Visioneering
Study in the life of Nehemiah
The Necessity of Preparation
Nehemiah 1-2
Matthew Sullivan
December 17, 1903, at 10:35 A.M., Orville Wright secured his place in history by executing the first powered and sustained flight from level ground. For twelve gravity defying seconds he flew 120 feet along the dunes of the outer banks of North Carolina.
In the field of Aviation, this historic event represents a beginning. But for Orville and Wilbur Wright, it was the end of a long and tedious journey. A journey initiated by a dream common to every little boy. The desire to fly. But what most Children abandon to the domain of fantasy, Orville and Wilbur Wright seized upon as potential reality. They believed they could fly. More than that, they believed they should fly. Wilbur described the birth of their vision this way:
“Our personal interest in aviation dates from our childhood days. Late in the autumn of 1878, our father came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands, and before we could see what it was he tossed it into the air.
Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor. It was a little toy, known to scientists as a ‘helicoptere,” but which we, with sublime disregard for science, at once dubbed a bat.
It was a light from of cork and bamboo, covered with paper, which formed two screws, driven in the opposite direction by rubber bands under torsion. A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in the hands of small boys, but its memory was abiding.”
That experience sparked a desire to fly. The only thing they lacked was the means. So they began moving the obstacles that stood between them and their dream. They began building their own helicopters . By doing this they stumbled upon the principles of physics that would pave the way for the first successful flight. Orville and Wilbur began to engineer their vision.
Life is a journey and every journey has a destination. Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose.
Today we begin a study of a man from the Old Testament named Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a visionary guy who led his people to great things. Nehemiah is one of my favorite Old Testament books and characters - he was not a prophet, priest or king, but he made a lasting impression on the lives of the people near to his heart and he used his gifts and opportunities to make a difference that is still impacting us today.
The title of our study of Nehemiah is Visioneering. This was the title of an Andy Stanley book which I think describes Nehemiah’s leadership well. It is a play on the word engineer. An engineer is a designer or builder. Meaning to lay out, construct, or manage, to contrive or plan. Visioneering is designing, constructing and laying out the vision for the people. That is exactly what Nehemiah did. He truly was man of vision and he communicated that vision in such a way that many followed.
That is what we want to do as well. This series is about inspiring and communicating God’s vision to us as individuals and to the church overall. Because if we ever lose site of our vision then we will become an ineffective church and then often it becomes about the building and traditions.
Let me set the stage for our study.
Around 587BC the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, along with Solomon’s temple. This was the third of three campaigns into that region. About 70 years after the first Babylonian invasion, Cyrus, King of Persia, gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Under the leadership of a man named Zerubbabel, these exiled Jews returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple. Things were looking up for while. It seemed as if Israel was on the verge of becoming a blessed nation once again. But the people refused to turn away from the very sins that God had judged their ancestors for. The temple was not being maintained. Sacrifices had ceased. The Jews continued to adopt the religious practices and culture of the surrounding nations. By the time our story begins, the political, social, and spiritual conditions in Jerusalem were deplorable.
Meanwhile, back in Persia, a Jewish man named Nehemiah heard about the condition of his homeland.
“1The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 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.” Nehemiah 1:1 – 2
“3 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.” “4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”
Nehemiah was so moved by what he heard that he wept. It’s not that he was weak, or emotionally unstable, but instead that he was burdened. In fact he was so burdened that it says in verse 4 he mourned and fasted and prayed for days. Little did he know that these deep feelings were the initial birth pains of a vision that people would be reading about thousands of years later. Notice that Nehemiah’s vision didn’t start out as a vision. It began as a concern or a burden for his nation and its people.
Nehemiah was a man who felt a burden for God’s honor. The walls of Jerusalem were broken down. In that culture, to have the walls of the city broken down was a sign of disgrace. Nehemiah knows that the reputation and name of the Lord are being mocked by Israel’s enemies.
The reputation of the Lord is of great concern to Nehemiah. In fact, all of the great heroes of the faith have been concerned for the reputation of the Lord.
