NEHEMIAH CHAPTER TWO COMMENTARY
The Countdown to Messiah the Coming Prince
Contents
II. Nehemiah Chapter Two Commentary Verses
2:1-5 I Pray unto the God of the Heavens
2:6-8 The King Giveth to me According to the Good Hand of my God upon Me
2:9-10 It is Evil to them that a Man hath Come in to Seek Good for the Sons of Israel
2:11-16 I have not Declared what my God is Giving unto my Heart to do for Jerusalem
2:17-20 The God of the Heavens doth Give Prosperity to Us
Figure 1. The Outline of a Prayer God Answered
Figure 2. Nehemiah’s Jerusalem-Sites Locator
Figure 3. The Fertile Crescent
I. Introduction
What a difficult task Nehemiah had before him that he, so tightly tethered to Jehovah God and the things and interests of his God, set his face to do[1]. Permission, licenses, resources, 765 mi/1231 km one-way, straight-line travel (Susa to Jerusalem), enemies at the site, engineering, labor, labor, labor; back-breaking labor. Largely no pay commensurate to the task, not in this life. A tough, in some respects thankless job. And he sought it out, that tough job, did that tough man of God Nehemiah. He prayed, please catch this, that he might be put to the task. This man of God Nehemiah had bigtime mettle, precisely because he was a man of God, not a phony. Such a one is filled to overfilling with the Spirit of God and “gets things done,” lasting things, for God and His interests, for others and their interests, and for themselves and their interests.
In the previous chapter God taught us how a servant prepares themselves to petition God, and how in fact they petition Him by-and-by (“Nehemiah Chapter One Commentary”). We learned that all is predicated on prayer. It begins with the prayer of faith, itself maybe just a fuzzy inclination at this point that the Spirit of God plants. The notion grows and matures and becomes less fuzzy as the Spirit of God brings clarity of purpose—His, which becomes ours—when finally embraced. Then the prayer of faith becomes more focused as its tenets and goals are more readily delineated by God (there is less resistance to Him is meant), only to come together again, from its delineated pieces, but by this time not convoluted and cloudy as at the outset, but as a clear petition with a well-understood petition-roadmap that leads to the goal (in this context maybe four months passed from onset [planting by God with attendant prayerful contemplation] to delineation through clarity with outright action-Chislev/November, to Nisan/March [Nehemiah 1:1ff, Nehemiah 2:1ff]). Prayer has in mind to achieve the goal, certainly, and it follows the paths of the God-given petition-roadmap in its utterances. (For how does one know what to pray for?) For example, in Nehemiah’s case, the paths were several: an audience with the king, the favor of the king, licenses, materials, conveyance hence over a great travel distance, the wherewithal to accomplish the rebuild, even in the face of resistance, and so on. All these were in the petition-roadmap that God graciously gave Nehemiah, and Nehemiah necessarily had to pray to successfully traverse each path of the petition-roadmap. And with clarity thus brought by God comes dedication to the overarching petition, which dedication in Nehemiah’s case involved voluntary fasting and mourning and disciplined, responsible, self-denials, and of course resolute prayer (Fig. 1).
What was in God’s heart and on His mind if you will to motivate Nehemiah’s sentiment, to motivate it expediently for Jerusalem and his brethren? His Covenant with His people, His people Judah in that day, through whom the whole world’s Messiah would come, Messiah indeed, on a Redemptive Cross on a hill outside Jerusalem. God had and has big Goals always, and when caught up in His goals, as His people always are, every prayer on any of the paths of His petition-roadmap is exceedingly meaningful and important, though it may seem like an insignificant and meaningless prayer-step along the petition-roadmap path at the moment.
In this chapter we witness God’s answer to Nehemiah’s prayers. We witness the king’s rebuild-edict, an edict, nay, a temporal fiducial, prophesied of beforetime, by which the appearing of Messiah may be reckoned (by way of biblical years of 360 days); an edict placed squarely in the palm of Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. We witness the king’s gracious provisions extended to Nehemiah to ensure the success of the rebuild. We witness the trials that lay before Nehemiah—the arduous rebuild, the enemies, Judah’s enemies become Nehemiah’s enemies. And at the close of the chapter we are sort of “left hanging,” by design of the Spirit of God, to ponder all this; to ponder not least the impossibility of Nehemiah’s commission, so that we might appreciate all the more that, with the God of the heavens, with the God of our prayers Jehovah, yea with Him alone, all things are possible.
