The book of Nehemiah has a very deep interest for us. We see most clearly the strong analogy between the words that were spoken about Israel in those days and the position which the goodness of God has given to us now, in this dispensation of His grace.
But the first thing I wish to notice is the spirit which imbues all the conduct of Nehemiah. What is the great moral trait that characterizes him? We shall find it throughout the book — a deep and constant sense of the ruined state of God’s people. Nothing is more important for us too, for we have failed, as Israel had failed! As a result of their failure, Israel had been carried away into captivity. A remnant had returned some years earlier, but evidently they had learned little of the lessons God sought to teach them. It is true that we never find them returning to idolatry after this; still, they had very little sense of the glory of God which they had lost. There were two things that characterized Nehemiah, and there are two things, beloved brethren, that should characterize us. If there be a failure in either, there is the greatest loss for the soul. One is to hold fast the greatness of the ruin, and the other is to hold fast the faithfulness of God, in spite of that ruin. These were found together in Nehemiah. The Lord grant that they may be found in us! We need both, and we never can be really answering to what God looks for from us unless we enter into both in communion with Him.
A Sense of the Ruin
As the king’s cupbearer, Nehemiah was in a high position, surrounded by every kind of comfort. Yet it seems that he had just the very same feeling for the people of God as did Moses, so many years before. He loved the people, and what was more than that, he loved God. He had the sense of what God’s glory was, and a sense that God must act according to His own glory. He knew that there was no other way of blessing the people. His heart was filled with grief, and therefore it turns to Jerusalem. It might be in ruin, and it was, but there his heart turns.
Surely this should be the case with us, for the church of God is more to God than ever Israel was. The guilt of Christendom, I have no hesitation in saying, is worse than that of Israel. Incomparably more blest, it is incomparably more guilty, for the guilt is always in proportion to the mercies perverted or abused. Nevertheless, we ought to love the church, for if we enter into the feelings of Christ, we shall know that Christ loves the church. We ought to concern ourselves for its welfare, just as Nehemiah concerned himself for the remnant of Israel.
They Rise Up and Build
The king, as we learn from the second chapter, finds Nehemiah’s countenance sad, and at once remarks on it. Nehemiah tells the simple truth to him. “Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, and the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?” (Neh. 2:33And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? (Nehemiah 2:3)). In short, while Ezra bears upon that which pertains to the worship of the Lord — the altar and the temple—we have here in Nehemiah the wall of Jerusalem. Here we have, not the house built, but the wall built. This is what filled the heart of Nehemiah. First of all he makes request to God. “So I prayed to the God of heaven.” Then he approached the king. The letters were granted. The timber and other materials that he lacked were vouchsafed by the king, and he goes up guarded to Jerusalem. Finally he approaches the people and finds that God had worked in their hearts as well. They said, “Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work” (Neh. 2:1818Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. (Nehemiah 2:18)). But the same thing that filled his heart with joy and thankfulness in the midst of his sorrow grieved the enemies of the people of God.
The Hindrance of the Enemy
The moment that God begins to act, the devil tries to hinder. “When Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us” (Neh. 2:1919But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? (Nehemiah 2:19)). This was the first effort of the enemy. It was to pour contempt upon a work so simple and insignificant. But this is no reason to be alarmed. “Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we, His servants, will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem” (Neh. 2:2020Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:20)).
The next chapter shows us the names and the work of those that took part in the building of the wall. We notice the work of everyone, and in a distinctive character too. We all have a work to do for the Lord, a work that we can do better than anyone else. Are we doing it?
God marks here His appreciation of the various services performed by the different saints of God, and they come before us in their order. Various gates and various portions of the wall were repaired by different ones, and while there were evidently a few who held back, we find that there was real devotedness and service on the part of others. However, opposition was not long in coming.
“It came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews” (Neh. 4:11But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. (Nehemiah 4:1)). Later the other man, Tobiah, joined him: “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall” (vs. 3). What does Nehemiah say? At once he turns to the Lord: “Hear, O our God; for we are despised.” So it was also in the early days of the church. The apostles were beaten and were threatened, but what did they do? They spread it out before the Lord, and the Lord answered. He answers with His own power. The Spirit shakes the building where they are, and, with great power, He gave them witness.
No Signs of Wonder and Power
Yet here was a day of weakness, and what I would impress upon our minds is that we are no longer in the day when the Spirit shakes the building. We are no longer in the day when signs and wonders are wrought. But are we, therefore, without God? What do we value most — the powers and wonders God works, or God Himself? It was the same question now for Nehemiah. There was no such thing as the Red Sea opened for the people — no such thing as the Jordan crossed. There was no manna that fell down from heaven, but there was the evident word of God accomplished, and the way was open for them. There was an open door to the land of God for the people of God. They had lost it as a matter of outward power, but not for faith. They clung to God, even when God could not outwardly own them before all the world.
But the opposition became more serious, so much so that there was a conspiracy among the enemies to come and fight. “Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God.” Accordingly, Nehemiah quietly takes measures, and he “set the people after their families with their swords, their spears and their bows” (Neh. 4:1313Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. (Nehemiah 4:13)).
The Fight of Faith
The same thing has to be done now, although not in the same way. With the Christian, it is not a question of fighting with the sword, but undoubtedly we have to fight the good fight of faith. It is not merely that we have to work, but we have to withstand as well as to stand in this evil day; that is, we have to be armed against the wiles of the devil, and not merely to be carrying on the peaceful work of the Lord.
Next, the enemy tries three further wiles to try and stop the building work of the Lord. First, Sanballat and Geshem propose a meeting in the plains of Ono, no doubt wanting to do mischief. Later, Sanballat pretended that the heathen were accusing Nehemiah of fortifying Jerusalem in order to rebel against the king of Persia and in order that he (Nehemiah) might be their king. Finally, another man, Shemaiah, proposed a meeting in the house of the Lord, on the grounds that some had hatched a plot to kill Nehemiah. Nehemiah recognized clearly who was behind all this, and every attempt at further mischief was foiled.
Finally, we read in Nehemiah 7 that “the wall was built”! God had been faithful, and the people had built in faith. Yet it was still a time to be cautious, for Nehemiah ordered that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened “until the sun be hot” (Neh. 7:33And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house. (Nehemiah 7:3)). As in Nehemiah’s day, so in our day we need to build the wall of separation from that which is not according to God’s mind and not open the gates until the clear light of day (figuratively speaking) assures us that it is safe to do so.
W. Kelly (adapted)