NEHEMIAH, whose name this book bears, and who was now advanced to the government of Judah and Jerusalem, was a very religious and most excellent man, and remarkably raised up by God, and peculiarly qualified for that eminent sta­tion. The temper and conduct of a disinterested pa­triot, a true lover of his country, and of a wise, vigi­lant and upright ruler and magistrate, appears conspi­cuous in his example, and through all parts of his public administration.

HE was sent to Jerusalem out of his captivity by Artaxerxes the King, (to whom he had been cup-bearer) in the twentieth year of his reign. The office of cup-bearer was a place of great honor and advantage in the Persian court, because of the privilege it gave him of being so much in the King's presence, and the oppor­tunity he had thereby of gaining his favor, for the obtaining any petition which he should make to him, and the promoting his own interest. The Artaxerxes here mentioned is but another name for Ahasuerus, [Page 4] who married Esther a Jewish captive, and made her his queen, after repudiating Vashti. And probably it was by the favour of queen Esther, as being of the same na­tion and people with her, that he obtained so honoura­ble and advantageous a preferment in that court.

HOWEVER, neither the honor and advantage of the place, nor the long settlement of his family out of his country, could make him forget his love for it, or lay aside that zeal which he had for the religion of his forefathers who had formerly dwelt in it. For though he had been born and bred in a strange land; yet he had a great love for Zion, and was heartily engaged to exert himself for the prosperity of it, and was in all things a very religious observer of the law of God. And therefore, when some came from Jerusalem, and told him of the ill state of that city, how the wall of it was broken down, and the gates of it in the same de­molished state as when burnt with fire by the Babyloni­ans; and that by reason hereof the remnant of the captivity that dwelt there lay open, not only to the incursions and insults of their enemies, but also to the reproach and contempt of their neighbours, as a weak and despicable people; and that they were in both these respects in great affliction and grief of heart; the good man being suitably moved with this representa­tion, applied himself in fasting and prayer unto the Lord his God, and earnestly made supplication to him for Israel his people, and for the place which he had chosen for his worship among them. And having thus implored the divine mercy against this evil, he resolv­ed next to make his application to the King for the redressing of it, trusting in God for the inclining of his heart thereto: and therefore when his turn came next to wait in his office, the King observing his countenance to be sad, which had not been so before in his presence, says to him, "Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart." "Then [Page 5] (says Nehemiah) I was sore afraid, and said unto the King, Let the King live forever. Why should not my coun­tenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers sepul­chres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?" He took this opportunity to lay before him the distressed state of his country; and owning this to be a cause of great grief and sadness to him, he prayed the King to send him thither to remedy it: and by the favour of Queen Esther (it seems) he had his petition granted him; for it being particularly remarked in the sacred text, that the Queen was sitting by the King when Nehemiah obtained the grant, it sufficiently inti­mates that her favour was assisting to him herein. And accordingly a royal decree was issued out for rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem, and Nehemiah was sent thither with it, as governor of the province of Judea, to put it in execution. And for his greater honor and security, the King sent a guard of horse, under the command of some of the captains of his army, to escort him to his government. And he wrote letters to all the governors on this side the river Euphrates, to further him in the work on which he was sent; and also gave or­der to Asaph the keeper of his forests in those parts, to al­low him so much timber out of them, as should be need­ed for the finishing of it. However, the Ammonites, the Moabites and the Samaritans, and other neighbouring nations round, did all they could to obstruct his design and defeat his enterprise. And to this they were ex­cited, not only by the antient and bitter enmity which those people bore to the whole Jewish nation, because of the different manners and different religions they were of; but most especially at this time, because of their lands and property: for during the time that the Jews were in captivity, these nations having seized their lands and the interest they had left in the coun­try, would be forced to restore and refund them, upon the re-establishment and prosperity of the Jews there. [Page 6] For which reason they did all they could to oppose their re-settlement: hoping that if they could be kept low, or quite depressed, they might retain the prey they were in danger of loosing, and regain any which they had already lost.

