Let Us Rise up and Build (Part - 1)

LET US RISE UP AND BUILD (PART – 1)

So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:20)

 

I wish I could dissect this book of Nehemiah, verse by verse, word by word, so I could show you all the treasures hidden inside. This book is a training manual for leaders written by the Holy Spirit. Nehemiah was a leader chosen by God for a specific purpose, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, whose stones were burned and made into heaps of rubbish. So, come along as we learn from his life.

Nehemiah, the Cupbearer:

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, King of Persia (Nehemiah 1:11). What is special about that? Nehemiah was not from Persia, he was Jewish. Either he was brought as a captive or he was born to captive parents. Whatever might be the case, how could a king trust a person whom he had brought as a captive from another land with his food and drink. Nehemiah definitely would have been a trustworthy man and a favourite of the king as we can see the King’s concern about Nehemiah’s sadness (Nehemiah 2:2).

Hanani Visits Nehemiah:

When Nehemiah was in the citadel of Shushan his brother Hanani visits him along with some other men. Even though Nehemiah was living in the comfort of a palace in Persia his heart was in Jerusalem, the place of his father’s tombs. He enquired about the welfare of the Jews who had escaped and who had survived the captivity. But the news he got was not good. The survivors who were left from the captivity in the province were there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem was also broken down, and its gates were burned with fire. (Nehemiah 1:1-3).

Nehemiah wept and mourned:

When Nehemiah heard about the state of Jerusalem it was unbearable for him. Nehemiah said “When I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 1:4). His brother Hanani bore the news in his heart and brought it all the way from Jerusalem. We cannot deny that every Israelite would have been deeply affected by the destruction of Jerusalem. But we don’t know whether any man was affected to the extent Nehemiah was affected by the news.

We don’t find Nehemiah questioning why this person or that person has not taken an effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But he went into days of fasting to find out what he can do about it. When God has a purpose for your life, you will be burdened by that issue and you will be looking for ways to solve that issue, others may not be equally burdened or they may even seem to be unconcerned. It could be simply that it is not their purpose in life. It may be for you to accomplish. The Bible says “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do” (Philippians 2:13). It is God who creates the desire in you to fulfill His will for your life.

 What do you request?

The king could make out Nehemiah’s distress from his face and he enquires about it. He finds the reason for Nehemiah’s distress and he had a question for Nehemiah “What do you request?” (Nehemiah 2:4). Imagine getting the question from the king himself. But Nehemiah was unperturbed. He did not trust in his political influence or his royal connections. Had he trusted in his royal connection, he would not have fasted and mourned for days. He would have straight away gone to the king. But Nehemiah trusted in the one who holds the king’s heart and can turn it wherever he wishes like the rivers of water. So Nehemiah prayed to God and placed a request before the king. Because the good hand of God was upon him, the king granted all his requests.

The Good Hand of God was upon Nehemiah:

The Good hand of God was upon Nehemiah because he trusted in God more than the king or any man. What happened because he trusted in God? The King gave all his requests and not only that. He also gave things which Nehemiah didn’t ask for. The king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with him (Nehemiah 2:9). Imagine leaving Jerusalem as a captive and returning as a cupbearer of the king protected by captains of the army and horsemen. This is what happens when the good hand of God is upon you.

Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem:

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, it couldn’t have been a secret affair. Nehemiah came carrying letters for governors of the provinces he had to pass through, he brought timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertained to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that he was going to occupy (Nehemiah 2:8). We cannot imagine how they would have brought all those timbers from Persia to Jerusalem without any machinery and when everything had to be done manually. The king had also sent captains of the army and horsemen. So, Nehemiah did not return alone. He would have returned with at least few hundred men. Everybody in Jerusalem would have heard about Nehemiah’s return, the return of the cup bearer of King Artaxerxes. It would have elicited hope among the remnant Jewish people.

Sanballat and Tobiah Deeply Disturbed:

But there were some people in Jerusalem who were deeply disturbed by Nehemiah’s visit. Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite were deeply disturbed (Nehemiah 2:10). Why were they deeply disturbed? They were deeply disturbed because someone had come to seek the well-being of those people. They wanted Jerusalem to remain desolate and the walls to be broken. If Jerusalem is built up, they may not have anything to do there and they may not be able to show their authority and they were disturbed. But Nehemiah did not react or show any concern about their disturbance.

