The Book of Nehemiah

Word Study

"dedication," Hebrew chanukkah (חֲנֻכָּה), consecration, setting apart. The wall was not merely completed; it was "dedicated", set apart to God, chanukkah, the same word used of the temple's dedication (Ezra 6:16). What the people had built, they now solemnly gave back to God, acknowledging that it was His and for His glory. And it is worth noting that they took care to dedicate the wall to God: a wall built by human hands, yet consecrated to the Lord, acknowledging that the whole work was His and for His glory (chapter 6:16, "wrought of our God"). The wall of Jerusalem was given back to the God who built it through them.

"with gladness," be-simchah (בְּשִׂמְחָה), with joy. The dedication was to be kept "with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps." The Levites, the singers, were sought "out of all their places" and gathered for this great celebration of praise. Note the character of the dedication: it was full of joy, thanksgiving, and music. This was not a grim ceremony but a festival of gladness. The completion of a great work of God is fittingly marked by worship and rejoicing, by giving God thanks and dedicating the work to Him. To dedicate our finished works to God, with thanksgiving and joyful praise, is the fitting response of those who know that every good work is His gift.

Explanation

The completed wall was formally dedicated, set apart, to God, with a great celebration of joy, thanksgiving, and music. The Levite singers were gathered from all their towns for the occasion. What the people had built with such effort, they now gave back to God, acknowledging it was His and for His glory. The dedication was marked not by grim ceremony but by gladness, thanksgiving, and song. The completion of a great work of God is fittingly celebrated by worship and joyful praise, dedicating the finished work to the Lord who accomplished it.

Gospel Focus

The dedication of the wall "with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing" teaches us to consecrate our finished works to God with joyful worship. Every good work is God's gift and should be given back to Him with thanks: "in every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18); "whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God" (Colossians 3:17). And the fitting mode of such thanksgiving is joyful praise, "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19); "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly... singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Colossians 3:16). God is honored when we dedicate what He has enabled us to accomplish back to Him with gladness. This also reminds us that the Christian life is meant to be marked by joy and praise, not gloom; where God has done a work, thanksgiving and singing are the right response. Whatever God has brought to completion in your life, do not merely move on to the next task; pause to dedicate it to Him, to give thanks, and to rejoice. The finished wall was given back to God with music and gladness; so let every work of grace in us overflow into thanksgiving and joyful praise to the God who worked it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Word Study

"two great companies of them that gave thanks," Hebrew shtei thodoth gedoloth (שְׁתֵּי תוֹדֹת גְּדוֹלוֹת), two great thanksgiving-choirs/processions. Nehemiah organized a magnificent celebration: "two great companies of them that gave thanks," two large choirs or processions of thanksgiving, went in opposite directions around the top of the wall, one to the right and one to the left (v31, 38), meeting at the temple. The two companies, meeting at the house of God, made the whole circuit of the wall a song. This is how God's people celebrate His works: not privately or half-heartedly, but with great, organized, public, joyful thanksgiving. Nehemiah, the man of prayer and action, was also a man of praise; having built the wall, he filled it with thanksgiving.

"upon the wall," me-al la-chomah (מֵעַל לַחוֹמָה), up onto the wall. Picture it: the princes, priests, Levites, and singers, with instruments, marching in procession upon the very wall they had built with such labor and against such opposition, filling the air with thanksgiving. There is beautiful symbolism here. The wall that had been the object of mockery ("if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall," chapter 4:3) now bore two great companies of praise on its top. The place of hardest labor and fiercest opposition became the platform for the highest praise. What was built in tears and defended with weapons was now walked in triumph and thanksgiving. The wall itself became an altar of praise to the God who had wrought it.

Explanation

Nehemiah organized a grand celebration: two large processions of thanksgiving, with the leaders, priests, Levites, and singers, marched in opposite directions along the top of the wall, meeting at the temple. The very wall that had been mocked and built against fierce opposition now carried two great companies of praise upon it. The place of hardest labor and fiercest attack became the platform for the highest thanksgiving. What was built in tears and defended with weapons was now walked in triumphant, joyful praise. God's people celebrated His work with great, public, organized thanksgiving.

