Nehemiah 11

Dear RTB’ers,

As we saw a few days ago, Jerusalem seems to be mostly uninhabited: And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. (v. 1b) To us, today, it might seem strange that people would rather live in the towns than in Jerusalem near the temple and the leaders. But then I tried to imagine their living situation. Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC – obliterated! The temple and the walls torn down and, presumably, houses ransacked and burned. Now we have read in Ezra and Nehemiah that the temple and the walls were rebuilt, but my sense is that most of the houses were still in ruins.

Look at what we see in Ukraine today – entire towns destroyed and peoples’ lives completely upended. Who would want to go back to that – unless there was a mass movement of people willing to rebuild. Again, imagine France or Germany after World War II. But there was, in fact, that mass movement of people in the late 1940’s and lives were rebuilt. It probably took decades, maybe centuries, but Jerusalem did rebuild, well before Jesus’ time.

But today in our reading Jerusalem is relatively uninhabited. And they had to cast lots to get “volunteers” to move back. Very strange to our way of thinking!!

Blessings.

Fred

Nehemiah 9:38-10:39

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s details are striking – first, the names of those who signed the document, then the details of what the signers agreed to. It was a nice touch that Nehemiah also includes The rest of the people … who have knowledge and understanding… (v. 28)

As to the details…

• Separating themselves from the peoples of the land
• A curse and an oath to walk in God’s law
• Not to buy goods or grain on the Sabbath
• To forgo the crops on the seventh year
• To forego the exaction of every debt in the seventh year
• To give yearly to the service of the temple
• To cast lots for bringing wood offerings to the temple
• To bring ground and tree firstfruits to the temple
• To bring the firstborn of our sons, cattle, herds and flocks
• To bring the firstfruits of dough, wine and oil

All these latter items to the commitment that

We will not neglect the house of our God. (v. 39b)

So, how are we doing up against these Old Testament standards?

Blessings.

Nehemiah 9:22-37

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we finish that short synopsis of Israel’s history. There was an item today that caught me by surprise: Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress. (vv. 36-37) We have been reading of a lot of successes for the Israelites in Ezra and Nehemiah – their return from exile; rebuilding the altar and the temple and the walls; debt forgiveness and return of landholdings to their original owners; and spiritual renewal, including their separation from foreign women and the reading of the Law. So it surprised me to realize that they are still “slaves” to Persia. And they remember their slavery going back almost three centuries, to the Assyrian invasion in 722 BC (Neh. 9:32). Yes, slaves.

Jesus pointed out to us a different kind of slavery: So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. (John 8:31-34) Yes, slaves.

Blessings.

Nehemiah 9:1-21

Dear RTB’ers,

Welcome to the second half of 2026! We are now 5/6 of the way through our three-year study in Search the Scriptures. Only six months to go!

Today’s 9^th chapter in Nehemiah is devoted to a national prayer reciting God’s greatness and goodness up against Israel’s constantly turning away from Him. Surprisingly, my Study Bible pointed out that the 9^th chapters in Ezra and Daniel (essentially contemporaries with Nehemiah) are also devoted to prayer and national confession. Today’s reading covers Israel’s history from Abraham to the end of the Wilderness wanderings. We continue with the rest of their history tomorrow.

A special verse, They refused to obey and… they stiffened their neck… But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. (v. 17b) He is the same God today, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Let’s not take His mercy and His love for granted.

Blessings.

Nehemiah 8

Dear RTB’ers,

And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. (v. 17) A bit of confusion here… My Study Bible pointed out that the Feast of Booths had, in fact, been celebrated a number of times in Israel’s history. They pointed to the dedication of the temple during Solomon’s reign (II Chronicles 7:8-10); another time that we just read two weeks ago in Ezra 3:4; and another two notes from II Chronicles, the first during Hezekiah’s reign (II Chr. 30:26) and the second during Josiah’s reign (II Chr. 35:18). To clarify the verse above further, the Study Bible writers argued for the “great rejoicing” item: “What apparently is meant is that the feast had not been celebrated before with such great joy.”

