READ Nehemiah 1:1-11 KIDS Why was Nehemiah so sad at the news that Hanani brought? (2 reasons)

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1 Nehemiah 1:1-11 Nehemiah: Rebuild, Restore & Revive January 28, 2018am Ne w Hope R oad Joelton, TN READ Nehemiah 1:1-11 KIDS Why was Nehemiah so sad at the news that Hanani brought? (2 reasons) When I asked Rach to marry me, I thought I would go the extra mile, and I carved the box that the ring would go in. I worked at a cabinet shop at the time; so I had the extra material (a really nice cherry wood that I sanded smooth as glass and stained with a natural gloss). I worked on it during my breaks throughout the day and was pretty proud of it. Then, my foreman came over to check it out, he pointed out a few things that would make it better, but the one that sticks out in my mind is that he told me that I needed to wrap the interior of the box in a really dark material. I had worked hard on the natural wood look and told him that I would rather keep it the cherry color. OK, but you have to have something dark for contrast. The diamond will pop, if its in front of a dark background. That little diamond needed all the help it could get; so I listened to his advice and laid a black velvet interior in the box. Corey M. Minter Page 1 of 8

2 None of that mattered, by the way, because if you look closely in our proposal photo, I have the box upside-down. Since we were out on a deck over the water, I am especially lucky. In fact, I am not sure if Rachel ever said Yes, only uhhh flip it over. The luster of the diamond is really seen with the dark background. That is Nehemiah right there. He is brilliant of his own accord, but when you take into account his setting (the backdrop) of his situation. Israel wanted a king to be like other nations; (Moses talked about Israel s kings) Saul David Solomon Northern Bad kings Southern Some good, some bad kings The split kingdoms conquered by Assyria Babylon Persia Cyrus the Great (God moves on Cyrus) Sends Zerubbabel to rebuild temple. He does, but the glory does not come down from Heaven. Ezra (a Torah expert) goes 60 years later to rally the people of God around the worship of God. Ezra and Nehemiah run along the same time period. In fact in some of the most ancient texts, the two books (Ezra and Nehemiah) are not separated at all. Nehemiah s setting is pretty dark. Zerubbabel has worked hard, but he has not accomplished the end goal of rallying Israelites to come back Corey M. Minter Page 2 of 8

3 home around his work with the temple. Ezra has worked hard, but he has largely failed in bringing the people back to some nationalistic pride based upon their religion. Nehemiah shines pretty bright in this setting, even though he is just an ordinary man. 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. [never again mentioned in Scripture] It came to pass in the month of Chislev [November-December], in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. 4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah received a visit from a friend and compatriot, Hanani, who brought bad news of how all of the spiritual and cultural rebuilding of Israel was going so poorly. Israelites are in distress; Jerusalem is completely desolate; the city has no walls to defend and control the nation; and even the gates of the wall have been burned to nothing. It may seem absurd to us today for Hanani and Nehemiah to cry over a wall around a city, but that is because we do not live in their context. A Wall Offered Corey M. Minter Page 3 of 8

4 Protection Some scholars have recorded that many ancient countries would spend more time and energy in the building and upkeep of a wall around their capital than they would their own army. In a world where the most advanced military weapon was the horse, a wall served the nation-state with a lot of protection. Without a wall, a city was open to pillaging and theft from neighboring enemies. Control A country could never stand on its own two feet without a wall. Aside from protection, it added a layer of control to the nation. Taxes and fees could be enforced as people passed through the gate for import and export. Without the wall, the city s commerce would never be able to provide for itself. They would be dependent upon Persia forever. But still at the end of the day Why would Nehemiah react so sorrowfully to the news of Jerusalem s walls and its citizens? Nehemiah 1:11 records almost as a tagline For I was the king s cupbearer. We have no idea how Nehemiah rose to such an advantageous position among the Persians, but knowing that he is the cupbearer to Artaxerxes and that he is weeping over Jerusalem makes verse four even harder to understand. Nehemiah is 800 miles away from Jerusalem. He (most likely) has never met any of the Israelites that are over there, and he (most likely) has never even visited Jerusalem. But what does that matter?! He is the Corey M. Minter Page 4 of 8

