The movie Amazing Grace accounts the determination of a man named William Wilberforce who spends his life crusading for the abolition of slavery. Wilberforce came from a prosperous family that lived near a North Sea port which saw little in the way of slave trading. At the young age of 21 he was elected to parliament for the county seat of Yorkshire which was a very large district.
In his early years in Parliament, Wilberforce was noted for his eloquence and charm but not much else. But his conversion to evangelical Christianity in 1785 changed everything. From then on he approached politics from a position of strict Christian morality. One day Wilberforce had a conversation with a man named William Pitt that changed Wilberforce and the rest of the world forever.
Pitt shared the horrors of the slave trade with Wilberforce and Wilberforce was moved. From that conversation until his death in 1833 Wilberforce campaigned relentlessly against the slave trade in England. It took almost 20 years from the time he started his campaign to abolish the slave until it was actually abolished.
The Emancipation Bill gathered support and received its final commons reading on 26 July 1833. Slavery would be abolished in England. ’Thank God’, said Wilberforce, ’that I have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give twenty millions sterling for the Abolition of Slavery’. Three days later, on 29 July 1833, he died. http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wilberforce.htm
Wilberforce was a born again Christian who passionately lived out his convictions in spite of opposition. And he was opposed by many. People lied about him, gave him there word they were on his side then changed their views while in Parliament. He was personally and professionally attached for his position on the slave trade and he suffered from poor health for the majority of his life. But God was with him and this one man changed history forever.
Nehemiah was a man who had a mission just like Wilberforce. He lived in a time when the walls surrounding his ethnic city of Jerusalem were in ruins and he will be the subject of study this morning.
Out of all the books in the OT, the book of Nehemiah is one of my personal favorites. It reads like a novel and is full of practical wisdom for many of today’s complex problems. I read it to gain wisdom as a leader and I read it to get direction. Nehemiah has been an example to me when it comes to dealing with difficult people and he has been an inspiration to me because he set clear goals then worked hard to make them a reality. If you read this book it will make an impact on you.
Let me summarize the book of Nehemiah for you then we will take a look at a few specifics that apply to us in the end. At the time Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king in a distant land. The king’s cupbearer did more than simply serve the king his wine. The cupbearer was considered to be a very high position because of the direct access to the king. It was an odd position for Nehemiah to be in since he was a Jew. He must have been a man of wisdom and discernment. His position signifies his ability to lead and direct and he must have been very well liked by the king because of his competency. Cupbearers also had direct access to the king’s wife, so to insure that no funny business went on most cupbearers were eunuchs.
Nehemiah was a man of God. He served the king, but he did not worship him. We don’t know exactly why Nehemiah became cupbearer to the king other than God destined him for that position to use him to help his chosen people, the Jews. While working for the king Nehemiah heard that the city of Jerusalem was in ruins. It’s large rock walls had been demolished and were lying in ruins. Nehemiah had never seen Jerusalem, but he knew that was the city of David, a very important city to the Jews because that is where the temple of God was. The walls were in ruins because 100 years earlier they had been torn down by enemies of the Jews when they came and took them into captivity. Now only a remnant remained. Jerusalem was the centerpiece of the Jewish nation and God burdened Nehemiah’s heart to restore it.
In Nehemiah’s day the walls around Jerusalem protected their national identity. It separated them from their pagan neighbors and also acted as a wall of protection from potential enemies. Without the wall, the Jewish people were becoming less and less distinct. They were melting into the surrounding nations. This was not by choice, it was happening because the Jews had been conquered and had yet to regroup even though a hundred years had passed.
Nehemiah knew the complexity of the problem that he faced, but like Wilberforce, he was determined to do something about it rather than sit around and do nothing. Let’s take a snapshot of the story. It starts in verse four of chapter one and I have underlined a few key words as we work our way through the story that you may want to highlight in your Bible too.
“The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 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. 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." When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 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, 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. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
"Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ’If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 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.’ "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 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 favor in the presence of this man." Nehemiah 1:4-10 NIV
After Nehemiah was made aware of this huge problem he decided to take action. He was a wise man, but a servant none-the-less, so he needed a miracle if he was going to get involved and make a difference.
