Key Verse:
Nehemiah 2:17 NASB
17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
We continue this week with the third lesson of Unit 2: Prophets of Restoration. This lesson is tied to last week’s lesson in that Ezra and Nehemiah both played critical roles in the restoration of Jerusalem after the return of the Jewish exiles to Israel. They are two of many who returned to Jerusalem with the hope and desire to call it home once again. This week we learn of the character and motivation for Nehemiah.
Prelude
Nehemiah 1:3-4 NASB
3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
The prelude to our lesson occurs in two phases. Phase one occurs when Nehemiah receives news from his homeland: Israel. The news is not good. Jerusalem has been reoccupied for ninety-three years, yet in that time they have made so little progress. The report he receives is that terrible. They are not secure. They are unable to defend themselves. While they have been able to restore most of their religious practices, they can’t be completely autonomous until they can secure their borders.
When Nehemiah hears the news two things happen: he cries out in despair, then he turns to God in prayer.
Nehemiah 2:7-9 NASB
7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which is by the [c]temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. 9 Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
Phase two informs us that Nehemiah did not just wait on the Lord to fix the problem, He stepped out on faith and put himself in God’s way. Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer. That made him one of the most important people in the king’s security contingent, in that he had to ensure that all food or drink served to the king was safe. He left this position of authority, with the permission of the king, in order to return to Jerusalem to assist in the rebuilding effort. There are several takeaways here: As chief cupbearer in the king’s court, Nehemiah had earned the king’s trust and loyalty. 2. In order to be able to leave, one can assume that Nehemiah had seen to the training and mentorship of his replacement. 3. God’s favor was with Nehemiah. The king gave him the resources he would need to do the work and had given his stamp of approval to the work in the form of official documents outlining his full approval of the project.
1 Peter 5:6 NASB
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,
The Lesson
Nehemiah 2:11-12 NASB
11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. 12 And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my [a]mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.
Nehemiah is a man of discretion. He knows who to talk to and who not to talk to. This is to be expected. As one of the members of the king’s inner circle, surely he must have been privy to some of the king’s most sensitive information. His position and the trust the king places in him demonstrate that he has learned the value of discretion well.
Now it is time for that lesson to serve him. While he knows he has the full authority of the king behind him, that does not prompt him to use his position of authority as an advantage. Nehemiah will take no one into his confidence until he has had an opportunity to fully assess the challenges of the task before him.
Nehemiah 2:13-16 NASB
13 So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which had been consumed by fire. 14 Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for [b]my mount to pass. 15 So I was going up at night by the ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. 16 However, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.
So Nehemiah sets out by night to inspect the damage to the wall of Jerusalem. He needed to take a full and thorough assessment of the damage to the wall, but he needed to do it alone. Just him and his thoughts… and God. The only voice he would trust on this initial assessment would be the voice of God. Prayer is not confined to just talking to or at God. Prayer is also comprised of listening to God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Nehemiah 2:17 NASB
17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
Nehemiah does not shrink from the task before him. Rather, he challenges his audience to take action. Yes, the damage to the wall surrounding Jerusalem is great, but in Nehemiah’s mind, God is greater. No, he won’t be able to build the wall alone. He will need help. His task will be to organize and inspire the people to take up the work. Nehemiah’s first job then is to preach to his people the Word of faith…
Romans 10:17 NKJV
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Nehemiah 2:18 NASB
18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.
As Christians, we must not underestimate the power of our own, personal testimony. Nehemiah convinced his listeners by sharing with them how God had led him home for the task at hand. “Certainly, if God is with Nehemiah, He will be with us”, they must have thought. Beloved, the course of a life can be changed with but a word. The course of eternity can be forever altered for someone by the power of the spoken word. Nehemiah’s words changed the course of history. We have that very ability within us as well. We just need to open our mouths and… speak.
Hebrews 4:12 NASB
12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to [e]judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Nehemiah 2:19 NASB
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite [c]official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
Sanballat, a Horonite would have been from the territory formerly assigned to the tribe of Ephraim. In fact, Sanballat claimed some right to the heritage of the Jews by virtue of occupation. Tobiah was an Ammonite, sworn enemies of the Jews from the time that Israel entered the promised land. Geshem was an Arab, whose only concern was financial. He did not want to see Nehemiah’s work complete for fear that it would disrupt important trade routes, costing him money. These men are representative of some of the obstacles Christians face daily. Sanballat represents compromise: The desire to ‘go along to get along.’ The struggle is internal. The root of compromise is fear, or rather, a lack of trust… in God. Tobiah represents outright opposition from outside sources. Tobiah is a true enemy of the Gospel. Tobiah must always be crushed underfoot. Geshem represents the love of money and what depths we can fall to in our pursuit of it. Money, in and of itself is not evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. Why? The love of money is Idolatry. Period. Full Stop.
What must we do then? Trust in the Lord. Put it all in His hands. Nehemiah certainly did. He was convinced that if God sent him to do the work, he would equip him to see it through.
Philippians 1:6 NASB
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work [d]among you will complete it [e]by the day of Christ Jesus.
Nehemiah 2:20 NASB
20 So I answered them and said to them, “The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah 6:15 NASB
15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
In closing, Nehemiah and the people of Israel completed the repair of the wall in fifty-two days. It did not take God long to do His work once He found willing servants. Beloved, let me encourage you to take on the heart and demeanor of a servant before God, and He can do great things for you and through you.
Matthew 23:11 NLT
11 The greatest among you must be a servant.
Selah
wb
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