Nehemiah 1: Empowered by God

Introduction

<<TURN TO NEH>>

Ezra and Nehemiah - some of the most compelling stories of the OT

Mix of history, royal decrees and letters back-and-forth between the kings of Persia and Babylon and the people in the province of Judea

And first-person passages - Ezra and Nehemiah tell their own stories in their own words

Tragedy, sorrow, political intrigue, conspiracies, battle, the thrill of watching God thwart the enemies of His people, and more

Nehemiah was a man of prayer and action, a politician who was obsessed with God’s Word. His story overlaps with Ezra, a priest who had arrived about 13 years earlier.

At the heart of the books of Ezra & Nehemiah, two men sent from Persia to Jerusalem on a mission from God.

Have you ever thought about the mission that Jesus has called His Church to do?

Maybe over the last few weeks, as we’ve considered our common calling, you’ve felt convicted about how God is calling you to serve the Lord and His mission. After all, this is what Jesus has called you and me to:

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

That’s what it means to build the Church on Jesus Christ. Make disciples of all nations. That’s a daunting task.

Q. How can we possibly build something for God? How should we start a Kingdom work?

That’s the kind of challenge Nehemiah finds himself facing in today’s text, too.

We’ll move through three portions of the chapter, and then we’ll find the conclusion and the answer.

I. The mission seems impossible (vv. 1-4)

<<READ vv1-4>>

Nehemiah is confronted in verses 1-4 with a devastating report from his brother and the Judahites. This is 445BC.

By Nehemiah’s time, Israel has been fractured for almost 500 years. Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboam, civil war, apostasy & fracture.

But after rejecting all the prophets’ warnings and nonstop idolatry, the northern kingdom was completely destroyed by Assyria in 722.

In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar - waves of captives to Babylon, demolished walls of Jerusalem, tore down city gates, burned the Temple of God that Solomon had built.

Only the poorest of the poor were left in the burned-out ruins of Judah.

But just as God had promised, after 70 years of exile, the people began to return from exile. The books of Esther and Ezra tells us they faced opposition at every step, from every neighbor and every major power. Nehemiah has never known a time when his people were not facing harassment and threats of annihilation.

But God was faithful, and by 516 BC, the new Temple, the second Temple, had been completed and dedicated.

70 years pass.

The book of Nehemiah opens in the month of Chislev - November or December in our calendar - in the winter capital of the Persian Empire, a city fortress called Susa.

News comes from Judah: Every attempt at rebuilding the city has failed. There are still no walls. The remnant that made it back to Jerusalem after the Exile to Babylon are in trouble and shame.

Trouble, because without a wall, the Temple of God and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were vulnerable. A city without walls was no city at all.

Shame, because after 70 years back in the land, they were still living in the rubble of the once-great city demolished by Nebuchadnezzar. A reminder that they brought this on themselves by sin

The mission is clear: Jerusalem needs a wall.

Must have seemed impossible, based on Nehemiah’s instant response - notice in v4 - Neh’s prayer: instant, intense, extended <<READ v4>>

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How does Nehemiah respond? Prayer (come back to that). Note how he prays &… note that he prays because … <<II>>

II. The obstacles seem immovable (vv. 6-8)

<<READ vv5-8>>

There’s a much bigger problem than the human opposition to the rebuilding of the wall.

Nehemiah knew his Bible.

This prayer echoes the book of Deuteronomy in every verse, esp Deut 30.

Can’t read Deuteronomy without realizing that God’s people - and all people - have a bigger problem than their human enemies. Their greatest problem, greatest need is for their sin to be dealt with.

cause of exile - Nehemiah knows that God had warned Israel through Moses that if they broke His covenant, they would be scattered in exile.

And that’s exactly what had happened.

Look how Nehemiah begins his prayer in verse 5, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.”

But Nehemiah and the people of Judah are where they are precisely because they haven’t kept God’s commandments.

Israel and Judah had chosen to worship the Baals and the Ashtoreths and all the gods of Canaan. They’d promised to serve only the LORD who brought them out of Egypt, but they’d been cheating on Him before they even left Mt Sinai.

Nehemiah and his people couldn’t claim a single right before God. They didn’t deserve redemption. And they couldn’t wipe away the sins that landed them in Babylon.

And so, Nehemiah came to God poor in spirit, knowing that his only hope was that another would pay their debts - that his only hope was God’s mercy.

He confesses that his people have not kept God’s commandments.

“We haven’t lived up to this standard that you’ve set.”

Sin goes all the way back to the garden of Eden

<<NATURE OF SIN, Eden, Isa 59.1-2 >> <<INTRO GOSPEL & MISSION HERE>>

Eden - From the moment Adam & Eve sinned against God, sin delivered trouble and shame.

Trouble - relationship w/ God was forever broken

Shame - which you see b/c they hide in shame from the God who made them. Cover their private parts with leaves from the One who designed them

Sin delivers trouble & shame

Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

Nehemiah knew that greatest need was for sins to be taken away

Mission seemed impossible, the obstacles seemed immovable.

Sin is an immovable obstacle. But not for God. Look at verse 9 with me.

III. But our God is incredible (vv. 5, 9) and His Name is unstoppable (vv. 9-11)

<<READ v9-11>>

What is an immovable obstacle for Nehemiah is at the very center of God’s plan of redemption and salvation. We cannot pay off our sins, we can’t cover up our rebellion against God, and Nehemiah couldn’t pretend he was without sin. And yet, look at what he says here: “THESE are your servants who you have redeemed” - past tense - “by your great power and your strong hand.”

This is why Nehemiah can have faith that God will hear his prayer. Not because they deserved it, but because God has already demonstrated that He is in the work of saving those people. The proof is in the fact that they have returned to Jerusalem.

And so this is what he asks in v8: Remember your word to Moses - not only to scatter us for our sins, but to bring us back. You chose it to make your name dwell there. It is for your sake. For your glory. For your mission in the world you made. For the world to see and know that YOU are the Lord. Well, my people delight to fear - to awe and reverence - your holy name. So, hear my prayer and the prayer of these your people, and give me success and mercy in the sight of Artaxerxes, the king of Persia.

The word “name” comes up twice at the end of the prayer, but the name of the LORD is what he starts with in verse 5. Nehemiah doesn’t use the name of the LORD very often. (v5 - LORD = YHWH - God’s covenant name, YHWH, I am that I am, which He revealed to Moses in teh burning bush in Exodus 3.

His Name is connected to His covenant with Israel and His salvation purpose in the world.

Nehemiah is so intent on the Name of the LORD right here because he’s remembering the promises that God has made by His Name.

By His Name he promised to deliver them out of Egypt.

By His Name, he promised to bring them into the land of Canaan.

By His Name, he has promised that when they turn away, and fall into idolatry, and every one of them has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of them deserves his mercy, and He sends them into exile,

By His Name, He will deliver them out of exile and bring them back to the Land.

God had kept all His promises. So here’s a question: If God wanted to rebuild Jerusalem, what could Artaxerxes do to stop Him, if Pharaoh couldn’t stop Him?

The mission seemed impossible; the obstacles seemed immovable

But our God is incredible, and His Name is unstoppable. So Nehemiah calls upon Him.

When we started this morning, I said the mission seemed impossible. We asked the question, How could we possibly build something for God? No one had managed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in a hundred and forty years. How could Nehemiah hope to do so?

As we consider our place in this story, the mission that Nehemiah had was God’s mission for his people, and when we look at Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, go therefore… and behold, I am with you to the very end of the age,” notice how Jesus frames the mission. He starts His own authority, and purpose, and plan, and ends with His own presence. Because the mission given to us isn’t our mission either. It’s God’s field that we are to plant and water, and it’s God’s building that we are to build upon.

And if Artaxerxes can’t stop Nehemiah, if Pharaoh can’t stop the Lord from delivering His people from Egypt, if death can’t stop Jesus from delivering you from your sins, who can stop from us in the power of God’s Name from carrying the Gospel to a world so desperately in need?

The only hope that the world has to be reconciled to their maker, to have eternal life, is Jesus Christ. He’s the only hope for the world.

So, how can we hope to build something for God?

IV. And He has called us by His Name (vv. 5, 9-11)

Back to the question: How can we possibly build something for God?

Look in verses 9-11 with me: Focus - “give success”… “grant him mercy...”

Neh knew - if it’s God’s mission, it can only be accomplished by God.

Neh - a man of prayer, a man empowered by God

We said that Nehemiah’s mission seemed impossible, and the obstacles seemed immovable, and that’s true for our mission, too. But we have an incredible God, and the mission is HIS mission. He came into the world in order to redeem the world.

NT App - Acts 2, Matt 28:18-20

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.” // “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor 3:9)

Our God is incredible, and His Name is unstoppable, and here’s the most amazing part: He has called us by His Name.

Q: How should we start a Kingdom work? As you think about the Great Commission, and the call to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ,

Like Nehemiah - Make sure you’ve grasped the immensity of the mission.

"trouble & shame” of Judahites - wall broken down // “trouble & shame” of a world without hope, under the weight of sin. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world, and He has called us to build with Him.

Get the MISSION right, drive to KNEES

Like Nehemiah, begin w/ instant, intense, extended prayer.

Chapter 1 ends with a cliffhanger: “Now I was cupbearer to the King.” He was one of the King’s chief advisers. He had the ear of the King.

But that’s nothing, because he had the ear of the King of kings. And so do you.

Step back, consider our mission & the obstacles around us. Come before the LORD, with honesty about our sins & pleading with Him for success in His mission.

Trust that the fact that He has redeemed you is proof that He is listening. And remember that His Name is unstoppable.

And guess what: He has called YOU by His Name. WHen you go forth to make disciples, you go forth IN HIS NAME, as His ambassadors, to preach His Name, to bring about the transformation of a world deeply in need.

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

and

John 15:8 ESV

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

There’s a promise contained there. It is the Father’s desire that we be fruitful believers. It is His desire that we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ. And so we have been called to a mission that He provides the power for, that He intends to be successful.

So let’s start by going to Him in prayer, acknowledging our need of Him, that we have no hope apart from Christ to accomplish the mission that is the only hope for anyone, and turn to Him in prayer.

I’d like us to end the way that Nehemiah begins - w/ prayer.

Make sure we’ve grasped the immensity of the need. That without Christ, our neighbors, friends are in great trouble & shame.

Like N, let’s let our prayers be instant, intense, extended

Consider the mission.

Unreached people groups

Unreached neighbors

UNC students returning to campus

This mission is bigger than we can imagine. So take a moment:

Perhaps you already know an unreached people group by name.

Perhaps you have a friend, neighbor, family member far from God. Get them in your mind & consider their face, think about their fate apart from Jesus.

Every Kingdom work is God’s work, and therefore should be prayerful work