Nehemiah Arrives on the Scene

Well, thank you, Bible. Turn with me tonight to Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah chapter 2, I'm sure you're already there from our scripture reading earlier. The last time we were together in Nehemiah on Sunday night, we covered verses 1 through 8. I almost went on past two verses 9 and 10, but the verses 9 and 10 really go with the remaining verses in the chapter. That puts us covering quite a few more passages tonight than I like. But that's possible if we're good with our time. But the last message that we had in Nehemiah, Nehemiah verses 1 through 8, we looked at Nehemiah's mission. It begins.

And that's what took place starting right here in chapter 2. He is beginning his mission. Chapter 1 was about prayer. Chapter 1 was about brokenness and grief. Chapter 1 was about God opening up Nehemiah's eyes to the desolate condition and situation with the people, the Jews there back in Jerusalem. But now we see the ball gets rolling, things get started, and Nehemiah begins his mission. Now, in the previous message, in Nehemiah's mission beginning, I gave you a quotation. It was from James Hamilton, one of the little Bible commentators I used. It's a rather short quotation.

And James Hamilton says, "Nehemiah is living out the fulfillment of Scripture." We know that everything he's doing, God had already said in the Scriptures. So that is very accurate as to what Nehemiah is doing. But what I want to do is add to that a little. I want you to see that this is not some good idea that Nehemiah had. This was a two-fold work. First of all, this was a fulfillment of Scripture. God had decreed that these things would happen. God had told the nation of Israel that he would judge them, and then God had told them that he would call them back from captivity.

So everything that is going on is a fulfillment of what God had previously decreed. But second, this was in relation to God's call on his life. You see that two-fold work? God called Nehemiah no one else to this work. So this is Nehemiah living out the fulfillment of Scripture. But the only way this can be done is if God specifically and purposely called Nehemiah to the work. I want to give you a couple of examples here that will help flesh this out for you. One is a bad example, and one is a good example. I hate to say it, but one of them is a bad example of the life of the church.

But there is a particular pastor that I know of, a particular church problem that I know of. It happened quite a few years ago. There was a big divide. There was a big power struggle. Just one of those bad situations in the life of the church. Well, what happened? The staff leaves the church. Many people leave the church. You can call it a split. You can call it an explosion. There are many different adjectives we can use. But what happens? This minister leaves the church. It's a bad situation, and he goes, and he starts his own church. And he brings a little following with him, and you know, they just begin that work.

And I watched that, and I watched how that took place, and how that was just a bad, bad set of circumstances. Well, one day I was talking with a friend, and he was commenting on this, and commenting on this particular pastor. And he said something like this, "Well, you know, I believe his heart is in the right place. That's not good enough." Just because the church is biblical, just because we see it lined out in the Scriptures, doesn't mean that we have the right to jump up and do a work such as that, unless God has called you.

Years ago, when I left full-time student ministry, I had men come to me and say, "We can start a church." I had a man put me in the car, took me to lunch, and rode me by a building. He said, "I've checked on the rent of that building. I've got X amount of dollars. Let's start a church." And I said, "No, sir. God has not called me to do that." Nehemiah had a call from God. But I'll give you a good example. I was talking with a particular missionary this week, one that I met this past weekend. He is a missionary within the states.

This particular individual was a pastor in the state of Alabama, and through a process that I can't go into, just because of time, he became keenly aware of the great need for churches in other states. And lo and behold, God led him to a particular city, a small town in the state of Wyoming, and he began to realize the need for a true Bible-believing church in an area that was riddled with Mormonism. What little Christianity that was there was a bad form of Christianity. And what happened? God called that man to pick up his life, move his family, and start a church in an unreached area. Now, that is an example of what went on with Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was fulfilling the Scriptures, but it wasn't a good idea. From man, it was a call of God on his life. And so that leads us to what we're going to look at tonight, and that is, Nehemiah arrives on the scene. All of this just flows together. Nehemiah, he arrives on the scene, and I think it's important for you to really see the fact that this is God calling him, not just man's ideas as he is engaging in the work. You see the four main truths that we're going to look at, all out of verses 9 through 20. We see opposition to the work. We see preparation for the work, calling others to the work, and then outward opposition to the work.

