History – Nehemiah 1-4
Bible Passage: Nehemiah 1-4
aquillofGod:
Hello everyone! Welcome to today’s segment of Extraordinary People.
We are very pleased to have Mr Nehemiah on-air with us today for an exclusive interview. Hello, Mr Nehemiah!
Nehemiah:
Hello aquillofGod! And hello everybody!
AQOG:
It’s really good to see you! Before we start with the interview proper however, would you like to give a brief introduction of yourself?
NEH:
Sure! I lived during the time of King Artaxerxes where Judah was a province of the Persian Empire and worked as a royal cupbearer in the palace of Shushan.
AQOG:
Thank you. That leads to our first question though. If you were living in Persia, how did you end up going back to Jerusalem to rebuild its city walls?
NEH:
When one of my brethren, Hanani, came to Shushan with men from Judah, I was really anxious about the situation back at home so I asked him concerning the Jews that had returned and the state of Jerusalem. To my dismay, I was told that the city walls remained in ruins and the gates burned with fire. This made me so distressed that I fasted and prayed to ask God for mercy.
AQOG:
What happened then?
NEH:
Well, the matter weighed on my mind constantly and it showed on my face when I was serving the king. He noticed my unhappiness and asked me the reason for it.
AQOG:
Wow! Weren’t you scared?
NEH:
Terrified! I thought I was going to be severely punished. But thank the LORD for answering my prayers. Instead of punishing me, I was asked what I wished to do.
AQOG:
And what did you say?
NEH:
I really hoped to return home and rebuild the city so I prayed to the LORD in my heart then asked the king for permission to do so.
AQOG:
Did he agree?
NEH:
It was amazing! When the LORD works, anything is possible. Besides permission to return, I also managed to receive letters from the king granting me safe passage and timber for the project.
AQOG:
So everything went smoothly?
NEH:
Well, there was opposition, of course. Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab were displeased that we were rebuilding the city and tried to stop us in many ways. They mocked us, hoping to discourage us and also conspired to attack us.
AQOG:
Did the work stop then?
NEH:
Certainly not! We were determined to do what is right and complete our work so we encouraged one another and armed ourselves to defend ourselves as we worked.
AQOG:
It must have been very tiring.
NEH:
Oh yes! And because the work was so extensive, we had to have a trumpet to rally everyone in case of attacks. So honestly, workers of the LORD really have to be armed and sensitive to what is happening around them in order to protect themselves and complete the work.
AQOG:
Yes, just liked all of you managed to rebuild the walls right?
NEH:
Certainly, but there were still a lot of other problems to overcome.
AQOG:
Which you will share with next in the next segment. I’m sure everyone’s looking forward to it.
NEH:
Sure!
AQOG:
With that, we’ve come to the end of our segment today. Stay tuned for the next segment of Extraordinary People in which Mr Nehemiah will continue to share with us the joys and challenges of doing the work of the LORD.
Till next week! 🙂
One Comment
PS
Neh 1:4 …I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Neh 2:4 …So I prayed to the God in heaven.
Neh 2:8 …according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Neh 2:18 And I told them of the hand of God which had been good upon me.
Neh 2:20 So I answered them and said to them,” The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will raise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial iin Jerusalem.”
Neh 4:4 Hear, O our God,…
Neh 4:9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God.
Neh 4:14 …”Do not be afraid of them. Remember the LORD, great and awesome,…
Neh 4:20 “…Our God will fight for us.”
What do you see?
All these prayers and effort just for the construction of a wall which took 52 days (Neh 6:15), a relative small project.
The wall was not an ordinary wall. The work was not an ordinary piece of work.
It was special bec it was done for God in heaven.
It was special bec it was building a protective wall for the faith.
It was special bec it separated the people of God from the people of the world.
Most importantly, it was special bec God of heaven, great and awesome, was involved all the way.
When we are lacking, we ask, seek and knock. Spiritual rebuilding reqiuires divine providence and protection. God of heaven, great and awesome, provides.