The old city walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, along with the temple, by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 600 BC, and the city was reduced to rubble. God’s people were marched out of the city and taken to Babylon. A few decades later, Nehemiah was used by God to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. Nehemiah, alongside the prophet Ezra, restored the physical city of Jerusalem and the spiritual condition of Israel as the people returned from Babylon to inhabit their city again.
Jerusalem’s ancient walls are a tangible reminder of the holy city’s eventful history. Middle Eastern superpowers kept trying to get their hands on it. The Assyrians made a failed attempt around 700 BC, but in 586 BC, the Babylonians succeeded.
Those living in Jerusalem who escaped with their lives were deported to Babylon. Some 70 years later, their descendants were allowed to return as Persia defeated Babylon and took control of the region. Back in their homeland, people found Jerusalem still in ruins. Nehemiah, the Jewish cupbearer to the Persian King Artaxerxes I, wept for the city, prayed that God would move the king to let him go to rebuild it, and had his wish granted.
Despite opposition from Gentile local officials, the project succeeded. Nehemiah followed God’s call to rebuild Jerusalem; it was left to a man named Ezra to rebuild the spiritual foundations of Judaism.
When was the last time you were moved deeply by the condition of others? Our world of 24-hour news and social media feeds can lead to compassion fatigue. Regular virtual exposure to suffering can cause our hearts to harden and our compassion to wane.
Living a rather cushy life in a well-paid job, Nehemiah, a Jew in exile, heard news of the state of Jerusalem’s walls. Nehemiah didn’t have to get involved in the troubles of his homeland, but his heart was so attuned to the promises of God that he could not but weep when he heard of Jerusalem being in ruins. Do we weep for our city? Our world? Ruin and rubble are all around, but are we too comfortable to do something about it?
That’s the thing with compassion: it leads you to do something! Risking everything for a ruin, Nehemiah saw not just the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls but also its spiritual renewal. May God cause us to weep, so that we may take risks for the ruins that need rebuilding around us.
Read on, to find out more about the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Jewish people return from Babylonian exile:
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