Nehemiah 1 The book of Nehemiah begins 15 years after the Book of Ezra ends. Jerusalem had been destroyed 150 years earlier. The first wave of Jews who returned to Jerusalem had started 100 years earlier. The first wave of returning Jews had been led by Zerrubabel. They had started the rebuilding of the Temple. Later, Ezra brought another group back to Jerusalem, and had brought spiritual reform and rededication of the nation to God. The Jews, as a nation, had been mostly carried off the Babylon as captives. It is estimated that there were 2-3 million people carried away. Most of them decided to stay in Babylon, and to not return to the Land of Promise. 50,000 people did return to Jerusalem. Only about 2%. Just a remnant of people returned, and though the Temple was rebuilt, they lived in insecurity and fear because the walls of the city were in ruins. It would be like us living without fences around our yards, or doors on our houses. There is an underlying fear of being attacked and being vulnerable. 1:1 Sushan was the capital city of Persia/Babylon. The citadel was the king s palace. This immediately tells us that Nehemiah was in a place of importance and prominence. 1:2 Nehemiah had never been to Jerusalem. He has a great job, in that he is the cupbearer to the king. He tastes the food before the king does, just in case it is poisoned. That isn t the good part. The good part is that it is not a life of desperately hard labor. There is relative comfort. We will discover that he is in a place to be greatly used by God. Jerusalem and the returned Jews are 800 miles away from Nehemiah. Yet he still cares about the state of the city and the people. WHY? Because Nehemiah was a man who cared greatly about the things that mattered to God. His life with God wasn t just about the things that pertained to him personally. Nehemiah cared about the things that God cared about.
Nehemiah was not self focused, but his focus was on God and what God loved. Guzik- Nehemiah had the heart of Psalm 137:5-6: If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. If Jerusalem was special to God, then it was also special to Nehemiah. Nehemiah is going to accomplish something tremendous for the people of God, but it started w/his focus. He was kingdom minded. He had a heart that didn t focus on himself, but on others. There was no earthly reason for him to care about people he had never met, or a city he had never been to, except for the fact that God cared about Jerusalem, and the people there. That was the only reason Nehemiah needed to care about the same things. Because God cared about it. Nehemiah was a leader. Leadership is best defined as influence. Therefore, in some way and on some level, every Christian is called to lead, to have influence. But leadership/influence has a goal, a passion, a target in view. Christian leadership has in view the things of God that are bigger than one s self. It is being kingdom minded. Kingdom minded people make a difference in the world. The size and scope of that difference is determined by God. Actually making a difference for God s kingdom is determined by us. It is determined by what we love, how much we love, and how we live our lives. It is determined by what we value, what we cherish, and if we are willing to surrender to God, and have faith, and live for Him. 1:3 The people had been back in the land for many years, which was good. Their living conditions were not good. They were called survivors. They lived in great distress. They lived in misery and unhappiness. They lived in reproach, which is disgrace. There was scorn from those opposed to them.
1:4 The sequences of events that Nehemiah experienced is very important for us to notice. 1. He sat down and wept. His heart was previously caring about these people and the city. These tears are a result of a previous condition. He didn t have to stop and decide how he ought to feel about the people and the city. He already knew how he felt about the people and the city. 2. He mourned for many days. This was not a passing sadness, or a momentary emotion. This had been a long, sustained burden and concern that Nehemiah had carried. NOTE- This is worthy of notice. When God is leading us to accomplish great things for Him, it will often be a long and sustained burden that we carry. Sometimes we are emotionally moved about a situation, but only for a short time. Nehemiah mourned many days, for this was a burden in his heart that was placed there by the Lord. 3. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah would go on to be a tremendous leader, but it was born out of a life of prayer and fasting. It cannot be emphasize enough that God s people will not accomplish great and lasting works for God s kingdom, unless it is born out of prayer, and perhaps fasting. Alan Redpath- Leaders must prepare themselves for difficult work because it won t be easy. There is no winning without warfare; there is no opportunity without opposition; there is no victory without vigilance. For when ever the people of God say, Let us arise and build, Satan says, Let me arise and oppose. 4. What Nehemiah didn t do: He didn t look for someone to blame. He didn t simply recognize the problem, and expect someone else to deal with it. NOTE- Recognizing a problem is important. Nehemiah did this. The next step needs to be praying over that problem. Usually, our first tendency is to react, or expect others to react. Nehemiah could have argued: The city is vulnerable. The people are living in distress and reproach. I am not OK with that. It has to change NOW. Logically, and emotionally, that makes sense. Many would agree, and encourage us to act immediately. But it is not always how God wants us to respond. Eventually, the walls would be rebuilt under the leadership of Nehemiah. The work would be completed in 52 days. But Nehemiah spent about 4 months praying before the work ever started. He prayed more than twice as long as he worked.
1:5 Notice the awareness of God that Nehemiah has. He rightly addresses God in His greatness. He rightly acknowledges the covenant relationship and promises that God had with Israel. He approaches God with a full awareness of Who he is talking to. Jesus taught this same principle to His disciples regarding the need to be aware of Whom they were praying to. Matthew 6:25-34 25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. When a Christian prays, he/she needs to be mindful of Who they are speaking to. We need to not just speak things into the air. We need to not just say things to God, but forget and not believe that He hears and can help us. We need to speak with a mind that is aware of the greatness of God. 1:6, 7 Nehemiah doesn t demand that God hear him but requests that God would hear him. That is humility. Nehemiah prayed day and night. He persevered in prayer. He confessed the sin of the nation. It was a national sin, for the people lived in a theocracy. He confessed the sin of the people, and included himself as guilty as well. It was because of their idolatry that God had lifted His hand of protection off of them, and had allowed their enemies to overrun them. Their enemies had torn down the walls, destroyed their Temple, and had carried them away.
That the walls were down, and the that people were living in distress and reproach was a result of the actions of the nation years earlier. Nehemiah identified himself with the nation, and admits that their current situation is because of sin. Nehemiah didn t say God, if we have sinned, forgive us. Or God, we didn t do our best, but we ll try harder. He confessed sin as sin. Alan Redpath- You never lighten the load unless first you have felt the pressure in your own soul. You are never used of God to bring blessing until God has opened your eyes and made you see things as they are. 1:8, 9 Nehemiah begins his prayer by asking God to remember the promises He (God) had made. Nehemiah is asking God to keep His word. Sometimes a dad or mom might not like it when a child says, But you promised. God loves when we say that. He wants us to have faith in His promises. He wants us to hold Him to His word. The promises we find in the New Testament. Matthew 5:3-11 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 28 Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. 1:10 These were conditional promises that God had given to Israel. If Israel did their part, God would do His greater part.
1:11 Guzik- Let Your servant prosper this day: This is a prayer of a man of action, not a sideline critic. Nehemiah does not pray God, make it all better or God, get someone else moving on this problem. Instead, his prayer is God, use me to make it better.