Gospel Focus

The "two great companies of them that gave thanks" marching upon the wall show that the place of hardest labor and opposition can become the platform of highest praise. The wall built in tears and defended against enemies now bore songs of thanksgiving. So God turns our trials into testimonies and our battles into praise: "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5); "thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing" (Psalm 30:11). The very places of our greatest struggle, if we persevere with God, become the places of our greatest thanksgiving. And notice the fullness of this praise, "two great companies," public, organized, wholehearted. God is worthy of our best and fullest praise, not a grudging or private murmur, "praise ye the LORD... praise him with the sound of the trumpet... praise him with stringed instruments... let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD" (Psalm 150). The Christian life is meant to crown its labors and battles with great thanksgiving to God. Whatever "wall" God has helped you build through hardship, let it become a platform of praise; walk in triumph upon what you built in tears, and fill it with thanksgiving to the God who wrought it, looking forward to the day when the redeemed, "a great multitude, which no man could number," will fill the city of God with unending praise (Revelation 7:9-10).

Word Study

"God had made them rejoice with great joy," Hebrew ha-Elohim simmecham simchah gedolah (הָאֱלֹהִים שִׂמְּחָם שִׂמְחָה גְדוֹלָה). The celebration reaches its climax in overflowing, God-given joy. "That day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy." Note carefully the source of the joy: "God had made them rejoice." This was not merely human excitement or the natural relief of finishing a hard task; it was joy given by God Himself, He "made them rejoice with great joy." True joy is God's gift. And the joy was wide, embracing all: "the wives also and the children rejoiced." Men, women, and children all shared in the gladness. God turns the mourning of His people into a great, overflowing, God-given joy.

"heard even afar off," nishmah me-rachoq (נִשְׁמְעָה מֵרָחוֹק). And the joy was so great, so loud, so overflowing, that "the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off." The gladness of God's people, celebrating His works, carried far beyond the city, a testimony to the surrounding nations. The very enemies who had mocked the wall now heard the joy of the people who built it. This is the fitting climax of Nehemiah's labors: not merely a finished wall, but a rejoicing people, filled with a joy that God Himself gave and that the world could hear. What began with one man weeping over the ruins (chapter 1) ends with a whole city rejoicing so loudly that the joy was heard afar off.

Explanation

The celebration climaxed in overflowing joy. Great sacrifices were offered, and the people rejoiced, and the source is clearly named: "God had made them rejoice with great joy." This was not mere human excitement but joy given by God Himself. It embraced everyone, "the wives also and the children rejoiced", and it was so great that "the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off," carrying beyond the city as a testimony to the surrounding nations. What began with one man weeping over the ruined city ended with a whole people rejoicing so loudly that their joy was heard far away. God had turned their mourning into great gladness.

Gospel Focus

"God had made them rejoice with great joy: ... so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off" crowns the book with God-given, overflowing, public joy. Notice first the source: God made them rejoice. True joy is not something we manufacture but a gift of God, "the fruit of the Spirit is... joy" (Galatians 5:22); "in thy presence is fulness of joy" (Psalm 16:11); the kingdom of God is "joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). Second, notice its reach: the joy was "heard even afar off," a testimony to the watching world. The genuine joy of God's people is one of the most powerful witnesses there is; a rejoicing church is heard afar off. This joy points to the greater joy of the Gospel, for the same God who turned Jerusalem's mourning into gladness has, in Christ, come "to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion... beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning" (Isaiah 61:3). And it foreshadows the everlasting joy of the redeemed: "the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads... and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:10). What began in this book with weeping over ruins ends in great joy heard afar off, a picture of the whole Gospel, which takes those who sit in the ashes of sin and brokenness and fills them, through Christ, with a "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8). Let the joy of the Lord in you be heard afar off, to the glory of the God who gives it.