We will follow this format:
Verse of Scripture utilizing the YLT text followed by an NASB mouse over of that verse. Key words in the YLT text will be footnoted with a link to a word study based on the Hebrew text, and/or a general discussion relative to the given word (we are not biblical Greek or Hebrew scholars, please consider our grammatical constructions with a critical eye).
Commentary We shall always be commenting on this passage keeping before us the crucial fact that every jot and every tittle comprising these verses came forth under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit. We pray that He, by His grace, helps us along the way.
II. Nehemiah Chapter Two Commentary Verses
2:1-5 I Pray unto the God of the Heavens
YLT TEXT: And it cometh to pass, in the month of Nisan[2], the twentieth year of Artaxerxes[3] the king, wine is before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him; and the king saith to me, 'Wherefore is thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much, and say to the king, 'Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, is a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?' And the king saith to me, 'For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God[4] of the heavens. and say to the king, 'If to the king it be good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah[5], unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built[6] it.' (Nehemiah 2:1-5, Nehemiah 2:1-5, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia. The year is 445 BC, the month is Nisan, the day must be deduced. There are various theories, but surely the soundest correlates the day to the Nisan new moon with a delta allowed for the sighting of this moon (The Coming Prince, Sir Robert Anderson). Here we have Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, serving the very king of the massive Persian empire: “…in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, the king, wine is before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king…”. How did Nehemiah rise to this exceedingly high level of service? We can make some reasonable assumptions:
1. The blessed hand of the Lord Jehovah was upon Nehemiah.
2. Nehemiah was a diplomat, a diplomat for his God and for his people.
3. Nehemiah was a likable individual.
4. Nehemiah showed himself to be trustworthy.
5. Nehemiah was intelligent.
6. Nehemiah was diligent in his duties, he was goal-oriented, he was a finisher.
7. Nehemiah was tightly tethered to Jehovah God, whom he loved dearly, thus follows 1., the blessed hand of the Lord Jehovah was upon Nehemiah.
A man with Nehemiah’s experience and qualities knows better than to be before the king with a sad countenance, and there can be little doubt that he studied himself not to do just that, probably daily, and so it is quite telling that today his countenance as it were fell (not angry like Cain, but sad). Hearing of the plight of his beloved Jerusalem, and of his beloved people, and of the reproach put upon his beloved Jehovah’s Name attached to that destroyed place, and no change in that regard save the temple, but that was some seventy-one years ago, was too much to rein in today. Nehemiah before the king with a sad countenance at the risk of his very life[7] betrays the depth of his love for Jerusalem, his people, his God’s Name. He would have reined it all in if he could have, but he could not today, and that is telling: “…and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him; and the king saith to me, 'Wherefore is thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much…”. I fear very much, he says; indeed. It is at moments like this that the Spirit of God takes over when one is tethered to God by that very Spirit. What to do Nehemiah? The Spirit of God says, pour out your heart Nehemiah, tell the king what is burdening that heart so tender for Me, for My Jerusalem, for My people Judah: “…, and [I] say to the king, 'Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, is a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?'…”. Finally, it spills out, O there it is, catharsis; finally. Maybe like so: ‘… the Spirit of God has taxed my heart so, for so long, for this moment, but He has readied me, praise His Name…’. Recall please the previous chapter when the agony of it all was bound up ever so taut deep inside: “…O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man. Now I was the cupbearer to the king…” (Nehemiah 1:11). God brought Nehemiah to this audience with the king, which He blessed, so that He might indeed bless Nehemiah and His beloved people and His beloved Jerusalem—which must be made ready for Messiah’s Visit.
We move now to the next phase of God’s activity with His people (Nehemiah, Judah, and beyond). The king’s response is nothing short of miraculous: “…And the king saith to me, 'For what art thou seeking?'…”. One almost reads it like: ‘…what do you need from me Nehemiah…’. Going by what in fact happened, the king’s response can be understood like that. Now please consider carefully: Nehemiah, the king’s servant (=slave), is in front of an exceedingly powerful eastern king and he, Nehemiah, has a sad countenance—overlooked by the king—and, what is more, the king is desirous to change this slave’s mood from sad to happy. That is quite remarkable. But one could argue less dramatically here in many ways, not least being that the king just wanted to get an “unhappy camper” by today’s parlance out of his sight, but the extent to which the king goes to help Nehemiah shows a decided concern on the king’s part to effect, exhaustively no less, a successful plan to help Nehemiah (and, therefore, Jerusalem and Judah). And what is extremely important in this context is that Nehemiah had been intimately in prayer concerning Jerusalem in general, and then about this audience before the king (four months at least before the Spirit of God broke down barriers, but probably much longer than that since Jerusalem had lain waste since 586 BC and Nehemiah was thus born during the bitter Captivity). One could argue from this that God moved, and the miraculous happened, insofar as this favorable audience with the king is concerned, based on Nehemiah’s prayers. It is a good argument, and a valid one, but many folks won’t buy that (we speak of unbelievers). They need/want more. There is one overarching reason to conclude that Jehovah God moved in response to Nehemiah’s prayer/s, and it is much grander than His heart being moved by a loving and faithful servant, though that is part of it—Jehovah God is preparing the way for the coming Prince, even Messiah Jesus, and Nehemiah is His instrument, first by prayer (as we have been discussing heretofore), then by petition (this audience with the king), then by the particulars (the rebuild). Messiah, the coming Prince, even Jesus, had three important dates to engage in Jerusalem, which presently lay in heaps:
(1) Palm Sunday and the Eastern (or, Golden) Gate, Nisan, AD 32 (Daniel 9:25, Zechariah 9:9, John 12:12-15),
(2) Good Friday and the Damascus Gate, Nisan, AD 32 (Daniel 9:26),
(3) Resurrection Sunday and a garden tomb “Gate,” Nisan, AD 32 (Isaiah 53:9, NET, Matthew 28:6).
Jerusalem, its Temple, these Gates here mentioned, are integral to long-standing prophecy from the perspective of Jesus’ day and certainly from the perspective of Nehemiah’s day, and so it concerned Jehovah God that all be ready for Messiah upon His Visitation. (It was Herod's temple [19 BC-AD 64 in construction, destroyed in AD 70] not Zerubbabel's [538 BC-516 BC in construction] that Jesus visited.) The point is that it is not just Nehemiah’s prayers, his diplomacy, his being likable, trustworthy, intelligent and diligent, and so on, that moved God on behalf of Nehemiah (and thus on behalf of Jerusalem and Judah), though that is all part of it, it is precisely because God had a long-standing plan to redeem humankind by way of Messiah on a Cross in Jerusalem that moved God to do the miraculous here and going forward as we shall see in the balance of the chapter.
Now comes the pivotal moment Nehemiah has been praying about and waiting for, and it must come by way of his response. It is time for action. We picture this interchange of words happening fast, and Nehemiah must here be comprehensive yet concise in his response to the king’s question, but notice what he does, almost in kneejerk fashion as we picture it: “…And I pray unto the God of the heavens…”. First a prayer! There is always time for that! How exceedingly true to your nature Nehemiah! He takes charge of the interchange by availing himself to the Spirit of God, that He, might make utterance through him (that sort of utterance puts one in charge, irrespective of whom one is conversing with). Very wise this brother Nehemiah. ‘…Great God of the heavens, O thou give me utterance great God, and be thou glorified in it my Lord, thou alone; let it be thy doing, for all things are possible by thy doing, amen and amen…’. Generally, not a good idea, but there are a few spots for seven-second prayers. And of course, God had discoursed with Nehemiah for months and years about this very response—that is the fruit of persistent prayer; the utterance Nehemiah sought was long times within him, waiting for this moment to come out, comprehensively, concisely, timely, with but the slightest prompting needed by God: “…and say to the king, 'If to the king it be good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah, unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built it.'…”.
