Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall, and he had been successful in doing it. But we discover now that the rebuilding was far from all he had in mind. Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the wall, but beyond that objective he had the far more significant objective of rebuilding the nation.
Up to this point Nehemiah has been writing in the first person, saying “I did this” and “I did that.” With the start of chapter 8 this changes. Here the narrative shifts to the third person.
This seems to mean that Nehemiah was aware that the second stage of the work, though envisioned by him, was not his concern alone but was a matter to be pursued by Ezra, the spiritual head of the people, more than by himself.
In the second half of the book we are going to find the following key elements: 1) a revival of the people through a reading of the law, confession of sin and a renewal of the covenant (chaps. 8-10); 2) the repopulation of Jerusalem (11:1-12:26); and 3) the final, joyous dedication of the walls (12:27-47). As a postscript, chapter 13 will detail Nehemiah’s final reforms.
It is important to note something else as we begin this new section. In our study of this book we have been dealing with a number of leadership dynamics apparent in Nehemiah, and at this point we begin to find another. We have already seen five: 1) the leader and God, 2) the leader and his superior or superiors, 3) the leader and his subordinates, 4) the leader and the task, and 5) the leader and opposition. At this point we see a sixth dynamic, which is the leader and the nation. This is important, because it is a way of saying that, however isolated our particular task or challenge may be, it is nevertheless always part of a greater whole, since we are citizens of a nation and what we do affects the larger body.