December 19, Nehemiah

Day 20, December 19

Persons: Nehemiah

Theme/Event: Return and Rebuilding

Symbol: City Wall

Nehemiah 1:1-2:8, 6:15-16, 13:10-22

Do you remember the Jews living in exile in Babylon? God’s plan in allowing them to be carried off to the foreign land was that they would repent and worship Him only. God had promised that if they did repent and turn to Him, He would restore them. Tonight, we will talk about Nehemiah, who was a man who counted on the promises of God.

Nehemiah 1: 5-2:8

⁵ And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, ⁶ please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. ⁷ We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; ⁹ but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ ¹⁰ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Nehemiah 2

¹ And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. ² Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”
So I became dreadfully afraid, ³ and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”
⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
⁶ Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
⁷ Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Nehemiah 6:15-16

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

Nehemiah confessed the sins of his people to God. He also prayed God’s promise that if the people would return to God and obey, God would gather them together to a place to be with God and to worship Him. What did God do? God kept His promise. God always keeps His promises. The people of Israel had to wait for God’s timing and God’s plan, but the waiting just prepared them. Nehemiah prayed and fasted for four months before he made his request to God or the king. In God’s timing, God gave Nehemiah favor with a king who did not know God. God gave Nehemiah the wisdom and strength to overcome many obstacles to finish the work that God had called him to. Nehemiah and the people rebuilt the wall that would keep the city safe and help the people to return to a true worship of God. The final result was that God was glorified and God’s enemies were discouraged.

Questions:

• If the people repented and turned to God, what would God do?


• Did God keep His promise?


• Do you have sin in your life you need to confess to God?

Prayer: Dear God, help us to be quick to confess our sins. Thank you for your promise to restore.