Nehemiah 2:1–8

Four months had passed since he offered the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1. He is careful to give us the dates. In the month Chislev (our November) he had prayed; and in the month Nisan (our March) the answer came. Through that whole period, man of faith though he was, he must have waited on God in daily expectation. He could not foresee how the answer would come; but he knew that God could step in when and how He would... It is in this way God both tests and strengthens the faith of His people. He waits while they wait. But if He waits, it is only to bring His people into fuller dependence on Himself, and so to prepare their hearts for the blessing He is about to give.

Hanani had visited his brother Nehemiah in the month Chislev, the ninth month. Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year. How many prayers he must have offered up during those months! How patiently he waited for the Lord's time!

Suppose Nehemiah's sorrow had been only for outward misfortunes — the loss of possessions or any natural thing here below. Then his tears and gloom would all have disappeared in the presence of the Lord. But the presence of the Lord deepened them. The more he went before God and weighed the state of the Jews in Jerusalem, the more grieved he was... Nehemiah was in no way delivered from sadness by his prayer... There was confidence in going to God, and at the same time there was still the deep sense of the ruin.

The chapter opens with Nehemiah busy in the duties of his office as the king's cup-bearer. He "took up the wine and gave it to the king." But his heart was on other things. It was weighed down by the unspeakable sorrow of his people's condition. Wine and sadness do not go together. Scripture tells us that wine makes a man's heart merry. So the king could not bear it when his cup-bearer wore a sorrowful face at such a moment. It spoiled his own pleasure.

The king's cup-bearer of those days had to be a man of integrity. He had to make sure that nothing undesirable or poisonous got into the king's wine. The news he had just received had affected him so deeply that his sorrow showed in his face. Noticing it, the king was of course suspicious and asked what had made him sorrowful.

Fasting and sorrow had left their mark on his face. No one was allowed to appear before the king with a sad face... but God used this very thing to put words into the king's mouth that would give Nehemiah an opening for his request. God answers our prayers with miracles like this. They are so much a part of daily Christian life that we hardly notice them. Looking carefully, everything is a miracle in God's ways toward us. He turns aside certain dangers. He arranges certain meetings and prevents others. He gives us certain opportunities and closes certain paths to us.

We can fix the date of the command to rebuild Jerusalem exactly. Nehemiah 2:1 states it clearly: the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of the reign of king Artaxerxes. Count four hundred and eighty-three years from then. A prophetic year is three hundred and sixty days, its established length. That makes 173,880 days. The count brings us to the tenth of the month Nisan... the very time when Christ entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt.

Four months had passed since he had offered the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1... He could not foresee how the answer would come; but he knew that God could step in when and how He would... It is in this way God both tries and strengthens the faith of His people. He waits while they wait. But if He waits, it is only to bring His people into fuller dependence on Himself. That prepares their hearts more fully for the blessing He is about to give. And when He steps in, it is often as quiet and unseen as it was here. Only the eye of faith can detect His presence.

If his grief had been only about outward troubles — the loss of possessions, or anything else in this life — his tears and gloom would all have disappeared in the presence of the Lord. Instead, the presence of the Lord deepened them. The more he went before God and weighed the state of the Jews in Jerusalem, the more grieved he was... Nehemiah was in no way delivered from sadness by his prayer. There was confidence in going to God, but at the same time there was still the deep sense of the ruin.

He took up the wine and gave it to the king, but his mind was on other things. The terrible sorrow of his people's condition weighed his heart down. But wine and sadness do not go together. Scripture tells us that wine makes a man's heart glad. So the king could not bear his cup-bearer wearing a sad face at such a time. It destroyed his own pleasure.

Nehemiah's attitude came from a heart drawn out toward the condition of what was precious to God. The king could see that this was something deeper than a physical problem, for he says, "You are not sick." It went much deeper. What Nehemiah had heard about the interests of God in Jerusalem had burdened and troubled his spirit.

Nehemiah tells us honestly how afraid he was, for it might have cost him his life. The king might have suspected treason. He might have suspected some dark plot, and that Nehemiah's conscience was at work. All sorts of things might have come into his mind as he tried to explain the unusual gloom on his servant's face.