BUT Nehemiah was not at all discouraged hereat, but put his trust in heaven, and made his prayer to the God of his Salvation. And having on his arrival at Jerusalem, made known to the people the commission with which he was sent, he took a view of the ruins of the old walls, and immediately began to repair them. And the work was carried on with amazing rapidity and success, notwithstanding all manner of opposition was made against him both from within, and from with­out. For from within several false prophets and other treacherous persons, under the influence of a wicked heart, set agoing by the force of bribery and corrupti­on, endeavoured to create him obstructions; and, from without, Sanballat, the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammorite, Geshem the Arabian, and others, gave him all the dis­turbance they were able, not only by underhand deal­ings and treacherous tricks and contrivances, but also by open force; so that while part of the people labour­ed in carrying on the building, the other part stood to their arms to defend them against the assaults of such as had designs against them. And all had their arms at hand even while they worked, to be ready at a sig­nal given, to draw together at any part where the ene­my should be discovered coming upon them. And by this means, through the divine blessing, they secur­ed themselves against all the attempts and designs of their enemies, till the work was nearly brought to a conclusion, to their own great joy, and the extreme mortification of their adversaries. Then Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, sent to Nehemiah to come along with them into the field, (as it seems under a pretence) that there they might enter into an alliance together, and [Page 7] swear inviolable friendship to each other: but Nehemiah perceived that this was only a stratagem to surprize him, and do him some violence. He therefore sent word that he was engaged in a great work which re­quired his constant attendance, and which he could not intermit upon any account. They sent him the same invitation four times over, and he as often returned the same answer. At last Sanballat wrote to him in terms of the following purport, ‘There is a report spread among the people, and Gashmu (which is the same with Geshem, only differently spelt) confidently af­firms it, that you and the Jews intend a revolt—that your design in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, is to declare yourself King of the Jews—that with this view have suborned prophets to suggest to the peo­ple that you ought to be the King of the whole coun­try. Now as all these things are to be represented to the King, it will be convenient for you to give us a meeting, that we may confer together about them.’ But instead of going to them himself, he sends this short and cutting answer to all his insidious insinuations and lying slanders, "There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart," they are all of your own invention, and have nothing of truth in them. And while he repre­sents their enemies as endeavouring to intimidate them, and plotting obstructions to the work, he piously be­takes himself to God, in prayer, for persevering and increasing fortitude;—while their enemies endeavour to weaken their hands from the work, he dutifully looks to God to strengthen them. "For (says he) they all made us afraid, (i. e. did all they could to intimidate us) saying their hands shall be weakened from the work that it be not done. Now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

THE words thus introduced and explained in their connection with the context, afford these two doctrinal observations, viz.

• [Page 8]I. THAT wicked and intriguing men sometimes make use of the fictions and falshoods of their own hearts to hinder the lawful and laudable enter­prizes of a people, and obstruct their prosperity. And,
• II. THAT it is the duty of a people who are thus falsly and wickedly dealt with by their enemies, for their intimidation and hurt, to look to God by prayer to strengthen their hands—to grant them the fortitude and wisdom they need to coun­teract and baffle the insidious and malicious de­signs of their enemies. We observe then,

I. THAT wicked and intriguing men sometimes make use of the fictions and falshoods of their own hearts to hinder the lawful and laudable enterprizes of a people, and obstruct their prosperity.

THE corrupt hearts of fallen mankind, when not restrained or sanctified by the grace of God, are capable of being influenced to any measures or means, however wicked and guilty, and how much soever they finally tend to the real infamy and wretchedness of themselves, or the hurt and injury of others. Pride is naturally a predominant sinful lust in them, and therefore pre­eminence and superiority a very ruling passion: and to gratify their guilty pride and ambition, they stick at no measures, lawful or unlawful in themselves; but rush through, right or wrong, and make use of truth or falshood, just as their vain minds imagine will make most for their purposes. To these sinful lusts and pro­pensities are owing all the wars and fightings that have ever been known among mankind, and all the blood unjustly shed from the death of righteous Abel, to the last sufferer, murdered by the hand of cruelty and vio­lence. To oppress others and exalt themselves, to ac­complish the designs of despotic sway, all their inventi­on is put to the stretch, all their efforts used to frame and execute plans and schemes of deceit, plots of slavish [Page 9] subjection to their caprice; and all the arts of lying in­trigue, and force of lawless power are called to their aid, and every scene of violence, rapine, and murder is acted over.

SANBALLAT the chief or governor of the Hittites or Samaritans was always a great enemy to the Jews. He was a native of Horon, or Horonius, a city beyond Jordon, in the country of the Moabites When Nehemiah first came and began to build the walls of Jerusalem, San­ballat, Tobiah, and Geshem made themselves sport with him, and affected to treat the matter with ridicule and contempt, and sent to him and the Jews who were with him to know upon what authority he undertook this enterprize, and whether this was not a revolt or rebellion against the King. But Nehemiah answered "it is the God of Heaven that assists us, we are his servants, but ye have no portion, nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem." And such was their envy and malice, that notwith­standing all their pretended ridicule and scorn! The sacred history informs us "it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel." But as Nehemiah proceeded with vigor in his undertaking, and as Sanballat heard (says the sacred historian) "that we builded the wall, he was wroth and took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Smaria, and said, what do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Amonite was by him, and he said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." But this method of scorn­ful treatment and reproach not answering the design in discouraging the Jews, and they proceeding with engagedness and perseverance in their undertaking, and having nearly compleated the work, "it came to pass that when Samballat and Tobiah, and the Arabians, [Page 10] Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Je­rusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hin­der it." But their attempts to injure and oppress the people, and put an end to their enterprize, by open violence and force, proving abortive, they then recur to the most wicked, deceitful, and malicious fictions and stratagems, to accomplish their designs.

