Book of Nehemiah Series #2
Nehemiah Chapter 2
By Pastor Jim May
Rock & the Rubble – A Reproach to the People of God
Nehemiah 2:1-18, "And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchers, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work."
After Nehemiah was granted permission to go back to Jerusalem by Artaxerxes, the King of Persia, he traveled back to his homeland of Israel for the first time. It had been 70 years since anyone who had been taken from Israel in slavery during the Babylonian Captivity, had been allowed to return home again. Nehemiah set out on a journey for his first inspection of Jerusalem. When he reached the city of Jerusalem, he could hardly imagine the destruction that he saw. The capitol city of God’s chosen nation was nothing more than a heap of stones and burned cinders. After the inspection, Nehemiah’s purpose was established more than ever before. He said, "You can see the situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach."
Why was Israel such a reproach while the walls were in ruins? It was because this city, God’s city, was faced with enemy nations on every side. Each one of those enemies had their own idol gods that they worshipped. Jerusalem alone stood for the One True God of Heaven. The Jews were the people of God. Of all the nations on the face of the earth, Israel alone had been adopted into Gods family. They alone had been given the promises and covenants of Abraham and to his seed after him.
It was this thought I believe that had saddened Nehemiah as he approached King Artaxerxes, and precipitated the conversation that led to his letter of approval to return to Israel. As Nehemiah stood in the King’s palace, performing his duties as the king’s cupbearer, his countenance was sad. When the king asked why he was so discouraged, Nehemiah answered, "Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?"
As he remembered Israel’s fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and how it all began - the faith of the patriarchs, the miraculous interventions of God, the promises and the glorious position they were given, and Israel now, its city destroyed, its people exiled and its God silent – Nehemiah realized that Israel had become a reproach to the name of their God.
When you think of the church world today, the pattern is the same. With the wall that separates us from the world being taken apart brick by brick, many in the western church don’t seem to know the difference between godliness and worldliness anymore.
Like Nehemiah, our thoughts go back to how it all began in the early church of the New Testament where, in Acts 2:42-47, the church is described this way, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
The question must be asked - Is the Laodicean Church that we see in the world, and especially in America today, any better off today than Israel was in Nehemiah’s day?
Nehemiah was sorrowful and repentant for the condition of Israel. He was awed by the totality of God’s judgment against His chosen nation for their idolatry. But Nehemiah knew that now there was work to be done. Learn from the past. Don’t repeat it, but don’t dwell on it. Today could be the day of new beginnings for Israel.
Nehemiah knew what so many people fail to realize, that if there is going to be a change then it will require hard work and effort because change doesn’t come easily. It’s not enough to moan and groan about the situation, we must do something to better the situation.
He wasn’t going to be like the proverbial hound dog lying on a nail and moaning about it hurting him, but too lazy to move; Nehemiah was ready to move and ease the pain of Israel’s reproach against God.
What was the solution to the fallen state of Israel? What was the first step that had to be taken to begin the healing process for his people?
We read that when Nehemiah inspected the wall he "passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass." In other words, the rubble from the smashed stonewalls was so high that he couldn’t get past.
So, the first thing that had to happen if any restoration was going to take place was to get rid of this smelly pile of rubbish! They had to dig out the broken pieces to get down to the very foundation of the wall and make sure that they started on the right footing.
There was just no way that they could have begun to build a wall on the top of a huge pile of broken stones. If they did, the wall would probably fall before it was even finished because of the poor foundation. All of the garbage, the rubbish and the rubble of battles lost, of a people conquered by the enemy, had to be removed some way or another before the real building could begin. No solid wall of protection could be built because the rubble filled the gates and God’s people could not enter in for safety.
What is that foundation? What foundation must the modern church reach before we can begin to be the church that God intends for us to be? How far do we have to dig to reach a strong foundation?
1 Corinthians 3:10-13, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is."
The only foundation that our “wall” can be built upon is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, the Son of God, who gave His life to establish a firm foundation for His church. He is the solid Rock and there is no other.