The king was angry... Nehemiah might well have been afraid, for in such a mood Artaxerxes, the Persian king, could have had him executed on the spot. But though he was afraid, God kept his presence of mind.

He gives our hearts liberty to decide the character of our communion with Him. Let it be, He says, according to your condition. "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise." This is not the way of a master or a patron. The patron's pleasure or mood must set the tone of the scene around him. It was dangerous to spoil the presence of the Persian king with sadness. There was danger of death if one had a heavy face there... But God's presence gives room to the heart and its conditions, whatever they may be.

Suppose his trouble had been only outward: the loss of property, or any other natural thing here below. Then his tears and gloom would have all disappeared in the presence of the Lord. But the presence of the Lord deepened them. The more he went before God and weighed the state of the Jews in Jerusalem, the more grieved he was... Nehemiah was in no way delivered from sadness by his prayer. There was confidence in going to God, but at the same time there was still the deep sense of the ruin.

Wine and sadness do not go together. Scripture tells us that wine makes a man's heart merry. The king could not bear to have his cup-bearer wear a sad face at such a time. It destroyed his own pleasure... The king therefore was angry... "Then," says Nehemiah, "I was very much afraid." And well he might have been. In such a mood, Artaxerxes might have sent him out to be executed at once. But though he was afraid, God kept him calm. Out of the fullness of his heart, God led him to tell the plain truth about why he was sad.

He emphasises "the place of my fathers' graves"; he does not say the place of my fathers' achievements. One generation had followed another on God's own land. Nehemiah seems to say that this is the place where he ought to be, keeping up what they kept up when they were there.

Along with this exercise of his spirit towards God, Nehemiah's heart was alive to his brothers. In deep affection, and in that eloquence that comes fresh from the heart and its promptings, he calls Jerusalem "the city of his fathers' tombs." All this presents to us a very attractive person.

Our work does not consist only in raising up the wall: we must also work on the gates. The enemy knew very well what he was doing when he burned the gates of Jerusalem with fire. The gates of a city are just as important as the wall, and even more so. Gates can open to let the people of the city come and go. They can also shut out anything foreign, sinful, contagious or criminal that tries to settle inside the city.

Nehemiah's prayer was answered after he had mourned for days — that is, about four months. Fasting and sorrow had left their mark on his face. No one was allowed to appear before the king with a sad face. But God used this very thing to put words into the king's mouth, and those words gave Nehemiah his chance to ask. Such miracles come in answer to our prayers. They are so much a part of daily Christian life that we hardly notice them.

Suppose we satisfy ourselves only with the mercies the Lord shows us. That would be just like Nehemiah blessing God for what he enjoyed in the great king's palace. He would be content without a thought, without a care, without a tear and without a prayer for the people of God. But not so. Of everything on earth, his whole heart was set on them. He grieved because that people of God was now falling short of what was due to His glory here below.

Here is what I want to show — how truly it is a question of faith. "Then the king said to me, 'What are you requesting?'" What does he do? Does he make a request to the king? No, he makes his request to God. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." It is not that he does not tell the king. But even at that moment, in the presence of the king himself, his heart was toward the Lord. No wonder he got his request. No wonder God listened and heard, and he could take it as from Him. Why? Because he prayed to the Lord first.

The record is, first, "So I prayed to the God of heaven," and then, "I said to the king…" God first, and the king second. This silent prayer must have shot up to heaven in two or three seconds, quite unknown to the king or anybody else. Heaven answered it just as fast, so the request he made was the right one, and it met with a favourable answer.

Here we have a prayer offered in the interval between the king's question and Nehemiah's reply. It must have been brief. Eastern kings were not in the habit of waiting long for their cupbearers to answer them. But there was time enough for the prayer to rise and for help to come. The case was urgent and the relief was instant.

When the king asks, "What are you requesting?", Nehemiah does not reply at once. He first lifts his heart to God, and God puts into his heart what he should say to the king. That is like what the Lord said: "And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:11-12).

Most would have hurried to answer the king. They would have concluded that since he had stooped to ask the question, he was bound to grant the favour. Not so Nehemiah, and this brings out a special trait in him. … Before he answered his master he cast himself upon his God. He acknowledges that he depends on God for wisdom to say the right thing. He shows the special mark that another has called "a heart that habitually turned to God." We might well seek the same grace… When this is the case, the presence of God will be more real to us than the presence of men.

