Nehemiah

Nehemiah 6: Finished in fifty-two days

Begin in prayer

Before we hear the enemies' plots against the work, we ask for God's help. Please ask Him to make us unafraid, and to show our family Jesus, who finished the work His Father gave Him.

Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Psalm 118:6

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You finish Your work, and help us to see Jesus who finished His. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The wall is built with no gap left, though the doors are not yet set in the gates, and Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem are angry. Four times they ask Nehemiah to meet them in the plain of Ono, but they mean to harm him. Nehemiah answers each time that he is doing a great work and cannot come down. The fifth time, Sanballat's open letter says Nehemiah wants to be king, and Nehemiah says they imagine it. He prays, “strengthen my hands.” A man named Shemaiah, hired by Tobiah and Sanballat, tries to frighten Nehemiah into the temple, but Nehemiah sees that God had not sent him. On the twenty-fifth day of Elul the wall is finished, in fifty-two days, and the nations see that God did the work.

As you read Nehemiah 6, look for the answers:

• What do the enemies ask Nehemiah to do, and what does he answer? (verses 2 and 3)
• What does Nehemiah pray when the enemies try to frighten the builders? (verse 9)
• What do the nations understand when the wall is finished? (verses 15 and 16)

Reflect together

Key truth

God finished the wall, and even the nations around saw that the work was His.

In chapter 6 the enemies try to call Nehemiah away, then to accuse him, then to frighten him. Sanballat and Geshem ask him to meet on the plain of Ono, but they intend to harm him (verse 2). Nehemiah answers that he is doing a great work, so the work stays (verse 3). The open letter says he wants to be king and threatens to report him to the king (verses 6 and 7). Nehemiah prays, “strengthen my hands” (verse 9), so the strength he asks for is God's. A hired prophet says to shut the temple doors for safety. Nehemiah sees that God had not sent him (verses 10 to 12). The wall is finished in fifty-two days, and the nations perceive that “this work was done by our God” (verses 15 and 16). Jesus was also accused before a king (Luke 23 verse 2), and He finished the work His Father gave Him (John 17 verse 4).

How does Nehemiah 6 show us that God finished the wall, and even the nations around saw that the work was His?

The enemies call him away, and he keeps working.

Four times they ask him to come to Ono, and he answers that the work is great (verses 2 to 4). Their plan is to harm him. Then an open letter says he wants to be king (verses 5 to 7). Nehemiah says they imagine it out of their own hearts (verse 8).

He asks God to strengthen his hands.

The enemies wanted the builders afraid and their hands weak (verse 9). Nehemiah turns the fear into prayer. A hired prophet urges him into the temple, and Nehemiah sees that God did not send the man (verses 10 to 13). A word that leads God's servant into sin is not from God.

God finishes the wall, and the nations see His hand.

The wall is finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days (verse 15). The nations are afraid, because they see “this work was done by our God” (verse 16). Jesus also finished the work the Father gave Him, and on the cross He said it was finished (John 19 verse 30).

Memorise

all the nations that were around us were afraid, and they lost their confidence; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

Nehemiah 6:16

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, whose strength am I trusting, and do I need Jesus to save me?

Nehemiah prayed, “strengthen my hands,” and God finished the wall. The enemies saw it and understood that “this work was done by our God.”

A greater work needed finishing. Our sin separates us from God, and no wall of ours can keep it out. Jesus lived without sin, and the world lied about Him and accused Him before a king. Yet He went to the cross for His people, and He took their sin and its judgment on Himself. When He cried that it was finished, His one sacrifice paid for His people, and it is enough. On the third day the Father raised Him up.

So do not trust your own hands. Come to Him. Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who trusts Him is made clean, and the work stays finished.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God finishes what He begins, and that Jesus finished the work of saving sinners on the cross. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He finishes His work, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, and each one may ask God for help with something they find hard.

Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.

Isaiah 26:12

Lord, thank You that You finish Your work. Thank You for Jesus, who finished the work of saving sinners. When people lie or frighten us, help us to pray as Nehemiah did, and lead each of us to trust Him. Amen.