In Nehemiah and the Wall, we saw Nehemiah’s great leadership at work, stirring up a passive and floundering people to act, quickly accomplishing what had long been languishing. He also ushered in numerous reforms and ignited a spiritual revival.
Yet he lacked one thing. He did not train a replacement.
After leading his people for 12 years, Nehemiah returned to Babylon. The people quickly forgot all he had taught them and reverted to their old ways. Specifically:
- They allowed foreigners access to the temple
- The Levites were not receiving their assigned portions of food and provision, so they left Jerusalem (effectively, they quit their job)
- The people were working and trading on the Sabbath
- The men married foreign wives
These were all prohibited by the Law of Moses, which under Nehemiah’s leadership, the people had agreed to follow. But he left and they forget.
Although they still enjoyed the physical protection of the city wall that they had rebuilt, they retained little else. Nehemiah needed to return and straighten them out – again. Even then, there is no mention that he trained a successor.
Sometimes, even the best of people fail to learn from their mistakes.
[See Nehemiah 13.]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