God gave up Judah to the Gentiles for turning away from Him, as He had given up Israel before. He pronounced the sentence of Lo-ammi (not my people). He then stopped acting as God of the earth, the Jehovah of His people. As "God of the heavens" He granted world rule for a time to the four Gentile empires that followed.

We have little idea today of the splendour and greatness of that monarchy, but it was not this visible greatness that filled Nehemiah's mind — it was the God of heaven. He recognised that however great and important the circumstances around him were, it was the heavens that rule, and he was in conscious touch with the God of heaven.

At once Nehemiah recognises that the king's ready agreement was the result of the good hand of God. … We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge His goodness when they are met. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

"The king said to me, 'What are you requesting?'" What does he do? Does he make his request to the king? No, he makes his request to God. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." It is not that he fails to tell the king. But even at that very moment, standing before the king himself, his heart was toward the Lord. No wonder he got his request. No wonder God listened and heard, and he could take it as from Him. Why? Because he prayed to the Lord first.

Here we have a prayer offered in the interval between the king's question and Nehemiah's reply. The interval must have been brief. Eastern kings were not in the habit of waiting long for their cupbearers to answer them. But there was time enough for the prayer to ascend and for help to come. The case was urgent and the relief was instantaneous.

He emphasizes "the place of my fathers' tombs"; he does not say the place of my fathers' achievements. Generation had followed generation on divine territory. Nehemiah seems to say that this is the place where he ought to be, keeping up what they kept up when they were there.

He did not say to the king, the place where my fathers have sinned. Before the king he speaks of divine territory; before God he says, "Both I and my father's house have sinned."

The city was clearly before Nehemiah. He had carried this burden for months. Is it not interesting and challenging that, when challenged about it, he could speak of it so clearly? He knew exactly what he wanted. He was not vague about the concern he carried. He could put four months of that concern into one sentence and say what he desired.

Nehemiah intended to act. He would not only pray and leave it there. He did not pray that God would send someone to Jerusalem to help the suffering remnant. Since he knew and felt the sorrow of their condition, he considered he was the man to go. Though Artaxerxes was king, Nehemiah considered him simply a man in whose heart God could work as easily as in any man.

This decree applied to the building of the city and its defences (B.C. 445). In the twentieth year of his reign, Artaxerxes gave letters, or warrants, to Nehemiah, allowing him to build the city of his "fathers' tombs." In this "word" of the Persian king lay the appointed sign that the seventy weeks of Daniel were beginning.

At once Nehemiah recognises that the ready compliance of the king was the result of the good hand of God. Before he asked, Nehemiah had turned to God. Now that the king has granted his request, he acknowledges the good hand of God. We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God when they are met. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

Four months had passed since he had offered the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1. He is careful to give us the dates. In the month Chislev, which is our November, he had prayed. In the month Nisan, our March, the answer came. During this period, man of faith as he was, he must have waited in daily expectation upon God. He could not foresee how the answer would come; but he knew that God could intervene when and how He would... It is in this way God both tries and strengthens the faith of His people. He waits while they wait. But if He waits, it is only to shut His people up to fuller dependence on Himself. So He prepares their hearts for the blessing He is about to give. And when He steps in, it is often, as in this case, in such a quiet and unseen way — unseen by all but the eye of faith — that it takes faith to detect His presence.

What does he do? Does he make a request to the king? No, he makes request to God. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." He does tell the king. But at that very moment, in the king's own presence, his heart was toward the Lord. No wonder he got his request. No wonder that God listened and heard, and he could take it as from Him. Why? Because he prayed to the Lord first.

What moved the king's mind is hidden from us. It is hidden so that we may see more clearly that, whatever it was, the power of God controlled him, in answer to Nehemiah's brief and sudden prayer.

The queen was sitting with the king at that moment. The king asked how long Nehemiah planned to be away, and then granted his request at once. Nehemiah saw his opportunity — the opportunity God had given him. Strengthened by his faith, he grew bolder and dared to ask for royal letters... His aims were exact and clear: to restore the fortress that protected the temple, to rebuild the city walls, and to build a house fit for his own office.

