Nehemiah 2:20

_THEN ANSWERED I THEM, AND SAID UNTO THEM, 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._ The God of heaven - (see the note at Ezra 1:2.)...

19,20 The enmity of the serpent's seed against the cause of Christ is confined to no age or nation. The application to ourselves is plain. The church of God asks for our help. Is it not desolate, and exposed to assaults? Does the consideration of its low estate cause you any grief? Let not business, pleasure, or the support of a party so engage attention, as that Zion and her welfare shall be nothing to you....

Verse Nehemiah 2:20. _YE HAVE NO PORTION, NOR RIGHT_] To be a citizen of Jerusalem was a high honour; and they would not permit those who did not belong to the tribes of Israel to dwell there. Zerubbabel gave the same answer to the Samaritans, Ezra 4:3....

EXPOSITION NEHEMIAH'S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (Nehemiah 3:9). On his way to Jerusalem, Nehemiah would pass through the provinces of various Persian satraps and governors. To those beyond the Euphrates he carried letters, which he took care to deliver, though by doing so he aroused the hostility of San-ballat. Being accompanied by an escort of Persian soldiers, he experienced neither difficulty nor danger by the way, but effected his journey in about three months. NEHEMIAH 2:9 I CAME TO THE GOVERNORS BEYOND THE RIVER. Josephus gives the name of the satrap, of Syria at this time as Adieus ('Ant. Jud; Neh

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The King's question (Nehemiah 2:1)_ 2. The King's permission (Nehemiah 2:3) 3. The arrival in Jerusalem and the night-ride (Nehemiah 2:9) 4. The resolution to build the wall (Nehemiah 2:17) 5. The ridicule of the enemy, and Nehemiah's answer (Nehemiah 2:19) Nehemiah 2:1. The last sentence of the previous chapter, “For I was the king's cupbearer,” belongs to this chapter. Nehemiah is seen exercising the

NEHEMIAH ARRIVES IN JERUSALEM AND SURVEYS THE WALLS. Nehemiah 2:9. The account of the journey is omitted, interest being centred upon what Nehemiah was going to do in Jerusalem. THE GOVERNORS BEYOND THE RIVER: namely of the provinces on the west of the Euphrates; as Nehemiah would almost certainly pass through Hamath and Damascus, the two most important cities in Syria, the governors here resident are probably intended. THE KING. HORSEMEN: _cf._ Nehemiah 4:16; Nehemiah 4:23; this body-guard remained with Nehemiah in Jerusalem. Contrast Ezra 8:22....

_b_ 73 _a_. The Register of those who returned with Zerubbabel = Ezra 2:1-70 _a register of the genealogy_ R.V. THE BOOK. _of them which came up at the first_ The only natural explanation of these words is that Nehemiah found in the archives of Jerusalem the list of those that accompanied Zerubbabel from Babylon. This seems to be conclusively proved (_a_) by the words in Nehemiah 2:5, -I found," -who came up at the first," -found written therein," and Nehemiah 2:7, -who came with Zerubbabel," (_b_) by the position of the parallel extract in Ezra 2:1-70. Nehemiah recognises the national importance

DISCOURSE: 439 THE ZEAL OF NEHEMIAH Nehemiah 2:20. _The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build_. WHOEVER engages diligently in the work of God, must expect trials: as it is said in the apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus, “My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptations [Note: Ecclesiastes 2:1.].” The ungodly will deride our efforts, and put the most unfavourable construction upon them, that the most ingenious malice can invent. The pious labours of Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, though sanctioned by the monarch himself, were regarded by his enemies as indications of folly, and as preparatives for rebellion [Note: ver. 19.]. But Nehemiah, as David had done before him, “encouraged himself in the Lord his

2. On his arrival, he secretly inspects the city's walls. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 2:11-20 11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell any one what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. 13 So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. 14 Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. 15 So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had

NEHEMIAH'S RESOLVE TO REBUILD JERUSALEM This chapter gives an account of Nehemiah's request for leave to rebuild Jerusalem, his arrival there, and his survey of the ruined walls, which it was decided to restore....