“The God Who Prospers Us”
(Nehemiah 2:11-20)
Series: REBUILD (Nehemiah)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
If you’re visiting with us we are preaching our way through the Book of Nehemiah, a book about rebuilding—rebuilding walls, rebuilding lives; rebuilding physical things, rebuilding spiritual things.
- Let me invite you open your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 2 and in a moment we’ll be reading verses 11 through 20.
Two and a half thousand years ago in 444 BC Nehemiah approaches the King of the Persian Empire, an empire stretching from the Aegean Sea to as far East as what is modern India. And Nehemiah approaches the pagan King Artaxerxes in his winter palace, the Persian Palace at Susa, and asks permission to take a thousand mile Journey Southwest to Jerusalem. He wants to rebuild the walls around the city.
And because—as Solomon teaches in Proverbs 21:1—the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, the Lord squeezes the heart of Artaxerxes, causing him to willingly choose to allow Nehemiah to return to his homeland to lead the massive rebuilding project.
So Nehemiah travels the thousand mile distance, taking anywhere from three to six months and he finally arrives.
- Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.
13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.
14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.
15 So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.
So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
- Let’s pray.
One of my favorite poets is Anonymous. That guy’s written a lot of stuff! Anonymous. I especially like his poem, “The Cautious Man.”
There was a very cautious man
Who never laughed or played.
He never risked, he never tried
He never sang, nor prayed.
And when one day he passed away
His insurance was denied.
For since he never really lived
They claimed he never died.
The cautions man! Well, that could never be said about Nehemiah—a man who risked, who prayed, who threw caution to the wind, living—really living—for the glory of God!
I suspect most of us want to live a life like that. Deep down. How is that possible? Well, I think it is found largely in Nehemiah’s faith, his trust in the One True and Living God, much of his faith captured in the last verse we read a moment ago where he said, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us.” True prosperity. A rich life lived for the Lord. God has given us riches of life, true prosperity—we must not settle for money.
Let’s learn from Nehemiah this morning and then I will leave you with two questions. But first, let’s go through the text again, studying verse-by-verse, taking notes of explanation and application as the Spirit impresses us.
11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
One of those verses that’s easy to read right past. Doesn’t Nehemiah want to get right to it? He’s a big-time leader, isn’t he? “No rest for the weary!” and all that. Good leaders, godly leaders, know the value of rest. Nehemiah had made a thousand mile journey with a caravan of “captains of the army and horsemen” and traveled through valleys and bumps and dirt and rocks. Perhaps as long as six months from Susa to Jerusalem. “So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.”
Too many people try to justify their positions in life by running around all the time, giving the impression they are “so busy.” Trying to justify their existence. Good leaders know the value of rest.
Rest is important. Avoid making decisions when you are fatigued and stressed. Get that rest. Never apologize for it!
12 Then I arose in the night,
Warren Wiersbe, “Leaders are often awake when others are asleep, and working while others are resting.”
12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode (probably a mule or a donkey to best maneuver through the ruins).
Nehemiah goes on a secret reconnoitering mission, recon work at night in the city of Jerusalem. He’s checking out the state of walls—just how bad was it? He had heard and now he wished to see with his own eyes.
Why at night? And why does he tell no one? He says, “I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem.” Not yet. But why? I suppose it had something to do with the opposition he would face. Remember last time we were introduced to these two cranky characters back up in verse 10: “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.” It was the last point of application from last time: “God’s will often includes opposition.”
Nehemiah “arose in the night” to reduce the chances of running into those guys and to have time to look everything over and establish his plans for rebuilding. Remember: the presence of faith does not mean the absence of planning. Remember the cry of the American Revolutionary War: “Trust in God, but keep your gunpowder dry.” Few great men have done great things without a plan.
13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.
Nehemiah is surveying the situation, riding quietly on his mule in the darkness, carefully inspecting all that he saw. The location of these particular places he mentions in verse 13 and following cannot be known with absolute certainty as the city has been built over several times, but we can picture him, can’t we?
Commentators note that the word “viewed” there is a medical term, used to describe what a surgeon does as he or she carefully examines a wound, probing, exploring, determining what is wrong and how best to correct it.
This is what Nehemiah is doing. Probing. Exploring. Determining what is wrong and how best to correct it.
14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.
This area is at the Southernmost point of the city at that time. The “King’s Pool” a reference to the “Pool of Siloam,” the place where Jesus would heal a blind man telling him to wash in that pool.
The King’s Pool was where the water from the Gihon Spring emptied. You’ll remember King Hezekiah a few centuries before Nehemiah had built a tunnel from the spring to the pool, a tunnel underneath that eastern edge of the City of David. You can go today and walk through a portion of Hezekiah’s Tunnel on a visit to the Holy Land.
The phrase we want to consider in verse 14 is this phrase, “but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.” The picture is of Nehemiah’s inability to move in some places because of the ruin and rubble that lie everywhere around him. Stones upon stones. Burned wooden gates. The rubble from the destruction made passage impossible. It was a mess.
