This week God carried me back to the last historical events in the Old Testament recorded in the Book of Nehemiah. The words of Ecclesiastes 3:15 came to mind as I began studying the Book: “What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before because God makes the same things happen over and over again.” Another of Solomon’s writings in 1:9 confirms this truth: “What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Paul instructs in 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 that all scripture is given by God to instruct us in His ways and His plans for humanity; to correct us when we stray from His path; to guide us in living a righteous life; and to equip us for good works and a life pleasing to Him. With these verses in mind, God began to quicken to me the truths recorded in the Book of Nehemiah—the account of a Nation in Distress as a paradigm of where America is currently. What lessons does God want us to see and learn from this Book to encourage and give us hope?
God revealed to me that the man Nehemiah and the story are inseparably wedded to each other to accomplish God’s purposes for His nation and His people. God used a book written in 1960 by a Bible scholar from Australia—J. Sidlow Baxter, to help bring this Book of Nehemiah to life at such a time as this and much that I share comes from his great wisdom and insights as he unfolds both the character and the story. The name Nehemiah means “Jehovah comforts” which is important for us to note as he lived in a time when his nation was in distress much like ours.
Nehemiah 1-2:10—Nehemiah the Cupbearer. Nehemiah was from the tribe of Judah and had been raised in exile in Persia (modern day Iran) and had become the cupbearer for the King in the royal residence of Shusah. It was a position of great influence in the court as he washed the royal cup, tasted the contents of it by pouring a few drops into the palm of the hand (securing the King’s safety from poisoning), and presenting it in a certain fashion to the King. This position gave him privileged access to the King and his ear. His favored position was bestowed him by God because of his character revealed in the story: strict honesty, conscientious devotion to duty, unbending integrity in motive and purpose, and practical godliness. One day, while he was at the royal court, his brother, Hanani, and a group of Jews brought him an alarming report concerning the condition of Jerusalem and the restored Jewish community in Judea and he was overcome with grief. He learned that his countrymen away in the homeland were in dire straits because, among other things, the city walls were still in ruins, and the gates remained just as they had been burned and broken by the Babylonians a hundred and forty years earlier. The torn-down walls and gates left the people open to attack and plunder by the deceitful and treacherous peoples who surrounded them. Nehemiah was stricken with grief. (1: 2-11) God gave him the conviction to undertake the huge task of the rebuilding of the wall, but he was not his own master. BUT GOD moved upon the heart of the King who most generously commissioned him to undertake the project that lay upon his heart. We glean important lessons from this first part of Nehemiah’s story: 1. Real godliness is not incompatible with earthly success. If Nehemiah could keep his conscience unseared amid the cabals of that Persian court, so we ourselves must blend uprightness with success in modern business. 2. We should use all influential positions for God. If we have money, we should use it as stewards—not as owners. Our money should be at the Lord’s disposal, and should only be spent in ways which furthers the cause of Christ. If we occupy a high position, our influence should be used in such a way as discreetly recommends Christ to those who come within our sphere of influence. If we have outstanding gifts, they should all be used to the glory of God. 3. We should ever be deeply concerned about the well-being of the Lord’s people as Nehemiah was. Whenever there is to be a revival or some wonderful forward-movement of God’s Spirit among men, some heart or hearts must become burdened as Nehemiah’s did. Are we deeply troubled that the churches today are so dead spiritually and so poorly attended that true Gospel preaching is so rare, that godliness is void in both high places and low, and that death reaps a daily harvest of Christless millions for the grave and a dark beyond? God, help us to learn, to feel deeply for souls, to pray with Nehemiah-like earnestness, and to follow the gleam from heaven!
Nehemiah 2:11-5:19—Nehemiah the Wall Builder. Armed with royal authority, motivated with the sense of God’s overruling graciousness, and yet fully aware of the hazards involved in his undertaking, Nehemiah sat off for Jerusalem, accompanied by an escort of Persian soldiers, and completed the journey in three months. Nehemiah safely reached Jerusalem and after an internal of three days, made a secret survey of the ruins by night, so as to escape observation by hostile forces. He did not divulge his mission even to the leaders at Jerusalem until he had plans to ensure that the whole work could be started and finished. His plan was to sectionize the rebuilding among different work-parties all acting simultaneously, and each responsible for its own section of the wall. We see the sleep-denying concern of the man who was burdened for the cause of God on earth. He was not angry at God for himself but angry for God’s people! It is always men as Nehemiah who become the inspirers and encouragers of others, undauntedly overcoming Satanic opposition and the idle jibes of worldly scoffers. There is a blending of the practical with the spiritual all the way through the story of Nehemiah. When the practical overrides the spiritual, the practical becomes utterly unpractical. It is the Nehemiahs whom God uses—who blend the practical and the spiritual. There will always be opposition to God’s plan and God’s man! Nehemiah was faced with obstructions and setbacks in the building of the wall. There were three forms of opposition from without—scorn (5: 1-6), force (4: 7-23), craft (6: 1-19) and three forms of hindrance from within—debris (4: 10), fear (f: 11-14) and greed (v: 1-13). Each is a lesson, a study in itself, strikingly paralleling with what we are up against today in a spiritual sense. The opposition rose up to seek to discourage and stop the work. The enemies questioned the need for building a wall and expressed out-cry against it and the impossibility of the task. Behind these reasons was the hatred and anger against God and His peop0le. The first real reason why the world opposes us is that Satan is behind it. We will briefly examine them.
