Nehemiah: Leading Well

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership

John Maxwell concluded his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership with these words. Throughout the book, he delineated 21 laws that make or break leaders and organizations.

He says...

“The more you try to do in life, the more you will find that leadership makes the difference. Any endeavor you can undertake that involves other people will live or die depending on the leadership. As you work to build your organization, remember this:

Personnel determine the potential of the organization.

Relationships determine the morale of the organization.

Structure determines the size of the organization.

Vision determines the direction of the organization.

Leadership determines the success of the organization.”

(Maxwell, p. 267)

At this point, you might be thinking - Joel - “why does this impact me? I’m not a leader and what after all does this have to do with the Bible?”

Whether you are a parent, grandparent, student, employee, employer - you’re a leader. If you are single or married, I would venture to guess that God has placed leadership opportunities before you.

We may not all have the gifts or charisma to lead big organizations or become famous because of some inspirational event, we all will have, I believe, opportunities to lead - family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, employees, communities, classes, church, and so much more.

Today, we’re going to take a look at the Bible’s leadership manual - the book of Nehemiah as we learn the makings of a godly leader.

Before we get into some of the specifics, let’s look at where this book fits in scripture as we consider...

Background and Summary

At one point in time, Nehemiah was a continuation of the book of Ezra. The two books were likely written or compiled by the same person.

The book of Nehemiah picks up in the mid-400s BC - roughly 13 years after the end of the book of Ezra. We talked a few weeks ago about how the books of Chronicles were the last books in the Hebrew Bible. Nehemiah marks the final book according to chronology based on its events. It concludes in about 432BC.

The book opens in the city of Susa (in modern day Iran) with Nehemiah who serves the King there as a cupbearer. He hears of the condition of the city of Jerusalem, gets permission to go in order to rebuild the wall of the town. Amidst opposition from without and religious complacency within, the city walls are rebuilt in just 52 days. As Governor, Nehemiah leads the people to restore certain religious practices, facilitates a reading and teaching of the law and leads the people to joyously dedicate the walls.

In a nutshell - that is the action-packed book of Nehemiah. If you’ve not had a chance to read it yet, let me encourage you to take 30-45 minutes to read it in one sitting. It will be well worth it.

Beyond simply the historical elements of its contents, it seems like the book of Nehemiah is a book about a godly man who led well.

Today, as we walk through the book, we’re going to consider a few qualities of what it means to lead well and hopefully what we can do to apply those to our lives - in the various leading capacities to which God calls us.

First of all, in Nehemiah, we find that he is...

A Man of Compassion

There are a couple of places throughout the book where we find this to be true of Nehemiah - that he was a man with some compassion.

The plight of the city Jerusalem walls (ch. 1,2)

The book opens with Nehemiah in the city of Susa, the winter residence of the King of Persia. Nehemiah seemed to be going about his regular work, faithfully doing the job that he was called to when he gets a visit from his brother. Now, at this point the biggest part of the exile had taken place roughly 140 years earlier (586BC). As we learned last week, people had been given permission to return to Jerusalem roughly 90 years prior (538BC). Nehemiah had probably never been to Jerusalem, and yet here he has this deep and passionate response to the plight of the city.

Nehemiah 1:3–4 ESV

And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 1:

His compassion was more than sympathy - he prayed and asked God for favor and then sought to act when the time came.

Nehemiah 1:11 ESV

O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah 1:11

Approximately 4 months after this initial news and after this prayer, God answered the prayer and opened the door of opportunity to Nehemiah:

Nehemiah 2:1–5 ESV

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 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. 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?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 2:1

Nehemiah was moved with compassion enough to go into action.

There is another instance where we get to see Nehemiah’s leadership in action. In chapter 5, we get to see an instance where the people were being oppressed

The oppression of the people (ch. 5)

In this case, there was a bit of a famine in the land. The poorer people were mortgaging their fields and selling their children into slavery just to pay the bill and maybe survive.

Nehemiah not only gave generously from his supply to help these oppressed families (), but he used his influence to lead the wealthy to return the land and cancel debts.

Nehemiah is not a perfect leader, but he does provide us a good example of a godly leader who acts out of compassion. Are you and I so caught up in our own busyness that we don’t have the time or margin to act with compassion when we see people who have a need? Nehemiah prayed for opportunities, but he also acted within his realm of influence.

So I think the challenge for us is to look with compassion, be ready to act.

Application - look with compassion, be ready to act.

Here are a couple of practical ways that I think we can act.

Bags of Love

As you are driving around and you see pan-handlers - people in the median asking for money - how do you respond? Do you look at your phone in hopes of avoiding eye-contact? Do you dig through your coin tray for some change? What if you could do something more? Satori - Chuck and Kim Copeland’s daughter came up with an idea a while ago called bags of love. She has put together zip-lock bags with some toiletries, snacks, water, and even hand warmers. She not only keeps them handy in her car, but she also made a bunch so that others could do the same and not have the hurdle of trying to assemble the bags. What would happen if you took a bag - we have a few available - and put it in your car (Maybe even use it as a model so you can make more)? How would it change your outlook the next time you saw a homeless person at a stop light? Wouldn’t you be looking for a way to get that out of your car?

or beyond bags of love, what about the...

Benevolence ministry

This is an opportunity for us to give each month to help people in this area - especially in the church. We normally collect funds for the benevolence ministry on the days when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper - which will be next week. But you can also go online to our website and give. The funds in the benevolence fund have been used to help local people who are in a pinch. It’s helped with auto repairs, medical bills, utilities, and so much more.

Or what about doing something more? What about...

Foster Care

The book of James says that the religion that pleases the Lord is to care for widows and orphans in their time of need. There is an association of churches, including us, who are banding together to help children in the foster care system - whether its as foster parents or even simply to provide supplies to help other foster parents. You may have noticed in the midweek announcements that there is a meeting coming up in Clarksburg. If God has placed a burden in your heart for at-risk kids, then let me encourage you to check out that meeting - or talk to Vern and Michele about the opportunities.

Benevolence

These are just a few ways that we can act with compassion. God may place other opportunities before you and me. I think the challenge that we need to consider is are we paying attention? Are we tuning in to the moving of the Spirit?

So we see that as a godly leader, Nehemiah was a compassionate man. We also see in this book that he was...

Foster Care

A Man of Prayer

There are multiple places in the book where prayer is central to what Nehemiah is doing. We get to see where Nehemiah prays:

Long prayers: ; ;

Short prayers: ; ; ; ;

Nehemiah 2:4 ESV

Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 4:4–5 ESV

Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

And even things as short as:

Nehemiah 6:9 ESV

For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Even a short, exhausted prayer:

Nehemiah 5:19 ESV

Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

One of the things that prayer does is that it acknowledges that God is the one who is ultimately in charge. Nehemiah was a decisive man and even a bit harsh at times, but he was a man who knew that it was God who was working and orchestrating things.

When we pray, we admit that we need God.

I don’t know about you, but I know as a husband, I know I need God to help me love Danielle the way I should. In my selfishness, I’m tempted to look only to my needs and not lay my life down for her.

As a father, I need God’s work in my children’s lives. I can only do so much - and even that is not enough. I’m so often amazed to see the way that God moves in mysterious and powerful ways. Even coming here to PBC nearly a year ago, I knew that it was God’s plan. As we prayed about this and He began to work, I could see His hand - but I was still afraid. I was afraid for all of my kids, but especially for Zoe. We prayed that God would help her to make some good friends here. Boy, did God act.

Lauren at the Easter Egg hunt,

Crystal and with the goats.

Autumn - gregarious, spontaneity - and insatiable desire for sleep overs.

Abby - quiet confidence.

Astrid - your genuine smile and gentle nature.

You all have been an answer to prayer.

I know I still need to get better about praying - but I love that God wants to hear us come to Him and cast our anxieties upon Him.

Do you pray?

In addition to being a man of compassion and prayer, we get to see in this book that Nehemiah is...

A Man of Action

Do you ever have those thoughts come across your mind like - “we should invite _____ family over” or “I should send ______ a text to see how she is doing or how I can pray for her.” I get those thoughts a lot - and then they escape from my mind before they can go into action.

Nehemiah, as a godly leader was a man of action. He didn’t just wish and hope, but he planned and acted.

If you remember, in the beginning of the book, when he heard of the plight of Jerusalem he took action and prayed and fasted. Four months later, when the opportunity arose, he courageously asked for the King’s aid:

Nehemiah 2:2–8 ESV

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. 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?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

Nehemiah 2:

When he gathered the supplies and people that he needed, he went to Jerusalem and surveyed the work to be done, rallied the people to begin building, and got to work. They built the wall in just 52 days.

When the poor people were oppressed, he took action and led the wealthy to act more graciously.

When he had every right to exact the full privileges due to a governor, he used his own resources to feed many (5:14-19).

When the people confessed their sin to the Lord, he took action to lead them to covenant together to live rightly (ch. 9-10).

When the people could not help themselves from breaking the Sabbath (a day of rest), Nehemiah shut the gates of the city from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday - preventing the merchants from entering (ch. 11)

There are times when it seems like Nehemiah was an angry man of action. When some people were caught in grievous sins he would beat some and pull out their hair (11:23-27).

In the places that God has called us to be, do we take action or do we simply gossip and murmur?

When the Spirit prompts us to do something - do we act on it then or wait until a “more convenient time”?

When something needs to be done, do we assume that it’s above our pay-grade or beneath us so that it’s someone else’s job?

When that new student is sitting alone or people are ganging up on the student with special needs - do we come to their aid?

We could go on and on considering ideas, but I want to encourage us to act when it is within our ability to do so.

As Rodney Copperbottom has said:

“See a need, fill a need.”

We also learn in the book of Nehemiah that he was...

A Man of Resolve

Last week, we discussed how the returning exiles faced opposition that spanned the reigns of four different kings. In the 12 years or so that Nehemiah was called to lead, he faced a constant barrage of attacks - and yet he remained faithful.

