We are to care for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. No man is an island (Romans 14:7). We are to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Certainly, we are not to take financial advantage of other in their times of need.
Some say that prophecy is too hard to understand. Everyone interprets the Bible differently and there is no correct way to interpret prophecy. This is not true. As in everything else, God gives us the guidance to understand the prophecy that He wrote.
The people had agreed to build the wall, but now the work had to be done. Nehemiah organizes his workers around the wall of the city and they begin to work. However, they had not gotten far before opposition came. Sanballat and Tobiah mocked them and when that did not work, they planned a surprise attack on the workers. When Nehemiah heard of their plans, he organized the people to fight. But the work did not stop for long. Soon, the people went back to work with weapons ready in case they needed to fight. The wall would be finished.
Haman has been destroyed and the Jews have been delivered. That which was the cause for great sorrow has become an occasion of great gladness. This working of God in things that are thought of as chance must be celebrated. We must remember what kind of a God we have.
The first return is a trip into the fog. They do not know exactly what will greet them. They do not fully know the condition of the land. The journey of hundreds of miles will take them weeks to complete. Yet they go because they have a higher purpose in mind. They go to rebuild God’s holy temple and to reestablish the true worship of God in God’s chosen city of Jerusalem. They go also to replant the land given to their father Abraham.
