Sermon
Builders
in the Bible: Nehemiah
I
warned you last week that I might bump
Moses back and move Nehemiah up… and I did for a couple of reasons:
- I want to do a little more work on Moses, and
- The geography of Nehemiah, and even some of the circumstances, line up with what we’ve been watching on the news for the past several weeks.
We know Nehemiah because of the Old Testament book that bears his name.
- Governor
of
- official
in the service of Artaxerxes, King over the
- Superintendent
over the rebuilding of the
We know him from his book, but we want to be sure that we
don’t confuse his role. So many of these other books in this anthology are
written by clergy… prophets, priests, apostles and the like. Nehemiah is not
one of those guys… he’s more of a regular guy. A layman like most of us here
today. In his day, Ezra was the priest. Nehemiah’s work was in government and
public works.
Nehemiah’s
story started back in
Artexerxes had several palaces around the Persian Empire;
the main palace was in
He liked to spend the summers in
These
days
We read that in those days Nehemiah served as cupbearer to the King. I’m afraid we might not really understand what that meant. Today if someone says “cupbearer” you might think of that guy who fills your water glass down at Denny’s.
Back in Nehemiah’s day, the cupbearer was one of the Kings most trusted officials. He served in his court and was trusted to see to the King’s safety. He really served as a sort of the head of the Secret Service detail. I had a close, personal working relationship with the King; I was among his closest confidant’s.
So… it was while serving the King in
For about 100 years, the Persian Kings were allowing some of
us Jews to return to
Ezra the priest was among the exiles who returned to
What
Nehemiah was hearing while in
Now, here again ,we might not grasp what that really means.
In Nehemiah’s day there could be no safety or security without walls and gates around a city.
Without walls a city was open prey for enemies.
Without walls a city would be repeatedly pillaged, goods stolen, and people carried off as slaves.
This was hard news to take for Nehemiah. His people, who had endured so much hardship, were continuing to suffer even though they returned to their homeland. It had to hit him hard… so hard that he wept… mourned… fasted and prayed. Can I read you one of his prayers from Nehemiah 1?
“O Lord , God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps
his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6
let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your
servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of
Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s
house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted
very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you
gave your servant Moses.
(You see… he knew we didn’t deserve God’s favor… but he knew he could appeal to
God’s mercy)
8 “Remember
the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I
will scatter you among the nations, 9 but
if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled
people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring
them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
(That brings up another good point… Why
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” [1]
Nehemiah knew what he needed to do.
Nobody asked him to go fix the walls… neither man nor God.
But
he saw what needed to be done, and he knew with God’s help he could get it done.
For Nehemiah the need constituted a call.
We can all learn this lesson from Nehemiah. We sometimes make calling really complicated, when
- Sometimes what we ought to do is so plainly obvious. I think this was the case for Nehemiah. He understood the critical need, and he knew that he could do something about it. In fact, he was uniquely suited to do something about it.
- There are other cases, I’m convinced, in which our Heavenly Father delights in going along with our plans.
I don’t want to, at all, trivialize God’s plan and will for our lives… but I think that God delights in our delight from time to time.
I’ll
illustrate from an episode this week in our family. We spent a few nights down
at
The boys wanted to rent these three wheeled sand cycles again (this is a picture from last year, note Alex’s long hair). They were pretty excited about it; and it was obviously important to them that go along. I filled out the paperwork and paid, then we pulled them down to the beach for our ride. Alex took off first heading south toward Haystack Rock. I suppose we went about four miles, way past Haystack, then turned back. The boys were doing zig zags and various other stunts; I was just trying to keep up. Alex would lead for a while, then Donny would zip out ahead (of course Alex wouldn’t let that last for very long). At one point on a little break when the boys were talking about where we would head next, Donny stopped for a moment as asked, “Dad, where would you like to go next?” That’s when I got to explain to him that all I wanted was for them to have fun; I was most happy when they were happy.
Now if Donny would have said something like “great, let’s go rob a bank” I would have been really disappointed… but that, of course, was not the case. We just continued to have a good time racing along the beach.
I have a sense that God, our Heavenly Father, is glad for times like that with us too.
Back
to Nehemiah… because this was no vacation with God. This was more of
a clear need demanding Nehemiah’s action.
Nehemiah’s plan started by carefully asking Artexerxes for his help. Not just the time off… but also protection and provision.
God answered Nehemiah’s prayer in a marvelous way; it was clear that God had already moved the King’s heart… confirming that Nehemiah was on the right track (at least as far as God was concerned).
King Artexerxes released Nehemiah to go rebuild the city.
He sent me him letters to guarantee safety on the Journey.
And He essentially sent Nehemiah with a blank check to gather the materials needed for the work. God answers prayer.
Put
that in today’s context…
Let
me interrupt this sermon for a quick so what.
Let this encourage us.
When we see something that ought to be done, a good thing, a thing that we think would please God… go for it.
Dream big and ask for God’s help.