It's very obvious how these passages flow. The breakdown of these passages is relatively easy. The opposition to the work, preparation for the work, calling others to the work, and then outward, a more outward opposition to the work. Let's start in verse 9. We'll go all the way down to verse 20. "Then I came," this is Nehemiah, "to the governors of the provinces beyond the river and gave them the king's letters." See, he's coming on the scene now. "Now the king incited me with officers of the army and horsemen. Whereas previously Ezra didn't have a military escort," Nehemiah does.

Verse 10, "And when Sanballat, the H and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. So I went out by night, by the valley gate in the direction of the dragon's well, and on to the refuge gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. Then I passed on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the valley gate again and returned.

And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done, nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the noblemen, the officials, or the rest who did the work." Verse 17, "Then I said to them, 'You see the bad situation that we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate, its gates are burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.' And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me, and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, 'Let us arise and build.' So they put their hands to the good work.

But when Sanballat, the Horynite, and Tabiah the Ammonite official, and Gershom, the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?' And so I answered them and said to them, 'The God of heaven will give us success.'" That's the second time he's used that word. Isn't that good? "Therefore, we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion right or memorial in Jerusalem." Now you see the truths that we're going to explore. Let's look at main truth number one. I want us to see the opposition to the work. That's out of verses 9 through 10.

That should be obvious there. That is opposition to the work. Now, just as Ezra faced opposition, Nehemiah faces opposition as well. Now, in these verses, we do not see the opposition come out in the open yet, but that will come. That will come. We will see at the end of these verses. But I want to give you just a little bit of background about these particular men. First of all, this individual named Sanballat. Now, he was not a Jew, but he was assumed by many to be a Moabite because he was a H Now, this particular group of people came from a town in what is called Moab.

So, by logical deduction, most Bible commentators believe that he was a Moabite. He was the governor of Samaria at that time, according to extra-biblical writings that have been discovered. So, his name does appear in history. His family is also mentioned later when his daughter is married to one of the grandsons of the Jewish high priest. As a matter of fact, Nehemiah expelled him for the priesthood because of such sins. So, there we have Sanballat. Not a Jew, but most likely a Moabite. Second, we have Tabiah. Now, being that he is listed as an Ammonite official, he was most likely the governor of Ammon, most Bible commentators believe.

Now, it's interesting. This man has a Jewish name. A Jewish name, but he most likely appears to be an Ammonite. Some have suggested that this Tabiah came from the descendants who were rejected from the Jewish community, which we see in Ezra 2, verse 60. There were some who descended from a man named Tabiah who could not find their names in the written records provided about their genealogy. So, some Bible commentators believe that this Tabiah was from that particular family. Now, four quick observations out of these verses. Very quick. First of all, we see that they were against the betterment of Israel. Isn't that what they say?

It displeased them that someone came to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. The Amplifieds reads, "It distressed them exceedingly that a man had come to inquire for and require the good and prosperity of the Israelites. They did not want Israel to become better." Also, they were against Nehemiah, and then being that they were against Nehemiah, third, they were against God. And then, because they were against God, they were against the Persian king because it was God who enabled the Persian king to allow Nehemiah to go in the first place. So, see the layers of their opposition. They were against the betterment of Israel.

They were against Nehemiah. Therefore, they were against God, and therefore, they were against the king because it was the king who had given him the official documents to do what he was about to do. So, here we have two who were opposed to the work of God, which made them opposed to Nehemiah and anyone associated with this work. Interestingly, these two individuals did have connections to the Jews. They were not purely outsiders. Another interesting note is where they descended from, because if you know your Bible and you go all the way back to Genesis chapter 19, this tells us that Lot's descendants became the Moabites and the Ammonites.

Remember that horrific scene? So, Lot's descendants, it seems, became these people who were enemies of God. And that was foretold there in Genesis chapter 19. Now, an application. What we need to see here is this. No matter what day, what time, no matter when, when we are involved or men are involved in true kingdom work, there will always be enemies to the work of God. We should not be surprised when there are enemies. It happened then, and it will happen now. It happened to Ezra, it happened to Nehemiah, and we're going to see this opposition run all through the book.

But this is normal, and this is expected, because the enemy himself does not want the work of God, the people of God, the church of God in our day to prosper. Now, here in our journey of reform, reforming the church, we did not have to undo a lot of man-centered, unbiblical ministry. So much ministry here had died away so long ago that if I can use this language, it's like the slate was cleaned off. And that was a good thing, because we did not have to undo a lot of bad that seems to be in many churches.

