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Nehemiah 2 Reflection Copy Last week we began a series of reflections from the book of Nehemiah, a series I am calling, Rebuilding for Revival. Because what we encounter in this book is one of God’s servants, Nehemiah, raised up to meet the needs of God’s people - the Jews, and God’s place Jerusalem. Nehemiah will be used by God to rebuild after his people suffered the destruction of the city and 70 years of exile. And as we look at how God is calling us to rebuild to a certain degree in this post COVID-19, and let’s face it, post 9 months of pastoral interim season, I believe Nehemiah has a lot to teach us about the biblical pattern of rebuilding for revival. Last week we saw how the work of rebuilding began with repentance and prayer. And if you didn’t hear last week’s reflection, you need to understand that at the end of chapter 1 prayer led toward action. Chapter 1 ends with Nehemiah praying for favor as he approaches the king of Persia about his desire to see Jerusalem restored and the people of God flourishing again. But right away, here in chapter 2 we encounter some obstacles. Because this is real life. This is history, not fiction. So, though our hero resolves to fast and pray and act for the restoration and revival of God’s people, that does not mean that all goes well for him. In fact, many of you know that reality is often quite the opposite. After we resolve to act in the way we believe God is calling us, opposition is nearly always right around the corner. That was certainly Nehemiah’s experience. We see the first obstacle to Nehemiah’s work of rebuilding hinted at right away in verse 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,” What is so interesting about this first verse is the “time stamp” that Nehemiah mentions. In chapter 1 Nehemiah told us that he first heard the report about the sad state of God’s people and God’s place Jerusalem during the month of Chislev. The month of Nisan is 4 months later. There is a 4 month delay between Nehemiah feeling the burden and the desire to do something about it and this time when he finally takes acton. Why? Well, on one level we need to recognize that we are driven to ask why so long because we are 21st century Americans. I don’t know about you but when I realized this 4 month delay I thought to myself, “there is no way.” When I feel compelled to do something and I resolve to take action - I am typically pretty driven to take that action as soon as possible. I would probably fast and pray for about a day before looking for the next possible opportunity to get in there and talk to Artexerxes about my desire to help my people. But Nehemiah allows his prayers and his repentance to marinate. He doesn’t just take a day to pray on it, he takes more like a Lenten season. That is a good example to us who are often too short in our prayers and too quick to action. Similarly, on another level, Nehemiah is probably exercising some godly inspired wisdom. Jesus told his apostles to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, Nehemiah seems to be doing just that. Perhaps he was waiting until what he deemed the right time to reveal his heart to the king. I know from my own experience as a leader that I have seldom regretted taking time to weigh and wait on the right timing for important decisions or initiatives. And conversely, all the biggest mistakes I’ve made in life tend to be things I have rushed into. But there is another, third explanation for why we see Nehemiah waiting four months between feeling conviction and here finally taking action. It is the fear factor. The first obstacle that Nehemiah had to overcome to follow the call of God was his own fear. It is quite evident that Nehemiah was afraid to take action on his resolution. In fact, he is totally vulnerable with us and tells us that in the next few verses. Verse 2 says, “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, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! 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?” I was very much afraid. In fact, notice that Nehemiah doesn’t actually initiate this interaction, the king reads pain in his trusted butler’s face. The king asks, “why are you so sad?” and only then does Nehemiah take that as the signal that it is time to speak. There is reluctance there. Because there is fear. People of God, it is not sin to feel fear, especially to feel fear when God calls you to step out in faith. If you think that I packed up my whole life, my whole family and moved all the way across the country to follow the call of God and felt no fear, that I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night with panicked thoughts - then you have not gotten to know me yet. Faith is certainly the antidote to fear - but it is no guarantee that fear won’t rear its ugly head in our hearts and minds. As someone famously said, courage is not the absence of fear, it is feeling fear and then acting anyway. What matters is what we do with the fear. Nehemiah could have backed down, made some excuse for his hangdog look. He could have lied and said there was a death in his family. But in the end, he spoke up and did what he knew he needed to do. That is true courage. People of God, very often the first obstacles that we need to overcome when stepping into the calling God has placed upon us are internal. Our own fear: fear of failure, fear of what other’s think. Our own shame, the voices that tell us “there is no way this is going to work.” Those triggers from our past that push all our fear and anxiety buttons and get us to run in the other direction. What the Scriptures demonstrate to us again and again is that we are not alone in that experience. The people of God have struggled with these same struggles for all of history. The first obstacle that Nehemiah faced, the first obstacle that we often face is our own fear. Yet by God’s grace, it can be overcome. Now, the second obstacle that Nehemiah is facing here is found in these same verses. Because not all of Nehemiah’s fears were unfounded. The king of Persia was the most powerful man in the world at that time. If he listened to Nehemiah’s plea and decided, “no, I don’t want you to go. No, it doesn’t suit my self-interests to see Jerusalem rebuilt. No, I don’t think so.” Well, then that would be that. One of the themes that we see again and again in the book of Daniel which takes place a generation before this place in history is the irrevocability of the Law of the Medes and the Persians and the binding nature of the Persian king’s decrees. Daniel wound up in the lion’s den because of a royal decree that could not be changed, even after the king realized he had been tricked into making it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ended up in the fiery furnace the same way, Artexerxes’ dad apparently had a bad weakness for getting duped. Anyway, the point is that Nehemiah knows he only has one chance at this. If the king does not look favorably upon his request, and if he in fact decrees something to the contrary, well then, the game is up. Whatever the king decides about this matter, that will be final. Nehemiah has one shot and a 50/50 chance. But the point that the book of Daniel makes in all of the ways it draws in the Law of the Medes and Persians is that again and again, God shows Himself mightier than the king and the law and whatever is thrown at God’s chosen servants. Daniel is thrown to the lions by royal decree and he is saved by divine intervention. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are thrown into the furnace by royal edict, and the Lord meets them there and preserves them. And so too we see here in Nehemiah’s case, the king could be the deciding factor that kills this whole proposition before it even gets off the ground. Yet, we read in verse 4, “The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” 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.” Nehemiah prays for favor - and his prayer is granted.
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