Reflections on the Life of Nehemiah
Bible Characters
Reflections on the Life of Nehemiah (1)
A Man of Prayer, Work, Spirituality, and Administration
What we know about Nehemiah is that he appeared in history suddenly, without introduction. His story began with his zeal to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. As for his earlier life, we know nothing about it.
This shows us that there are people whose true history begins only when they start their relationship with God and the Church — their real life is their work with God, while all that preceded it was emptiness.
How many people are born and die as though they never lived! History looks upon their lives and finds nothing worthy of recording.
Nehemiah was one of the captives in Babylon. He had a position in the palace of King Artaxerxes — he was the king’s cupbearer (Neh. 1:11).
Many lived in captivity and were renowned in their times — for example, the prophet Daniel in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar, who “made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon” (Dan. 2:48). Daniel also succeeded under the reigns of Darius and Cyrus the Persian (Dan. 6:28).
The three holy youths were also among the captives and “the king promoted them in the province of Babylon” (Dan. 3:30). The prophet Ezekiel too was among the captives and prophesied by the river Chebar (Ezek. 1:1).
Therefore, a person should not grieve if he is in captivity, so long as the Lord is with him there.
Indeed, not only in captivity — the Lord was with the three youths in the fiery furnace, with Daniel in the lions’ den, and with Ezekiel who said, “I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezek. 1:1).
The same happened with Saint John the Apostle, who while exiled on the island of Patmos said, “I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven” (Rev. 4:1).
Truly, when many doors close on earth, one door remains open in heaven.
We return to Nehemiah: he lived during hard times for Jerusalem.
Though he was comfortable in the king’s palace and held a respected position of trust — even appointed as a governor — he was deeply troubled by the report from men of Judah that “the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates burned with fire; and the remnant there in the province are in great affliction and reproach” (Neh. 1:3). Nehemiah lived in Babylon, but his heart was in Jerusalem.
When he heard this painful news, he said, “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven” (Neh. 1:4).
He stood before God interceding for his brethren, saying, “They are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power” (Neh. 1:10). He confessed before God the sins of his people which had led to captivity, and concluded his prayer, “Let Your ear now be attentive, and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant…” Nehemiah did not stop at prayer — he resolved to act, to speak to the king about the matter.
Thus he prayed, “Grant Your servant success today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man” (Neh. 1:11). He stood before the king with sadness unlike before, and when the king asked him the reason for his sorrow, Nehemiah replied frankly, “Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?” (Neh. 2:2–3).
He then requested the king’s help — building materials and letters to the governors to support his mission — and the king granted it. “The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me” (Neh. 2:8). His prayer had been answered.
Nehemiah’s story is a profound lesson for those who hold high positions yet fear to speak for their brethren lest they risk their status.
But Nehemiah was courageous and did not forget his fathers’ house. He defended his people and kept his position, gaining the king’s respect because of his holy zeal and nobility.
Nehemiah also offers a lesson to emigrants who forget their homeland and their brethren, even when they are “in great affliction” (Neh. 1:3), preferring the comfort of foreign lands.
But Nehemiah was drawn more to Jerusalem’s ruined walls than to the royal palace where he lived.
He reminds us of Moses the prophet, who “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God… esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt” (Heb. 11:24–26).
Neither Nehemiah nor Moses was required to do what they did — excuses were available, but they used none. Nehemiah could have said, “I am a captive; what can I do?”
But zeal in his heart carved a way through stone — love that knows no barriers. Love that does not stop at feelings but obeys the Apostle’s command: “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
Thus Nehemiah chose the hard path — the journey of love and zeal —
a long, difficult journey on a beast (Neh. 2:12). When he reached Jerusalem, he delivered the letters to the governors, and before him lay the toil of work — and the opposition of enemies such as Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, who “grieved exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel” (Neh. 2:10).
Nehemiah acted wisely: he began with reconnaissance in secret.
He said, “I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem” (Neh. 2:12). He surveyed the walls by night, moving from gate to gate: “I viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire… and the rulers knew not where I went, or what I did” (Neh. 2:13–16).
Wisdom required secrecy, especially during study and planning, before beginning the work.
