In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence. The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.”
The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “How long will your journey be? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.
Moreover I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah; and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I will occupy.” The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on me.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 7, 8 Who is also called Darius, read Ezra 7:1, and…
Who is also called Darius, read Ezra 7:1, and was the son of Hystaspis.
Which was the first month of the year, and containeth part of March and part of April.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–8 Neh 2:1 And it came to pass in the…
Neh 2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence.
Ver. 1. And it came to pass in the month Nisan] Time and place is to be registered of special mercies received. "This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord," Psa 102:18.
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In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes] Surnamed Longhand, as our Edward I was called Longshanks, and another Longespee, or Longsword. This Longhand is renowned for the fairest among men in that age, Mακροχειρ, Omnium hominum puleherrimus (Aemil. Prob.); of all men most handsome; and no wonder, if he were (as is generally thought) the son of that fairest Esther.
That wine was before him] There was a feast, as Neh 2:6. Not by chance, but by God’s providence; who of small occasions worketh greatest matters many times, as he put small thoughts into the heart of Ahasuerus for great purposes, Est 6:1.
And I took up the wine, &c.] As Esther was come to the kingdom, so Nehemiah to this office, for such a time as this, Est 4:14. Though he were a prisoner, a stranger, one of another religion, yet is he the king’s cupbearer and taster; and once of great trust and credit. This was a strange work of God, to cause heathen princes thus to favour the religion that they knew not, and to defend that people which their subjects hated.
Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence] Princes are usually set upon the merry pin; and all devices are used, by jesters and otherwise, to make them merry; no mourner might be seen in Ahasuerus’s court, Est 4:4. But good Nehemiah had been, for certain months’ time, afflicting his soul and macerating his body, as in the former chapter: hence his present sadness, which the king (being a wise man and a loving master) soon observed.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–8 In the month Nisan; which was four months after…
In the month Nisan; which was four months after he had heard those sad tidings. The reason of this long silence and delay might be manifold; either because he thought fit that some time should be spent by himself, and possibly others of his brethren, in seeking God by solemn prayer and fasting, for God’s blessing and the good success of this great affair; or because he could not take so long and dangerous a journey in the depth of winter; or because his turn of attending upon the king did not come to him till that time; or because till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to the king, by reason of the king’s indisposition, or occasions, or multitude of attendants, among whom there probably were divers enemies to the Jews, who, he feared, might hinder his design and desire.
In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes; Artaxerxes Longimanus, the son of the great Xerxes, who reigned both with his father, and after his death alone: whence the years of his reign are computed two ways, one from the death of Xerxes, and the other from his first entrance upon the administration of the kingdom, which was committed to him in the fifth year of Xerxes, when he began the Grecian war, and left his son king or viceroy in his stead, as the manner of the Persians was. It may seem doubtful, and is not much material, which way of computation is here used. Others understand this of Artaxerxes Mnemon.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 When Nehemiah had prayed for the relief of his…
When Nehemiah had prayed for the relief of his countrymen, and perhaps in David's words (Psa 51:18, Build thou the walls of Jerusalem), he did not sit still and say, "Let God now do his own work, for I have no more to do," but set himself to forecast what he could do towards it. our prayers must be seconded with our serious endeavours, else we mock God. Nearly four months passed, from Chisleu to Nisan (from November to March), before Nehemiah made his application to the king for leave to go to Jerusalem, either because the winter was not a proper time for such a journey, and he would not make the motion till he could pursue it, or because it was so long before his month of waiting came, and there was no coming into the king's presence uncalled, Est 4:11. Now that he attended the king's table he hoped to have his ear. We are not thus limited to certain moments in our addresses to the King of kings, but have liberty of access to him at all times; to the throne of grace we never come unseasonably. Now here is,
I. The occasion which he gave the king to enquire into his cares and griefs, by appearing sad in his presence. Those that speak to such great men must not fall abruptly upon their business, but fetch a compass. Nehemiah would try whether he was in a good humour before he ventured to tell him his errand, and this method he took to try him. He took up the wine and gave it to the king when he called for it, expecting that then he would look him in the face. He had not used to be sad in the king's presence, but conformed to the rules of the court (as courtiers must do), which would admit no sorrows, Est 4:2. Though he was a stranger, a captive, he was easy and pleasant. Good men should do what they can by their cheerfulness to convince the world of the pleasantness of religious ways and to roll away the reproach cast upon them as melancholy; but there is a time for all things, Ecc 3:4. Nehemiah now saw cause both to be sad and to appear so. The miseries of Jerusalem gave him cause to be sad, and his showing his grief would give occasion to the king to enquire into the cause. He did not dissemble sadness, for he was really in grief for the afflictions of Joseph, and was not like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces; yet he could have concealed his grief if it had been necessary (the heart knows its own bitterness, and in the midst of laughter is often sad), but it would now serve his purpose to discover his sadness. Though he had wine before him, and probably, according to the office of the cup-bearer, did himself drink of it before he gave it to the king, yet it would not make his heart glad, while God's Israel was in distress.
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II. The kind notice which the king took of his sadness and the enquiry he made into the cause of it (Neh 2:2): Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? Note, 1. We ought, from a principle of Christian sympathy, to concern ourselves in the sorrows and sadnesses of others, even of our inferiors, and not say, What is it to us? Let not masters despise their servants' griefs, but desire to make them easy. The great God is not pleased with the dejections and disquietments of his people, but would have them both serve him with gladness and eat their bread with joy. 2. It is not strange if those that are sick have sad countenances, because of what is felt and what is feared; sickness will make those grave that were most airy and gay: yet a good man, even in sickness, may be of good cheer if he knows that his sins are forgiven. 3. Freedom from sickness is so great a mercy that while we have that we ought not to be inordinately dejected under any outward burden; yet sorrow for our own sins, the sins of others, and the calamities of God's church, may well sadden the countenance, without sickness.
III. The account which Nehemiah gave the king of the cause of his sadness, which he gave with meekness and fear. 1. With fear. He owned that now (though it appears by the following story that he was a man of courage) he was sorely afraid, perhaps of the king's wrath (for those eastern monarchs assumed an absolute power of life and death, Dan 2:12, Dan 2:13; Dan 5:19) or of misplacing a word, and losing his request by the mismanagement of it. Though he was a wise man, he was jealous of himself, lest he should say any thing imprudently; it becomes us to be so. A good assurance is indeed a good accomplishment, yet a humble self-diffidence is not man's dispraise. 2. With meekness. Without reflection upon any man, and with all the respect, deference, and good-will, imaginable to the king his master, he says, "Let the king live for ever; he is wise and good, and the fittest man in the world to rule." He modestly asked, "Why should not my countenance be sad as it is when (though I myself am well and at east) the city" (the king knew what city he meant), "the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste?" Many are melancholy and sad but can give no reason for being so, cannot tell why nor wherefore; such should chide themselves for, and chide themselves out of, their unjust and unreasonable griefs and fears. But Nehemiah could give so good a reason for his sadness as to appeal to the king himself concerning it. Observe, (1.) He calls Jerusalem the place of his fathers' sepulchres, the place where his ancestors were buried. It is good for us to think often of our fathers' sepulchres; we are apt to dwell in our thoughts upon their honours and titles, their houses and estates, but let us think also of their sepulchres, and consider that those who have gone before us in the world have also gone before us out of the world, and their monuments are momentos to us. There is also a great respect owing to the memory of our fathers, which we should not be willing to see injured. All nations, even those that have had no expectation of the resurrection of the dead, have looked upon the sepulchres of their ancestors as in some degree sacred and not to be violated. (2.) He justifies himself in his grief: "I do well to be sad. Why should I not be so?" There is a time even for pious and prosperous men to be sad and to show their grief. The best men must not think to antedate heaven by banishing all sorrowful thoughts; it is a vale of tears we pass through, and we must submit to the temper of the climate. (3.) He assigns the ruins of Jerusalem as the true cause of his grief. Note, All the grievances of the church, but especially its desolations, are, and ought to be, matter of grief and sadness to all good people, to all that have a concern for God's honour and that are living members of Christ's mystical body, and are of a public spirit; they favour even Zion's dust, Psa 102:14.
IV. The encouragement which the king gave him to tell his mind, and the application he thereupon made in his heart to God, Neh 2:4. The king had an affection for him, and was not pleased to see him melancholy. It is also probable that he had a kindness for the Jews' religion; he had discovered it before in the commission he gave to Ezra, who was a churchman, and now again in the power he put Nehemiah into, who was a statesman. Wanting therefore only to know how he might be serviceable to Jerusalem, he asks this its anxious friend, "For what dost thou make request? Something thou wouldst have; what is it?" He was afraid to speak (Neh 2:2), but this gave him boldness; much more may the invitation Christ has given us to pray, and the promise that we shall speed, enable us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Nehemiah immediately prayed to the God of heaven that he would give him wisdom to ask properly and incline the king's heart to grant him his request. Those that would find favour with kings must secure the favour of the King of kings. He prayed to the God of heaven as infinitely above even this mighty monarch. It was not a solemn prayer (he had not opportunity for that), but a secret sudden ejaculation; he lifted up his heart to that God who understands the language of his heart: Lord, give me a mouth and wisdom; Lord, give me favour in the sight of this man. Note, It is good to be much in pious ejaculations, especially upon particular occasions. Wherever we are we have a way open heaven-ward. This will not hinder any business, but further it rather; therefore let no business hinder this, but give rise to it rather. Nehemiah had prayed very solemnly with reference to this very occasion (Neh 1:11), yet, when it comes to the push, he prays again. Ejaculations and solemn prayers must not jostle out one another, but each have its place.
V. His humble petition to the king. When he had this encouragement he presented his petition very modestly and with submission to the king's wisdom (Neh 2:5), but very explicitly. He asked for a commission to go as governor to Judah, to build the wall of Jerusalem, and to stay there for a certain time, so many months, we may suppose; and then either he had his commission renewed or went back and was sent again, so that he presided there twelve years at least, Neh 5:14. He also asked for a convoy (Neh 2:7), and an order upon the governors, not only to permit and suffer him to pass through their respective provinces, but to supply him with what he had occasion for, with another order upon the keeper of the forest of Lebanon to give him timber for the work that he designed.
VI. The king's great favour to him in asking him when he would return, Neh 2:6. He intimated that he was unwilling to lose him, or to be long without him, yet to gratify him, and do a real office of kindness to his people, he would spare him awhile, and let him have what clauses he pleased inserted in his commission, Neh 2:8. Here was an immediate answer to his prayer; for the seed of Jacob never sought the God of Jacob in vain. In the account he gives of the success of his petition he takes notice, 1. Of the presence of the queen; she sat by (Neh 2:6), which (they say) was not usual in the Persian court, Est 1:11. Whether the queen was his back friend, that would have hindered him, and he observes it to the praise of God's powerful providence that though she was by yet he succeeded, or whether she was his true friend, and it is observed to the praise of God's kind providence that she was present to help forward his request, is not certain. 2. Of the power and grace of God. He gained his point, not according to his merit, his interest in the king, or his good management, but according to the good hand of his God upon him. Gracious souls take notice of God's hand, his good hand, in all events which turn in favour of them. This is the Lord's doing, and therefore doubly acceptable.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–8 And it came to pass in the month Nisan;…
And it came to pass in the month Nisan; in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes,.... It was still but in the twentieth year of his reign; for though Nisan or March was the first month of the year with the Jews, and from whence the reigns of their kings were dated (l); yet, with other nations, Tisri or September was the beginning of the reigns of their kings (m); so that Chisleu or November being since, see Neh 1:1, it was no more in Nisan or March than the twentieth of the said king's reign, and was three or four months after Nehemiah had first heard of the distress of his people; which time he either purposely spent in fasting and prayer on that account, or until now his turn did not come about to exercise his office, in waiting upon the king as his cupbearer: but now it was
that wine was before him; the king; it was brought and set in a proper place, from whence it might be taken for his use:
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and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king; according to Xenophon (n), the cupbearer with the Persians and Medes used to take the wine out of the vessels into the cup, and pour some of it into their left hand, and sup it up, that, if there was any poison in it, the king might not be harmed, and then he delivered it to him upon three fingers (o):
now I had not been before time sad in his presence; but always pleasant and cheerful, so that the sadness of his countenance was the more taken notice of.
(l) Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 3. (m) T. Bab. Rashhashanah, fol. 3. 1. (n) Cyropaedia, l. 1. c. 11. (o) Vid. Heliodor. Ethiopic. l. 7. c. 27.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem, with a commission to…
Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem, with a commission to build the wall, ver. 1-8. He comes thither, to the grief of his enemies, ver. 9-11. He secretly views the ruins of it, ver. 12-16. He informs the rulers of his commission, ver. 17, 18. Answers them that derided him, ver. 19, 20.
Nisan - Four months after he had heard those sad tidings. The reason of this long delay might be either that his turn of attending upon the king did not come 'till that time: or that 'till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 Artaxerxes, observing the sorrow of Nehemiah, inquires into the
CHAPTER II
Artaxerxes, observing the sorrow of Nehemiah, inquires into the
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cause, 1, 2.
Nehemiah shows him the cause, and requests permission to go and
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 3-6.
The king grants it, and gives him letters to the governors beyond
the river, 7, 8.
He sets out on his journey, 9.
Sanballat and Tobiah are grieved to find he had got such a
commission, 10.
He comes to Jerusalem; and, without informing any person of his
business, examines by night the state of the city, 11-16.
He informs the priests, nobles, and rulers, of his design and
commission, 17, 18.
The design is turned into contempt by Sanballat, Tobiah, and
Geshem, 19.
Nehemiah gives them a suitable answer, 20.
NOTES ON CHAP. II
Verse 1. Month Nisan] Answering to a part of our March and April.
I took up the wine] It is supposed that the kings of Persia had a different cup-bearer for each quarter of the year, and that it had just now come to Nehemiah's turn.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–7 Neh 2:1. In the month Nisan — Which answers…
Neh 2:1. In the month Nisan — Which answers to part of our March and April. So that there were almost four months between the time of his hearing the fore-mentioned sad tidings respecting the defenceless condition in which Jerusalem lay, and his requesting leave of the king to go thither. The reason of this long delay might be, either that his turn of attending upon the king did not come till that time; or, that till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to him. That wine was before him — He was at dinner or supper, and called for wine, which was ready for him. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence — But always appeared cheerful and well pleased, as young men, so advanced, are wont to do.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Nisan was the name given by the Persian Jews…
Nisan was the name given by the Persian Jews to the month previously called “Abib,” the first month of the Jewish year, or that which followed the vernal equinox. It fell four months after Chisleu Neh 1:1.
