Introduction:
A. The story is told of a company who felt like it was time for a shake-up, so they hired a new CEO.
1. This new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.
2. On a tour of the facilities, the new CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall.
3. The room was full of workers and he thought to himself, “This is my chance to show everyone that I mean business!”
4. So the CEO walked up to the guy leaning against the wall and asked, “And how much money do you make a week?”
5. Undaunted, the young fellow replied, “I make $200.00 a week. Why?”
6. The CEO then handed the guy $200 in cash and sternly said, “Here's a week’s pay, now GET OUT and don't come back! You’re Fired!”
7. Feeling pretty good about his first firing, the CEO looked around the room and asked, “Does anyone want to tell me what that slacker I just fired did here?”
8. One of the workers timidly replied: “He's the pizza delivery guy.”
B. An effective leader needs to be much more careful with their actions than that new CEO was.
1. That is especially true when the leader is the new guy in town.
2. In our story for today from the book of Nehemiah, we are going to look to see how Nehemiah conducted himself as the new leader in town.
C. Let’s review for just a minute:
1. As you know, for many years the Jews disobeyed God and so God handed them over to a pagan nation and they were taken into exile.
2. After 70 years of captivity, King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem, their homeland.
3. But now about 100 years later, the walls of Jerusalem are still in ruins and that broke Nehemiah’s heart.
4. If you have been here the last two weeks, then you know that Nehemiah is cupbearer to King Artaxerxes and that he took to prayer and fasting to prepare himself to speak to the king about this matter.
D. Had I had wanted to, I could have covered all of chapter 2 in one sermon, but I felt like the chapter was so rich with application, that it needed two sermons so we could focus on applying the lessons to our lives.
1. Chapter 2 falls nicely into 4 sections and each section can be represented by words beginning with a P: permission, prospecting, promotion, and promise (we, preachers, love alliteration).
2. Last week we looked at section 1 and that’s where Nehemiah got permission from the king to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.
3. Today, Lord willing, we will cover the other 3 sections.
4. With our time remaining, I want us to work through the text and make applications as we go.
5. Then at the end, I want us to step back and draw a few lessons about rebuilding, because sometimes everything in our lives ends up in ruins – our marriages, our homes, or our church – when that happens, we must rebuild.
I. The Story
A. Prospecting
1. Today our story begins in chapter 2, verse 9: 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.
a. Just like with the journeys of Zerubbabel and Ezra before him, nothing is reported about Nehemiah’s journey, only that he arrived.
b. Now try to imagine the entourage that was with Nehemiah – he was accompanied by army officers and cavalry.
1. There was more than protection to be gained from the military escort – it meant arrival in style, impressively reinforcing his credentials to the neighboring governors, and it also signaled a change in royal policy.
2. King Artaxerxes had earlier ordered the work on Jerusalem’s walls to be stopped, but Nehemiah carried with him evidence that that policy was officially being reversed.
3. You will recall that when Ezra received permission to return to the land, he wanted to ask the king for protection, but he had been so eloquent in telling the king how God would take care of him, that he was ashamed to ask for an escort.
4. Nehemiah had not made similar boasts, and he was a government official and felt he had the right to ask for military protection.
c. In verse 10, we are introduced to Sanballat and Tobiah – these two men will cast a long shadow over this story.
1. Both of these men were people of influence and power, and later they will be joined by Geshem.
2. These three men were the enemies of God and God’s people – They had tried to hinder the rebuilding of the temple, and now they wanted to hinder the rebuilding of the wall.
3. When Nehemiah showed up with his entourage of servants and soldiers, everybody in the country likely heard about it.
4. Everyone wanted to know who in the world he was and why he had come.
5. When Sanballat and Tobiah heard that he was cupbearer to the king and had come to help the Jews, they were not happy, to say the least.
2. The story continues: 11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few men. 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 toward the Jackal 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 toward 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 reentered 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.
a. After the long journey, Nehemiah rested and then went to assess the situation.
b. Nehemiah is always a model of good sense and attention to detail.
1. For all his drive, he did not rush into action nor into talk.
2. He anticipated the obvious objection that a newcomer can have no idea of the task, so he secretly did his investigation, and carefully chose his moment to reveal his plan.