2:6-8 The King Giveth to me According to the Good Hand of my God upon Me
YLT TEXT: And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), 'How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time. And I say to the king, 'If to the king it be good, letters[8] let be given to me for the governors[9] beyond the River[10], that they let me pass over till that I come in unto Judah: and a letter unto Asaph[11], keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams for the gates of the palace that the house hath, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter;' and the king giveth to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. (Nehemiah 2:6-8, Nehemiah 2:6-8, NLT)
COMMENTARY: And Nehemiah’s response, like a hand fitting into a glove, found its glove in “this man” Artaxerxes who, by God’s doing, was predisposed to look favorably upon Nehemiah’s response (=request): “….And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), 'How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time…”. It is Jehovah God who is glorified here from first to last. After all, He had His eyes fixed on a hill far away in Jerusalem just outside the Damascus Gate. That is the overarching theme that runs through this chapter of God’s holy Word that must not be lost sight of.
Let us digress for a second and conjecture about the queen sitting near the king. It is possible that the king wanted to make sure that the queen “approved” of his decision. Nehemiah was a servant in the king’s court which means that the queen depended on Nehemiah as well. If this holds water, then the king is being quite considerate here (to her). He is addressing Nehemiah but apparently looked over at the queen as he was speaking, maybe sort of querying her countenance as he spoke for any signs of disapproval; who knows. Anyway, it seems likely that the queen could have been a stumbling block here which means that Nehemiah must have been in good standing with both queen and king. If she didn’t like Nehemiah or his people (or his God Jehovah) she surely would have voiced some disapproval. Thus, we see that Jehovah God worked quite a work, on more than one front. Enough on that subject.
Notice that the king requested a timetable: “…'How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?'…”. This suggests to us that Nehemiah’s absence was thought to be a disruption to the king’s well-oiled court should he be gone too long; the first part of the question—how long is thy journey, is sort of bounding the second part of the question—and when dost thou return; in other words, the latter answer better make sense with respect to the former; this sort of redundant question legitimates to us the notion that the king was keenly interested in how long Nehemiah was going to be absent from the court. If true, this speaks volumes to Nehemiah’s (invaluable) service/s to the king (and queen). Here is some feeble support for the above thoughts concerning the queen. Clearly Nehemiah was prepared and gave an acceptable response: “…and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time…”. Now Nehemiah and company might have been some twelve years in the restoration of Jerusalem per se (Nehemiah 5:14, but the walls came up almost as fast as Jericho’s walls came tumbling down [an amazing fifty-two days Nehemiah 6:15]), so maybe the time Nehemiah set for the king consisted of given times for given phases of work in between which times he would have returned to Susa or something like that, keeping in mind that the travel time in itself was long. If Nehemiah gave the king a phase-based response, then he would have told the king that phase one consisted of rebuilding the walls (one wall, singular, but four sections—west, south,east,north—and its gates), and then he would return after that to further assess the timetable before the king with regard to the balance of the phases going forward (with good rebuild-information at hand upon completion of phase one).
2:9-10 It is Evil to them that a Man hath Come in to Seek Good for the Sons of Israel
YLT TEXT: And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sendeth with me heads[12] of a force[13], and horsemen; and Sanballat the Horonite[14] heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite[15], and it is evil[16] to them -- a great evil -- that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel. (Nehemiah 2:9-10, Nehemiah 2:9-10, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Trouble. Though God blesses, trouble yet brews. That is the way it works down here in the land of the living, to the day. It helps to have letters from the King at times like this, times when caught up in the fray, mixing it up yonder “Beyond the River” (“A Letter of Invitation”): “…And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king…”. If ever there be any claims that this Persian king Artaxerxes wasn’t fully behind the success of Nehemiah’s mission for Jerusalem and Judah they may be laid to rest right here: “…and the king sendeth with me heads of a force, and horsemen…” (This mission was not going to fail, by God’s design.) And if that be not enough to quell the trouble, let the governors (viceroys) be informed by the king’s letters to fast send more muscle alongside; let the governors be informed that they should anywise help, and nowise hinder, Nehemiah.
Though trouble yet brews,
with the King’s favor we shan’t lose,
even far from His court,
‘Beyond the River’ of sorts.