The twentieth year - As Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 465 B.C., his 20th year would correspond to 445-444 B.C.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 Year. It seems the Persians began the year with…
Year. It seems the Persians began the year with Tizri, since both Casleu (the third) and Nisan (the seventh month of the civil year) fall on the twentieth of the king. --- Wine. These kings drunk only that of Syria. (Strabo xv.) --- People of distinction were appointed cup-bearers; and even the children of kings did not esteem the office beneath them. (Herodotus iii. 34.) (Atheneus x. 6.) (Homer, &c.) (Calmet) --- I was. Protestants, "I had not been before-time sad in his presence." (Haydock) --- Hebrew literally, "I was not evil." Septuagint, "an enemy, or stranger." Arabic, "disagreeable." Syriac, "sorrowful." Septuagint also, "there was not another (Greek: ouk en eteros) present," chap. v. 6. St. Jerome seems not to have read the negation. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 1And it came to pass in the month Nisanin…
Neh_2:1-20
1And it came to pass in the month Nisanin the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the King that wine was before him: and I took up the wine and gave it unto the 2king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore [and] the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto 3the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I praved to the God of heaven. 5And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father’s sepulchres, that I may build it. 6And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river [Euphrates], that they may convey me over [i.e. from country to country] till I come into Judah; 8and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house [i.e. temple], and for the wall of the city, and for the house [i.e. temple] that I shall enter into [to inspect]. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
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9Then I came to the governors beyond the river [Euphrates], and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. 11So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon-well and to the dung-port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. 15Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. 16And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that [afterwards] did the work.
17Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work [or rather, for good]. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king? 20Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore [and] we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial [i.e., record of remembrance] in Jerusalem.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1 Neh_2:6. שֵׁגָל. Only here and in Psa_45:10. See Exegetical Note.
2 Neh_2:7. עַל־פּחֲוֹות. This later use of עַל for אֶל, found in Ezra and Esther, is also found in Job frequently. Compare Exeg. Note on Neh_1:7.
3 Neh_2:8. לְקָרוֹת, infin. construct, of the Piel קֵרָה, as in Neh_3:3; Neh_3:6. So 2Ch_34:11. See also Psa_104:3. בּירָח. This late Hebrew word is applied to the temple in 1Ch_21:19, and to the royal portion of Susa in Neh_1:1. (Comp. Ezr_6:2.) See Exeg. Note here, and on Neh_7:2.
4 Neh_2:12. רֹכֵב בָּהּ for רֹכֵב עָלֶיהָ. Comp. Isa_66:20.
5 Neh_2:13. שׂבֵר. In LXX. ἤμην συντρίβων. So also in Neh_2:15. Doubtless the correct reading is, with some MSS. and commentators, שׂבֵר, which, however, never elsewhere occurs in Kal.—הֵמ פְרוּצִים. The open Mem. suggests הַמְפֻרצָים as the proper reading. (Comp. Neh_1:3.)
6 Neh_2:14. לַעֲבֹר תַּחְתָּי. A clumsy form for אֲשֶׁר תַּחְתָּי לַעֲבֹר.
7 Neh_2:16. עַד־כֵּן, not “as yet,” but “until so,” i.e. עַד אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂתִי בֵּן.
8 Neh_2:17. חֶרְפָּה for לְחֶרְפָּה.
9 Neh_2:18. נָקוּם וּבָנִינוּ for נָקוּם וְנִבְבֶה. So in Neh_2:20.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The Interview with the King
Neh_2:1. The month Nisan (called “Abib” in the Pentateuch, Exo_13:4)—the first month of the Hebrew national year. This name Nisan is found in the Assyrian, but its derivation is obscure. It corresponded to parts of our March and April. The twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king.—Artaxerxes’ reign-years counted from some other month than Nisan, for the preceding Chisleu was in the 20th year. The unlikely supposition (as by Bp. Patrick) that the “twentieth year” of chapter Neh_1:1 refers to Nehemiah’s life, is thus unnecessary. (See on Neh_1:1.) Wine was before him.—It is the custom among the modern Persians to drink before dinner, accompanying the wine-drinking with the eating of dried fruits. (See Rawlinson’s Herod. I. 133, Sir H. C. R.’s note.) Compare the “banquet of wine” in Est_5:6. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.—Lit. And I was not sad in his presence. That is, it was not his wont to be sad in the king’s presence. The exactions of Persian monarchs would not endure any independence of conduct in their presence. Everybody was expected to reflect the sunlight of the king’s majesty.
Neh_2:2. Wherefore the king said.—Lit. And the king said. The word translated “sad” in Neh_2:1-3, and the noun “sorrow” in Neh_2:2, are very general words for “bad” and “badness.” But the bad countenance was the sad countenance (see Gen_40:7 for the same phrase).
Neh_2:3. Let the king live for ever.—Heb. hammelek l’olam yihyeh. Compare 1Ki_1:31; Dan_2:4; Dan_5:10; Dan_6:6; Dan_6:21. The mere formula of address to an Oriental king, so that even a Daniel used it without compunction. The city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres.—Lit. the city, house of graves of my fathers. This emphasis of “the house of graves” not only seems to prove Nehemiah a Jerusalemite in descent, i.e., of the tribe of Judah, but also of the royal house. An obscure person would scarcely have chosen such a way of designating the city before the king. (Comp. on Neh_1:6.)
Neh_2:4. For what dost thou make request?—Lit. On what account this thou art asking? The king takes for granted that the look of sadness is an assumed preliminary to asking a favor. There is a true Oriental touch in this. So I prayed to the God of heaven.—A beautiful mark of Nehemiah’s piety. He first addresses the King of kings, and then the earthly monarch. He knew in whose hands were kings’ hearts. For the phrase “God of heaven,” see on Neh_1:5.
Neh_2:5. That I may build it.—This was Nehemiah’s first great aim, to rebuild the city. Without walls and fortifications, it was but a large village, exposed to sudden ruin. Could the walls be rebuilt, its permanence would be secured, and the province of Judah have a strong centre. That Nehemiah saw that this was the true course to conserve the special interests of God’s people, there can be no doubt. A man of his piety could not rest in the mere external view of things.
Neh_2:6. The queen also sitting by him.—We have a good illustration of this scene in a sculpture from Asshur-bani-pal’s palace (Koyunjik). The king reclines on one side of the table, and is in the act of drinking. The queen sits upright in a chair of state at the side of the table, near the king’s feet, but facing him. She is also in the act of drinking. Attendants with large fans stand behind each. (See copy of this interesting scene in Rawlinson’s Ancient Monarchies, Vol. I., p. 493). That the word “shegal” refers to the principal wife of the king seems clear from its use in Psa_45:10. The chief wife of Artaxerxes at one time was Damaspia, according to Ctesias.
Neh_2:7. The governors.—Heb. pahawoth, from pechah, the modern pacha, the Oriental name for a viceroy used by Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. Beyond the river, i.e., the river Euphrates. The course to Judea would leave the Euphrates probably at Tiphsah, 700 miles from Susa or Shushan, whence there would be 400 miles of travel through the Syrian countries before reaching Jerusalem. They were letters to governors or pachas in this Syrian region that Nehemiah requested.
Neh_2:8. Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, may have been a Jew, as the name is Israelitish. It may, however, be a form of Aspatha (Est_9:7), from the Persian Aspa (horse). The word translated “forest” is pardes, which is our familiar paradise. It is an Aryan word (Zend, pairidaeza), and signifies a walled round place, a preserve of trees and animals. There was probably a royal park set off for the king in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and Asaph was its keeper. The word pardes is found in the Scriptures only here and in Sol. S. Neh_4:13 and Ecc_2:5. As it is not an old Persian word, but found in the Sanscrit and Armenian, no argument for the late date of Solomon’s Song and Ecclesiastes can be derived from it. In Solomon’s day, with that king’s extensive connections with distant countries, the word may readily have entered into his vocabulary from any Aryan source. The palace which appertained to the house.—It is supposed by some that this is the well-known Birah or Baris (afterward Antonia) at the north side of the temple-area. But that was probably constructed at a later date. Nehemiah sought simply to reconstruct the old buildings. Now the palace next to the house (i.e., to the temple, the house, as the house of God) was Solomon’s palace, inhabited by all the kings after him, which was situated at the south-east corner of the temple-area. (See 2Ch_23:12-15). The house that I shall enter into.—Not Nehemiah’s own house (he was too high-minded to think of that), but the house of God, spoken of before. He desired timber (1) for the palace gates, (2) for the walls, and (3) for the house of God. “That I shall enter into” means “which I shall visit and inspect.”
According to the good hand of my God upon me.—For this beautiful expression of piety, compare Ezr_7:9; Ezr_8:18. In Neh_2:18 of this chapter we see it again, slightly varied in form.
The Journey to Jerusalem
Neh_2:9. The king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.—Nehemiah’s high rank made this a matter of course.—
Neh_2:10. Sanballat the Horonite.—There were two Horons (“Beth-horons” in full) in Palestine, a few miles north of Jerusalem. There was also a Horonaim (lit. “the two Horons”) in Moab (Isa_15:5). Sanballat was probably from the latter, and was a Moabite, as we find his associate is Tobiah, an Ammonite. He was probably satrap or pacha of Samaria under the Persians, and Tobiah was his vizier or chief adviser. The hatred of the Moabites and Ammonites toward Israel, and the equal hatred of the Israelites to Moab and Ammon appear to have grown stronger in the later ages of the Jewish state. In David’s time, his family found refuge in Moab, as Elimelech’s family had done long before, and Ruth a Moabitess was ancestress of the line of kings in Israel and Judah. After the attack upon Moab by Jehoshaphat and the terrible scene upon the wall of Mesha’s capital (2Ki_3:27), there was probably nothing but intense bitterness between the children of Lot and the children of Israel. Sanballat and Tobiah represented the Moabitish and Ammonitish hatred.1 The origin of the name Sanballat is uncertain. It seems akin to the Assyrian Ass-uruballat, and may be, in its correct form, “Sinuballat,” Sin being the moon (comp. Sin-akhi-irib or Sennacherib), or it may be San-uballat, San being the sun.
Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite.—Tobiah is a Jewish name (see Ezr_2:60 and Zec_6:10). We could scarcely expect to find the element Jah in the name of an Ammonite. Tobiah was probably a renegade Jew, who had become a slave among the Ammonites, and, by his talents and cunning, had risen into prominence, and was now chief adviser of Sanballat. Hence the epithet, which probably his enemies had fastened on him: “Tobiah the slave.”—It grieved them.—Samaria had become the leading state west of the Jordan, and any restoration of Jerusalem would threaten this predominance.
Neh_2:11. And was there three days.—Days, probably, of prayer and observation before any determinate action. (See Ezr_8:32, for a precisely similar conduct on Ezra’s part thirteen years before.)
The Inspection
Neh_2:12. In the night—few men—neither told I any man.—These facts and that of only one animal being used in the night-survey show the prudence of Nehemiah, who would avoid calling the attention of Sanballat to any survey of the walls until all was ready for building. Any formal survey made in the day-time would soon have reached Sanballat’s ears, for he and Tobiah were both closely allied by marriage-alliances with the Jerusalem Jews (Neh_6:18; Neh_13:28).
Neh_2:13. The gate of the valley, Sha’ar hag-gai (2Ch_26:9; Neh_3:13), was probably a gate overlooking the great valley of Hinnom, which is called in Jer_2:23 simply “the valley.” It was between the Tower of the Furnaces (Migdal hat-tannurim) and the Dung-gate. We may place it about twelve hundred feet south of the present Jaffa, Gate.—The dragon-well (Ain hattannin) is perhaps the present great pool, Birket Sultan, along the eastern side of which and above it would be Nehemiah’s course southward from the Jaffa-gate. The strange name (Fountain of the Sea-monster) may have been given to it because some curious large water-snake or crocodile was kept in it in Nehemiah’s time.—The dung-port (Sha’ar ha-ashpoth) is rather the rubbish-gate, and was probably the gate in the valley before which the rubbish of the city was cast and burned. It was the “east gate” (lit. pottery-gate) of Jer_19:2. So the Jewish authorities. We may suppose this gate was at the southern extremity of Zion. The false rendering of “dung-port” has given rise to the idea that it was near the temple; that through it the filth from the animals offered in sacrifice was carried. It is possible that this filth may have been carried over the bridge to Zion, and through this gate to the brink of Hinnom’s deepest portion, and there dumped with the other rubbish. But the rubbish-gate or dung-port was only one thousand cubits from the valley gate (see Neh_3:13), and no gate near the temple could have been thus near the valley-gate, if the valley-gate were anywhere on the west of the city. We should consider the Rubbish-gate as directly before that part of Hinnom known as Tophet (Jer_7:31-32; Jer_19:6; Jer_19:11-14). (But see Excursus.)
Neh_2:14. The gate of the fountain, Sha’ar ha-ayin, is certainly a gate in front of the pool of Siloam (see Neh_3:15). It would be where the ancient wall turned northward beyond its south-eastern corner.—The king’s pool, berechath hammelek, must be the pool of Siloam. Comp. Neh_3:15. The “virgin’s fountain” of to-day is too far away. It probably received this name from its watering the king’s garden (Neh_3:15). See Joseph. Ant. 7, 14, 4. Also Jerom. Com. on Jer_7:30.
There was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.—The ruin was so great, and the rubbish so accumulated, along Ophel, that Nehemiah could not pursue his course along the wall any further (Neh_2:15), but was obliged to go down into the valley of the Kidron (the brook, nachal), up which he went and surveyed the wall, and then turned back and pursued the same route back again to the valley-gate. It is evident that this survey was confined to the southern and eastern walls, which were perhaps the most ruined and the most neglected, as being on the sides of greater natural defence.2
Neh_2:16. Neither had I as yet told it to the Jews.—Rather: Neither did I, until I had done thus, tell it to the Jews.—The rulers (seganim, a Persian word) were the executive officers of the colony. Neither to the Jews in general nor to the rulers, priests or nobles specially had Nehemiah communicated the fact of his survey. He, however, now summons an assembly, and urges them to build the walls, showing them as arguments God’s mercies to him and the king’s favor.—The rest that did the work, i.e. the others engaged in the public service. Or (more probably) it may be proleptic for “those that afterward engaged in the wall-building.”
Neh_2:18. So they strengthened their hands for this good work, or for good, i.e., for a prosperous time.
Neh_2:19. Geshem or Gashmu (Neh_6:6), who was third with Sanballat and Tobiah in hostility to the Jews, was perhaps chief of those Arabs whom Sargon had settled in Samaria (see Rawlinson’s Anc. Mon., Vol. II., p. 146).
Neh_2:20. Ye have no portion nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.—This was Nehemiah’s firm protest against the slightest interference on the part of these heathen chiefs. He will not acknowledge their right even to complain, and refuses to answer their false charge implied in their question. With such enemies there should be a clear understanding from the first. One of the strong points of Nehemiah’s character was his uncompromising and prompt method in all things.
HISTORICAL AND ETHICAL
1. Like Joseph and Daniel, Nehemiah carried into a high office near the throne of an Oriental despot the vigor of a holy life. It did not make him a recluse, nor yet a sad-faced servant of the king. His sad visage at this time was a thing remarkable. He had been an acceptable officer of the court, and the king’s treatment of his request shows the high favor in which he stood. True religion does not incapacitate one from office, but furnishes the man with a power to please, while it preserves him from the temptations of rank.
2. No doubt there had been from the foundation of the Persian empire a sincere sympathy on the part of the Persians with the Jews. The monotheism of the Jews gained them favor with the Persian throne, and was, doubtless, the chief reason of Cyrus’s edict concerning their return to Jerusalem. By the twentieth year of Artaxerxes this sympathy had probably diminished (as under Magian influences it had been previously hindered), and yet the king’s readiness to send an escort with Nehemiah (Neh_4:23), and to make his way easy, may be attributed in part to this traditional regard for the Jewish hostility to polytheism.