3. He not only kept his plan from his enemy, he initially kept the plan from the leaders and workers whom he must convince and motivate into action.
c. So Nehemiah did his investigation with a small group at night, and the rubble was so bad in some places that he couldn’t get through with his horse.
d. Nehemiah did what every good leader needs to do – prospecting.
1. He was careful to inform himself precisely about the nature of the problem.
2. He gathered the facts so that he could anticipate the problems and to be able to calculate the needed resources.
3. Ignorance of the scope of the project only leads to failure, wasted work, and embarrassment.
B. Promotion
1. Now having made the proper survey and evaluation of the work to be done, Nehemiah called a meeting of the leaders in the surrounding area of Jerusalem.
2. The story continues: 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 upon me and what the king had said to me.
3. Nehemiah’s address to Jerusalem’s officials, priests, nobles and workers is a masterful work of simplicity and directness.
4. It contains four elements: a pervasive sense of identification, an acknowledgement of the seriousness of Jerusalem’s plight, an appeal to specific action, and a personal testimony.
a. Let’s look at each element.
b. First, notice the posture he adopted – he included himself as one of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
1. He didn’t play the role of visiting official from Susa, saying, “You people are in a mess, and I have come to help you.”
2. Rather, he said, “You see the bad situation we are in?” He makes it known that he is one of them. They are in this mess together.
3. He also didn’t say, “You guys better get busy building.” He said, “Come let us rebuild.”
4. A leader is one who leads, he is not one who pushes.
5. A leader is one who identifies with the people and leads them by example.
c. Second, Nehemiah acknowledged the seriousness of their plight.
1. He didn’t sugar-coat things – no good comes from minimizing the difficulties.
2. Difficulties must be faced realistically.
3. Nehemiah also pointed out that this situation carried with it disgrace.
4. The Jews that had lived there a long time had felt the disgrace, but had learned to live with it.
5. Sometimes it takes the newcomer to clearly see what has been softened by familiarity.
6. So Nehemiah stirred in them a healthy pride and reignited their desire to get rid of the disgrace.
d. Third, Nehemiah called them to action.
1. Everyone who had been there for years had given up, after all, the king had put a stop order on the project.
2. But here came Nehemiah with the king’s permission to get back to work, and Nehemiah came as one willing to lead them in the work.
e. Finally, Nehemiah gave them a personal testimony.
1. They were a broken people, but I’m sure they listened with wonder to the way in which the heathen king had supplied Nehemiah with letters of authority and with supplies.
2. But Nehemiah made clear that the power behind both the king’s actions and his own was the hand of God.
3. Nehemiah was a person who had his eyes on God and a person who trusted God.
4. Nehemiah’s personal testimony was inspiring and infectious.
f. Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II, and spoke these words in his first speech: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat…What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be…”
1. Nehemiah was just as inspiring in his first speech in Jerusalem.
5. Having given the people his presentation and promotion, Nehemiah waited for their response.
a. I’m reminded of an earlier time in Israel’s history when Moses had sent the 12 spies into the promise land and they came back with a report.
1. They reported that the land was just as God had said it would be – it flowed with milk and honey.
2. But there were also some big obstacles…walled cities and people who were giants.
3. Only two of the 12 spies said that they could take the land with God’s help.
4. You know what happened because of their lack of faith, God made them wander in the desert for 40 years until that generation died off.
b. Back to Nehemiah, how did the people respond to Nehemiah’s promotion?
c. The Bible says: They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (Neh. 2:18b)
d. Nehemiah’s confidence was infectious, the crowd caught the vision, and hope suddenly soared. Negative-thinkers turned positive. Despair turned to hope. They believed Nehemiah and trusted him. This was a God thing!
C. Promise
1. So Nehemiah got the permission, did the prospecting, gave the promotion, and they all got to work!
a. But as I’m sure you would expect, it wasn’t long before they met opposition.
