What a thrill, to tackle something extremely difficult and to keep at it until you reach a triumphant conclusion.
This is what Nehemiah did. Therefore, it remains thrilling to read his story even today.
Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem from Susa with a single-minded objective: to rebuild the massive but ruined wall of Jerusalem. He was beset by obstacles. Nehemiah pressed on, and on. So great was the task and so great its accomplishment that we can hardly miss the thrill of the superb understatement in verse 15: “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.”
Nehemiah had received his brother’s report about Jerusalem when he was in Susa in the month of Kislev, that is, in the winter of 444 B.C. He received permission to go to Jerusalem in the month of Nisan, our April. Preparation and travel took time, so he arrived in Jerusalem and began the work on what we would call August 1. Now, fifty-two days later, on September 21, the reconstruction of the massive walls was done—one and a half to two and a half miles of masonry. From the time he had first heard about the problem when he was in Susa until the wall was finished was only nine months. The construction was completed within two months of his arrival in the city.
If there was ever a time when Nehemiah could have been tempted to sit back and take credit for his success, it was when the wall was completed. But he did not. What he did shows his greatness. First, at the end of chapter 6 we learn that Nehemiah gave glory to God. He says, “When all our enemies heard about this and all the surrounding nations saw it, our enemies lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God” (v. 16).
Since Nehemiah had come from the winter capital of Babylon, I cannot help but think of the contrasting words of that earlier Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar was proud of his accomplishments, and one day, when he was walking on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon, he looked out over the city and said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as a royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30).
It was the exact opposite of what Nehemiah said. Nehemiah gave glory for his achievement to God. Why is it that so many people will acknowledge God and even pray to Him regularly and fervently on their way up the long ladder of success, but once they reach that pinnacle they forget their religion and regard success as their own exclusive achievement? It is inexplicable, unless the reason is that they conveniently “forget” God so they can indulge themselves without any higher responsibility. Nehemiah did not do this. He remembered God, and so retained his usefulness to God beyond the accomplishment of his initial objective. That is why the book does not end with chapter 6.