3. Nehemiah’s secresy was a part of his executive ability. Although he had the king’s endorsement, he knew the value of keeping his own counsel, for there were jealous foes around the Jews ready to throw hindrances in his way. Moreover these had allies among the Jews themselves—men high in rank and position—and the distance was so great from the Persian capital that Nehemiah’s firman needed great wisdom on his part to make it efficient.
4. The encouragement which Nehemiah held out to his countrymen to rebuild the walls was not simply the king’s willingness, but the guiding hand of God. He saw behind the throne of Persia the power of Israel’s Jehovah, and sought to strengthen his brethren by the same view. Piety teaches the heart to see second causes as only indicators of the Divine will and action, and law, whether it be from man’s mouth or in the forces of external nature, is rightly referred to an overruling Providence that guides and guards the people of God. It was this consideration that formed Nehemiah’s answer to Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Neh_2:1-9. Love towards suffering Jerusalem: 1) Its sorrow (Neh_2:1-2), in spite of personal prosperity, and even in the midst of the enjoyments of the royal banquet. 2) Its confession (Neh_2:2-3); it is not ashamed of belonging to the congregation of the Lord; neither is it ashamed of its poor brethren, but declares itself candidly as love, and indeed in spite of the danger of displeasing in a very hazardous way. 3) Its petition (Neh_2:4-5): it begs for help, first indeed of God the Lord, and then also of men, but particularly for the permission to give its own aid, and that too with self-denial. 4) Its joy (Neh_2:6; Neh_2:9): its prayer is not only granted, but it receives almost more than it could hope for. Brentius: Hæc enim est vera amicitia, quæ in afflictionibus perdurat. Exemplum imitandum: si quid petendum est ab homine, primum a Deo petamus, qui hominis cor nobis amicum reddere potest.
Starke: To speak to princes of weighty matters demands great precaution. 2Sa_14:2. O Soul, if a heathen lord takes a servant’s griefs so tenderly to heart, how should not the Father of mercy allow thy griefs to penetrate His heart! Jer_31:20; Jer_31:25. The sighs of the godly are powerful petitions before God. Psa_12:6. One should not frighten timid supplicants still more, but speedily encourage their petition by generous bounty. Mat_5:32; Rom_12:8. Princes and lords should willingly listen to the complaints of their subjects, and grant as much as possible. 2Sa_3:16. God gives according to His great goodness more than we can hope or ask for. Eph_3:20; 1Ki_3:13.
The sorrow for suffering Jerusalem: 1) In spite of our own prosperity; 2) On account of the sad position of the congregation; 3) In presence of those who are able to help, and must be gained over.—The self-denial of a patriot: 1) He grieves in spite of his own prosperity, for the misery of his country; 2) He risks his position by a frank confession; 3) He wishes to relinquish his position, in order to aid his fatherland.
Starke: It is a token of a godless spirit when one does not reverence his fatherland; but it is villainy when one desires to injure it. 2Ma_5:8.
Neh_2:10. The conduct of the worldly-minded towards the congregation of the Lord: 1) Their latitudinarianism: Sanballat and Tobiah maintained friendship with the Jerusalemites. Neh_6:10; Neh_6:17; Neh_13:4-9; Neh_13:28. 2) Their narrowness: they cannot endure that any one should seek to advance the welfare of the congregation of the Lord, as such.
Venerable Bede: Notanda animarum rerumque diversitas, quia supra quidem dicti sunt hi, qui remanserunt de captivitate in Juda, in afflictione magna et opprobrio fuisse; sed et Nehemiam longum cum fletu et precibus duxisse jejunium, eo quod muros. Hierusalem dissipatos, et portæ illius essent igne combustæ, et nunc versa vice hostes ejusdem sanctæ civitatis contristati et in afflictione sunt magna constituti, eo quod ædificia illius restauranda. Unde colligendum, etiam in hac vita sententiam domini posse compleri, qui cum dixissit: Amen, amen, dico vobis, quia plorabitis et flebitis vos, mundus autem gaudebit, vos autem contristabimini, continuo subjecit: sed tristitia vestra vertetur in gaudium.
Neh_2:11-18. Bright zeal in the concerns of God: 1) It foresees (Neh_2:11-12) and hastens at times because dangers threaten; 2) It looks around (Neh_2:13-15) to fully estimate the difficulty of the work to be performed; 3) it looks, and points, on high (Neh_2:17-18), to God’s help, to the hand of God, which is extended in favor above it, and therefore succeeds with those whose help is necessary.
Venerable Bede: Diversa urbis destructæ loca lustrandro pervagatur.…. Sic et doctorum est spiritualium, sæpius nocte surgere ac solerte indagine statum sanctæ ecclesiæ quiescentibus ceteris inspicere, ut vigilanter inquirant, qualiter ea, quæ vitiorum bellis. … dejecta sunt, castigando emendent et erigant.
Starke: When one has suitable means at hand for avoiding the danger, he must not despise them. Jos_2:15; 2Co_11:33. When something is granted to us by the authorities through favor, we must ascribe it to God. When one will perform anything great, he must keep it secret. 1Sa_14:1. When the Church sleeps, God awakens pious people, who work and watch for its welfare. There is a time for speaking and a time for silence. Well begun is half gained.
Neh_2:19-20. In our work for the kingdom of God what position must we take towards the objections of the world? 1) We must be prepared for scorn, contempt, and anxiety. The worldly-minded consider the aim which we truly have as foolish, as it is too elevated for them; they therefore attribute to us another aim, which is foreign to us; and in this way they give a most suspicious look to our activity. 2) We must not, however, lay any importance upon this; that which they consider foolish is our highest task, that we should keep ourselves unspotted from the world, and therefore concede to them, in so far as they are the world, no part or right in our intercourse.
Neh_2:17-20. The admonition to build up the kingdom of God. 1) It complains: you see the distress, etc., for it always finds again the reason that it may pass beyond to the demand: come, let us build, resting upon the former proofs of the Lord, who also has known how to make the kings of the earth serviceable to His ends. 2) It excites the ridicule and the suspicions of the world, but overcomes them through reference to the God of heaven, who causes His people to succeed, but never allows the evil to prevail.—Venerable Bede: Doctores sancti, immo omnes, qui zelo Dei fervent, in afflictione sunt maxima, quamdiu Hierusalem, hoc est, visionem pacis, quam nobis Dominus reliquit et commendavit, per bella dissensionum cernunt esse desertam, et portas virtutum, quas juxta Esaiam laudatio occupare debuerat, prævalentibus inferorum portis dejectas atque opprobrio habitas contuentur.—Starke: It is a good sign when envious people combat a work; for one can conclude from that that it provokes the devil, and that makes us the more joyful. Gen_37:4; 1Sa_17:28. The devil is never idle: therefore when he can undertake nothing actively against the people of God, he makes use of poisonous tongues; but whoever fears God has a secure fortress. Sir. 14:26, 31. One should be firm in his confidence in God, and allow nothing to be abstracted from it.
Footnotes:
[1]The Sanballat of Josephus is evidently a very different person, living a century later. He may have been a descendant of this one, inheriting his office and his hostile tactics toward the Jews.
[2]It is generally thought that Nehemiah made the full circuit of the walls; but, although the language might allow such an interpretation, the want of any hint of another way back (no mention of the Fish-gate or Old-gate or any other prominent land-mark on the north and west side) seems to force us to take shuv in the sense of going back in the way he went out.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 7, 8 the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance…
the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?--It was deemed highly unbecoming to appear in the royal presence with any weeds or signs of sorrow (Est 4:2); and hence it was no wonder that the king was struck with the dejected air of his cupbearer, while that attendant, on his part, felt his agitation increased by his deep anxiety about the issue of the conversation so abruptly begun. But the piety and intense earnestness of the man immediately restored [Nehemiah] to calm self-possession and enabled him to communicate, first, the cause of his sadness (Neh 2:3), and next, the patriotic wish of his heart to be the honored instrument of reviving the ancient glory of the city of his fathers.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–8 NEHEMIAH COMMISSIONED TO REBUILD THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM, Neh_2:1-8.
NEHEMIAH COMMISSIONED TO REBUILD THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM, Neh_2:1-8.
1. The month Nisan — The name, after the exile, of the first month of the Jewish year, corresponding nearly with April, and more anciently called Abib. Exo_13:4; comp. Neh_12:2. This was the first Nisan that followed the Chisleu (Neh_1:1) when Nehemiah heard the sad tidings from Judah, and four months after that time, but both these months fell in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. For a notice of this king, see note on Ezr_7:1.
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Took up the wine, and gave it unto the king — This was a part of the business of the royal cupbearer. See note above, on Neh_1:11.
Had not been beforetime sad — We may better omit beforetime and translate the past tense of the verb, as is often proper, so as to express an habitual state or condition, I was not accustomed to be sad in his presence. The Hebrew word for sad (רע) commonly means bad, ill-favoured, evil; and is appropriately used of the troubled and dejected countenance of a cupbearer, which should naturally be cheerful and happy, as became his business, to cheer the heart of the king. Various ancient authors attest the propensity of the Persians for wine. Herodotus says, (i, 133,) “They are very fond of wine, and drink it in large quantities.” And, according to H. Rawlinson, it is customary at the present day for the high livers among the Persians “to sit for hours before dinner drinking wine and eating dried fruits. A party often sits down at seven o’clock, and the dinner is not brought in till eleven.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–8 Neh_2:1-11. Nehemiah receives His Commission
Neh_2:1-11. Nehemiah receives His Commission
1. Nisan] See note on Neh_1:1. This name only occurs elsewhere in the O.T. in Est_3:7, ‘in the first month, which is the month Nisan,’ cf. Josephus, Ant. xi. 4, 8, ‘The first month, which according to the Macedonians is called Xanthicus, but according to us Nisan.’ Its meaning is uncertain; according to some its root-idea is ‘fruitfulness,’ according to others ‘beginning’ or ‘origin.’ It corresponds to the month of which the older Israelite name was ‘Abib’ (Exo_13:4; Exo_23:15; Exo_34:18; Deu_16:1), ‘the harvest month,’ equivalent to our latter part of March and beginning of April.
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The same month appears in the Assyrian dialect as Nisannu, and it is quite possible that the Jews may have adopted the name from Babylonian usage.
the twentieth year of Artaxerxes] 445 b.c.: Artaxerxes reigned 41 years (465–424 b.c.). In the year 445 Pericles had obtained control of Athenian affairs; and a thirty years’ truce was concluded between Athens and Sparta. At Rome the conflict between patricians and plebeians was being waged; the deposition of the Decemvirs had occurred only four years before.
that wine] R.V. when wine. The R.V. shows the connexion of the sentences. The present clause states the occasion, when Nehemiah preferred his request. ‘When wine was before him;’ i.e. when the king was at a repast, and the cupbearers were (or a cupbearer was) in attendance. At such a time the king would naturally remark upon any alteration of demeanour in a favourite ‘cupbearer.’
According to Rawlinson (Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii. p. 214) the Persian king himself rarely dined with his guests. For the most part he dined alone. Sometimes he admitted to his table the queen and two or three of his children. Sometimes at a ‘banquet of wine’ (Est_7:2) a certain number of privileged boon companions were received.
before him] Another reading is found in the LXX. ‘before me,’ (καὶ ἦν ὁ οἶνος ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ), which is followed in the Arabic version and was known to the translators of the Syriac. The change needed in the Hebrew to give this rendering is very slight, being only the omission of a single letter (vaw), which is read once instead of being repeated (l’phânâ(y) vaessa instead of l’phânâv vaessa). It has been very ingeniously maintained that this is the right reading, and that the words ‘when wine was before me’ denote ‘when my turn came round to attend as cupbearer at the royal table.’ According to this explanation, the clause accounts for the delay of three or four months, before Nehemiah made his appeal to the king; it also accounts for the king not having before recognised the sadness of his cupbearer, this being the first occasion on which he had appeared in the royal presence since the sad news arrived in the month Chislev.
But it does not seem likely that a cupbearer, who enjoyed the favour of the king, should have appeared so rarely in his presence as this view supposes. The LXX. reading makes practically no distinction in meaning between the clauses ‘wine was before me’ and ‘I took up the wine,’ and it is a pure assumption, that the former was a phrase for the rotation of the cupbearer’s office.
On the other hand, the Hebrew text gives with great minuteness full circumstances of the event: (1) the month and year; (2) the time of day, at the dinner; (3) the stage at the dinner, when the cupbearer offered the king wine. It distinguishes between ‘wine … before him,’ the occasion of the repast, and ‘I took up … the wine,’ the act of presenting the royal cup.
and I took up] R.V. that I took up. The cupbearer’s duties were to pour out the wine, to taste it so as to prevent any scheme of poisoning, and to present it to the king. Perhaps the words ‘took up’ relate to the reverential gesture with which the goblet was offered.
the wine] ‘The vines of Helbon were cultivated for the special purpose of supplying the Persian king with wine’ (Rawlinson, Anc. Mon., 3. p. 226). Helbon, a village near Damascus (see Eze_27:18), seems to be the place intended by Strabo and Athenaeus, who call it ‘Chalybon.’
Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence] These words have given rise to considerable difficulty. There is nothing to show that this was the first occasion on which Nehemiah had stood before the king since the month Chislev. To suppose that the king had been absent for several months from Shushan would of course get over the difficulty. But we have no evidence upon which to base such an assertion. The passage, as it stands, suggests that Nehemiah was performing his usual duties as on former days. If so, how are we to explain Nehemiah’s words? For surely we may suppose his sadness to have dated from the arrival of the distressing news (ch. Neh_1:2). Various explanations of the words have been attempted; e.g.,
(1) ‘Now I was not evil in his sight,’ i.e. he was well disposed to me. The rendering ‘evil’ instead of ‘sad’ is equally in accordance with the Hebrew, but the use of the same adjective in the sense of ‘sad’ in Neh_2:2 (see note) is fatal to this interpretation.
(2) ‘To suppose that I should not have been sad in his presence!’ Grammatically possible, an exclamation is not a probable turn of the sentence.
(3) ‘And I was not sad in his presence.’ The preterite tense is understood to refer to this particular occasion, and not generally to past time. This interpretation supposes that Nehemiah did not wear a sad countenance, but that the quick eye of his royal master perceived that something was wrong with his favourite. This, it is claimed, would account for the perturbation of Nehemiah described in Neh_2:2. But it is sufficient to object that (a) Neh_2:2, leaves us to suppose that Nehemiah’s sadness was clearly visible; (b) the 1st pers. sing. of the preterite of the auxiliary is used in three other passages in this book and refers to past time indefinitely (Neh_1:1; Neh_1:11, Neh_13:6). Had, Nehemiah wished to say that he was not sad on this occasion he would not have employed the auxiliary at all.
