Nehemiah
Nehemiah is a an official in the court of Artaxerxes of Persia. In 445 BC, he travels to Jerusalem, overcomes opposition, and rebuilds the walls of the city.
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Three Returns, Nehemiah’s Fasting, the Walls of Jerusalem
SUMMARY
Title
The book is named for its author.
Author
Most people agree that Nehemiah authored this book. Much of it is a first-person account of the circumstances surrounding his return to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was probably born in Persia sometime during or soon after Zerubbabel’s ministry in Jerusalem. But we know almost nothing about his childhood, youth, or family background.
Nehemiah had risen to a position of prominence. He served King Artaxerxes as his personal cupbearer.
Date
Nehemiah probably wrote this book soon after all its events were completed. If so, that means the book was written around 430 BC or shortly thereafter.
Purpose
The LORD God had promised Israel that if they obeyed him, he would bless them as a nation. But if they did not obey him, he would cause them to be taken into captivity.
In the ensuing centuries, the kings did not obey the LORD God. Their lives were characterized by immoral behavior and idolatry. They led the way into ever-increasing evil.
Consequently, the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC. And the Southern Kingdom fell to the Babylonian Empire in 586 BC.
The people of the Southern Kingdom remained intact during their exile in Babylon. After the Babylonian Empire was defeated by the Medes and Persians in 539 BC, many Jewish people were permitted to return to their homeland.
In 444 BC, Nehemiah returned. The LORD God used Nehemiah to guide Judah in rebuilding the city’s walls and in reordering the people’s social and economic lives.
What he accomplished in a brief period of time was an incredible feat.
OUTLINE
Restoration of the walls
Nehemiah 1:1-11. Nehemiah’s heart for Jerusalem
Nehemiah 2:1-10. Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem
Nehemiah 2:11-20. Nehemiah surveys the walls
Nehemiah 3:1-32. The work begins
Nehemiah 4:1-23. Troublemakers slow them down
Nehemiah 5:1-13. Wealthy believers were oppressing the poor
Nehemiah 5:14-19. Nehemiah rebukes the rich people
Nehemiah 6:1-14. Nehemiah says NO to troublemakers
Nehemiah 6:15-19. Nehemiah completes the wall
Restoration of the temple
Nehemiah 7:1-3. The security of the city
Nehemiah 7:4-73. Nehemiah registers the people
Nehemiah 8:1-9. Ezra reads the Law
Nehemiah 8:10-12. The joy of the LORD is your strength
Nehemiah 8:13-18. They celebrate the Feast of Booths
Nehemiah 9:1-3. The people read the Bible
Nehemiah 9:4-38. There is a nationwide revival
Nehemiah 10:1-39. They take an oath to obey the Torah
Nehemiah 11:1-24. The people who resettle Jerusalem
Nehemiah 11:25-36. The people who resettle Judah and Benjamin
Nehemiah 12:1-26. Nehemiah lists the priests and Levites
Nehemiah 12:27-42. They dedicate the wall
Nehemiah 12:43. They have great joy
Nehemiah 12:44-47. They give money to the temple
Nehemiah 13:1-31. The final reforms of Nehemiah
MEMORIZE
Nehemiah 6:3. I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?”
Nehemiah 8:10b. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 12:43. They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women and the children also rejoiced; so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even far away.
Great verses to memorize from the entire Bible
THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM
Jerusalem was so completely destroyed that shepherds pitched their tents and grazed their herds where it used to be.
Nehemiah 1:3. They said to me, “The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
Nehemiah 2:3. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
Nehemiah 2:17. Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let’s build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won’t be disgraced.”
Jeremiah 6:3. Shepherds with their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their tents against her all around. They will feed everyone in his place.
NEHEMIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Three Returns, Nehemiah’s Fasting, the Walls of Jerusalem
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.