15 So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall (see him there, sitting on his mule? viewing the wall? And after some time…); then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.
Again, a secret mission until he is ready to reveal the plan, to reveal, as he says earlier in verse 12: “what God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem.” Not yet. But now, after some time of viewing and more planning, we come to the events of verse 17 where he is now standing before the people of the city and he says, verse 17:
17 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
“You see the distress we are in.” Just a moment there! Truth is, many did not “see the distress” they were in. They had become blind to it. Good leaders see what others don’t.
Some years ago when Michele and I lived in seminary housing in Louisville, we lived in some old apartments that the seminary rented to both students and non-students. And we lived next door to some folks who were non-students and from all appearances seemed to be struggling a bit with their lot in life. They were not in the same building as us—their building jutted this way and then ours this way—but their stoop was visible to ours as one walked up the stairs to our apartment.
One Halloween they had proudly displayed a carved pumpkin there on the stoop. And it looked like most Jack o’lanterns at Halloween. But as Halloween passed, the pumpkin remained. It was there the week after Halloween, and the following week, and the week after that. And I don’t have to tell you what a carved pumpkin looks like after several days? And what is smells like? That rotten pumpkin folded in on itself and collapsed into an orange-black blob. And the remarkable thing is, is that our neighbors had to walk past it at least twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, right past the rotten pumpkin.
Finally, when our in-laws were coming to visit us for Thanksgiving, I thought I’d just go over and take care of it myself. I didn’t want to insult them, so I sneaked over one evening and grabbed the grotesque glob of grossness and put it in the back of my truck and drove it off to its final resting place!
The point is, you can grow so accustomed to things that you just walk right by them day after day without even seeing them. Things that need changing in your life, your work, your marriage, things that need changing in the church. Good leaders see what others don’t.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we (he includes himself) are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
There’s the motivation: “that we may no longer be a reproach.” Remember: the wall was broken down because of their own sin. God’s people rebelled against him in unfaithfulness to him and God sent Nebucadnezzar of Babylon to lay siege to Jerusalem, breaking down the walls, burning the gates, burning the temple, and carrying the people away into captivity. The discipline of God.
Jeremiah 24:9, I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
So Nehemiah says to the people, “It’s time now to change all that. We’ve sinned. We’ve confessed. We’ve repented. “Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
God’s name was at stake! It was more about the name of God than his own name. It’s not about him, it’s about his God. He doesn’t say, “Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that I may build a name for myself!” It’s, “Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that God’s name may no longer be a reproach.”
18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.
So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
Nehemiah shared how God squeezed the heart of the king, causing him willingly to choose to allow him to travel from Susa to Jerusalem to rebuild. In essence he’s saying, “God is in this!” So the people are inspired and say, “Let us rise up and build.” And “they set their hands to this good work.”
I’m glad they responded that way. I’m glad the people didn’t point out to Nehemiah that what he was asking them to do had been tried before to no avail (see Ezra 4 later). I’m glad there was no one around to say, “We’ve tried that before and it didn’t work!” Or, “We’ve never done it that way before!”
By the way, the seven last words of a dying church: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
It’s not always easy to motivate complacent religious people. Like the boy who misquoted Matthew 22:14 where Jesus says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” He said, “Many are cold and a few are frozen.”
No, as Nehemiah will say later in Chapter 4, “the people had a mind to work (Nehemiah 4:6).” The people had a mind to work because they could see God in it! They could see the hand of God at work. They could see that their ruinous situation was not irreversible!
And your ruinous situation is likewise not irreversible! Same God. God can change things. Do you believe it?
Well, remember again that God’s will often includes opposition. Here come those two crusty curmudgeons Sanballat and Tobiah, verse 19:
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab (they picked up a follower! A new recruit! When they…) heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem: the unholy trinity. You know, anyone who’s ever dared to do anything great has faced opposition. Anyone who’s ever dared to succeed has been ridiculed by those who hoped he’d fail.
Adrian Rogers said, “The door to the room of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition.”
Nehemiah says, “They laughed at us and despised us, and said, ‘What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?’”
That was a serious charge. Never mind that Nehemiah had a letter that carried the king’s endorsement. His enemies assumed he had deceived the king who surely wouldn’t be for this rebuilding project if the king knew what kind of people these Israelites really were!
What is this you are doing—rebelling against the king? Rebelling against the governing authorities. Perhaps we hear something of that today in some sense: What is this you are doing, Christian? Rebelling against the king? Rebelling against the governing authorities, rebelling against popular culture and secular laws and beliefs regarding gender, marriage, or abortion. Rebelling against the sinful sway of our postmodern culture, going in the opposite way of the mass of humanity.
Recall Solomon’s warning in Proverbs 14:12, “There’s a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the ways thereof are the ways of death.”