(4) Accepting the English rendering, ‘Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence,’ it seems necessary to assume that Nehemiah chose his opportunity and deliberately gave occasion for the king’s enquiry. It was forbidden for royal servants to appear before the king gloomy and unhappy. It was ill-omened, and suggested discontent and plotting at the court, cf. Est_4:2. Nehemiah had not therefore beforetime been sad in the king’s presence. He had not made up his mind up to this time what steps to take or what petition to present. Now, however, after his prayer to God (ch. Neh_1:5-11), he had been able to resolve upon his course of action. He appeared before the king at the banquet table in a state of sadness and dejection, which could not possibly escape the king’s notice when he stood before him as cupbearer and presented him the cup.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (1) Nisan.—The old Abib, the first month of the…
(1) Nisan.—The old Abib, the first month of the Jewish year, following the vernal equinox. As we are still in the twentieth year of the king, the beginning of his reign must be dated before Chisleu. The record adopts Persian dates, and the two months fell in one year.
II.
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(1-8) Nehemiah’s appeal to the king.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 In the month Nisan. The fourth month after Chisleu,…
In the month Nisan. The fourth month after Chisleu, corresponding nearly to our April. How it came about that Nehemiah did not put the king"s favour to the proof until more than three months had gone by we can only conjecture. Perhaps the court had been absent from Susa, passing the winter at Babylon, as it sometimes did, and he had not accompanied it. Perhaps, though present at the court, he had not been called on to discharge his office, his turn not having arrived. Possibly, though performing his duties from time to time, he had found no opportunity of unbosoming himself, the king not having noticed his grief. He. may even have done his best to conceal it, for Persian subjects were expected to be perfectly happy in the presence of their king. He had probably formed no plan, but waited in the confident hope that God"s providence would so order events, that some occasion would arise whereof he might take advantage. In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. Like Daniel, Zechariah, Haggai, and Ezra, Nehemiah dates events by the regnal year of the existing Persian king. His Artaxerxes is, by common consent, the same as Ezra"s, and can scarcely be supposed to be any monarch but Longimanus, who reigned from B.C. 465 to B.C. 425. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Other renderings have been proposed, but this is probably the true meaning. Hitherto I had always worn a cheerful countenance before him now it was otherwise my sorrow showed itself in spite of me.
Vers. 1-8. Prayer answered.
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Three or four months bad passed since Nehemiah first heard of the distressed condition of his brethren at Jerusalem, and began to pray for them, and that he might be permitted to visit and relieve them. So long the answer to his prayer was delayed. But he doubtless continued to pray, and at length the answer came. Meanwhile, he would be able to ripen his plans, and prepare himself for his enterprise. Notice
I THE OPPORTUNITY AT LENGTH AFFORDED HIM. Arising from
1. His access to the king.
2. The king"s notice of his sadness and kind inquiry respecting it (ver. 2). An example to superiors in relation to inferiors; to masters and mistresses in respect to their servants. The highest are liable to suffer, and may be glad of the sympathy and services of those beneath them, who will render them all the more cheerfully if kindness has been shown to them. God intends the relationships of life for mutual comfort and benefit. Sympathy benefits alike the giver and receiver. Sympathy is as oil to the machinery of life. It unites classes in bonds more sacred, happy, and lasting than laws or self-interest. Every one has it in his power, by cherishing and displaying it, to render invaluable service to society. Sympathy between employers and employed is one of the greatest wants of England.
3. His reply. Describing the sad condition of Jerusalem, and intimating its preciousness to him as "the place of his fathers" sepulchres" (ver. 3).
4. The king"s encouragement to him to present his request (ver. 4). A kind word will do much to alleviate sorrow; a readiness to give practical relief more. The king encouraged Nehemiah to hope for this; nor was the hope disappointed.
II THE USE HE MADE OF HIS OPPORTUNITY.
1. It filled him with fear (ver. 2). The moment he had so long desired had come; but at first its arrival only made him "very sore afraid." So much depended on it; so uncertain was he of his power to produce the right impression on the king, whose will would determine whether his plan should be executed.
2. It led him to prayer (ver. 4). As he stood before the monarch, embarrassed and trembling, he lifted up his heart to God, imploring assistance and success. The best thing he could do. Prayer calms the anxious, (Php_4:6, 7) gives the soul possession of itself, brings God to the help of man. In the strength of God Nehemiah could address the king.
3. He presented his petition to Artaxerxes (ver. 5). Humbly and courteously, as became him, and was best adapted to secure his object.
4. He made further and larger requests when the first was granted (vers. 7, 8). The general lesson is, Seize your opportunities, whether for getting or doing good. "There is a tide in the affairs of men," etc. The impression made by a young man in a short interview may determine the complexion of the whole of his after life. Failure is often only lost opportunities avenging themselves. It is so not only in secular matters, but spiritual. "The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone" (G. Eliot).
III HIS SUCCESS. The king not only granted him his requests, but gave him apparently more than he asked for (ver. 9).
IV HIS PIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ITS SUPREME SOURCE. "According to the good hand of my God upon me" (ver. 8). Many fail in this. Even those who have prayed for what they have received do not always make due acknowledgment. Thanksgivings are not so plentiful as prayers.
In conclusion, observe
1. Christians always have access to the throne of the King of kings. He feels deep interest in them, sympathy with them; encourages them to tell him their sorrows and present their petitions. They may come to him not only at stated periods, but at any moment, through the mediation of the Lord Jesus.
2. They should avail themselves of this privilege not only for their own advantage, but for the good of others. They should pray constantly "for the peace of Jerusalem," for the "good estate of the Catholic Church." God purposes and promises good to his Church, but enjoins prayer for what he has promised. (see Eze_36:37) Our Lord teaches us, in the model prayer he has given us, to pray first for the hallowing of God"s name and the coming of his kingdom. Yet many Christians are selfish in their prayers, and thus nourish their selfishness.
3. They may ask for great things. He to whom they come is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," and has done great things in answer to prayer.
4. Past answers to prayer should embolden to further and larger requests.
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL. Vers. 1-8. Sadness.
I THAT IT WAS THE OUTCOME OF A TRUE PATRIOTISM (ver. 2). This sadness was not occasioned by temporal loss, by domestic bereavement, or by unfaithful friendship, but by the desolated condition of Jerusalem. The city was "waste." Many cities of our own country are laid waste by sin; the good man cannot be indifferent, he must sympathise with and help the work of moral restoration. If men are anxious about the walls, they ought to be much more so about the morals of a city; if for the tombs of the dead, much more for the welfare of the living. Sin consumes a city as by fire. The desolation wrought by sin, in commerce, in society, in the home, and especially amongst the young, cannot but awaken deep sorrow of heart.
II THAT IT WAS EXPERIENCED IN THE COURSE OF HIS DAILY AVOCATIONS. "And I took up the wine, and gave it to the king "(ver. 1). How many men go to their daily toil with a heart sorrow which occupation and industry cannot make them forget. Nehemiah was wont to be cheerful before the king; business should be done in joyous mood; but there are times when sorrow will prevail.
III THAT IT WAS MANIFESTED IN THE APPEARANCE OF THE PHYSICAL FRAME. "Why is thy countenance sad?" (ver. 2). How much of the world"s sorrow is concealed. In a very true sense it is sorrow of heart; it is never vocal in explanation or complaint. But such sacred grief is not hidden from God. The face reflects the emotions of the soul; it revealed the sorrow of Nehemiah, the joy of Stephen. How many sorrowful faces do we meet in a day. A sad countenance should awaken tender inquiry, wise consideration, and willing aid. Let us not be heedless of the world"s sorrow. Christ is only true consolation.
IV THAT IT WAS AIDED BY SECRET COMMUNION WITH THE DIVINE. "So I prayed to the God of heaven" (ver. 4).
1. Sorrow often has great opportunities opened up to it. "For what dost thou make request?" Nehemiah"s sorrow opened up the king"s resources to him. Our sorrows often make heaven rich to us.
2. Sorrow needs guidance, so as to make good use of the opportunities presented to it.
3. Sorrow finds in prayer the guidance and culture it needs to use aright its opportunity.
a. Memory is aided;
b. difficulty is anticipated;
c. preparation is accomplished (ver. 7);
d. agencies are perfected (ver. 8).
V THAT IT WAS EMPLOYED IN THE WONDROUS PROVIDENCE OF HEAVEN. "And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me" (ver. 8).
1. The sorrow of Nehemiah was allied to the welfare of his people. It led to the rebuilding of the broken wall of Jerusalem. Our trials are often the means of promoting the welfare of others. Christ"s sufferings are allied to our best delights, and to our noblest achievements. It is indeed true that others build because we have suffered.
2. The sorrow of Nehemiah was allied to the beneficence of the king. It awakened the monarch"s sympathy and help. The sorrows of men awaken loving ministries.
3. The sorrow of Nehemiah was allied to the providence of God. By its means Heaven opened the heart of the heathen king in sympathy and his hand in help. The pain of the world is made to achieve high moral ends; a wise providence employs it in the building of broken walls. E.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-8. Gaining the cause.
It was a time of great suspense, hardest of all things for human hearts to bear. The future of Jerusalem now hung on the building of the wall, and this depended on Nehemiah"s personal interposition and upon Artaxerxes" pleasure. When great events depend on a single circumstance, issues deep and grave on the charge of a regiment, on the skill of a statesman, on the caprice of a king, we may well wait in anxiety. Nothing could be done now for Jerusalem, speaking humanly, without this Persian sovereign"s consent. There was
I ABSENCE OF OPPORTUNITY. More than three months intervened between Nehemiah"s receiving the tidings and his appeal to Artaxerxes. Whence this delay? Undoubtedly the actual or virtual inaccessibility of the king. Either he was not called to the royal presence, or the sovereign was obviously not in the mood. How unlike this to the ever-open throne of grace to which at any time, and in any place, we may go, sure of an attentive hearing from "him who giveth liberally and upbraideth not.
II DIPLOMACY. Nehemiah showed great skill
1. In the introduction of his cause. How should he ask to be sent elsewhere when he was already "standing before the king"? This was regarded as the height of a man"s ambition, as our Scriptures plentifully intimate. To "stand before kings," to stand in the "king"s presence, before his face, was the acme of hope and satisfaction. To ask to be dismissed was discourteous and dangerous. It was, indeed, going in this direction, to seem otherwise than joyful (vers. 1, 2). But Nehemiah ventured thus far; he did not disguise or restrain his sorrow; it was evident in his countenance. This would be a forceful appeal to the king, and still more so to the queen, who was present (ver. 6).
2. In his lament. It was the "one touch of nature that makes the whole world kin," to allude to "the city of his fathers" sepulchres lying waste" (ver. 3): this would strike a chord in any human heart; it did within the king.
3. In his request. He was mentally prepared for utterance; he had even calculated the necessary time (ver. 6), and the materials, etc. he required for the work (vers. 7, 8). We must not expect to succeed in any delicate enterprise unless we enter upon it with calculation and care. There are things to be done for God which may be wrought by sheer an& simple earnestness; but there are times when, if we cannot furnish it ourselves, we must give place to the man who can bring to the task refinement, delicacy, tact. We must give way to the Nehemiah of our Church or society; he will succeed admirably where we should fail ingloriously.
III PRAYER. "So I prayed to the God of heaven" (ver. 4). This is a beautiful and suggestive parenthesis. Between the king"s question and the courtier"s reply there was a momentary appeal to heaven. "The king"s heart is in the hand of the Lord; as rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he wills". (Pro_21:1) An excellent thing is it for a man so to walk with God, to live so near to him, that at any moment, and at any time of special need, he can ejaculate a prayer; so that it will be natural for him to withdraw for a brief interval from this world and from man, and lift up the heart to heaven. This is one way in which we may be "praying always", (Eph_6:18) "without ceasing". (1Th_5:17)
IV GRATITUDE FOR SUCCESS. "The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me" (ver. 8). Nehemiah, like all praying men, was grateful. He ascribed success not to his own ingenuity, but to the "good hand of God." Men that are undevout are necessarily unthankful and self-complacent; they congratulate themselves instead of blessing God. Far more beautiful and appropriate is it to realise that the hand of the Supreme is controlling all issues, and thus conferring all good. With some prosperity leads to pride and spiritual injury, while in others it inspires gratitude and devotion. C.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORDVers. 1-8. These verses describe the circumstances in which Nehemiah obtained his commission as restorer of Jerusalem. They show that he was prospered, and that his prosperity was due to the blessing of God. We may notice
I The REWARD OF FAITH IN THE ANSWER TO PRAYER.
1. The faith was tried by waiting. Opportunity must not be made by hasty, presumptuous attempts to command events, but by watching Providence. Nehemiah still prayed, and then on a certain day he could say, It came to pass.
2. The Divine interposition was manifested in the control of the monarchs thoughts and disposition. It might easily have been otherwise. A suspicious Eastern despot might have been jealous and angry. When it is the purpose of God to help, even the secrets of the inner man are swayed by it. We must leave it to him to answer the prayer when and as he pleases.
3. There was a special bestowal of grace upon Nehemiah himself. He needed self-command, prudence, boldness, adroitness. And when challenged to disclose what was in his heart, making his countenance sad, he must depend upon inspiration to be able to say exactly the right thing, and to say it so as to obtain his desire. His patriotism, his purity of motive, his confidence in his own vocation to fulfil so great a commission, all required at that moment to be sustained. He "prayed to the God of heaven." The answer was immediately sent, in the courage, the wisdom, the self-devotion, the simplicity of the cupbearer in the presence of an Eastern despot, asking to be intrusted with power that he might use it for God and his people.
4. There was a Providential conjunction of circumstances, both in the past and present. Nehemiah was already in the palace to aid the important work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. How little we can follow the working of the Divine hand! The answer to our prayer may be already provided, even before we present the petition. What seems hard to obtain is not hard for God to give.
II The DEVELOPMENT OF CAPACITY ON THE BASIS OF RELIGION.
1. The beginning of all, devoutness, intercourse with God, spirituality of aim and motive, largo desires for the welfare of God"s people, and so of the world.
2. On this is built the purity, and strength, and unselfishness which so wins confidence in others. Nehemiah found favour with Artaxerxes because there was that in his very countenance which the monarch delighted to look upon. We should recommend religion by transparent honesty, cheerfulness, and unselfishness.
3. Intellectual power rests upon moral, and both upon spiritual. The cupbearer could not have undertaken to be a ruler and leader of men m most difficult circumstances unless there had been the making of a ruler in him. Some of our greatest statesmen have owed much of their superiority to their religion. "The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.
4. One who places himself in a position of great responsibility requires a far-seeing eye and a strong will. These are wonderfully helped by the cultivation of a deeper nature. Nehemiah knew what to ask for, materials and men; foresaw the demands of the work and its dangers; with steadfast confidence in himself, and fearless trust in his influence over the king, he made great requests, and they were "granted, according to the good hand of his God upon him." The root of all his strength was his entire dependence upon God.
5. In the character of Nehemiah there is an illustration of the effect of religion in cherishing the higher elements of the nature, and keeping them in beautiful and powerful harmony. He loved "the place of his fathers" sepulchres," he loved his nation; but above all, he loved the Church of God. Personal feeling, patriotic enthusiasm, and religious faith, when they all unite together as active principles in one man, produce a loftiness and heroism which prepare him for the greatest efforts and successes. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 7, 8 And it came to pass in the month Nizan.
Neh_2:1-8
And it came to pass in the month Nizan.
