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Nehemiah 2:9–20 (ESV)
Remember the series we are in—God’s Construction Project.
What is the largest, most expansive, most significant project you’ve been a part of?
You probably had to deal with difficulties.
How and when did you begin preparing for that project?
As we look at Nehemiah 2-3, we’ll see;
The first part of our text this morning describes the preparation Nehemiah undertook before he called the Jews in Jerusalem to join him in the work.
There is quite a bit we can glean from Nehemiah as a master class in leadership and project management.
He begins by answering the political question of his authority to work in Jerusalem. We are immediately aware of his letters granting him authority, as well as the army officers and horsemen to back it up.
We don’t know if Nehemiah himself requested the military escort or not. Decades earlier, in Ezra 8:22, Ezra opts not to ask for military escort because he wanted to highlight God’s provision and protection over his people. But Nehemiah accepts the king’s escort to go with the King’s letters.
It’s likely that the military escort was less about the journey and more about communicating the legitimacy of the change of leadership in Jerusalem. Nehemiah comes into town, not merely with letters, but with military force to communicate to the citizens and opposition in Jerusalem that Nehemiah is in charge now.
Just like when Ezra came to Jerusalem years earlier, Nehemiah waited for three days before he did anything. This was likely to rest after the long, arduous journey from Susa.
After his three day period of rest, Nehemiah secretly goes out by night to explore the city walls for himself. Had Nehemiah ever been in Jerusalem before? We don’t know for sure, but it seems likely to me he had never been there. He wanted first-hand knowledge of the state of the city and the wall.
The text does not tell us who he took with him to explore the walls by night; it just says, “I and a few men with me.” We don’t know if these were residents of Jerusalem who knew the city well, or if they were close counselors or his own engineering experts which he might have brought with him.
They did not make it all the way around the city gate. He began on the western side of the city and made it to the southern tip of the wall before turning around to go back in the city the same way he came.
Were you intrigued by his strategy to keep his plans so secret?
Nehemiah does not tell us why he kept it so secret, but at a minimum he wanted to keep his plans away from his opposition as long as possible.
Before we move on to how Nehemiah persuaded the Jews in Jerusalem to join him in the work, we should consider the preparation he did before verse 9 where we began today.
Before he left for Jerusalem, Nehemiah thought about what he would need when he got there. He considered his Political needs in Neh. 2:7
He also considered his material and financial needs in verse 8.
There is a principle here which Jesus speaks to in Luke 14.
Luke 14:28–30 (ESV) — For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
If we backed up in time even more before Nehemiah committed and got directly involved, He prayed.
He did not just jump in in the midst of his very emotional and visceral response to what was going on in Jerusalem.
But, even before any of this took place, Nehemiah fostered an identity with and concern for the people of God.
Having considered Nehemiah’s preparation, let’s now to turn to his persuasion.
After months of preparation, journey, and secret reconnaissance expeditions, the time has come to convince the people in Jerusalem to join with him in the work that God has given him to do.
Nehemiah 2:17–18 (ESV)
He did not just come in and say, “I’m taking over! There’s a new sheriff in town, and we’re going to get stuff done!”
v. 17 — “You see the trouble we are in.”
According to vs. 16, Nehemiah is now speaking to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
It would be easy for them to separate themselves from Nehemiah as he comes into town to take over some of the leadership there. They could have easily said, “where have you been for the last few decades as we were trying to rebuild?” But, he immediately identifies with them. He takes on their burdens.
Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned.
He is obviously affected by this—so much that he wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying—and then left his job as cupbearer to the king to do something about it.
There is no indication that he blames them for the condition of the wall or the gates. There is the shame of remembering what the city used to be like, along with the insecurity of having not defenses and protection from enemies.
They are exposed and embarrassed. Nehemiah shares this concern with them, and this shared concern gives them confidence to follow his leadership.
“Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem.”
This will involve risk and sacrifice, but he makes no apology for that. He calls them to a huge undertaking. Notice, however, that he does NOT just tell THEM to build the wall. He calls them to join him in building it. “Let us build.” He identifies with their plight and their sacrifice.