We did not have any ministry or ministry positions held by carnal men or possibly lost men, but that doesn't mean that we will not face opposition one day. As we grow and as we seek to do the will of God, one day opposition will arise. It's just going to happen. It happened to Nehemiah, it happened to Ezra, and what I think you and I need to see is there is going to come a day where opposition will arise, and when it does, you just remember it happened to Nehemiah, and it can happen to us, and we will deal with it as best way we know how, biblically. Let's move on. Truth number two, notice preparation for the work.

Verse 11, "So I came to Jerusalem, I was there three days, and we know that he spent on down to verse 16, he spent some time inspecting the work, inspecting the walls, and he did this in secrecy." So, the beginning of verse 11, it leads us to believe that Nehemiah is beginning the work, but I want you to see this is really preparation for the work, for observations out of these verses. First of all, notice it seems that he rested. Verse 11 says, "So I came to Jerusalem, I was there three days." Now, we don't have an account of what he was doing during this delay, but there was a delay in his activity.

Many Bible commentators speculate that he rested just like Ezra. Remember when Ezra came, Ezra rested according to Ezra 8 verses 8 through 32. Interestingly, it seems that the Jewish leadership did not even come to greet Nehemiah. The king of Persia sent an escort, but the Jews seemingly did not even send a greeting. Now, my question is, could this point to their defeated and weary condition? Could this point to their lack of spiritual instincts or wisdom to come to the grips that maybe God was at work by allowing Nehemiah to come back? We don't know, we can speculate, but they did not even come to greet Nehemiah.

But we see there was a time, and most believe that he rested here. Second, I want you to see he evaluated the situation in secret. Verse 12 that we read earlier, it says that he goes out on his mount and he begins to inspect the walls, inspect the gates. The text says that he examined the walls by night. Now, my question is, why was this the case? Why did he go out at night? He went out at night so as not to involve anyone else. Some speculate that he did this possibly by moonlight. We really don't know, but we know he went out by night. Nehemiah had the wisdom to evaluate the situation, just him and just the Lord.

And he had the wisdom to involve the Jews at the right time, at the right place, when he has made his plan according to the work of God in his mind and in his heart. So he evaluated the situation in secret. Then third, he evaluated the situation with just a few. Verse 12 says that he had a few men with them. Now, who were these men? They're nameless and faceless. It seems that they were maybe an inner circle, maybe that traveled with him from Persia. I don't have a problem believing that. But he evaluated the situation with just a few. And then fourth, he evaluated the physical situation.

Starting in verse 13, on down to verse 16, we see that he makes specific evaluations. Some of these locations are known today, but some of these locations have been lost. Now, the point is that he evaluates the gates, the walls, he evaluates the valleys, the pools. He puts his eyes and his hands on the destruction. See? So he rested, he evaluated in secret, he evaluated with just a few. And then he evaluated the situation by putting his eyes and his hands on the destitution. So here we see that Nehemiah is making preparation for the work at hand.

He is evaluating, but not with great crowds and fanfare, but in secret with just a few trusted men. Nehemiah is proving to be a wise builder because he's making proper preparation. One of the commentators that I read, the New American commentary says, and I'm quoting, "Nehemiah was to prove himself to be a hard worker, but hard work alone will not ensure success. It must be the right work at the right time done in the right way." That takes planning, praying, and trusting God. See, that's what Nehemiah was doing.

He was planning, he was praying, he was trusting God, and he was allowing God to give him the right plan for the right time with the right people. Now, in application, what can we learn here? What can we learn by Nehemiah seemingly being savvy and going out at night and doing these things that probably seem strange to some? I think that we can learn that this must take place in ministry. I want you to know that Brother Keith and I have been very prayerful and very careful in the ministry decisions that we make. I go all the way back to my early days when I first came.

The Lord impressed upon me the week before I took the church in an official capacity to pray and preach the word, but to plan carefully. He really impressed that upon my mind, and I might have seemed silent about certain issues. I might not have talked about problems or plans, but that didn't mean it wasn't in my mind and my heart and in my prayer life. I was allowing God to form the plan that he wanted for us. I'll give you an example. As we developed our Wednesday night program, God had put before us a lot of children to minister to, and we were so thankful. And we really had them in one pile all the time.

Those who ministered in those early days, I know it must have been very difficult, but we began to pray. Brother Keith and I began to read. We made phone calls. I called people that I knew some that I didn't know real well. I wanted to know what they were doing in their children's ministries. We read more information. We examined more Bible study material. Why? Because we were inspecting the work and allowing God to teach us and show us what to do. And then when we stepped out to implement the new plan for our Wednesday night program, it's been very, very good. We don't take credit for that.