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Divine interposition
I. Was opportune.
1. That Gods plans are worked out with the utmost precision.
2. That God often interferes on His peoples behalf when they least expect it.
3. That God generally interferes on His peoples behalf in their most urgent extremity.
II. required human co-operation.
III. was accompanied by providential coincidences.
1. Nehemiah was unusually sad.
2. The king was unusually friendly.
3. The queen also was present. (Homiletic Commentary.)
A true patriot
That is only a small part of the gospel which leads a man to ask, What must I do to be saved? The glorious gospel of the blessed God goes forth with us interested in everything that concerns us as men--at home, in business, in town, in country, in all national affairs, in the whole world. A Christian may thoughtlessly throw himself into political exitement with no other motive than that of party feeling; but because he is a Christian he will be glad to let the light of God shine in upon his aims and motives, and will be glad to see his duty in the quietness and sacredness of this hour. The Bible, which gives us examples of men in every position where duty leads, has given us amongst its most brilliant and noble characters this of the statesman. If any should think such a position inseparable from ambitious craft and party ends, let them note this fact. Nehemiah is living at the court of the king, occupying a position of high rank, of much influence, of great trust. If the chief thing in life is to take care of ones own ease and luxury, and not to trouble much about the wants and sorrows of other people, then here is a man who has all that heart can wish. There are men, thousands of them, who have no thought or purpose in life beyond themselves. Surely that is to degrade our manhood. But what of any man who should call himself a Christian and yet should live all taken up in himself as if nothing were worth a thought but how he may be as happy as possible on earth--and then happier still in another world? Now to the court where Nehemiah dwells come certain Jews from Jerusalem, and he goes forth to inquire about the state of his countrymen and the beloved city. As a man, as a brother, as a servant of the Living God, he is bound to feel the deepest concern in the welfare of his nation. It is easy enough to think of what Nehemiah might have said, if he had been easy-going and selfish, I really am sorry, very sorry--but I do not see that I can do anything, you know. It is as much as I can do to look after my own duties here without troubling myself about the affairs of the nation. There are some good people who talk so to-day and think it sounds pious. He might have given them a subscription, say of a guinea. And then he could have turned into the palace thankful not to be mixed up in these worldly matters. Or he might have sipped his wine out of a golden goblet and thought what a pity it was that everybody could not be as comfortable as he was. Well, if he had, you may be sure that neither this Book of God nor any other would have found a place for his name. Or he might have pleaded that he was in a very delicate and responsible position, holding office under the king, and that it would never do for him to get mixed up in these matters. Those good people who separate themselves from the duties of citizenship can find no example in the Scriptures. Of all false notions about regenerating the world, the most utterly false, as well as the laziest, is to think that this is the victory which overcometh the world to run away from it. This Book does not teach that the world is the devils, and the less we can have to do with it the better. No, indeed! The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof. The men of the Bible are not monks and recluses; but they are in the very midst of the world and busied with its affairs. Its prophets and messengers are men whose whole life has to do with the councils of kings, with the ways of cities and courts. Surely it is impossible to think of the religion of Jesus Christ as anything but a profound and eager interest in the welfare of our fellow-men--of their bodies as well as their souls; of their work as well as their worship; of their homes on earth as well as their getting to heaven. Nor have any the right to hold themselves aloof from politics because it is mixed up with party strife. We deplore and condemn the bitterness of party politics--but is there not a great deal of nonsense talked about party politics? How are you going ever to have polities at all without party politics? If you want abuses overthrown, and iniquities set right, and the privileges of the few shared by the many, and abominations like the opium trade swept away, and the great curses of drink and lust and gambling east out, are we to fold our hands because we are Christians, and let the devil have his own way because these things involve strife! Of course they do, and always will. We must expect opposition, excitement, abuse. The blessed Lord Jesus accepted and discharged the duties of citizenship. Together with His holiness, His meekness, His majesty, there is another grace and virtue--there is in Him a perfect patriotism. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are cent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate. And this example, sublime it is, is followed closely by the apostle Paul, whose passionate love to his countrymen prompts that daring utterance (Rom_9:1). And now to turn to ourselves. What think you? Can we dare to call ourselves by the name of Jesus Christ and yet be indifferent to the needs, the sorrows, the wants, the burdens of our country? Lastly, see how this brave man served his country. Nehemiah sees that his power to help his country is not mostly in his rank, nor in his influence with royalty; it is in his power to pray. This is the great truth we want to lay hold of. The greatest power to bless this land is in our power to pray for it. Here all are on a level. Women as well as men. We need not wait for Parliament in this matter. Womens rights are as ours at the throne of the heavenly grace. Beginning thus in prayer right speedily a glorious reformation is wrought in the face of plotting foes. In spite of the poverty and fewness of the people the city is rebuilt. So shall the city of God once more be set up in the midst of men, if every Christian man and woman will take in upon their heart the wants, the woes, the wrongs, the sorrows of our land, and will plead with God to send us a parliament that shall seek first in all things His kingdom and its righteousness. (M. G. Pearse.)
Religious patriotism exemplified in the history of Nehemiah
The patriotism of Nehemiah was based on religion; and hence the interest which he discovered in his far distant but afflicted countrymen, and the sacrifices which he made for their welfare. The love of country, because it is the country of our birth, and of countrymen, is no narrow-minded bigotry, as some shallow infidels in their pretended love of universal mankind have imagined. It is a principle of human nature implanted in our hearts for the wisest purposes. There is a patriotism which is quite selfish in its nature. Their own aggrandisement, or that of their friends and partisans, is the sum and substance of their patriotism. True patriotism, like every other great virtue, must be founded in true religion. Had not Nehemiah been a pious man, and loved the God of his fathers with all his heart, and loved his countrymen because they bore the image of God, he never would have relinquished his high advantages in the palace of Artaxerxes, and sacrificed so largely for their benefit. The true way to love man is to begin by loving God. On hearing of the affliction of his countrymen, who he might have expected by this time would have been in prosperous circumstances, Nehemiah betakes himself to prayer. All this shows Nehemiahs acquaintance with his Bible, and also the warmth of his piety. We might have expected that living at heathen court, remote from the means of grace, with few to strengthen or encourage him, he, though a good man, would have discovered in his piety the disadvantage of the circumstances in which he had been placed. But no--God can and often does compensate in richer effusions of His grace, for an adverse outward situation. And here let us mark the course which he pursued in seeking to relieve and restore his afflicted countrymen. He did not say, as many would have done, in a proud, vaunting spirit, I am the kings cup-bearer. Backed by his authority, and armed besides with wealth and power, I will soon reduce Jerusalem and its people to a right condition; I will soon quell all opposition, rebuild the wall, and set up the gates, and make the city glorious as of old. This had been the spirit of man flushed with the pride of power; but he had been taught of God, and so begins with humility and prayer. Let us, and let all, follow his example. All are occasionally in the providence of God required to discharge great duties. Important undertakings, involving the glory of God and the good of others, ever and anon call for our services. How should we engage in them? In a spirit of pride and self-confidence? No. But in a spirit of prayer and penitence. We are apt to despair of an undertaking when it is suspended on the will of man, and he is high above us, and we have ground to apprehend his hostility. Let this encourage us to be much in prayer for a good cause, even where it seems to hang upon the will of man, and that will appear hopelessly opposed. Nehemiah having thus prepared himself by prayer, is not slow in setting out in his work. Here we may notice the prudence and piety of this excellent Jew. He showed prudence in addressing a motive to the mind of the king for his journey, which the monarch could understand and appreciate. He did not ask leave to go to Jerusalem for the sake of his religion, but for the sake of his fathers sepulchres. This was an argument to which even a heathen would defer. With regard, again, to his piety, he did not only pray to God for counsel before making his request, but he strengthened and emboldened himself by prayer at the very time he stood in the presence of Artaxerxes. And then, after he had been successful in the petition, he did not refer the success to his own wisdom, or to his services as a faithful servant, but to the good hand of God upon him. He arrogated nothing to himself; he ascribed all to God. How much piety is here, and how beautiful is the union between piety and prudence! Considering the difficulties with which Christians have to struggle, well may the Saviour exhort His followers to be wise as serpents, at the same time that they are harmless as doves. It is worthy of notice, that deeply prayerful and dependent on God as Nehemiah was, he was not unmindful of the duty of using all legitimate means to secure the important object which he had in view. Prayer rightly understood does not destroy the use of means; it only strengthens and regulates its application. Prayer without means, and means without prayer, are equally presumptuous. Duty lies in employing both, but keeping both in their right place. This excellent man now set out on his journey, received the aid of the heathen governors upon the way, and soon reached Jerusalem in safety. With his usual prudence he did not, in the first instance, inform any one--priests, nobles, or rulers--what his intentions were. He wished to see the city with his own eyes, and draw his own conclusions, before acquainting them with the object of his mission. This enabled him to speak from personal observation, and so to speak with greater effect. (J. G. Lorimer.)
Why is thy countenance sad?--
Royal dislike of the sight of suffering
A late empress of Russia enacted a severe penalty, if any funeral procession should pass within sight of her palace. A princess of France, on her way to the capital, once ordered all beggars and persons suffering under disease to be removed from the line of her journey that she might not behold them. This Persian monarch notes signs of grief on his faithful servant with signs of displeasure. How different it is with our Saviour King! His heart is the seat of compassion for the afflicted. (W. Ritchie.)
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Effective ejaculatory prayer the outcome of the habit of prayer
It is he that cultivates the habit of prayer that will seize the fitting opportunity for such ejaculations. Some think because they may pray in any place and at all times that therefore seasons of prayer may be neglected with impunity; but only he who delights in communion with God, and does not omit set times for such communion, finds that when the emergency arises, and but a moment is given, he can pray as truly and with as much calmness as in his own closet. (W. P. Lockhart.)
Ejaculatory prayer
I. The nature of ejaculatory prayer. It differs from other kinds of prayer, in that--
1. It is dependent upon no place. Prayer is founded upon a full conviction of the natural perfection of God; His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. On the conviction that the object of prayer is everywhere present, and that we may in every place make known our request. Artisan, merchant, physician can pray wherever they may be.
2. It is dependent on no particular time.
3. It is dependent on no particular occasion. No need to wait for Sabbath or hour of public worship.
II. Examples of ejaculatory prayer. Abrahams servant (Gen_24:12); Samson (Jdg_16:28); Stephen (Act_7:59-60); Christ on various occasions.
III. Necessary occasions for ejaculatory prayer.
1. When suddenly called to important and difficult duties.
2. The Sabbath day and the assembly of the faithful. If hearers were more engaged in ejaculatory prayer, ministers would be more successful preachers.
3. The hour of temptation.
4. The hour of sickness.
IV. The advantages of ejaculatory prayer.
1. It main-rains an habitual sense of our dependence upon God.
2. It preserves our minds in a proper tone for the various exercises of devotion.
3. It is a powerful preventive against sin.
4. It makes us bold to contend with enemies or difficulties.
5. It quickens our zeal and activity in the cause of God. (J. A. James.)
Spiritual recollectedness
This is a remarkable illustration of religious presence of mind.
I. The outcome of a consecrated life.
II. The result of long habit.
III. A mark of self-distrusting humility.
IV. A source of incalculable blessing. (Homiletic Commentary.)
Ejaculatory prayer
It was--
I. Suddenly required.
II. Silently offered.
III. Suitably addressed.
IV. Very brief.
V. Completely successful. (Homiletic Commentary.)
Ejaculatory prayer
Nehemiah had made inquiry as to the state of the city of Jerusalem, and the tidings he heard caused him bitter grief. Why should not my countenance be sad, he said, when the city, the place of my fathers sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? He could not endure that it should be a mere ruinous heap. Laying the matter to heart, he did not begin to speak to other people about what they would do, nor did he draw up a wonderful scheme about what might be done if so many thousand people joined in the enterprise; but it occurred to him that he would do something himself. This is just the way that practical men start a matter. The unpractical will plan, arrange, and speculate about what may be done, but the genuine, thorough-going lover of Zion puts this question to himself--What can you do? Coming so far, he resolved to set apart a time for prayer. He never had it off his mind for nearly four months. When he slept he dreamed about Jerusalem. When he woke, the first thought was Poor Jerusalem! The man of one thing, you know, is a terrible man; and when one single passion has absorbed the whole of his manhood something will be sure to come of it. Before long Nehemiah had an opportunity. Men of God, if you want to serve God and cannot find the propitious occasion, wait awhile in prayer and your opportunity will break on your path like a sunbeam. There was never a true and valiant heart that failed to find a fitting sphere somewhere or other in His service. That opportunity came, it is true, in a way which he could not have expected. It came through his own sadness of heart. This matter preyed upon his mind till he began to look exceedingly unhappy. But you see when the opportunity did come there was trouble with it, for he says, I was very sore afraid. You want to serve God, young man; you want to be at work. Perhaps you do not know what that work involves It is not all pleasure. Thus have we traced Nehemiah up to the particular point where our text concerns him.
I. The fact that nehemiah prayed challenges attention. He had been asked a question by his sovereign. The proper thing you would suppose was to answer it. Not so. Before he answered he prayed to the God of heaven. I do not suppose the king noticed the pause. Probably the interval was not long enough to be noticed, but it was long enough for God to notice it. We are the more astonished at his praying, because he was so evidently perturbed in mind. When you are fluttered and put out you may forget to pray. Do you not, some of you, account it a valid excuse for omitting your ordinary devotion? At least, if any one had said to you, You did not pray when you were about that business, you would have replied, How could I? So habitually was he in communion with God that as soon as he found himself in a dilemma he flew away to God, just as the dove would fly to hide herself in the clefts of the rock.
1. His prayer was the more remarkable on this occasion, because he must have felt very eager about his object. The king asks him what it is he wants, and his whole heart is set upon building up Jerusalem. Are not you surprised that he did not at once say, O king, live for ever. I long to build up Jerusalems walls. Give me all the help thou canst? But no, eager as he was to pounce upon the desired object, he withdraws his hand until it is said, So I prayed to the God of heaven. I would that every Christians heart might have just that holy caution that did not permit him to make such haste as to find ill-speed.
2. It is all the more surprising that he should have deliberately prayed just then, because he had been already praying for the past three or four months concerning the selfsame matter. Some of us would have said, That is the thing I have been praying for; now all I have got to do is to take it and use it. Why pray any more? But no, you will always find that the man who has prayed much is the man to pray more. If you are familiar with the mercy-seat you will constantly visit it.
3. One thing more is worth recollecting, namely, that he was in a kings palace, and in the palace of a heathen king, too; and he was in the very act of handing up to the king the goblet of wine. But this devout Israelite, at such a time and in such a place, when he stands at the kings foot to hold up to him the golden goblet, refrains from answering the kings question until first he has prayed to the God of heaven.
II. The manner of this prayer.
1. It was what we call ejaculatory prayer--prayer which, as it were, hurls a dart and then it is done. It was not the prayer which stands knocking at mercys door.
2. Notice, how very short it must have been. It was introduced--slipped in, sandwiched in--between the kings question and Nehemiahs answer.