IN the first place they endeavour to decoy Nehemiah, into their power, under feigned pretensions of real con­cern and friendship for him; and for this end repeat their invitation to him four times, thinking to do him mischief; but he being apprized of their mischevious plot as often excused himself from meeting them, on account of the greatness and importance of the work he was engaged in.

THEN Sanballat sent his servant to him the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; the letter was sent open, doubtless on purpose to let any see or hear it, discretionarily, whom it might probably influence into their evil measures; or in order to unhinge and terrify the minds of the people, and, by tampering with them, weaken the hands of Nehemiah. The purport of the letter was that he and the people designed to rebel, and make him king; and that to pave the way for this, he had appointed prophets to preach of himself at Je­rusalem, saying, there is a king in Judah; and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore let us take council toge­ther! He intended, and no doubt expected that this letter, if it had no other effect, yet should bring on an interview between them, in which he might do him a mischief. The notice which Nehemiah took and the improvement he made of it we have in the text. "Then I sent unto him, saying, there are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart [Page 11] For they all made us afraid, saying, their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. New there­fore, O God, strengthen my hands." He was next attack­ed by a certain false prophet named Shemaiah, whom Sanballat and Tobiah had gained over to their interest and hired for the purpose, and who would have intimi­dated him, advising him to shut himself up in the tem­ple, to prevent any attempt upon his life; but Nehe­miah by his great prudence avoided falling into the snare; and in his treatment of this insidious false pro­phet he discovers the most delicate sense of true honor, and gives the most signal proof of true courage and bravery. Hear his own account of the matter. "Af­terward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mahetabell who was shut up; and he said let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said should such a man as I flee? And who is there that be­ing as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And lo I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me; for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My GOD think thou of Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

IT is very common, as in the account now read, for wicked and intriguing men, out of pure malice and fiction to charge those crimes and faults upon others, which they themselves only are guilty of. Thus these same men who had accused Nehemiah of suborning pro­phets to preach him up for a king, without foundation, had themselves roundly bribed others to prophecy false­ly against him and use all their influence to intimidate him and hinder the good work in which he was engag­ed. [Page 12] But the work was of God, and was therefore soon completed notwithstanding all their malicious opposi­tion. "And it came to pass (says the sacred historian) that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things they were much cast down in their own eyes! for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God." And thus always shall the ene­mies of God and his people sooner or later find all their wicked and hurtful schemes and efforts against them defeated to their own intire shame and debase­ment.

ONE method of intriguing against and opposing the rebuilding Jerusalem under the administration of Nehe­miah, and keeping the body of the Jews in a state of slavish subjection and oppression is yet to be mentioned according to the account we have of it in the end of the chapter containing the text; and that is, abusive and injurious letter-writing. The sacred historian men­tions it in the following words: "Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son-in law of Sheckaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had tak­en the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berekiah. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear." This Tobiah was an Ammonite, and an inveterate enemy to the Jews; and was of great consideration in the law of the Samaritans, of which he was governor with Sanbal­lat. He married the daughter of Shechaniah one of the principal Jews of Jerusalem, and by his own and his son's marriage and family connections there, had a powerful party in Jerusalem itself, which were opposite to that of Nehemiah, and to the true interest of the Jewish nation. But this prudent governor by his wis­dom, moderation and perseverance, defeated all their machinations, though they carried on a most crafty [Page 13] and intriguing correspondence by letters, with their own party, in which the good deeds of Tobiah were ex­tolled and reported to Nehemiah; and by the same par­ty the words of Nehemiah were sent back to him, and all in order to gain him over to the interest of their party; and Tobiah himself wrote letters directly to him to put him in fear, and intimidate him into their mea­sures; but to his immortal honor he was proof against all their practices of intrigue and corruption, and his name remains forever embalmed in the providence of God, as a most renowned patriot, and deliverer of his country.

