This is the First part of our series entitled: Built Different.

(Nehemiah 01) These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 5 Then I said,
“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”

In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.

10 Interesting Facts About the Book of Nehemiah

Nehemiah wasn’t a priest—he was a government official.
He served as the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia (Nehemiah 1:11). That was a highly trusted political position, giving him access and influence.
Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls in only 52 days.
Despite opposition, threats, and internal problems, the wall was completed incredibly quickly (Nehemiah 6:15).
The walls had been broken down for roughly 140 years.
Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC, while Nehemiah arrived around 445 BC. What had remained broken for generations was rebuilt in less than two months.
Nehemiah prayed before he acted.
One of the major themes of the book is the combination of prayer and practical action. Nehemiah repeatedly prays—and then immediately gets to work. See Nehemiah 1:4–11; 2:4–5; 4:9.
Nehemiah prayed some remarkably short prayers.
When the king suddenly asked him what he wanted, Nehemiah says, “Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king…” (Nehemiah 2:4–5). It was apparently a quick, silent prayer in the middle of a conversation.
The builders worked with a tool in one hand and a weapon nearby.
Because their enemies threatened to attack, the people built the wall while remaining prepared to defend themselves (Nehemiah 4:16–18). It creates one of the book’s most memorable images: building and battling at the same time.
Nehemiah faced opposition from outside and problems from inside.
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem opposed the rebuilding externally, but Nehemiah also had to confront injustice, exploitation, and selfishness among his own people in Nehemiah 5.
Nehemiah refused to be distracted by fake emergencies.
His enemies repeatedly invited him to meet with them, probably intending to harm him. His famous response was: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” (Nehemiah 6:3). It’s a powerful leadership principle about protecting your priorities.
Ezra and Nehemiah originally belonged closely together.
In the Hebrew Bible tradition, Ezra and Nehemiah were treated as one unified work for much of their history. Ezra focuses heavily on rebuilding the temple and restoring worship; Nehemiah focuses on rebuilding the walls and restoring the community.
The real rebuilding project wasn’t the wall. It was the people.
The first half of Nehemiah centers on rebuilding Jerusalem physically, but the second half increasingly focuses on Scripture, worship, repentance, covenant renewal, and spiritual reform. Nehemiah 8 is especially important: Ezra reads God’s Word publicly, and the people respond with worship and repentance.

The Book of Nehemiah in One Sentence:

The Book of Nehemiah is about a man who rebuilt a city by rebuilding a people.

Why should you care:

When we understand the characteristics of Nehemiah's character, we can see the kind of person we work to become so they Lord can use us to build His kingdom.

Part One: We Love God.

The Opening Chapter Overview.

When we see the opening chapter of Nehemiah, we are expected to know what has been happening in the book immediately preceding it, Ezra. In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah are the same book. In the book of Ezra, we find out that there have been two waves of people returning to Israel. The first wave was under a political leader named Zerubbabel. His goal was to reestablish the people of God in the land of Israel under the instruction of the Persian King Cyrus. However, after a hundred years, there was still work to be done. Because of this, a priest named Ezra led a second wave of people back to Israel. His main goal was to establish the spiritual health of Israel. Once again, they were met with opposition and found themselves with work still to be done. After thirteen years, the work on the wall has not been completed. This is what has happened before the beginning of Nehemiah.

Verse 1-3: Loving God by Seeking Good News.

Verse 1: Many think that Nehemiah did not write this book. They believe that Ezra took the notes from Nehemiah's personal journals and compiled them into this book.
Verse 1: This places the life and story of Nehemiah firmly within history.
Verse 2: Because Nehemiah had a prominent position in the court of the king, he would have had access to information about travelers. It is obvious that Nehemiah also highly valued God and his people.
Verse 3: We can see from the events at the end of Ezra that the people had been prevented from finishing the work of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. The reason the wall was such a big deal is that a wall was essential to the defense and stability of a city back then. Also, it was a sign of strength. Not to have a wall was to be the biggest disgrace possible.

Verse 4-6a: Loving God Through Prayer.

Verse 4: Some scholars believe this was over the course of four months.
Verse 5: The first thing Nehemiah did was to take his pain to God. He also began His prayer by remembering how great God is.
Verse 6a: "Look down." This is an anthropomorphic metaphor. God does not exist above us. He is a Spirit. This is to remind the reader of the humble stance Nehemiah is taking.

Verse 6b–10: Loving God through Knowing the Promises in His Word.

Verse 6b: Repentance. The point of this repentance is that Nehemiah knew God's Word. He sees the destruction as part of God's promises.
Verse 7: Nehemiah continues to say that it was the lack of obedience to the law of God that placed them in a position of judgment.
Verse 8-9: This is the important part of remembering God's Word. It not only points out the right path. God's Word also points out how to get back on the path once we have fallen.
Verse 10: This verse is Nehemiah proclaiming what God had done in the past when they "got God involved" in the problem.

Verse 11: Loving God by Inviting Him into Every Area of Life.

Verse 11: Nehemiah knows something must be done. Therefore, he doesn't leave God in the place of prayer and go to work on the issue. He invites God into the action steps.
King's cupbearer- This was one of the most important positions in the king's palace due to his proximity to the king. The king's cupbearer was considered a personal advisor to the king and a highly favored position.

(1 John 4:9-10) God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love— not that we loved God, but that HE LOVED US.