Rebuilt with Patience: Nehemiah 2

Introduction

Welcome

Good morning CBC. If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Nehemiah 2.

Nehemiah was mightily used by God to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. A man of fiery personality, high leadership capacity, and dipolamtic wisdom. Yet, as we saw last week, Nehemiah’s success in the Rebuild began with Prayer.

Prayer, not personality, accomplishes the Will of God.

But as we learned last week, the Book of Nehemiah is really a picture of how God seeks to Build His Church.

Jerusalem was a representation of God. The Church in the New Covenant is a representation of God. And this morning, Nehemiah 2 is going to show us what I think are some pretty profound, yet surprising insights.

In the Sermon today we will see 4 things that you and I have to be aware of if we want to join God in the work of Building His image here on earth as it is in heaven.

So let’s read our text for today, and then dive in:

Nehemiah 2:1–16 ESV

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

Nehemiah’s moment has come.

But he goes on to lay his request out, and Nehemiah 2:8 “And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.”

With God’s favor upon Him, Nehemiah sets out on the 900 mile journey, and finally arrives in Jerusalem to get a feel for the state of the city himself.

But there are some real keen insights we need to see here… #1, Nehemiah Built Jerusalem with Providence.

Providence

Providence

Church, before we dissect Nehemiah’s incredible leadership in this endeavor, we cannot lose sight of the fact that this whole project is initiated by Providence.

Nehemiah himself acknowledges this, look at Nehemiah 2:12 “And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.”

This vision was God given. It began with God.

It didn’t begin with Nehemiah’s burden and brokenness when he heard about the state of Jerusalem.

It began with God. Becasue God is Provident.

Providence refers to God orchestrating all of life’s contingencies and actions to effect exactly what He wants, when He wants, with whom He wants, where He wants.

In the words of R.C. Sproul, “God doesn’t roll dice.” Nothing happens by chance. Nothing is left to coincidence. Everything happens according to His Providence.

Everything.

It was God’s Providence that intiated the Return.

We saw this as we were studying Ezra, but nearly 200 years before King Cyrus of Persia was even born Isaiah 44:28 “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ””

By His Providence God named who he would use to initate the return of the remnant.

By His Providence God placed the vision in Nehemiah’s heart.

We have to grow in our trust of His Providence.

I think sometimes we look at the broken down walls of our world, our marriages, our families, our society, our churches and end up putting more faith in these circumstances than in the providence of God.

We conclude that God must not be working. That he has forgotten. That He is hands off. He’s left it to fate or some fatalistic destiny.

And if you believe that, than you are going to feel like the work of Rebuilding is all up to you.

That if anything of God is going to be done, than I guess its up to me.

But let me very clear about something ya’ll… Henry Blackaby in his incredible book Experiencing God says it perfectly…

“We don't choose what we will do for God; He invites us to join Him where He wants to involve us.”

Here’s a truth a lot of you need to hear today:

He doesn’t need you. The Apostle Paul says it this way

Acts 17:24–25 “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

We don’t wake up one day and go…

You know what… God could really use me here in Richmond Hill. I guess I’ll begin rebuilding.

Or… you know, my spouse, they’re a real piece of work. You know what they need… ME?

No, No No. That you have a vision or burden to rebuild is first and foremost a testament of His Providence and an invitation into His Work, not a runway for your own.

Jesus modeled this. Jesus said, My Father is always working. And “I only do what I see my Father doing.”

We join God in His Providential Work, we don’t initiate our own.

Nehemiah knew this.

We see him dependent on Providence in his Prayer life.

Remember, King Artaxerxes had already halted and forbid the rebuilding of Jerusalem once. Ezra 4:21.

It would have to be Providence to turn the heart of the King.

We see him dependent on Providence for Provision

He needed the Timber, but Nehemiah knew he couldn’t secure that himself. He needed God’s Providence.

This was God’s Providential Work, and it is Providence that Rebuilds.

Stop thinking… what should I do for God. Instead, believe that right now, He is working all around you, and pray, “God in your providence what work are you inviting me into?”

Yet… although Nehemiah was 100% dependent upon God’s Providence, it didn’t keep him from Planning.

Planning

While Nehemiah was dependent on Providence, it didn’t keep Him from planning.

Nehemiah was a gifted planner.

When his time came to make his requests known, it laid out his plans with clarity and conviction.

While he was waiting on God Providence to open the door, he was simultaneously visualizing this operation and his role in it.

Look @ verse 2:6— Nehemiah gave him an approximate time the project would take.

2:7— Nehemiah laid out the letters he’d need for safe passage.

2:8- he laid out the timber he’d need, and the location it should come from.