3. We know, also, that it must have been a silent prayer; and not merely silent as to sounds but silent as to any outward signs--perfectly secret. Artaxerxes never knew that Nehemiah prayed, though he stood probably within a yard of him. In the innermost shrine of the temple--in the holy of holies of his own secret soul--there did he pray. It was a prayer on the spot. He did not go to his chamber as Daniel did, and open the window.
4. I have no doubt from the very wording of the text that it was a very intense and direct prayer. That was Nehemiahs favourite name for God--the God of heaven. He knew whom he was praying to. He did not draw a bow at a venture and shoot his prayers anyhow.
5. It was a prayer of a remarkable kind. I know it was so, because Nehemiah never forgot that he did pray it.
III. To recommend to you this excellent style of praying.
1. To deal with this matter practically, then, it is the duty and privilege of every Christian to have set times of prayer.
2. But now, having urged the importance of such habitual piety, I want to impress on you the value of another sort of prayer, namely, the short brief, quick, frequent ejaculations of which Nehemiah gives us a specimen. And I recommend this, because it hinders no engagement and occupies no time. It requires you to go to no particular place. No altar, no church, no so-called sacred place is needed, but wherever you are, just such a little prayer as that will reach the ear of God, and win a blessing. Such a prayer as that can be offered anywhere, under any circumstances. The advantage of such a way of praying is that you can pray often and pray always. Such prayer may be suggested by all sorts of surroundings.
3. These prayers are commendable, because they are truly spiritual. This kind of prayer is free from any suspicion that it is prompted by the corrupt motive of being offered to please men. If I see sparks coming out of a chimney I know there is a fire inside somewhere, and ejaculatory prayers are like the sparks that fly from a soul that is filled with burning coals of love to Jesus Christ. Short, ejaculatory prayers are of great use to us. Oftentimes they check us. Bad-tempered people, if you were always to pray just a little before you let angry expressions fly from your lips, why many times you would not say those naughty words at all. The bit of offering these brief prayers would also check your confidence in your self. It would show your dependence upon God.
4. Besides, they actually bring us blessings from heaven. I believe it is very suitable to some persons of a peculiar temperament who could not pray for a long time to save their lives. Their minds are rapid and quick. But if I must give you a selection of suitable times I should mention such as these. Whenever you have a great joy, cry, Lord, make this a real blessing to me. Do not exclaim with others, Am I not a lucky fellow? but say, Lord, give me more grace, and more gratitude, now that Thou dost multiply Thy favours. When you have got any arduous undertaking on hand or a heavy piece of business, do not touch it till you have breathed your soul out in a, short prayer. When you have a difficulty before you, and you are seriously perplexed, when business has got into a tangle or a confusion which you cannot unravel or arrange, breathe a prayer. Are the children particularly troublesome to you? Do you think that there is a temptation before you? Do you begin to suspect that somebody is plotting against you? Now for a prayer, Lead me in plain path, because of mine enemies. Are you at work at the bench, or in a shop, or a warehouse, where lewd conversation and shameful blasphemies assail your ears? Now for a short prayer. Does sin begin to fascinate you? Now for a prayer--a warm, earnest, passionate cry, Lord, hold Thou me up. And when the shadow of death gathers round you, and strange feelings flush or chill you, and plainly tell that you near the journeys end, then pray. Oh! that is a time for ejaculation. Hide not Thy face from me, O Lord; or this, Be not far from me, O God, will doubtless suit you. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, were the thrilling words of Stephen in his extremity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Ejaculatory prayer
Such a sudden uplifting of the soul to God is the most real of all prayers. The man who can thus find God in a moment must be in the habit of frequently resorting to the Divine presence. This ready prayer only springs to the lips of a man who lives in a daily habit of prayer. The deliberate exercises of adoration, confession, and petition prepare for the one sudden ejaculation. There we see the deep river which supplies the sea of devotion from which the momentary prayer is cast up as the spray of a wave. We may compare Nehemiahs two kinds of prayer with our Lords full and calm intercession in Joh_17:1-26. and the short, agonised cry from the Cross. (W. F. Adeney, M. A.)
Ejaculatory prayer
I. The person named.
1. As patriot.
2. As statesman.
3. As a man of God. Not guided by the policy of the world. He did nothing without prayer.
II. The occasion. A moment needing great wisdom.
III. The lesson taught. The great duty of ejaculatory prayer. Various uses:
1. Throws light on such texts as 1Th_5:17 and 1Co_10:31.
2. Comfort in bodily pain (Psa_103:13; Psa_119:2).
3. Helps to victory over sin. (Canon Titcomb, M. A.)
Prayer before choosing
At the outset two things strike us here.
1. A rare opportunity for worldly advancement. Here is a king saying to his cupbearer, What dost thou want me to do for thee? What a chance this for any man! Wealth, dignity, influence, all put within his reach, left to depend upon his choice.
2. A rare treatment of such an opportunity. What should we say if our sovereign should speak thus to us? Most would say, Give us a mansion to live in, lordly estate as our inheritance, dazzling titles and extensive patronage. What said Nehemiah? He paused and reflected, and then he prayed. He would not choose for himself. Man is a choosing creature; his daily life is made up of a series of choices; he has to reject and accept in order to live.
I. God alone knows what is best for us. Who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life? Man is constantly making mistakes in this matter. What he wants and struggles for as a prize sometimes turns out to be one of his sorest calamities. Because Moses looked to heaven in such a case, he chose a life which to unregenerate man would be revolting.
II. God always desires what is best for us. He made us to be happy. That He desires our happiness is clear--
1. From the capacity of enjoyment with which He has endowed us.
2. From the elements of happiness with which the world abounds.
3. From the mission of His only-begotten Son.
III. God, in answer to prayer, is ever ready to bestow what is best for us. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. Conclusion: Let us act ever upon the principle that prayer should precede choice. (Homilist.)
The spiritual telegraph
I. How great is the privilege of prayer. Great indeed is the privilege of all this access to the mercy-seat, but how unspeakable is the joy and the consolation of habitual communion with God, and of taking occasion from duties, trials, or mercies, as they follow one another, to lift up the heart in pious ejaculation. The word ejaculation is derived from the Latin jaculum, an arrow, and suggests the rapidity and earnestness with which such a prayer can be winged up to the God of heaven. We have seen how Nehemiah interposed a prayer of this kind as a devout parenthesis between the kings request and his own reply. And there is no book of Scripture so remarkable for ejaculatory prayer as the Book of Nehemiah. Such an acknowledgment of God in our ways is no hindrance, but rather a mighty help in business. That which calms the mind, fixes the purpose, and strengthens moral principle, must be a great assistance, whether in duty or trial. As Fuller remarks, Ejaculations take not up any room in the soul. They give liberty of callings, so that at the same instant one may follow his proper vocation. The husbandman may dart forth an ejaculation, and not make a halt the more. The seaman nevertheless steers his ship right in the darkest night. The field wherein the bees feed is no whir the barer for their biting: when they have taken their full repast on flowers or grass, the ox may feed, the sheep fatten on their reversions. The reason is because those little chemists distil only the refined part of the flower, leaving the greaser substance thereof. So ejaculations bind not men to any bodily observance, only busy the spiritual half, which maketh them consistent with the prosecution of any other employment. The rapidity and brevity of ejaculatory prayer has frequently been illustrated by a reference to the electric telegraph, the greatest achievement of modern science. Christ has opened a pathway down which redeeming mercy may flow into the heart of the sinner, and by which the aspirations and longings of that penitent sinner may climb up to his reconciled God and Father. Christians, however, can tell of something quicker far than electricity. Thought, winging its way by prayer, travels instantaneously from the depths of a penitents need to the height of Gods throne in heaven. Who can estimate the distance thus travelled, or the relief thus experienced? The child cries, and the Father answers. The sinner weeps, and the Saviour draws near to wipe away his tears, and to fill him with an overflowing gladness.
II. But if the privilege of prayer be great, How intensely joyous is the answer. Recurring to the narrative, let us observe in the gracious answer to Nehemiahs prayer that delay is not denial. Four weary months passed before Nehemiah had the opportunity of bringing under the kings notice the desolation of Zion. The answer to prayer is as sure as Divine power, faithfulness, and love can make it. The providence of God concurs sweetly with His grace in this answer. The answer, moreover, to Nehemiahs request, through the good hand of his God upon him, was overflowing and abundant. The utmost, probably, that he had anticipated would be a full permission to resign his duties at court, and to go to Jerusalem. But he received much more than this. He had the large-hearted sanction of his master for all his undertakings. He was provided with a cavalry escort, with letters for safe conduct beyond the river, and ample material for his work. Our God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. (J. M. Randall.)
Ejaculatory prayer in critical junctures
This kind is a short petition, hurled like a dart at its mark.
I. When? In critical junctures.
1. Before choice.
2. Before sudden action.
3. In danger. (The sinking Peter.)
II. Why?
1. Because critical junctures admit of no other kind.
2. Because it leads to wisdom (Pro_3:6).
3. Because it tranquilises the mind.
4. Because it would prevent sudden action.
III. How?
1. Do we pray at all?
2. Do we cultivate the spirit of prayer? (1Th_5:17).
3. Do occasions arise for ejaculatory prayer?
4. Would it help us when buying or selling, when making calls and tempted to gossip or tell white lies? (L. O. Thompson.)
The praying patriot
The true secret of his success was Divine interposition in his behalf.
1. Nehemiah, under God, made the most of this opportunity. He had waited patiently for it; and now, when it came, he did not fail to turn it to the best account. It is not always that this is done. Many, we fear, if they had the chance, would be more ready to injure the servants of Christ than to do them good, and to cripple and damage His cause rather than extend it. And where another spirit prevails, have we not often to mourn over lost opportunities of doing good? or over opportunities of doing good that have been very imperfectly improved?
2. We are reminded that prayer does not supersede efforts in other directions. Nehemiah did not content himself with the thought that he had prayed for Jerusalem, and for its poor inhabitants. He supple mented his praying by using his best endeavours to secure such help as man could render. And did he under-estimate the power of prayer by this procedure? We think not. His conduct showed that he was neither irreligious, on the one hand, nor fanatical on the other. Some objects are best accomplished by prayer alone. Some persons are so placed now that all we can do in their behalf is to pray for them; and some objects are of such a nature that we cannot advance them other wise than by giving them an interest in our prayers. But, as a rule, we may, and ought, to do something more than this for a good cause.
3. Answers to prayer should be gratefully acknowledged. (T. Rowson.)
Ejaculatory prayer
In hard havens, so choked up with the envious sands that great ships, drawing many feet of water, cannot come near, lighter and lesser pinnaces may freely and safely arrive. When we are time-bound, place-bound, so that we cannot compose our selves to make a large, solemn prayer, this is the right instant for ejaculations, whether orally uttered or only poured forth inwardly in the heart. (A. Fuller.)
The flame of devotion constant
The sacrifices of prayer and praise cannot be always ascending; but the flame of devotion to kindle them, as opportunity may serve, ought never to wax dim. (Hugh Stowell, M. A.)
The devotional spirit
Of all the habits of the new man, there is none more distinctive, none more conducive to his souls health and happiness, none more essential to his consistency of conduct and beauty of holiness, than the devotional spirit. (Hugh Stowell, M. A.)
Prayer in few words
We make a great many mistakes about prayer; and one of them is that we dont think we have prayed properly unless we have prayed a certain time. But a few moments of real prayer are better than many minutes of only formal prayer. For my own part, says a friend, if one may talk of a best in the matter of ones prayers, I find that the best prayers I can make are very short ones indeed. Sometimes they have only one sentence, and they are by no means always said upon my knees. They are offered up while I am walking about, or lying awake at night, or riding in the train. When Bengel, the great commentator, was too weary to pray, all he said was, Lord, Thou knowest that it is between us to-day as it was yesterday; and so he went to sleep. A young man, who was worn by sick ness and suffering, had only strength to pray in short and broken sentences His heart was filled with foreboding as Satan whispered that the great God could never listen to such a prayer. Suddenly he came upon these words: God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. Ah! he said, I have found a verse written expressly for me. God will accept the few words I can utter; now I will trust and not be afraid. If no man is heard for his much speaking, no man is rejected for his little speaking--if compressed into that little be the earnestness of his heart. (Signal.)
Prayer in perplexity
A little child, playing with a handful of cords, when they begin to get into a tangle, goes at once to her mother, that her patient fingers may unravel the snarl. How much better this than to pull and tug at the cords till the tangle becomes inextricable I May not many of us learn a lesson from the little child? Would it not be better for us, whenever we find the slightest entanglement in any of our affairs, or the arising of any perplexity, to take it at once to God, that His skilful hands may set it right?
Prayer heard in heaven
Ejaculatory prayer is like the rope of a belfry; the bell is in one room, and the end of the rope which sets it a-ringing in another. Perhaps the bell may not be heard in the apartment where the rope is, but it is heard in its own apartment. Moses laid hold of the rope and pulled it hard on the shore of the Red Sea; and though no one heard or knew anything about it in the lower chamber, the bell rang loudly in the upper one. (Williams of Wern.)
The swiftness of prayer
We may, if we please, have a mail to heaven, conveying in a moment intelligence of our condition and concerns, our wants and our desires, to our God and Father, and bringing back to us a gracious answer, with advice and comfort, protection and help. Prayer is the swift courier, and sighs are the winged messengers. Doves have been trained to fly from place to place, carrying letters in a little casket fastened to their neck or foot. They are swift of flight; but our prayers and sighs are swifter, for they take but a moment to pass from earth to heaven, and bear the troubles of our heart to the heart of God. (R. Scriver.)
Ejaculatory prayer possible to busy people
The following extract is from a letter addressed by a poor woman to the editor of the Banner of Faith: Poor women with large families often think they have little time for prayer or praise. As I am a poor woman with a large family, and know the value of prayer and praise, I will tell them how I find time for it. Whilst I am cleaning the house I lift my heart to God and say, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, for Christs sake. Amen. When I am washing the clothes I say, Wash me in Thy blood, O Jesus; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Then as I get to each of my childrens clothes I pray for them separately, not aloud, but in my heart. Again, if I pick up the shirt of one who drinks, I ask God to change his heart, to show him his state in Gods sight, and to help him to give up drink and become a sober, godly youth. If I am washing the shirt of another who has a horrid temper, that is a terror to us all, I pray to God to break his stubborn temper, to soften his heart of stone, and give him a heart of flesh. If I am washing anything belonging to a girl who is idle, then I pray God to show her her sin, and change her whole nature, by the Holy Spirit. Yes, I pray for each as I know their need. Then when I am sewing I find lots of time both for prayer and praise. When I light or mend the fire, I say in my heart, Kindle, O Lord, a sacred fire in this cold heart of mine. (E. J. Hardy, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 NEHEMIAHS prayer had commenced on celestial heights of meditation…
THE PRAYER ANSWERED
Neh_2:1-8
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NEHEMIAHS prayer had commenced on celestial heights of meditation among thoughts of Divine grace and glory, and when it had stooped to earth it had swept over the wide course of his nations history and poured out a confession of the whole peoples sin, but the final point of it was a definite request for the prospering of his contemplated interview with the king. Artaxerxes was an absolute despot, surrounded with the semi-divine honours that Orientals associate with the regal state, and yet in speaking of him before "the God of heaven," "the great and terrible God," Nehemiah loses all awe for his majestic pomp, and describes him boldly as "this man." {Neh_1:10-11} In the supreme splendour of Gods presence all earthly glory fades out of the worshippers sight, like a glow-worms spark lost in the sunlight. Therefore no one can be dazzled by human magnificence so long as he walks in the light of God. Here, however, Nehemiah is speaking of an absent king. Now it is one thing to be fearless of man when alone with God in the seclusion of ones own chamber, and quite another to be equally imperturbable in the world and away from the calming influence of undisturbed communion with Heaven. We must remember this if we would do justice to Nehemiah, because otherwise we might be surprised that his subsequent action did not show all the courage we should have expected.
Four months passed away before Nehemiah attempted anything on behalf of the city of his fathers. The Jewish travellers probably thought that their visit to the court servant had been barren of all results. We cannot tell how this interval was occupied, but it is clear that Nehemiah was brooding over his plans all the time, and inwardly fortifying himself for his great undertaking. His ready reply when he was suddenly and quite unexpectedly questioned by the king shows that he had made the troubles of Jerusalem a subject of anxious thought, and that he had come to a clear decision as to the course which he should pursue. Time spent in such fruitful thinking is by no means wasted. There is a hasty sympathy that flashes up at the first sign of some great public calamity, eager "to do something," but too blind in its impetuosity to consider carefully what ought to be done, and this is often the source of greater evils, because it is inconsiderate. In social questions especially people are tempted to be misled by a blind, impatient philanthropy. The worst consequence of yielding to such an influence-and one is strongly urged to yield for fear of seeming cold and indifferent-is that the certain disappointment that follows is likely to provoke despair of all remedies, and to end in cynical callousness. Then, in the rebound, every enthusiastic effort for the public good is despised as but the froth of sentimentality.
Very possibly Nehemiah had no opportunity of speaking to the king during these four months. A Persian sovereign was waited on by several cupbearers, and it is likely enough that Nehemiahs terms of service were intermittent. On his return to the court in due course he may have had the first occasion for presenting his petition. Still it is not to be denied that he found great difficulty in bringing himself to utter it, and then only when it was dragged out of him by the king. It was a petition of no common kind. To request permission to leave the court might be misconstrued unfavourably. Herodotus says that people had been put to death both by Darius and by Xerxes for showing reluctance to accompany their king. Then had not this very Artaxerxes sanctioned the raid upon Jerusalem which had resulted in the devastation which Nehemiah deplored and which he desired to see reversed? If the king remembered his rescript to the Syrian governors, might he not regard a proposal for the reversal of its policy as a piece of unwarrantable impertinence on the part of his household slave-nay, as an indication of treasonable designs? All this would be apparent enough to Nehemiah as he handed the wine-cup on bended knee to the Great King. Is it wonderful then that he hesitated to speak, or that he was "very sore afraid" when the king questioned him about his sadness of countenance?
There is an apparent contradiction in Nehemiahs statement concerning this sad appearance of his countenance which is obscured in our English translation by the unwarrantable insertion of the word "beforetime" in Neh_2:1, so that the sentence reads, "Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence." This word is a gloss of the translators. What Nehemiah really says is simply, "Now I had not been sad in his presence"-a statement that evidently refers to the occasion then being described, and not to previous times nor to the cup-bearers habitual bearing. Yet in the very next sentence we read how the king asked Nehemiah the reason for the sadness of his countenance. The contradiction would be as apparent to the writer as it is to us, and if he left it Nehemiah meant it to stand, no doubt intending to suggest by a dramatic description of the scene that he attempted to disguise his sorrow, but that his attempt was ineffectual-so strong, so marked was his grief. It was a rule of the court etiquette, apparently, that nobody should be sad in the kings presence. A gloomy face would be unpleasant to the monarch. Shakespeares Caesar knew the security of cheerful associates when he said:-
"Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o nights;
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous."
Besides, was not the sunshine of the royal countenance enough to drive away all clouds of trouble from the minds of his attendants? Nehemiah had drilled himself into the courtiers habitual pleasantness of demeanour. Nevertheless, though passing, superficial signs of emotion may be quite reined in by a person who is trained to control his features, indications of the permanent conditions of the inner life are so deeply cut in the lines and curves of the countenance that the most consummate art of an actor cannot disguise them. Nehemiahs grief was profound and enduring. Therefore he could not hide it. Moreover, it is a kings business to understand men, and long practice makes him an expert in it. So Artaxerxes was not deceived by the well-arranged smile of his servant; it was evident to him that something very serious was troubling the man. The sickness of a favourite attendant would not be unknown to a kind and observant king. Nehemiah was not ill, then. The source of his trouble must have been mental. Sympathy and curiosity combined to urge the king to probe the matter to the bottom. Though alarmed at his masters inquiry, the trembling cup-bearer could not but give a true answer. Here was his great opportunity-thrust on him since he had not had the courage to find it for himself. Artaxerxes was not to be surprised that a man should grieve when the city of his ancestors was lying desolate. But this information did not satisfy the king. His keen eye saw that there was more behind. Nehemiah had some request which as yet he had not been daring enough to utter. With real kindness Artaxerxes invited him to declare it.
The critical moment had arrived. How much hangs upon the next sentence - not the continuance of the royal favour only, but perhaps the very life of the speaker, and, what is of far more value to a patriot, the future destiny of his people! Nehemiahs perception of its intense importance is apparent in the brief statement which he here inserts in his narrative: "So I prayed to the God of heaven." {Neh_2:4} He is accustomed to drop in suggestive notes on his own private feelings and behaviour along the course of his narrative. Only a few lines earlier we came upon one of these characteristic autobiographical touches in the words, "Now I had not been sad in his presence," {Neh_2:1} soon followed by another, "Then I was very sore afraid." {Neh_2:2} Such remarks vivify the narrative, and keep up an interest in the writer. In the present case the interjection is peculiarly suggestive. It was natural that Nehemiah should be startled at the kings abrupt question, but it is an indication of his devout nature that as the crisis intensified his fear passed over into prayer. This was not a set season of prayer; the pious Jew was not in his temple, nor at any proseuche; there was no time for a full, elaborate, and orderly utterance, such as that previously recorded. Just at the moment of need, in the very presence of the king, with no time to spare, by a flash of thought, Nehemiah retires to that most lonely of all lonely places, "the inner city of the mind," there to seek the help of the Unseen God. And it is enough; the answer is as swift as the prayer; in a moment the weak man is made strong for his great effort.
Such a sudden uplifting of the soul to God is the most real of all prayers. This at least is genuine and heartfelt, whatever may be the case with the semiliturgical composition the thought and beauty of which engaged our attention in the previous chapter. But then the man who can thus find God in a moment must be in the habit of frequently resorting to the Divine Presence; like the patriarchs, he must be walking with God. The brief and sudden prayer reaches heaven as an arrow suddenly shot from the bow, but it goes right home, because he who lets it off in his surprise is a good marksman, well practised. This ready prayer only springs to the lips of a man who lives in a daily habit of praying. We must associate the two kinds of prayer in order to account for that which is now before us. The deliberate exercises of adoration, confession, and petition prepare for the one sudden ejaculation. There we see the deep river which supplies the sea of devotion from which the momentary prayer is cast up as the spray of a wave. Therefore it was in a great measure on account of his deliberate and unwearying daily prayers that Nehemiah was prepared with his quick cry to God in the crisis of need. We may compare his two kinds of prayer with our Lords full and calm intercession in John 17 and the short agonised cry from the cross. In each case we feel that the sudden appeal to God in the moment of dire necessity is the most intense and penetrating prayer. Still we must recognise that this comes from a man who is much in prayer. The truth is that beneath both of these prayers-the calm, meditative utterance, and the simple cry for help-there lies the deep, true essence of prayer, which is no thing of words at all, but which lives on, even when it is voiceless, in the heart of one of whom it can be said, as Tennyson says of Mary, -
"Her eyes are homes of silent prayer."
Fortified by his moments communion with God, Nehemiah now makes known his request. He asks to be sent to Jerusalem to repair its ruins and fortify the city. This petition contains more than lies on the surface of the words. Nehemiah does not say that he wishes to be appointed Governor of Jerusalem in the high office which had been held by Zerubbabel, but the subsequent narrative shows that he was assigned to this position, and his report of the kings orders about the house he was to dwell in at Jerusalem almost implies as much. {Neh_2:8} For one of the royal household servants to be appointed to such a position was doubtless not so strange an anomaly in the East, in Nehemiahs day, as it would be with us now. The kings will was the fountain of all honour, and the seclusion in which the Persian monarchs lived gave unusual opportunities for the few personal attendants who were admitted into their presence to obtain great favours from them. Still Nehemiahs attitude seems to show some self-confidence in a young man not as yet holding any political office. Two or three considerations, however, will give a very different complexion to his request. In the first place, his city was in a desperate plight, deliverance was urgently needed, no help appeared to be forthcoming unless he stepped into the breach. If he failed, things could hardly become worse than they were already. Was this an occasion when a man should hold back from a sense of modesty? There is a false modesty which is really a product of the self-consciousness that is next door to vanity. The man who is entirely oblivious of self will sometimes forget to be modest. Moreover, Nehemiahs request was at the peril of his life. When it was granted he would be launched on a most hazardous undertaking. The ambition-if we must use the word-which would covet such a career is at the very antipodes of that of the vulgar adventurer who simply seeks power in order to gratify his own sense of importance. "Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not." {Jer_45:5} That humbling rebuke may be needed by many men, but it was not needed by Nehemiah, for he was not seeking the great things for himself.
It was a daring request, yet the king received it most favourably. Again, then, we have the pleasing spectacle of a Persian monarch showing kindness to the Jews. This is not the first time that Artaxerxes has proved himself their friend, for there can be no doubt that he is the same sovereign as the Artaxerxes who despatched Ezra with substantial presents to the aid of the citizens of Jerusalem some twelve or thirteen years before.
Here, however, a little difficulty emerges. In the interval between the mission of Ezra and that of Nehemiah an adverse decree had been extracted from the compliant sovereign-the decree referred to in Ezra 4. Now the semi-divinity that was ascribed to a Persian monarch involved the fiction of infallibility, and this was maintained by a rule making it unconstitutional for him to withdraw any command that he had once issued. How then could Artaxerxes now sanction the building of the walls of Jerusalem, which but a few years before he had expressly forbidden? The difficulty vanishes on a very little consideration. The kings present action was not the withdrawal of his earlier decree, for the royal order to the Samaritans had been just to the effect that the building of the walls of Jerusalem should be stopped. {Ezr_4:21} This order had been fully executed; moreover it contained the significant words, "until another decree shall be made by me." {Ezr_4:21} Therefore a subsequent permission to resume the work, issued under totally different circumstances, would not be a contradiction to the earlier order, and now that a trusty servant of the king was to superintend the operations, no danger of insurrection need be apprehended. Then the pointed notice of the fact that the chief wife-described as "The Queen"-was sitting by Artaxerxes, is evidently intended to imply that her presence helped the request of Nehemiah. Orientalists have discovered her name, Damaspia, but nothing about her to throw light on her attitude towards the Jews. She may have been even a proselyte, or she may have simply shown herself friendly towards the young cup-bearer. No political or religious motives are assigned for the conduct of Artaxerxes here. Evidently Nehemiah regarded the granting of his request as a direct result of the royal favour shown towards himself. "Put not your trust in princes" {Psa_146:3} is a wholesome warning, born of the melancholy disappointment of the pilgrims who had placed too much hope in the Messianic glamour with which the career of poor Zerubbabel opened, but it does not mean that a man is to fling away the advantages which accrue to him from the esteem he has won in high places. Ever since the Israelites showed no scruple in spoiling the Egyptians-and who could blame them for seizing at the eleventh hour the overdue wages of which they had been defrauded for generations?-"the people of God" have not been slow to reap harvests of advantage whenever persecution or cold indifference has given place to the brief, fickle favour of the world. Too often this has been purchased at the price of the loss of liberty-a ruinous exchange. Here is the critical point. The difficulty is to accept aid without any compromise of principle. Sycophancy is the besetting snare of the courtier, and when the Church turns courtier she is in imminent danger of that, in her, most fatal fault. But Nehemiah affords a splendid example to the contrary. In his grand independence of character we have a fine instance of a wise, strong use of worldly advantages, entirely free from the abuses that too commonly accompany them. Thus he anticipates the idea of the Apocalypse where it is said, "The earth helped the woman." {Rev_12:16}
The interest of the king in his cup-bearer is shown by his repeated questions, and by the determined manner in which he drags out of Nehemiah all his plans and wishes. Every request is granted. The favourite servant is too much valued to get his leave of absence without some limit of time, but even that is fixed in accordance with Nehemiahs desire. He asks and obtains letters of introduction to the governors west of the Euphrates. The letters were most necessary, because these very men had bestirred themselves to obtain the adverse decree but a very few years before. It is not likely that they had all veered round to favour the hated people against whom they had just been exhibiting the most severe antagonism. Nehemiah therefore showed a wise caution in obtaining a sort of "safe conduct." The friendliness of Artaxerxes went still further. The king ordered timber to be provided for the building and fortifying operations contemplated by his cup-bearer; this was to be furnished from a royal hunting park-a "Paradise," to use the Persian word-probably one which formerly belonged to the royal demesne of Judah, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, as the head-forester bore a Hebrew name, "Asaph." {Neh_2:8} Costly cedars for the temple had to be fetched all the way from the distant mountains of Lebanon, in Phoenician territory, but the city gates and the castle and house carpentry could be well supplied from the oaks and other indigenous timber of Palestine.
All these details evince the practical nature of Nehemiahs patriotism. His last word on the happy conclusion of the interview with Artaxerxes, which he had anticipated with so much apprehension, shows that higher thoughts were not crushed out by the anxious consideration of external affairs. He concludes with a striking phrase, which we have met with earlier on the lips of Ezra. {Ezr_7:28} "And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me." {Neh_2:8} Here is the same recognition of Divine Providence, and the same graphic image of the "hand" of God laid on the writer. It looks as though the younger man had been already a disciple of the Great Scribe. But his utterance is not the less genuine and heartfelt on that account. He perceives that his prayer has been heard and answered. The strength and beauty of his life throughout may be seen in his constant reference of all things to God in trust and prayer before the event, and in grateful acknowledgment afterwards.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Neh_2:1. Nisan] Called Abib in Exo_13:4, first month in…
EXPLANATORY NOTES.]
Neh_2:1. Nisan] Called Abib in Exo_13:4, first month in Hebrew national year. Corresponds to parts of our March and April.
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Neh_2:3. Let the king live for ever] (Heb. hammelek l’olam yihyeh.) (Comp. 1Ki_1:31; Dan_2:4; Dan_6:6-21.) The mere formula of address, like our “God save the Queen.” Even Daniel used it without compunction. The place of my fathers’ sepulchres] The Persians regarded their burial-places as peculiarly sacred.
Neh_2:6. The queen also sitting by him] Some have thought this was Esther, but “Shegal” refers to the principal wife of the king. Damaspia was the name of the chief wife according to Ctesias.
Neh_2:7. The governors] (Heb. pahawoth, modern pacha.) Oriental name for viceroy. Beyond the river] i. e. Euphrates.
