Nehemiah
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NEHEMIAH 2
NEHEMIAH 2
(1) And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the
twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was
before him:
and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king.
Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Artaxerxes was son of Xerxes and stepson of Esther.
Artaxerxes ruled from about 465-423 BC. During his reign ,
the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah were written .
(2-3) Wherefore the king said unto me,
Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not
sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.
Then I was very sore afraid,
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever:
why should not my countenance be sad, when the city,
the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste,
and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Nehemiah was wise. He was diplomatic. Nehemiah knew
the Lord is the Giver of life .It is the Lord God who allows
a person to live forever. Nehemiah was faithful to
the Lord in his praise to this man.
(4) Then the king said unto me,
For what dost thou make request?
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven for guidance
in making his plan. Nehemiah wanted to God's will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. What was God's will
for Nehemiah ? What kind of request should Nehemiah ask
this man, the king ?
Nehemiah lifted his heart in petition to the Lord
when he talked to this man, the king Artaxeres.
(5-6) And I said unto the king, If it please the king,
and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight,
that thou wouldest send me unto Judah,
unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres,
that I may build it.
And the king said unto me,
(the queen also sitting by him,)
For how long shall thy journey be?
and when wilt thou return?
So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
The queen also was involved in the favourable decision.
Nehemiah would not have mention the queen if she didn't have
a part in the king's decision. She may be responsible
for the favourable decision.
The king granted Nehemiah according to the good hand of
Nehemiah's God.
(7-8) Moreover I said unto the king,
If it please the king, let letters be given me to the
governors beyond the river, that they may convey
me over till I come into Judah;
And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the
king's forest, that he may give me timber to make
beams for the gates of the palace which
appertained to the house, and for the wall of
the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.
And the king granted me, according to the
good hand of my God upon me.
Nehemiah recognized the source of this
blessing was from the Lord.
The king was in God's hand to grant Nehemiah ,
according to the will of God.
(9) Then I came to the governors beyond the river,
and gave them the king's letters.
Now the king had sent captains of the
army and horsemen with me.
Nehemiah was not harmed because he
was accompanied by Perisan soldiers with royal letters.
(10) When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah
the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved
them exceedingly that there was come a man
to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Sanballat was the governor of Samaria.
The governor was an enemy of the Jews
He was a threat to the work of Nehemiah.
He was upset exceedingly because
Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
(11-12) So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me;
neither told I any man what my God had put in my
heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any
beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
Nehemiah went about the city of Jerusalem at night. Nehemiah
did everything in secret.
The rulers knew not whither he went or what he did.
Nehemiah inspected Jerusalem in preparation to rebuilt it.
(13-16) And I went out by night by the gate of the valley,
even before the dragon well, and to the dung port,
and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were
broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed
with fire.
Then I went on to the gate of the fountain,
and to the king's pool:
but there was no place for the beast that was
under me to pass.
Then went I up in the night by the brook,
and viewed the wall, and turned back,
and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
And the rulers knew not whither I went,
or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews,
nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers,
nor to the rest that did the work.
(17-18) Then said I unto them,
Ye see the distress that we are in,
how Jerusalem lieth waste,
and the gates thereof are burned with fire:
come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem,
that we be no more a reproach.
Then I told them of the hand of my God
which was good upon me;
as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me.
And they said, Let us rise up and build.
So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
Jerusalem lay in waste. They were in a distressful
situation.
The Lord was with Nehemiah. The people strengthened
their hands for the good work of building the wall.
(19) But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah
the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian,
heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us,
and said, What is this thing that ye do?
will ye rebel against the king?
The enemy uses different methods to discourage you.
The first method the enemy usually uses is ridicule.
The devil uses people like Sanballat the Horonite, and
Tobiah , the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian.
(20) Then answered I them, and said unto them,
The God of heaven, he will prosper us;
therefore we his servants will arise and build:
but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial,
in Jerusalem.
Nehemiah
chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13