There is a scripture that is painted on the wall of our youth room that says it all, Zechariah 4:6, "… Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." Any work built upon any other foundation, other than Jesus Christ, will always end up being just exactly how Jerusalem is pictured as Nehemiah saw it; nothing but a pile of rubble!
Years of hard work had been spent in building some strong defensive walls around the city of Jerusalem’s and it had all come to nothing because they built their nation on the wrong foundation. They didn’t build it by depending upon God for protection. They didn’t build it according to God’s divine order. Instead, they had become like every other nation, copying their enemy’s tactics, and leaned upon the arm of the flesh and their own power.
Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead gives us both the foundation and the means by which we can build our lives and build His church.
The bible tells of those who remain spiritual babies, never growing in the Lord, because they are founded upon a foundation that is on shaky ground. But we are supposed to grow up and move on in the Lord, going from one level, to another in God.
Ephesians 4:14-15, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ…"
We are to grow up in God, and learn to rightly divide the Word of Truth, to help build the wall of Separation from the World upon the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.
Hebrews 5:12-14, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Christians who build their lives on erroneous doctrines, or upon anything, or anyone, other that Jesus Christ alone, have very little protection against the attacks of the devil. They don’t understand that Jesus is the only “Way”, the only “Truth” and the only way to eternal “Life”. They try to build their wall on foundations of legalism, of humanism and of modernism, never realizing that none of these things will work. They don’t understand just what the death and resurrection of Jesus means. That alone gives victory, and nothing else.
Nowadays, other builders have told us that they have found a new type of foundation upon which you can build very successfully.
One of the people that was with Nehemiah, a builder named Geshem, said that money and success laid a great foundation to build on. The builder Tobiah said that good works were the way to go.
There seems to be some pretty large and substantial churches that are built on these foundations. They have magnificent buildings, large crowds, and programs for the whole family from the grandparents to the newborn babies. How many people have written books on these foundations? How many preachers have led their congregations into forming entire denominations on these foundations? All of them guarantee success, but do those guarantees really work? Are these things a firm foundation?
I prefer to build my foundation in the same manner as the early church did. In Ephesians 2:20-22 Paul described how the church should be built, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
It’s time to clear out the rubble of the crumbled walls that are built on the wrong foundation. It’s time to clear out the rubble and build the Kingdom of God according to God’s blueprints and not man’s.
In chapter 2, verse 18, Nehemiah had told them of God’s hand in the work that they had been called to do. He told them of the blessings of the King to rebuild Jerusalem, and the people said, “…Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work."
Now that we know what the foundation is, how do we get to it? How do we find Jesus, and make sure that what we are building upon is the Lord and nothing else? The answer is that we have get rid of everything that stands between us and the Lord before we can begin to build a life that will stand the test of time and the attacks of the enemy.
How many of you would like to have a really good job? I can promise you that you will not be appreciated, that you will have to get up very early in the morning, long before the sun comes up, in rain, wind, cold in winter and the heat of summer. You won’t make much money, but you will be rewarded with the knowledge that you are doing everyone you serve a great service and something necessary for their own well being.
How would you like to be the one who has to pick up your garbage and haul it away, not only yours, but everybody else’s garbage too? That’s not exactly my idea of a good job, but it is a necessary job. If you don’t think so, just skip putting it out for a week or too and let the hot sun come out and remind you that the garbage is still there. It won’t be long before you will be out there to make sure and greet that garbage truck when it comes by and to tell them thank you so much for doing what they do.
For that individual, who has discovered just how desolate and broken his life really is, and has prayed to God for repentance, there is a new beginning. He has to empty the trash and have it removed by the Blood of Jesus Christ. He has to remove all the rubble of past sin against God and get started anew on that firm foundation. His new life involves a new way of thinking and clearing out the rubbish that ties him to that old worldly life. There has to be a change in thinking, a change in speaking, a change in desires and a change in their heart.
It’s one thing to see an individual clean out the rubbish and get right with God, but its something else to see the whole church do so. When a church begins to clean out the rubble of bad attitudes, unethical behavior and immoral activities, the rubbish is more public and removing it causes a bigger stink.