When God was giving Moses the commandments on Mt. Sinai, the people of Israel camped at the bottom of the mountain fell into sin. They went as far as making a golden calf to worship as the God hw brought them out of Egypt. God became so angry He told Moses that He would kill them all and make a new nation through Moses.
Listen to Moses’ response in Exodus 32:11 – 14, “11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ’It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ’I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ " 14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”
Moses was concerned with God’s reputation among the nations. What a powerful temptation it would be for God to say to you, “I’m going to make a great nation through you.” However, Moses was more concerned with God’s reputation than the reputation of Moses. All people of faith should be.
It is out of this concern that Nehemiah’s vision is born. In fact, all vision is the result of a concern. You will hear or see something that gets your attention. Something will bother you about the way things are going in a certain situation. You will find yourself thinking about them in your free time. You may lose sleep over them. You won’t be able to let it go because it won’t let you go.
Nehemiah’s concern over the walls of Jerusalem being a disgrace consumed him. It broke his heart. All Nehemiah could think about was what should be.
What breaks your heart? What injustice have you seen that causes you to lose sleep at night? Do you know of a situation, whether it be with a family member, a co-worker, that with some work could be made better? In your own personal life, do you know that you could be a better disciple of Jesus Christ? When you go to the store and see people in the aisle, does it break your heart to know that they are lost without Jesus?
What do you do when you have a concern?
Let’s see what Nehemiah did. Nehemiah did nothing. Verse four says, “4When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”
He did absolutely nothing. Nehemiah didn’t grab the first camel that day and make a mad dash through the desert at night and arrive in Jerusalem. He didn’t make up an excuse to leave where he was. As far as we know he didn’t even share his concern with fellow Jews. He just waited. He sat down to fast and pray.
Andy Stanley wrote, “Nehemiah knew what so many of us have a hard time remembering: What could be and should be can’t be until God is ready for it to be. So he waited.”
Patience is difficult. We know what is right and we want to charge ahead, but without proper preparation our plans will fail. So what should you do in the mean time?
Nehemiah gives us a good example. It’s really very simple. First of all he prayed. Secondly, he planned. It’s true that Nehemiah did not rush out and seek to make his vision a reality. But, Nehemiah was not inactive. Nehemiah spent four months in preparation from the time he heard about the condition of the wall until he began to pursue his vision of what could be. Nehemiah did not let his dream die, he used his time to pray and plan.
First Nehemiah Prayed to God- Prayer is critical for vision development. We can often see through prayer what we didn’t expect to see. It is interesting that the first concern of Nehemiah’s was that of prayer. He first unburdened his heart to God. Why do you think he did this? Well there are probably several reasons. For one he was a man who prayed about everything. But most important only God could do what Nehemiah knew needed to be done. If the walls to the city were going to arise only God could accomplish such a great task.
Prayer made Abraham Lincoln the man he was, and for the same reason. He said on more than one occasion, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
This prayer is the first of 12 instances of prayer recorded in this book (2:4; 4:4, 9; 5:19; 6:9, 14; 9:5ff; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). The book opens and closes with prayer. It is obvious that Nehemiah was a man of faith who depended wholly on the Lord to help him accomplish the work He had called him to do.
George MacDonald “In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably, or succeed more miserably.”
Nehemiah succeeded because he depended on God. Speaking about the Church’s ministry today, the late Alan Redpath said, “There is too much working before men and too little waiting before God.”
“Prayer keeps the burden fresh. It keeps our eyes and hearts in an expectant mode. Prayer doesn’t force God’s hand. But it keeps us on the lookout for his intervention. Prayer sentisizes us to subtle changes in the landscape of our circumstances. When he does move we are apt to recognize it” (Andy Stanley, Visioneering p. 31).
Nehemiah specifically prays for four things in reference to his vision. First he prayed a prayer of confession. Listen to his prayer beginning in verse 5, “5 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, 6 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. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
Nehemiah realizes that it was not God’s fault that the situation is how it is. The reason there is disgrace is because of the people’s sin. God had promised if the Israelites disobeyed, He would bring punishment on them. Nehemiah knew this, and so he moves on and specifically prays that God will remember the covenant.
8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ’If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 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.’
10 "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.”
