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^“17 Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’ ¹⁸ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. ‘What is this you are doing?’ they asked. ‘Are you rebelling against the king?’ ²⁰ I answered them by saying, ‘The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.’” NIV

‘Whether in the area of science, exploration, invention, business, government, or Christian ministry, just about everyone who has ever accomplished anything has faced ridicule. Our Lord was ridiculed during His life and mocked while He was hanging on the cross. He was ‘’despised and rejected of men’’ (Isa.53:3). On the Day of Pentecost, some of the Jews in the crowd said that the Christians were drunk (Acts 2:13). The Greek philosophers called Paul a ‘’babbler’’ (17:18 NIV), and Festus told Paul he was out of his mind (26:24).’ Warren Wiersbe: OT Commentary, p.758.

Note in our passage:

• The enemies had their ‘’fiery darts’’ and they hurled them (19). This is a precursor to further attacks we are going to see happening later in the book. But notice that as soon as God’s people started to do God’s work there was an enemy backlash. Ridicule has been called ‘the weapon of those who have no other.’ Warren Wiersbe observes: ‘Just as soon as God’s people step out by faith to do His will, the enemy shows up and tries to discourage them.’ OT Commentary, p. 758.
• Nehemiah knew his ground and stood on it (20b). He knew where he and the Jews stood historically, and, most important of all, Biblically.
• Nehemiah had his shield and he used it (20). I believe Nehemiah furnishes us with a fine example of doing, in the Old Testament, what Paul in the New Testament says we all ought to do:

‘’…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’’ (Ephesians 6:16). It’s no use having a shield you don’t use!

PRAYER: Lord, I am very much aware of those ‘’’flaming arrows’’ raining down on me on a regular basis. Help me, please, to use the strong shield with which you have so generously equipped me.

^“16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.¹⁷ Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’ ¹⁸ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work.” NIV

Someone has defined leadership as ‘the art of getting people to do what they ought to do because they want to do it.’

There’s a time to think, pray and plan. But there’s also a time to speak. Nehemiah gathered the facts, assessed the situation, then spoke to the people. Look how he went about his task:

Defining reality (17a): It was Max Du Pree who famously said that the first task of leadership is to ‘define reality.’ That’s what Nehemiah did. He didn’t for one moment try to ‘gild the lily.’ He spelled out how bad the situation was. When in a crisis it’s not for leaders to act like we’re not. We have to face reality. ‘Leaders must not live in a dream world. They must face facts honestly and accept the bad news as well as the good news.’ Warren Wiersbe: Old Testament Commentary, p.757

Rallying the troops (17b): He issued a call to necessary action. The situation was intolerable, but he said, ‘We can do something about this.’

Encouraging their hearts (18a): Nehemiah’s remarkable personal testimony of how God had guided and provided must have put new life into them. God was with them, and above all they could look to him in this massive undertaking.

Look at what all of this led to:

Starting to build (18b): Here is the power of godly leadership to motivate and make things happen – things that first of all are birthed in the heart of a leader as he, or she, walks with God.

‘It takes both the hands of leadership and the hands of partnership to accomplish the work of the Lord. Leaders can’t do the job by themselves, and workers can’t accomplish much without leadership.’ Warren Wiersbe: OT Commentary, p.757.

PRAYER: We pray for all leaders, in the church and in every area of society. May they lead with God-given wisdom, courage, faith and strength. Please help them this day in the great responsibilities they carry.

^“11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days ¹² I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on. ¹³ By night I went out through the Valley Gate towards the Jackal^[a] Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I moved on towards the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; ¹⁵ so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and re-entered through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶ The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.” NIV

‘Facts are your friends.’ Remember? But that doesn’t mean you always like your friends.

Before speaking about the challenges facing the Jewish community, Nehemiah took time to assemble and understand the facts. This was not the work of five minutes. He put himself out to do the reconnaissance job. Times of crisis demand more of leaders than more ‘normal’ days. Ordinary days can be demanding enough. But in a crisis you may have to, as it were, work the night shift.

Faith faces facts, and it is not extinguished by them. Nehemiah did not view the disastrous situation staring him in the face, and head back to Susa on the next available horse! He saw it for what it was, but he also trusted in God.

In Romans 4:18-21 we find these wonderful words:

^‘’Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.’’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.’’

 PRAYER: ‘Lord God, help me to face reality, not hide from it; but see it in the light of you. Help me to lift up the shield of faith, and so extinguish all those fiery darts of unbelief.

^“11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days ¹² I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.” NIV

It’s not surprising that there was a three day gap between Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem and this ‘reconnaissance’ mission. It may be that he needed some time to rest after a long journey. It’s estimated that it would have taken at least two months to travel from Susa to Jerusalem.

These verses make explicit what, I think, has been implicit for some time. God had put something into Nehemiah’s ‘’heart’’ – probably during that long period of prayer. It wasn’t simply that he had a bright idea.He had a burden from God.

But here’s an important principle to observe. You may carry something from God in the ‘womb’ of your spirit for some time before it shows. It may not be wise to blurt out the news to all and sundry early on. There are some things best kept to yourself in the initial stages, and then there will be a judgment call as to the timing of who you should tell and when.

‘Leaders are often awake when others are asleep, and working when others are resting. Nehemiah didn’t want the enemy to know what he was doing, so he investigated the ruins by night.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: Old Testament Commentary, p.757.

PRAYER: I pray for a heart open to receive your dreams and visions, and for wisdom to know how to handle what you show me.

^“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 royal park, 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 on 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.

¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” NIV

The book of Nehemiah not only teaches important principles for spiritual builders, it also reveals vital insights about spiritual warfare. Someone put it in this way: ‘When the church says, ‘’Let us arise and build’’, the enemy says, ‘’Let us arise and oppose’’ ‘. Building and battling go together. It’s interesting that the great Victorian preacher, C.H. Spurgeon, called his publication company ‘The Sword and trowel.’

