Nehemiah 2:17-18 “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. [18] 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.”
Spiritual vision in life is the God-given ability to see the world around us – not as it is today – but as it could be in the future. Vision is the ability to see the potential in people and situations that others do not yet see, and the courage to believe that through God’s power that potential can be realized.
The Word of God informs us that having God-given vision in life is what fills our lives with a sense of purpose and meaning; and without that vision, we will ultimately perish. Proverbs 29:18 says that “where there is no vision, the people perish…”
In life, there are two types of individuals: those who walk by faith, and those who walk by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). Those who walk by sight must see in order to believe, while those who walk by faith believe in order to see.[1]
That is why David said in Psalm 27:13 “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” When he penned those words, it was during a time of great distress (the rebellion of Absalom his son), and certainly, there was no good to be seen.
However, by faith, David “believed to see the goodness of the LORD.” He believed that one day soon, God’s goodness would again be seen in his life; so, he chose for the present to “believe to see” in order that others would one day be able to “see and believe.”
This is what Nehemiah was doing when he, by faith, left the Persian court and journeyed across the Middle Eastern world to the city of Jerusalem.
By God’s grace, he would be the one who would “believe to see” so that the remnant of his people, as well as the nations around them, could one day “see to believe.”
If it seems that Nehemiah was able to see “further” than others in his day, it was no doubt because (as Sir Isaac Newton would later observe) he “stood upon the shoulders” of the many “giants” of the faith who had preceded him and left their examples for him to follow and emulate.
Nehemiah’s spiritual vision was strengthened by the examples of men like Joshua (who led God’s people into Canaan to possess their promised land) and Gideon (who, though timid and afraid, was used of God to defeat the Midianites in battle with only three hundred men).
The Old Testament scriptures, which Nehemiah had available to him in that day, would also have provided a record of the lives of men like Jonathan (who attacked a fortified garrison of Philistines with only his armorbearer at his side) and great leaders like David (who faced the giant, Goliath, alone in the Valley of Ellah and went on to be Israel’s greatest king).
From the examples of these individuals and many others, Nehemiah was able to learn the principles of faith and courage that would one day come to define his own legacy.
In the final verses of chapter 2, we see the steps of faith which Nehemiah took as he developed his God-given vision for the tasks which lay ahead.
Embarking on the Journey
When Nehemiah received the permission and authority of the Persian king to undertake the rebuilding of the wall, he saw this as a validation of the commission he had been given by the King of kings to undertake this great work. Therefore, he did not hesitate or delay; but instead, immediately made the necessary arrangements to begin his journey and accomplish his task.
Nehemiah had prayed, he had planned, and he had prepared; now it was time for him to step out by faith and begin! As Nehemiah left the king’s palace in Sushan and headed west toward the city of Jerusalem, he embarked on the greatest journey of his life trusting that the “good hand” of His God would be with him, leading and guiding him all along the way.[2]
Verse 9 tells us that when Nehemiah “came to the governors beyond the river” he presented them with “the king’s letters.” These letters of authority from Artaxerxes, accompanied by the retinue of imperial “horsemen” that the king had sent along with Nehemiah for protection, soon got the attention of the local rulers, who before this time knew nothing of Nehemiah or his purpose in coming to Jerusalem.
Arousing the Enemy
Although his coming to Judea must have aroused excitement and curiosity among the Jews living in the region, verse 10 makes it clear that not everyone was happy to hear of Nehemiah’s arrival.
Nehemiah 2:10 “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.”
The Devil’s crowd is never happy when a dedicated servant of the Lord comes to accomplish a spiritual work among God’s people. There were a few ringleaders of this anti-God and anti-Jewish faction that we should take a moment to point out, for we will hear again from them later on in the book.
We are first introduced to Sanballat the Horonite, who was from the city of Beth Horan (which was located about 12 miles from Jerusalem).[3] From what we learn about him in subsequent chapters, he apparently held a position of influence in Samaria. He would later become the chief antagonist who would work to hinder Nehemiah in his work.
Next is Tobiah the Ammonite. The Ammonites were the age-old enemies of God’s people who, along with the Moabites, were cursed by God in Deuteronomy 23:3-4 for refusing to help His people when they were entering the land of Canaan. Tobiah would prove an especially difficult adversary for Nehemiah, because of his intimate connections with the Jewish people.
According to Nehemiah 6:17-19 Tobia was related by marriage to many of the Jewish leaders, and he also had several friends in high places, including Eliashib the high priest (Nehemiah 14:4).
A third adversary is introduced in Nehemiah 2:19 named Geshem the Arabian (also referred to as Gashmu). As an enemy of God’s people, he joined Sanballat and Tobiah in mocking Nehemiah and working to hinder the work of rebuilding the wall.
Before Nehemiah had even arrived in Jerusalem, the enemies of the Lord were already beginning to gather themselves together in opposition to the work. But Nehemiah was not disheartened by this, for he knew that “the good hand of [his] God” was upon him, and he would ultimately succeed.
When God’s hand is upon us, we can be quite certain that Satan’s hand will be against us. How comforting it is to know that God’s hand is much mightier than Satan’s. Ethan the Ezrahite said of God’s hand in Psalm 89:13, “Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand…”
Evaluating the Situation
We can only imagine Nehemiah’s initial response when he saw the ruined skyline of Jerusalem. Over the past four months, there had not been a day or a night that he had not thought about and prayed for the city of his fathers; and now, for what was probably the first time in his life, he looked upon the terrible scene which more resembled a refugee camp than a once royal capital of the Jewish people. His brother, Hanani, had described the desolation with words, but Nehemiah now saw things firsthand for the first time, and there was a lot to take in.
