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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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NEHEMIAH PREPARES
TO REBUILD JERUSALEM Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert (Neh 2:11-20) 3/14/10 I. NEHEMIAH ARRIVES AND
APPRAISES JERUSALEM (11-16) A. In chapter 1, Nehemiah
hears that Jerusalem’s walls and city are in ruins. There are about 97,000
post-exilic Jews living there at the time. Nehemiah prays and fasts to the
God of heaven who burdened Nehemiah’s heart for the work. In chapter 2:1-10,
the God of heaven moves on the heart of King Artaxerxes to allow Nehemiah to
go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, a task which
the same king stopped years earlier. Not only this, but the king gave
provisions and protection for Nehemiah’s task. This next section begins with
Nehemiah’s trip to Jerusalem, which quite possibly took about four months to
travel over approximately 1,000 miles (traveling about 9 miles a day). B. In Ne 2:11, Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem
and spent three days. It is very possibly that he was recuperating from the
trip, getting his personal things in order, and perhaps inspecting the Jewish
disposition. C. He arose at night to
secretly inspect Jerusalem’s walls, taking one animal to ride upon
along with a few other choice men (12). 1. In fact,
in vs. 16, Nehemiah records that no one knew. He names all that did not know,
not the Jews (reference to the people), not the officials, not the priests,
not the nobles, or the laborers. 2. Speculation on why he told no one could
be that he wanted to see for himself what exactly needed to be done. When he would make his appeal to the people, he
would have a practical plan and would be able to answer their questions. 3. Another reason is that people talk and he
did not want his would-be enemies to find out and attempt to discourage the
people to rebuild (which is exactly what happened). 4. He did take an animal upon which to ride.
Some speculate that it was a mule rather than a horse, which may have woken
everyone with its neighing and snorting. D. Nehemiah gives us one of
the best historical accounts of the topography of post-exilic Jerusalem.
However, the majority of clues are still buried
under Herod’s platform. Still, there has been some help from archeology.
Nevertheless, Nehemiah began at the Valley Gate to make his inspection of the
outside wall (13) 1. Nehemiah
records that he went in the direction of the Dragon’s (or Jackal) Well, which
remains an enigma. Its exact
location is a mystery. 2. Going south and then in a southeastern
direction, Nehemiah came to the Refuse (or Dung) Gate, where refuse was
dumped. 3. His purpose was to “inspect” (sabar -
to probe and view, examine) the walls which were “broken down” (parats
- not merely poke a hole, but level) and the gates which were “consumed”
(akal - to eat up or consume) by fire. E. This course took them to
the southern most corner of the wall, and then northerly up toward the
Fountain Gate and the Kings’ Pool (14). 1. Archeologist
Kathleen Kenyon, who wrote many of her findings in her book, entitled,
“Jerusalem, Excavating 3000 Years of History (1967),” suspects that the
King’s Pool can be identified with the Pool of Siloam or the modern Birket
el-Hamra. 2. At the Fountain Gate, Nehemiah’s tour was blocked by rubble so that he and his mount could not
pass. When the supports were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s
army 130 years earlier, the buildings toppled making a heap of
impassable stone. "The tumble of stones uncovered by our Trench 1 is
a vivid sample of the ruinous state of the eastern side of Jerusalem that
balked Nehemiah's donkey. The event shows that the sight of this cascade of
stones persuaded Nehemiah that he could not attempt to restore the quarter of
Jerusalem on the eastern slope of the eastern ridge, or the wall that had
enclosed it." (Kenyon, Jerusalem, pp. 107f.) F. This forced Nehemiah to
continue his inspection of the wall proceeding northerly through the ravine
of the Kidron Valley (15). We do not know how far he traveled along the wall,
but at some point he turned back the same way he
came. He eventually entered the city again through the Valley Gate. II. NEHEMIAH APPEALS TO THE
PEOPLE (17-18) A. After Nehemiah had
inspected the walls, he announced his findings and the plight of the Jewish
people living in Jerusalem (17). 1. It was
indeed a “bad situation” (ra raah - literally a bad evil i.e. situation or
distress). The city and the walls were “desolate (chareb - waste,
destroyed) and the gates were burned (yatsath - idea of kindling,
burned wood, charred). 2. He appeals to them to “rebuild” (banah
- to build a structure or here, that which was broken down,) the wall for
the purpose that the Jews (which he includes himself, a good leadership
principle) would no longer be a “reproach” (same as 1:3 - cherpah -
reproach, blame and scorn) 3. In Nehemiah’s appeal to rebuild the wall,
it was centered on God’s sovereign and favorable
hand (18). a) Nehemiah
encouraged the people by letting them know that the “hand of God” had been
favorable to Nehemiah’s prayer to rebuild. b) He explained how he had received God’s
favor in that God had moved in the heart of Artaxerxes, the very one who had
halted the rebuilding earlier (Ez 4:11-13). c) With this news, the people were
encouraged and affirmed together that they would “arise and build.” They put
their hands together to the good work. It was a good work because it was
God’s divine plan. In addition, it was a good (tobah) work because it
would overturn the “bad” (ra) situation they were in and would
ultimately remove the reproach from them. III. NEHEMIAH ADDRESSES HIS
ENEMIES (19-20) A. Sanballat, Tobiah, and
another official, Geshem, heard of the Nehemiah’s plans. They mocked (laag
- irreligious derision), despised (bazah - overt feeling of
scorn), and attempted to foil those plans (19). 1. Every
time Sanballat is mentioned, it is said that he
“heard” about Nehemiah’s plans. This would suggest that there were dissenters
among the people in Jerusalem. 2. Sanballat questioned their plans and
accused them of rebellion to the king. Though Sanballat also heard that
Nehemiah had the king’s authority, his attempt was a scare tactic to
discourage the people. This has even lead some to
believe that it was Sanballat who had falsely accused the Jews when the king
put an end to their previous rebuild. B. Nehemiah responded with
his faith firmly resting in God’s sovereign favor and dismissed any part of
Sanballat’s participation (20). 1. Sanballat
already knew that Nehemiah had the king’s permission. But
Nehemiah was following a greater authority, one that Sanballat should have
respected, namely the “God of heaven.” God would give the Jewish people
success, therefore, they would “arise (qum - stand up) and build.” 2. Nehemiah continued to declare that
Sanballat had no legal right to stop them or any part in the rebuilding of
Jerusalem. 3. Sanballat, mentioned in 2:10, was the
governor of Samaria and perhaps was part of the reason that the Jews and
Samaritans did not get along (cf. Jn 4:9). They appear to have been Jews who
synchronized their religion with the pagan worship of Samaria at the time of
the Assyrian Captivity. Furthermore, the Samaritans gave the Jewish people
resistance throughout their history to rebuild. IV. OBSERVATIONS AND LEADERSHIP
APPLICATIONS A. Leadership takes diligent
steps to accomplish established plans (Ne 2:11) B. Leadership surveys the needs and situation
of those they serve (Ne 2:12) C. Leadership preplans so that they are able
to lead a course of action (Ne 2:17) D. Leadership has the ability to encourage
others to arise and build (Ne 2:18) |
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