Arise and Rebuild Series
The Book of Nehemiah
“Rebuilding Requires Prayerful Planning”
Nehemiah 2.1-20
Introduction
Last week Nehemiah received dreadful news from his brother and others who had just
come from Judah about the devastating condition of Jerusalem’s city walls and the great
distress the returning exiles were experiencing. They told Nehemiah, “The remnant there in
the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of
Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” (1.3) Upon hearing this report
Nehemiah sat down and wept and mourned for days . . . fasting and praying before the God of
heaven. (1.4) Nehemiah expressed this godly lament for forty days to be exact. (1.1; 2.1)
Nehemiah knew that God had called him to led God’s people to rebuild the city walls of
Jerusalem that had been in ruin for over a hundred and forty years. I was attracted to the
book of Nehemiah after considering how many areas of our lives need rebuilding after the
years of COVID. We need to rebuild our lives and this church for the glory of God.
Context
Before we get to today’s text allow me again to set the context of the book of Nehemiah.
Even though the people of Israel enjoyed great peace and prosperity during the reign of
King David, the kingdom became divided at the end of the reign of David’s son, Solomon
(975 BC).
Due to their persistent disobedience to God’s Word, the northern kingdom, Israel, was
evaded by the Assyrians and taken into captivity (733 BC) and several years later the
southern kingdom, Judah, was evaded by the Babylonians (587 BC). The Babylonians
burned the city of Jerusalem to the ground destroying the city walls, the Temple, and taking
the Jewish residents into captivity. The Persians would eventually conquer the Babylonians
(538 BC) and the Persian king Cyrus ended the exile of the Jewish people by granting them
permission to return to their land and rebuild the Temple. A faithful remnant returned to
the land and rebuilt the Temple, but the city walls were still broken down and the city gates
laid charred and crumbled on the ground. Without the city walls and gates everything was
exposed to attacks from the enemies of God’s people and those opposed to the purposes of
God. Nehemiah understood that the land of Judah, the Temple, and the city of Jerusalem
were all chosen by God to fulfill His redemptive purposes. Therefore, the city walls needed
to be rebuilt for the purposes of God to be fulfilled.
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The Cupbearer to the King
The last verse of Nehemiah chapter told us that Nehemiah was the cupbearer of the
king. Being a cupbearer was a significant position in any royal court. The cupbearer was a
personal bodyguard to the king, being the one who tasted the king’s wine and food making
certain no one could poison the king. The king, therefore, had to have a tremendous
amount of trust in his cupbearer, who had to be a man of faithful and impressive character.
The cupbearer was also a trusted advisor to the king. It was natural for the cupbearer to be
asked his opinion on different matters coming before the king. But on the that day when
Nehemiah heard the news about the walls of Jerusalem still in ruins Nehemiah could no
longer serve the earthly king Artaxerxes and put himself in complete service to the King of
kings. On the that day Nehemiah could no longer fulfill the purposes of the kingdom of
Persian and put himself to the task of advancing the kingdom of God. So, as we discovered
last week rebuilding begins when we embrace God’s divine purposes.
It is amazing to think about the different people in Scripture that God brought from obscure
beginnings to a place of prominence. People like Joseph who was sold as a slave by his
brothers to traveling merchants, wrongly imprisoned who eventually became the Prime
Minister of Egypt. People like Esther who was an orphan being raised by her uncle living in
exile who became the Queen of Persia. And people like Nehemiah who was a son of exiled
parents living in Persia who became the cupbearer of the king. If we could interview these
people, I think we would hear them giving all the praise and honor to God for the success
they enjoyed. Listen to Nehemiah as he gives the glory to God in chapter two. Notice that
Nehemiah knew the reason the king granted him the documents needed for the journey
and the documents needed for the construction materials was because the good hand of my
God was on me. (2.8) Notice the reason Nehemiah could call the remnant to the task of
rebuilding the wall was because the hand of my God had been favorable to me. (2.18a)
Notice the reason Nehemiah was so confident that the rebuilding project would be
successful was because he knew the God of heaven will give us success. (2.20a)
Brothers and sisters, like Joseph we were slaves to sin but through Christ we are now saints
in God’s kingdom. Like Esther we were orphans but through Christ we are now adopted
children of God. Like Nehemiah through Christ, we are no longer strangers and aliens, but
we are fellow citizens with the saints, and are members of God’s royal family. Let us as
God’s people commit are works to the Lord. (Pr.16.3) Let us seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. (Mt.6.33)
Rebuilding Requires Prayerful Planning
During those four months Nehemiah did not sit around and sulk. He tells us, “I had not been
sad in his presence.” (2.1b) As Nehemiah was praying during those four months, he was
prayerfully planning how to respond when the Lord would eventually open the door of
opportunity to make his request to the king. He was prayerfully planning what he needed
for his mission. He was prayerfully planning what he would do once he arrived in
Jerusalem.
