The Strength to Build | Nehemiah 2:1-20
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Nehemiah, and we’re calling this series Rise and Build. It’s a series about God bringing restoration from the rubble, because God uses Nehemiah to restore the broken walls in Jerusalem that have been turned to rubble. The specific text we’re studying today is about seeking God for the strength to build. It’s about seeking God for the strength to build, to accomplish his plans for our lives, and we’re all building something. Both skeptics and believers are building something. You may not be building a wall in Jerusalem, but you’re building something.
Are you trying to build your faith, your emotional health, your mental health, your physical health?...Are you trying to build your business, your career, your net worth?...Are you trying to build a stronger relationship with the people you love, or trying to rebuild a relationship that’s falling apart?...What are some of the things you’re trying to build in life?...Whatever those things are, you can expect to face some obstacles in the building process. When that happens, you can rely on your own strength for a little while. But eventually you’ll face obstacles in life that are greater than your own strength can handle, and you’ll need God’s help. Maybe that’s where some of you are today. You’ve been strong for a little while, but you’ve reached the point where you realize your strength isn’t enough. Your strength has run out, but the good news is God’s strength never runs out. The good news is God’s willing to give you strength if you seek his help. That’s what Nehemiah does in today’s text. He seeks God’s help, because he’s facing a task with obstacles greater than his strength can handle. Let’s turn to Nehemiah 2 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle and keep turning left, you’ll find Nehemiah. We’ll be in Nehemiah Ch. 2:1-20, and the title of the message is The Strength To Build. The big idea of the message is God will strengthen our hands to accomplish his plans...God will strengthen our hands to accomplish his plans...
Here’s your context. The book of Nehemiah was written around 445 BC, and it’s a historical record of a time when God brings restoration to his people and to the walls in Jerusalem, which had been reduced to rubble. What happened is the Jews were living in persistent sin, so the Lord allowed them to live in Babylonian exile for roughly 70 years. But then the Persians defeated the Babylonians, and a year later they allowed the Jews to return home. In ch. 1 we learned Nehemiah receives a troubling report about the people being in great trouble, and the walls in Jerusalem were destroyed. So the first thing Nehemiah does is he prays. He jumps into prayer before jumping into action. He prays for roughly 4 months! But in ch. 2 he’s ready for action, so let’s check it out.
Nehemiah 2:1, “During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes...” This is how we know Nehemiah’s been praying before jumping into action. It’s because in ch. 1 we learned Nehemiah was praying during the month of Chislev, which in the Hebrew calendar is November/December. But in ch. 2 it’s now the month of Nisan, which is March/April. This means Nehemiah’s been praying and planning for roughly 4 months! He’s been praying and waiting for God to open a door, for God to provide an opportunity for him to ask the Persian King Artaxerxes, if he can leave the palace to rebuild the broken walls in Jerusalem. Well the time for God to open a door finally comes, and it comes while Nehemiah is fulfilling his role as the king’s cupbearer.
Again vs. 1, “During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, 2 so the king said to me, ‘Why do you look so sad when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.’ I was overwhelmed with fear...” The reason Nehemiah’s overwhelmed with fear, is because it was dangerous to show emotions in front of Persian kings. They didn’t care about your personal problems. They’d easily ban you or execute you for bringing sadness into their presence. We learn this in the book of Esther, when King Xerxes prohibited people from entering his palace if they were mourning or wearing sackcloth. Esther 4:2 states, “Mordecai went only as far as the King’s Gate, since the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering.” Persian Kings didn’t care about your emotions, and for years Nehemiah didn’t show any sadness in front of the King. So the King notices an emotional shift in him, and Nehemiah’s overwhelmed with fear because he knows he can be executed for this. He’s facing an obstacle in the building process, but God is about to turn this obstacle into an open door. He’s about to turn this obstacle into an opportunity for Nehemiah to ask the king if he can leave to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem.
