Nehemiah's Character

Nehemiah 2:1-20.

Distressed Nehemiah- the situation in Jerusalem is weighing him down. His heart is gloomy and this is reflected on his face. He is unaware that he is looking gloomy even as he is approaching his master. What breaks my heart this way? (When a freind could not believe that we are declared not guilty forever when we believe in Christ, yet it is written all over the Bible. When another friend last week chose unbelief intentionally- rejecting the love of God, he turned his back to the truth, “I want to remain as I am.”)

Dependent Nehemiah- its amazing to note that when the king asks him, “what is it that you want?” Nehemiah prays a short prayer and then responds to the Emperor. He trusts God for utterance, for Wisdom, for guidance in speech. His prayer life is outstanding- shows dependence, and God is dependable.

Courageous Nehemiah-He articulates what he wants.

Favoured Nehemiah- The Emperor gave me all I asked for, because God was with me. It is because God..!!!! It’s because God was with me. There is no other way of explaining this, no other way to look at it. The emperor goes ahead and gives him army officers to go with him. It reminds me of the prayer of Jabez- “Let your hand be with me.”

Strategic Nehemiah- He sees the whole picture and the details in between. He asks for letters of passage, the provision for materials vs 7-8.

Fact finding Nehemiah- On arrival, he does not call a meeting immediately, in fact he waits 3 days. Then he journeys around the wall at night- this is tact. He now has the facts, the facts he needs when it comes to dividing the labour. This helps him not to underestimate the task… he needs this information.

Vision casting Nehemiah-vs 17-18 he casts the vision to the people and motivates them. In it he articulates the issue, “See what trouble we are in because Jerusalem is in ruins and its gates are destroyed…” The solution, “Lets rebuild the city walls” Then he paints the picture of the future, “and put an end to our disgrace.”  Then he goes ahead to encourage and motivate the people to action. “And I told them how God had been with me and helped me, and what the emperor had said to me.”This is motivational- it showed the people that it is doable… the vision is not beyond reach. In this he is also building a team- the priests, the leaders, and the officials. Vs 16.

The result- people are motivated and ready to work. “They responded, “Lets start rebuilding!” and they got ready to start the work.

Opposition- Sanballat, Tobias and Geshem at first are indignant when they hear someone is thinking of the welfare of Israelites. Then they start with a threat, “What do you think you are doing? Are you going to rebel against the emperor?”

Confident Nehemiah- The firmness and the confidence of Nehemiah is hinged on his knowledge of God. “The God of heaven will give us success. We are his servants, and we are going to start building.” He tells these guys off. “You have no right to any property in Jerusalem and you have no share in its traditions.”

Wow, what a leadership and the evidence of God’s hand with Nehemiah.