The book of Nehemiah is one of the amazing books found in the bible. This book centers on a great character “Nehemiah” and his remarkable contribution to the rebuilding of the broken-down walls of Jerusalem in the midst of threats, ridicule and false accusations of the great enemies of the Children of Israel of that time. The storyline is covered in 13 chapters. I have made short summaries of every chapter showcasing briefly what exactly transpires in each of the chapters as shown below:
Chapter 1
Upon hearing the sad news of what had befallen the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah turned to God with all his heart through fasting and prayer, interceding for the children of Israel that God may grant him favor before the king and allow him to go and spearhead the restoration and rebuilding of the broken walls of Jerusalem.
Chapter 2
Nehemiah was permitted by King Artaxerxes to go to Judah and execute the plan of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem following his earnest request from him. Nehemiah surely found the favor he desired from his earthly master which was an answered prayer he had earlier on offered to God. Upon reaching Jerusalem he inspected the broken-down city of Jerusalem in confirmation of the sad news he had received earlier on. He informed the religious leaders and other leaders of the children of Israel of his plans in order to find a memorandum of understanding with them so that the work gets started with immediate effect.
After learning of his plan, the enemies of Israel that included Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem of the Arabs rose up and ridiculed them and their plan of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Being a determined leader and having confidence in the lord, Nehemiah did not consent to the ridiculous opinion of their enemies. He placed his faith in the Lord, having a good expectation of Success in the rebuilding plan of the broken down and disgraced city of Jerusalem.
Chapter 3
Through a combined effort comprised of individuals, various tribes, families, and groups of People of Judah, they started building the city, each specializing in a particular section. They all participated passionately and had the work kicked off perfectly. Teamwork is such a great aspect of life that simplifies a heavy workload that might be for us.
Chapter 4
In the midst of the mockery and the threats of attacks on the Children of Israel that were up to stopping the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah acted wisely by presenting their cause to God to judge the matter. He as well encouraged the builders to go on with the building while having them equipped with weapons ready for war against any interruption of God’s work by their enemies.
Chapter 5
Nehemiah acted wisely and justly in his position of leadership as a Governor through advocating for the change in the unfair treatment of the poor jews by their fellows who were in wealthy positions and taking advantage of the poor ones just because they were lending them money with interest charge coupled with the utilization of their lands and children who worked as slaves on their farmlands. These decided to return all that they had taken from the poor jews in honor of Nehemiah’s advise and for the sake of the fear of God.
Chapter 6
The work of rebuilding the walls was almost accomplished in 52 days and the only thing that was remaining was only establishing the doors in the gates. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem felt so angry and tried to find an opportunity of killing Nehemiah. He acted wisely by refusing to agree upon all their requested plots of meeting up with him. They went as far as hiring various prophets including Prophet Noadiah in trying to threaten him. All these attempts were in vain as Nehemiah heavily depended on God who strengthened and gave him the wisdom to overcome all their trickery and threats.
Chapter 7
After accomplishing the rebuilding and fixing of the doors in the gates, Nehemiah proceeded by appointing gatekeepers, singers, and Levites for the City of Jerusalem. In addition, he appointed his brother Hanani and Hananiah the duty of governing the city of Jerusalem. He also inquired of the Lord who instructed him to record down the genealogies of the Children of Israel who had returned to Judah. These had been released from captivity in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar and they were a total of 42,360 people.
Chapter 8
Ezra stood before the gathering of the children of Israel and made a public reading of the book of the law for the first time. The book of the law was broken down in simple terms by the Levites enabling the people to clearly understand what the law of God instructed them to do. Eventually, Ezra praised the Lord and gave glory to God and all the people responded with a loud Amen. Nehemiah instructed them to rejoice as it was a holy day for rejoicing following the victory that the Lord had given them. These changed their weeping into joy following the instruction of the Levites.
Chapter 9
The people repented off all their sins and the sins of their ancestors. By highlighting down all the good things that God had down for the children of Children right away from the call of Abraham to the exodus (the liberation and movement of the Children of Israel from the Egyptian oppressors to the Promised Land). Despite what God had done for their ancestors, these became rebellious and ungrateful by turning aside to the worshiping of other gods. God punished them according to His righteous judgment and later embraced them again when they earnestly repented from their sins just because of his loving-kindness.
Chapter 10
After repenting, the children of Israel decided to make a vow before the Lord and promised to obey the entire law of Moses that God had given to them through him. Among what they promised to do was to bring up their annual first fruits of all their harvests and tithes into the temple of God so that there could be food for the priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers of God’s house.
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Chapter 11
This chapter showcases a list of names of the leaders of Jerusalem and the various tribes of people Israel that volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem and these included the priests, family of Benjamin, descendants of Solomon’s slaves.
Chapter 12
The priests and Levites dedicated the wall through purifying themselves and the people of Israel. They sang hymns and made worship melodies using harps, cymbals, and psalteries. They did this act of worship and dedication passionately with gladness of heart for the great restoration and victory that the Lord had given them.
Chapter 13
The Children of Israel strayed from observing the Law of Moses in the absence of Nehemiah due to the fact they had left Jerusalem back to Atarxexe his king and master. When he returned back to Jerusalem he had to reorganize the worship in the temple of God by restoring back the priests and Levities to their job of serving in the temple, he also stopped the business transactions that were being done on the Sabbath day which were profaning the lord’s holy day.
In conclusion, I provide this book a 5/5 star rating and recommend it to all Christians and bible scholars. Nehemiah was a great, passionate man of God and a faithful governor who served the Lord faithfully in his time through spearheading the rebuilding and restoration of the fallen glory the city of Jerusalem. The book of Nehemiah educates us to be courageous and faithful to God in the times of trials and persecutions from our enemies who tend to throw up ridiculous words, accusations, and threats to us in times when we are busy doing the will of God.