Success in Action

, let me invite you to, turn in your Bibles this morning to Nehemiah. chapter 2. Nehemiah chapter 2, we're gonna try to look at a sizable chunk of chapter 2 this morning. Nehemiah 2, if you want to give a title to the message, it would be, successful in action.

Successful in, action. It's interesting as we're reading through Ezra and through, Nehemiah, the occasions where we're encountering the Hebrew word for, success. two weeks ago, we looked at Ezra 6:14. Where we saw that the people of Judah were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah.

And we see that word successful there. Last week, we listened in on Nehemiah as he prayed to God and Nehemiah one and said, I beseech you, Lord, make your servant successful today. And there's that word successful again. Today, we're going to see at the end of Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah is 900 miles away from where he has been.

He's in Jerusalem by the end of the chapter, and he says to his enemies, the God of heaven will give us success. Therefore, we, his servants will arise and build. And of course, he's talking about the building of the walls that Mike spoke about earlier in our service. The Nehemiah of Nehemiah 2:20 has come a long, long way from where he was in the early verses of Nehemiah chapter 1.

He's actually already at this point of the book, a transformed man. Prior to Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 4, it seems that Nehemiah is pretty happy with his life. He is content. And quite comfortable serving as the cupbearer or the butler to the king, and he's loving his job.

He's got a cush job in plush surroundings working as a cupbearer to the most powerful man on the planet. What would there be not to love about his circumstances as the Book of Nehemiah opens? But Nehemiah in chapter one gets a visit from one of his brothers and from some others. who are visiting from Jerusalem, and Nehemiah made the mistake, quote unquote, of asking them, how are the Jews doing in Jerusalem?

Who escaped the captivity. How are, how is Jerusalem? He asks that question and they give him the news that the people of Judah are in great distress and reproach, and they tell him that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire. Nehemiah is shattered by this news, and his life will never be the same after receiving this news.

In fact, quite literally, he goes into a deep depression. It says in Nehemiah 1:4, it says, now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. He also stopped eating and began fasting the day that he heard this news, and he began to pray. And when you put the pieces together, he prayed for 4 months, day and night.

Look at the language that he uses while describing his prayer. He says to God, let your ear now be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant, which I am praying before you now, day and night. He was praying this prayer repeatedly, mourning and weeping and fasting over this period of time, and we know that he did this. He prayed for 4 months, day and night, and we studied this prayer that he was praying over this length of time last Sunday.

Ultimately, at the end of the prayer, Nehemiah prays and he asked God to make him successful before the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, and giving him what he needs to perhaps influence the king in the direction that would serve God's purposes for the benefit of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Well, he prayed this prayer for 4 months before his opportunity comes about. And when his moment of opportunity came about, Nehemiah was not expecting it at all. In fact, he has caught so much off guard that he says in verse 2 of Nehemiah 2 that his initial reaction was that he was very much afraid, literally very abundantly afraid.

That's what he says. So there's a thing called being afraid, right? And then there's being abundantly afraid. And then there's being very abundantly afraid.

Nehemiah says that's what I was feeling when my moment of opportunity. Came. He was not expecting it when it came about. But even though his heart was full of dreadful fear in this moment of opportunity, Nehemiah spoke up.

God gave to him a boldness in this moment. He overcame his fear and he waxed bold before the king. And what, after that moment of fear, Nehemiah never looked back. There's nowhere else in the book of Nehemiah where it's ever said that Nehemiah is afraid.

Again Nehemiah made some bold request to the king, and he ended up getting more than what he asked for, and by the end of chapter 2, he has uprooted himself and traveled 900 miles to Jerusalem. He has delivered a speech to the people of Jerusalem and rallied them to the work of building the walls of Jerusalem, and by the end of the chapter, he is staring into the faces of Israel's enemies and talking smack with them, full of confidence as he speaks with, with them. He speaks the way, by the end of the chapter, the way that confident people do.

And where his boldness came from?

He wasn't necessarily a bold man. But he got his boldness from God. Look at the language you find in Nehemiah 2. He says in verse 4, so I pray to the God of heaven, verse 8, because the good hand of my God was upon me.