And then when he got there, after 3 days (vs 11),

“he arose in the night and inspected the walls”

He needed to get a personal feel for the scale and scope of the project so that he could create his plans.

What I’m saying, is that although dependent on Providence, it didn’t excuse Nehemiah from Planning.

His responsibility didn’t interfere with or take place of God’s Sovereignty.

Man’s responsibility and God’s Sovereignty walk hand in hand.

They are not contradictory. Both are essentail in accomplishing the divine plan for the world.

Why!? Because that’s how God has Providentially established it.

When he Providentially created Adam and Eve, he gave them human responsibility that was really just an invitation into God’s Providential Plans for creation.

Before Jesus ascended, He Providentially stated, “I will build my church.”

But he also said he’d do it on the Rock of Peter’s confession. So before he ascended he told Peter and the rest… “Go, and make disciples.” Build my church.

So if you want to join God in the Work of Rebuilding His image in your life, your family, this community, this world, this church… you need to have faith in Providence and make good Plans.

They must go hand in hand.

If you lean solely on Providence, you miss your invitation to Build.

IF you lean solely on your burden to Build, you will burn out and grow embittered toward God.

Like paul,

Colossians 1:29, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that HE powerfully works within me.”

God Builds with Providence and Planning

oh but he also does it with deep, deep Patience.

Patience

Patience

One of my all time favorite author’s is a man by the name of Wendell Berry. Berry writes novels through the lenses of different fictional characters that live in the same fictional town of Port William, KY.

He really highlights the beauty of small-town life, where you can live unhurried and present with the people in your community.

But in his book Jayber Crowe the local barber, Jayber was wondering around Port William when Berry writes,

“I was in the woods, thickety in places. It was impossible to hurry there, and so I settled myself into patience.”

If Jayber would have hurried through the thickets he would have been torn up… It’s impossible to hurry in brambles and thorns and thickety places, you can only settle into patience.

Church, joining God in the work of Rebuilidng can be real thickety work.

It can be risky, messy, thorny, and littered with opposition as we will soon see.

And it is so easy, and human to see what’s broken, and see God’s intention to rebuild and HURRY.

We get so burdened for what is broken and just READY, FIRE, AIM.

We see the injustices or what needs to be done, and in our zeal we launch into the thickets…

All because we haven’t learned to settle into patience.

This is so counter cultural!

Here in America you are valued for the quantity of work you can get done.

The volume of obstacles you can personally overcome.

The number of bulls you can grab by the horns.

The quota of products pumped out on our manufacturing assembly lines..

But listen…

The Kingdom of this country isn’t the Kingdom of our God.

Author Parker Palmer says, the primary metaphor of america is manufacturing. But the primary metaphor of God’s Kingdom is Agrictultural.

Listen to James 5:7–8 “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient...

LIsten to Jesus Mark 4:26–27 “And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.”

Listen… when God rebuilds you’ll have to settle into Patience.

Nehemiah did this so well.

Although a man of action, and was able to lead the people of Jerusalem to rebuild the entire city walls in 52 days! (Nehemiah 6:15 “So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.” )

That’s a man of action. To rouse an apathatic, defeated people to overcome the opposition they faced and complete their task in 52 days is remarkeable!

You may think… that’s not patient, that’s production!

But just look at our text today:

First, as we saw last week. Nehemiah persisted in his prayer for 4 months.

From the month of Chislev to the Month of Nisan… Nehemiah persistently, AND patiently prayed.

Secondly, GulfStream wasn’t around back then. So he had to either walk, or camel ride more than 900 miles from Susa which is modern day Azerbijan to Jerusalem.

Most believe it took Nehemiah more than 2 months.

We get frustrated when our entire dinner takes 2 minute to microwave.

Finally, when he eventually arrived you’d think he’d start bushwacking a path through the thicket instead look at vs 11

Nehemiah 2:11 “So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.”

What was he doing there for 3 days!? We don’t know… but apparently he wasn’t in a hurry.

He didn’t start rousing the troops. He didn’t start create urgency. He didn’t come in like a wrecking ball.

He postured and personified Patience.

Church, God Rebuilds with Patience. In fact, the Story of Scripture is a pattern of Patience.

God promised Abraham an heir, but Abraham had to wait 25 years to join God in the work of Building God’s People.

God promised Joseph authority, but Joseph had to wait 13 years (either in slavery, or prison), before he got to join God in the work of saving his family from famine.

Moses shared God’s burden for Israel’s slavery, but andwaited 40 years in the wilderness before joining God in the work of redemption.

God promised Israel a return and a rebuild, but Zerubbabel, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, Malachi, and now Nehemiah had to wait 70 years before they could join God in the Return and Rebuild.

