Rebuilding Home: 13 Days in NehemiahParaugs

How are political and social wars really worship wars?

As a pastor, as I travel the nation and world, I am constantly heartbroken whenever I see a once beautiful church building that has been neglected for years and no longer houses a vibrant church family. It boggles my mind that, for so long, so many of God’s people living in a community can ignore the need or that the people who oversee the property have no vision to rebuild the property and relaunch the ministry.

We see something similar in the opening chapter of Nehemiah. Although the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed and its walls were broken for 141 years, he had a sudden, deep, emotional breaking at hearing the news causing weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying for 3-4 months (2:1 is in March-April). Some have speculated that Nehemiah was responding to some new devastating news, but it’s more likely he was simply seeing and feeling old news in a new way.

Because we live in cultures no less spiritually broken than Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, we should feel as he felt and pray as he prayed. Before devising a plan or beginning a project, Nehemiah spent months praying and fasting for God to go before him and prepare him to rebuild a home for God’s people to gather and worship freely.

Throughout Nehemiah, he repeatedly prays to get both God’s vision and his God-given role in serving that vision. Without making Nehemiah’s prayer a rigid prototype, it is helpful to learn from his example, which includes:

•P-praise God (1:5)

•R-repent of sin (1:6-7)

•A-agree with God’s promises (1:8-9 echoes Deuteronomy 12:5, 9:29, 28:64, and 30:1-4)

•Y-yearn for God’s blessing (1:10-11)

Nehemiah occupied a strategic position in the foreign court of the Persian King Artaxerxes, the third son of Ahasuerus and Vashti, mentioned in the book of Esther. A brutal man, “Artaxerxes killed Artabanus and murdered his older brother Darius, the rightful heir to the throne. He then defeated his other brother Hystaspes in battle...Artaxerxes suppressed two major rebellions in the early years of his reign.”

In Nehemiah’s example, we learn the two ways God’s people can occupy strategic positions in business and government. One, they can rise as leaders. Two, they can attach themselves to rising leaders as faithful and trustworthy assistants who humbly come alongside a leader. Nehemiah, much like Joseph in Egypt or Daniel in Babylon, is an illustration of the latter. Although Nehemiah is essentially a slave, his proven character and loyalty elevated him to the inner circle of the king’s most trusted assistants.

Assassination attempts against a king were common, so a cupbearer ensured the king's safety. Overseeing the purchase and storage of a king’s wine collection, they also sample the wine to ensure its safety. This dangerous job required a most trustworthy person, as the life of the king was literally in Nehemiah’s hands. One Bible dictionary adds, “Cupbearers could also have other duties, as indicated by Tobit 1:22: ‘Ahikar was cupbearer, keeper of the signet ring, administrator, and accountant.’”

Nehemiah’s role may have required that he be castrated, as was often the case (e.g., Daniel according to Isaiah 39:6-7 and Daniel 1), and would explain why he was allowed frequent access to the queen (2:6). Not knowing that one day God would use his government position, Nehemiah humbly and faithfully served a godless man for years with character and integrity which allowed him to later be released to rebuild Jerusalem: “The Persian king likely appointed Nehemiah as governor of Judaea because he wanted a loyal subject to govern this powerful area located directly between Babylon and unstable Egypt.”

The point of the first chapter is that the character tests we face today are preparing our character for our testimony tomorrow.

Question:

Nehemiah spends a lot of time praying and journaling. What do prayer and journaling look like in your own life?