BYBC Nehemiah Lesson # 2

Day 2 Theme: THE BIG JOURNEY!

Nehemiah 2

Story:

Nehemiah was so upset about what he heard. While he was serving the king, he was very sad. It was not good that he should be sad in front of the king. Your job was to be joyful and do your job correctly. The king recognized this and asked, “Nehemiah, why are you so sad?” This made Nehemiah afraid. He thought the king might punish him for being sad in his presence. But he didn’t!

Nehemiah explained that he was sad because the city “lieth waste” (is destroyed). King Artaxerxes asked Nehemiah, “What is it you want?” Nehemiah prayed to God and asked the king if he could go to Jerusalem so he could build up the city again. What a job! What about the enemies that destroyed the city in the firstplace? Would Nehemiah be safe going that far (750 miles - 3-4 month journey)? What would happen to him?

King Artaxerxes not only told Nehemiah he could go, but he sent letters with Nehemiah to give to people to give him safe passage to Jerusalem. King Artaxerxes was not a christian man, but God used King Artaxerxes to not only allow Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem, but give him letters of safe passage as well!

After a long journey, Nehemiah finally made it to Jerusalem. As soon as he got there, there were some people who were not happy. These people were not Jewish people and they were not friends with Nehemiah or the people left there. The bad guy’s names were Sanballat and Tobiah. They were from different countries and they wanted Jerusalem to stay destroyed and the walls to remain in ruin. They were NOT happy that someone came to Jerusalem to check on the people there.

One night Nehemiah and a few men that were with him, snuck out of their homes and looked at the wall that was destroyed. He saw exactly what Hanani (from yesterday) said was true… the walls were broken down and the gates were burned with fire. There is no way the people of Jerusalem would be safe with no walls!

Nehemiah was very courageous. He told the men that he wanted to rebuild the walls and he needed their help. Nehemiah said “it must be done” if the people will be safe from the enemies. Nehemiah and the other people with him agreed to rebuild the wall together and “strengthened their hands for this good work.”

Build up for tomorrow:

Now that Nehemiah has heard of the destruction of the wall in Jerusalem and has now seen it for himself, how will he ever rebuild the wall?

What will the enemy do to try and stop Nehemiah from rebuilding the wall?

Who will win the fight?

Come back Thursday night and find out!