Nehemiah 2

In last weeks message we got a vivid picture of the sovereignty of God, that fact that He is truly in control. We also saw through the life of Nehemiah how important it is that:

The Servant of God is Persistent in Prayer.

We were reminded that God generally answers prayers in one of three ways, Yes, No and Wait on the Lord. Sometimes waiting on the Lord is the toughest part for us. But as we are praying and waiting, we need to be devoted to doing our very best in whatever situation or job the Lord has us in.

We were encouraged that as we are waiting, especially those times we get a sense from God that He has something specific for us to do, that we also need to be devoting ourselves to putting together a plan of action, so that when we get God’s peace, we are ready to roll. When Nehemiah received clearance from the king, he wasted no time in laying out his plan before that king.

Lastly, we learned that:

The Servant of God Trusts God’s Perfect Plan and God’s Perfect Timing. Often times God is doing things behind the scenes we do not see, to accomplish His will, not just for us, but for all of creation. We were reminded last week that this Universe does not revolve us as individuals. We are not the center of all creation, God is.

We saw in last weeks passage how God finally opened to door for Nehemiah to share with the king his own heart regarding the Nation of Judah.

Often times with us, when we see God open up huge doors, like the one he had opened for Nehemiah before King Artaxerxes, we think in our mind that we can now move forward with the work of God unopposed. Perhaps Nehemiah may have thought that as well, but that thought quickly disappeared. Nehemiah quickly learned that: Next Slides

God’s Open Doors, Don’t Close the Door on the Enemies Opposition.

Throughout the Book of Nehemiah we will see Nehemiah face continual opposition. Now I want us to keep one thing in mind as we look at the opposition Nehemiah faces. There is never any indication that Nehemiah is ever outside of the center of God’s will. Let me repeat this again because I don’t want you to miss this; Next Slide

There is never any indication that Nehemiah is ever outside of the center of God’s will.

Yet immediately we see him facing opposition.

So, where does Nehemiah’s first opposition come from? Next Slides

Opposition From King Artaxerxes. Vs. 2 & 3

In looking at verses 2 & 3 we see opposition rear its ugly head. Next Slide

Nehemiah 2:2-3

Nehemiah 2:2 ESV

2 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.

You may look at these 2 verses and ask; “Where is the opposition?” Well to see the opposition you have to understand the historical context of this situation. According to what we see in the history of the Persian Empire at that time, no one, especially one of the kings officials, was ever permitted to show sadness in the presence of the king. To do so at a minimum meant a loss of your position, and in most cases meant a loss of life. That is why we read “Then I was very much afraid”. You see for one thing sadness in the presence of the king, in their eyes, meant you were unhappy with the way they were running the country. This was never permitted, even if you were unhappy. Plus, the thoughts of Persian rulers was that they were so wonderful that just being in their presence meant all the problems of your life somehow just disappeared.

On top of that, if you were the king’s cupbearer and you displayed any unhappiness, the king may get suspicious that something was going on behind the scenes that would put his life in danger.

By the way, there is something else in verse 2 that can seem a little confusing. The king said to Nehemiah; “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick?” Any ideas on why the king was certain Nehemiah would not be in his presence if he was sick? If you were the kings cupbearer, if you woke up with a runny nose you didn’t set foot in his presence, keep in mind Nehemiah was literally drinking from the same cup as the king.

When I was growing up we were always told to cover our mouths if we were going to cough or sneeze. Back in the dark ages we covered our mouths with our hands. How are kids taught to cover their mouths today? (Usually with their arms at the inside of the elbow). We have learned that when you cover you mouth with your hand and shake hands or touch something publically like a door knob, you were taking the chance at spreading those germs. So now we cough in our arms. We are very particular about spreading nasty germs. The same was true for Nehemiah, if he wasn’t feeling well, someone else covered for him those days.

The second area of opposition Nehemiah experienced is in verse 3. Again, the opposition doesn’t jump off the page as you read the verse.

Nehemiah 2:3 ESV

3 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?”

To really pick up the opposition you have to....well you have to read what’s not in the verse and do some digging in the history of Scripture. First, let’s read what’s not in the verse. What is missing is the name of the city. Nehemiah doesn’t come right out and name the city of Jerusalem. Why would Nehemiah neglect to name the city? Really there were probably 2 reasons he didn’t name the city.

He was strumming on the heart strings of the Persian king. You see the kings of Persia had a soft spot for the National heritage of the in habitants of their lands, especially those that had been conquered by the Babylonian Empire. That is one of the reason Cyrus, close to a hundred years earlier had allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. So Nehemiah is doing his best to soften the heart of the king before he names the city. But there is another reason he doesn’t name the city, and that is:

Jerusalem was in shambles because of the king. To see this we need to go back to the Book of Ezra chapter 4 where we read:

Ezra 4:8-23

“8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste.16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The King Orders the Work to Cease

17 The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19 And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21 Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22 And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

23 Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.”

What we see here is that at some point in the time between king’s 7th year, when Ezra returned with King Artaxerxes blessing, and his 20th year, Artaxerxes himself had given orders that the rebuilding of the walls be stopped. Now we don’t see that he gave orders that they destroy what had been built so far, or that the gates be burned with fire, we have to assume that Rehum and his cohorts took that part upon themselves. But the fact that Artaxerxes was the one that gave the command that the walls not be built meant that Nehemiah had to be very careful in how he addressed the king in this matter. As a result the first thing he did was strum on the heartstrings of the king. You see if he were to blurt out the name Jerusalem right from the very start, Artaxerxes would have likely taken Nehemiah’s sorrow and request, as a challenge to his decisions as the king. The last thing you wanted to do was to challenge the kings decisions.