Vs. 3, “I replied to the king, ‘May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed?’ 4 Then the king asked me, ‘What’s your request?’ So I prayedto the God of the heavens...” When Nehemiah says may the king live forever, he’s being careful in his response. He’s reassuring the king that his sadness isn’t because he hates the king or his role as cupbearer. He’s reassuring the king that he doesn’t have any hidden desire or plot to kill the king, which immediately defuses the situation. So the king asks Nehemiah what he wants, and Nehemiah prays before responding. He’s constantly praying as he faces obstacles and difficult decisions. He’s constantly praying because he knows God is constantly present. He knows God can turn any obstacle into an open door.
Again vs. 4, “So I prayed to the God of the heavens, 5 and answered the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried so I may rebuild it.’ 6 The king asked me, ‘How long will your journey take, and when will you return?’ So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me. 7 I also said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River, so they’ll grant me safe passage until I reach Judah. 8 And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he’ll give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.’ The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.” There are two things I want you to notice here. The 1st thing is that Nehemiah has a plan. He isn’t winging it. He tells the king how long it’ll take, the authorization he’ll need for safe passage, and some of the supplies he’ll need such as timber. He’s giving the king a detailed response, which tells us he’s been praying and planning. He isn’t just praying, and then sitting around doing nothing, expecting God to magically take care of everything. Instead he’s praying, planning, and waiting for God to open doors. The 2nd thing I want you to notice is Nehemiah recognizes the king granted his requests because of the gracious hand of God. He recognizes the door opened because God’s gracious hand was on him. He had the Persian king’s permission, protection, and resources, but the most important thing he had was God’s gracious, strong, powerful hands guiding and helping him. The lesson here is that when God calls us to a task, he’ll help us accomplish that task. His gracious, strong, powerful hands will help us overcome whatever obstacles we face in life. He’ll strengthen our hands to accomplish his plans.
Vs. 9, “I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, heard someone had come to pursue the prosperity of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.” Why are Sanballat and Tobiah greatly displeased? It’s because they’re governing officials over regions close to Jerusalem, and they see Nehemiah’s desire to rebuild the walls as a threat to their governing power. Sanballat was the governing official over Samaria, Tobiah was the governing official over Ammon, and in vs. 19 there’s a third guy named Geshem the Arab who joins their tri-regional coalition against Nehemiah. They become a constant obstacle, a constant threat to Nehemiah and the building process. But Nehemiah keeps praying and pushing forward. Some people quit when facing obstacles, because they think it’s a sign God isn’t involved in their plans. But that isn’t always the case, because God’s involved in Nehemiah’s plans, yet he’s still facing obstacles. The Apostle Paul mentions this happened to him too in 1st Corinthians 16:9, “A wide door for effective ministry opened for me—yet many oppose me.” The point is we should expect to face obstacles in life and in the building process. But we should also expect God to help us overcome those obstacles. In the words of the great missionary Hudson Taylor, “There are three stages to every great work of God: First it’s impossible, then it’s difficult, then it’s done.” Simply put, it doesn’t matter how impossible the task is. If God calls you to it, he’ll help you through it. He’ll help strengthen your hands to accomplish his plans. Job 42:2 states, “I know you can do anything Lord. No plan of yours can be thwarted!” So don’t let difficulty lead to defeat or thinking God is disengaged. He’s still there, and his plans won’t fail.
Vs. 11, “After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, 12 I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what God laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding. 13 I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate. I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down, and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through. 15 So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate and returned. 16 The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.” Nehemiah tells us three times that this was all done at night. It’s like a secret Navy Seals reconnaissance mission, where he’s sneaking in and out at night without anybody noticing. He’s doing this so his enemies don’t know his plans, which in vs. 12 he says are plans God laid on his heart. He even inspects the Dung Gate, which is literally the gate where dung happens. Some people call it the bathroom, the washroom, the war room, but they called it the Dung Gate. It led to the city dump where people would use the bathroom and take their trash. Nehemiah’s inspecting many different areas that were destroyed, and one area was so destroyed that the animal he’s riding on couldn’t make it through. It gives us a vivid picture of how badly these walls were destroyed. Some areas were reduced to rubble, but Nehemiah plans to bring restoration to the rubble.