I liked the time specificity from today’s reading. First, …on the first day of the seventh month… (v. 2b); then On the second day… (v. 13); and finally, They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule. (v. 18b) A small item, but I appreciate how often our Biblical writers have included these small details.

Blessings.

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See also: September 22 (2023) / Nehemiah 8-10.

Nehemiah 7

Dear RTB’ers,

If today’s reading seems familiar, go back to Ezra 2 and you’ll see the same listing, almost identical. Why two listing in what was originally one Ezra-Nehemiah text? We don’t know – but what we do know is that the Lord God knew each one of His people by name, by ancestry, by town. A song that we sing at church comes to mind, “He knows my name”:

I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
And He’s seen each tear that falls
And hears me when I call

Tommy Walker

Two verses surprised me: The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. … and all Israel, lived in their towns. And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns. (vv. 4, 73b) Earlier we had seen that Jewish people in the surrounding towns had come to Jerusalem to help rebuild the wall. Now we find out that Jerusalem, itself, is relatively uninhabited. The people would rather live in rural areas (where they could grow their own food?) than have a shut-up feeling in Jerusalem. Took me by surprise… What’s your take? Why would the people rather live in the nearby towns than in the city?

Blessings.

Nehemiah 6

Dear RTB’ers,

Leadership, a willingness to work, and prayer; but ultimately it was the Lord God leading the way: And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. (v. 16) Yes, God was leading the way – with Nehemiah back in Babylon; now with Nehemiah in Jerusalem; with the peoples’ willingness to work; and in facing the taunts and threats from Israel’s enemies. God was at work and the work got done.

And for us, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) I ask again, what are your plans for today? Or, what is that one big thing that you’ve been holding off doing? Nike commercials tell us, “Just do it.” I would add, pray first, then get it done. Yeah, just do it.

Blessings.

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See also: September 21 (2023) / Nehemiah 5-7 (again).

Nehemiah 5

Dear RTB’ers,

Usury, the exacting of excessive interest. My Study Bible had a section title at the beginning of this chapter, “Usury abolished”. Our ESV translation speaks only of “interest” (vv. 7, 10), but it is clear from the context that the returns granted to the wealthy were exorbitant – with the poor going hungry, losing their lands, even being enslaved. Nehemiah stepped in, with results similar to his encouragement toward work on the walls. Him speaking: Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” (vv. 11-12a)

So I ask myself, is it possible that these wealthy people were unaware of the harshness that they were imposing on the poor, that they were blind to the harm caused by their behavior, that only when it was pointed out to them by Nehemiah that they could see their wrongdoing? Then I look at the colonization of African, Asian, and American lands by European powers and I see wealth transfers and people impoverished or enslaved. Then I look again at today, at how wealthy we are up against the poverty that exists in “third-world” countries. What am I, what are we doing about it? God help us!

Blessings.

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See also: September 21 (2023) / Nehemiah 5-7.

Nehemiah 4

Dear RTB’ers,

Just like the opposition that we saw from Judah’s neighbors in Ezra 4-6 around 536 BC, now some ninety years later a new set of enemies tries to stop the work on Jerusalem’s walls. How is it that opposition arises against the people of the God of Israel? How is it that we see such opposition to the Church today, both worldwide and in our own country? Why is that…??

So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. (v. 6) If there is any summary statement for the book of Nehemiah, this may be it. No doubt, Nehemiah offered leadership and encouragement; no doubt God was at work in the hearts of His people. But in the end it’s the people themselves who do the work.

I’ve seen the same thing in our own congregation. Go back to our Annual Meeting Report and look at the work that gets done in our church. Look at the number of teams, the names of the leaders; read each report. Look at Avanza, now more than ten years old, the number of kids that have been helped during that time period – kids from those first years now in college! Yes, we have had good leadership; yes, the Lord has certainly blessed our efforts; but with all that, the people had a mind to work. Thank you, Lord!

Blessings.

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See also: September 20 / Nehemiah 1-4 (again).