Nehemiah 2:1-8

Nehemiah 2:1–8 KJV (WS)

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Introduction

So far, we have watched Nehemiah’s journey into purpose.

He began by allowing the plight of others to affect him.

He then spent daily time in prayer seeking God’s direction for how how he could play a part in addressing the problems.

This is just 2/3 of what is required to make a change in our world.

Christians should be moved by the problems around us.

Christians should make these things a matter of prayer.

But if we stop there, we are only partly performing our role as God would have us.

Christians should all take real steps to put their faith in action.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.

It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it 1000x.

In today’s passage, this is exactly what we witness Nehemiah doing.

He is putting his sorrow and his prayers into action.

He is going to do something about the problems of his world.

There is a 4 month time jump between chapter 1 and chapter 2. vss 1-2

It is now the month Nisan.

Nisan is the 1st month of the Jewish calendar.

It coincides with our March-April time period.

4 months have passed since Nehemiah had first received news of Jerusalem’s condition.

During that time, he has spent considerable time in prayer.

Night and day, according to last weeks message.

Nehemiah through his sorrow has adored God, confessed his and his people’s sins, and has made specific requests to God.

Just in the passing of time, we can see the faith of Nehemiah on display.

Nehemiah is proving his reliance on God during this time.

His heart would have prompted him to try to act as soon as possible.

His faith told him to wait on the Lord.

Remember our series from the beginning of the year, “Stand still”.

True faith keeps us from rushing into things.

4 months later, Chapter 2 drops us back into Nehemiah’s life during what appears to be a scene from a private banquet.

We say this based on the fact that the queen is present with the king, as seen in vs 6.

The queen, according to history, was named Damaspia.

Nehemiah is serving the king when the king notices something is off with his close advisor.

Much has been made of the fact that it was poor policy in oriental courts to show a dissatisfied or unhappy face.

Nehemiah had been careful to adhere to this standard all the years of his employment with the king.

He had never been sad in his presence.

It could potentially be a serious offence for Nehemiah to appear to be sad.

But after 4 months of grief, Nehemiah lets his mask slip a bit.

Who knows what it was that caused Nehemiah to reveal his emotional state in this moment.

Maybe it had just worn him down.

Proverbs 15:13 KJV (WS)

13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

Whatever it was, Artaxerxes noticed it, and then called it out.

In that moment, Nehemiah’s heart dropped and he became sore afraid.

Sore afraid = dreadfully afraid.

He may have been afraid because of the threat to his life that potentially existed.

I believe Nehemiah was more afraid of the fact that he had to explain the cause of his sorrow.

Which he must now seek to do without the ability to claim sickness.

With his inner turmoil discovered, Nehemiah responds to the king. vs 3

The first thing that he does is make a statement regarding the health and prosperity of the king.

Truly, Nehemiah is not sad because of the treatment he has received from the king.

He wants to insure that the king knows he is not the reason for Nehemiah’s sadness.

With that out of the way, Nehemiah begins to answers the king’s question with a question of his own.

Notice how Nehemiah frames his response.

He says nothing about the typical feelings of the Jews towards Jerusalem.

Nothing about God, the temple, or Zion.

Instead he speaks of the place of his ancestors’ burial grounds.

A pagan would probably not sorrow over the ruins of Jerusalem.

He would, however, certainly show respect for the dead.

Right off the bat, Nehemiah is doing well in his response.

The king asks a follow-up question. vss 4-8a

Artaxerxes knows that Nehemiah is angling for a request.

Nehemiah enjoyed the favor and confidence of the king.

The king invites one of his favorite court members to speak plainly about what he would like.

This is the moment that Nehemiah had bee waiting for.

Think about this for a moment, though.

Nehemiah had to wait for an invitation to speak to the king.

He had an open invitation to pray to God.

Before he speaks to the King of Persian, Nehemiah offers a prayer to the God of heaven.

We make a lot of this quick prayer.

Don’t forget that this brief, silent prayer was backed up by months of fasting and praying.

Perhaps he had been praying every day for an opportunity to speak to the king.

This prayer resulted in one of the most astonishing reversals of royal policy in all of history.

Nehemiah knew what Artaxerxes had written in Ezra 4:21

Ezra 4:21 KJV (WS)

21 Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.

This doesn’t stop him from asking Artaxerxes to “send me unto Judah.”

He wants to go to the city where his fathers are buried.

He wants to go with the king’s authority to rebuild the city.

Artaxerxes has only one thing to say.

How long will you be gone?

He was allowed to set the length of his own commission.

Nehemiah would remain in Jerusalem for 12 years.

The king agrees to send Nehemiah back to Judah for this purpose.

Nehemiah had gotten what he wanted.

But, Nehemiah was not done.

In a bold move, Nehemiah reveals his plan on how to accomplish his goal.

Nehemiah could not leave without the king’s permission.

He could not do the work without the king’s provision.

Nehemiah knew that the governors of the region would not be enthused about his mission.

So, he asks the king to write letters addressed to the governors authorizing Nehemiah for his task.

Some believe that in these letters, Artaxerxes named Nehemiah as the new governor of Judah.

Nehemiah then asks for the king to give him the supplies to rebuild out of his own forest.

The Hebrew word for forest is the same word for paradise.

It was frequently used to refer to a park or an orchard.

Asaph is the keeper of this royal forest.

It is probably a forest near Jerusalem.

Maybe even the Sycamore forest of David from 1 Chronicles 27:28

1 Chronicles 27:28 KJV (WS)

28 And over the olive trees and the sycomore trees that were in the low plains was Baalhanan the Gederite: and over the cellars of oil was Joash:

Josephus spoke of a royal park that Solomon would often visit.

With these supplies and with this authority, Nehemiah would rebuild the gates of the palace, the walls of the city, and the house where Nehemiah would live.

Notice Nehemiah doesn’t reveal his desire to build the wall until vs 8.

Nowhere in this passage does Nehemiah mention Jerusalem specifically.

Ezra 4:20 KJV (WS)

20 There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.

I can only imagine Nehemiah’s face as he waited for the king’s response.

The king grants Nehemiah’s request. vs 8b

Everything that Nehemiah had asked for, he received.

He had respected the lines of authority around him.

He had prayed in the last chapter that God would, “grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

God had accomplished a miracle and Nehemiah knew who deserved the glory.

It was not the king.

It was not Nehemiah.

Nehemiah gives God the glory for what has occurred.

Proverbs 21:1 KJV (WS)

1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

God had responded by blessing the faith of his servant in action.

Application

How do you put faith to work in your life?

Not every act of faith has to be a life or death confrontation with an emperor.

If our God is as great as we claim, I would expect a few more leaps of faith from his people.

When was the last time you were dreadfully afraid of what something you were about to attempt for God?

We said at the beginning that…

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.

It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it 1000x.

Nehemiah literally staked his life on God’s grace.

Do you have faith in God?

Do you believe he is all-powerful?

Do you believe that nothing is too hard for him?

How does that show up in your life?

How are we as a church going to express our faith in the years to come?

We can’t live off of the faith of yesterday.

We thank God for the faith of today.

What victories will we aim for in the future?

It will take heart, it will take prayer, it will take action.

Conclusion

Nehemiah faced his fear and put his faith into action.

The good hand of his God was upon him.

How will experience the good hand of that same God?

When set our fear aside and let our faith dictate our actions.