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He was prayerfully planning how he would challenge God’s people to arise and build. He
was prayerfully planning how he would respond to opposition.
The Door of Opportunity
After four months of fervent prayer as Nehemiah was preforming his royal duties the king
said to him, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of
heart.” (2.2) Nehemiah had tried for months to keep his burden for Jerusalem to himself,
but the king noticed something different in Nehemiah’s disposition. Nehemiah was
frightened because he didn’t know how the king might react. But as they say, “honesty is
the best policy.” So, Nehemiah recognizing this was the door of opportunity he had been
praying for said to the king, “Let the king live forever. 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?” (2.3)
I want to stress the point that Nehemiah’s answer was honest. Often, when people ask how
we are doing we simply reply “good” when we aren’t good. I realize that we don’t want to
come across as whiner, boring others with our problems but we must be honest and learn
to share our burdens with others. The Bible tells us to bear one another’s burdens, and
thereby fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal.6.2) As brothers and sisters in Christ we must trust the
Lord to be vulnerable and transparent with one another. I can understand that you might
not feel comfortable with sharing your situation with just anyone, but we must find mature
brothers and sisters in Christ that we can share our burdens with and be honest.
No one had to tell the king about the disgraceful situation in Jerusalem and as a good king
he immediately sympathizes with Nehemiah’s concern for the dignity, safety, and well-
being of his people. “Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” (2.4a) Nehemiah had
to have realized that this was exactly what he had been praying for. Remember Nehemiah’s
prayer from chapter one? “Make Thy servant successful and grant him mercy before the king”
(1.11b) and mercy is what Nehemiah received. The king wasn’t upset but rather asking
what he could do to help. “What is your request?”
Right away, Nehemiah knew God gave him favor with the king. So, I prayed to the God in
heaven. (2.4b) This was not a long, extended prayer like before. This was an immediate,
silent prayer. This was a “Jesus take the wheel” sort of prayer. Nehemiah knew this was an
incredible opportunity, and he did not want to squander it. This is when Nehemiah’s
prayerful planning kicked in. I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has
found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild
it.” (2.5)
Notice that Nehemiah response was honest in that he didn’t just want to return to
Jerusalem to visit his father’s grave. He wanted to return to Jerusalem that he may rebuild
it. Also, notice that Nehemiah is respectful to the king and his authority. “If it please the king
. . . send me to Judah.” Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will
your journey be, and when will you return?” (2.6) Nehemiah clearly had a plan. During his
four months of prayerful planning Nehemiah had calculated how long he would need to be
gone. So, he gave the king a definite time.
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Requests for the Journey
Nehemiah had also prayerfully calculated that he would need letters from the king to allow
him to pass through the different provinces on his eight-hundred-mile journey from Susa to
Judah. (2.7, 9) The king sent a military escort to accompany Nehemiah, so it was important
to have the documentation to prove to the governors that this was a peaceful convoy.
Nehemiah’s brother had informed him that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the
gates were burned with fire. (1.3) This charred lumber had been laying on the ground for a
hundred and forty years and Nehemiah knew he needed fresh cut wood to rebuild the walls
and gates. So, Nehemiah asked the king to write a letter commissioning the keeper of the
king’s forest to make beams for the gates, for the wall, and for his house. (2.9) Nehemiah
writes, “And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.”
Arrived in Jerusalem
When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem with a military escort and the finest lumber from the
king’s forest, the people would have noticed. What is the king’s cupbearer doing in this
broken town? But God sends His ambassadors of grace to places of brokenness and to
broken people. Nehemiah was in Jerusalem for three days and had not told anyone what
the Lord had put on his heart to do for Jerusalem. (2.11-12) Nehemiah was figuring out
who was who and what was what. He needed to gain a good understanding of the city and
the people. In the darkest of the third night Nehemiah mounted his horse and with a few
other men accompanying him Nehemiah went out to inspect the wall. Not one of the city
officials, residents, priests, or nobles knew that Nehemiah had gone to inspect the wall.