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:!2: ‘’For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’’

 Time and again we will find ‘Sanballat’ and ‘Tobiah’ and their forces playing against us. They will go in hard, committing many a foul, trying to kick us off the pitch. But we need to always remember that our real fight is not with them. Others are pulling their strings.

We need not fear the battle, but neither should we belittle it. Thankfully, we have armour to wear (Ephesians 6:10-20). Don’t neglect to put it all on.

PRAYER: ‘I shall not fear the battle if thou art by my side, nor wander from the pathway, if thou wilt be my guide.

^“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 ancestors 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 royal park, 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 on 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

I believe it is a character in the wonderful Winnie the Pooh stories who declares, ‘Thinking’s not my strong point.’

As we have seen, prayer does not preclude planning. Prayer and thought go together. When the king asks Nehemiah, ‘’What is it you want?’’ (4), it becomes obvious that Nehemiah has thought about it – a lot. Warren Wiersbe says that basically his request was two-fold: ‘Send me’ (4-6), and ‘Give me’ (7, 8a). Nehemiah had done his research well. He even knew the name of the ‘’keeper of the king’s forest’’ (8a).

Furthermore, Nehemiah was clear that he got what he asked because of God’s intervention (8b. Note that he had shot up one of his many ‘arrow’ (or ‘telegraph’) prayers in verse 4b). But he had also been praying and fasting intensively for some time.

As I read this, I believe Nehemiah got more than He asked or thought (9). I don’t see any evidence that he’d asked for the ‘’cavalry’’. Again and again we find ourselves amazed at the Lord’s abundant generosity.

‘The king’s response is evidence of the sovereignty of God in the affairs of nations…While it may be helpful to have believing officials like Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah, we must remember that God is not required to use only believers.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘Old Testament Commentary’, p.756.

Prayer: ‘’Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.’’ (Ephesians 3:20, 21).

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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.’ NIV

How amazing when the king says, ‘’What is it you want?’’

 Well, Nehemiah knew. He’d had time to think everything through carefully. He had not only prayed; he had also planned. Some people plan without praying; some people pray without planning. Nehemiah did both! He recognised that in God’s work, these two are not ‘singles’; they are married!!

Artaxerxes, rich and powerful as he was, also happened to be limited and human. But how wonderful that our Almighty Heavenly King, who is unlimited and divine, bids us come and ask of Him. (See Hebrews 4:14-16. The word ‘’boldly’’ in verse 16 means ‘freedom of speech’).

‘Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring; For His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much.’

Warren Wiersbe says of Nehemiah: ‘He was not content merely to get answers to prayer: he wanted to be an answer to prayer.’ (From ‘With the Word’).

In his Old Testament commentary, Wiersbe also writes:

‘The king’s cupbearer would also have to sacrifice the comfort and security of the palace for the rigours and dangers of life in a ruined city. Luxury would be replaced by ruins, and privilege by ridicule and slander. Instead of sharing the king’s bounties, Nehemiah would potentially pay for the upkeep of scores of people who would eat at his table. He would leave behind the ease of the palace and take up the toils of encouraging a beaten people and finishing an almost impossible task.’ (P.755).

Like Isaiah, he was saying, ‘’Here am I. Send me! (Isaiah 6:8).

In His willingness to go, he reminds us of Jesus, who sacrificed more than anyone to get God’s will done on earth, as in heaven (See Philippians 2:1-11).

PRAYER: ‘I will go Lord, if you send me. I will hold your people in my heart’.

“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 for ever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’NIV

There’s a book by Susan Jeffers entitled, ‘Feel the fear and do it any way.’ I haven’t read it, but I think it’s a great title. As I see it, courage is not the absence of fear, but the strength to do the right thing, even though you may be frightened.

‘’I was very much afraid, but I said to the king…’’

 This was Nehemiah’s moment. He had been waiting for it; praying for it; looking for it. He wasn’t going to let understandable fear rob him of the opportunity. How often have I let fear have the last word? But Nehemiah did not; he would not.

Emotion has a part to play in the life of a believer. It may not always be chirpy, bouncy, chandelier- swinging emotion either. We don’t have to wear fake, superficial smiles all the time. It is right to feel sad about many things in this world. For example, whenever we see the broken-down state of the church in any setting, should this not move us? Ought it not to be fuel for prayer and action?

Prayer: ‘Soften my heart, Lord, soften my heart. From all indifference set me apart.’ (Graham Kendrick).

“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.’ ” NIV

It seems some time elapsed between Nehemiah beginning to pray and this moment. During that period, Nehemiah just got on with faithfully doing his job. While you are involved in one area of work/service, God may put into your heart a vision for something else. But between the sensing that there’s another ministry for you to take up and the actual doing of it, there may lie weeks, months, even years, of patient waiting. So, until God opens the door for the new thing He’s calling you to, keep going in your ‘lane’. Do your best in the work you are currently doing.

Eastern potentates were to be protected from seeing anything unpleasant. Nothing was to come into their presence that might threaten, or dilute, their happiness (see, for example, Esther 4:2). Nehemiah was taking a big risk by looking sad. Not that he could help it. His heart was mirrored in his face. But, you know, whether or not I’m right to be, I’m touched by the thought that this powerful king noticed. ‘Well,’ you might say, ‘it was obvious was it not?’ Yes it was. But it wasn’t just the noticing; it was his kindness in asking. He took the time to be interested in Nehemiah’s pain.

Are we too busy to notice the signs of stress in someone else’s features; too self-absorbed to care?

PRAYER: Lord, may I not be in such a hurry that I fail to see the heartaches of others; may I not be so selfish that I insulate myself against their pain.