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Advent moves us along toward the Christmas celebration of Jesus’ birth. Here in our study, we look at one more biblical book in our survey of the complete scriptural canon. Then, for the next few weeks, we’ll focus on more traditional Advent fare.

I can remember fearing so badly one thing I needed to do, as I graduated seminary. This was decades ago, and I was still quite young. In fact, for some reason, I feared this worse than anything that we’d been required to tackle in seminary. 

I would have to go before my home church to be ordained. I had attended enough ordination services as a child and teenager that by adulthood, I had them built up to be something a little more strenuous than the reality. 

In my memories, the questions seemed daunting. In his south Georgia brogue, I can recall my childhood pastor Brantley Seymour always saying that the council had given every candidate “…a rigorous examination.” 

I guess I was terrified that they were going to put me up there before my entire home church and ask me a question I wasn’t prepared for. Like, “Trace for us a couple of centuries of Israel’s post-exilic tribal movements.” Then, my ineptitude would be exposed and I would never have the title “Reverend” in front of my name. 

Thankfully, that’s not at all what ended up happening. Well, here in Ezra, Chronicles and now Nehemiah, we have quite a swath of post-exilic tribal activity sketched out for us in living color. 

Nehemiah is the title. In Hebrew, it was rendered Hem-yah, meaning Yahweh has comforted. Here in this book, Nehemiah got permission from Persia’s king to return home and oversee the reconstruction of Jerusalem. 

Some people who have studied these scriptures don’t believe you’ve got to squint real hard to see the urgency for the coming of Jesus in these books. That’s right. Already this early in our Bibles, way up here in the Old Testament, there is a notion that the birth pangs of a Christ-intervention in God’s world was beginning. Advent was not as far off as it might seem.

In fact, in one article, Nicholas Batzig makes a helpful contribution. In Ezra, he says, We saw a heart much like Jesus’, who wept over Jerusalem. One who looked upon the people with compassion and not hatred. One who wanted to deliver them and not damn them to an eternity of punishment. 

Likewise in Nehemiah, he argues, we can see a Jesus-type here, too. He says, “Nehemiah was like the One who would enter the Temple and cleanse it. We saw him cleanse the Temple in Nehemiah 13.” 

Nehemiah was also concerned for the resumption of the worship instituted by David. He initiated a renewal of the covenant, anticipating the One who would usher God’s people into a new covenant. 

Once the walls were rebuilt, Nehemiah was also active in repopulating the city. He went out into the surrounding areas and compelled about a 10th of the population to move into Jerusalem. 

This Nehemiah transforms from servant to forceful and practical organizer of people. He mobilized a tremendous force to meet the needs of the moment. 

There were hard times as this project was carried out. He had to become the de facto defender of the area. He also declined to go into hiding when things turned personal, despite at times his own life being in some jeopardy. 

Nehemiah proved to also be a person of deep faith. Keeping the Sabbath was of utmost importance for this leader. He also understood that taking the offerings was the only way the Church was going to survive and be able to fulfill its mission. 

So on balance, what does Nehemiah contribute that should interest us as we move toward Christmas in our day? First, his care for his people is eerily reminiscent of Jesus’ own compassion for and dedication to humanity. Once home in Jerusalem, Nehemiah would not quit. This is a healthy model for our own compassion and calling.

Second, Nehemiah’s courage in the face of some pretty tough opposition and danger recalls for us the vulnerability Jesus took on when he became human and was ultimately able not only to be physically hurt, but also killed. 

Finally at Advent, we are compelled by Nehemiah’s acts of physical rebuilding, a preview ultimately to the kind of personal, relational and spiritual reconstruction job Jesus would take on for us. In Advent, we give God a chance to rebuild us in Jesus’ likeness.

DR. CHARLES QUALLS is senior pastor at Franklin Baptist Church. Contact him at 757-562-5135.