Jesus, although by age 12 knowing exactly who He was and what He was about, namely His father’s business, waited a total of 30 years before joining the Father in the payment of salvation.

Jesus, knowing the Father wanted him to raise Lazarus from the dead, waited 3 days before fulfilling it. Leaving Mary and Martha to accuse him… “If you would have just been here!”

Jesus, has promised to return and forever rule and reign, and yet more than 2000 years later we are still settling into patience!

The Kingdom of God is built with Providence and Planning, but also Patience.

It’s an essential ingredient, and one I fear you and I haven’t learned.

Joining God in His Work is your calling! But working in accordance with His Timing is equally important!

We must learn to God’s Work, God’s Way, In God’s Timing.

Becuase listen… the reverse is important…

If you don’t learn this pattern of patience, you could miss God’s Work, or actually stand opposing it.

Abraham, unwilling to wait, created Ishmael, the Father of Arabs and Islam… I’d say some pretty serious consequences for not settling into patience.

Joseph, unwilling to wait, boasted in his dreams… so God helped him learn to wait in prison. But Joseph in prison, unwilling to wait, tried to get himself out telling the cupbearer to pull a favor with Pharoh… but he forgot and spent 2 more years in prison.

Moses, unwilling to wait, took matters into his own hands and broke the will of God with murder.

Church, you must learn the Pattern of Patience.

I see people all the time miss an opportunity to join God in redemption because they are unwilling to settle into Patience.

Listen, I know your job is a drain and you just know this couldn’t possibly be God’s plan for you, and I know “you prayed about it.” which is really just code for… you can’t challenge me… because I’ve prayed. So to challenge my decision is to challenge God.”

Great, you’ve prayed about it… but have you waited about it. Have you been patient about it?

Listen, I know that relationship is painful and you’re hurt, and you just know this could never be God’s plan for you, and I know “You’ve prayed about” and subsequently it just has to be God’s will to walk away from that relationship…

But have you waited about it? Or have you let your hurt drive your decision rather than the gospel?

Listen, I know God has called you to that ministry or that city, or that country. And I know you feel burdened because you see all that could be, and simultaneously all you see is all that isn’t… And in your zeal you’re ready to jump in… I get it…

But have you learned the pattern of patience.

Sometimes we hear God about a purpose, yet ignore God about His Timing & let me warn you.

A LOT OF ISHMAEL’S GET CREATED IN SEASONS LIKE THAT.

Nehemiah knew the Pattern of Patience.

Rebuilding is Thickety work… settle into patience like Nehemiah.

But let me close with one more insight:

Rebuilding will invite Pressure

Pressure

Nehemiah had faith in Providence, laid out meticulous plans, and was extremely patient… but none of that kept him from facing many pressures.

Pressure should be expected, and I’ll talk extensively on this when we get to chapter 4, but we are in a spiritual war ya’ll.

Right now.

Any attempt you make to join God in His Work is an enlistment for battle, because there are spiritual forces of evil standing ready to oppose your every move.

And in Nehemiah’s story, that spiritual opposition manifested in the characters Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gersham the Arab, but for our text today we will see just 2 of them.

Look with me at Nehemiah 2:10 “But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.”

Now again, we are going to do a much deeper dive on opposition in 2 weeks, but let’s quickly look at these characters.

Sanballat

What do we know of this Sanballat character?

Sanballat is a Babylonian Name, and was governor of Samaria which is the province of the Persian Empire directly North of Israel.

Extrabiblical sources paint him as a worldly man, who had no religious interest, only interested in carving a career by showing himself loyal to the Persian Empire.

So that Nehemiah had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel because God’s desire to rebuild was mandarin chinese to a man like Sanballat.

He’s to worldly to understand the things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Tobiah?

Then there’s Tobiah. Tobiah’s story is very different thatn ole Sanballat’s.

Tobiah is a Jewish name, meaning Yahweh is Good. And Neh 6:18 tells us that Tobiah was very well liked and even in business dealings as well as marriage alliances with the top Jewish Nobles of Israel.

Now what’s really interesting is that many commentators believe that this could be the same Tobiah we read about in Ezra 2:60.

If you can remember, Zerubbabel after receiving freedom to return to Jerusalem from King Cyrus, took census.

He wanted to ensure that the people actually resettling in and near Jeursalem could prove their Israelite heritage.

But there were a good amount of people who returned that Ezra 2:59 “ could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:”

Of those we read in vs. 60, “the sons of Tobiah…”

Many commentators believe that Tobiah began a very religious man.

His name even meant Yahweh is Good, but he was a Samaritan. A man who worshipped Yahweh, and other gods. So he was excluded from his desired position within Israel.

