God’s strength makes us achieve things that seem impossible. In Nehemiah 1, you will be able to feel that strength and learn fundamental facts about the history of our religion. Whenever you want we start with a new article.
Nehemiah 1 King James Bible
In popular culture, there are many stories of overcoming of those that fill your heart with strength and encourage you to move forward in the face of adversity and the toughest problems imaginable.
Did you know that you can also find these types of stories in the Bible? Nehemiah 1 of the Bible is a clear example of this, and also shows us what a great help God is in all the moments of our lives if we live them with faith.
Today in Your Online Bible we are going to analyze this chapter, although giving much importance to all its context so that you can understand the Book of Nehemiah and that part of biblical history in general. All this gives us a combination of historical knowledge and spiritual encouragement that you will hardly find in any other text.
Shall we start?
Meaning of Nehemiah 1, the message
When in a chapter of the Bible some minimally important character appears, many times his name is related to his experiences. This is the case with Nehemiah as well, which in the original Hebrew means “God has comforted“.
Nehemiah’s story is a comfort from the Lord, who grants him the possibility to lead his people and regain greatness to the holy city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah sought God in faith, and God comforted him and helped him through.
Bible Study Nehemiah 1
Now it’s time to delve into the wonderful chapter 1 of Nehemiah which will encourage you in the hardest moments and will lift you up when all seems lost.
There are two clear parts in this chapter that must be differentiated. The first is the one formed in verses Nehemiah 1:1-4, in which he himself feels a deep sadness; and the second Nehemiah 1:5-11, when he turns to the Lord to find the solution.
These two stages are also very present in our lives when a misfortune occurs. The first, mourning, is experienced by almost all people, whether they are Christians or not. The most important part is the second part: to remember God in difficulty and show him all our faith.
Not everyone is capable of it, not even the most believing people in the world. However, this is the goal to achieve When sorrow invades you, seek the Lord with your heart and tell him that you love him.
The Lord can be sought in many ways, whether by reading the Scriptures, praying, attending religious services or helping the community. What is certain is that if you look for it you will find it.
Our Lord is always attentive to the requests we make of Him and, as He says in Nehemiah 1:9 if we turn to Him, He will gather us.
The last verse to highlight is Nehemiah 1:11 which you can use to start a prayer. In the case of the chapter, Nehemiah uses it to beg God for his help for when he talks to the Persian king and asks him to go to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 1 in English and large print
Complete your introduction to the text with the complete chapter in English and large print taken from the Bible King James Version. It’s always nice to be able to go back to the text to remember the exact words, so we’ll leave it here for you!
Nehemiah’s prayer over Jerusalem
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It happened in the month of Quisleu, in the twentieth year, when I was in Susa, the capital of the kingdom,
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came with some men of Judah, and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and about Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant, they that are left of the captivity, there in the province, are in great evil and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for some days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
5 And I said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the mighty, the great, and the terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keepest his commandments;
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee day and night for the children of Israel thy servants: and I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: yea, I and my father’s house have sinned.
7 We have done exceedingly corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and judgments, which thou gavest unto Moses thy servant.
8 Remember now the word which thou gavest unto Moses thy servant, saying, If ye sin, I will scatter you among the people;
9 But if you will turn to me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though your dispersion be unto the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather you from thence, and will bring you unto the place which I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there.
10 They therefore are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy mighty hand.
11 I beseech thee, O LORD, let thine ear now be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to reverence thy name; now grant thy servant good success, and give him favor in the sight of that man. Because I served as cupbearer to the king.
Who was Nehemiah in the Bible?
Nehemiah lived in the Near East during the time of the Babylonian captivity. Babylonian captivity the Jews suffered after being driven from their homes by this empire.
Jerusalem had been destroyed and, as you have been able to read in this chapter of Nehemiah 1, our protagonist today feels a deep sadness at the realization. In a prayer he expresses his willingness to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and renew a Jewish society that had suffered greatly.
In fact, his life was dedicated to it. Nehemiah traveled to Israel and set out to rebuild the city walls, leading a group of fellow citizens who were loyal to him. It was not an easy task, since some of the enemies wanted to prevent it at all costs.
In summary, Nehemiah was one of the last leaders of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, in a rather dark time when their religion, and when their religion, and therefore ours, were about to disappear, being saved by the arrival of Jesus on Earth.
Book of Nehemiah
Taking a general look at the book to which today’s chapter belongs, we will see what the Book of Nehemiah consists of, what its importance is and all the characteristics that make it a unique work and worthy of belonging to the Bible.
You will find Nehemiah at the end of the Old Testament, along with the other historical books and just behind Ezra. In fact, there is an intimate relationship between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Formerly, they were a single volume, since they narrate consecutive historical periods that can almost be explained without discontinuity.
Focusing on this book now, its format is mostly a memoir, but it is also a memoir written by Nehemiah himself at the end of his days. However, between chapters 8 and 12, the chronological narrative is interrupted by Ezra’s reading of the Law of Moses.
Experts consider a great historical value great historical value to this book, apart from the great spiritual value it already has in itself. Nehemiah is said to be a reliable source of information and a book with which to study the history of that time.
To better understand the content of Nehemiah, we leave you with a video summary, very good and short enough that you will definitely like it. We recommend you take a look at it to have everything clear!
Historical context of Nehemiah 1
To conclude this introduction to the Book of Nehemiah, we will understand the historical context in which it was written, so that you already have all the information available in your hand.
The events leading up to Nehemiah date back to about 600 B.C., when the Jewish people are punished by God for breaking the covenant sealed by Moses and the Babylonian empire invades Israel, destroying the capital Jerusalem and its temple.
This was followed by decades of captivity in Babylon which you can find narrated in prophetic books such as Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel as well as in 1 and 2 Chronicles from very different perspectives.
When the Persians conquered Babylon in about 538 B.C. The Jews were able to return to their homes, although not all of them did. This part is narrated in Ezra, the first leader after the exile and who managed to restore the temple and reinstate the Law of Moses.
Years after this first wave of Israelites returning to their homes, it was the turn of Nehemiah’s turn and all that we have already told you in the previous section.
You must understand that the Jews of that time were quite desolate after years in captivity, and faith in God hung in the balance. Ezra and Nehemiah managed to raise spirits a little and restore hope, even though it was not until Jesus that the Lord was once again fully present in the hearts of the people.
With this beautiful feeling in the body, we end today’s article on Nehemiah 1 and all the content related to it. As you have seen, biblical history harbors very interesting lessons that help us to be more prepared in our lives.
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