Nehemiah 1, Ruins of Jerusalem

Nehemiah hears about the rebuilding going on in Jerusalem. (It is likely Nehemiah was born in Babylon and has never seen Jerusalem. "Nehemiah" means "the comfort of YHWH" says Yamauchi.)

Nehemiah 1: 1-3, Word of destruction
 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
 

They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
 

The date is around 445 BC. In Kislev, the ninth month of the year (November/December) some men, including a bother of Nehemiah, come from Judah to Susa and are questioned by Nehemiah.  They tell him that the walls and gates of Jerusalem, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar over a century before, are still in ruin.

Susa was a major city in the Babylonian empire and apparently the winter palace during the Archaemedid (First Persian) Empire founded by Cyrus the Great. It is mentioned in Daniel 8: 1-2, It is the setting for the book of Esther (see Esther 1: 1-3.)

Nehemiah 1: 4-7, Fasting and weeping

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

Then I said: 

"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you.

 

"We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Nehemiah weeps and prays. As part of his mourning, he sets aside time for fasting.  In his prayer, he confesses the sins of Israel, especially its abandonment of the Mosaic Covenant. The "covenant of love" mentioned at the start of Nehemiah's prayer is the covenant of hesed.

Nehemiah 1: 8-10, "But if you return..."

 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, `If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'

"They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.

 

Nehemiah tells God that he is aware of the words of Moses and the promise that if the descendants of Jacob return to God, He will bring them back to His chosen place.

Nehemiah 1: 11, "Let Your ear be attentive..."

"O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." 

I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah's final prayer turns to his role in Babylon -- he is the king's cupbearer.