Verse 12, what my God was putting in my mind to do. Verse 18, the hand of my God had been favorable to me. Verse 20, the God of heaven will give us success. Nehemiah was bold because he knew that God was accessible to him.

He knew that God was with him. He knew that the plan that he was seeking to execute was God's plan that God had given to him, and he knew that because this is God's plan, God will give us success. And that's where his boldness came from. What we're gonna do this morning is try to go through the chapter and we're gonna observe 5 acts of Nehemiah.

5 bold acts of Nehemiah in getting the work. Of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem up and, and going. 5 acts. Act number 1, and we see this beginning in verse 1, as he explained or he confessed his burden to the king.

At the God-ordained time, at the proper moment, he didn't rush into this as soon as he heard the news, he didn't rush into the presence of the king and make requests. No, he prayed literally for 4 months before the opportunity came, and he knew that it was the right moment. But when that moment came, he didn't lag behind God. He confessed his burden.

To the king At the time of God's choosing. Look at what the text says beginning in verse one. Says, and it came about in the month of Nissan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had not been sad in his presence.

verse 2, so the king said to me, why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart. Then I was very much afraid. And I said to the king, let the king live forever.

Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire. Just a few things to point out here. first of all, Nehemiah says at the beginning of chapter 2, and it happened that there's a grammatical connection between chapter 2 and chapter 1. At the end of chapter one, Nehemiah is praying and he's making requests before God that God would give him success before the king, and then Nehemiah says, and then it happened that He wants us to know that what unfolds in Nehemiah 2 is his prayer being answered.

The events of chapter 2 flow from his praying over this 4 month period. Nehemiah also indicates that it is the month of Nissan, which is 4 months after the month of Kislev. In the Jewish calendar, and Kislev is mentioned in chapter one. That's when Nehemiah heard the news, and now 4 months have gone by and his moment of opportunity arrives.

Notice also that Nehemiah tells us that he had not been sad in the king's presence over this length of time. This is actually a remarkable thing to learn here. It means that prior to this day, That Nehemiah is describing in chapter 2, Nehemiah had shown no hint of sadness in the king's presence. That's remarkable because we know that he's been weeping.

And mourning and fasting and praying, his heart is devastated, and yet over that four month period he never had been sad in the king's presence. He apparently was able to put aside his sadness and put on a brave face as he served the king. just a quick note, there are some people who think that if you're sad, well then be authentic and let the world know you're sad. If you're sad and you're hurting, then It's fake and it's dishonest to put on a happy face before others when in fact you are sad.

This may sometimes actually be true, but it's not always true. Sometimes it's just a matter of loving other people and setting your sadness aside for the moment and esteeming others more important. Then your sadness and serving them the way that Nehemiah does the king. He apparently was able to serve the king well by putting his sadness aside as he served him, but on this particular day, Nehemiah, there's every indication he was trying to continue to do that.

But he failed. He could not conceal his sadness. He had been praying for 4 months. He is broken and depressed.

His heart has not become more joyful as he's prayed, but his heart has actually become more sad over the state of the people of Judah, and he's done his best to hide his sadness, but the king on this day sees. In Nehemiah's countenance that he is indeed sad. And so the king says to Nehemiah, why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.

The only reason the king would ask this is because this is unusual. Apparently, Nehemiah didn't show up at work every day with a sad face. The king notices on this day and finds it unusual. And asked Nehemiah about it.

Nehemiah's response in verse 2 says, then I became very much afraid. Literally, I became very abundantly afraid. His fear tells us that he was not walking around with a mopey face, hoping that the king would notice. We do that, don't we?

Anybody? Raise your hand. I can't see you anyway cause the lighting on the stage, so you're safe. OK.

No, sometimes we do this. We'll mope around and hope that someone will say, what's wrong? Why are you sad when you're not physically ill? This is sadness of heart.

Have I done something? And when someone asks that question, we, our hearts leap for joy in that moment. Nehemiah was mortified. He was not trying to get the king to ask.

About his sadness of heart, but the king perceives it and wants to know the reason why. Nehemiah, immediately upon hearing this question from the king, is afraid. Why is he afraid? Two reasons he's afraid.

