Nehemiah: Keeping the Essentials in Focus

How Nehemiah’s reaction to the plight of his people in Jerusalem is an example for us today.

Nehemiah, who was part of the Jewish exile, served as a cupbearer to the Persian king. He selected the appropriate wine for each food and sampled each meal. He was a confidant of the king, and most likely discussed problems with him. The cupbearer would have informed the king of opinions and rumors from the court. One day, Nehemiah received news that his fellow countrymen in Jerusalem weren’t doing well. They told him, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire” (Neh 1:3).

Nehemiah then turned his attention to what’s essential: our God and Father. We can see that in the concerns of his heart. Our focus is revealed by what’s on our hearts as well. How do we react when we receive sad news? To what or to whom do we look? Where do we flee? What’s in our hearts becomes apparent in this kind of situation.

Nehemiah oriented himself toward God. He sat and wept before the Lord, suffering for several days. He fasted and prayed. “Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned” (Neh 1:6).

This shows us Nehemiah’s desire for God to do something. Not for his own sake, but for the sake of God’s name and that of His servants. Nehemiah prayed day and night. He was so oriented toward God that Israel mattered to him. Why? Because it was (and is) important to God. Nehemiah knew God’s promises and plans for His people Israel. Because God’s plan of salvation was important to him, he was grieved that the people were being judged and had apparently hit rock bottom.

All biblical prophecy is linked to Israel. That’s why the wall was so important to Nehemiah. To the extent that he was able, he wanted to secure the fulfillment of biblical prophecy by means of the city wall. How do we read the Bible? Is it only in light of our own concerns, or are we also interested in God’s thoughts and plans? This is part of being oriented toward God.

And so, solidarity with his people was Nehemiah’s deepest concern. He suffered with them from afar, including himself in the confession of their collective sins. He didn’t position himself as better or above the others. He wasn’t self-righteous but recognized that he was lost without his Lord, falling short of God’s glory. When we look at God, we see ourselves as in a mirror: We recognize ourselves and confess our sins.

When our hearts are clinging to other things, we become desensitized, deadened, and our life begins to revolve around those things. But as soon as our life is properly oriented—as soon as God, His Son, and His Word take precedence in all of life—then there are positive consequences. Then our fellow citizens—the fellow believers in the Church, the body of Christ—take on renewed importance for us. Our hearts will be saturated with love, because we know that God loves all His children. This is precisely how it was for Nehemiah concerning the people of Israel.

Our Life’s Purpose

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Standing still is going backwards!” It certainly characterizes our time. It’s all well and good if we want to get ahead in life, but what are we aiming for? Are we all about self-actualization? What are our motives, goals, and intentions in life?

God’s purposes were so important to Nehemiah that he appeared to be physically ill because of what was preoccupying him. “And the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.’ Then I was very much afraid” (Neh 2:2).

The heart of the matter was that, from a human perspective, God’s plan for His people Israel and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy had come to a standstill. Yet Israel was still a wonder … the very people of God. He had spoken with His own, worked miracles among them, delivered them from hardship, supernaturally provided for all their needs, and promised them that they would be at the heart of the Messianic Kingdom on earth. But now Jerusalem was destroyed, and the implements had been stolen from the temple. Those who had remained in Jerusalem were living in the most terrible circumstances. The situation was demoralizing for Nehemiah, from both a pastoral care and a redemptive history perspective.

God’s plan was more important to him than his personal desires, or even his life. When the king saw him and asked what he could do for him, Nehemiah was at liberty to express his request. Our heart’s desire is reflected by what our attention is focused on. And Nehemiah didn’t have a wish for himself but, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it” (Neh 2:5).

Nehemiah’s focus on God’s cause also awakened a desire in him to serve God’s cause. His purpose in life was linked to God’s plan. He wanted to rebuild the city and its walls so that the people could live in safety. This wasn’t a rash choice from emotion, but was decided through prayer (v. 4). Being oriented toward God also means laying our choices at His feet and saying, “Lord, I desire to do X so long as it is Your will; please grant me open doors. If it isn’t Your will, please close those doors.”

If we’re living in His will, God will arrange our destiny as He did for Nehemiah: Everything he needed for the work practically fell into his lap. This might not happen right away, or in the way that we expect. But it is the Lord who provides for us, even when we don’t realize it. If we’re focusing on the essential things, then God’s intentions become our desire in life and He grants us what we need.

In Challenges

Resistance quickly arose to the reconstruction of Jerusalem’s city walls. We’re probably familiar with that from personal experience. If we make ourselves available to God, then there will also be resistance. How do we deal with difficulties, even the most ordinary, everyday ones? Do we start to reach for our own alternatives, or do we think of God in these situations? “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Ps 115:3). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31b).

When Israel was relying on themselves and other people instead of on God, the Lord said in Hosea 4 that it would actually be a blessing to be satisfied with only a small amount of food. And God can do that. He illustrated this principle through His Son, with two fish and five loaves of bread. And Hosea 4 also points out God’s judgment: When people aren’t satisfied despite having plenty of food.

Let’s follow Nehemiah’s example. Despite all the opposition, he encouraged his people to trust in God: “And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes’” (Neh 4:14).

Encouraging and Advancing

In chapter 8 of Nehemiah, we read that many of the people of Israel were weeping. Ezra and Nehemiah, among others, had taught the people and preached the Word of God. Then the people began to cry, because they recognized their own mistakes and sins.

Our mistakes and shortcomings can discourage us. We think that we’re not good enough for God. But it is grace when the Holy Spirit shows us our faults and when our sins pain us, because we are so deeply connected to God. So Nehemiah encouraged the people, “Get up! Keep going!” The Feast of Tabernacles, a festival of joy, was to be celebrated. “And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength’” (Neh 8:9-10).

“Strength” in this passage could also be rendered as “safe fortress!” Nehemiah turned the focus away from failure to God’s grace. Where there is self-knowledge, there is plowed, fertile ground for the joy of the Lord and His grace. It isn’t man who is strong and good, but our merciful God. He personally gave His Son for us. You are special in His eyes. Paul calls this gift of the Son of God an unspeakable gift, an indescribable gift, confessing, “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20b). This also applies to you and me. If you believe in Christ, you are God’s child. You’re part of God’s close family. This is your safe fortress.

The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates God’s presence among His people. Paul says of the members of the body of Christ, “Christ is in you!” No sin is too great for God’s forgiveness through His Son. So we can heed Nehemiah’s statement: God’s grace is our strength. This focus allows us to encourage others as well. As Paul once said of Philemon, “For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philem 7).

God Sees the Goal

Nehemiah gave himself completely to God and allowed Him to work, and God used him to rebuild Jerusalem and the city walls. God was writing redemptive history with Nehemiah.

In Daniel 9, God promises 70 weeks of years (thus 490 years) would take place in Israel’s history. A week of years consists of seven years the same way a week of days has seven days. Those 490 years aren’t the countdown to terrible things happening in this world (although we often focus on the bad things to come). Of course, we have to regard that reality, but Israel’s 490 years of history will pass before the Messiah’s world reign will dawn in peace and justice. This is what it’s all about! The people of Israel will experience complete restoration (Dan 9:24). That is God’s good goal: peace and justice!

Seven weeks of years and 62 weeks of years will pass before He, the Prince, is anointed. That is 483 years by the Jewish calendar—the time in which Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt. Then on Palm Sunday, Jesus appeared as Prince. But five days later He was cut off, as Daniel had prophesied. Since then, the 70th week of years is still outstanding.

God used Nehemiah as the starting point for those weeks of years, in which the Lord began fulfilling His purposes with His people. Just imagine it: Nehemiah heard about the need. He was so preoccupied that he looked ill. But God saw the glorious end. And when the order came to build the wall and the city (probably around 445 BC), the term of the weeks of years began.

“Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time” (Dan 9:25). In times of distress, God sees the goal! In a time of hardship, Nehemiah—focused on our Lord—was able to literally lay the cornerstone for the building of the wall. God’s glorious purpose in life is set for every child of God, even when we’re in crisis. God never gives up on His children, because Christ laid the foundation, the security.

God sees the goal in your life as well.