If there is one Biblical hero that contemporary believers can best identify with, it would in my estimation be Nehemiah. Even more so than Daniel because while they both held high positions in pagan empires, none of us can claim to have received the kind of revelations that Daniel received, and few of us would play chess with some hungry lions in their cage. In Nehemiah’s case, however, we see a monumental example of what a well placed individual with faith and a passion for the work of God can accomplish basically within the normal processes of human endeavor under God. Nehemiah’s story provides us with the essentials for committing to a large scale project for the Kingdom of God.
When he first found out that his fatherland was in a mess and lay defenseless because of crumbled walls, he didn’t make any promises, or attract any attention because of any boisterous claims that he would be Judah’s savior. He was no fool. He had to be a pretty cagey guy to be able to merit the confidence of the Persian Emperor, Artaxerxes, as one of the latter’s closest confidants. As cup bearer for the emperor, Nehemiah didn’t just check out the royal drinks for lethal contents or for that matter give his impressions on whether Coke was better than Pepsi. Nehemiah was privy to the most confidential or top secret matters in the empire and would counsel as much as he listened. While he and his boss may not have been exactly “drinking buddies” (although Nehemiah drank some of whatever the emperor drank), they were pretty close so that the Emperor could easily detect Nehemiah’s body language and was concerned about his “buddy’s” morale (Neh 2:1,2). But even with that kind of an edge, Nehemiah already had spent days mourning, fasting and praying before he brought up the topic of Judah’s pathetic state of affairs; and that was only after his boss asked. That was Nehemiah’s first solid clue that he wasn’t praying and fasting about a pipe dream. I suspect (I never actually did a well designed survey on this) that too many of us feel so overwhelmingly overmatched so that certain worthy but formidable projects never get off the ground or God sovereignly reassigns them to someone else. The point is that our passion for a project can germinate and intensify as we wait on the Lord for confirmation that we are not seeking to tilt windmills but that we are pursuing something worthwhile in God’s time. It is also instructive for us that Nehemiah was well fitted for the task at hand: he had connections, he understood how to apply nuanced leverage in the political arena and he knew how to mobilize support.
The next point is that even after the emperor allocated all the funds and materials and authenticated all the enabling documents, Nehemiah did not proceed without looking for further confirmation that he was proceeding within the scope of God’s plan. Again, when he reached Jerusalem, he didn’t engage in any grandstand acts like announcing that he was the knight in shining armor who would turn the fortunes of Judah around. He did check in with the local authorities in Samaria when he arrived in Palestine, but he kept from his own countrymen what his magnificent obsession was. He personally gathered badly needed information regarding the extent of the city’s ruins especially the broken walls Neh. 2:16ff. After several days he finally shared his mission with the officials of Judah. He paid tribute to God and earned their confidence and trust. He mobilized his support without flexing his political muscle by imposing his agenda on his countrymen. But he still had tough challenges ahead.
The Samaritan overlords (who had jurisdictional authority over Judah) were not about to let the Jews spread their wings by reconstructing their walls. They harassed Nehemiah’s builders and even planned to use military force to stop Nehemiah. Nehemiah had an answer for that. Every working crew consisted of laborers who in time doubled as soldiers in a state of preparedness (Neh 4:16-23). This is so suggestive of the spiritual warfare that is inevitable whenever we make waves against the devil and his minions. Many projects are jettisoned or poorly executed because the workers are long on energy and even creativity but short on intercession. Nehemiah’s foes even tried to undermine his reputation among his own people but he was ready for that too (Neh. 6). Another interesting detail was that the head trumpeter (who warned the people of impending danger and called them to arms, stayed with Nehemiah (Neh. 4:18). This is so suggestive of the Holy Spirit who warns us of danger, directs our efforts, and reminds us to “fear not” because He is with us. By the way, did you know that the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in 52 days (Neh. 6:15). Not bad for a guy who knew which drink was “the real thing.”
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