Yes, it is true if the people disobey they will be exiled. But, if they repent God will restore them to their land. So Nehemiah first prays a prayer of confession, then a prayer of covenant. But now Nehemiah prays for an opportunity.
Listen to verse 11. “11 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." I was cupbearer to the king.”
Nehemiah wanted an opportunity to share his vision with the king. He knew it would only be possible if God blessed for him to have an opportunity to share the vision with the king. So, he prayed that God would grant him success in casting the vision to the king.
Notice that Nehemiah doesn’t pray for a miracle that somehow God would rebuild the wall. Nehemiah prays that somehow God would give him an opportunity to present the vision to the king so he could rebuild the wall. Someone once said, “You could be the answer to your own prayers.”
Our tendency is to pray for miracles. But most of the time, we need to pray for opportunities. More than likely, with most prayer requests God just needs a willing Christian to ask Him for an opportunity, rather than a miracle.
Husbands and wives, you probably have a vision for your marriage. Instead of simply praying that your marriage would be a strong Christian marriage, pray for opportunities to grow closer to your spouse and God.
If you are a parent, you probably have a vision for your kids. Instead of simply praying that they would grow up and become men and women of character, pray for opportunities to build character in their lives.
If you have friends who are not Christians, don’t just pray that one day they will be saved. Pray for an opportunity to share Christ with them.
This may make some of you uncomfortable. But I believe it is in the time of preparation that we separate those with true vision from those who know there are concerns out there, but I just don’t have the time or the resources to commit to it.
Nehemiah was a man with a vision. And instead of hoping and praying that someone else would fix the problem, Nehemiah prayed for an opportunity. As we will discover later on, God answers his prayer positively.
We then see that Nehemiah prayed for success. Verse 11 again, ““11 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." I was cupbearer to the king.”
Nehemiah knew that unless God intervened, there was no way in the world this was going to work. After all, why would the king want to help set up a potential enemy? Rather than get sidetracked with this mere detail, Nehemiah focused his prayer on what he knew needed to happen to get his vision off the ground. Then
Second Nehemiah Planned- In addition to praying, Nehemiah spent time preparing a strategy. It didn’t matter that the odds were stacked against him, Nehemiah prepared so he would know exactly what to say when the opportunity came to present his vision.
Maybe you do have a concern in your life that God is giving you a vision to change. But, in your mind the odds are totally against you. Why waste your time preparing a plan?
Well let’s think about what Nehemiah faced. His strategy for building the wall would look a little like this. Step 1 – Convince the king to allow me to leave his service in order to rebuild the wall around a city that in years past posed a military threat to this area. Step 2 – Convince the king to pay for it! Step 3 – Obtain letters from all the area governors that allow me safe travel to reach my destination. Step 4 – Have Asaph, the head of the king’s forest to give me enough lumber to build the city gates as well as a home for me. Step 5 – Ask the king to make me the Governor of Judah. Step 6 – Organize all the citizens of Jerusalem. Step 7 – Begin construction.
If you compare your plan with Nehemiah’s plan, maybe it won’t seem so impossible. And as we will see later on, God blessed Nehemiah’s planning efforts. Preparation is a necessity. It is not a waste of time to prepare by praying and planning.
We are in a significant stage in our life as a church. Shoals Christian Church has been blessed by God. It is now time to show that blessing to those outside the church. We do that already but more is needed. We have been challenged by our ministry teams and others and we are preparing to take our vision to a lost world.
But just so you know it will take work. Look at Nehemiah. He planned to volunteer to go to Jerusalem to supervise the rebuilding walls. He didn’t pray that God would send someone else. He knew that he would have to participate himself in his vision. He would have to ask for a leave of absence. If he approached the king on the wrong day he could be killed.
The king’s cupbearer would have to sacrifice the comfort and security of the palace for the rigors and dangers of life in a ruined city. He would face ridicule and slander. He would leave behind the ease of the palace and take up the toils for encouraging a beaten people and finishing an impossible task.
This Cost Nehemiah his comfortable job, his money, and at times he was ridiculed and slandered.
God is still looking for people who care, people who care enough to pray and plan. Can we individually and corporately be those people?
