Nehemiah

It was April 20th, a Tuesday afternoon, I was walking through the Pony Village Mall in North Bend Oregon. Pam and I were living in Coos Bay Oregon at the time and I was a Youth Pastor at Hauser Community Church, was right by the Great Oregon Sand Dunes. I had heard a news report earlier in the day about a school shooting in Denver Colorado, so as I was walking through the mall I thought I would stop by the Satellite TV shop in the mall. They always had big screen tv’s on. As I paused in front of the shop, I was in luck they had just started a news report on the shooting. Within seconds I began to weep right there in the entryway to the satellite store, as I was watching the news report I realized that the school where the shooting took place was Columbine High School, the school I graduated from 21 years earlier.

Have you ever received a news report that was not only devastating in it’s sadness, but even more devastating because you had a personal connection to the report. That is what I experienced that day, it was my personal connection more than anything else that brought me to weeping right there in the mall.

We see this type of experience taking place this morning as we begin our series in the Old Testament Book of Nehemiah.

If you haven’t already, go ahead and turn to the Book of Nehemiah in your copies of God’s Word. If you are using one of the Pew Bibles, you will find it on page 503.

Now before we dive into the book and read the devastating and personal news report Nehemiah received, let me tell you some of the historical background leading up to the events in Nehemiah.

To begin with, the events at the beginning of Nehemiah take place about 13 years after the end of the Book of Ezra. This is around 445 BC. As was the case at the end of Ezra, Artaxerxes, now in his 20th year, is still the king of the Persian Empire. As you look at King Artaxerxes through the lenses of Ezra and Nehemiah, you may get the impression that Artaxerxes was a good and even a believing king, after all he allowed both Ezra and Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem. However, as you look at history, he was neither. He was ruthless. First off, in order to ascend to the throne, he killed his older brother who was the natural heir to the throne. He also put down 2 significant rebellions, one in 460 BC. the other in 448 BC, which was about 3 years before Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem. Lastly, according to the Book of Ezra there was one point where he completely shut down the rebuilding efforts in Jerusalem because he trusted the words of the enemies of Jerusalem. Non-the-less, even though he was a ruthless leader, the Hand of God was clearly on him as king. As we have seen over and over in our journey through both Ezra and Esther, God is in complete control, even of pagan rulers, this is once again made very clear as we go through the Book Of Nehemiah.

An Unlikely Wall Builder-Unlikely Leaders

Chances are, Nehemiah would not have been the top of any of our lists to lead a massive rebuilding effort on the walls of Jerusalem. His occupation at this time was in the palace of the king. As far as we know, he had no experience whatsoever in wall building or construction. You can see from the title of this first slide that he was an Unlikely Wall Builder. Surely God could have selected a more suitable man to lead the efforts at rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but for some reason He selected Nehemiah. As we continue this morning, I think we will all understand why, but the bottom line is this:

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Isaiah 55:8-9

Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This is an important truth for all of us to consider this morning. We often times look at ourselves and determine our worth and value to be used by God based on what we see as our personal strengths and weaknesses. That is not the case with God. What God really wants of us is willing and available servants. To be honest, the best I can tell in Scripture, that is the only requirements. The Bible is filled with unlikely leaders. Next Slides

Abraham: An Old Man

Abraham was 75 years old when God promised to make him the father of many nations, and God didn’t give him the son of promise for another 24 years! But God didn’t just tell him he would be the father of many nations, God also promised to bless the entire world through his lineage. Next Slide

Moses: A Stutterer

Abraham: An Old Man

Moses was a fearful murderer with a serious speech impediment when God called him to be His spokesman. Next Slide

Abraham: An Old Man

Moses: A Stutterer

Rahab: A Prostitute

One of the most interesting and unlikely people ever to be used by God was Rahab. She was a prostitute living in Jericho, who provided refuge for the Israelite spies when they went to scout out the town and its surrounding areas. Even though the King of Jericho commanded that the men be brought out to him so that they could be punished, Rahab hid them, and as a result, God spared her and her family when God brought the Walls of Jericho down. However, Rahab’s story doesn’t end here. God used her to contribute to the coming of the Messiah. You see, Rahab married Salmon, who had Boaz, who became the husband of Ruth. The Gospel of Matthew outlines Jesus’ lineage, and it illustrates the bloodline of Christ.

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Abraham: An Old Man

Moses: A Stutterer

Rahab: A Prostitute

David: A Shepherd Boy

As you may recall, when the Nation of Israel insisted on having a king, as opposed to having God as their king, God decided to teach them a lesson on the difference between the eyes of God and the eyes of man. He first gave them King Saul. King Saul was the tallest man in the Nation, and on top of that he was very good looking. He was a natural choice by our standards. But he failed miserably as a king. God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse for the next king. They called a great feast for the selection process. Now Jesse had 8 sons to choose from, but Jesse only invited 7 of his son’s to the feast, I mean why waste your time with the youngest, there was no way God would choose him, he was a ruddy looking teenage by who was caring for the sheep. One by one Jesse marched his son’s by Samuel, and one by one God rejected all of them. In the end Samuel said, “Are you sure you don’t have another son?”