Vs. 17, “So I said, ‘You see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so we will no longer be a disgrace.’ 18 I told them how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and what the king had said to me. They said, ‘Let’s start rebuilding,’ and their hands were strengthened to do this good work. 19 When Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us saying, ‘What’s this you’re doing? Are you rebelling against the king?’ 20 I gave them this reply, ‘The God of the heavens is the one who will grant us success. We, his servants, will start building. But you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.’” After giving his inspection report to the Jews, Nehemiah fires up the people and challenges them to start rebuilding the walls. In vs. 18 the people respond saying, “Let’s start rebuilding.” But a better translation of the original Hebrew is, “Let us rise and build,” which is where we got our series name from. We’re calling this series Rise and Build, because that’s what Nehemiah and the people started doing. In vs. 18 Nehemiah says their hands were strengthened to do this work, meaning God strengthened their hands to accomplish his plans. But what about you? What’s God calling you to build?...What’s some broken walls, some broken issues he wants you to bring restoration to?...It usually starts with a burden God places on your heart like he did with Nehemiah. The king noticed Nehemiah had a burden. It was a burden for the broken walls and the broken people in Jerusalem. It was a burden for their broken covenant with God and their relationship with God to be restored. As I mentioned last week it was their continual sin that created all this brokenness, and Nehemiah has a burden to show them God still loves them and is willing to bring restoration to the broken walls and their broken lives.
Now God still works like this in our lives today. He puts burdens in our hearts for things that are broken so we’ll bring restoration to those things. It can be a burden for your marriage. A burden for your children. A burden for the poor, the homeless, the abused, the addicted, the imprisoned, or to reach people far from God. I don’t know what he’s calling you to build or bring restoration to, but I know it usually starts with a burden like it did for Nehemiah. I also know not every burden in the world has your name on it. There are way too many burdens in the world to tackle by yourself, which is why Nehemiah recruits a team. It’s because he can’t handle every task by himself. So not every burden or ministry has your name on it, but something does! Something has your name on it! This is how the church grows, expands its reach, helps transform lives, brings restoration to our city. It’s when God’s people feel a burden, and they Rise and Build. They rise and build homeless ministries, prison ministries, special needs ministries, nursing home ministries, or they join ministries we’re already partnering with like Residing Hope Children’s Home, or The Good News Club bringing the good news of Jesus to the schools. The point is not every burden or ministry has your name on it, but something does. What is it for you? What burden does God keep putting on your heart? What broken walls, broken issues is God calling you to bring restoration to?
The big idea of the message is God will strengthen our hands to accomplish his plans... Whatever God is calling you to do, pray and trust he’ll strengthen your hands, to accomplish his plans...The reason I’m emphasizing his plans, is because the only plans he’ll strengthen us to accomplish are the ones that are aligned with him. He won’t strengthen you to sin or to accomplish plans that are against him, which Nehemiah and the Jews realized after 70 years of Babylonian exile. They thought they could live without God, but it led to broken walls and broken lives. Some of you think you can live without God, but it only leads to broken walls and broken lives. Our broken walls and broken lives are signs that our plans aren’t working, and we need God’s help. We need to repent of our sins, turn back to God, and align our plans with his plans. Maybe you’re facing some broken walls; you’re staring at a pile of rubble like Nehemiah. Maybe you’re looking at your marriage, your family, your faith, your future, your past mistakes, and you’re thinking your life’s too broken to fix. But that’s a lie, and here’s how I know it’s a lie. It’s because the gracious, strong, powerful, resurrecting hands of Jesus can bring dead things back to life again...
City Awakening the good news of the gospel is Jesus came into our broken world to die on the cross for our sins, and then he walked out of the grave proving his resurrecting hands can bring dead things back to life again! Jesus is the greater Nehemiah who came not to restore broken walls, but to restore broken souls! Nehemiah saw broken walls; Jesus saw broken humanity! Nehemiah risked his life; Jesus sacrificed his life! Nehemiah restored broken walls; Jesus is restoring broken souls, and he invites us to be a part of his restoration plans! If we put our faith in Jesus we’ll still face obstacles, but he’ll restore our broken souls and give us the strength to overcome those obstacles! He’ll strengthen our hands to accomplish his plans! So let’s rise and worship! Let’s rise and call on the name of Jesus for the brokenness in our lives! Let’s rise and call on the name of Jesus for the brokenness in our families, workplaces, schools, and cities! Let’s Rise and Build!...