Reading for December 6th

Read Nehemiah 2.17-20. In 2.17-20: Nehemiah's decree to the people and opposition to the project. Just as the previous section introduced Nehemiah's determination to fulfill the commision given him, and introduced the main personalities who would oppose him, this section brings the community into the picture by Nehemiah's leadership, yet notes the opposition. In verse 17: Then I said to them: The whole community, as defined in v. 16. Disgrace was a term often associated with the Exile as God's punishment of the community, in other words, the refortification of the city would finally put to an end the negative results of God's punishment of the community. In verse 18: They committed themselves to the common good: Just as Ezra had found a willingness to undertake the difficult task of separation from the surrounding poples, Nehemiah finds the community ready to undertake rebuilding the walls. In verse 19: Geshem the Arab is a new figure among the opponents, thought to be the governor of a region in the Shephelah with an adminsitrative center at Lachish. Are you rebelling against your king? would be a normal assumption about the effort to rebuild a city's fortifications since it would provide the means to defy imperial power. It is a hallow taunt since Nehemiah was directly commissioned by the imperial court. In verse 20: You have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem was a stinging rebuke to his opponents that essentially undercut their intrusion into Nehemiah's admisnistrative affairs. THe expression strongly parallels the rejection of help from "adversaries" in rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 4.3), joining the theme of reestablishing the "house of God" to the rebuilding of the walls. Comments or Questions..