Get Going | Nehemiah| Week 1
Series: Nehemiah | Week 1
Text: Nehemiah 1:1–2:9
You can’t finish if you don’t get started.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say at the end of your life, “It is finished”? Or “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race?”
Here’s a thought: Augustine would say, “Pray as if everything depended upon God, work as if everything depended upon you.”
Now both our children attend George McDougall High School in Airdrie. I graduated from this school in 1981, so it is a stroll down memory lane when I walk down the hallway and look at the pictures of past grads. I relive the hopes and dreams of high school graduates and recall the stories that go with the faces that I have not seen in years.
We all have hopes and dreams. I have met individuals who live with “coulda, woulda, shoulda” running through their minds and others who have strong direction in their lives and are pursuing it. What is it that motivates some people to accomplish something significant while others seem to drift aimlessly through life? Why do some people live with deep regrets over how their years have been spent while others experience great satisfaction as they reap the rewards of past choices?
446 years Before Christ the nation of Judah was under the thumb of the Persian Empire. The walls of the city of Jerusalem were in ruins and the Jewish people were scattered. King Artaxerxes ruled his empire from the city of Susa.
Nehemiah was a royal cupbearer, a position which stretches far back into history, and was a place of great honour in the Persian court. The cupbearer, spending each day in the presence of the king, and seeing him during times of relaxation, had many opportunities to endear himself to the monarch. Undoubtedly there were favours granted to the cupbearer that were not granted to other loyal subjects. Cupbearers were generally eunuchs, and are often found represented on Assyrian monuments. In these representations they hold the cup in the left hand, and in the right hand a flap made of the split leaves of a palm branch to shoo away the flies. A long napkin, richly embroidered and fringed, is thrown over the left shoulder for the king to wipe his lips with. Among the Medes and Persians the cupbearer, before serving the king, took the wine into the cup from the vessels, and then poured a little into the palm of his left hand and drank it. This ensured the king’s safety, just in case the wine had been poisoned by a traitor.
We enter the Bible’s account in Nehemiah 1:1-2:9:
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ 10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king. 2:1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.” 6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. 7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. NIV
Nehemiah was a man of passion because he:
Prayed
As Nehemiah heard of the sorry condition of Jerusalem he turned to the Lord in prayer. He recognized there was an authority in God that was higher than any earthly king. He recognized the sins that he, his family and his nation had committed against the Lord and the consequences that had resulted. In humble prayer he asked for God’s forgiveness and help as he drew up a plan.
Nehemiah deprived himself of food for the cause. Fasting from what is essential for our existence helps to realign our priorities. As we abstain from something as important as food there is something that happens in us.
Two men were sent out in the atmosphere of prayer in Acts 13:1-4:
1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. NIV
Leaders who are genuinely Christian are people of prayer. While they may occasionally doubt their own ability, they do not doubt God’s invincible commitment to His work. Nehemiah’s journal is filled with prayers – silent ones, short ones, specific ones. He constantly reminded others of the Lord’s presence and protection.
An airplane flew into a violent thunderstorm and was soon swaying and bumping around in the sky. One very nervous lady happened to be sitting next to a clergyman and turned to him for comfort. “Can’t you do something?” she demanded forcefully.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” replied the reverend gently. “I’m in sales, not management.”
The pastor of the world’s largest church in Seoul, South Korea, David Yonggi Cho, was asked the secret of his success. He replied, simply, “I pray and I obey.”
As he turned to God in prayer a fire was ignited in Nehemiah to do something. A change came to the situation, beginning in the heart and mind of one person who was committed to the Lord and to his people.
Whatever the project may be passion, vision, enthusiasm, drive, and determination are absolutely essential. Nehemiah could hardly sleep as in prayer he pictured the need and imagined himself involved in the process of accomplishing the objective.
Does your daily and weekly schedule include a time when you can bring your concerns to God and allow Him to light a fire in you?
Nehemiah was a man of passion because he:
Prayed
Acted
Prayer can be either the fulfillment of a high calling or a tremendous copout. There comes a time when praying can be sin. Moses learned this in Exodus 14:13-16:
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. NIV
Placed by God in a place of great trust and honour as the king’s cupbearer, Nehemiah had a great opportunity to serve his homeland of Judah. He could have simply enjoyed such a prestigious position for his own benefit for the rest of his life. Instead he acted upon a need and he answered God’s call to respond to that need!
E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) concluded:
A great many people go through life in bondage to success. They are in mortal dread of failure. I do not have to succeed. I have only to be true to the highest I know - success or failure are in the hands of God.
Nearly four months passed (from November to March) before Nehemiah asked the king to let him go to Jerusalem, either because the winter was not a proper time for such a journey, and he would not make his move until he could pursue it, or because it was so long before his month of serving came, and there was no coming into the king’s presence uncalled. He awaited his rotation to serve as cupbearer.
You need to know that Nehemiah took a great risk in approaching the king with his request for two reasons:
1. The city of Jerusalem had a reputation of being rebellious.
2. The Persian king had such absolute power that to appear sad in his presence could cause dismissal or death. Sadness, after all, might suggest the dissatisfaction of someone who was plotting to take the king’s life.
Fortunately, the king picked up on Nehemiah’s sadness and asked him what the problem was. Nehemiah sent one last quick prayer to God then presented his request to the king to be allowed to go and rebuild Jerusalem. Miraculously, his royal master granted his request and appointed him governor. Accompanied by a cavalry of horsemen and letters from the king to the different governors through whose provinces he was to pass, as well as to the keeper of the king’s forests (to supply him with timber), he started upon his journey.
“I want you to know in advance,” the surgeon told his patient, “that I’m in favour of getting my patients up and around very quickly. Three hours after surgery you will sit up, five hours later you will stand up, and the next morning you will walk around on the nurse’s arm. That afternoon you will start to walk again unaided.”
“All right,” replied the patient. “I guess you know what you are doing, but I have a request to make.”
“Certainly, Sir,” said the surgeon. “What is it?”
“Would it be OK,” asked the patient, “if I lie down a little while during the operation?”
Nehemiah, without a moment’s unnecessary delay, began the restoration of Jerusalem’s walls, which was accomplished in the remarkably short time of 52 days.
Augustine (a theologian of the fifth century) would say, “Pray as if everything depended upon God, work as if everything depended upon you.”
Is there a project you have been putting off? Have you become too comfortable to take any risks or to do something unusual?
During his valley campaign of the American Civil War, General Stonewall Jackson and his army needed to get to the other side of a river. He ordered his engineers to plan and build a bridge for the army to cross. Late that afternoon he mentioned to his wagon master how urgent it was that they get across the river as soon as possible. The wagon master immediately set to work. Soon he had the men gathering up all the fence rails, logs, and rocks they could find. Soon the crude bridge was finished, and long before daylight the wagon master was able to report to the general that all the wagons and artillery were on the other side of the river. General Jackson wanted to know where the engineers were and what they were doing. The wagon master replied that they were still in their tent debating and drawing up plans for a bridge.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say at the end of your life, “It is finished”? Or “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race?”
Nehemiah was a man of passion because he:
Prayed
Acted
You can’t finish if you don’t get started. Get going!