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AN OVERVIEW OF NEHEMIAH (1 OF 13)

by Keith Krell

This content is part of a series.


Sermon Title: "An Overview of Nehemiah"
Sermon Series: Rebuild and Renew (1 of 13)
Author: Keith Krell

THE PURPOSE: To demonstrate God's faithfulness through the physical rebuilding and dedication of the wall (cf. Zephaniah 3:19-20; Haggai 2:1-9). Nehemiah was written to show the hand of God (2:18) in the establishment of the Jewish people in their homeland following their exile. God revives His people so that they have the clarity, conviction, and courage to pray and act as the people of God for the glory God.

THE THEME: Rebuilding the broken wall and renewing the broken covenant.

THE AUTHOR: The likely author is Nehemiah who introduces himself and his times in 1:1-3. The use of the first-person is rather unusual in historical narrative. In fact, Nehemiah is the only historical book written primarily in the first-person (1:1-7:5; 12:27-13:31). Some believe the third-person sections (7:6-12:26; 12:44-13:2) were written by Ezra since Nehemiah was in Babylon during these events (13:6). Others believe that Ezra wrote both Nehemiah and Ezra because in the Hebrew Bible Ezra and Nehemiah are not two books but one. It is possible that Ezra compiled Nehemiah's original accounts with other material to create the book of Nehemiah or that an editor reworked the final form.

DATE AND SETTING: The historical setting is the last half of the ancient Hebrew book of Ezra-Nehemiah written about 445 B.C. to 425 B.C. Ezra and Nehemiah were contemporaries (8:2, 9) who served God in different capacities: Ezra as priest; Nehemiah as governor (5:14). The book begins in the capital of Persia, Susa, which is now southwest Iran. The book of Nehemiah continues the history of the Jewish people who returned from exile.

KEY VERSES: Nehemiah 6:15-16: "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And it came about when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized t ...

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