Number 1, because it's his job to be happy in the presence of the king. The king did not want unhappy people in his presence. It made the king look bad when those who worked for him were unhappy. The king could fire Nehemiah for being unhappy in his presence if he felt so inclined, he could have him killed or banished for this.

But there's another reason, and I think a deeper reason. That explains why Nehemiah was very afraid. It's less obvious in this particular text, but commentators will rightly point this out. Part of Nehemiah's fear in this moment comes from the fact that he knows that he is very unhappy about circumstances.

that the king himself has caused. By his own decree. If you read Ezra chapter 4, verse 7 through 23, there's a little story that is told there that chronologically is out of order. You may have noticed this when you were reading through Ezra.

The story that is found in Ezra chapter 4, verses 7 through 23 fits in between chronologically, the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 1, the book begins in the 20th year of the King Artaxerxes, the 20th year. The event described in Ezra 47 through 23 is some event that happened prior to that point during the reign of King Artaxerxes. And when you read that in Ezra 4, you learn that there were some Jews that actually had began to work on the walls of the city trying to revitalize the city.

And restore the walls, and some people complained to the king about it and basically sent a letter to the king and said, you better watch out for these people. Once their walls are rebuilt and they are finished doing what they want to do in this city, they're going to be a real headache for you. They have been historically to other kings. You do not want them to finish this project that they are working on.

The king Artaxerxes allows himself by this letter to be manipulated into delivering a decree that the work be stopped. In response to that decree. the enemies of Judah step in and by force of arms, they forced the Jews to stop working on the walls and doing any work in the city and revitalizing the city. and it was probably at that time that some of the work that had been done was dismantled and some of the gates were burned with fire and there was nothing that the Jews.

could do about it to rebuild what was destroyed. And this is the news that Nehemiah is hearing about in Nehemiah chapter one. And it's very distressing to Nehemiah, and even now that the king's like, why are you sad? Nehemiah's like, what do I say?

The king does not know this. But his own decree has brought about circumstances that make me very sad. To experience the sadness and the depression that he's now asking me the reason for. If the king is going to insist on an answer from Nehemiah, Nehemiah is going to need a lot of boldness to fully open up and basically say the real reason for his sadness.

But even though Nehemiah was mortified and very abundantly afraid, He speaks and he confesses the cause of his sadness. Look at what the text says in verse 3. He says, then I said to the king, let the king live forever, why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire. Nehemiah is afraid but he opens up his heart here, he says to the king, let the king live forever.

He's like, I have nothing against you, King, I want you to prosper in every way. If you could live forever, I would want that for you, that's how much I am for you, O king. But then he tells the king, I have no choice but to be broken and sad over the condition of Jerusalem. This is true courage on display.

Courage is not the absence of fear. True courage is stepping up and doing the right thing in spite of the fears that may rage inside of you as they do Nehemiah. Nehemiah was broken. He was discouraged.

He was depressed. Trying to hide. That in his countenance, but the king perceives his sad countenance, asks about it, Nehemiah is afraid, but he confesses the cause of his unhappiness to the king. That leads to a second act of Nehemiah that brings The narrative closer to the Jews stepping up and beginning the work of building the walls of Jerusalem, and that is he asked and obtained from the king permission to return and to rebuild.

He asked and he obtained from the king permission to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild. Look at what the text says, verse 4, then the king said to me, what would you request? And Nehemiah says, so I prayed. To the God of heaven.

I love this. The king says, what would you request? This is an amazing thing for the king to ask, yet it provides no assurance to Nehemiah that the king will actually grant whatever Nehemiah would ask. This is a hugely pivotal moment in the narrative for Nehemiah.

He knows what he would like to ask in this situation, but what is the right thing to ask? In this circumstance, should I ask for just a little? So that the king won't be offended, but then I would risk not getting everything that I should have asked for and that the people of Israel need, or should I be bold and ask for everything from the king and risk angering the king and getting nothing from him. What do I do?

What do I do? What would you do in this moment? What would you request? The king asked.

Well, as John Piper says, and I love this, when great leaders don't know what to do, they know what to do about not knowing what to do. They pray, and that's what Nehemiah does here. He says, so I prayed to the God of heaven. This seems like a quick and silent prayer, probably something along the lines of, oh God, please help me.

