitable applications. Talk not of the obscurity of Christian dogma. If such there be, it is not the vulgar and deceitful obscurity of the fog; it is the glorious obscurity of the long, deep distances of the lustrous sky.

Others, again, are wanted to teach the ignorant; to waft some notes of Gospel pardon and peace beyond their present limits; to tell metallic natures, as hard as the gold which their fingers clutch, that “it shall not profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” All the children of the Church are bound to show something in word or work of the beauty of Christ; to develop in themselves and others “the life of godliness, intellectual, devotional, practical,” and so to “build up the wall of Jerusalem.”

One part of Jeremiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled in Nehemiah’s restoration. “Behold the days come that the city shall be built from the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.” The other sweeter and higher music shall not be lost forever. Not only shall the desolation and stagnation of some neglected parish; the sin and misery of some squalid alley, where men do the works of Satan, with a beast’s heart or a devil’s, pass away. The very type of leprosy; the very image of death and hell; the very spot where the carcasses rot, defiling God’s earth; the very emblem of the obstinate clinging sin, that even the altar fires cannot purge away; the very fields whose name teaches that they are outside, Gareb and Goath and the rest shall be taken into the broadening circuit of the holy city. The joy that quivers faintly in the pages of Nehemiah throbs to the music of the Gospel. Faint chimes, struck before the time, and dying away upon the breeze, waken again and clash out upon the bells of the Apocalypse. The sealing of the covenant passes into the sealing of God’s servants upon the forehead. The joy of which Nehemiah speaks is transformed into the higher joy, when all those who have worked for “the Jerusalem which now is” shall be gathered into “the Jerusalem which is above;” when after the deceits of time all builders and restorers—from apostles on—having cried on earth, “Remember me, O God, and spare me according to the greatness of Thy mercy,” shall enter into the joy of their Lord, and keep the Eternal Feast of Tabernacles in “Jerusalem the Golden.” Bp. W. Alexander.