Nehemiah 1:9

Our next reference departs from the pattern with one variation. Nehemiah, as far as I can tell was not of the royal lineage. His prominence came from his proximity to Artaxerxes, the Persian king. Nehemiah was a cup bearer for the king, a highly trusted position due to his proximity to the king and royal family. Nehemiah was likely a eunuch as well. Given his trusted status before the Persian throne, Nehemiah, a Jew, was sent by Artaxerxes to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall surrounding that city. In a manner, this was the Lord's way of hearing and responding to Nehemiah's prayers:

"And I 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: 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. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 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. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 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 mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cup bearer." (Nehemiah 1:5-11)

Nehemiah's assignment to rebuild the walls surrounding Jerusalem placed him in a unique position to petition the Lord for covenant restoration on behalf of himself and Israel. His concern was clearly focused on covenant restoration with the Lord and gathering Israel again to the lands of their inheritance. Nehemiah became essentially governor over Jerusalem, a position that filled the void left when there was no king on the throne of Israel and the Jews were occupied by a foreign government.

The following description of Nehemiah's efforts is taken from Wikipedia. Look how closely his efforts follow the pattern we have outlined:

"In the 20th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, (445/444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild them, and Artaxerxes sent him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild the walls. Once there he defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sides - Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines - and rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount's South West corner, the Dung Gate in the South, the East Gate and the gate beneath the Golden Gate in the East.

He then took measures to repopulate the city and purify the Jewish community, enforcing the cancellation of debt, assisting Ezra to promulgate the law of Moses by reinstituting the Feast of Tabernacles (sukkot), enforcing the divorce of Jewish men from their non-Jewish wives, and in other ways separating the Jews from their neighbors.

After 12 years as governor, during which he ruled with justice and righteousness, he returned to the king in Susa. After some time in Susa he returned to Jerusalem, only to find that the people had fallen back into their evil ways. Non-Jews were permitted inside Jerusalem on the Sabbath and keep rooms in the Temple and even a son of the High Priest had married a foreign woman. Greatly angered, he purified the Temple and the priests and Levites, enforcing the segregation of the Jews from their neighbors and the observance of the law of Moses."

It appears Nehemiah was doing many of the things contained in the pattern we have discussed.

Nehemiah would soon be joined by Ezra, a high priest who was sent by Artaxerxes to Jerusalem from Babylon to restore adherence to the law of Moses among the Jews. Here we have a king like/governor collaborating with the high priest to restore Israel.