Chapter 53—The Builders on the Wall
This chapter is based on
Nehemiah 2
;
Nehemiah 3
; and
Nehemiah 4
.
Nehemiah’s journey to Jerusalem was accomplished in safety.
The royal letters to the governors of the provinces along his route
secured him honorable reception and prompt assistance. No enemy
dared molest the official who was guarded by the power of the Persian
king and treated with marked consideration by the provincial rulers.
His arrival in Jerusalem, however, with a military escort, showing
that he had come on some important mission, excited the jealousy
of the heathen tribes living near the city, who had so often indulged
their enmity against the Jews by heaping upon them injury and insult.
Foremost in this evil work were certain chiefs of these tribes, Sanballat
the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian. From
the first these leaders watched with critical eyes the movements of
Nehemiah and endeavored by every means in their power to thwart his
plans and hinder his work.
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Nehemiah continued to exercise the same caution and prudence that
had hitherto marked his course. Knowing that bitter and determined
enemies stood ready to oppose him, he concealed the nature of his
mission from them until a study of the situation should enable him to
form his plans. Thus he hoped to secure the co-operation of the people
and set them at work before the opposition of his enemies should be
aroused.
Choosing a few men whom he knew to be worthy of confidence,
Nehemiah told them of the circumstances that had led him to come
to Jerusalem, the object that he wished to accomplish, and the plans
he proposed to follow. Their interest in his undertaking was at once
enlisted and their assistance secured.
On the third night after his arrival Nehemiah rose at midnight
and with a few trusted companions went out to view for himself the
desolation of Jerusalem. Mounted on his mule, he passed from one
part of the city to another, surveying the broken-down walls and gates
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