Before telling any of the Jewish rulers or the people why he had come, Nehemiah first took three days to evaluate the situation. Nehemiah 2:11 “So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.” He arose by night, along with some of his faithful retinue, and took a detailed survey of the ruins, perhaps so as not to arouse the suspicions of the people who were wondering who he was and why he had come. Nehemiah may also have done so in order to conceal his intentions from his enemies who were no doubt observing his every move.
Nehemiah 2:12 “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.”
As Nehemiah made his way through the rubble to survey the walls, he soon found his way impassable due to the debris which blocked his way. In verse 14 Nehemiah said that when he arrived at the gate of the fountain “there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.”
This did not keep Nehemiah from completing his inspection of the walls, however; for when he could no longer ride his beast, he simply dismounted and continued his survey on foot. Nehemiah 2:15 “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.”
Nehemiah 2:16 “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.” Nehemiah was already beginning to display the qualities of leadership that God equipped him with by wisely seeking to gather information and learn all he could about the situation before he announced his intentions to the people and began the work.
Verses 11-16 reveal to us that Nehemiah prayed and worked and planned while others slept, which is all a part of the sacrifices a leader must be willing to make in order to seek the mind of God and make the right decisions.
Like all good leaders, Nehemiah realized that his decisions would not just affect him – they would affect all of the people who followed him. Therefore, he wanted to be certain to make the right ones. We would be wise to follow his example in our own lives.
Exhorting the People
After Nehemiah had done his homework by surveying the city and seeking the mind of the Lord, he was now ready to share his vision with the people and get them involved in the work.
Nehemiah 2:17 “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.”
In exhorting the people, Nehemiah was first truthful in pointing out the problems. He did not sugarcoat things. They were in great “distress” and the city did lie in “waste” and the gates thereof were “burned with fire.”
He also identified himself with the people by using the pronouns “we” and “us,” instead of “you” and “they.” In this way, he let them know that their problems were also his problems.
Then, most importantly of all, Nehemiah pointed out the solution to their problems; and that was the Lord their God. In verse 18 he gave witness to the fact that God was already working on their behalf.
Nehemiah 2:18 “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.”
After Nehemiah had addressed the obstacles that faced them and pointed the remnant Jews to the Lord Who would enable them to overcome these obstacles, Nehemiah then proceeded to challenge the people to “rise up and build” (verse 18).
Like Caleb and Joshua before him, Nehemiah was able to acknowledge the problems he faced while at the same time keeping them in perspective with the power of the Lord. Thankfully, the remnant Jews in Nehemiah’s day responded with more faith to the challenge of their leader than the Israelites did in Caleb and Joshua’s day. At the end of verse 18, we are told that the people “strengthened their hands for this good work.”
Addressing the Critics
It has been said that the only way to avoid criticism in life is to “be nothing, say nothing, and do nothing.” Nehemiah certainly learned this firsthand after being in Judea for less than a week, for no sooner had Nehemiah finished revealing his reasons for coming to Jerusalem and sharing his vision of what he believed God was leading him to do, then the critics began to raise their voices in opposition to the work.
Nehemiah 2:19 “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 criticism and ridicule that Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem raised against Nehemiah and the people who were rallying to help him was meant to derail the work before it even got underway. Their mockery was not simply idle jesting or careless fun at the expense of others, but rather it stemmed from their deep-seated animosity toward the Jewish people.
Verse 19 reveals to us that these men and their allies “scorn[ed]” and “despised” the Jews, and now they were venting that hatred toward Nehemiah, the newly arrived leader of the Jewish people in the land.
Their criticism also contained serious accusations of rebellion against the king. This of course was not true, for Nehemiah was acting under the full authority of Artaxerxes when he made the journey from Shushan to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah responded to the criticism and mockery of Sanballat and his company of naysayers by stating clearly in verse 20 just Who it was they served and what He had commanded them to accomplish. Nehemiah 2:20b “…The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build.”
Nehemiah was letting both friends and foes know that his purpose in coming to Jerusalem was to rebuild the wall, and the power in which he would accomplish this task came from “the God of heaven” – therefore, he would “arise and build.”
Nehemiah also went on to make it known to the mocking trio of intriguers that they were not going to be permitted to have any part in the work and that the work would go on despite their opposition and treacherous designs. In the later part of Nehemiah 2:20 he told them plainly, “…ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah was no doubt aware of the fact that many years earlier when the second temple was being constructed, the non-Jewish people who offered to help in the work only did so with the purpose of hindering and frustrating the work.
Ezra 4:4-5a “Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, [5] And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose.”
Perhaps this helped to influence his wise decision to let Sanballat and the others know, right from the start, that this would not be a repeat performance of the mistakes made by earlier Jewish leaders. Nehemiah, as we shall later see, was a man of conviction and not compromise.
Once Nehemiah had responded to the initial criticism of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem by stating his purpose in coming and his plans moving forward, Nehemiah then turned his attention from them to the work at hand. And this became his consuming focus for the next 52 days!
[1] This thought comes from a message preached by Dr. Jeff Fugate during the 2018 National Church Growth Conference.
[2] The journey from Sushan (Susa) to Jerusalem was over 800 miles in length and took approximately 4 months to complete.
[3] The city of Beth Horan is also spoken of in I Kings 9:17 and II Chronicles 8:59.
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