DAY #52: Nehemiah 1:1-11

BACKGROUND

In 586 BC the city of Jerusalem in Israel was destroyed. Jews were deported over to Babylon which is now Iraq. They were to be kept there for 70 years. But in 538 the first group of Jews were allowed to return, under the leadership of Zerubbabel. In 515 the Temple was rebuilt with great encouragement from Haggai and Zechariah. In 458 Ezra led the second group of Jews back to Jerusalem. Then in 444 Nehemiah asked permission to return to Jerusalem with a third group to rebuild the city walls.

The Problem that Nehemiah faced – the city walls and gates have been in ruble and decay for 150+ years. In those days if a city was walled and an enemy came against it, it might take 2, 4, 6 months for the enemy to break in. The walls were very important. The Jews had been taken away in captivity into another country. They finally were allowed to trickle back in. Finally they were allowed to rebuild the Temple. But the city was still in ruins, rubble. All the walls were falling down. It was just junk and they were living in a heap.

Why were they in captivity in the first place? It was the sin of the nation. God said, If you guys don't get your act together I'm going to allow an enemy nation to come in, and He did. But now He's allowing the Jews to come back, the Temple has been rebuilt but the city is still in rubble, a big mess, and the walls are broken down. People are living in rubble, low morale, and they're defeated, discouraged, depressed. What do you do when you have that kind of situation? You need a leader.

In Nehemiah 1:11, he says "I was the cupbearer to the king." This tells us what Nehemiah did for a living, who he was, what his occupation was.

What was a cupbearer?
He was a combination Prime Minister, body guard, personal security agent and assistant to the king. He did all of these things. He was very well trusted. He was the person the most trusted by the king. The reason he was called cupbearer was because part of his job was to taste the wine before the king drank it to make sure it wasn't poisoned. There were a lot of assassination attempts in those days. The king was paranoid and fearful so they would have a guy who would test all of the wine. If he keeled over they knew that was bad wine! It was a pretty dangerous job, considering in those days a lot of people didn't like Artaxerxes.

The point I want to make here is that Nehemiah had to be absolutely loyal and trustworthy.

Now these historical facts are only of secondary importance, but they important to know so that that we understand the spiritual implications of this Book of Nehemiah. I am not concerned primarily with a history of the return here; I am concerned primarily that we should draw from this book the immense spiritual lessons that are here for us all.

Folks, there is a wall to be built around the city of your soul. There is a wall to be erected around our church. There is a wall be built around the valley we live in. There is a wall be built throughout the whole world. When will you start building?

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

The take away from this morning's passage for me is this: Nehemiah was brokenhearted over the condition of the people - his people - back in Jerusalem. When he heard of the wall be broken down and the gates burned down, he wept. When he heard that the people were living in disgrace, he mourned. Nehemiah wept and mourned for four months.

WHY DID GOD CHOOSE NEHEMIAH AS A LEADER TO RESCUE HIS PEOPLE? Of all the people why did God choose Nehemiah, the cupbearer to a pagan king? Three reasons:

#1. NEHEMIAH WAS SENSITIVE TO THE NEEDS ABOUT HIM

Nehemiah's reaction is pretty incredible. Nehemiah has it made. He's at the peak of his career. Nehemiah is living on easy street, the second best position in the kingdom. He's got a great salary, he doesn't have to rock the boat. The problems in Jerusalem must seem like a million miles away. He's never even seen Jerusalem. He was born in Babylon because they'd been there 70 years. When he hears about God's people depressed, discouraged, defeated he takes it seriously.

The point I want to make is this: The people that God uses are people who care about the things God cares about. And God cared about the fact that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down. Since God cared about it, Nehemiah cared about it and that made him a leader.

One of the members of my church back in Washington D.C., sent me a letter several years ago. He basically said "I'm resigning my law practice because I've been asked to become a director of the Union Rescue Mission and I'm going to do it." There is a man who is sensitive and cares about the things on the heart of God.

Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision, used to say, "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." That's the first step in being a great leader. A sensitivity to the needs around you.


#2. NEHEMIAH WAS DEPENDABLE

He had a proven track record. We see that the king considered him so trustworthy he gave him the most reliable position of the kingdom -- cupbearer. He intrusted his personal security to him. There was enormous trust there. The point I want to make here is that God uses people who are trustworthy, reliable, dependable.

Luke 16:10-13 is a great passage about dependability. It tells us four ways to test our faithfulness. This gives us four ways God tests our faithfulness to see if He's going to use us or not. One of the ways He tests us is how we serve in another person's ministry before He gives us our own. Another way is what do we do with our money? The Bible tells us that the way you manage your money determines how much God can bless your life. Your giving determines to a great degree how much God can bless your life. If you cannot be trusted with unrighteous mannon who's going to trust you with true spiritual riches?


#3. NEHEMIAH WAS AVAILABLE

When the situation needed a leader, Nehemiah said, "I volunteer! Here am I, send me!" He had the job, the position that everybody else wants and the problem is a thousand miles away, two months away across the desert on a camel and he says, "I'll go! I'm not even a contractor but I'll go rebuild the wall!" God still chose him even though he didn't have the skills for that particular job. But he was sensitive and he was dependable and he was available.

God is not looking for ability in leaders as much as he's looking for sensitivity, dependability, and availability. Those qualities are a matter of choice. You may say, "I don't have certain gifts or talents or intellect." That doesn't even matter to God. What matters are, Are you credible? Do you have character? Are you growing in character? Are you sensitive to people? Are you dependable? Can God rely on you? Dependability is much more important than ability. Are you available?

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.