Nehemiah 1:3 Commentary and Bible Study

News was not so frequently received, and this man and those with him told him the worst: the situation in Jerusalem. ‘There is poverty, there is trouble, there are incursions by the hostile neighbours. The prosperity has gone, everything is in pieces, and the wall of Jerusalem doesn't appear to have had any construction work done on it since Nebuchadnezzar's troops threw it down at the beginning of the long captivity in Babylon of the children of Israel. Nothing has been done to reconstruct the walls. And why the mention of the gates? ‘The gates thereof are burned with fire.’ Well gates of cities, especially walled cities, were very important in those days. They were grand; they represented the honour of that place, and if not only the walls but also the most important and symbolic gates are ruined and burned, that signifies that it has become, as one might say, a nothing city. It's of no account, no consequence. So the honour of God is torn down, and all that should have taken place with rebuilding and setting things in order hasn't happened. The temple has been rebuilt. It isn't being used as it should – Nehemiah finds even that – but nothing has been done about the wall of the city. People have built their homes, especially out in the countryside, but the state of affairs of the city is terrible.‘The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province [of Judah] are in great affliction’ – and the word is strong: tremendous trouble, under attack, physical, moral, all kinds of affliction – ‘and reproach’ – they are scorned and despised and belittled. ‘And the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down.’ Well it had been, of course, ever since the time of Nebuchadnezzar and his attacks, but it had not been reconstructed, and so they were exposed there in Jerusalem to constant intimidation and plundering. ‘And the gates thereof are burned with fire.’ So poor were they; the whole situation of the Jews was so pathetic that they hadn't even reconstructed the gates. Partly it was due to the lack of zeal on the part of the Jews, but also because they were plundered and attacked and scared, so they hadn't even put up the gates. You might say, ‘Why put up the gates if the walls broken down?’ Because the gates in those days were symbolic. You almost erected the gates before the wall. You had to indicate you were a thriving city. But the fact that the gates are still burned down all the way from the time of Nebuchadnezzar – possibly there had been some subsequent engagements with people around – this shows the shameful existence of the Jews.