A COPY of a letter wrote to the king by the crafty intriguing enemies of the Jews we have at large in the fourth chapter of Ezra beginning at the eleventh verse. This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even un­to Artaxerxes the king, Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us, are come unto Je­rusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls there of, and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. Now because we have maintenance from the kings palace, and it was not meet for us to see the kings dishonour: therefore have we sent and certified the king, That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, & that they have moved sedition within the fame of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. We certifie the king, that if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river. This letter contains the genuine spirit of self interested placemen and designing courtiers, and is full of servile adulation and flattery to the king, and pre­tended [Page 14] zeal for the honour, interest, and pre [...] of the crown; and of vile insinuations, aspersions [...] accusations respecting the Jews, and some truth [...] mingled with falsehood as they thought would best an­swer the end.

AND it had such an effect, through the permission of divine providence, as to induce the king to send his express command that the purpose of the letter should be carried into execution: and the letter-writers them­selves and their companions had orders to see this done, which doubtless they undertook with a malicious kind of pleasure: and the sacred text says, "they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Then ceased the work of the house of GOD which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of Darius king of Persia." They were permitted to put a stop to the Jews for a season; but it was only for a season: for the work was of God, and after a short time it was revived, and under the administra­tion of Nehemiah completed. The work the Jews were engaged in was a lawful and laudable work, for the religious and civil interest of their nation and country; and those who opposed them were guilty of great wick­edness; and though God's professing people of Israel highly deserved, on account of their own sins, much more than they met with, as coming from the hand of a righteous God, yet they deserved not such treatment from their fellowmen. Neither are the ill deserts of the Jews at the hand of God, any justification of their enemies in their evil designs against them, nor do they make them e'er the less guilty in the sight of heaven.

THE infinitely wise and good God, makes use of wicked men as he pleases, to answer his divine pur­poses, and often taketh the wise ones of this world in their own craftiness; and over rules all their designs and conduct for his own glory, and the good of his people [...] [Page 15] upon all the impenitents, for all the designs and efforts of their malice and wickedness, whether carried on in a more secret, confidential, and underhand intriguing man­ner, or managed by more open force and violence.

AND thus there have been and still are wicked and intriguing men in the world, that make use of the fictions and falshoods of their own hearts to hinder the lawful and laudable enterprises of a people, and ob­struct their prosperity.

And we go on to observe,

II. THAT it is the duty of a people who are thus falsely and wickedly dealt with by their enemies, for their intimidation and hurt, to look to God by prayers to strengthen their hands, to grant them the fortitude and wisdom they need to counteract and baffle the in­sidious and malicious designs of their enemies.

To this duty good Nehemiah the people under his government, when thus attacked by their perfidi­ous enemies: "Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands." Every good and perfect gift cometh from God; strength of body and soundness of mind, the pos­session of one's own soul, courage, bravery, and forti­tude, all manly and useful efforts and enterprises, all exertions and all success intirely depend upon, and are derived from him in whom we live and move and have our being. His favour is life, and his loving kindness is better than life; and blessed and happy is that peo­ple whose God is the Lord." And it is the peculiar privilege of the visible covenant and professing people of God, when their enemies rise up against them and plot and seek their hurt, in any way whatever, that they have such direction and encouragement, humbly to look to God by prayer for all the help and salvation they need, for deliverance from, or victory over their enemies. And he who is infinite in wisdom, and hath [...] [Page 16] designs of their enemies against them, when they duti­fully acknowledge their dependance upon him, and by repentance and prayer seek his face and favour. Their enemies are often very crafty and powerful, their in­trigues secret, their plots deep laid and full of serpen­tine subtlety, and such (as far as creatures are concern­ed) as promise and insure success: but Almighty God with infinite ease can turn all their counsels into fool­ishness, cause all their devices to issue in their own con­fusion, and the evil they meant against others to recoil upon their own heads. They may use all the arts of intimidation, but all shall be in vain, if God encou­rages the hearts and strengthens the hands of his peo­ple; and it is equally the duty and security of his peo­ple to look to him and depend upon him to encourage their hearts and strengthen their hands. At his sove­reign pleasure, "five shall chace an hundred, and an hundred put ten thousand to flight." The hearts of all men are in his hand, and he inspires them with for­titude and courage; or fills them with terror or dis­may; and succeeds or blasts their designs as he pleases; and he can "save with few as well as with many." And a people who seek to him, and put their trust and confidence in him, are always safe and secure under his Almighty protection, and shall have their hearts encouraged and their hands strengthened, and their e­nemies shall be made to flee or fall before them. And these are the directions of the word of God, Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High; and call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord." And such were the many remarkable interpositions of divine providence in favour of his an­cient people, and such their safety under the Almighty protection, that Moses but a little before his death thus [...] [Page 17] who rideth upon the heavens in thy help, and in his excellen­cy on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Happy art thou, O Israel! Who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! And the psalmist in his day piously observes in behalf of his people, If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us; then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had over whelmed us, the stream had gone ever our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Bles­sed be the Lord who hath not given us a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.