Nehemiah - A Spiritual Leadership Course

It's interesting that when you think of the Bible, maybe you don't think it's something too modern.

You have a lot of teachers that give you leadership classes, and you can pay very expensive training for it. But it's interesting that in the Old Testament, we have a book that you could virtually say is a spiritual course on leadership. And this applies for young people, as well as for old, for our own problems and how to solve them. He has to be one of my favorite characters in the Bible, and yet it's not that well known. His name is Nehemiah, and he actually wrote one of the books of the Bible called Nehemiah. And basically, he wrote it in first person as memoirs of what he had gone through when he, as an older man, had to step up to the plate and be used by God to save Israel at that time, just like Queen Esther had done as well. And so, Nehemiah is such an interesting personage that I personally have as a model, and it has to do with the type of leadership that both men and women should apply, because these principles are timeless. So, the book bearing this name, Nehemiah, tells us how against tremendous odds he accomplished incredible achievements. Now, the book of Nehemiah comes at the end of the Old Testament, as far as chronology goes.

You know, after Nehemiah, no one else continues. There's a period of about 400 years that are called the silent years, where God does not inspire any more messages, because you have some of the prophets like Micah and Malachi and Zechariah. They're all during that period of time of Nehemiah and Ezra as well. And so, there's this period, technically it's called the intertestamental period, from the year around 400 BC to 4 BC, around the time when Christ was born.

And then also, we have the first prophet that appears, John the Baptist. So, that's a continuation of the prophets. But this was the last period in the Old Testament. And at the time that Nehemiah lived, he was quite a colorful character, because as in many of these empires, just like Daniel and his three companions rose up to be some of the top leaders in what was the Babylonian Empire. And also Joseph before became the number two in Egypt under the Pharaoh. So, Nehemiah, when he writes this, he has actually become the third in the Persian kingdom after the king.

And he mentions in the first chapter, let's go there, in a very modest way. He says in verse one, the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hekaliah, it came to pass in the month of Chisliv in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan, the citadel. And so this was one of the three main capitals of the Persian Empire, which was enormous. And Shushan has actually been discovered.

It's called Susa today. It's in the area of Iran. And it's one of the great palaces and cities that have been excavated. That's where they found their famous code of Hammurabi, that great pillar, or steely, what they call with the laws inscribed.

That was in Susa. And so we know it's quite accurate what the Bible is saying. And then in verse two, it says that Hanani, one of my brethren, was one of the brothers of Nehemiah, came with men from Judea and asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And so he asked about it, because although he was this very powerful official, basically in the Assyrian Empire, there were found some tablets that gave the salaries of the top officials. And the first one, under the king, was the prime minister. The second one was the chief of the army, of the king.

And the third one was the cup bearer. And you have there how much he was being paid. And guess what? Nehemiah was the cup bearer to this king, Artaxerxes, as it's mentioned in chapter two, verse one. It says, and it came to pass in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king.

And he was the wine bearer. And it wasn't just giving the wine, he was actually the head of the security of the entire palace, because he had to make sure nobody was poisoning the king. And so he was one of the intimate men of the king, because after all, he was the one that gave the king the wine, had to check everything out.

And Nehemiah had been doing this for quite a number of years. And so when he asked, going back to chapter one, he asked about how are they in Jerusalem? He says, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are turned burned with fire.

And so here was basically 90 years since the time when the Jews originally came from the Persian Empire under Sarababel, and we have that information in the book of Ezra, and how they did build up the temple, but that was it. It was more like a shrine that people would go to, because the city was completely in ruins. And Ezra had arrived about 15 years before, and Nehemiah thought, well, things should be going along well.

And so when he got this information from his brother, it says in verse four, so it was when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. So he hadn't changed to a Persian religion. He had been born in that era in Persia, but he was still a true follower of God, even at that high position. And so I want to share with you in this sermon seven leadership qualities of Nehemiah that can help us in our daily struggles, for its applications are timeless.

This topic is so vast that I will need two sermons to properly cover it. So this is part two of covering the first four of these qualities or attributes. The first leadership quality of Nehemiah, as we see at the beginning, he had a very close personal relationship with God.