The king made no objection. But he asked how long Nehemiah would need for the work, because he wanted him back. Nehemiah set him a time. We are not told what it was, and Nehemiah records nothing about his later return to Shushan. The wall was rebuilt in the short space of 52 days, however (ch. 6:15).

Nehemiah had to return to put an end to this misuse of holy things. While these things were going on, he was with the king at Shushan, because his leave of absence had expired. But when he returned, a situation like this could not escape him. Although everyone else tolerated it, Nehemiah could not.

At once Nehemiah recognises that the ready compliance of the king was the result of the good hand of God... We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God when He meets them. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

The king invited Nehemiah to make a request, and he asked respectfully to be allowed to go to Jerusalem with the king's authority to rebuild it. That authority would come in letters — one to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, and others to the governors beyond the river. The river here is almost certainly the Euphrates, so these governors ruled the lands toward Palestine. We are not told what moved the king's mind. That silence lets us see more clearly that, whatever the reasons were, it was the power of God that controlled him, in answer to Nehemiah's short and sudden prayer.

Nehemiah saw his opportunity — the opportunity God had given him — and his faith made him bolder. He dared to ask for royal letters "to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah"… His aims were exact and clearly defined: to restore the fortress that protected the temple, to rebuild the city walls, and to build a house suitable for himself as he carried out his duties.

The answer to this question comes at the end of verse eight: "And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me." The request was in line with God's wisdom. The resources were in the king's hand, but God was behind it all.

When Nehemiah made the same journey some years later, captains of the army and horsemen went with him. His faith was not as active, though his heart was truly set on the Lord's interests. How much better to trust in the Lord than in a strength you can see!

Notice an important difference between Ezra and Nehemiah, one that still puts no blame on Nehemiah. In Ezra, faith alone is at work. He was "ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way" (Ezra 8:22). Nehemiah, by contrast, puts himself under the protection of the governors on the other side of the river… He leans on the power he serves, not because he lacks faith, but because in such low times faith no longer shows itself with the same simplicity… Nehemiah was alone, and his mission would not begin until he reached Jerusalem. Until then he had to recognise and accept that he depended on the Gentile power.

When "Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian" said with scorn, "What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?", the striking thing is that Nehemiah does not fall back on the king's authority. He falls back on God Himself. He could have said, "See these letters I have from the king." Instead he said, "The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we His servants will arise and build."

Nehemiah saw his opportunity — the opportunity God had given him. Strengthened by his faith, he grew bolder, and dared to ask for royal letters to the governors beyond the river... and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest. His aims were precise and clear: to restore the fortress that protected the temple, to rebuild the walls of the city, and to build a house fit for himself in his office... Before God he had poured out the desires of his heart — desires which God Himself had produced. He had looked to God for guidance and strength while he stood in front of the king. Now God showed that He had taken up His servant's cause.

It seems that the more exact translation of this word would be "fortress". This may have been the well-known fortress connected with the temple. Under Roman rule it was later called the tower of Antonia.

The palace would perhaps refer to what we would call the Town Hall. The house, of course, was the place of worship. The walls would safeguard both.

In verse 8 Nehemiah says, "That he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace". David lived in a very different day from this. When he was collecting material for the house of God, the first thing he had in mind was the doors. "Nails for the doors of the house". It seems to be an important point that the gates, or doors, should be set up in their right position.

There is much detail between the two statements "I prayed to the God of heaven" and "The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me". Nehemiah recognized where his resources were. He also recognized that God, in His sovereignty, used the secular power to give them to him. Nehemiah did not ask for them from the secular power, he asked of God, and he recognized that they came from God.

Before he asked, Nehemiah had turned to God. Now that the king has granted his request, he acknowledges the good hand of God. We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties, and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God once He has met them. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

If He puts within our hearts a desire for any service — a service for His glory — He will surely open the way to it before us. If our minds are really set on His work, He will enable us to do it in His own way and time. The door may seem closed and barred; but if we wait on Him "who opens and no one shuts," we will find that it suddenly opens to us.

Nehemiah was an official in the king's court. He clearly did not have the spiritual education and understanding that Ezra had as a priest, devoted to the law of his God. Yet both could speak in the same way of "the good hand of my God upon me." If the heart is right, God will guide and support His servant, whatever the measure of his intelligence and faith.