Nehemiah: Rise and Build

Sunday, January 21^st 2024

Nehemiah 2

Introduction

To Accomplish God’s Plan, You Need Boldness, Vision and Fortitude

“Waiting time is not wasting time!” R. Brown

1. Nehemiah’s Boldness (v.1-8)

Nehemiah’s response to the king!

First, Nehemiah is stricken with fear!

Despite being fearful, Nehemiah choose to be bold and courageous!

Second, Nehemiah answers the king concerning his heritage of his fathers and not mentioning the city of Jerusalem directly.

Third, Nehemiah’s respect for the king

“Let the king live forever!” and “If it pleases the king…”

Fourth, Nehemiah had a plan when the king asked the question ‘what do you want and how much time will you be gone.’

What about when prayers are not answered?

First, there are times in this life when some prayers may not be answered.

Prayers are prayed wrong or with wrong motives (James 1:6-8; 4:3).

Second, if that is the case, then we join a host of others in the Bible that did not have their prayers answered (Jesus, David, Paul, Fellow Saints).

Finally, when prayer is unanswered, we must TRUST God (Romans 8:28). We must remember that He will give us STRENGTH for the day (2 Cor. 12:8,9). We must believe the promise of God that He will NEVER LEAVE you nor FORSAKE you (Heb. 13:5).

Finally, Nehemiah gave God all the glory for the answered prayer as well.

“And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.”

1. Nehemiah’s Vision (v.9-16)

v.11 – Nehemiah comes to Jerusalem for the first time in his life! The city of his father’s stories and the city where God had dwelled with the Jews.

I am sure that his brother description of what Jerusalem looked like (1:2,3) was no match for the ‘real thing.’

Nehemiah had a ‘few men’ probably locals who knew the lay of the land and was drawing them out. He was not trying to do this alone. He needed men now and he will need them later as well.

We cannot go the Christian life alone. We are to have those around us that keep us from sin and isolation. We need to each to build our lives and build the church of Jesus Christ!

• Nehemiah’s Fortitude (v.17-20)

After assessing the need, Nehemiah now lays out the plan of why he is there.

First, Nehemiah again identifies with the people – “you see the trouble we are in…”

Second, Nehemiah inspires the people – “I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good…”

Third, the people rally around Nehemiah – “Let us rise up and build.”

Fourth, Nehemiah faces opposition with the leaders – “What is this thing that you are doing?” “Are you rebelling against the king?”

There will always be naysayers trying to stop you from doing God’s work.

Sanballat was the governor of Samaria to the north.

Tobiah, whose name is Jewish (“Yah is good”), ruled the Ammonites to the east. Geshem was the leader of the Arabs to the south.

Finally, Nehemiah’s confidence – “The God of heaven will make us prosper…”

1. Conclusion