Scorn: Nehemiah was not intimidated by the enemy and said: “Hear, O our God, for we are despised and then he decreed: “So build we the wall…for the people had a mind to work.” He said, “I am doing a great work…I cannot come down.”
Force: Scorn gave way to force and plots from the opposition. Mutual enemies became mutual friends to make common cause against the people of God—“they conspired, all of them—they were wroth…they shall not know…to slay and cause the work to cease.” Our Lord Jesus had no need to denounce the false leaders of His day in order to incite attempts by them upon His life. His holy character was enough in itself to ignite their hateful pride into murderous flame. The fact that a work is for God will arouse the ruthless opposition of Satan-controlled men. Nehemiah and his company kept on praying and kept on working—they had to join watching with praying, and warring with working. “We made our prayer unto God, and set a watch against them, day and night…Everyone, with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.” Praying, watching, working, warring is our marching orders for today! There is a proper place for resisting and attacking and exposing error, deception, falsehood, and sin, on the part of those who oppose the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Warring must never exclude building. We must build as well as battle. The walls must go up, for in the long run the best warring and defense is to build up the walls of truth!
Craft: The craft of Nehemiah’s enemies took four turns. First, they tried pretense—“Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” Next, they tried bluff—they said charges would be lodged against him with the emperor against Nehemiah and the Jews. Nehemiah’s response was: “take counsel with themselves.” Next, he managed to get some of Nehemiah’s own kinsmen to file treachery against him. They wanted to get him to act, on the advice of seeming friends, that his conduct would look suspicious and provide ground for an evil report. Nehemiah refused to do the cowardly or shady thing even on the advice of a prophet!
Debris: They threw one obstacle or hinderance after the other to stall the building—they said: “there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build the wall.” The nay-sayers within the camp beyond any doubt were more discouraging and far more heart-breaking than opposition from without. This has a pathetic counterpart in much Christian work today. There is many a devout servant of the Lord who cannot get on with the wall God has given him to build, because of the hindrance of much rubbish in the church—leaven that has crept into the body causing division, strife and disorder.
Fear: There were repeated alarms from Jews from outlying districts of surprise attacks being planned by Nehemiah’s enemies. This spread fear among the workers. In today’s world we would call these “false flags” meant to distract and discourage! Nehemiah did not succumb to these attacks—a hero as he stood there in solitary courage, seeking to turn fear to faith among the rest! He said “Be ye not afraid of them: remember the Lord, great and mighty, and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.” They were to look to God and remember His greatness and power! It was a grand battle-cry to give them! They were to remember what was at stake—their families and homes and be willing to stand and defend them with the weapons of the Lord—the Word, prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit. In the power of this threefold provision, our preaching, teaching, writing, and individual witness-bearing can break Satanic opposition at every point. The best way to pull down error is to propagate truth!
Greed: The ruling class had imposed hardships upon the people and they had no money. There seemed to be five factors responsible for the financial crisis. First, there was over-population due to influx of immigrants and a housing issue; second, a recent famine was caused by the unsettled state of the country that impeded agricultural and pastoral occupations; third, the heavy taxation; fourth, the difficulty of importing because of the enemies; and fifth, the heavy debt from former governments.
Nehemiah dealt with the trouble head-on! First, he challenged the offenders by prompt, even drastic, action. Second, he appealed to them by his own example. Third, the offending party admitted their blame and made restitution. Oh, what a good thing is promptness, frankness, boldness, in such matters! The difficulty in each of the cases became more acute and deadly, but in each case the victory became more telling, until stone by stone, and day by day, despite all opposition from without and all hindrance from within, the wall is completed!
These are some of the lessons which come home to us today from Nehemiah’s rebuilding of that city wall. May we read, mark, learn, and act accordingly! The days in which we live have an intensity and complexity such as eclipses that of all former times! The need is vast! The issues are tremendous! The time is short! The wall must be built, even “in troublous times.” God help us to keep at it—warring and working, watching and waiting, battling and building! Let us mark this man, Nehemiah, the man who rebuilt Jerusalem, and keep him in mind as we work for God today under difficult conditions. God is building with us; and at last we too shall certainly see the walls of God’s “New Jerusalem” completely built up, and “the nations shall walk in the light of it.” Do you see the paradigm? God has it and He wins!