I’m convinced that there are all sorts of miracles that never come to fruition because we lack the courage to take a step of faith. Give your best dreams a try and see how God will come along in the right way at the right time with just what you need.
Now…
back to Nehemiah
Well… it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.
There was opposition from the very beginning from the
neighbors. Sanballat, the governor over
On
about Nehemiah’s third night in
What a mess.
He saw the results of war, vandalism, and neglect. Nehemiah could see where armies had destroyed parts of the wall. He could see where time had eroded parts of the wall. There were only charred chunks of debris where there should have been gates. We can pick up in chapter 2:
17 Then I said to them,
“You see the trouble we are in:
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. [2]
And they did get to work… they all got to work.
There’s a seeming inconsequential phrase in the third chapter that pops-up over and over again.
It
shows up in various forms about 20 times in that short chapter.
Do you see it? It is easy to miss…
The phrase is “Next to Them”
The point is that this was a group project and each family, everyone, played a part.
Look at Chapter 3
For whatever reason, when God has a plan to get something done, there’s usually work for everyone.
From one perspective it is sort of silly, isn’t it? Wouldn’t
it have been easier for God to have just given Nehemiah a staff like He did for
Moses? And just as Moses parted the
But we know that our Father in heaven gives us some opportunity to be involved in the process. It is God’s work… but it is hard work. He lets us get dirty; He lets us invest our sweat, and time, and energy, and money.
And when there is work to do, there’s something for each one to contribute.
Just like on a farm at harvest time; when it is time to harvest, everybody has a job… men and women, young and old, owner and laborer… everybody has a job.
And that is just the way it was for God’s children in
The skilled and the unskilled.
The wealthy and the poor.
The young and old; men and women.
They even got the preachers to work!
Everybody had a job… and they all worked, side by side.
The whole perimeter was covered with workers.
And things were going pretty well… until they got the walls about half-way up.
It was then that the neighbors, you know the ones who could help themselves to the city whenever they wanted… it was then that the neighbors started to take them seriously.
This brings another picture to mind from last week.
While
driving down to
What struck me was that it didn’t occur to me, not even for a moment, that I was in any sort of danger. Even though I was near the border of this vast country, I knew that those soldiers must be on a training mission, not a defense mission.
I
have no experience with warring neighbors. We have a good life! It is hard for
us to put ourselves in the place of Nehemiah and the ancient Israelis. Even
though we have been hit by terrorists, and we were nearly hit again with
9-11 size impact had it not been for excellent work by British intelligence
forces, we really don’t have a context for this sort of danger.
They really had opposition coming from both sides…
Not left side and right side… but the outside and the inside.
The outsiders were making threats… and the insiders were loosing heart.
You can read about it in Chapter 4.
It
was at this point that Nehemiah gave that speech and put together that simple
phrase that has become his one-line-life-story:
Remember the Lord and Fight.
Remember the Lord – a statement of all encompassing faith.
And Fight – a statement of all consuming work.
It isn’t either or… I don’t understand these folks who think work is somehow unspiritual. It is both… everything I can do combined with all who God is!
Now don’t limit that little word remember either. Don’t get the wrong idea that Nehemiah means something soft like reminisce. When we use a word like remember we can, of course, start with what the Lord has done.
In this case Nehemiah could remember that God gave him favor with the King… and favor with his people. He could remember the miracles of provision; Artaxerxes supplied the materials to rebuild the walls!
But remember didn’t just mean past… it means present.
Take a look… there are numerous times when in the middle of critical decisions, or when facing a significant challenge, Nehemiah stopped to pray. Remembering to acknowledge the Lord in every circumstance is a certain ingredient of his success.
But remember doesn’t just mean past and present… it means future too.
Remember God’s promises. He has promised to deliver, promised to provide, promised to protect, promised to care… and His promises are trustworthy.
So
today, what are you facing?
Challenges? Sickness? Attack?
What do you need? What can you do?
Remember the Lord and Fight!
Does that bring you any inspiration?
Well it sure inspired the Israelites on that wall project.
Let’s pick it up at v. 15.
They were ready for anything… and they worked hard.
And God proved himself again to be their strength.
There were plenty more threats from the neighbors… but in the end the attacks never really materialized.
The wall was functional in 52 days. Now that is a miracle.
Work continued on the wall for a couple of years… fortifying it and beautifying it. But they could call it a wall within 52 days, and more importantly, it was giving them the protection they needed in 52 days.
There’s a whole lot more to the story… but we’re running out of time.
Just
before I wrap this up… let me jump to the 8th chapter… because in
most ways this is what the project was all about. (8:1-10)
So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it cleara and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”[3]
The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength
You see… without the walls this scene would not be possible. Without the safety and security that the walls provided there was no freedom to gather in this sacred assembly. How could God’s people worship God freely if they feared for their lives?
Their work became their worship.
Just
as our work can be, and should be, our worship.
Our prayer can be for:
·
Eyes to see need
·
Courage to pursue a solution
·
Faith to fend off foes
·
Vision to provide leadership when others can’t
see the way