The Lodestar

The report of the “trouble and shame” that those who returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile were experiencing made Nehemiah mourn for days, fast and pray (Neh 1:1—3). About 42,630 people, besides their servants, had returned in the first wave of exile in 538 B.C. (Ezra 2:64-65). There were subsequent waves of migration over approximately 90 years, culminating in Nehemiah's arrival in Jerusalem as the Persian governor of the province of Judaea in 445 B.C.

The Persian court, where he held the envious position of the “cupbearer to the king”, was home for Nehemiah. In all likelihood, Nehemiah was not a captive from Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, but he was born in captivity. There are no clues that Nehemiah had ever been to Jerusalem before he came back to repair the broken walls of Jerusalem.

Given this historical background, it makes one wonder why Nehemiah wept over his ancestors’ land and the condition of the people there. People who had left their homelands for a better life abroad, and their children and grandchildren, made those countries their home. Some became successful businessmen, political personalities and even heads of governments in the host country. For example, the former PM of the UK, Rishi Sunak and the former Vice President of the US, Kamala Harris, both have Indian ancestry. Unlike Nehemiah, they are least concerned about the affairs of their ancestors’ distant lands. Their primary commitment is to the countries that they have made their home.

But though geographically distant, the Biblical heroes kept the fire of their spiritual heritage burning in their hearts. Moses, adopted by the royal family in Egypt and raised as an Egyptian royal, knew he did not really belong there. That is what made him deal with the Egyptian who was assaulting a Hebrew (Exodus 2:11—12). The duel might have appeared to be between two Egyptians, since Moses was probably dressed as a native.

Similarly, Daniel was passionate about his spiritual heritage, even when serving as a high official in the Babylonian empire. He followed the divine commandments even in his diet. He prayed regularly, looking toward the holy city of Jerusalem, though it was in ruins (Daniel 6:10).

Nehemiah was like many godly people in the past, who lived with a longing for God's presence and the welfare of God’s people. They lived with a zeal that consumed them as the psalmists put it: “For zeal for your house has consumed me” (Psalms 69:9). They refused to forget the city and the temple of God: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!”(Psalms 137:5).

Persistent hunger and thirst for God and his presence is also a mark of Christ’s followers who belong to the kingdom above. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). So we must live pressing “on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

May the Lord grant us the grace to make a conscious effort to live with zeal for God’s purposes, allowing this passion to influence our decisions, priorities, and witness to others.

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