See, He sends His hosts alongside,
on chariots of fire they ride,
tis for Jerusalem’s good sake,
nay, nay, the Coming Prince atonement there shall make.
Why are good men and women so often prevented from doing the God-given good that they cannot contain within themselves but must needs let loose and bless others with? It is the nature of God that is despised and prevented here and expediently oftentimes re-categorized as evil, not good. Thus was the Coming Prince fingered by petty, wicked, little men as having a demon, here probably presaged: “…and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them -- a great evil -- that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel…”. Might we say then: ‘…it is evil to them – a great evil -- that the Son of Man hath come to seek good for the sons of Israel to be…’. We speak of the enemies of Messiah in His day and going forward. In this way Messiah’s people are despised, and prevented, going forward; and so it is; trouble. Trouble for Messiah’s people of old, and going forward, until He comes again and snatches us out of these fallen environs; fallen environs that confuse evil and good; fallen environs that bless exceedingly evil Satan and curse exceedingly good Jehovah God. But O how good it is we have a great savior God who shall set things Straight; we can’t wait for the Day. Praised be your exceedingly good Name Messiah Jesus. Amen.
2:11-16 I have not Declared what my God is Giving unto my Heart to do for Jerusalem
YLT TEXT: And I come in unto Jerusalem[17], and I am there three days, and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding. And I go out through the gate of the valley[18] by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon[19], and unto the gate of the dunghill[20], and I am measuring[21] about the walls[22] of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates[23] consumed with fire. And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain[24], and unto the pool of the king[25], and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over, and I am going up through the brook[26] by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back. And the prefects[27] have not known whither I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews[28], and to the priests[29], and to the freemen[30], and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, hitherto I have not declared[31] it. (Nehemiah 2:11-16, Nehemiah 2:11-16, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Who can one trust with the good in one’s heart in troublesome times that confuse good and evil? Besides God in quiet prayer, hardly a one: “…And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days, and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem..”. Let us hear it again with some emphasis: “…and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem…”. The Hebrew sense is a resounding “nobody, not a one”. As said before, this mission was not going to fail, by God’s design: see how Jehovah God picked the right man for the job here (and there is more to come to support this)? It just takes one good man or woman of God by which God might effect His plans, in any age. We see this over and over in Scripture, and real-time as we live out our lives.
Why does Nehemiah say: “…and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding…”? It is curious that he communicates that to us. (God’s Word is simple yet fraught with detail.) Maybe it is to tell us that he is not trying to draw attention to himself, even at night here (recall that part of the king’s cavalry attended Nehemiah hence). Maybe he just wanted a small footprint to better navigate the debris and to make the inspection faster.
We have next the circuit that Nehemiah traversed in his (first?) up-close look at the destruction and what it would take in the way of resources and manpower to rebuild the walls and the gates of Jerusalem. We prepared a sketch of his circuit (Fig. 2 [the dashed arrows starting with the black dot adjacent to the Valley Gate; we reference this sketch via its legend, for example, the sketch has the Valley Gate as 3, so when we reference this gate we will give its number in the sketch alongside the words “Valley Gate” and the same for other spots]):
“…And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire. And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over, and I am going up through the brook by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back…”.
Let's suppose that Artaxerxes' edict concerning the rebuild was issued on the day of the Nisan new moon (not uncommon practice in antiquity), and let's suppose that Nehemiah left immediately (the letters, the timber, surely no more than half of a day to get these things ready to go). Approximately thirty days later there would have been a full moon; is that why Nehemiah chose this night? In fact, he says he waited three days before going out, maybe to have a good full moon’s light? Could Nehemiah and company have made the journey in roughly thirty days? (Thus approximately 26 mi/day, 42 km/day, going by an approximate 765 mi, 1231 km trip, and a 29 1/2-day lunar month: that's about 3 1/4 mi/hr, 5 1/4 km/hr, given an eight-hour day of steady marching, keeping in mind that some in the group were laden with supplies and build materials; if they went by way of the Fertile Crescent (Fig. 3), the distance traveled would have been longer, and we would bump the previous best-case numbers by 30% to get: 33 3/4 mi/day, 54 1/4 km/day, or, 4 1/4 mi/hr, 6 3/4 km/hr, going by an approximate 995 mi, 1600 km trip, a 29 1/2 day lunar month, and an eight-hour day of steady marching.)