That's where his spiritual strength came from, just like with us. If we're not close to God, our spiritual strength is getting weaker and weaker. We have to go to the source in prayer to renew ourselves spiritually, day by day. This is what Nehemiah had done. It's remarkable. Some people think, well, people in the world, you can't expect them to accept you because you're in the church. Well, that's not the case at all. We have a lot of good qualities. We should be some of the best workers and dedicated and let our shine light shine by what we do. And that was Nehemiah.

And so what did he do? Well, first of all, he went to God.

He asked himself, where are the promises of that Messiah that one day was going to be born in the environs of Jerusalem? How can the Messiah come if everything is broken down and everything is surrounded with enemies and the people don't even have a nation to speak of?

And so he prayed to God. He said in verse 5, and I said, I prayed, Lord God of heaven, oh great and awesome God, you who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments.

It's always the principle of doing God's will. He says, 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. You see, all of these, the way we should come before God with respect, with humility. He says, we have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which you commanded your servant Moses. Remember, I pray the word that you commanded your servant Moses saying, if you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the nations. 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. Now these are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. Oh 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. I was the king's cup bearer. So sometimes you just happen to be in the position where it's up to you to step up to the plate. And here was Nehemiah had a very comfortable life and all the privileges and now he had to give that up to save his people because he was in the position to do so just like Queen Esther had done before. And so we see here about that prayer that we should also apply.

It contains several important principles. First, he presented himself respectfully before God, always hallow God's name, which means honor, respect, praise. He did not begin by asking anything for himself. He came humbly before God and praised him. Next, he confessed his negligence and imperfections and those of his people. Then he reminded God of his mercy and favor toward those who repent and obey him. Finally, he offered a petition that was according to the will of God. He asked for favor in the eyes of the king so he could go to Jerusalem and help rebuild the walls and the government.

So one man was going to make the difference at this time.

And so what happened when he went before the king?

It says in verse 1, and it came to pass in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes. This was the sixth in the line of Persian kings from the time of Cyrus to here.

When wine was being served before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before, which was very dangerous to do because there are always different schemes and plots to kill the king. And here's this trusted man, and he doesn't look happy.

And of course the king asked him, why is your face sad since you are not sick?

This is nothing but sorrow of the heart. So I became dreadfully afraid. Other words he knew. Next couple of words could mean his life or death.

And so he said to the king, may the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies waste and its gates are burned with fire?

So he'd been preparing four months from the time he started praying and fasting until when was the right time to do it? And then the king said to me, what do you request? He didn't shied him, he didn't insult him.

God gave Nehemiah favor before the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven. So again, very close relationship that he had. 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 father's tombs, that I may rebuild it.

Now this was a very dangerous thing because that king had stopped some years ago when Ezra had gotten there, he stopped the rebuilding project. But now the king was in a good humor and also respected Nehemiah. 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 sent him a time. It's very interesting again how Nehemiah works here because he was a very experienced person. He knew how to be diplomatic. He knew the timing of things. Sometimes you can do the right thing at the wrong time or the wrong thing at the right time. Whatever it is, it's not going to work. But he knew he had that very moment, just a few minutes of a busy and egoistic king's life. And so he goes on to mention this second quality. He was very resourceful. He had done his homework. Well, when I go before the king, if he grants it, am I ready to take that opportunity to let him know everything that I need? Or is it something that I just say, well let me go to Judah? And the king says, well how are you going to do it? Where? What? How? No, he was ready.

So he mentions here in verse 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, beyond here the Euphrates, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Jerusalem. That was the first thing that he knew, proper permits that Nehemiah did not have. Verse 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, or the city, which pertains to the temple for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy. And the king granted them to him according to the good hand of my God upon me. So he knew God intervened.

And so then I went to the governors in the region beyond the river. There was a lot of bureaucracy in those days too. You better have permits. You better know who to talk to. And gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. So that was another additional protection. And then, of course, the Gentiles around Jerusalem, when they heard this was happening, one of them was Sambalath, the Hornite, and Tobiah the Ammonite officials heard of it. They were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. So it's almost like Satan, right? Anytime you want to do something, there's always opposition. And so Nehemiah was not going to have an easy time of it. But again, Nehemiah was very resourceful. And it says in verse 11, So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. So he was a new governor. He had the backing of the king. They looked at him, well, another one of these Persian officials with a Jewish background.

They just care about the king's interests, not so much ours. And so he spent three days. It was very tight-lipped, very obliging, graceful, but not talking about very much. Why? Because he really didn't know, didn't have a plan. So resourcefulness means you have to have a plan that is defined. And so then in verse 12, it says, then I arose in the night.

