Why Is The Wall Important? Series

Jexit: Judah Comes Home

Why Is The Wall Important?

A sermon on Nehemiah

We've been working our way through a series of messages looking at the Jews who returned from the exile in Babylon.

What has been going on in their lives.

How they are resettling back into the land of Judah.

And some of the issues they are facing.

Today we want to have a look at Nehemiah and the impact of the book of Nehemiah on the returned exiles. To begin with let's get our bearings in terms of the historical times and events.

The exiles return from Babylon to Jerusalem 538 BC.

They rebuild the temple … with a bit of stopping and starting … but eventually the temple is built in 515 BC.

When Esther became the Queen it was during the time of King Xerxes – whose name is Ahasuerus in the Hebrew bible – rules from 483 BC.

These are some key events. Then we get to this situation in the book of Nehemiah where we read in Nehemiah 1:1-4

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

This is the context of the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is concerned about the wall and the fact it is still in ruins.

We know a date when this look place because Nehemiah tells us in Nehemiah 2:1, “In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.”

This would be the year 445 BC.

The exiles returned in 538 BC.

So it is almost 100 years from the time when the first exiles return.

After 100 years the wall had still not been rebuilt and, because of this, the people are in distress.

The distress comes because there is constant opposition form the surrounding nations and the local residents in Judah. We read about this in the book of Ezra

6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes (Ahasuerus) they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 4:6

In the days of at Xerxes king of Persia this group of people to the king of Persia and they say, “We know want these men plan to rebuild the wall. They are a rebellious people and the wall will create more division and uncertainty. King Xerxes what do you want us to do?”

The response is in Ezra 4:17-22

17 The king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:

Greetings.

18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?

King Xerxes has issued a decree saying that the walls cannot be rebuilt. He also says the city cannot be rebuilt. This decree would have been earlier in Xerxes rule when he was trying to reduce the amount of rebellion which was happening in the Empire.

And the decree is creating problems. Including problems in Jerusalem.

So a delegation from Judah comes to Nehemiah saying, “the people are in distress because of the broken walls, and the charred gates and the destruction.”

In response Nehemiah’s heart is now focussed on fixing the wall.

The wall is important.

I want you to keep on thinking about this question as we going through the sermon today, “Why is the wall so important?”

After Nehemiah hears the news of the problem his first response is to fast and pray.

He does this because he wants to know the answer from God … he wants to know what God wants him to do. Nehemiah wants God to resolve this situation and he knows only God can resolve this situation.