5 cupbearer to one of the most powerful individuals who has ever walked the planet. With that position of cupbearer comes Luxury Esther chapter 1 opens up in a similar scene where we find Nehemiah in Susa, the fortress palace of the Babylonian and Persian kings. In Esther 1, it describes the palace as having extremely tall, royally colored, draping curtains from floor to ceiling, fastened to marble pillars and pure silver curtain rods. The floors were tiled in a mosaic of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. And the furniture (couches and chairs) were all solid gold and silver (which probably were not the most comfortable, but they displayed opulence). This was Nehemiah s office. This is where he lived. He was the most comfortable Jew in all of the world. Trust The position of cupbearer was a dangerous but influential position. Essentially, Nehemiah was charged with tasting every bit of food, every cup of wine that Artaxerxes was ever served. This was to stave off assassination attempts on the king s life. If the wine or food had been poisoned, Nehemiah would suffer the consequence and Artaxerxes would be saved. That may sound like Nehemiah was dispensable, but in all actuality, he was most likely a confidant of the king. If someone wanted to poison the king, Nehemiah had only to be bribed to fake Corey M. Minter Page 5 of 8

6 the tasting in some way. Artaxerxes daily put his life in Nehemiah s hands. Nehemiah had it all all of the luxuries this world had to offer, all of the power of the ancient world (After all, in a way, he controlled the fate of the most powerful man in the world. Didn t that make him just a little more powerful?) So why would he be so distraught over a little city with a small population of backward people who could not even rally together long enough to build their wall for their own protection. Why was it 4 when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven? He was affected physically (sat down), emotionally (wept and mourned for many days) and spiritually (fasting and praying). 1. Those were his people. I do not mean that they looked alike. In fact, after decades and generations of captivity, with all of their desperate plight contrasted to Nehemiah s privilege, the two probably could not have looked any more different. The Jews were argumentative, disorganized and homeless. Nehemiah was a humble servant who was willing to give his life for his captor, living neatly organized in his palatial dwelling. What I mean, I cannot explain. It is the same thing that pulls a missionary from western civilization to the bush. It is what causes an Eddy and Amanda Simmons to leave North Carolina and go to Kenya. The Samburu are their people. When I was in high school, our youth group was on a bus coming back from a youth conference and spontaneous singing Corey M. Minter Page 6 of 8

7 and testimonies broke out among high school students. I will never forget coming across one of Hampton Roads many bridges that night, when my good friend Marc stood up, pointed out the window to the skyline of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach (a cluster of cities that make up the Tidewater region), and said, That is our mission field. That is our calling. Today, Marc is preaching at the grand opening of the church that God planted through he and his team in Portsmouth, VA. Those are his people. Every now and then, when I am especially feeling God s pull, I will drive all around Cheatham County and just pray. You are my people. This is my calling. Your people may be next door, another city over, another state or what seems like a world away, but when we hear of hopelessness, we ought to react the same way. Recently, I was reminded of the Scottish Reformer John Knox. While he definitely had his faults, Knox was a man on a mission for his people. Mary Queen of Scots (Bloody Mary) was in power and ruled heavily with the use of Roman Catholicism. She is responsible to sending many Protestants to their death during her reign. Knox would often walk through her garden and pray loudly for Scotland that it would repent of her idolatry and follow Christ. Mary once said that she feared his prayers more than anything else on earth. Corey M. Minter Page 7 of 8

8 In one of those royal gardens prayer times, John Knox is reported to have cried out in prayer to God, Lord! Give me Scotland else I die! That is why Nehemiah reacts the way he does. "God give me Jerusalem else I die! 2. He could do something about it. I believe that Nehemiah had come to the realization that I pray we all do today. He could do something about the despair that he saw his people going through. You have been given what God has blessed for you to use it. It might be influence, finance, education any number of things. Nehemiah heard of the broken walls; he heard of the hurting people. Maybe as he is hearing this report, he is tasting the choicest wine, sampling the best food, reclining in luxury. His people are hurting, he is sitting in the lap of luxury, and he knows that he can do something about it. Why else would God have given him this opportunity to serve the king? This week you will see broken down walls in marriages. You will see desperation and hopelessness written across the faces of co-workers, friends, family and even people that are behind you in line at the grocery store. We will see all of that this week, and WE KNOW THE ANSWER. We serve the king! He can rebuild a marriage; He can bring a new hope into a desperate situation. My prayer is that God will break our hearts for the lost. God give us this county else we die! Corey M. Minter Page 8 of 8