That he prays in his heart. He knows enough to be cautious and prayerful. He's been praying for 4 months, and he could have, when the king said, what would you request? Nehemiah could have said, thank you, Lord, for this opportunity.

I'll take it from here. No, Nehemiah is like, I, I still need to be so dependent upon my God. I so want to get this right now that this opportunity has come about that I have been praying for, and so he prays in his heart silently to God, saying, God, you brought about this moment. Thank you.

I have the opportunity, I prayed for, for 4 months, but please help me. To be wise and to not blow this. Help me to be your servant and to do what you want me to do. May that be what comes out of my mouth.

This is a quick silent prayer. No words would have been spoken out loud. Some people call this the arrow prayer. A silent arrow prayer shot up into the sky, pleading quickly for help from God.

You can pray. These kinds of arrow prayers effectively when you've been praying continuously the way Nehemiah has over the last 4 months. So Nehemiah prays a quick prayer, and then he speaks, verse 5. Then I said to the king, if it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, Send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs that I may rebuild it.

Wow. This is the king who ordered all the building to stop. At an earlier point, and now Nehemiah is asking this very king to send him to Judah. So that he can do the very building that the king earlier decreed should not be allowed to happen.

This is an incredibly bold request. And look at the king's response, verse 6. Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, How long will your journey be and when will you return? How exciting this must be for Nehemiah.

The king is not offended, he's not angry. Instead, he just asked the question, how long will your journey be? When, when will you be coming back? That speaks volumes, right?

That right there tells Nehemiah that the king is planning on letting him go, but he just wants to know when Nehemiah will return. Ultimately, Nehemiah is going to be gone 12 years. He gives the king a definite time and so look at the king's decision here. The king's decision in verse 6, it says, so it pleased the king to send me and I gave him a definite time.

This was not a reluctant decision on the part of the king. He was pleasured to do this for Nehemiah. Obviously he thought a lot of Nehemiah. And obviously God is turning the king's heart to go in a different direction than it had gone earlier.

And the king not only made this decision, but he was pleased to make this decision to send Nehemiah, to send him, not just allow him, but I, I send you to Jerusalem to do the rebuilding that is needed. Well, Nehemiah could have stopped there. He's getting more than anyone would have predicted, but he presses his request. It's evident he's been thinking about this long and hard.

While he's been praying about this over the last 4 months, God has been seasoning him and bringing different insights and needs. Like if I were to go back, what would I need in order to be able to, for traveling and what would I need in order to do the rebuilding? And so Nehemiah presses his request and does a third. Thing.

This is the 3rd act of Nehemiah, and that is he asked and obtained from the king the resources needed to return and rebuild. Look at verse 7. Nehemiah says, and I said to the king, if it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the river that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah. I know you're sending me, but I, I'm gonna need letters so that I can show those letters to anyone in the regions I am passing through so that they will allow me safe passage all the way to Jerusalem.

And then when I get there, I'm gonna need materials to do the building. So look at what he says in verse 8, and a letter. Give me King, a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress, which is by the temple for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go. thank you for sending me, King, but I need materials, and so can you give me letters to ASAP, the keeper of the King's resources, so that I can have the materials that I need to do the rebuilding that you now, King, are sending me to do.

Look at what the king does, says in verse 8, and the king granted them to me. He said, sure, you can have whatever you're asking for. I will give you these letters and look at Nehemiah's reason why, because the good hand of my God. Was upon me Nehemiah gives credit to God.

He doesn't say, I got everything I asked for because it was just my lucky day. As fate would have it, or the gods favored me. Or the universe was aligned in my favor. He doesn't even attribute his success to himself.

Hey, I'm a good negotiator. I had endeared myself to the King because I'm just a good cupbearer. King told me the other day I was the best cupbearer he's ever had. And, I waited for the right moment and I worded things just right.

I was watching the king closely and, and I asked just the right thing and I got what I needed from the king. Wow, Nehemiah, you are a great negotiator. That's not the way Nehemiah talks, and he wouldn't want us to give him any credit. He says, I got what I asked for because the good hand of my God was upon me.

