Nehemiah Bible Study Lesson Snippet
Understanding the nature of the fall
Neh 1:1-3 - The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. And they said to me, 'The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.'
The book of Nehemiah begins then, where any true salvation or revival has to start - with a realization of your spiritual condition. Nehemiah, asking of the Jews, and of Jerusalem's condition was told, "The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire." Lets pause for a moment and think of what this picture means. Out of the whole world, God had chosen but one nation - Israel. This nation was chosen to be his people, display his glory and bring understanding and light to the other nations of the world. The rest of the world was, and is, as John tells us "in the power of the evil one." (1 John 5.19). The whole world was in spiritual darkness, blinded by the god of this age. (2 Cor 4.4) Their only hope came in the form of a small nation called Israel, who alone had the knowledge of the true God. And this nation was now completely destroyed! Broken and burnt to the ground, there now remained no walls of salvation, no gates to enter Gods presence and no visible sign of the living God on earth! It was Satan's day as the entire world was in his control.
This scenario speaks of more than just Jerusalem 2500 years ago. It speaks to us today of our own state, both to those who have not known the Lord and to those who have become Christians, yet who have let their walls of salvation get broken down and now find themselves in this same distressed state. We will examine this further later on, but for now I would just like to draw your attention to the depths of the fall of mankind and the predicament in which the world is left in.