The Man of Action
Throughout my studies of Nehemiah, I am reminded of a story that was once told to me and is referred to in Campbell's book "Nehemiah: Man in Charge". Briefly, the story tells of a woman who was attacked and stabbed on her way home from her night job in New York. After many desperate cries for help, none of the 38 residents of New York who witnessed the attack responded to her cries. This is similar to some responses from Christians to the needs of our world today: non-involvement. However with the study of Nehemiah a believer should see a man who acted promptly to the pleas made from Jerusalem by the people of Judah. He didn't only hear the pleas for help, Nehemiah also responded by involving himself into the affairs of God's people. His involvement was to bring about the reconstruction of Jerusalem's walls and respectively the renewal of the covenant between God's people and God Himself. The city of Jerusalem was first captured by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Then the Babylonian Empire was later replaced by the Persian Empire. In 538 BC the priest Ezra heads the first of three returns to Jerusalem with 49,897 Jewish people for the rebuilding and restoration of the temple followed by the reformatio
I am reminded of the verse that it is better to obey than to sacrifice. I have enjoyed the study of Nehemiah and I'm glad that I can learn from him. To go even further Nehemiah assigned everyone to work on certain parts of the walls (see Nehemiah 3:1 and Chapter 3). At the beginning of his time Jerusalem and the Jewish people are still in captivity. He was there for the reading of the Word and there are indications that Nehemiah knew the Word of God. Briefly, Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, inspected the city and instructed the people to begin the work of rebuilding the wall and homes of the city (see Nehemiah 2:13,15,17). He longed to see the Jewish people know and love God as he did. Nehemiah stood for what was right even in the face of opposition that came in many forms: ridicule, threat of attack, discouragement, extortion, compromise, slander and treachery. Most significant was the rebuilding of the temple. Nehemiah was just as committed to the reading of God's Word. Nehemiah had integrity because he was committed to the Word of God and devotion to God (see Nehemiah 1:5-11).
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Acceptance Essays
