Certainly, the Lord enabled Nehemiah and the Jews to complete the walls of Jerusalem. However, the leadership of Nehemiah was critical from the human viewpoint. The enemies of the wall threw everything imaginable at him, but he would not turn from the cause at hand. How much we should learn from Nehemiah’s example!
We are to care for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. No man is an island (Romans 14:7). We are to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Certainly, we are not to take financial advantage of other in their times of need.
Though it seemed at one time that all hope was gone for the Jews, God brings deliverance in the end. But when God delivers, it is not just a partial deliverance. He gives an absolute, miraculous deliverance from Haman and from the decree to destroy the Jews. We can learn much about the mighty power and the supreme goodness of God from this lesson.
In this lesson, the providence of God is clearly seen. The king receives Esther and comes to her banquets. The king cannot sleep and this results in him be reminded of the favor done to him by Mordecai. Haman unwittingly gives the honor to Mordecai that he wanted for himself. We can see that God is in the process of giving a great victory to Mordecai and to the Jewish people.
Many years ago, Bible students began to see a connection between the conflict in the book of Esther and the conflict inside each man and woman (Galatians 5:17). The entire book makes for a powerful allegory that demonstrates how we can have victory over the flesh and live in the power of the Spirit.