We were just quiet and we were deliberate and we were prayerful. And we were like Nehemiah, wanting God to work the plan out in our minds and in our hearts. And I want you to know with the ministry opportunity that I put before us this morning, we have done much the same with this opportunity. Lots of prayer, lots of seeking the Lord, lots of questioning God's will. This is preparation for the work. And a lot of times lay people don't see what goes on behind the scenes. These people didn't see until it was time to work. Let's move on. I want us to see truth number three, calling others to the work. Calling others to the work.

Then I said to them, you see the bad situation we're in. He hasn't gotten there, but just a few days and now he's identifying with the work. What does he say? Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach. So he is calling them in these verses to the work. Here we finally see that Nehemiah involves others. He calls the Jews to participate in the work at hand. And this is God's work. It's not his work. All along, this has been a clandestine operation. He didn't tell anybody.

It has only been Nehemiah and his select few men, but here we see a great turning point in the story, a great turning point in the ministry, and that's when he lays it out and calls those to get in on the work. Four observations I want to make here. First of all, notice his description of the situation. Verse 17, you see the bad situation that we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate. And its gates are burned by fire. So he uses adjectives to describe accurately what the situation is like. Notice that he states that the entire city is in ruins just because the walls and the gates are destroyed. Now why is that the case?

We know the temple has been completed, but why is this the case? We have learned that the walls and the gates provided protection, but also they gave them distinction. The walls and the gates distinguished them from the pagan peoples of the land. Also the gates, that was where city business and spiritual business was settled. In essence, proper spiritual and social life was not fully established. Therefore, the city was in ruins. Maybe some of those Jews thought, "You know, we're doing pretty good. The temple is back up." When actually Nehemiah saw it the way God did, he says this is a very bad situation.

So he described the situation the way God saw it. Also second notice, his call to the men's hearts, his call to the men's hearts. The second portion of verse 17, "Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem." Notice that Nehemiah says that they are a reproach. The English standard reads that we may no longer suffer derision. This word means that they were open to attack from outsiders, and they were a reproach to the pagan peoples. This is an appeal to their hearts from Nehemiah. As the people of God, this should have broken their hearts if they were even remotely in tune with God and God's words. So he is calling men.

He is calling the men and their hearts. Third, I want you to see, his call is explained to them. His call is explained. Verse 18, "And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me, and also about the king's words, which he had spoken to me." So he is explaining his call. Nehemiah here tells them two things. First of all, he says that God had worked in him to call him to the word. What does that mean? He is saying to them, "This is not my idea. I have a call from God, which we have talked about." Second in this call is that he is explaining that he had obtained favor from this king, the king of Persia. You see?

So he is explaining this two-fold call. And I think we need to see the spirit in which Nehemiah approached the Jews. He had a humble spirit. He had a gentle spirit. He did not have a critical and a condescending attitude. No, he is humbly explaining his call to them. Then fourth, I want you to see the response of the men. The last portion of verse 18, "Then they said, 'Come, let us arise and build.'" So they put their hands to the good work. Here we see the response of these Jews as they were listening. Those who had a heart for the name of God, the work of God in their land, in the nation, they were moved by God to join Nehemiah in the word.

And here we see the word really begin. We see the word really begin to take off. Nehemiah was never going to do the work all alone, but like Ezra, he was going to call the people to the work. And that's when the word really began. And this is when true work can only begin. Now, in application, what can we learn from here? I mean, we've got Nehemiah. He's inspected everything. He has the plan of God on his heart. And now he rolls out the plan and he invites the men of God to be a part of the work. I believe that we can make these statements based on what we've learned here.

In our day, in our time, it takes more than right church leadership for the work of the church to start. It's not enough to have biblical leadership. It's not enough to have elders in the life of the church. It's not enough to have reformed biblical leadership. It does take leadership. I believe that many churches are being led astray because they are not led by godly men. So it does take leadership, but it takes all of God's people to be a part of the work. It takes what? The body of Christ. It doesn't take just the hand. It doesn't take just the feet. It doesn't take just the eyes. It takes the entire body.