(2.16)
It seems that Nehemiah set out from the west side of the city at the Valley Gate and turned
left towards the south, navigating counterclockwise around the rubble of the city walls,
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until coming back to his starting point. (2.13-15) This was the first time Nehemiah saw
with his own eye’s the extent of the damage and what God had called him to repair. If there
was ever a time to pull out of the project and return to Susa it would be the next morning
after his midnight ride.
I know it’s easy to look at situations with rose colored glasses and only focus on the good.
But if we are truly interested in rebuilding, we must admit the bad. We must admit the
extent of our brokenness to experience healing and restoration of our sinfulness, our
marriages, our families, and our church. Nehemiah took time to count the cost and he
wasn’t going to look at the situation with rose colored glasses and he wasn’t going to
pretend that it was going to be easy. Now more than ever before Nehemiah was ready to
start to work. You know, a lot of people can point out a problem, but they flee when it
comes time to work to fix it. I’ve seen this throughout my ministry and I’m sure you have
seen it in business and relationships. Nehemiah wasn’t like other people. He had witnessed
the problem firsthand and now it was time to arise and rebuild.
Challenging the People
Instead of hitting the trail back to Susa, Nehemiah gathered all the people together and said
to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned
by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”
(2.17) Immediately the people knew that Nehemiah was standing with them. Notice
Nehemiah says, “see the bad situation we are in . . . Come, let us rebuild . . . so that we will no
longer be a reproach.” He was one of them. Their bad situation was his bad situation, and
they were going the fix it together. This is the way Christians should think and act. This is
the way the church should think and act. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with
it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. We are Christ body! (ICor.12.26)
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. (2.18) This is a wonderful conclusion and the beginning of revival. When
God’s people are of one mind the Holy Spirit comes with power. (Acts 1.14) When God’s
people stand firm in one spirit and with one mind striving together for the faith then we are
conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. (Phil.1.27)
Responding to Opposition
But there were some haters in the crowd too. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah
the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and
said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” (2.19) We were
told earlier in the chapter as Nehemiah was coming near to Jerusalem that these two guys
were very displeased that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. (2.10)
Brothers and sisters, there will always be haters and we will learn more about the
opposition these two guys caused next week but for now I want you to know that these two
guys were Jews with a priestly pedigree. You would think that these guys would have
supported Nehemiah’s work, but they do not. Opposition is always difficult; but it’s always
worst when comes from brothers in Christ.
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This reminds me of David words from Psalm fifty-five, “For it is not an enemy who
reproaches me, then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself
against me, then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, my companion
and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in
the throng.” (Ps.55.13-14)
But it seems that Nehemiah had prayerfully planned for this type of opposition. So, I
answered them and 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.” (2.20)
As we go through the book of Nehemiah, we will see that these guys and others will oppose
the work of God until the end, but they will not win. Nehemiah and the faithful remnant
didn’t stop their work because the Lord Jesus Christ will always build His church!
Closing Thought
For me the overarching theme of this chapter is rebuilding requires prayerful planning.
Nehemiah began by embracing divine purpose, but he progressed by practicing prayerful
planning. He was prayerfully planned how he would respond when the Lord opened the
door of opportunity to make his request to the king. He was prayerfully planned what he
needed for his mission. He was prayerfully planned what he would do once he arrived in
Jerusalem. He was prayerfully planned how he would challenge God’s people for to arise
and build. He was prayerfully planned how he would respond to opposition.
This prayerful planning reminds me of Jesus’ teaching when He told His disciples, For which
one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to
see if he has enough to complete it? . . . Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in
battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand
men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (Lk.14.28-31) We are
all familiar with budgets and estimates but what is interesting is that Jesus’ is teaching
about counting the cost of discipleship. Counting the cost of truly following Him regardless
of the mission, the challenge, or the opposition. Nehemiah prayerfully counted the cost and
when the Lord opened the door, he was ready to walk through it with confidence in the spirit.