There are a lot of people who will confess that the church is in trouble. There are a lot of people who want to see the rubble removed, but most of them just feel like it’s an exercise in futility, because the church is just filled with too much rubble. We often get discouraged and wonder, “what can I do, I’m only one person. I can’t change everything. I can’t fight “city hall”. And so, they stay in those crumbled churches, with no power of God in them, having a form of religion and that’s all.
There are spiritually dead people, attending dead churches, allowing a man to lead them who doesn’t even know the God that he speaks of, and somehow hoping that they will make it to Heaven. What a sad day the Rapture and Judgment Day will be for many of them! To sit in God’s House and make your bed in Hell at the same time is a great, eternal tragedy!
It was even discouraging in Nehemiah’s day too. Many of those who were with him just got discouraged at the amount of cleaning up that had to be done and were just about ready to throw in the towel and go back to Persia.
Nehemiah 4:10, "And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall."
Clearing the rubbish isn’t a very rewarding job.
Those who speak out against the teachings of the prosperity gospel are looked upon as out of touch with God. Those who preach against the watering down of the gospel by allowing anything into the church in an effort to reach everyone on their own turf are called “Old Fashioned”. Those who call sin, sin, are called legalists and intolerant. Those who preach holiness, sanctification and commitment are looked upon as the dinosaurs of preachers. But let me tell you that it is these preachers, who are trying to clean up the rubbish, that are on the right foundation.
At least in Nehemiah’s day they knew that they had to remove the rubbish before they could build on a solid foundation. We just seem to carry on building as if everything is fine and then watch it drop.
Just ask Jim Jones if his walls were built on the right thing when he began to build them upon his own interpretations and claims to be the only one right. Just ask Jim and Tammy Bakker if their ministry was built on the right foundation of entertainment and a fun place for Christians to gather. Just ask Jimmy Swaggart if he was building on the right foundation when he began building upon his own pride and arrogance, not believing that he should be accountable to anyone.
If all of them were to confess the truth, they would have to say that their foundation crumbled when they began to build upon anything other than the pure Word of God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. They failed to clean out the rubble in time and the walls came tumbling down. These folks aren’t alone in their rubble. There are ministries and churches around the world that will one day crumble and fall, lying in heaps of rubble, when Jesus comes again to judge the world for sin.
But we keep on building our buildings, founding our churches and starting up new programs that are built on the wrong foundation and then we act so surprised when God doesn’t allow them to prosper and stand. You would think that we would learn, but we don’t. All we do double our efforts and find something, or someone, to point the blame to and keep on running down that same track to failure.
We are like Israel, after turning back in unbelief at the borders of the Promised Land, they traveled in circles around and around Mt. Seir, believing that more effort on their part would bring them victory. They never realized that doubling their efforts only brought them back to where we began quicker the next time around! They would wander around and around until they finally listened to what God had to say and turned to Him for direction.
Deuteronomy 2:1-3, "Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward."
Nehemiah did it right. See the depth of the problem, cry out to God, get rid of the rubbish, build and restore glory to Gods name on the only foundation that will stand, Jesus Christ and the un-compromised Word of God.
The devil won’t quit easily. You can expect a fight when you try to get rid of the rubble in your life.
Nehemiah 2:19, "But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?"
Not everyone likes it when you begin to remove the trash from your life and get down to a firm foundation in Jesus Christ.
In this verse we can see the three great enemies that will combat Nehemiah continually in his mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And it is these three enemies we face when we determine to turn and follow God whole-heartedly.
The rest of our study of the Book of Nehemiah will focus on these three characters but for now lets just look at how Nehemiah responded to them.
When He was faced with the mockery of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, Nehemiah said to them in verse 20, "...The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."
I want you to know that when the fight is over and the foundation has been established on Jesus Christ and the walls have been rebuilt, you will be the victor over all.
There is an old saying, “He who laughs last, laughs best.” But it really won’t be a laughing matter at all for those who have built upon the wrong foundation and whose walls crumble into rubble at the coming of the Lord.
Nothing that is built on the wrong foundation will stand. Nothing that isn’t built on Jesus Christ and the Word of God will ever enter into the New Jerusalem. Make sure that you build your life on the firm foundation. Don’t be found in that day with a life that lies in rubble as you stand before the Judgment!