Yes, following Christ will raise the ire of those who go the broad way to destruction while Christians travel the strait and narrow way that leads to life. Don’t be ashamed of the gospel when you face opposition. For it is the power of God unto salvation. Fear not the one who has authority only over your physical life and has no authority over your spiritual life. Don’t fear the king. You serve a greater authority, a Great God.
20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
That last phrase is a way of saying, “You guys don’t follow the one true God. You stand in opposition to Him.” Nehemiah could say that because he was convinced they would oppose the Lord’s work at every turn. And they do as we will see in coming weeks.
Nehemiah trusts in “the God of heaven!” He says, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us.” We’re not worried! Two questions now for further reflection. Jot these two down and then we’ll respond to the truth through song.
**Two Probing Questions:
1) What “Persian Palace” has Become too Comfortable to You?
We must never forget that Nehemiah was once living in a nice palace with comfortable surroundings. When he heard about the reproach of God’s people because of a wall that remained in ruins, he was willing to leave the comforts of the Persian Palace for the risky work of doing something great for his great God. What do you do when you hear about people in need, unfinished work for the kingdom, unreached peoples across the globe?
Are you willing to leave the comfortable to do the uncomfortable? You’ve got a nice situation, a comfortable situation, a routine. You’re used to it. What is God calling you to do?
You know last week during the Lord’s Supper we focused on what it means to rest in Christ for forgiveness. Justification, being declared not guilty of sin. That God always and forever sees us clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It’s fantastic! But it is not a call to indolence and sloth. We are not simply to sit around and bask in the glory of justification. Justification leads to sanctification. It leads to working, to doing, to growing and serving, to living out our faith.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The only man who has a right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.”
Don’t be the very cautious man who never really lived. Dare to dream and then to do. Going on that mission trip. Sharing the gospel today. Teaching that class. Giving. Tithing. Starting a Bible study at work. Talking to a neighbor about church.
What “Persian Palace” has become too comfortable?
Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring experience or nothing at all.”
2) Why Do You Do What You Do?
I love that statement by Nehemiah in verse 12 were he said he had not yet told anyone “what God had put in my heart to do.” What has “God put in your heart to do?”
Why do you do what you do? Nehemiah doesn’t promise the people any material good or gain, no money, no trophies, just working for the name of God and His glory. Why do you do what you do—church attendance, small group Sunday school participation and teaching, giving, why? Why do you work your job 9-5? Why that job? Surely not just for financial reward. Is your life your work?
Surely not just to make a name for yourself. You will die one day and very likely be forgotten pretty quickly. Sorry! It’s just the truth. You’ve got to live for a name greater than your own. You’ve got to do something greater than a checklist for your job, home, and family. You’ve got to live for something more than vacation getaways and toys and trinkets. That’s empty stuff that will die with you.
True prosperity is enjoyed when we live for the name of God. When we fight for the cause of God.
This is David you remember when just a scruffy little shepherd boy when all Israel was scared to death of the giant Goliath. David asks, “Is there not a cause?” You know, “Let me at him, why should this Philistine defy the armies of the Living God?!”
Could it be that you struggle with that recurring private sin, because you are not really living for God, the God who longs to prosper you with real life? Why do you do what you do? What has God put in your heart to do?
Today, it is not that God’s name is at stake in the city of Jerusalem. For us today it is that God’s name is at stake in the body of Christ. His name is at stake in the lives of His children.
What needs changing in your life but you don’t see it because, like ruined walls that need attention, you’ve just been walking right by it day after day, like a rotting heap of ruin.
What gates in your life need attention? Are you allowing things to come through a gate that’s bringing destruction and taking you captive? The gate of your mind—allowing thoughts to enter in, thoughts that are unhealthy? Then as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “…bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
The gate of your eyes—are you allowing yourself to watch things that are ungodly, or looking at things that are immoral? Then “pluck it out” as Jesus said, not literally of course, but figuratively—put it to death and then rebuild. Remember to quote Romans 6:11, “I’m dead to that!” Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ.
The wall is in ruins and some of you would say, “My life is in ruins. I need help. I need God.” There is a Greater Leader than Nehemiah. There is a Greater One who did a work on our behalf to repair, restore, to rebuild our ruinous lives. And when we recognize that we ourselves are powerless to rebuild the walls of our lives and helpless to put out the flames that have charred the gates of our morality and threaten to burn us entirely, then we are in a position to turn to this Great God who does the great work for us through our Great Lord, Jesus Christ.
It was Christ Jesus who lived and died on our behalf “that we may no longer be a reproach.” Jesus on the cross absorbing the wrath of God that would otherwise consume us for our sin. Jesus Christ in our place.
Trust our great God. Trust in Christ and be saved from the wrath to come. Trust Christ and be saved from the ruin of sin, the ruin of death, the ruin of the judgment to come. Turn to Him this morning by faith.
RESPONSE: “Our Great God”
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