May 18, 2010 Nehemiah 6-8:8

Opposition continued to the rebuilding project Nehemiah managed - especially when they heard it had been finished. The bad guys (Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem - a new one) sent an opened letter to Nehemiah which reported that he and the Judites were planning a revolt, which was why they needed to rebuild the wall, that Nehemiah was to be appointed king, and prophets were to be appointed, and that all this would get back to the king unless Nehemiah took a meeting with the bad guys. Nehemiah replied that it was all a figment of their imagination.

Later, Nehemiah went to visit Shemaiah, who tried to convince him to go with him into the temple and shut the doors because someone was coming to kill him. Then Nehemiah realized that this man had been put up to trying to get him to sin by going into the temple (only priests were allowed) to protect himself. Nehemiah prayed and asked God to remember the trickery of these people.

The wall was finished in 52 days. All their enemies around them became afraid because they realized that the work had been done so fast because they had God with them. There were nobles in Judah who were under oath to Tobiah (one of the bad guys.) Tobiah kept sending threatening letters to Nehemiah.

Once the wall and gate made the city secure, the work could begin to rebuild homes inside it. Nehemiah shared that there weren't many people, but he appointed gatekeepers, singers and Levites for the temple. He put his brother in charge of Jerusalem and Hananiah the commander of the citadel "because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do." Nehemiah ordered them not to open the gates until the sun was hot. God had put it into Nehemiah's heart to assemble the nobles, officials and common people for registration by families. He found the record of those who had returned earlier. Mostly it is the same information as Ezra 2, but some names and numbers are different. The seventh month came after the Israelites had settled in their towns.

All the people gathered in the square and Ezra read the Book of the Law of Moses aloud to them from dawn until noon. The people listened attentively. They had built a high wooden platform for the occasion for Ezra to stand on along with six men on his right and six men on his left. When he opened the book everyone stood up. Ezra praised God and all the people lifted their hands and said "Amen! Amen!" then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. The Levites instructed the people. They read from the Book of the Law of God and translated the meaning of it so everyone could understand.

Tomorrow read Nehemiah 8:9-11:21