Remember Me, O God!

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst 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.

Nehemiah 1:8ff (Spoke 16, Cycle 1)

The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

Zechariah 1:2ff (Spoke 16, Cycle 2)

Zechariah in Nehemiah

The name זכריה (Zechariah, S# H2148), means "The Lord Remembers." This links to a very strong theme in Nehemiah which both opens and closes with a call for the Lord to remember. The opening verses are quoted above. Here are the closing verses:

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business; And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

Nehemiah 13.29f (Spoke 16, Cycle 1)

Of particular interest are the words translated as "remember me" in the last verse - זכרה לי (zachrah li) - which literally mean "put your remembrance to me" [li is analysed as Lamed prefix (To/For) + Yod suffix (Me)]. This phrase is an anagram of לזכריה (L'Zechariah, To Zechariah). It appears in four verses of the Bible, all of which are in the book of Nehemiah. These are the last words of Nehemiah which are adjacent to the first words of Zechariah when the Bible is displayed in the form of the Wheel. It is as if God were directing our eye from the last verse of Nehemiah to Zechariah! Another anagram of "for Zechariah" is found in the title of Psalm 38 (which corresponds to Book 38 = Zechariah).

Nehemiah in Zechariah

Just as Zechariah is found by name in Nehemiah, so we also find the statement defining the name of Nehemiah is hidden in plain sight in the Hebrew of the Book of Zechariah. The name נחמיה (Nehemiah, S# H5166) means "the Lord comforts." It is from the root נחם (Nacham, S# H1562). We find this root in Zechariah 1.17:

Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

Zechariah 1.17 (Spoke 16, Cycle 2)

This is the Lord's promise to rebuild the Temple, a major theme of Nehemiah and Zechariah which manifests in the spiritual Temple built with "living stones" in I Peter. The highlighted words contain the phrase that defines the name of Nehemiah:

We have therefore reciprical links between Nehemiah and Zechariah based on the names of the two prophets:

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