Okay, it is nighttime; he first exits the Valley Gate (3). We think that the right “valley” here is Hinnom, south, and south west of the city. This is the valley into which was swept the city’s refuse via the aptly called Dung Gate (5); moreover, this valley is infamous for the hideous pagan sacrifices that occurred there. We place the Valley Gate (3) between the Tower of the Furnaces (2) and the Fountain of the Dragon (4). Next he says he passed “over” to the Fountain Gate (6) and the king’s pool (7), which we place near the Gihon Spring (Fig. 2). Right at this spot his mount likely runs into trouble navigating the debris, so he goes through the brook Kidron “by night” (surely he means that same night). He is measuring, inspecting, no doubt thinking and praying about what to do and how to do it. We think he basically turned around and retraced his steps getting a second look at things on the way back to the Valley Gate and then goes through and “turns back,” probably to wherever he was staying. There is not much of a northerly excursion on this inspection, it appears to be largely west, south, and east, and a little bit to the north but maybe not to too much. It is hard to say exactly what motivated Nehemiah to go this route this night (maybe keenly interested in Siloam, Gihon [=water supply], and especially the Eastern Gate [Fig. 2], any number of things are possible).
Clearly, his purpose this night primarily concerned the walls and the gates (and probably getting water into the city). The wall and its gates would be the starting point as we all know. Like a good engineer and craftsman, he is “getting his ducks in a row.” What is it going to take, how much manpower, what materials, how much time and effort is the debris removal going to require, and what of the enemies—our trowels and pickaxes and shovels and whatnot are going to have to be weapons too, and on and on.
We have addressed mundane practicality so far, but what can be learned spiritually from this verse set? Are the Church’s walls (let not evil into this sacred place), and gates (let all who are called come and eat of the Bread of Life and drink of the Living Waters disseminated in this sacred place), are these broken down? Is there a brother/sister Nehemiah on the job today and every day for our Lord’s Bride? Or does She suffer reproach, and nobody cares, or at best minimally cares? Let us retrace our steps every now and then in the Lord’s work to make sure we have done well heretofore and to know what is required to make us better servants going forward. Let us minister by example, mum; oftentimes not a man needs to know what the Lord has put in our hearts to do. Spiritual nighttime is the time when the best holiness, or not, measurements are made, especially when much has been laid waste; it is from those dark desperations that we think and measure and make plans for the holiness rebuild—we move on here by the grace and in the power of our Lord unto rebirth of sprit, thus reborn, thus rebuilt as it were (“A Letter of Invitation” dearest reader).
2:17-20 The God of the Heavens doth Give Prosperity to Us
YLT TEXT: and I say unto them, 'Ye are seeing the evil[32] that we are in, in that Jerusalem is waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach[33].' And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, 'Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good. And Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian[34], and they mock[35] at us, and despise[36] us, and say, 'What is this thing that ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling[37]?' And I return them word, and say to them, 'The God of the heavens -- He doth give prosperity[38] to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.' (Nehemiah 2:17-20, Nehemiah 2:17-20, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Just before he said he had not declared hitherto his plans but now it is all go, and he lets it be known. Why? Why now? After all, the enemies are still afoot? We think that after the inspection our blessed Lord shored up his heart and showed him how in fact it will all come together just fine. It is one of those blessed things that happens by God’s grace that is hard to explain: you embark on a mission or a task or problem-solving of some sort, and it looks convoluted and very messy and impossible. You’re in prayer over it; nothing happens. More prayer; still nothing. But the Lord has you thinking. He’s got you thinking about it. You sleep on it. Time passes, and you continue in prayer and this thing gnaws at you and you sort of keep dealing with it looking for solutions. You keep praying and thinking. Then, all of the sudden, may we say, “out of the blue,” in a flash, the whole thing comes together at once—not piecemeal, a little here and a little there, nay, all at once, the whole thing comes together all at once, and you see what to do from first to last, and “boy O boy” off you go, and then, before you know it, it’s done, oftentimes timely, elegantly, efficaciously. We think that is what happened to Nehemiah by God’s grace, and certainly in keeping with His interests in seeing Jerusalem rebuilt for His own blessed and important purposes. Nehemiah had been mulling over Jerusalem for a long time, but apparently had not seen what he saw on the first inspection. (He had heard [Nehemiah 1:2-4], and he knew that nothing was being done in a consistent manner to restore Jerusalem: no leadership, no follow-through, largely no plans, but had he been there before this night? Maybe [Ezra 2:1-2].) Maybe sometime after that the whole thing sort of came together and he knew exactly what to do. It would follow that he is quite ready to give his motivational speech, because now he knows what to say, and can exude the knowledge-based confidence he has gained from God to others, he can tell them what God has put in his heart to do—the how, the what, the when, not least the gracious provisions heretofore granted by Artaxerxes extending all the way back to an opportune audience with him: ‘…Surely God is for us and is with us! Let’s do it!...’. Thus he says: “…and I say unto them, 'Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem is waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach. ' And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, 'Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good…”. Amen! Let us too rise, and strengthen our hands for good, and we too build, for our blessed Lord God Jehovah, whom we love dearly.
