After 12 years as governor, Nehemiah had returned to Persia. We don’t know how long he was there, but during his absence, spiritual compromise and decline set in. The reforms were short-lived. Spiritual compromise snuck in through the spiritual leadership. When Nehemiah returned, he found that compromise was rampant in the very areas the people had covenanted to stand against just a few years before! A lesser man may have said, “I give up! It’s useless to try to reform these people!” But Nehemiah strongly confronted the problem of compromise.