I can imagine that they hear this invitation with questions, doubts, and a bit of fear and trembling.
Nehemiah’s reason for building the wall is “That we may no longer suffer derision.”
It is certainly true that there is an emotional embarrassment at the state of the city, and that there were risks to the safety of its inhabitants due to the walls and gates being broken and burned. But, Nehemiah is saying more than that. He is pointing out the reproach and shame on the city because the destruction of the city was due to God’s judgement of his people.
The Hebrew word for derision could be translated as disgrace, taunt, scorn, shame, or reproach.
The derision was part of God’s judgment for their disobedience. This idea is captured well in two of the prophets, Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
Ezekiel 5:14–15 (ESV) — Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the LORD; I have spoken—
Jeremiah puts it like this:
Jeremiah 24:9 (ESV) — I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.
Nehemiah is not merely calling them to live in safety, but to learn their lesson from God’s judgment—to repent and live faithfully as the people of God so that they can live to God’s glory as a people set apart for him—as a city set on a hill.
We have a tendency to forget the power of testimony. As believers, we all share the belief in a transcendent God who acts in his Providence over all creation. We know that our all-powerful God can do anything.
But, we are so quick to forget what God has done in our own lives, or in our own days. Present-day examples of God’s immanence—his coming down to meet us and help us—have a faith-stirring effect on us.
There will be many more passages in Nehemiah that deal with opposition, but we should observe this right now.
We’re not going to read the whole list in Chapter 3, but let’s look at the first five verses together.
Nehemiah 3:1–5 (ESV)
This whole chapter is a list of individuals and groups who participated in the wall-building project. Why is this long, detailed list of names and sections in the book? There are several more long lists of names throughout the book. Chapter 7 lists the returned exiles. Chapter 10 lists those who sealed the Covenant. Chapter 11 lists the leaders who lived in Jerusalem, and Chapter 12 lists the priests and Levites.
We should note that the Jews agreeing to follow Nehemiah’s leadership is not really less miraculous than God changing the heart of King Artaxerxes.
Nehemiah 3:5 (ESV)
Were they under pressure from Geshem the Arab (v. 19)?
This is notable because it is the only exception to those who served.
Let’s look at how we should apply each of our points, preparation, persuasion, and participation.
When I was growing up in my church context, pastors, youth pastors, and revival preachers regularly challenged us to consider whether God was calling us to full-time ministry. This was formative for me. By the summer after my 9th grade year, I felt called to serve God with my vocation, and my career path was largely determined—internship at the church for nearly three years in high school, then a music degree in college, then seminary—in order to be a full-time minister of music on staff at a church.
In other words, from age 15, I was called to prepare in significant and sustained ways for my vocation—being used by God for the rest of my life. This affected how I approached leisure, education, family, spiritual disciplines, relationships, and church.
Since that summer over 30 years ago, I have been very thankful for the calling that was stirred up in me to orient my life around being used by God. But, I also have grown in my own understanding of calling, preparation, and vocation. Nehemiah is a great inspiration for this growth. God did not just need pastors or priests in order to build up his people in Jerusalem. He intended to use Nehemiah, and many others, who had spent their lives pursuing other, perhaps less-obviously spiritual vocations.
Whatever vocations God is calling us toward, he intends for our lives to be oriented toward his glory and kingdom.
For much of human history, your vocation was determined for you by where you grew up and what your family did. Today, we have a crazy amount of mobility to pursue different vocational paths.
The important question is not so much about which vocations we might pursue, but whether or not we pursue them for the glory of God and the building of God’s kingdom.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV) — So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Colossians 3:17 (ESV) — And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Our burdens from the Lord
Zeal for God’s church
Our testimony of what God has done already
What about those who remain in opposition to us?
Matthew 5:10–12 (ESV) — “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We began today by considering the most significant project you’ve every been a part of.
We are invited to be a part of something so much more global and extensive than building a wall.
We are called to build something else—the Body of Christ.
Consider the significance of the building of the Church.
1 Corinthians 3:10–15 (ESV) — According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
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