The second man appointed by Nehemiah to govern the city of Jerusalem was Hananiah, the commander of the fortress, and the reason for his appointment is extremely significant. There is almost nothing known about him, but what is said of him is the best thing that could be said about anybody, 'a faithful man and feared God more than

The reason that Nehemiah had taken the enormous step of returning to Jerusalem and dedicating all his energies and abilities to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem was not for his own political glory or the advancement of his own career. He had been called by God to do a particular work and when that work completed, he

When the wall of the city had been completed there was still work that needed to be done. The city had to be made secure. They could not ignore the fact that there were those nearby who would have taken any opportunity to undermine the work. So Nehemiah made sure that the gates were put securely in

The short sentence at the end of verse nineteen is worthy of careful consideration for it identifies one of the greatest hindrances to the progress of the work of God: 'Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me'. We have no idea what the letters contained or what the nature was of the threats that they obviously

When people are involved in the work of the kingdom, it is absolutely essential that they are focused and have clear vision about what they are doing. It seems clear that the nobles in Jerusalem had no idea how deadly Tobiah and his allies were to the work of God. Nehemiah had realised that there could be no

One of the most difficult things for spiritual leaders to face is half-heartedness and compromise from within. There is a staggering example of this in verses 17 to 19. The very nobles of Judah who had committed themselves to the work of building were, at the same time, in communication with one of the men who was seeking

The statement in verse 15 is truly remarkable! It only took Nehemiah fifty-two days to rebuild walls that had been in ruins for one hundred years. It wasn't that nobody was aware that a problem existed; it was simply that nobody was willing to do anything about it. It was not until a man came who did

Not only did Nehemiah have to withstand the opposition of enemies, he was also subjected to deceitful counsel from those he considered friends. The relationship he had with Shemaiah appears to be one of cordiality and friendship for Nehemiah visited him in his home, and Shemaiah seemed to have a real concern for his welfare. Here we see

When the seeming conciliatory invitations to meet were rejected by Nehemiah, Sanballat resorted to his more normal tactics of lies and threats. It is often the case that when people wish to attack something they use the vague and unspecific 'everyone says' because that cannot be substantiated. What Sanballat alleged was clearly false and absolutely contrary to what

Not only did Nehemiah have great discernment, he had a great commitment and focus on the task he been called upon to undertake. "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" Even if the invitation from Sanballat had been benign,