THE DECK WAS STACKED against them, and not everyone was playing by the rules. This was the situation facing the Jews of Jerusalem and their governor, Nehemiah. The city needed boundaries for definition and a wall for protection; but most of all, its people needed a sense of purpose, sustained by a spirit of unity, to turn things around. Thanks to Nehemiah, that's exactly what they got.
The key to Nehemiah's success was simple: He not only knew how to bring the people together; he also understood the methods his enemies used to try to stop the work, and how to defeat them.
A Jew serving in a high-ranking position in the court of the Persian king, Nehemiah was appointed provincial governor of Judah in the middle of the fifth century BC. He'd heard about problems at home, and when he returned, he found the people in a sorry state indeed. Jerusalem had been conquered a little more than a century earlier. Its temple had been burned, its inhabitants scattered, and its walls torn down. Eventually, exiled Jews were allowed to return home, and some of them did. The temple had been rebuilt, but relatively few Jews observed the laws and traditions of Judaism. The terror of defeat had undermined their confidence in God and in themselves as His people. They led lives characterized by self-absorption and apathy, which made them easy targets for exploitation.