“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 fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." Nehemiah 2:4-5 NIV
Nehemiah prayed to God then took action. The king was gracious and granted Nehemiah’s request to rebuild the wall so Nehemiah set out to do just that. But his favor with the king was short lived because as soon as he arrived in Jerusalem and began to move forward two locals came and stirred up trouble.
“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?" 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." Nehemiah 2:19-20 NIV
Nehemiah had to deal with these two knuckleheads on a regular basis. But he was determined to succeed so he just kept pressing on. At the same time he was trying to motivate hundreds and possibly thousands of people to give their time and abilities to rebuilding the wall, no small feat without any opposition. But the knuckleheads were persistent in their attempts to stop the wall from being built.
“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?" Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!" Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” Nehemiah 4:1-9 NIV
Nehemiah faced a ton of challenges in his efforts to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Sanballat and Tobiah were just part of the problem. He had to work with a diverse group of people and motivate them to be just as passionate as he was about rebuilding the wall if it was ever going to get rebuilt. The people still had to live so they had to do all their normal duties on top of working on the wall. While in mid construction Nehemiah had to address another problem. Apparently the rich were abusing the poor by charging them outrageous interest rates on the loans they were giving them to float them through the construction process. Nehemiah had to deal with that too. Not to mention the constant threat from the enemies surrounding the city who would have liked to see the Jews wiped of the face of the earth. Times were tough but Nehemiah persevered. Nehemiah six captures the victory.
“So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” Nehemiah 6:15 NIV
It was a difficult task, but with the help of God it was accomplished. If you read through the entire book of Nehemiah (and I want to encourage you to do so) you will see a pattern of behavior that Nehemiah developed to deal with the many problems he faced.
WHENEVER NEHEMIAH FACED A PROBLEM HE DID TWO THINGS:
First Nehemiah went to God in prayer.
The first thing he did is he went to God in prayer. If you look back on the story every problem he encountered he went to God with. He never tried to tackle a problem on his own. This is wise counsel.
Second Nehemiah went to work with action.
The second thing he did is go to work with his actions. This pattern repeated itself over and over and over throughout the entire book. When he heard that the walls around Jerusalem were in ruins he prayed about it. Then he went to work by asking the king if he could do something about it. When he had a problem with Sanballet and his buddy he prayed about what to do, then he took action by dealing with the problem. When the people came to him with their social problems, Nehemiah prayed first, then he took action and dealt with the problem second. Nehemiah had his own fears and insecurities just like us, but he persisted because he prayed about what to do, then took action accordingly.
Wilberforce had a difficult task ahead of him when he started too, but God was with him and he prevailed. There were scoffers and naysayers, but Wilberforce persisted. A modern day example of someone who sees a need and has chosen to take personal responsibility for it is Bono from the rock group U2.
He is personally championing the fight against AIDS on an unprecedented scale. Bono is a Christian who feels compelled to do something other than close his eyes to the greatest epidemic to hit humanity since the Bubonic plague. Ironically, Christians have been some of the slowest people to respond to this crisis. But he is making a difference and millions of people are beginning to join him on his crusade to fight the AIDS epidemic.
On a church scale Pastor Brian and Leah Ridler organized our March of the Beanie Babies to send Beanie Babies to the war torn regions of Iraq. Kids are going to receive these toys as a universal symbol of love. Every week we pray about the war, now we are taking action. The war is a big problem, but doing nothing is not an option.
You may never tackle something as big as Nehemiah or Wilberforce or even Bono. But chances are, there is something in your life that will take a lot of prayer and a lot of action to complete. It may be huge and involve hundreds even thousands of people or it may be something just within your family.
A friend of mine has two autistic boys. He and his wife have spent years researching and learning about autism and have spent countless hours giving them the best care and education they can. They pray for direction and then act. Their situation is a life long pursuit and they have made a huge difference in their boy’s lives.
Kathi and I took great encouragement from this book as our family went through Josh’s leukemia treatments. We had a huge problem and needed God to hear our prayers and lead our actions.
What wall are you facing? How’s your marriage? Have a troubled teen? Have a wild child? Pray about it then take action. Are your parents getting old? Are you in the middle of a job change or some other career move? Do you have a health problem?
God gave Nehemiah success. God gave Wilberforce success. God is working through Bono right now. God gave my friend and his wife strength to endure and he will do the same for you. AMEN