In fact one man sent letters of complaint time and again. (Sanballat)

There was one point in time when the people were building the wall that they would have swords strapped to them so that they could fend off attackers. Other times, people would be building in small groups - with some men building and others standing guard.

Nehemiah was resolved to see this through - even in the face of great opposition and threats upon his life.

- amidst opposition

At one point in time, when his enemies were calling him to a meeting while he was working on the wall, he sent this reply...

“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” ()

We may not have to face death threats, but we will face opposition. Will we have the same resolve as Nehemiah? Will we say - “I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down”?

When society calls us to forsake biblical values under the pressure of the moral and sexual revolution - and we lovingly hold fast to biblical values - we are doing a great work and we cannot come down.

Students, when your friends make fun of you because you won’t join in some questionable activity or pressure you to have sex outside of the covenant of marriage - stand firm in your convictions - your doing a great work - don’t come down.

Parents - when it feels like your prayers over your rebellious children are not having any affect - keep praying - your doing a great work - don’t come down.

When your boss wants you to fudge on your budget line and you refuse or doing your taxes properly costs you more money than you’d like - your doing a great work - don’t come down.

When your family member or friend doesn’t seem to get the Gospel - and you continue praying and lovingly sharing the Gospel - your doing a great work - don’t come down.

When it seems like your work in the church goes unnoticed or unappreciated and you continue to work for an audience of One - your doing a great work - don’t come down

Nehemiah could be tough in His resolve, but he held fast. Will we?

In addition to being a man compassion, prayer, action and resolve, Nehemiah was...

A Man of Conviction

Nehemiah held firm to the expectations that God had placed on the people of Israel. One of the big markers of the covenant was to honor the Sabbath. This became an identifying marker of the Jewish people. It represented God’s rhythm of work and rest but also created space for worship.

Our identity is not so much in the religious ritual of a sabbath rest - though I do think we need to follow that example. Our identity is found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

- lending/sabbathSabbath was an identifying marker of the Jewish people. It represented God’s rhythm of work and rest but also created space for worship. Our identity is not so much in the religious ritual of a sabbath rest - though I do think we need to follow that example. Our identity is found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Are we honoring Him in how we live, how we do business, how we treat our neighbors, how we care for others?

There is one last element that I’d like for us to consider about Nehemiah - he was...

A Man of the Word

Nehemiah and the other leaders - like Ezra - stood on more than tradition. They stood on the Word of God. There was one point in the book when the people all gathered around and the Word was read by Ezra and several of the other priests and Levites.

Nehemiah 8:8 ESV

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

Nehemiah 8:8

In response to this, the people began to weep. They were confronted with their sin and rebellion (8:9).

When we read - are we confronted in that same way? We discussed this briefly last week, but do we submit our lives to this Word or try to change what the Word says to justify our own actions?

When you read - read slowly, read reflectively, read the Bible as you would look at a mirror.

For Nehemiah - he did not want the people to wallow in their sin - he was trying to get them to rejoice over God’s faithfulness and so he led them to celebrate the feast of booths.

He then also led them in a time of confession and led them to enter into a covenant with the Lord to obey the Word of the Lord.

Closing Thoughts

Nehemiah is a great book of the Bible. It’s full of action, conflict, victory, sin, confession repentance.

It’s full of fallen people like you and me.

In some ways, reading and considering principles from Nehemiah can be a bit like a motivational talk - a TED talk. I hope it’s way more than that.

I believe the Nehemiah was a godly leader and an example for us. I think we can apply these things to our lives as we seek to be compassionate, prayerful, active, resolute people of God who live lives of conviction based on the Word of God.

Nehemiah was a good leader and a good example - but he was not perfect. There is only one perfect leader...

Our perfect leader - Jesus

Jesus was a man of compassion - he saw us in our sin and loved us still.

He was a man of prayer who taught us to pray and willfully submitted His will to the Father.

He was a man of action - who did not simply speak of forgiveness of sins but became the living sacrifice for our sins

He was a man of resolve who resisted temptation

He was a man of conviction who modeled holiness before us

He was a man of the Word - he was the Word of God made flesh - the embodiment of the written word that we read.

He could have come off the cross with a legion of angels, but seemed to share by his fulfillment on the cross - “I’m doing a great work, and cannot come down.”

He did that for you.

Will you trust him?

Benediction

Jude 24–25 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Discussion Questions

Consider making time this week over a meal or simply with friends, family or a small group to reflect on the book of Nehemiah. Here are some questions that might aid your conversation.

How are the leadership qualities exhibited by Nehemiah similar or different than those touted by leadership books and seminars today? Could these principles be effectively used in various parts of life - work, school, home, neighborhood?

What do you find most surprising about the book of Nehemiah? What do you find most challenging?

Which of these qualities is easiest for you to embody? Why? Which is the most challenging? (a person of compassion, prayer, action, resolve, conviction, the Word)

Jesus led His followers and us by example. More than that, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice - laying His life down to pay for our sin. Have you responded in faith by admitting your sin problem, confessing your sin to Jesus, and then believing that He has forgiven you for eternity? If you have, share how you became a follower of Jesus. If not, will you believe today?