So, after his perceived rejection he became a power broker in the area, and as he grew more and more powerful, so did his bitterness.

To the point where now, he was greatly displeased that anybody had come to seek the welfare of Israel.

Church, if this is the same Tobiah… there is a dire warning found here in the pattern of his life.

So often we miss joining God in His rebuilding work because of bitterness.

As a church plant, I’m aware that many of you have come to this church hurting.

Your hurt from other believers. Hurt from family members. Hurt from friends. Hurt from Churches, and church leadership and if you stick around here long enough that may become your story.

But... IF you do not allow God to transform that pain, you will always transmit it.

If you do not allow God to heal your hurt, your heart will grow so diseased that you end up missing God’s work of rebuilding from here on out, or.. actually opposing it.

And I don’t want that for you!

Hebrews 12:15 warns us of “roots of bitterness” that spring up in your life and eventually defile many!

And it’s so gradual! It’s progressive.

It begins as HURT that gives rise to ANGER.

And its sooo human to want to make sense of our HURT and ANGER so we do one or two things:

We slander and gossip about that hurt to get others to affirm it and justify it.

Or we turn inward and make sense of that hurt by building a rock hard case in the echo chamber of your own hurt.

But either way the result is the same.

You’ve either persuaded people by your gossip and had them affirm and coddle your hurt.

Or you’ve persuaded and justified it yourself And that Hurt becomes RESENT.

You’ve built such a case against that person, you can’t even find 1 good thing about them anymore.

RESENT then becomes full on HATRED, where they are no longer someone who has wounded you… but your ENEMY.

and that HATRED steeps, and boils and gives birth to VENGENCE.

Your desire is now to make them pay!

And what’s really scary, is during this little journey down bitterness lane you can actually deceive yourself to think that God is on your side and you are just in your actions.

Tobiah, born to believe that God is Good.

Tobiah, hurt and rejected.

Tobiah, bitter and resentful

Tobiah opposing the work of God.

If don’t let Christ through the Scriptures teach you how to transform your pain, you are going to always transmit it.

But listen… He is always willing, aand the answer is found in forgiveness.

Forgiveness can set you free, and get you building again!

Conclusion

I think many of us today probably have people in our lives that have deeply wounded or hurt us.

But the truth is… willing ourselves to forgive is nearly impossible. What I mean is, forgiveness at some level will always be a choice, yet, the emotions and desire for retribution or justification doesn’t go anywhere just because you say “I forgive you.” every day for the rest of your life.

We have to let Christ transform that pain. And that’s a process.

But Step #1 in that process is this:

For a brief moment… take your eyes off your pain, and put them on Jesus.

Instead of considering the wrong done to you… for a brief moment I want you to consider the wrong done to Him.

He was rejected, slandered, accused, mocked, slapped, spit on, cursed, abandoned, betrayed.

He was flogged, forced to wear a crown of thorns, and pierced by nails through his hands and feet.

He was hung on a Roman Cross until finally He was killed.

Jesus was wounded and Hurt by many.

But stay with me and think for a second… again we are considering Jesus.

Ya’ll, he didn’t deserve any of that.

Hebrews says he was holy, harmless, undefiled.”

Paul says he knew no sin.

Pilate said, I find no fault in him”

The dying thief said, “this man has done nothing wrong”

And the onlooking Centurian said, “certainly this was a righteous man.”

He did absolutely nothing wrong, only to be maliciously wronged by others.

But… stay with me.

As He absorbed all that hurt. All that pain. All that wounding.

Right before his body couldn’t bear it any longer… he whispered, “Father, forgive them.”

It was our Sin that wounded Him so… yet Christ, joining God’s work of Rebuilding, forgave us.

The first step to forgiveness, is growing in your comprehension of His radical forgiveness of you.

Then as Paul says, Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

We can forgive others… it’s a supernatural work, but we can join God in that work, because God in Christ has forgiven us.

Communion

Today we want to remember that forgiveness with Communion.

Communion is a sacrament of the church, available for the believer in Christ, where we collectively get to visibly preach the Gospel to One Another.

I just verbally preached it, but now we get to see it. Put eyes on it.

Christ began the tradition of Communion on the night that he was believed.

He shared it with his followers and he broke bread, and in that bread he symbolized his own body that was about to broken for all mankind.

He took some juice, and in that juice he symbolized his own blood that was about to be poured out for you.

In that symbolic act… we see the The Wounding of Christ, but we also see the Forgiveness of God.

Ephesians 1:7 “In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace,”

So as you take the cup and the bread, I want us all to take a moment to reflect on the riches of his grace, seen in the forgivenss of your sins, accomplished in the wounding of our Savior.

And then in just a moment, I’ll come back up and lead us through communion.