The good hand of God upon him did not mean recklessness or premature exposure of his plan to waiting enemies. Wisdom is necessary in God’s work; many have ruined their efforts by revealing them too early.
When the time came, he encouraged the people, telling them of God’s good hand and the king’s words, and said, “Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach” (Neh. 2:17).
He organized the work wisely, dividing tasks so that everyone participated — even priests repaired near their homes: “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it…” and so on with the twelve gates of Jerusalem.
Good organization is essential — for the children of God and those who serve Him. Not only in worldly matters but especially in Church matters.
Thus the Church requires that a bishop be “of good management,” and likewise the priest, “one that rules well his own house; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. 3:4–5).
And Scripture says, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor” (1 Tim. 5:17), and “Where no counsel is, the people fall” (Prov. 11:14).
Nehemiah’s good management made the work prosper — but success provoked his enemies.
They mocked: “What do these feeble Jews? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?… Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their wall!”
Nehemiah answered in prayer: “Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head” (Neh. 4:1–4).
It is no shame for God’s servants to face mockery and contempt — even Christ Himself was “despised and rejected of men… He was oppressed, yet He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:3,7). Saint Paul said of himself and his fellow ministers, “By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report” (2 Cor. 6:8).
Nehemiah endured patiently and continued the work undeterred.
Those who do nothing often belittle those who labor.
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem did nothing; their only effort was anger. “When Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation” (Neh. 4:1). “They conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it” (Neh. 4:7–8).
When threats grew, Nehemiah organized defense and watch.
The psalm says, “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Ps. 127:1) — yet the servants of God must still do their part. David guarded his flock (1 Sam. 17:34–35), and the shepherds at Christ’s birth “kept watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).
So Nehemiah “set a watch against them day and night” (Neh. 4:9).
His enemies even plotted murder, but Nehemiah was fearless: “Be not afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible” (Neh. 4:14).
This man of prayer and faith now showed himself a strong, steadfast leader.
Faith in God’s protection did not mean neglecting vigilance — just as David’s sling did not contradict his faith that “the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam. 17:46–47).
So Nehemiah arranged: half of his men worked, half guarded with spears and shields; the builders worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other; the trumpeters stood ready to call the people together (Neh. 4:16–20).
Yet with all this preparation he said, “Our God shall fight for us” (Neh. 4:20).
Nehemiah also faced internal corruption — the rich oppressing their brothers through usury, seizing their fields and homes until the people cried out (Neh. 5:1–5).
As a wise governor, he protected the inner front — rebuking nobles and rulers, forbidding usury, and demanding restitution: “Restore to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses” (Neh. 5:11).
He made them swear to do so and declared, “So God shake out every man… that performeth not this promise… And all the congregation said, Amen” (Neh. 5:13).
He himself set an example of integrity — for twelve years as governor (from the 20th to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes) he did not take the governor’s allowance nor impose taxes as former governors did. Instead, he fed many at his table — about 150 people daily (Neh. 5:14–18).
When the wall was completed, his enemies tried to lure him into meetings. Sanballat and Geshem invited him to “come, let us meet together,” but he replied, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it?” They sent this request five times, but he did not yield (Neh. 6:1–5).
He refused to waste time in empty dialogue with deceitful hearts. “They thought to do me mischief” (Neh. 6:2). Dialogue is useless when motives are evil.
Some false brethren even advised him to hide in the temple to save his life. He refused: “Should such a man as I flee?” He recognized their deceit: “Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin” (Neh. 6:13).
Finally, Nehemiah finished the wall, set up the gates, appointed guards, and organized the schedules for opening and closing the gates. “Every one over against his house” (Neh. 7:1–3).
He focused on positive work, not on negativity.
And what was the end? “When all our enemies heard thereof… they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God” (Neh. 6:16).
Nehemiah — one man — changed everything, turning darkness into light through faith, prayer, strength, organization, perseverance, courage, and by refusing to waste time on negativities.
He rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls and gates — but what did he do for the spiritual building?
This I shall speak about in the next article, if the Lord’s grace allows and we live.
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Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani Newspaper on November 6, 1994.
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