That's a good time. If you don't want to be seen, to be kept solitary and alone, where he can check things out. 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. And I went out by night through the valley gate to the serpent well and the refuge gate and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool. Remember how beautiful it had been in the time of Solomon? Well, all that had been destroyed. And there was no room for the animal under me to pass it, just pure ruins. 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. 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. And so he found the right time to talk. 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 know, one of the key little words there is, let us. Because the rest of the governors would say, well, you want to do it. Fine. Get your stuff. They've been trying for 90 years. They had not been able to build the walls.

But he included himself. Oh, the government of the Persians and the governor are backing us. And so the people got so enthusiastic. First time they had hope.

And I told them of the hand of my God, which had been good upon me, and also 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 do this good work. But when Bala, Hurnite, Tobias, saw all of these Gentiles, they were furious. And Gesham the Arab, so nothing new under the sun, heard of it. They laughed at me and despised us and said, what is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king? Are you going to go against the king's orders? Well, they didn't know that Nehemiah had gotten a new decree to do so.

So I answered 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. You're still pagan people and we can't trust you. We're going to do it according to the will of God. And so here's a moment, the stroke of genius, that in just those few days that he had been walking around, he built a strategy to solve the problem. He knew that if he just lose to people trying to build things in a haphazard way, it would have just gotten frustration and all kinds of wrong and negative attitudes. But what he did is he actually had a contest and he said, I'm going to divide these walls according to the families of those that are here. And guess what?

Each section is going to be named for that family. And so you will forever, as long as these walls last. And this is in Scripture. So the names of these families are still engraved today, what they did. And so in chapter 3, it says, then Eliasib, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priest, and built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred and consecrated it. Then as far as the Tower of Hennenau.

And so the first one he said, guess what? The high priest had the chance to build where the gate, the main gate of the city is at. You're going to be part of those people that will build it. And so the next Scriptures you have here, and I have them written, I'm 41 different tribes, families, clans of people. And it just talks about each one. Let's see how good you can do it in comparison to the rest of them. There was one group, the 17th group in verse 12, that it says next to him was Shelem, the son of Halosheth, leader of half the district of Jerusalem. He and his daughters made repairs. So I have something in common with Hennenau.

I just have daughters, but boy, they get things done too, you know. And so whatever it is, in verse 5, you have the aristocracy, the pampered Jews, upper class. He's next to them was the coitus made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord. So here you have pampered, lazy, rich, and they didn't help out. So that's in the Bible. I'd like to have your family name that way.

So let's go to chapter 4, where we come to the third quality that Nehemiah had. He was humble and set a personal example, participating in the hard work. Notice in Nehemiah 4 in verse 21, it says, so we labored in the work. He had a section of the wall. So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. So of course, the guards had to be there to protect from all the terrorists that were around that area. At the same time, I also said to the people, let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day. So neither I, my brethren, his family, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, took off our clothes except that everyone took them off for washing. So he was lifting the timbers. He was lifting the boulders. This man who had been pampered and he didn't just supervise. No, he got his hands down and dirty, as they say. So of course, nobody could say this person just commands but doesn't get his hands dirty. No, he also worked very hard at it.

And so, work began very enthusiastically, but the old and new adversaries appeared, including Sambalat, who began to ridicule the Jews' efforts before his brethren and the army of Samaria.

So notice what it says in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 2. It says about Sambalat. It says, and he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned?

And now, Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall. And so, of course, you're always going to have opposition. That's why if you hear negative things, you just have to accept, take what's good out of it, and discard the rest. Because Nehemiah was that man. He'd been in the palace. He'd been dealing with so many issues that when he came here, he knew how to deal with these men. He didn't let them discourage them at all. Him. Notice in Nehemiah 4 verse 4. So, what did Nehemiah do when these adversaries were attacking and saying, you're not going to amount to anything, this is not going to work? So he went to God. He prayed. He said, here, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them, as plunder, to a land of captivity. So God says he will avenge. Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they have provoked you to anger before the building and the builders. And so, says Nehemiah, we built the wall.

The entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

With a leader like that, it's very easy to do your part. And so, just like we have here, Lee Lisman, and we've talked about that time his father, Dr. Lisman, who gave a speech in Speech Club, here in the church, Garden Grove, maybe 15 years ago, Van Lisman. And he said, when I was in World War II, I was in a cruiser, a big ship, and when I entered it, someone, one of the sailors said, oh, welcome. You are in a sad, this is an unhappy ship. And he said, well, what's going on? And so, he got in, and sure enough, people were not happy. There was a lot of disgruntled attitudes. And then he said he found out why. Because the captain was that way. He was unhappy. He would bark out orders and just always getting down on the men. And then he said three months later, he was put on another great cruiser, same type of ship. And he came aboard, and one of the sailors said, welcome. You're in a happy ship. And why? Because the captain and his men, they were happy.

They were courteous. They respected the men. And the men felt great. Well, this is the same type of thing. Here, they're building, bloodying their hands, doing this, but, oh, look at Nehemiah go. Look at him. And he's happy. And God is with him. And we're going to get this done. So, they got to the point where the wall was halfway. But they had more opposition. And so, in verse 9, he says, nevertheless, we made our prayer to our God, and made our prayer to our God. And because of them, we set a watch against them day and night. So, he prayed and acted. In other words, there's a part that God does, but there's another part that we have to do. God is not going to do everything for us. He's not going to put angels where we need to be guarding and doing our part.

And so then, this is the last point. Nehemiah showed constant courage and set a personal example.

Notice in Nehemiah 4 verse 14.

He says, and I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. And again, he would step up to the plate time and time again.

He said in Nehemiah 4 16.

So it was from that time on that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor, and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction and with the other hand held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. So again, Nehemiah made sure he was not negligent.

We go on to Nehemiah chapter 5 verse 4.

It says, there were also those who said there was a famine of all things. It wasn't just the surrounding enemies. Now you had a drought that came, and I'm sure Nehemiah was praying about it, but he didn't get discouraged. Sometimes there are going to be droughts in our lives. There are going to be tests, but God is there with us. It says in verse 3, there were also some who said, we have mortgaged our lands, our vineyards, and houses that we might buy grain because of the famine.

There were also those who said we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. They had to pay tribute. That's called property taxes today. Yet now, our flesh, it says the flesh of our brethren, our children, as their children. Indeed, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of the daughters have been brought up in slavery. So the situation had become explosive. If Nehemiah mishandled this problem, the poorer people would likely revolt against the more wealthy ones and destroy the national unity he had built up and the rebuilding project. Nehemiah could have sided with the rich and influential and simply beat the people down by force of arms. But since he truly feared God, he did not act that way, but as a godly servant leader. This is what he did in chapter 5 in verse 6. He says, And I became very angry when I heard their outcry of the people. He had empathy. He suffered with them.

And these words, and after serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and the rulers and said to them, each of you is exacting usury, which is excess interest. So I called a great assembly against them. And I said to them, according to our ability, we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren, or should they be sold to us? Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. They were embarrassed. Then I said, what you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? I also with my brethren and my servants am lending them money and grain.

Please let us stop this usury. Restore now to them, even this day their lands, their vineyards, and their olive groves, and their houses also a hundredth of the money, and the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you have charged them. So they said, what? We will restore it, and will require nothing from them. We will do as you say. His example was so great it changed the whole attitude. Then I called the priests and required an oath from them that they should do according to the promise. He wanted a commitment, and then he threatened them. Verse 13, and then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, so may God shake out each man from his house and from his property who does not perform this promise, even thus may be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said, amen. And praise the Lord, then the people did according to the promise. So again, he stopped this revolt, with his humility, with his example.

And then it says here as I end this part, in verse 14, moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year until the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes, 12 years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor's provisions. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides 40 checkles of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so. Why? Because of the fear of God. Indeed, I also continued to work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work, and at my table were 150 Jews and rulers besides those who came to us from the nations around us. Now that was what was prepared, and he mentions all of this.

Yet in spite of this, I did not demand the governor's provisions because the bondage was heavy on this people. And then he says, remember me, my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people. Why he did it, he wanted God's mercy on him. And so what a character we have in the Bible. We just covered four of those characteristics, but I hope these principles will help all of us. And remember, we have a great God, and we have a great work to do, just like Nehemiah had in his day. So let's not have doubts, not have fears, but remember, as he said, remember me, oh God, and your mercy by the works that we are doing.