God's power in that moment was upon me. Working in a favorable way to empower me to say the right thing and working in the heart of the King in order that the King would give me everything that I asked for. In fact, when you read verse 9, the king not only gave to Nehemiah what he asked for, but he gave him more than what he asked for. In verse 9, Nehemiah says the king sent with me officers of the army.

And horsemen. Nehemiah never asked for that, but the king said, what, I'll give you more than letters. I'll give you some of my troops to travel with you. Even though you didn't ask for it.

And with these letters and with these troops that are now traveling with Nehemiah, everyone would know that Nehemiah, this is not just something he's been allowed to do. Anyone who stops him, yeah, the king said I was allowed to do this. No, Nehemiah would say, the king has sent me to do this. This is a mission of the king.

And I am his agent doing his bidding in rebuilding. Jerusalem and the walls of the city. This is a seismic. Turn of events in the heart of the king and in the history of Israel.

And Nehemiah, this trembling man who was very abundantly afraid. Spoke up and was used of God at this pivotal moment in their history. And so verse 9, Nehemiah says, then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the river and I gave them the king's letters. So he leaves the palace, begins his journey, and as he's traveling through these regions, he shows them the letters that authorizes him to pass through those regions and to go to Jerusalem.

And at some point of his journey, he passed through a region. Where Sanbalo and Tobia would have known what he was intending to do. Sanbalot is the governor of Samaria, which lies to the north of Judah, and Tobia is the governor of Ammon, which lay to the east. And so Nehemiah shows them perhaps the letters or they hear wind of this and look at what the text says in verse 10.

Says, and when Sabala, the Horonite and Tobias, the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. They were very upset over this. these men have no jurisdiction over Judah. They're governors of two surrounding areas, yet they're against what Nehemiah has come to do.

The new American standard says it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. The word displeasing is literally the Hebrew word for bad. it's actually the same word that is translated sad earlier in the chapter. And the text says they were very sad.

It was very displeasing to, to them. Literally, it's an interesting play on words. This is how the text reads. It was very bad to them that someone had come to seek the good of the sons of Israel.

Make note of this fact. This is how the devil thinks. This will always be true. The devil hates the people of God.

And if you ever seek the good of the people of God, That will always be very bad to him. You will arouse the displeasure of the enemies of God and the displeasure of the evil one. It will be very displeasing to them. In the mind of Satan, it will always, always be very bad for you to seek the good of God's people.

If you wanna pretty much live your life playing video games and doing no good to anybody, Good news, Satan will leave you alone. Bad news, you're actually already in his clutches, living that way. But if you. Stand up and say, I want to do good to the people of God.

I want to serve the people of God. I want to serve the cause of Christ. You will arouse the wrath of the evil one. It will be very bad to him.

He will be very displeased and he will rise up in opposition against you. You can count on that. Nehemiah could be back at his cush job serving the king of Persia, and these people wouldn't be angry with him, but he's doing the will of God and seeking the good of the people of Israel, and it's very displeasing to the enemies of the people of Israel, the enemies of God. Well, look at what happens next.

Here's the 4th act of Nehemiah as he rallies the people or gets the work of rebuilding the walls up and going, and that is he rallied the Jews to get involved in the work of rebuilding. We're gonna skip over verses 11 through 16. This is where Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem and inspects. The walls and sees where the work is that needs to be done.

If he's going to lead the people in doing this work and solving the problem and mending the brokenness of these walls, then he needs to understand firsthand. The true conditions of the walls and so he's very deliberate in reporting even what he sees in this inspection recorded in chapter 2, verses 11 through 16. And the only thing I want to point out is in verse 12, Nehemiah basically says, I didn't tell anyone at that point what God was putting or literally giving into my mind to do.

In other words, there's clarity unfolding.

Nehemiah is beginning to get a vision of what they are to do, and God is in the process even now of putting that clarity in his mind. This is God's plan that God is putting into his mind and Nehemiah, no doubt in this inspection is just asking the Lord, Lord, give me wisdom, give me wisdom, and God is giving this wisdom, this plan. To Nehemiah with greater and greater clarity, and then once he did this inspection and understood the degree of brokenness, look at what happens next, verse 17.

Say, then I said to them, then I said to the people of Judah, you see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned by fire.

Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a reproach. Verse 18. I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me, and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, let us arise and build, and so they put their hands to the good work.

Notice how Nehemiah begins. He says, you see the bad situation we are in. This is, this is beautiful. I love this.

He points out to them how bad the situation was. You cannot rally people to fix a problem unless they're aware that there is a problem that needs to be fixed. And so he points it out to them, and he's like, you see the bad situation. That we are in, don't you?

Sometimes we need this, we need someone from the outside to come into our life and to say, you see the brokenness here, don't you? An honest searching look is often the first step to transformation, and Nehemiah is helping the people with that, and they're blessed that a man was willing to leave the palace and to travel 900 miles to speak to them and say, you see how bad this situation is. This is how we speak to the world. I'm sure that people, in fact, we know that the people didn't say you traveled all this way to criticize our walls.

You show up here and you're criticizing our walls and talking about how bad they are. How dare you come to us and criticize our walls in this way? They don't respond that way. Nehemiah speaks the truth to them, and they receive that truth.

Part of what makes this a softer blow is his wording. You see the bad situation that we are in. He doesn't say, you see this bad situation that you are in, no, but that we are in. He speaks from a position of long-sightedness.

He's traveled 900 miles and he's come to Jerusalem, and he has made their circumstances his circumstances. Their problem is his problem. And now alongside of them, he's like, guys, look, you see the bad situation that we're all in, and I'm in this with you. Notice he also doesn't say, you see this brokenness that you guys are in, so you guys need to get busy in rebuilding these walls while I make my way back to the king's palace.

I'm here to rally you guys and get you working. That's my job, and then I'm gonna head back to the palace. No, look at what he says. He says, come, come.

Come, in other words, come with me. Let us, you and me, work together to rebuild these walls. Nehemiah did not send the people to the work of rebuilding the walls. He invited them to join him.

In rebuilding these walls. He also doesn't come to them and say, you see these walls, what, I want you to know that I am here to rebuild them. I'm gonna take care of this for you. You guys had your chance.

And you've done nothing about this, so what? Fine, I'm gonna do this and I hope you feel ashamed over your inaction on this project. No, he invites them in. Come, let us, let us build together.

Let us do this together, you and me. Nehemiah then tells them the story of what God had done and how God had given him favor with the king and how he had inquired how things were going in Jerusalem, and he heard the bad news and then he prayed for 4 months and then how God gave him opportunity with the king and how God had asked, or Nehemiah had asked the king for certain things and the king had given those things to Nehemiah. And Nehemiah told them, the reason this happened is because the good hand of God had been favorable to me.

So he's like, I want you guys to know God has been working in bringing this to pass.

God's hand is in this. And so the people respond in verse 18. By saying, let us arise. And build.

And so they put their hands to the good work. They said, let's arise and build, and then they actually carried through and they began to put their hands to this good work. There's work that needs to be done and this is a good work that needs to be done, and we're gonna arise and we're gonna build. Well, Not surprisingly, they face opposition, and that leads to the final act of Nehemiah.

As he gets this work of rebuilding the walls up and going, and that is he defended the work and promised that God would make it successful. He defended the work and promised that God would make it successful. Look at verse 19. Says, but when Sambala, the Horonite and Tobia, the Ammonite official, and Geshem, the Arab heard it.

By the way, what the word Geshem means? One commentator says it means chunky. Like massive, bulky, but one writer likes the translation chunky. So I don't know what that means about, about Geshem, but he is now mentioned along with Sanbalo and Tobiya.

together they opposed Nehemiah and look what they do, they mocked us, he says, and they despised us and they said, what is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Verse 20. So I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven will give us success, therefore we, his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.

We've already learned earlier that Sanbala and Tobiya were very displeased by what Nehemiah was doing, but now we're introduced to Gem. Who is displeased also. They mock Nehemiah and the Jews. In other words, they're finding humor at their expense, and they despise them in the sense of thinking little of them.

What are you in the face of a task like this, and probably embodied in that is despising the task. What is this thing that you are doing as they ridicule the project. And then it's interesting, look at what they, they say. They ask the question, are you rebelling against the king?

