Nehemiah 1-6
"They said to me, 'Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.' When I heard these things I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." Nehemiah 1:3-4
Nehemiah was a Jew who lived in Babylon. He was the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes. When some men came to Babylon from Judah, Nehemiah questioned them about the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem and about the conditions in the city itself. The news was very bad. Although the temple had been rebuilt, the exiles were struggling, the wall of the city was broken down, and the gates had been burned, giving invaders easy access to attack the city. This news caused Nehemiah to mourn, fast, and pray.
One day when Nehemiah took some wine into the king, he allowed his face to show sadness over the situation in Jerusalem. The king asked Nehemiah why he was sad, and Nehemiah told him what he had learned about Jerusalem and asked the king's permission to go rebuild the wall. The king granted Nehemiah permission, gave him letters to people who could help him, and provided soldiers to escort him safely.
Three days after his arrival in Jerusalem, Nehemiah went by night to inspect the damage to the wall. Then he met with some of the Jews, priests, nobles, and officials and told them about his trip from Babylon. He enlisted them to help rebuild the wall. Their reply was, "Let's get started."
Whenever we step out for God, enemies seem to surface. Nehemiah and his workers had enemies, especially three men named Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, officials who wanted to keep the Jews weak and vulnerable. They mocked and ridiculed the Jews the whole time they were working on the wall. Tobiah said that the wall would be so feeble it would crumble if a fox walked on it.
Nehemiah was an excellent foreman. He gave specific sections of the wall to specified groups of people. They would be encouraged as they saw the progress they were making on their part of the wall.
As the wall went up, the opposition increased. Nehemiah's enemies tried to frighten and intimidate Nehemiah, but he refused to give in to their attempts. He trusted God instead. When the Jews heard that their enemies planned to attack them, half of the men worked on the wall, and the other half armed themselves and guarded the workers. Nehemiah and his fellow Jews stood firm in their faith, but they were also prepared to fight if necessary.
The completion of the wall was a great victory for the Jews and a testimony to the power and protection of God. Nehemiah 6:16 gives this commentary, "When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God."
The wall had been torn down for 142 years, and nobody had done anything about it. When Nehemiah came with a vision to rebuild it, the wall was completed in 52 days. Nehemiah is an amazing example of a godly leader. He was a man of prayer. He prayed first, but he was also a man of action. He planned his steps carefully, but when the time came he moved out courageously. Most of all Nehemiah cared. He cared enough to ask about Jerusalem, to weep over the destruction that had taken place, to pray for God's direction, and then to go himself to get the job done.
Abraham cared and rescued Lot. Esther cared enough to risk her life to save her people. Paul cared and spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Jesus cared and died on the cross for us. God is always looking for people who will care and pray and move out. Are you and I willing to be such people?
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