Nehemiah 1-2
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Background
Background
Historical Background
Egypt - Moses - Deut...
Deut 28-30 = Warning against falling away from God ...
Slide
605 BC - King Neb. Invades Judah and takes captives
Daniel
588-586 BC - Final siege / Fall of Jerusalem
Lamentations - Jeremiah
Persians defeat Babylonians
Slide
Persian King lineage
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538-515 BC - Ezra, Hagi, Zechariah
Rebuilding Temple - Cyrus
Esther / Nehemiah
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478 BC - Esther becomes queen… Xerxes
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464-446 BC - Re-build stops for some reason
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444 BC - Artaxerxes send Nehemiah to rebuild & restore!!
Intro
Intro
Nehemiah is called to lead a broken and defeated people to restoration!
Nehemiah is going to face intense opposition from people in the land and disunity within his people.
Nehemiah overcomes these threats by wise defensive measures, his own personal example, and a call to courage!
Nehemiah does what God has put in his heart to do!!
Where does one find strength of character for such a moment? When it looks like the kingdom of the world will overcome the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, on what shall we depend? On whom shall we call in the dire hour of need? And how shall we compel others to join us in a cause which appears desperate and at times doomed to fail?
We may not be called to build or restore physical walls like Nehemiah was but we are called to build and restore...
Build strong church
build godly families
restore the wandering, broken, neglected, and ashamed
restore sound biblical teaching and build up fellow believers
In todays text Nehemiah teaches us five principles we must have to protect Gods people, advance the gospel, and summon others to do the same.
............... These 5 steps?
PRAY
Message
Message
Loving Inquiry
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.”
mid Nov.-Dec. … 2:1 = March/April
Susa the Citadel… winter palace
Asking about those who are with Ezra
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
Do we care for the people of the Church of Christ abroad as much as in our own congregation?
How is their security? Safety?
What is going on? What is their needs? What is happening?
What are your loving inquiries this morning?
Loving Inquiry…
Hearty Invocation
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. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Sitting to weep common practice… weak in the knees...
NOTICE:
Immediacy of Prayer… how quick do you turn to God?
Title of God… who do you say God is?
Outline of Prayer… what is your prayer life like?
1 = An Address to God = v5
2 = A Grief Stricken Complaint = v6-7
3 = A God Centered Request = v8-10
4 = An Expression of Trust = v11
Keep turning to prayer = Pursue
Bring your concerns = Protest
Ask boldly = Plead
Choose to trust = Practice Patient Perseverance
Desired Outcome… are you trusting God to act?
His Position
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job 2. Nehemiah’s Prayer (1:5–11)
Varied sources suggest something about Nehemiah as a royal cupbearer:
1. He would have been well-trained in court etiquette (cf. Dan 1:4–5).
2. He was probably a handsome individual (cf. Dan 1:4, 13, 15; Jos. Antiq. XVI, 230 [viii.1]).
3. He would certainly know how to select the wines to set before the king. A proverb in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Qamma 92b) states: “The wine belongs to the master but credit for it is due to his cupbearer.”
4. He would have to be a convivial companion, willing to lend an ear at all times.
5. He would have great influence as one with the closest access to the king, able to determine who was able see his master.
6. Above all Nehemiah had to be one who enjoyed the unreserved confidence of the king. The great need for trustworthy court attendants is underscored by the intrigues endemic to the Achaemenid court. Xerxes, father of Artaxerxes I, was killed in his own bedchamber by Artabanus, a courtier.
“For Nehemiah worldly success did not spell spiritual failure, and royal society left his appetite for divine fellowship unimpaired. The place of the fear of God in his heart was so great as to banish wholly the fear of man.”
Remember Esther, to approach without summons = death!
Remember Mordecai, perhaps God has placed you here for such a time as this...
Loving Inquiry, Hearty Invocation…
Resolute Intention
1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
Mid Nov-Dec… Apr/May - 4 Months!
Famous drinking parties… personal cup bearer...
The Kings Perception… Nehemiah’s Fear !!… God given wisdom
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
His Response… Kings Reply… His Request
NOTE: “So I prayed to the God of Heaven”… His constant communion with God
one of the most beautiful examples of spontaneous prayers in scripture !!