They asked this question, guys, because earlier the king had delivered an edict prohibiting work of this nature from happening. That's the old edict recorded for us in Ezra 4 verses 7 through 23. That's the old law. They're ignoring the fact that there is a new law, a new decree that they are to rebuild.

But the enemies of Nehemiah, the enemies of God, they focus on the old edict. And say you're rebelling against the edict of the king. You might look at that and say, well, that's a lame attempt. In trying to oppose and stop Nehemiah and the people of Judah from rebuilding, but what, however lame it is, It's not so lame.

In fact, the devil does this to you and me all the time, and it works. God saves us. He delivers the decree of our justification. Here's a new decree for you.

You are forgiven of all of your sins, and I declare you righteous, and I make you my child, and I bring you into my presence, and you have all of these blessings. And basically the decree is this, we get to open up our New Testaments and read the decrees of our King. It's the new decrees for those who believe in Jesus and become the people of God. We have the documentation in this book.

But no sooner, no sooner do we start walking in the good of these decrees and these blessings. That the devil comes to us and says, God's law says you're condemned. And we're like, oh my goodness, maybe I am. And we grow discouraged.

He comes to us and says, You're not forgiven of your sins. You're under God's wrath. God condemns you. The devil points to the old decrees as if they still stand, and we often in our conscience respond.

By saying This may be true. And we stop believing the gospel decrees, the new decrees that God has given to us. Nehemiah sets a great example for us. He doesn't buy into this lie.

Look at what he says in verse 20. He says, so I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven will give us success. Therefore we, his servants, we're his servants, we will arise and build. But you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah looks at these enemies, Sambalot, Tobia, and Geshem, and he says, you guys, you despise us and think little of us. Let me tell you how I view you. You have no portion or right in Jerusalem. You have no inheritance here.

This is not even a region that you have any governorship over. You have no jurisdiction here whatsoever. There's not one thing here that stands as a marker of your ownership or of your right to be involved in our affairs in any way, shape, or form. To put it succinctly, Nehemiah is saying this is absolutely none of your business, and you have no right and no voice here.

what, what he says to them, I imagine we have that boldness to respond to the devil when he speaks to us and tries to quote the old decrees. Satan, you have no inheritance in any of these things that belong to me and Jesus. You have no rights to any of these things. I am in the kingdom of God and that is outside of your jurisdiction.

You have no governorship over me or over my affairs anymore. I don't belong to you anymore. You have no claim to me. You have no voice with me.

We can learn so much from Nehemiah's example. This is a praying man, prayed for 4 months, and then his opportunity came and with fear and trembling, he spoke with boldness and allowed himself to be used by God and a seismic change occurs. Between the beginning of Nehemiah and at the end of chapter 2, we now see the people of Judah who have arisen and they put their hands to this good work. Of rebuilding the walls of the city.

Let's pray together and Ask God to just breathe into us the spirit of holy boldness that comes directly from God. Lord, we learned so much from Nehemiah's example, but Nehemiah's example, Lord, actually more than anything serves to point us to the one who is greater than Nehemiah, Jesus Christ, who left the comforts of heaven's glories and came into our broken world. With broken down walls and with gates burned with fire. Jesus Christ made request of you, Father, everything that we would need, that he would need, he requested all of that and obtained that from you.

And when Jesus came from heaven to earth, he stood before us. And he said, you see the bad situation that we are in. He spoke the truth, a truth we didn't want to hear. But we would have known better.

We wouldn't have known any different if he didn't come and have the boldness to speak the truth to us about our brokenness and about our need. And when Jesus was threatened, When he was assaulted, insulted, mocked and ridiculed by his enemies, we are so thankful that he didn't back down, but he continued to go to the cross. That he would finish the work and die in our place so that we might have salvation. He went to the cross and he died and he was raised from the dead and he now gives salvation to all who believe in Him.

Lord, we admire Nehemiah, but we admire Jesus more. Touch our hearts and melt our hearts by the greatness of Jesus. Whom Nehemiah's example points to. And help us to be like Jesus and to minister boldly in his name and to seek the good, to seek the welfare of your cause and the cause of the people of God.

Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you, receive these funds and Do much with every penny that is given for the glory of Jesus. We ask all of these things in his name, and all God's people said.