Nehemiah 2
Notes
Transcript
Last week we began looking at Nehemiah
He received word from his brother that the walls around Jerusalem were still destroyed
This meaning they still had no protection and would still be a mockery to onlookers
So, Nehemiah fasts and prays for days
We look at his prayer model:
Prayer Model:
Start by acknowledging God’s awesomeness, power, holiness, etc.
Root the prayer in God’s love, faithfulness, and promises
Requests God listens and sees his heart
Confesses sins
Reminder of God’s full promise
Reminder they are God’s people
Request for God’s favor
We end chapter 1 with Nehemiah saying:
Nehemiah 1:11 (NIV)
… Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.
As we kick off this morning, we begin with understanding that Nehemiah had determined that today is the day that he was going to approach the king
A couple of background things to know here:
Previously in the book of Ezra we read:
21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.
The king had determined that Jerusalem was in rebellion against the kinds and so he stopped the work on the city
So, for Nehemiah to approach the king and ask for something going agains the current decree would potentially be dangerous for him
This was a pretty big ask for Nehemiah!
2. A cupbearer was a trusted person to the king!
Their main job was to taste the wine to make sure that it was not poisoned. They would likely also select the wine for the king to drink
Some goes as far as to think that the role of the cupbearer was of high honor!
In fact, in the book Tobit, which is not part of our bible and we do not consider it to be canonized, infallible, or inerrant scripture, but is included in the apocrypha
It talks about Ahikar who is a cupbearer to a king of Assyria but was also the chief minister, meaning he was also a man of influence
It isn’t clear from our text that this was the case for Nehemiah, but it is certain that he was highly trusted by the king!
Being a cupbearer is something that would take years of trust to build up and not a position that was easily replaced
So, to go to the king asking to leave his duties, at least for a time, would be a rather big ask and Nehemiah knew this, hence his praying and fasting for 4ish months
We pick up in today’s text in:
1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid,
Nehemiah has his plan in place, he has prayed and fasted and comes to the king and has not been sad in the presence of the king before so of course, the king noticed!
You can see here that Nehemiah wasn’t just some peasant for the king. He took notice of Nehemiahs distraught hinting that they had a relationship of some degree
Nehemiah was of course afraid, but begins to speak:
3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
Notice what Nehemiah does here as he is afraid, he prays! We are going to see a theme throughout the book of Nehemiah where he is a prayer….he fasted and prayed for 4 months before approaching the king
and then he prays again when he is afraid to ask to go to Jerusalem
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
He’s not told him exactly what he was planning on doing and the time that it would take.
Remember this king had stopped the rebuilding years prior due to threat of the Israelites rebelling against the king
So it is a big ask, but he doesn’t stop by just asking to go and rebuild:
Nehemiah 2:7–8 (NIV)
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” …
So not only can I leave my duties for a time to rebuild the walls around the city you are afraid will rebel against you, would you send letter to the officials in the areas that I am going through for safe passage?
Oh, and one more thing…can I get some wood to rebuild the wall?
This is no small request from Nehemiah…but he does it boldly!
And I love what the text says next
Nehemiah 2:8 (NIV)
…And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
Notice that all of the preparations that nehemiah did, the prayers and the fasting, the years of building a relationship with the king, pays off and God blesses him!
Notice who Nehemiah gives the credit to here, God!
How often do we pray about something, no matter how big or small, God honors it and then we forget to give Him credit?
Nehemiah likely knew that God was going to bless him, why else would he ask such a huge request?
And remember, he waited 4 months to ask. 4 months of seeking God’s guidance
And then when the moment came, he was afraid and prayed again, then God does what God does!
Nehemiah then gives credit where credit is due!
Because of God’s hand, the king granted his request!
This morning, as we think about the preparation of Nehemiah and the boldness of Nehemiah, let’s also think about the gratitude of Nehemiah!
9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
The king then goes even further than expected and sends him and escort!
When God wants to do something, He often times blows us away!
A lesson that might be good for us to learn this morning is to approach God with boldness!
He can, and often does, do more than we can ask or imagine!
When we come before God, let us come with boldness and confidence, and in relationship with Him!
When then read about a couple governors named Sanballat the governor of Samaria - the text doesn’t tell us this but we have extra-biblical resources that do
And Tobiah, the governor of Ammon
They are not happy that the king would allow this!
We are going to talk more about these guys and their opposition in two weeks as Pastor Bob is preaching next week!
For now, Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem and inspects the walls at night and we pick up in verse 16
16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
So far he hasn’t let anyone know what he is doing and after inspection he says to them
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
Here we are, we are going to do this!
I can only imagine what their response would be….well man, we tried and were forced to stop and it has been a sad time for us
Nehemiah then assures them how God has been with him!
There is something about knowing the goodness and the power of God that changes people’s minds!
Sometimes people have high expectations and goals, maybe too high until you see the hand of God at work!
This is one of the reasons that it is important for us to share our testimonies! What is God doing in our lives!
My faith might be small in a moment, but when I hear what God is doing for others, it begins to increase my faith!
If we don’t share our testimonies and what God is doing, we often miss the opportunity to increase the faith of other people!
The other thing that sharing testimonies does for us is we relive the memory as we are sharing it!
We remember what God is doing for us! We relive the moment…and that increases our faith!
So, Nehemiah shares his testimony with the officials! God’s hand has been upon me, look at how He has blessed me…the king could have killed me
But he let me come, he gave me safe passage, he sent and escort for me, and he gave me wood to do this!
I can just see their faith begin to increase as they respond by saying “let us start rebuilding!”
Last week we ended with a challenge to pray about what God might be calling us to do! Maybe some of you have an idea already, maybe you’re still in the praying and fasting stage, maybe some of you are ready to go! To which I would say, let’s go!
Maybe some of us need our faith to increase! Maybe you have faced some opposition and we will discuss how to battle that in two weeks!
But for now, maybe we need to hear what God is doing, and to experience His presence!
I am going to have the worship team come back up here and we are going to have a response song!
If you are sitting here this morning wondering if God would have favor on you, you have been separated from Him and feel a tug on your heart, maybe you need to take a step of faith to make Him Lord of your life and put your trust in Him!
If that’s you this morning, the bible makes it easy, confess He is Lord and believe in Him! Turn from your sin and towards Him
Prayer team will pray with you!
For the rest of us, if you want prayer for anything, but especially what God may be calling you to do we would love to pray with you and and help you encounter the presence of God!
You can get up and go to one of the prayer team members or you can simply raise your hand and we will come to you!
