THE GOOD DAYS OF NEHEMIAH
About seventy years after the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem a
committee of Jews went to Persia to seek aid for their distressed
country from their more prosperous kinsfolk. In the Persian capital,
Susa, they found a man named Nehemiah, who was cup-bearer and personal
adviser to the king of Persia. He was a man of good sense, of kindly
sympathy, and of great ability--just the man to help them. They told
him how the walls of the city of their fathers had never been rebuilt
in all these years since the Babylonians had captured it, and how the
poor people suffered from robbers and oppressors, who took advantage
of their helplessness.
NEHEMIAH'S GREAT ADVENTURE
All this was news to the young man. They did not have newspapers and
magazines in those days, and people in one part of the world knew
little about what was going on in other parts, even those near by. The
stories told by his brother Jews made Nehemiah sad, and his sadness
showed in his face even when he came before the king. This was
dangerous, for a part of his duty was to keep the king in a cheerful
humor. But his Majesty was not angry, but asked him "Why are you so
sad?" Nehemiah answered by telling him the story of his native land
and its pitiable condition; and then and there with a prayer in his
heart he asked the king to give him a leave of absence, and to permit
him to go to Jerusalem and help the people there to rebuild the
walls.
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| [Illustration: REMAINS OF WALLS OF THE CANAANITE CITY, MEGIDDO] |
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| [Illustration: PART OF CITY WALL AND GATE, SAMARIA] |
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| Cuts on this page used by permission of the Palestine Exploration |
| Fund. |
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=Why walls were greatly needed.=--All cities in those days were
surrounded by walls. These were necessary, because no government had
yet been strong enough to rid the country of the bands of robbers who
made their dens in almost every cave or lonely valley. Not only the
road between Jerusalem and Jericho, of which Jesus tells, but on
almost all roads one was in danger of falling among thieves. In the
deserts on the edge of Palestine whole tribes lived by robbery, and
were large enough and well enough organized to defeat good-sized
armies. Hence no city was safe unless it was well fortified.
Nehemiah's request was granted by the king of Persia. So, with letters
to the governors of the provinces through which he was to pass, the
young leader set out, perhaps on camel-back, to Jerusalem. After
looking about and seeing for himself the condition of the city, and
the work which needed to be done, he called the people together and
proposed that they rebuild the walls. His energy carried the day. They
answered, "Let us rise up and build."
THE WALLS REBUILT
The task which Nehemiah had undertaken was a difficult one. Jerusalem
is situated on a ridge, with deep valleys on all sides except the
north. The walls did not need to be high where there were cliffs or
steep slopes falling away into the valley. But along the entire north
side, and in many other places also, they had to be at least thirty
feet high, and fifteen or twenty feet thick at the base. The stones
and bricks for this were buried in the rubbish where the old walls
had been battered down. They had to be dug up and dragged into their
places, stone by stone. Most of the work had to be done by hand,
although they perhaps used asses with basket-paniers for carrying lime
and sand. They may have constructed small cranes for lifting the
heaviest stones, but they had very little machinery.
=Difficulties overcome.=--For a time the work went merrily forward.
But soon their rapid progress became known and those who had prospered
because of their weakness became jealous. There was a certain
Sanballat, governor of Samaria, who wanted to keep Jerusalem helpless
so that Samaria might always be the chief city in the land. They were
willing that the poor people of Jerusalem should go on suffering from
the attacks of cruel bandits if only they themselves could keep on
growing richer. He and others did all in their power to stop the work.
They organized a force of men and planned to attack and kill the
builders. But Nehemiah had his workers carry their swords as they
worked, and arranged for signals at which all should rush to the help
of any part of the wall which might be attacked. He also kept the
people working at top speed from early morning every day "until the
stars appeared," and cheered them on when they were tired and
discouraged.
Their enemies tried all kinds of tricks; they threatened to report to
the king of Persia that Nehemiah was organizing a rebellion; they
plotted to seize Nehemiah himself. But the man was too clever for
them. The walls kept steadily going up and up. The gates were set in
place and locked; and at last, fifty-two days, or just a little more
than seven weeks after the first stone was laid on the old
foundations, the work was done.
Once more they could lie down in peace behind protecting walls, and
not tremble at the thought that fierce robbers might swoop down upon
them before the morning light to plunder, burn, and murder. Once more
they could begin to live their lives in peace and plan for the future.
Traders could bring their goods into the city without fear of losing
everything. Men could buy and sell and prosper.
NEHEMIAH'S REFORMS
But security from outward foes is not enough to bring happiness to a
people. Even before the walls were finished some of the poor people
among the Jews came to Nehemiah with a bitter complaint against their
rich neighbors. "We are starving," they said. Others said: "We have
mortgaged our fields in order to borrow money that we may buy food for
our children. And now because we cannot pay these men take our fields
from us, and even sell our sons and daughters into slavery." It was
the old story of greed and oppression. Those who were stronger and
more fortunate used their advantage to oppress their brothers and
extort from them all that they could pay. So a few men were able to
live in luxury, even in those troubled days, while the great majority
suffered in poverty and misery and despair.
=The great massmeeting.=--In that little country of Judæa it was
possible to gather into an assembly, perhaps in the open space in
front of the temple, men from almost every country village and city
street. Such an assembly Nehemiah called and laid before it the
complaints he had received. He told the rich nobles to their faces:
"You exact usury, every one, of his brother. The thing you do is not
good.... I pray you leave off this usury." The nobles had nothing to
say. Every one knew that what Nehemiah said was true. Then he went on:
"Restore to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and
their houses, also the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you exact
from them." Then said they, "We will restore them."
And Nehemiah made them take oath to carry out their promise. "Also I
shook out my lap," Nehemiah writes in his memoirs, "and said, So God
shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that
performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied.
And all the congregation said 'Amen,' and praised the Lord. And the
people did according to this promise."
=The beginnings of a just and happy nation.=--Nehemiah could not stay
long in Jerusalem. But he was able to make another visit a few years
later. And for a time at least his ideas were carried out. During this
time there was happiness among the people. They all had something to
eat and clothes to wear. All fathers and mothers had a little time to
play with their children after the close of work each day. All who
could read had a little time to study the rolls of the prophets and
the law of Jehovah. And all were brothers. More than ever before the
old dreams, handed down from Abraham, had begun to come true.
STUDY TOPICS
1. Look up the story of Nehemiah in the Bible dictionary.
2. Read Nehemiah 1-2, or 5. 1-6, 16.
3. On the right side of the line, below, write what in your judgment
corresponds to the men and conditions of Nehemiah's time.
_Nehemiah's Time_ | _Our Own Time_
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_a._ Walls around the city. | _a._ ___________________________
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_b._ Robbers, and enemies such as | _b._ ___________________________
Sanballat. |
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_c._ The poor and enslaved people. | _c._ ___________________________
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_d._ Nehemiah. | _d._ ___________________________