Nehemiah's Weapons

We've been talking about Nehemiah in our Bible lessons lately, and the boys' favorite part was a part I didn't even remember.  Go figure.  This photo shows why probably every boy loves the story of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah is not a book of the Bible I've read much.  So, teaching it to the boys was educational for me too.  I was reminded of many things and learned some new things.  Namely, about the weapons in the story.

When Nehemiah and his builders encountered opposition that threatened their lives, they took action.  They first of all prayed and posted a guard day and night, then they continued the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

Oh, and they carried weapons everywhere they went, which is the part of the story our boys loved the most.

"From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor..... Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.... So we continued the work with half the men holding their spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out.... Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water." (4:16-18, 21, 23)

In order to make this Bible story come alive, one day I told the boys to get their weapons.  They were going to do their school work with one hand and hold a weapon in the other, just like the builders of the walls around Jerusalem.  The idea was met with great enthusiasm!

They had to keep their weapons close all morning, and sometimes it was awkward to work around - bows take up a lot of space on the table and walking around with a sword shoved down your pants isn't the most graceful thing to do (and yes...I know, I know) - but they gained an understanding of what Nehemiah and the builders went through.  It was exciting, but also a bit burdensome.  They couldn't go anywhere without their weapon, not even to get a drink of water.  They were persistent and it was fun.

When I was a kid, my idea of bringing the Bible to life was throwing a blue blanket over my head and pretending to be Mary, the mother of Jesus.  I don't know if I ever chose to reenact stories like the conquest of Canaan or Gideon's army or David and Goliath.  I wanted to be the most famous mother in the Bible.  Leave it to my boys to teach me something new about weapons and battles in the Bible!