The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
Nehemiah 1:1
The son of Hachaliah
The study of Bible names can be interesting. They often seem to fit the person so well. How did people get those names? Possibly, that’s what they were named at birth, and the name so influenced the person that he grew into that kind of person. Perhaps some of the names were given after the person grew up—a name that other people saw that person to be.
Hachaliah—‘Who Waits for the Lord’
Nehemiah—‘God Comforts’
It is so precious when a parent looks at his child, and is filled with thanksgiving to God for the comfort He is giving him through this child. Child-rearing is perhaps the holiest occupation known to man. A child is an everlasting being, and the only thing a parent can bring with him to Heaven. The supreme duty of a parent is to raise his child in such a way that he will be attracted to God, and at an early age desire to know Jesus as his own personal Savior. The parent’s duty doesn’t stop there. He has a lifetime to influence that child to maintain a close relationship with God. Regardless of what success a person has in any area of life, if he fails in this one duty, he has most tragically failed!
I’m afraid many children stumble in their search for God. They see their parents go to church and act the part of a Christian, and then come home and lay all that ‘Christianity business’ aside. They pretend to love Jesus, but they also love their beer, tobacco, vapes, porn, loose talking, critical attitudes—you know the rest.
Nehemiah was a young man with a heart for God, and a love for the people of God. I think we can attribute much of that to the godly influence of godly parents.
