Explanation: Nehemiah 1 contains a prayer by Nehemiah confessing sin and requesting God's covenant mercy for the nation of Israel. In the painting above we see various similarities between Jerome and Nehemiah. Both are men of prayer, symbolized by Jerome's posture of prayer. Both are saintly men, symbolized by the halo. Both attended to the Word of God, symbolized by the book. Both were writers, symbolized by the quill and ink pot. And both were concerned with death and destruction, symbolized by the skull. But Nehemiah, in contrast to Jerome who was a recluse, served in the royal court. [Traditional Patriarchal Timeline. Judges Period Chronology. Kings of Judah and Israel #1. Kings of Judah and Israel #2]. [Chronologically and Thematically Related Scriptures: 2 Chronicles 36; Ezra 1; Isaiah 40; Isaiah 47].
     Hanani and his companions from Judah visited Nehemiah (445-425 B.C.), the king's cupbearer, in Shushan, which was the winter residence of the Persian kings. They described the affliction and reproach which his fellow Jews were suffering and the ruined state of Jerusalem (1-3). This report distressed Nehemiah and drove him to weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying. He confessed his sins, his family's sins, and the sins of the Israelites. He asked God to remember his covenant promise to bring Israel back from captivity if they would repent and become obedient. And, in anticipation of speaking to King Artaxerxes I Longimanus (465-424 B.C.) about his concern, Nehemiah asked the LORD to give him mercy in the sight of the King (4-11).

     ⁴ And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, ⁵ And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: ⁶ Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. ⁷ We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. ⁸ Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: ⁹ But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. ¹⁰ Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

---

Home | DAWN Archive

Tomorrow's Picture: TBA

     ADDITIONAL AD LIB MATERIAL: Prose, Poetry, Writers, Visual Artists, Music, DAWN, and ILLUMINATION. ILLUMINATION features a compact, Illuminated Bible. DAWN, the page you are presently visiting, features a new image and explanation daily.

Please Email Comments and Questions To

AD LIB ARTS EMAIL
copyright 2014, Scott Souza