What makes the difference between success and failure? (Neh 6:15-7:5)

Despite badgering, opposition, tactics to frighten the workers, discredit their leader and forcibly stop the project, the breaches have been filled and the Jerusalem wall now stands, less than two months after the project began (Neh 6:15). This is a phenomenal achievement, especially when we remember how long the temple building took when it faced similar opposition in Ezra. What made the difference to Nehemiah’s success?

God’s hand

First, Nehemiah sees God’s hand in all this and knows that the people groups in the region recognise it too (Neh 6:16). If failure in the ancient world is a reflection on the weakness of a god, then success shows his strength. Indeed, given the relentless campaign against Nehemiah, especially by those loyal to Tobiah (Neh 6:17-19), such a venture could only succeed with God’s help.[1]

Trust and prayer

While both the temple and the wall building were God’s will and we would therefore expect His help in both, the former faltered before it could succeed, while the latter seemed unstoppable taking even the enemy by surprise. The difference is in the attitude of the people and Nehemiah’s leadership. Throughout the process, he trusted God, reminded the people of His faithfulness, and prayed to Him in times of need. In fact, his reflections of the events are peppered with prayers. His engagement with God is an active and vital part of the story and surely, it is the result of this intimate relationship that he is strengthened (Neh 6:9), given insight into tricky situations (Neh 6:12) and is prompted to act (Neh 7:5).

Practical steps – leaders, guards and taking stock of the people

On the flipside of Nehemiah’s trusting relationship with God are the practical steps he takes throughout. In today’s reading, his actions safeguard the advantage already gained. Thus, he delegates the leadership of Jerusalem to trustworthy and capable people. One is his brother, Hanani, whose report about the walls led to Nehemiah’s involvement (Neh 1:2), the other, Hananiah (Neh 7:2). The latter had military experience as commander of the fortress (probably the one attached to the temple grounds on its northwest corner). Moreover, he was a godly man (fear of God) and one with integrity (literally ‘a man of truth/faithfulness’, v.2). Thus, in Nehemiah’s choice, we see once again the combination of down-to-earth practicality and spiritual qualities.

Nehemiah also ensures that the gates remain closed during siesta time (the Hebrew is better translated ‘while the sun is hot’), which is a particularly vulnerable period when most are sleepy (Neh 7:3). Further, he organises guards for the gates and appoints inhabitants to watch the section of the wall where they live (v.3), again harnessing personal interests to support the cause (see my post How to work together well).

Finally, given the sparse population in Jerusalem (Neh 7:4) God prompts him to take stock of the families in the land (likely in preparation for the resettlement effort), which is also aided by his discovery of the genealogies of the early settlers (Neh 7:5). The list already known from Ezra 2 is reproduced here and reminds readers of how the story began in Cyrus’ time, as well as points towards the next chapters that focus on the renewal of the people after the physical structures are in place.

Practical piety

Many stories in the Bible emphasise trust in God and faithfulness to Him as the most important qualities for success, and rightly so. God indeed can overcome our limitations and the Bible is full of stories like that. Nevertheless, we can sometimes overemphasise our inadequacies to the point where we are frozen into inactivity and might well wonder why God created us with particular abilities if He always gives us jobs that we are useless at! Nehemiah’s story encourages us that God gives us tasks in line with our gifts, though they are bigger than we can cope with and, sometimes, there are limitations in our makeup that reveal our weakness and God’s strength. Most importantly, we can learn from Nehemiah’s handling of the wall building a practical piety, where trust in God goes hand-in-hand with sensible steps to get things done.

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[1] Tobiah is described earlier as an Ammonite (Neh 2:10), although his name suggests some connection to Israel’s God (-iah in a name is a shortened form of Yahweh much like -el in Samuel refers to Elohim). Perhaps he considered himself a worshipper of Yahweh (like those who approached the temple builders in Ezra 4:2). Tobiah’s wife was from a prominent family that returned to Judah with the early settlers (Ezra 2:5; Neh 6:18) and his son married into Meshullam’s family, who worked on the wall and thus supported Nehemiah’s project (Neh 3:4, 30). It is uncertain what is meant by the oath that bound many to Tobiah (v.18), but overall the situation points to the recurring issue of intermarriage with people who did not have God’s goals at heart, which created conflicting loyalties.

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