Does history matter? Why does it matter?
How should we approach a historical text like the one we have in Nehemiah?
Christians believe in God and this changes the way we approach history. We believe in a God who is meaningfully involved in a sovereign way. He intervenes in history, redeems His people through history and also works through history and historical events. History, rightly understood, should help us to recognise God’s faithfulness of God.
Christians read history to know their God.
(A) The man who loved Jerusalem (neh 1:1-2)
In Nehemiah 1:1, it begins with a third person perspective but then shifts to a first person account. Nehemiah then tells his story.
Nehemiah, together with Ezra and Esther, are books that are often understood together because they are written in the period of the exile. Yet Nehemiah is unique, because Nehemiah himself is telling the story in his own words.
Thus, we should expect to hear more about his perspective or what is on his heart. He is offering us a view of what is going on on the ground and we get insights into what he is thinking and feeling.
We can construct a timeline based on the account given for us in Ezra 1:1-4 and Ezra 7:7. We learn that a second wave returns in the seventh year and in Nehemiah, we are told it’s the twentieth year. He is in Susa the citadel, which is not in Jerusalem. Nehemiah is still in exile in Persia. Susa is the winter palace.
Though he is still in exile, Nehemiah is concerned about those who escaped, survived the exile and also about Jerusalem (Neh 1:2). The earlier wave was supposed to return and rebuild, as we read about in Ezra 1:1-4. Notice how Nehemiah was in the citadel, in the royal city of peace. He is cupbearer to the king thus, is trusted and close to the king. He is probably having a good life and is thriving in this place. Yet, he is concerned about his brothers and jumps at the chance of finding out how they are.
We get a sense of what living in exile is like for the people by reading other parts of Scripture, such as Psalm 137. This psalm was not written by David, we can see that is a song of great lament, and also yearning for justice.
Nehemiah’s circumstances may be very different from that described in Psalm 137 but his heart is still for Jerusalem and the state of God’s people. He cares for the glory of God’s name that is so bound up with God’s people.
There is something radically different about the way God’s people express and orientate themselves in the world. This is not just about routines — like showing up in church on Sundays instead of sleeping in. Is it clear to those around you that there is something radically different about the way you think about joy and sorrow, comfort and discomfort, success and triumph?
Is there some measure of godly discontent in your hearts, like the one that Nehemiah had, when you think of God’s people and your place right now? As good as your life is right now, do you feel like there is something more, greater and urgent that you will orientate your life by?
(B) The unlovable exiles of Jerusalem (Neh 1:2)
Who are the exiles, and why were they exiled? A later part of the book, Nehemiah 9:6-37 is helpful for us as Nehemiah himself recounts the people’s past in a prayer. Nehemiah was clear about their past and did not whitewash it. He was clear about what God had done and how the people acted.
What sort of a people did Nehemiah love and care for? What does it mean for us? They are stubborn people that also refused to turn to God. The people were ungrateful despite God’s provision time and time again (c.f. Neh 9:22). They received God’s grace in the form of the provision of a land, but they responded by acting presumptuously. The people consistently displayed covenantal unfaithfulness and were frankly unloveable.
So what motivated Nehemiah? God has been covenantally faithful despite His people’s unfaithfuless.
What sort of a God helps a man love a people like this? The more we reflect and meditate on God’s character and how He loves the unloveable, and know Him in this way, the more we are able to also love others in this way. Those who have known God’s love find a care and affection for God’s people. This is why it matters that we are found and committed in a local church.
Let us continue to hold this thought in mind as we work through the book of Nehemiah. Let us prepare our hearts to think about what it looks like to know this God who loves an unloveable people, and let this be our focus. This book also shows us what it means to work, live, pray and be a Christian in life.
(C) The miserable city of Jerusalem (Neh 1:3)
The physical description of Jerusalem also helps us to understand her emotional and spiritual condition. Jerusalem is not in a better state than when they first started (Neh 1:3). Zion was once a great city of peace and was a symbol of God’s presence (c.f. Ps 48). Yet, look at how far they have fallen. They are a shadow of their former self and there is nothing that suggests that God’s favour and hand is upon them.
Nehemiah gives us a realistic picture of the state of God’s people. By the end of the book, we see some triumph, but things did not work out fully either.
What does God Himself say about the body of Christ? In Matthew 16:13-19, we read of an exchange between Jesus and His disciples. The people had different explanations about who Jesus is, and Peter, confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God (Matt 16:16). To this Peter, Jesus promises that He will build His church (Matt 16:17). He will also give the key of the kingdom of heaven and the ability to bind and loose (Matt 16:18-19).
Now, there is nothing mystical about such language. Peter is not someone super special. In Matthew 18:15-20, we also read this language of binding and loosing. This is spoken about in the context of the church. Both then and now, God works through a people.
We also now understand the grand spread of what God has done in His faithfulness in Chirst. He brings us into His kingdom. We too, are to develop a godly concern for God’s people.
What would it look like for men and women of God to “love Jerusalem” today? What does the work of restoring God’s city look like for us today?