Visioneering
What are the Essential Qualities for Success?
Success Requires Dependable Partners ()
The question, Why …? means: I have certainly sufficient reason for sadness. The reason is, that (אֲשֶׁר) the city where are the graves of my fathers lieth waste.
Besides seeking God’s help in prayer, he utilized all the human resources available
he requested letters of permission from the king to allow him to pass through the various provinces in the Trans-Euphrates, the large area west of the Euphrates River.
Nehemiah knew he would need access to timber for rebuilding the gates and the wall and other parts of the city.
That such a changeable king granted all Nehemiah’s requests, without reservation, could only be explained as the result of divine influence. Nehemiah recognized this, and gave God the glory for his success (see on Ezra 8:18).
He knew that God was responsible for his success (see also v. 18; 4:15, 20; 6:16). God’s direct involvement in Nehemiah’s success also serves as a reminder that He had not abandoned His people. His covenant with the nation of Israel is an everlasting covenant (see Gn 17:1–9).
Nehemiah had planned carefully and knew his precise needs. First he needed letters of safe conduct, especially since Artaxerxes had previously had the building stopped (Ezra 4:17–22).
With someone as trusted as Nehemiah as the governor of the territory, the king could feel relatively secure that Judah would not join the occasional uprisings. Regardless of the Persian king’s reasoning, Nehemiah attributes his success to God.
Since Nehemiah’s purpose was political, he may have anticipated hostility from the local Persian officials. He also may have been concerned because of the unrest that existed in various parts of the empire (see comment on Neh 1:1).
Well, how can I help you? Lit., “What is it that you are seeking?” This is more of a request for information than an offer of help.
After his prayer, Nehemiah boldly outlined his plan by offering to go and personally be in charge of rebuilding this city in Judah, if this was the king’s desire.
He merely suggested that if the king desired to help correct the disastrous situation in Judah, he would need to give Nehemiah the authority to carry out the king’s wishes.
Although he is requesting permission to go, he is asking for more than simply being allowed to go (GNT). His wish is that the king will order him to go or cause him to go. In this way he will go with the king’s authority.
Nehemiah needed wood for building material. Some was needed for the gates of the fortress of the temple. Some was needed for beams for the wall of the city and some was needed for the house which I shall occupy (literally “the house that I shall enter”). This
Nehemiah needed not only time away from Artaxerxes’s court, but also official royal documents for the governors … west of the Euphrates River (lit “Beyond the River”) who were opposed to any building in Jerusalem (v. 10). His request for timber for the gates of the temple’s fortress probably refers to a military structure north of the temple that provided protection for the temple and its worshipers, and probably included the two towers mentioned in 3:1.
Success Requires a Divine Purpose ()
His reason for taking but few men with him is given in the following sentence: “I had told no man what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.” Although he had come to Jerusalem with the resolution of fortifying the city by restoring its circumvallation, he spoke of this to no one until he had ascertained, by an inspection of the wall, the magnitude and extent of the work to be accomplished
Nehemiah knew there was no way he could share with the people in Jerusalem what God led him to accomplish without first doing some research and planning.
Nehemiah was to prove himself to be a hard worker. But hard work alone will not ensure success. It must be the right work at the right time done in the right way. That takes planning. Praying and trusting God does not mean that research is not necessary. Nehemiah wanted to assess the situation before presenting his project to the officials and the people.
Nehemiah was to face many problems and much opposition, but his sense of divine direction would give him confidence. He was humbly aware that it was God who had entrusted the project to him and would give him the wisdom by which it would be accomplished. His mission was to restore Jerusalem to an environment pleasing to God
The NLT refers to the plan God “had put” in Nehemiah’s heart, but the Hebrew word is nothen [5414, 5989], a participle (“putting”). This linguistic form suggests that Nehemiah was referring either to (1) the guidance that God was presently giving him for a reconstruction plan, or (2) the vision to rebuild Jerusalem that God had put in his heart while he was in Susa (cf. NASB). This suggests that God leads people step-by-step as they respond in obedience to earlier directions. He guides them as they understand the circumstances and face the dilemmas of each new challenge
Nehemiah felt that God had put into his heart what he had planned (see Ezra 7:27). He felt that he was led by God to what he was to do. God “had inspired” (GNT) him, “was prompting” (NEB) him, or “had put the thoughts into his heart about what he should do for Jerusalem.”
He did not inform anyone of his intentions so that those opposed to his plans could not stop him before he was ready to put them into action.
Success Requires a Development Plan ()
“Prayer is where planning starts.” Nehemiah modeled good leadership; he prayed, planned, and acted in dependence on God and submission to his guidance. Neither is research contrary to dependence on God. Nehemiah knew who the officials were with whom he would have to deal, so he requested the credentials he would need as the project progressed.
Nehemiah’s personal testimony that God had brought him to Jerusalem was a key to motivating the Jews to rebuild. Courage to act comes from the conviction that God is with us.
Nehemiah then, having inspected the condition of the ruined walls, and being now persuaded of the possibility of restoring them, made known his resolution to the nobles, the rulers, and the community, i.e., to a public assembly called together for this purpose (v. 17). “Ye see (have before your eyes, know from experience) the distress that we are in, that Jerusalem lieth waste: come (לְכוּ), let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.” In other words: Let us by building our walls put an end to the miserable condition which gives our adversaries occasion to reproach us
To gain the favourable regard of the assembly for his design, he informs them how God had so far prospered his undertaking: I told them of the hand of my God, that it = that the hand my God had graciously provided for me, i.e., that God had so graciously arranged my journey to Jerusalem
First he challenged them to notice their deplorable circumstances, which had brought them trouble and disgrace (cf. 1:3). Then he challenged them to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and followed his challenge with a personal testimony as to how God’s gracious hand (cf. 2:8) had granted him favor before King Artaxerxes.
Nehemiah did not believe in a one-man ministry; he challenged the leaders of the remnant to work with him (not for him) in repairing the walls.
He was concerned with the glory of God as well as the good of the nation. Nehemiah showed them the need, outlined the task, and assured them of God’s blessing. Immediately the opposition was aroused (as it always is), but Nehemiah knew that God’s hand was upon him and his work.
Nehemiah was able to discern the proper time to present the building project, and he knew how to motivate the leaders and the people. He used four incentives: (1) He identified with the people; he spoke of “the trouble we are in.” (2) He stressed the seriousness of the situation. A leader must be realistic and honestly assess the facts. People will have confidence in such a leader. (3) Nehemiah was committed to taking definite action. (4) He used his personal testimony of God’s grace to assure them of God’s favor on the project (v. 18). A Christian leader must encourage trust in God by leading in faith as well as in action
As another sign of God’s “gracious hand” at work, the leaders and people responded to Nehemiah. He came to them with compassion, realism, conviction, and faith; thus God used him to communicate his own vision and motivate the people to begin the “good work.”
Nehemiah announced his plans to the people mentioned in verse 16.
He addressed them with the first person plural pronoun we, indicating his own personal identification with the condition of the people; that is, this is an inclusive we.
Nehemiah calls upon his listeners to join him in the work of rebuilding. He uses two verbs: Come and let us build. This is a call to action in which Nehemiah invites the people to join him: “Let’s rebuild the city walls”
The need to rebuild the walls and gates was for more than protection; it was symbolic of their status as a people. Without walls and gates to their city, they were helpless and defenseless as a community
The people accept Nehemiah’s exhortation and agree to begin the work all together.