Nehemiah inspects the city:

After Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he went to inspect the city. He arose in the night; he took a few men along with him and went around the city (Nehemiah 2:12). Nehemiah’s brother Hanani had already told him about the condition of Jerusalem. He could have started his planning and design based on his brother’s words from Persia itself. But he wanted to look for himself the condition of the city. If God had placed a burden on his heart for the city, the way he looks at the city would be different from another person whose heart is not burdened for the city. Eventhough Hanani was his brother, whose words he trusted; when it came to fulfilling the purpose of God, he had to do it on his own. Of course, Hanani also had a role to play in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, but that was a different one (Nehemiah 7:2).

Nehemiah inspects the city…. In the night:

Why did Nehemiah go around the city in the night? What would have happened if he had gone around the city during the day time? When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, it couldn’t be kept secret. People in Jerusalem would have been interested in the purpose of his visit carrying all those timbers from Persia. On the other side, there were Sanballat and Tobiah alerted by Nehemiah’s presence. If he had gone around city during the day time, he would have received lot of admiration and attention from the Jewish people, but that would have distressed Sanballat and Tobiah even more. He neither wanted applause for himself nor cause discord in the city. He wanted to fulfill God’s purpose for his life to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. For that he had to take some extra effort, to rise up in the night and to spend one sleepless night. But that prevented many unnecessary problems.

 I told no one:

“I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode” (Nehemiah 2:12). It seems like a very simple statement. But it requires great strength of character and absolute trust in God to do this. Many times, people struggle in their mission because they have faltered in this step. As soon as God gives us a vision or puts a burden in our heart, it is a natural human instinct to immediately share it with people who are close to us.

 What could be the reason we want to share our vision with others before we are fully ready? We may think that we will be supported by them or it could be just to receive some recognition. These people may have similar goals and ideas in life, so we may think of getting some help from them. I want to make it clear that, I am not saying we should never share our vision or ideas. Here I am mentioning about the initial formative stage of our idea or the starting phase, immediately after receiving the vision. We can learn from the life of Nehemiah that after he was clear in his mind what he wanted to do about the walls of Jerusalem, he called the elders and leaders and shared his vision with them (Nehemiah 2:17). Prior to that Nehemiah did not tell anyone.

 But there should be a phase in our life, when we have to take time to wait in the presence of God and to be alone when the ideas and designs are being conceived and when we are being trained for the mission. We can see it in the life of many saints both in the old and the new testament.

 Joseph – Joseph had two dreams when he was young. As soon as he shared those dreams with his brothers, they became jealous of him (Genesis 37:5-11). They even went to the extent of saying, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him ………………..We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:19,20).

 Moses – Moses knew from a young age that he would deliver Israel from slavery. So he thought the Israelites would readily accept him. The Bible says “Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:25) They even pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? (Acts 7:27).

Why did they push him away? If there was anyone who could deliver them from slavery, it should have been Moses. He stood before them with all the splendor of an Egyptian prince. He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds (Acts 7:22). He could have convinced the Pharaoh through his tactical and intelligent speech. But the Israelite slaves rejected and pushed away an Egyptian prince who offered to deliver them. But forty years later, he came back to them as a shepherd, not as one who was mighty in words and deeds, but as one who was slow of speech and slow of tongue. But now people accepted him. What made the difference? It was God’s time for him to start his mission. Forty years earlier, he would have been able to tackle the Pharaoh, but wouldn’t have been able to tackle the rebellious Israelites in the desert.

 Jesus Christ – Before starting his ministry he was led to the desert by the spirit for 40 days where he was tempted by satan and was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him (Mark 1:12)

 Apostle Paul – Apostle Paul, before he started his ministry, spent three years in Arabia (Galatians 1:16-24).

Nehemiah shares his vision:

After Nehemiah had taken stock of the situation and after deciding how to go about it, he called the leaders, elders and nobles and shared his vision with them. It was a very short exhortation and invitation, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”  And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. (Nehemiah 2:17 &18).

He shared his vision in three steps. There was no exaggeration and no big claims. He could have easily boasted about his royal connection or about the support he got from the royal treasury. He did not do anything to attract people’s support and he did not force them either. He simply explained to them  

1.      - the ruined state of Jerusalem and gave a call to rebuild

2.     - that the hand of God has been good upon him

3.    -  about the King’s support

He got an immediate response. They said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. (Nehemiah 2:18).

 

-        To be continued