Nehemiah has one of the most trusted jobs in the Persian palace: he hands the king his wine. Then a few travelers arrive from Judah with news about Jerusalem, and he sits down and weeps.
In the next chapter he is riding along the ruins of Jerusalem in the dark, with almost no one knowing he is there – and the first enemies of the work are already laughing at him.
The Story of Nehemiah Rebuilds the Wall
In the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, Nehemiah was in Shushan the palace when Hanani, one of his brethren, came with certain men of Judah. Nehemiah asked them about the Jews that had escaped and about Jerusalem. Their answer was grim: The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
When he heard these words, he sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. His prayer confessed the nation’s sin and his own – both I and my father’s house have sinned – and reminded God of the word He gave Moses: if Israel transgressed, they would be scattered, but if ye turn unto me, God would gather them back to the place He had chosen. He closed by asking God to grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine was before the king, and Nehemiah took it up and gave it to him. He had not been beforetime sad in his presence, and the king noticed: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Nehemiah says, Then I was very sore afraid. Still he answered honestly: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
The king asked, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven – and then he asked to be sent unto Judah to the city of his fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. With the queen also sitting by him, the king asked how long the journey would be, and Nehemiah set him a time. He also asked for letters to the governors beyond the river, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest for timber for the gates, the wall and his own house. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. The king even sent captains of the army and horsemen with him. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Nehemiah came to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then he arose in the night with some few men, and told no man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. The only animal with them was the one he rode. He went out by the gate of the valley, past the dragon well, to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. At the king’s pool there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass, so he went up by the brook in the night, viewed the wall, and came back the way he had gone out. The rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did.
Only then did he speak to the Jews, the priests, the nobles and the rulers. Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. He told them how the hand of his God had been good upon him, and what the king had said. They answered, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
Sanballat and Tobiah, now joined by Geshem the Arabian, laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Nehemiah answered, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
Key Verses
“I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven” Nehemiah 1:4
“Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart” Nehemiah 2:2
“The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me” Nehemiah 2:8
“Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work” Nehemiah 2:18
“The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build” Nehemiah 2:20
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of Nehemiah Rebuilds the Wall Teaches Us
Nehemiah’s first response to bad news was not a plan but grief and prayer: he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Even in the king’s presence, between the king’s question and his own answer, the text stops to record, So I prayed to the God of heaven.
He was also practical. He asked for a set time, letters of safe passage and timber for the gates, and the king gave them all. Yet Nehemiah credits none of it to his own skill: the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Careful preparation and trust in God sit side by side in the same verse.
He saw the damage with his own eyes before he asked anyone else to work. When he did speak, he said we, not you – the distress that we are in – and the people answered, Let us rise up and build. When mockery came, his answer rested on God, not on Persian authority: The God of heaven, he will prosper us.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Nehemiah in the Bible?
Nehemiah was the son of Hachaliah and served as cupbearer to Artaxerxes king of Persia in Shushan the palace (Nehemiah 1:1, 1:11, 2:1). He asked the king to send him to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall.
Why was Nehemiah sad before the king?
Because Jerusalem, the place of his fathers’ sepulchres, lay waste and its gates were consumed with fire (Nehemiah 2:3). He had heard this news from Hanani and men of Judah (Nehemiah 1:2-3).
What did Nehemiah do when he heard the wall was broken down?
He sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven (Nehemiah 1:4).
Why did Nehemiah inspect the walls at night?
Nehemiah 2:12-16 says he went out by night with a few men and told no man what God had put in his heart to do. The rulers did not know where he went until he called the people together afterward.
Who were Sanballat and Tobiah?
Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, were grieved that someone had come to seek Israel’s welfare (Nehemiah 2:10). With Geshem the Arabian they laughed at the builders and asked, will ye rebel against the king? (Nehemiah 2:19).
Where is the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall in the Bible?
It begins in Nehemiah 1-2, where Nehemiah hears the news, prays, receives the king’s permission and calls the people to build. The building and the opposition continue through Nehemiah 3-6.