Nehemiah 2

Outline:

Recap of Nehemiah 1

Nehemiah is cup bearer to the king of Persia during the jewish exile

the story of Nehemiah is not like one reading in a history book; its like we are reading the personal journal of Nehemiah

God gave Nehemiah a burden through news of the current state of Jerusalem and the jewish people there

Burden not so much just of the city in rubble or just of the trouble and shame of the jewish people…but that the physical state of Jerusalem and jewish people reflects God’s glory. Nehemiah’s burden was that God’s glory would be revealed and proclaimed by God’s people

In Nehemiah 1, God was working in Nehemiah with a burden

In Nehemiah 2, God was working thru Nehemiah

Illust/Intro - boys grow up wanting to be bigger/faster/stronger. Started working out in college…but needed a plan.

Find ourselves in Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah praying for 4 months on the burden God has given him

In that time Nehemiah is also probably forming a plan should the opportunity arise to move forward with this burden

What we will see is that Nehemiah is not emotionally driven, he is centered on what God wants, God’s truth, and the call God has

Read Nehemiah 2

v.1 - Nehemiah in a special position to the king

cupbearer - historical reason for this position

anyone in king’s court was to bring pleasure and joy to the king, so no sadness

the burden has been weighing on Nehemiah to where the king now notices and asks what’s up

v.2 - “I was afraid”

real emotion; because sadness before the king was a capital offense.

Sadness did not bring pleasure to the king

King trying to figure out if someone poisoned his drink and if there was an assassination attempt by someone or by Nehemiah himself

death was a very real consequence at this point with Nehemiah

v.3 - “Let king live forever”

Gave courtesy to the king, that Nehemiah is loyal to him and that there is no attempt on the king’s life

Nehemiah takes the opportunity (that he has been praying months for) to share why he is sad.

v.4 - “I prayed to the God of heaven”

one of those quick prayers

but this quick prayer has power because Nehemiah had been in a posture of prayer and centered on God and His desires for months

Reliance on God trusting Him with what He has called Nehemiah to do, despite what may come next.

When in a situation do you stop to pray and ask God for discernment?

When we do that, is that the only time we are seeking and praying to God?

Not God’s desire, and if that is the only prayers you do, you’re not likely discerning really what God has for you.

Rubber meets the road

illust. - talking about and praying about…now the opportunity hits

rubber meets the road, what are you gong to do?

LOOKING FORWARD REQUIRES OBEDIENCE (v.1-8)

When God gives the burden, we must be willing to take the step.**

It’s important that Nehemiah doesn’t confuse waiting on God with doing nothing

for months he prayed, fasted, waited, prepared, thought through what would be required

when the opportunity finally comes what does he do?

“So I prayed to the God of heaven”

Waiting on God doesn’t mean sitting still, it means preparing to obey**

"Nehemiah prayed. Nehemiah prepared. Nehemiah acted. And Nehemiah recognized that God was at work."

v.8 - “The good hand of my God was upon me”

Theme we will see all throughout Nehemiah’s story

God was orchestrating and already moving n the circumstance

God is working in your life (even if you don’t see it right now); but maybe there is a burden, a call for you that you are ignoring or can’t see what God has because you have not submitted to Him like we see Nehemiah in ch.1

v.9-10

In God’s work, there seems to always be opposition of some sorts

this is start for Nehemiah

Troubled/against Nehemiah; already an attitude of opposition

maybe for fear of them loosing their authority and power over Judah or from Persia

v.11

Nehemiah goes to evaluate

rested 3 days

Nehemiah is understanding and discerning what God has put into His heart to rebuild Jerusalem and His people, **to ultimately reflect the glory of God to all

LOOKING FORWARD REQUIRES DISCERNMENT (v.9-16)

Nehemiah doesn’t get there and immediately announce “God told me to build the wall, so everybody let’s go!”

Instead:

He recognizes opposition.

He accepts an escort.

He rests.

He gets up at night.

He surveys the walls.

He investigates the situation.

He doesn't tell everyone what God has put on his heart yet.

That's discernment.

Obedience doesn't mean recklessness.

Faith isn't:

"I don't need to think because I trust God."

Faith says:

"Because I trust God, I want to understand what faithful obedience requires."

Faith doesn't eliminate discernment; faith produces discernment.

Application:

We sometimes say: “I just need to know what God wants me to do."

But Nehemiah demonstrates that discerning God's direction involves:

knowing God's Word,

praying,

waiting,

preparing,

observing,

thinking,

seeking wise action.

God's call does not excuse us from careful preparation.

v.17

Let’s be real; we are in trouble

the people, priests, and officials have become complacent

the trouble and shame has become their new norm

Call to join together to the task of obedience to God to rebuild Jerusalem and God be glorified

there was a shared burden Nehemiah had to share and help the jewish people there understand

Let’s get back to our first love

LOOKING FORWARD IS A WORK WE DO TOGETHER (v.17-20)

v.18

“hand of my God that had been upon me…”

testament of God’s work already

the Lord was working then, and the Lord is working now

ex. - membership class; Lord’s workin my life to bring me here

Look at their response to hearing that God has been at work and the call God has on them

“Let’s rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good works”

They saw that God was moving in the burden of Nehemiah and Nehemiah was being obedient to understand and pursue God’s calling on all of them

Good work

good work to bring God’s glory

our good work

GROW

“Let’s arise…”

God is bigger than one person, so God’s people must work together

This is not just a me task; it is not church staff; it is not ministry team leaders or ministry teams…

we don’t need to look at an individual or a team and think “this will fix all our problems and reach people with the gospel”

NO! This is an all of us.

What burden has God laid on you?

burden to tell a coworker about Christ and the gospel?

been struggling with your job and you hope that the one thing will come to fix it: have you turned to seek what burden and understanding the Lord has for you?

burden to more intentionally proclaim the gospel in your own home

discipleship within the home

v.19

There’s always going to be obstacles, always opposition, always something that is going to try and prevent you from being obedient to the burden that God has given you to make Him known

maybe that hinderance is outside forces…maybe it is you not stepping forward in faith in obedience to what God is calling you to do

we can see in this text that fear and faith can sometimes coexist…but fear should never take over, but instead in our fear we step forward in faith that God will do what He says He will do

God doesn’t ask us to have all the right answers…He just wants us to be obedient

v.20

Reminds us the root of our faith and strength: God

God calls His people to accomplish His work together;

We cannot seek to see God work if we have not first felt the burden or His people**

We will not faithfully pursue God's work if we do not first care about what God cares about.*

God's glory → God's burden → God's servant → God's work → God's people → God's glory.

Looking forward means taking the next step of faithful obedience.