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job 1. The King’s Response (2:1–8)
One of the most striking characteristics of Nehemiah was his recourse to prayer (cf. 4:4, 9; 5:19; 6:9, 14; 13:14). Those who are the boldest for God have the greatest need to be in prayer.
NOTE: he consults the KING of Kings before this mere man
Our King has given us order to GO, MAKE, and TEACH!!
NOTE: prayer is where planning begins
Those who fail to plan, plan to fail but those who fail to pray have failed already !!
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (3) The Requests Granted (2:6–8)
Nehemiah modeled good leadership; he prayed, planned, and acted in dependence on God and submission to his guidance.
What are you doing and why?
Where are you going from here?
What will you do next?
What is the plan?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
Loving Inquiry, Hearty Invocation, Resolute Intention…
Meticulous Inspection
9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. 11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
Letters - Armies - Governors
NOTE: Those who are opposed to God’s people are opposed to God.... & Vice Versa
He had heard but never seen…
Pro 14.12 & Pro 16.25
25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
13 If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Nehemiah 2:9–20)
Note, [1.] Good work is likely to be well done when it is first well considered… [3.] Those that would build up the church’s walls must first take notice of the ruins of those walls. Those that would know how to amend must enquire what is amiss, what needs reformation, and what may serve as it is.
These Walls represent the spiritual boundary for the people of God
What good work of the Church are we leaving undone because we have neglected to truly look into it ourselves?
Where is there work to be done that we have grown accustomed to, where is there neglect and dilapidation?
Where are the walls of the doctrine beginning to decay so that it allows for the enemy to come in and ravage the people of God?
Loving Inquiry, Hearty Invocation, Resolute Intention, Meticulous Inspection…
Supernatural In-tre-pi-di-ty
16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. 17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
The Call to Action! v17-18
perceptible action
practical action
personal action
Worldly Opposition
Confidence in God!!
The reply of Nehemiah is clear. He did not appeal to his authority as granted to him by the king.
(1) He did not speak of his authority or the king’s but of his trust in “the God of heaven.”
(2) Nehemiah advised his people to ignore the ridicule and threats and simply work.
(3) He refused to compromise. He denied his opponents a share in the work, the land, or the worship of the Jewish community
First, Many a good work would find hands enough to be laid to it if there were but one good head to lead in it. They all saw the desolations of Jerusalem, yet none proposed the repair of them; but, when Nehemiah proposed it, they all consented to it. It is a pity that a good motion should be lost purely for want of one to move it and to break the ice in it. Secondly, By stirring up ourselves and one another to that which is good, we strengthen ourselves and one another for it; for the great reason why we are weak in our duty is because we are cold to it, indifferent and unresolved.
Close
Close
Nehemiah is called to lead a broken and defeated people to restoration!… so are you!
Nehemiah is going to face intense opposition from people in the land and disunity within his people… So are you!
Where does one find strength of character for such a moment? … And how shall we compel others to join us in this cause?
In todays text Nehemiah taught us five principles we must have to protect Gods people, advance the gospel, and summon others to do the same.
Loving Inquiry
Hearty Invocation
Resolute Intention
Meticulous Inspection
Supernatural Intre-pi-di-ty
Nehemiah 2:18 (ESV)
18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
Group Questions
When Nehemiah learned of the sad state of Jerusalem, he wept, mourned, and fasted. Do reports of the sad state of a church affect you the same way? Why or why not?
How do you think Nehemiah became a person who was so concerned about Jerusalem? What can we do to increase our personal investment in spiritual matters?
What things in your life should concern you more than they do?
How do you think Nehemiah became someone who instinctively responded to challenges by crying out to the Lord? What can we do to develop a habit of prayer?
What things in your life are there about which you should be crying out to the Lord and making plans for the opportunity you may get to address the situation?
If the Lord gave you an opportunity to advance His kingdom, what aspects of “staying in the Persian palace” would be most tempting? How can you put that enticement in the proper perspective?
When you come into a new situation like the one awaiting Nehemiah in Jerusalem, do you have a tendency to go straight to work, or do you have the patience to survey the situation first?
To what did Nehemiah appeal when he sought to motivate the people in Jerusalem to join him in the rebuilding of the walls? How does that still function as a motivation today?
How would you characterize Nehemiah’s response to Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem? To whom should we respond in like manner today?