And I do think that God is calling people here to be a part of this work exactly like he called those Jews in that day with Nehemiah. Nehemiah at the right time called him to the work and God drew them to the work. And I believe that is what we see happening today. And I am so thankful because I have never intended to build the work on me and Brother Keith. It takes you, it takes me, and it takes us. Let's move on. I want us to notice truth number four. Outward opposition to the work. Outward opposition to the work. Notice this transition in verse 19.

But when Sanballat, Tabiah, the Hamanite official, and then Gishim, the Arab heard, they mocked us and despised us and they said, "What is this thing that you were doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" So now we have this opposition manifesting itself. Here we see the opposition come out in the open. But notice how this opposition grew. Before it was just two, now it's three. Before it was two officials, now it's three officials. But this is this outward opposition for observations I want to make here as well. First of all, their mockery of the work. What does verse 19 say?

Says that they mocked and they despised us and said, "What is this thing that you were doing?" They were mocking the very work of God. They despised it and they hated it. The amplified reads, "They laughed at us to scorn." And then they despised us. I think that's very accurate. So they mocked the work. Second, they accused them of rebellion. The end of verse 19, what do we see them saying? "What is this thing you were doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" Here we see that they accused them of rebelling against the king, the king of Persia, who had actually sent Nehemiah back with official documentation for the work.

This had happened previously in the book of Ezra. When this king did stop the work. But here we see that this accusation, if I can use this language, does not stick. Then third, I want us to see Nehemiah's response. Now I want to read all of verse 20 because his response is so beautiful. "So I answered them and I said to them, 'The God of heaven will give us success. Therefore, we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.'" So what do we see? Nehemiah's response. In verse 20, we see Nehemiah's great confidence.

He immediately goes straight to God and their dependence on God for their success and their ability to build. But in this confidence, you also see a great humility because he refers to themselves as servants. All the translations say servants. So that's his response. And then fourth, notice Nehemiah's separation. "But you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem." Nehemiah knows that only the pure race of God's people, only the Jews who can prove their lineage can engage in the work. He was doing God's work according to God's word. And that's why the separation. So here we see the beginning of this outward opposition.

This opposition is beginning to manifest itself. But what is very refreshing in the midst of this opposition is to see Nehemiah's confident and biblical reaction. He had his trial, but he had his eyes, if I can use this language, fixed on Jesus. Now an application. What can we learn from this opposition? First of all, I want you to see that in our day and our time, the world is beckoning the church to allow her to help with the work. The world says to the church, every single day, "We can help you reach the lost.

We can help you build the church if you will just allow the world, if you will allow us to come into the life of the church." And there are countless hundreds of ministers around the world in our land today who are allowing the world's methods to come into the life of the church. And it is nothing more than allowing sandballot to come out. They were locals. They had all of the right connections. And then second, an application. When the church of God depends on the pure and holy methods outlined in the Word of God, the world will always scoff. The world will always laugh.

The world will always put those methods down because the world does not do anything by faith. The people of God do the work of God by faith according to the Word of God. And so we will either hold hands with the world to try to accomplish the work of God, or we will refuse the world in the sandballots of the world, and we will do the work of God according to the Word of God by faith. And in that, we will have opposition. We will always have opposition because the world never can understand the things of God. Now, what have we seen tonight? Nehemiah arrives on the scene.

This is far more than just Nehemiah riding up on horseback with his select few men. The opposition to the work meets him day one. He begins by making preparation for the work, and then he begins by calling others to the work, and then immediately there is opposition. Now, in conclusion, I want to draw our attention to our church. I believe personally we have moved beyond arriving on the scene. I remember those early years when I felt like I had just arrived on the scene. I do. Those were good years, and I'm thankful those days have moved past us.

And I believe we are moving past arriving on the scene, and I believe God is calling people to the work, and God is birthing in your heart a burden and an understanding of the work. God is birthing a desire for you to be a part of the work. And what I want to say to you is this. Listen to the voice of God. Listen as the voice of God draws you into the work, and know this. God has a place for every believer to be a part of his work. Nehemiah could not do all of this work by himself. He had his role. He had his job. But there were so many nameless and faceless men that he depended on. And it's not about who you are and who I am.

It's not about your gifts or your talents or my gifts or my talents. No, it's about God's work and God's church and us being faithful to put our hand to the plow and not let go and do what God has called us to do. We have arrived on the scene, and I believe we are engaging in the work, and I'm excited about what tomorrow holds. Let's pray, and then we'll be dismissed. Lord Jesus, I pray.