So the first opposition we see Nehemiah face comes from the king himself. The next opposition comes from:

Opposition From Surrounding Enemies. Vs. 9 -10 & 19

In some ways, what the Nation of Israel is facing today is what the Nation of Judah, the 2 southern tribes of Israel, were facing in the days of Nehemiah, they were surrounded by enemies that wanted them dead and gone. In this instance they have 2, and later a 3rd governor from surrounding provinces that came out in opposition.

Nehemiah 2:9–10 ESV

9 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. 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.

Before we move forward in our discussion of Nehemiah’s opposition from the Surrounding Enemies, I want to take a brief detour to highlight something we see at the end of verse 9. At the end of verse 9 we read; “Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.”

There are 2 things I want you to notice as we read this comment by Nehemiah.

1. God went above and beyond what Nehemiah had requested.

While this may not always be what we see, I can tell you from my own life experience that this is often the case. Much of the time what I receive from God goes well beyond what I request of Him. When this does take place, and quite frankly even when it doesn’t, we need to have the same response as what we see in Nehemiah at the end of verse 8; “And the king granted me what I asked, for the good Hand of my God was upon me.” As far as I can tell, based on Nehemiah’s giving honor to God for His good Hand being upon him in verse 8, and his announcement of the addition of the kings officers and the army of horsemen later in verse 9, his giving glory to God had nothing to do with the Lord going above and beyond in granting his request. Perhaps it was Nehemiah’s bringing glory to God in verse 8 that brought about the additional blessings we see in verse 9!

The next thing I want you to notice from Nehemiah’s comment at the end of verse 9.

2. While God is unchanging, He doesn’t always operate in the same way.

What we see taking place here in Nehemiah, is not what we see in the case of Ezra in Ezra 8. If you remember from our time in the Book of Ezra, Ezra had been rather boastful of the might of His God earlier in chapter 8 and back in chapter 7. Once the journey had begun, Ezra began to realize how perilous it was going to be. But because he had already been boastful about the power of his God, he didn’t want to backtrack and request the king also send soldiers for protection. As a result he and those with him spent some time in fasting and prayer, asking for God’s protection.

There is a very important reason I point this out. We don’t see anywhere in Scripture anything indicating that God granted Nehemiah and army because he lacked the faith of Ezra. God just chose to meet the need in a different way. This is an important principle for us to understand. We often times look at historical heroes of the church like Jonathan Edwards, who refused to ever ask for anyones financial support for his ministry, yet God always supplied, sometimes in the 11th hour, and think that those who do seek the help of God’s people lack faith.

During the month of November we are going to have some faith ministries, both local and international, that will be here each Sunday letting us know how we can meet specific needs of ministry they are faced with. And next Sunday we will have Dustin from Sheepdog ministry here alerting us to some needs he has for the ministry God has laid on his heart. These are faithful servants of God that deserve our support.

Now, back to Nehemiah’s opposition.

As we proceed through much of Nehemiah, these same enemies continue to jump to the forefront. I love the way Chuck Swindoll puts it in his book “Hand Me Another Brick”. Chuck writes;

“When you walk by faith, you will invariably collide with the ‘Sanballat’s and the ‘Tobiah’s. If you have attempted any project requiring volunteer labor, you have encountered people who never tire of quoting Murphy's Law: ‘Something bad will happen; it won't work.’ Many men and women live by that principle. Their whole life is one big negative. They have a critical spirit that smothers them. Whenever a challenge comes their way, they respond, ‘It cant be done!’ So when Sanballat and Tobiah heard about Nehemiah's coming, their immediate response was ‘No way!’ You see, in addition to their negative attitudes, they had business investments with the citizens of Jerusalem, and Nehemiah's plan was sure to hurt their pocketbooks. And they began to make plans to oppose God's arrangement.

When you walk by faith and seek to lead, you will encounter the hostility of people who walk by sight. They are rebuked by the life of faith. They are especially rebuked because they don't have your vision. Sanballat and Tobiah heard about Nehemiah's ambitious plans to rebuild the city walls, and they were disturbed. Experiencing criticism and opposition doesn't necessarily mean you are outside God's will. Rather, it may reinforce the fact that you are in the very center of His plan.” Swindoll, Charles R.. Hand Me Another Brick (p. 47). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

As I mentioned earlier, There is never any indication that Nehemiah is ever outside of the center of God’s will.

We need to learn what Nehemiah had learned when we are faced with the Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s of life. Our God Fights For us, and the Victory Belongs to Him.

Nehemiah had learned very quickly what it meant to have “the good Hand of my God upon me”. It meant that when he was in the middle of those battles, when the Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s reared their ugly heads of opposition, Nehemiah knew that My God Fights for Me. When Nehemiah looked to his God, he saw that God was his shield, God was his sword and that the victory was the Lords.

My God Fights For Me video 3:44

The same is true for you and me today. As we walk in the center of God’s will, and as we see and experience God’s open doors of ministry before us, and as we start to see the Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s reared their ugly heads of opposition. Do not despair, because Our God Fights for us.

Closing prayer.