A man who had come to promote the welfare (2)

[Nehemiah 2:6-10]

In the book “Rut, Rot, or Revival” written by Pastor A. W. Tozer, he talks about “the greatest enemy of Christians” (Ch. 1). He describes it as three progressive stages of religious decay:

The first step is the mechanical state.

This is a repetition of a religious activity without any feeling. Without meaning, without admiration, without any happy surprise or anticipation, just repeating the religious activity.

The second stage is the habitual state.

If we go one step further from the mechanical state, we arrive at what we will call the habitual state. This is a state of enslavement to mechanical conditions. Spiritually speaking, the habitual state is the bondage of the mechanical state. But the greatest danger of the habitual state is that we are incapable of detecting or feeling this conditioned state.

The third stage is corruption.

The church is always plagued by inward corruption. The best description of a corrupted state would be a state in which spiritual austerity sets in, a state in which people no longer expect anything new because they lack the ability to foresee better things or the desire to grow. When people in a church say that the church progresses when others change, but they themselves do nothing. This is a clear indication that the church has entered a state of inward decay. This is evidence of three sins: self-righteousness, criticism, and complacency (Tozer).

A church with members in this state is like a cemetery. The whole church is in a state of habit. In other words, routine rules church members. There is no growth and there is no atmosphere of unpredictability. There are no expectations. You can foretell what will happen next week. You can even foretell what will happen next month. This is because the past has become the master that determines our present appearance, and the present has become the ruler that determines our future. How about our church? Isn't the church like a cemetery in which the whole church is in a state of habit? Are you a community where you habitually go to church on Sundays without any expectations because you can predict everything? Or is our church, as those who experience the unpredictable works of the Holy Spirit, a community that seizes the opportunity given by prayer, expectation, and waiting for the Lord to build our church and serves with excitement and faith? Those who pray, like Nehemiah, expect. He goes to God with sorrow in his heart for the great and unpredictable work of the great God, and makes a desire in his heart. And he waits in anticipation for God's unpredictable work.

Nehemiah, a man of prayer and a man of prosperity, seized the opportunity given by God while praying with sorrow in his heart and spoke his heart's desire to King Artaxerxes. Today, I would like to receive God's grace while thinking about the plans and actions of Nehemiah's heart under the title of “A man who had come to promote the welfare (2).”

First, let's consider the plan of the heart.

Look at Nehemiah 2:6 – “Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, ‘How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?’ It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.” Pastor John White said this in his book “Excellent Leadership”: ‘Prayer is where planning begins. Our primary goal in prayer is not to receive great power, but to discover what God wants. A plan that begins with prayer and is made with prayer is much better than a plan that is simply later backed up by prayer. God's plan, revealed to those who wait for Him, cannot fail to come true’ (White). But what about our prayers? I think there are two extremes. One extreme is those who plan without praying. Another extreme group is those who pray hard but have no plan (Lee). If we pray hard to rely on God, why don't we make a plan? There are 3 reasons:

The first reason is that we do not discover what God wants in the midst of prayer.

In other words, we pray to find God's will, but we cannot make a plan because we cannot find God's will.

The second reason is that they think it is wrong to make plans while praying to God with faith.

In other words, if we have prayed to God in faith, we should leave it to God and we should not do this or that.

The third reason is that while praying to God, we pray without dedication and determination to take on the responsibility of prayer like Nehemiah.

Nehemiah, who wanted to take on the responsibility of prayer, prayed for about 4 months and was making plans in front of God in his own way.

One truth we need to keep in mind here is 1 Corinthians 14:40 – “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” Our God is a God of order. Therefore, in the midst of the goal of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem like Nehemiah, he planned in advance how to achieve that goal during prayer, showing his orderliness. We should not pray blindly and then remain in a daze, but seek God's will in prayer and do our best to make plans. Then, what was the plan of Nehemiah's heart? They were 4 things:

Nehemiah approached the best time to approach King Artaxerxes.

If you look at Nehemiah 2:6, the Bible says, “Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, ....” Why is the Bible saying this? In Persia, the queen rarely attended official functions (White). But now, when Nehemiah approached the king, it was when the queen was with the king. So, it can be seen that Nehemiah approached the king in an informal situation, not an official one, that is, a friendly and private situation.

Nehemiah deliberately showed the king a sad countenance at the best of times.

How do we know this? In Nehemiah 1:2-4, from the time Nehemiah heard the news of Judah for the first time, Nehemiah must have been sad to hear about the situation in his homeland. I wonder if he showed a sad face to the king after 4 months in verse 1. Why did he suddenly show a sad face to the king after 4 months? It is clear that Nehemiah deliberately showed her sad countenance in order to tell the king of his wishes from the friendly atmosphere of the queen and the king as she waited for God's opportunity in her prayer (2:2).

Nehemiah set a deadline in his heart.