2. The story continues: 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.”
a. Those three enemies represent people virtually surrounding Israel on all sides.
b. As we will see in a future sermon on overcoming opposition, our enemies will use different methods to try to discourage us, but generally ridicule is the first method the enemy tries.
c. Part of the unwritten job requirement for every leader is the ability to handle criticism -That’s part of the leadership package.
d. If you never get criticized, chances are you aren’t getting anything done.
e. To be successful in leadership, a leader has to learn how to discourage the discouragers.
3. Even to his enemies, Nehemiah produced his trump card – God will grant success.
a. They were going to be successful, not because Nehemiah was a great leader, not because the king was behind them, but because God was on their side.
b. So there is the promise – God was providing the power and the success.
4. Of course, we still believe that our God is powerful and can grant us success.
a. The Bible reminds us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31)
5. Our trust and dependence must be on God and His power.
a. Nothing is impossible for God’s people when they are doing something God wants done and when they are depending on God.
b. The reality is “we can’t, but God can” – which means we can, with God’s help.
6. Like Nehemiah, we can declare “Our God will give us success…and you can’t stop us.”
II. The Application
A. In our first sermon on Nehemiah a few weeks ago titled, “When the Walls are Broken Down, Pray,” we talked about how that sometimes life comes tumbling in.
1. Sometimes we are cruising along on the road of life and we have a wreck, or the bridge is out and we are at a stand still.
2. Those kinds of times can be caused by a death in the family, the loss of a job, a separation or divorce, illness, or a severe disappointment.
3. The questions is: What do you do when it all comes tumbling in?
4. What do you do when everything is in ruins? The answer is: rebuild.
5. Rebuilding is never easy, it’s always painful, but it is the only way that is good and helpful.
B. How can a person rebuild?
1. First, Rebuilding begins with deciding to put the pieces back together.
a. The ruins of Jerusalem had lain in view of the returnees for years, but no one had decided to lead in the rebuilding process until Nehemiah came along.
b. When rebuilding needs to take place in our lives, sometimes we need a message from God through His Word to get us going, or we need one of God’s servants to come along side and give us encouragement.
c. And with that Word from God through the Word or through a brother or sister, we can make a decision to put the pieces back together.
2. Second, Rebuilding continues with prospecting.
a. We must survey the damage. We must face the facts. We must be realistic about the obstacles.
b. Only when we have taken inventory, and discovered where we are, can we begin to get where we want to end up.
3. Third, Rebuilding continues with a positive attitude based on God’s promises.
a. Nehemiah believed and boldly proclaimed that God would give them success.
b. We must have the same kind of confidence in God – Our God is able…I can do all things through Christ…Nothing is impossible with God. (That’s what the Bible tells us!)
c. Faith in the promises of God melts away the “stinkin’ thinkin’” that keeps us from rebuilding.
Conclusion:
A. Allow me to end with this illustration:
1. In the late summer of 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall and dared to voice what others considered only a wild dream.
2. He said to the president of the then Soviet Union, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
3. He concluded his speech by assuring Gorbachev and the world, “This wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith. It cannot withstand truth. It cannot withstand freedom.”
4. President Reagan cast a vision for the future of how things could be.
5. No one listening to his words would have believed that less that two-and-a-half years later, the world would watch with astonishment as joyous East Germans and West Germans took sledge, pick axe, and hammer to that monstrosity of repression and tore it down.
B. Nehemiah did the same thing that Reagan did.
1. He painted a picture of the future.
2. He created a vision of Jerusalem’s future possibilities.
3. He believed in what God could accomplish through His people.
C. Can you envision what God can do in your life?
1. No matter how broken our lives may be…No matter how long the ruins of our lives have lain in place...God can help us to rebuild. When everything is in ruins, rebuild!
2. We must not be overwhelmed by the size of the task, because nothing is too big for God.
3. We must not be delayed by complaints and opposition, because the Bible tells us “greater is He who is in you, than he that is in the world.”
4. Are there parts of your life that need rebuilding?
5. Are there parts of your life laying in ruins?
6. Don’t despair – believe in what God can do!
7. If we can help you begin rebuilding…
Resources:
Ezra-Nehemiah, by Mark Throntveit, Interpretation Commentary Series, 1992
Ezra & Nehemiah, by Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1979
Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther, by J. Vernon McGee
Building a Dream Team, Sermon by Rick Duncan, SermonCentral.com