Now a little more detail is given per the trouble in verses 9-10. Moab lay on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, south, southeast of Jerusalem, Ammon, just north, northeast of Jerusalem and Samaria of course due north of Jerusalem—these three peoples were ever at odds with Judah. Sanballat was governor of Samaria and he was a Moabite as well. Tobiah and Geshem were apparently connected to Ammon and Arabia, respectively. So, no love lost here as the saying goes; these men were Judah’s enemies in keeping with the bloodletting and feuding between their respective countries for centuries on end. Sanballat would seem to be particularly hostile and resistant to Jerusalem’s restoration being both a Moabite and representative of Samaria. So, the three of them found each other’s company and set a common course of resistance; no surprise here. Here we are told of mockery, usually a precursor to saber-rattling, itself a precursor to all out physical engagement oftentimes; and accusations of rebellion are fired across the bow. Apparently, the accusers had not read the king’s letters (?). The letters were for the governors between Susa and Judah (Nehemiah 2:7), so maybe no notice had been served yet, especially since Nehemiah was mum about his plans for a time. Sanballat was a governor so maybe he got the notice, but probably discounted it as being of no account (or just flat-out was not going to adhere to the edict). One must wonder at this point where the king’s horsemen were (Nehemiah 2:9) and how many of the army still accompanied Nehemiah (were some relieved of this duty along the way and re-stationed in the provinces along the way to Jerusalem). Of course, mockery and accusations are not cause to come to blows but the stage is being set for that here: “…And Sanballat the Horonite heareth [how?], and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they mock at us, and despise us, and say, 'What is this thing that ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling?'…”. This taunting echoed real sentiments no doubt but was also probably intended to incite a fight (to make Nehemiah and company look like troublemakers), but Nehemiah and company were not suckered; instead, cool Nehemiah returned them a gentleman’s word, a man of God’s word, nay, God’s Word: “…And I return them word, and say to them, 'The God of the heavens -- He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'…”. That would have to include the New Jerusalem as well (Revelation 21:1-4). What a fatal blow.
Praised be your Name great God of the heavens Jehovah who doth give prosperity to us today and going forward, even in Jesus, the Prince who Came and shall come again. Amen.
III. Illustrations and Tables
Figure 1. The Outline of a Prayer God Answered.
Figure 2. Nehemiah’s Jerusalem-Sites Locator.
Figure 3. The Fertile Crescent.
Works Cited and References
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Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/aletterofinvitation.html >
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< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaxerxes_I_of_Persia >
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< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardiya >
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< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrates >
Finley, Gavin.
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Reference “The Coming Prince” by Sir Robert Anderson.
< http://endtimepilgrim.org/70wks8.htm >
“Gates, the, of Jerusalem.”
< http://www.israel-a-history-of.com/gates-of-jerusalem.html >
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< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gihon_Spring >
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< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar >
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< https://www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/popPlayer.cfm?id=5193&rel=mcgee_j_vernon/Neh >
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< http://jesusamen.org/commentaryneh1.html >
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The YLT is in the public domain.