Once there was a great king with a very long name and a huge sense of how important he was. His name was Artaxerxes. He was such a great king that he was in danger of being poisoned by his enemies. Many kings back in Bible times had an important servant called a cupbearer. It was an honor to be the king’s cupbearer, and his responsibility was to make sure there was no poison in the king’s cup before he presented it to the king. Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’ faithful and important cupbearer.
No servant was ever allowed to be sad in this king’s presence. But one day Nehemiah heard some very bad news, and he was brokenhearted. He couldn’t smile, not even for the great king he served.
The news Nehemiah heard was that the wall of God’s chosen city, Jerusalem, was broken down and the gates were burned with fire. This city was where Nehemiah had been born and raised, and he just couldn’t keep the sadness from showing in his face.
Why are you sad? asked the king. You are not sick, so you must be sad at heart.
Nehemiah was terribly afraid, but he told the king about the broken wall and burned gates of Jerusalem.
Do you have a request? asked the king.
This was a big question, bigger than Nehemiah knew how to answer. But he was used to bringing his problems to the God of heaven, and now he quickly prayed to God before he answered the king.
Then Nehemiah answered, Please send me to Jerusalem to rebuild the city.
For how long? asked the king.
Nehemiah set a certain amount of time, but he needed more than just time. He asked for letters of introduction to the governors and also for timber to build homes and gates. The king said yes to everything, and Nehemiah and his helpers were soon on their way to Jerusalem.
You see, when God makes a plan, He puts it into the heart of the right man to say yes. Why should we be upset with the man who seems to say no? If it is God’s plan, no one can change it!
When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he kept his reason for being there deep in his heart. He went out one night in the dark to see if the city was really all that bad. Yes, it was that bad or worse. He had started out riding a donkey, but there was so much rubbish that the donkey couldn’t find a way to walk through it. It was time to clear away the rubbish and start building!
Nehemiah had willing helpers, and each one is carefully recorded in the Bible, along with the work that each one did. There were goldsmiths and merchants, the pharmacist’s son and priests, and even girls helped. A stone wall around a city is not easy to build, and there were heavy, wooden gates with locks and bars to set up, and there was no power machinery to work with.
Building the wall was hard enough, but that was not all. An enemy of the Jews named Sanballat heard about it, and he was angry! Why? Well, if you are really doing God’s work, Satan, the great enemy of God, will be angry and will stir up trouble. And Sanballat was one of Satan’s servants. But remember, if God wants the work done, nothing can stop it! “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:3737Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)).
It is good to be a conqueror, but how can you be more than conqueror? Here is the answer. Because of Satan’s hatred, you can be better off than you were before - Satan tries to stop the Lord’s work, but he ends up helping it instead!
Do you understand how this can happen? I’ll explain. When Jesus was on earth, He went about doing good and healing everyone who came to Him, making it plain that religion was not enough. Satan hated all this, and he stirred up the people against Jesus until at last they crucified Him.
Did Satan win? NO, NO! Jesus had the victory! He rose from the dead, and now He is the Savior who died for sinners, and Satan is forever defeated!
I have accepted Jesus as my Savior. Whose side are you on?
We will tell you more about Nehemiah and that wall in our next story.