September 18
Nehemiah 3:1-5:13; 6:1-7:3
At various ages and throughout our lifetimes we will be called on to lead. This might be a sports team when you are younger, your family, a small or large company that you work for, or perhaps a ministry that you lead. As we go through the book of Nehemiah we can learn a lot as to what effective and godly leadership looks like. Something that we should not miss is that he was decisive, but not without a moment to think, pray, and receive counsel from God before choosing his words and actions. Even initially when before the king, we read in Nehemiah 2:4,(NKJV), “Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.” When he arrives in Jerusalem he takes a few days to assess the situation first before approaching the group. Do we do this? Do we take a moment to bring everything before God first before blurting out our own thoughts?
Once the building projects begin, he continues to discern before acting. There was no shortage of attacks on the group he was leading (he was eventually named governor), and there were no shortage of attacks to him personally. The first set of attacks were external. Nehemiah was bold and confronted them unashamedly. He did not compromise when it came to a directive given him by God. We see his enemies mocking them when they start the building project , and we read his response in 2:20, “ I replied, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.” When their enemies became more aggressive in their attack, and fear was spreading, we read his words of encouragement in 4:14, “ Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” But external attacks are only half of the issue, the next set of attacks are internal. Greed was rampant as those in prominent positions placed heavy burdens on the people and made many destitute, and even enslaved others. Nehemiah does not sweep this under the rug, but confronts them publicly, as we read in 5:7-8, “ After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem. At the meeting I said to them, “We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their defense.“. Do we do this? Do we slander others or do we direct our comments directly to them, even if the exchange might be uncomfortable.
In addition, he was a wonderful role model. He didn’t just delegate, he joined them. He did not place burdens on the people. He used his own resources for himself. After the external and internal attacks failed, the next attack was to attack him personally. We must never miss Satan’s hand on personal attacks. He is relentless and does not believe in ceasefires. We must also never forget Ephesians 6:12, “ For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” They first tried to set up a meeting to compromise with him, but he refused to be distracted from the work at hand. They then tried to slander him, but this failed in 6:5-9. They then found an insider to set him up. We see his response in 6:11-12, to the advice to hide in the temple from his pursuers, “ But I replied, “Should someone in my position run from danger? Should someone in my position enter the Temple to save his life? No, I won’t do it!” I realized that God had not spoken to him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.” He knew from Scripture that he had no right stepping foot in the temple, himself, not being a Levite.
What we can learn from Nehemiah is that he was a leader with discernment who had a thorough knowledge of Scripture and who brought everything, both small and large before God. He remained determined and never let his guard down as the shepherd for the group that he was entrusted with. We should never minimize or take lightly when we are called into positions of leadership. May we lovingly and steadfastly care for those entrusted to us, and do so under the constant direction from God.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: