Nehemiah 2

CHAPTER 2

Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem (2:1–10)

1–6 Four months passed before Nehemiah found the right opportunity to speak to King Artaxerxes about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He wrote: I was very much afraid (verse 2); Nehemiah was afraid because he knew that it was the king himself who had stopped the rebuilding earlier in his reign (Ezra 4:17–23).

When the king inquired about Nehemiah’s sad expression, Nehemiah first offered a brief silent prayer to God.¹⁰ Then he told the king that he was sad because the city where his fathers were buried lay in ruins (verse 3); Nehemiah didn’t mention the name of the city initially. The king was sympathetic; he was pleased to send Nehemiah and only wanted to know how long he would be away. Nehemiah set a time (verse 6)—which would turn out to be twelve years! (Nehemiah 5:14).

7–9 Then Nehemiah requested letters from the king granting him safe passage and the authority to use wood from the king’s forest for his building projects. Because the gracious hand of God was upon Nehemiah, the king granted all his requests (verse 8). The king even sent an armed escort with Nehemiah. We are not told that Nehemiah requested this; earlier Ezra had refused to ask for such an escort (Ezra 8:22). But Nehemiah was an official of the king—indeed, he had been made governor of Judah (Nehemiah 5:14)—and as such he was expected to travel with an escort.

Notice two qualities of Nehemiah on display here: first, his dependence on God; second, his common sense and practicality. Nehemiah was a man of considerable administrative ability, but he placed his faith in God and not in himself. Nehemiah demonstrated that a person can be both spiritual and successful at the same time; he kept the balance between trusting God on the one hand and taking action on the other (see Exodus 17:10–13 and comment).

10 Here for the first time Nehemiah mentions his two chief opponents: Sanballat, the governor of Samaria (the former northern kingdom of Israel); and Tobiah, who was probably the governor of Ammon, the land of the Ammonites (Ezra 9:1). Both the Samaritans and the Ammonites were non Israelites,¹¹ and therefore they had no great love for the Israelites (Jews) in Judah. But Sanballat and Tobiah’s major concern was political, not religious; they feared that the arrival of a strong leader in Jerusalem would undermine their own authority and influence.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls (2:11–20)

11–16 In these verses, Nehemiah describes how he inspected the walls; he did it at night, so as not to attract attention.

17–18 Then he challenged the Jews to work with him to rebuild the walls of their city. They had become apathetic; they had ceased caring about the state of the city. It required an outsider to come and assess the situation and mobilize the community to action. And how did Nehemiah mobilize the Jews? By encouraging them, not by commanding them. “Come, let us rebuild the wall. . .” (verse 17).

19–20 However, whenever a work of God begins there will be opposition (1 Corinthians 16:8–9). And opposition to Nehemiah came in the form of Sanballat and Tobiah (verse 10), and also an Arab named Geshem, who was an influential leader in Arabia and southern Palestine.

But Nehemiah was not to be deterred. “The God of heaven will give us success,” he told them (verse 20). And he forcefully rejected their schemes to have a part in Jerusalem’s political and economic future. It seems that Nehemiah’s resolve became stronger as he confronted these men. That is often God’s way; though Nehemiah had many natural strengths, they would soon be tested and refined. We never know what we are capable of until we are put to the test. If we are truly doing God’s work in God’s way, God will use the opposition we face to “make” us, not “break” us.