Jesse replied; “Well there is the youngest, but he’s out tending the sheep?”

And of course you know the rest of the story, God made it clear to Samuel that: Next Slide

1 Samuel 16:7

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

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Abraham: An Old Man

Moses: A Stutterer

Rahab: A Prostitute

David: A Shepherd Boy

Jonah: A Man who ran from God

When God called Jonah to go to the Assyrian Empire of warn them of the pending judgement of God, Jonah boarded a boat and sailed the opposite direction. Truth was, he wanted God to destroy them. What Jonah didn’t understand was that:

God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, only in their repentance.

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Abraham: An Old Man

Moses: A Stutterer

Rahab: A Prostitute

David: A Shepherd Boy

Jonah: A Man who ran from God

Matthew: A Tax Collector

The Story of Matthew is one of the most beautiful stories of Scripture, because it is a story of redemption. Matthew, also known as Levi, was a tax collector. In those days, tax collectors were essentially considered the scum of the earth, because it was rumored that they often cheated other people out of money by overcharging on taxes and pocketing some of that money for themselves. So when Jesus approached Matthew at his tax collector’s booth, people probably stared at him, wondering what a righteous rabbi like Jesus was doing associating with this tax collector. Yet he chose to call this man to be one of his disciples, and to follow him and learn his ministry, essentially. Matthew got up, left all of his tax-collecting work behind, and followed Jesus without ever looking back.

Really this is just the start, there are many, many others:

Gideon the fearful farmer.

Saul of Tarsus, A former persecutor of Christians.

The little boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish.

The lesson for us as we look at these individuals as well as Nehemiah and his unlikely task is this:

What God wants of you and me is willing and available servants, the rest is up to Him. That is what we learn in Ephesians 3:20-21 Next Slide

Ephesians 3:20-21

Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

So the first question you need to ask yourself this morning is: Next Slide

Am I willing and available to God?

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Now let’s look at Nehemiah 1:1-3

The Unwelcome Message

“1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

The month of Chislev on the Jewish calendar is somewhere around the end of November to the beginning of December on our calendar. Since this was during the winter months, Persian kings moved to the palace in Susa which was only about 150 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. It set high on a hilltop.

Inside Susa, even higher still sat the Citadel which was surrounded by massive walls and inside the Citadel was the winter palace. It was there that Nehemiah lived.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, Nehemiah was an Unlikely Wall Builder, you see Nehemiah was the Cupbearer to the King. So what exactly is a cupbearer. Is it like a modern day Sommelier who assists the king with picking out the best wine to go with each dish? Not really, actually in Nehemiah’s case there was a lot to his duties. In many ways Nehemiah was in charge of all the food that was brought into the palace. One of the top ways kings were assassinated in those days was by poisoning. As a result kings would put their most trusted official in charge of everything related to their meals, from what was brought in to how it was prepared to who served the meals to the king. In the Persian Empire the cupbearer was one of the highest ranking officials. Generally the king went no where without the cupbearer. On top of that he was paid a very high wage and treated well. Persian kings understood that their lives were in the hands of their cupbearers so they wanted to make sure they were loyal.

On top of all this, kings were very reluctant to ever replace a cupbearer. Keep that in mind as we continue through Nehemiah.

So, here Nehemiah is inside the palace in Susa and he receives news that his brother has returned from Jerusalem. He summons his brother, Hanani to the palace to give him a report.

Nehemiah had been born in captivity in the Persian Empire, it was the only life he ever knew. While he had been born in captivity and had likely never been to Jerusalem, he still considered it his homeland, he still had a deep devotion to the Nation he had read about but had never seen. He also knew that there had been 3 groups that returned to rebuild the Temple of God and to rebuild the city itself.

As we learned in our series on the Book of Ezra, the trip to Jerusalem took between 4-5 months. It is unlikely that his brother just went there and back, he had probably been there for a while. Judging by Nehemiah’s reaction to the report he received, I am guessing that he was expecting a good report from his brother. Instead he received the following report;

“The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

The first thing I notice when I read this is the phrase “who had survived”. When I look at these three words 2 things come to mind.

There were some who had not survived. In other words there were a number who had lost their lives. And why not, as we learned in the Book of Ezra, and will see even more so in the Book of Nehemiah, they were surrounded by enemies. This brings me to the 2nd thing that came to my mind when reading this:

Life there was incredibly difficult. As we go through Nehemiah this point will become clear. Not only were they surrounded by enemies, their enemies had infiltrated their very ranks, in fact we will find out later in Nehemiah that they had at least 2 if their enemies literally lived in the Temple of God.

Needless to say, this news was devastating to Nehemiah.

This brings us to one of the keys to the Book of Nehemiah and why God chose this Unlikely Wall Builder to be His chosen leader.

Let’s think about Nehemiah’s situation for a moment. Here he is living in the palace, he wears the finest clothes, makes a ton of money, he has everything he would ever need to take care of him physically. On top of that, he is one of, if not the highest ranking official under the king himself. He’s living on easy street! Yet we see here that he is so broken hearted at hearing of the condition of Jerusalem and of his people that he sat down and wept! I think this is why God chose him for the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. You see this: Next Slides

Unlikely Wall Builder Had a Heart for Others.

This is something that God is looking for in all of us, He is looking for willing available servants who have a heart for others.

When my Dad applied to go to Moody Bible Institute in the early 50’s, Moody initially rejected his hand delivered application. Dad had only been a believer for a few months and knew almost nothing about the Bible. To be honest, by man’s standards they should have turned him down. But somehow I get the impression that God gave his pastor the ability to see my dad with the eyes of the Lord, because he saw in Dad a willing available servant with a heart for others. He understood that God can work miracles through an individual like that.

Now let’s go back to Nehemiah, here he is in the palace and he has his heart pulled towards an impossible task. Nehemiah was an: Next Slides

Unlikely Wall Builder with An Impossible Task.

Think about this for a moment, here he is in Susa, close to a thousand miles from Jerusalem, he is a cupbearer to the king, and God places on his heart to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He can’t exactly give the king a 2 week notice. You can’t just walk away from a job like this under the king in the Persian Empire. Generally the only way you leave this job it is in a casket. On top of that, we learned in the Book of Esther that he can’t even approach the king with a personal request without facing the possibility of death.

And by the way, there currently is no wall in Jerusalem, he has no experience in wall building, no supplies, probably no knowledge of the people that were living there, about the only thing he knew about the people who were living there, was that they were pretty much in the depths of despair. So if he returns, he has to find a way to lift their spirits, get the funds and the timber and all the other supplies before even attempting to rebuild the wall. Oh, and did I mention they are surrounded on every side by enemies that want them gone at a minimum, if not dead!

This is an impossible task.

It’s one of those things where you look at it and think:

I don’t even know where to begin!

Have you been in one of those before? Maybe you’re there right now. You look at your situation and think, I don’t even know where to start?

My marriage is such a mess right now, I don’t have any idea what to do.

My child is so messed up I don’t know where to start.

We are so far in debt right now that I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.

The report I got from my Dr. last week, this is terrible news and it is so much bigger than I am.....I am in over my head!

This is exactly the kind of situation Nehemiah found himself in when. This is huge, it is impossible and he feels powerless. He sits down on the ground right there and he begins to weep. We aren’t just talking about watery eyes here, the Hebrew word used here gives the picture of uncontrollable tears. His heart is broken at the news and at the knowledge that he doesn’t even know where to begin.

So, Next Slide

What do you do when you are in that place where you don’t even know where to begin?

Here’s what Nehemiah did: Next Slide

Nehemiah 1:4

Nehemiah 1:4 ESV

4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

“I sat down and wept for many days” You know I really appreciate that this is recorded for us. So much of the time we hide this sort of thing. We run into people from church or we see people at church and they ask us how we are doing and we respond with our customary reply,

“Oh man, I’m living the dream”

“Doing great”

“I’m doing well, what about you?”

When the reality is we are torn up inside and we pretend it’s all great.

Nehemiah doesn’t do that, He sat down and mourned and then recorded it for all to see.

You know there are things we face in life that should cause us to mourn, and our weeping and mourning are not a sign of weakness. We will see as we go through this book that Nehemiah was as tough as nails, but here at the outset he mourns. But he doesn’t stop with the mourning, look what else he does.

“And I continued fasting and praying”

Right now Nehemiah is thinking, “I don’t know where to begin, but I know Who does!” So her goes on to tell us Who it is he went before;

“before the God of Heaven”

This is where we begin, This is where we begin! This type of response should not be where we end, it should be where we begin.

And while we are at it, let’s not wait for the big things, let’s start with the little things, so that when the big things come, and they will come, we have a habit of going to God already established.

Nehemiah was in what looked like an impossible situation and the only thing he knew to do was to bring it before the God of Heaven, so he bowed his head and he prayed.

What are you up against right now?

What is it that is breaking your heart, that seems so huge, so heavy, so impossible?

Start where Nehemiah started, Go to the God of Heaven in prayer, bring it to Him, what is impossible for you, is possible for Him!