When King Artaxerxes asked Nehemiah, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” (2:6), Nehemiah's answer was, “so I set a time.” He didn't just give a random answer. For example, “I have to go to know. I will stay as the Lord wishes and come back.’ Would this word have worked with the king?

Nehemiah specifically told the king what he wanted.

It was none other than “letters”. What decree did Nehemiah request from King Artaxerxes? It's 2 letters.

It was a letter that allowed Nehemiah and the Jews to pass through to Judah.

Look at Nehemiah 2:7 – “I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?” Nehemiah expected the enemies (Ezra 4:9-10; 5:3) on the 800-mile journey from Medo-Persia to Judah, where he was staying, and the king gave permission to the governors west of the Euphrates to go to Judah. It was a request for a letter.

It was a letter to give the beam timber to Nehemiah.

Look at Nehemiah 2:8a – “And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy? …” The second requested by Nehemiah is a letter from Asaph, the king's forest manager, allowing Asaph to give him the timbers needed to rebuild the gates and the city wall of Jerusalem and for his house.

How thorough was this plan? Nehemiah prayed to God for four months and made a plan in his heart. In the midst of that, he waited for God's time or an opportunity given to him. When the opportunity came, he boldly petitioned King Artaxerxes for a decree regarding receiving help from officials and even material aid. What did Nehemiah experience as a result of soliciting the letters from King Artaxerxes? He experienced God's gracious hand helping him (v. 8). Nehemiah, who experienced the mighty hand of the Lord (1:10), experienced the gracious hand of God (2:8). These words remind me of Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” I also remember the first half of Psalm 34:8 – “Taste and see that the Lord is good ….”

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” While praying for four months, Nehemiah had a thorough plan in his heart. Nehemiah, who made a plan in his heart while praying with the goal of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, prayed while entrusting even the plan of his heart to God, so God fulfilled His plan. We must keep in mind the words of Proverbs 19:21 – “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”

Second, let's consider the behavior of the heart.

Nehemiah was a man of action. As soon as he obtained the approval of his plan from the king, he not only obtained the necessary supplies and arranged a safe journey, but also made a more detailed plan, put a lot of manpower into operation, and put a vast public works project in front of him and broke it up into small chunks to make it better and ran it. This is in stark contrast to Nehemiah, a godly man of prayer, whom we met earlier. Because right now we see a capable supervisor busy at work (White). We see a man of prayer now appear as a man of action. We see Nehemiah, who waited in silence in prayer and anticipation, working busily to unfold the plan of his heart when given the opportunity. Nehemiah went to Judah. Nehemiah finally left the palace of Susa on the east side of the Euphrates River and headed for Judah on the west side of the Euphrates River. And he came to the governors of Trans-Euphrates (Neh. 2:9). At that time, Nehemiah delivered to them the letter that he demanded from King Artaxerxes [“If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?” (v. 7)]. Interestingly, King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah not only the letters he requested, but also sent army officers and cavalry with Nehemiah which he did not ask for (v. 9). The reason was not only to protect Nehemiah, but also to show that he was the one whom King Artaxerxes was delighted to honor. That is why, of all the king's servants, even the governors west of the river had to respect Nehemiah.

Nehemiah's actions were not without obstacles. There was a crowd against him. Look at Nehemiah 2:10 – “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” Here, Nehemiah's two adversaries come out as he rebuilds the city of Jerusalem. In verse 19, another adversary appears. Among these three, the main character was “Sanballat the Horonite.” His name is a Babylonian name, which means 'god (the moon god) gives life'. Nehemiah's adversaries referred to him as the man who had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites. In other words, they saw Nehemiah as someone who set a goal and tried to put it into action. So, they were “very much disturbed” (v. 10). So, they began to devise their own plans from then on how to keep Nehemiah from accomplishing his purpose. Therefore, it seems that they wanted to continuously control Judah. 37 years after this incident, Sanballat is said to be the ‘governor of Samaria’ in an ancient document. Looking at this, it seems that Nehemiah's opponents, especially Sanballat, who was the leading figure, opposed Nehemiah out of jealousy, fearing that Nehemiah would come to Judah under their control and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and take away the initiative.

For those who pray or those who promote other people’s welfare, ‘Opposition is Opportunity.’ What kind of opportunity is it? It is an opportunity to pray. It is an opportunity to reexamine God's will or goal. It is also an opportunity to test our patience or endurance. And it is an opportunity to experience the power of Christ. Pastor James Packer said: ‘Our prayers determine the quality of our work, just as our work reflects the quality of our prayers’ (Packer). As we prepare for the work of the Lord, we must make plans in our hearts while praying. If there is an evangelism meeting, we must plan how to reach out to the newly born believer and lead him to the church evangelism meeting while interceding for the soul of the newly born believer we have in our hearts. While praying for the church evangelism meeting, we must do our best to make plans for the heavenly banquet. We should start putting the plans of our hearts into action. We must personally approach the newly born believer and prepare for the evangelism meeting on a church level basis.