Neh_2:8. Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest] may have been a Jew. Name, Hebrew. Word translated “forest” is “pardes,” our “paradise.” It signifies a walled round place, a preserve of trees. Probably a royal park of which Asaph was keeper. The palace which appertained to the house] Probably Solomon’s palace, situated at the south-east corner of the temple-area, was next to the house; i. e., the temple as the house of God (2Ch_23:12-15). The house that I shall enter into] Some think this refers also to the temple, which Nehemiah would enter into to inspect; more probably the house where be would dwell during his stay in Jerusalem.
Neh_2:10. Sanballat the Horonite] (Beth-horon, in full.) Two Horons in Palestine, a few miles north of Jerusalem; also Horonaim in. Moab. Sanballat, probably a native of the last mentioned, was a Moabite; and satrap of Samaria under the Persians. Tobiah, his vizier or chief adviser. Origin of name Sanballat uncertain. Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite] Tobiah, a Jewish name (Ezr_2:60; Zec_6:10). Probably a renegade Jew, who had become a slave, and had risen by his talents and cunning to be Sanballat’s chief officer, hence the epithet, “Tobiah, the slave.”
Neh_2:13. The gate of the valley] (Heb. Sha’or haggai.) Probably overlooking valley of Hinnom, called in Jer_2:23 simply “the valley.” It was about 1200 feet south of the present Jaffa gate. The Septuagint calls it Portam Galilæ; the gate of dead men’s skulls, because that way they went to Golgotha. The dragon well] So called either because some venomous serpent had been found there, or because the waters ran out of the mouth of a brazen serpent. (Heb. Fountain of the sea-monster.) The dung port] (Rather, Rubbish-gate.) The gate near which the refuse of the city was cast, and burned. Directly before that part of Hinnom known as Tophet (Jer_7:31-32; Jer_19:6-14).
Neh_2:14. The gate of the fountain] A gate in front of the pool of Siloam (Neh_3:15). The king’s pool] (Berechath hammelek.) The pool of Siloam, so called because it watered the king’s garden. There was no place for the beast that was under me to pass] The ruin was great, and the rubbish so accumulated, that Nehemiah could not pursue his course along the wall any further, but was obliged to go down into the valley of the brook Kidron (Nachal, the brook.)
Neh_2:15. And viewed the wall] That which was left of it.
Neh_2:16. The rulers] A Persian word (Seganim) signifying the executive officers of the colony. Nor to the nobles] (Heb. white ones.) Among the Jews great men robed in white, as among the Romans in scarlet or purple. Herod and Christ (Luk_23:11; Mat_27:28).
Neh_2:19. Geshem the Arabian] Lieutenant of Arabia under the king of Persia, or chief of those Arabs whom Sargon had settled in Samaria (Rawlinson’s Anc. Mon., vol. ii. p. 146).
HOMILETIC CONTENTS OF CHAPTER 2
Neh_2:1-8. Divine Interposition.
Neh_2:1-8. Disinterested Love for a suffering Church.
Neh_2:1-2. Subject and Sovereign.
Neh_2:4. Spiritual Recollectedness.
Neh_2:5. Ejaculatory Prayer.
Neh_2:7-8. Religious Prudence.
Neh_2:8. The Hand of God.
Neh_2:9-20. The Incipient Stages of a great Reformation.
Neh_2:9. Secular Aid for Spiritual Work.
Neh_2:10. First Hindrance.—Secret Jealousy.
Neh_2:11. Preparatory Retirement.
Neh_2:12-16. The Walls inspected.
Neh_2:12. A Time for Silence.
Neh_2:17-18. An Appeal for Help.
Neh_2:18. The Strength of Unity.
Neh_2:19. Second Hindrance.—Open Derision.
Neh_2:20. Confidence in God, an Incentive to Work.
Neh_2:20. The miserable condition of the Church’s enemies.
DIVINE INTERPOSITION
Neh_2:1-8. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, &c.
THE first chapter occupied with account of state of Jerusalem and Nehemiah’s grief and prayer. This opens with the relation of those circumstances which led to the fulfilment of his desires, and the accomplishment of his purposes. We learn from text—
I. That God’s interposition was opportune. “It came to pass in the month Nisan” (Neh_2:1). The best month, because the one chosen by God. Chosen by God because the best. Note—
1. That God’s plans are worked out with the utmost precision. Trace this in Bible. Often find expressions such as—“In due time,” “Fulness of time,” “Appointed time,” “Mine hour is not yet come,” “A set time,” &c. God’s timepiece never gains or loses. All his plans carried out with unfailing accuracy. He is neither slack, “as some men count slackness,” in fulfilling his threats or his promises. Many details, apparently insignificant, combine to work out the most magnificent plans. A loop is a small thing, yet most gorgeous tapestry woven in single loops. A link a small thing, yet chain depends on support of every link. Trifles are links in the chain of God’s providential government, or rather there are no trifles. Illustrate by complex machinery of Lancashire cotton, or Coventry silk, or Kidderminster carpet machinery, which whilst wonderfully intricate, works out the appointed pattern with utmost precision and accuracy. Yet all human exactness fails in comparison with God’s perfect accuracy.
2. That God often interferes on his people’s behalf when they least expect it. Through not discerning God’s methods of working, they get discouraged, and think themselves overlooked. Whilst we look for him to appear in one way he comes in another, and whilst we mournfully strain our eyes down one path, lo, he comes by another. Our most unlikely times are God’s most favourable ones.
3. That God generally interferes on his people’s behalf in their most urgent extremity. It was so here. Nehemiah so distressed that his countenance was sad for first time. The case of the Jews was becoming desperate. God interferes in their extremity as he had done on the shores of the Red Sea—
(1) To try their faith,
(2) To elicit their gratitude,
(3) To impress upon them their dependence upon him. The text suggests—
II. That God’s interposition required human co-operation. God’s agents are of two kinds, willing and unwilling, allied and non-allied. Both of these found in this history.
1. Allied. As Esther came to the kingdom, so Nehemiah to his office, for such a time as this (Est_4:14). Though he was a prisoner, a stranger, of an alien religion, yet is he God’s agent as well as the king’s servant. Note concerning him,—
(1) That he was duly qualified for his appointed work. Mentally be possessed forethought (Neh_2:5), tact (Neh_5:5), and ingenuity (ch. 3). His address to Artaxerxes a marvel of clever pleading. Words carefully chosen, respect humbly paid to rank, superstitious reverence for burial-grounds introduced. No argument more powerful with an Eastern monarch. Spiritually, he was richly endowed with every grace required in so difficult a work. Courage, sympathy, generosity, and profound piety all combined to make him an eminently spiritual man. Such agents God chooses for important enterprises, utilizing great endowments for arduous tasks. Note,
(2) That he was favourably situated. When God has work for his servants to do, he by his providence places them where they can do it. Nehemiah evidently a favourite with Artaxerxes, from fact of his having chosen him to this important office, over the heads of the Persian nobles. Had he been otherwise situated, or appointed to any other office, he would not so readily have found access to the king’s ear. God appoints our lot and circumstances, and requires us to make the best of them, and not seek to leave them, with the idea that we can best serve him elsewhere. Note,
(3) That he was rightly actuated. No personal ambition inspired his petition, but pure, unalloyed, unselfish desire for the prosperity of God’s Church, and the holy City. No desire for gain, for he used his fortune in feeding the poor, and entertaining the returning exiles in his own house at Jerusalem. They who are engaged in God’s work must lay aside all thoughts of worldly gain or personal honour. Reward there is, but not usually of a worldly sort.
2. Un-allied. God employs unconscious agents as well as willing ones. “As he put small thoughts into the heart of Ahasuerus for great purposes” (Est_6:1), so here he caused a heathen prince to favour a hostile religion, and to defend a people whom his subjects hated. God even employs his enemies (though not in the same sense in which he employs his friends), to carry out his purposes. Pharaoh, Philistines, Chaldeans, Romans, &c.
III. That God’s interposition was accompanied by providential coincidences. All these known to Divine omniscience and taken into account.
1. Nehemiah was unusually sad. “I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.” No mourner might be seen in Ahasuerus’ court (Est_4:4). Momus wished that men had windows in their breasts, that their thoughts might be seen. This not necessary, for “a merry heart maketh a glad countenance; but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken” (Pro_15:13). Nehemiah had been afflicting his soul for four months. No wonder he betrayed it in his countenance. The Hebrews say that a man’s inside is turned out, and discovered in oculis, in loculis, in poculis, in his eyes, purse, and cup.
2. The king was unusually friendly. Most Eastern monarchs would have condemned him at once either to banishment or death. Artaxerxes might have done so at another time. Sad looks were, in their eyes, bad looks, and savoured of assassination: but love thinketh no evil, and the king had confidence in his servant.
3. The queen also was present. Not Esther, the queen-mother, for Hebrew word signifies wife. “Because ‘the queen sat by,’ it is probable that there was some solemn feast that day; for the queens of Persia used not to come into the king’s presence, but when they were called by name, as it is written in the book of Esther.” This might be the cause of Nehemiah’s great fear: but would also be in his favour. The presence of a woman, even without her personal intercession, would temper any harshness the king might feel, and thus aid the suppliant’s suit.
DISINTERESTED LOVE FOR A SUFFERING CHURCH
Neh_2:1-8. And it came to pass, &c.
I. Its sorrow. “Why is thy countenance sad?” &c. (Neh_2:2).
1. In spite of personal prosperity. This often hardens heart and deadens sympathies. So long as their own homes are flourishing many care little how God’s house fares. This cannot satisfy a truly good man who has the welfare of God’s cause at heart. No measure of personal prosperity will compensate for spiritual dearth and deadness in the Church. 2. In the very midst of social festivities. The revelry of the banquet could not repress the wretchedness of his heart, for whilst he was in the midst of rejoicing and mirth his spirit was not there. The inward grief was stronger than outward surroundings, and broke through all restraint. The wound of a broken heart cannot be healed by any outward gaiety of circumstance.
II. Its confession. “Why should not my countenance be sad?” (Neh_2:3).
1. It is not ashamed of the people of God. “The city the place of my father’s sepulchres.” Surrounded by Persian nobles not an easy matter to thus avow friendship for an alien and oppressed people. Many temptations to expedient silence would have to be overcome. Much was risked by this avowal. Much probably to be gained by ignoring them. True piety is courageous. It says, “Thy people shall be my people” (Ruth 1), for richer for poorer, for better for worse, at all hazards and in all times. “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Pro_17:17). “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Pro_18:24).
2. Not ashamed of poor relations. When men rise from a low estate into high circles they readily forget those who once were equals, unwilling to betray their humble origin. Such pride always despicable as useless. No disgrace to have poor relations. The disgrace is in disowning them. Nehemiah not guilty of such folly or cowardice. He not only acknowledges, but pleads for them.
3. Not afraid of personal danger. Royal displeasure no trifle under the sway of Oriental despots. Witness recent events in Turkey. Thrones overturned by plots and intrigues continually. The nearer the throne, the more likely to incur suspicion. Artaxerxes had come to the kingdom through intrigue and bloodshed. Would be naturally vigilant and wary on this account. Hence the danger incurred by one even so favoured as Nehemiah, when he dared to avow sympathy with a captive and recently conquered people inhabiting a neighbouring province. Fervent love always self-forgetful. It confers not with flesh and blood, but willingly incurs danger for sake of its object This, type of Christ’s love for his Church.
III. Its petition. “And I said unto the king,” &c. (Neh_2:5).
1. It seeks help from God. “I prayed unto the God of heaven” (Neh_2:5). This, first step. God has more interest in his Church than any other, and can do more. If his aid be secured, it matters little who else fails. If his denied, none can do much. 2. It craves human assistance. “If it please the king, let letters be given me,” &c. (Neh_2:7). Recognizes the principle that God always works by human agency, and helps man by man, to teach him lessons of mutual sympathy and mutual dependence.
3. It asks permission to give its own aid, and that with self-denial. Nehemiah not one who would only work at others’ expense. No bargain for costs or travelling expenses. He asks that he may be permitted to engage in an enterprise that will considerably diminish his private resources, and involve constant and heavy personal sacrifices. If we desire success in great reformations we must be prepared to make great sacrifices. Our gifts joined with God’s, will accomplish almost anything. We have no right to expect God to render his assistance where we withhold our own.
IV. Its joy. “So it pleased the king to send me” (Neh_2:6).
1. Its prayer is granted. Both Jehovah and Artaxerxes looked favourably upon his request. When prayer is thus graciously answered, men should rejoice and speak good of the name of the Lord. Thus did the royal Psalmist often extol Jehovah’s name.
2. Its way is providentially opened. And this more prosperously than he could have anticipated. Not only permission granted to leave Persia for a time, but also to take with him an escort; and full authority to build, and command supplies, when he arrived at Jerusalem (Neh_2:7-8). Thus does God cause our cup to overflow with mercy, giving us far more than we deserve, and more than we either asked or had reason to expect. Not only out of, but according to, his riches in glory, does he supply his children’s wants. A millionnaire might give a penny out of his abundance; but not if he gave according to (in proportion to) his riches. Then must he give what would be a fortune to a poor man. Even so, God gives not grudgingly, or stintedly, but royally. “It was but ask, and have; and so it is betwixt God and his people. When there was a discussion amongst some holy men as to which was the most profitable trade, one answered, beggary; it is the hardest, and the richest trade. Common beggary is the commonest and easiest, but he meant prayer. A courtier gets more by one suit often than a tradesman or merchant haply with twenty years’ labour; so doth a faithful prayer.”—Trapp.
SUBJECT AND SOVEREIGN
Neh_2:1-2. And I took up wine, and gave it to the king, &c.
I. He did not allow his duty to God to clash with his duty to his sovereign. His religion not diminish his civility. “If it please the king.” “Fear God, and honour the king,” both enjoined in apostolic precept. He had been taken from his native land and placed under another king, whom it was his duty to serve and obey, in all quietness and meekness, until God ordered his lot otherwise. So lived Pharaoh, Daniel, Mardocheus, Ezra, and others. Jeremiah and Baruch taught the Jews thus to pray for those under whose sway they were living as captives, “Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar his son; seek the peace of that country whither ye be carried away captives” (Jeremiah 29; Baruch 1). St. Peter taught the Christians that servants should not forsake their masters, though they did not believe (1 Peter 2). Both St. Peter and St. Paul command the faithful wife to abide by her unfaithful husband (1 Corinthians 7; 1 Peter 3). The Scriptures enjoin faithfulness, duty, and obedience toward all men, so far as we offend not God thereby. Duty to God and duty to man two aspects of same life. One requires the other. Each incomplete, being alone. The more efficiently we discharge one, the more perfectly do the other. Neither may be made a substitute for the other. “This ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
II. He did not allow spiritual exercises to interfere with the discharge of secular duties. He prayed incessantly, yet failed not in discharge of duties as cupbearer. The believer should be “diligent in business,” as well as “fervent in spirit,” lest he bring reproach upon religion. Spiritual activity no excuse for neglecting secular duty. To be slothful in business will quench devotion as fatally as to pursue business with inordinate affection. The hardiest devotion healthiest. The devotion of the cloister, for the most part, like the ghastly light that hovers over decomposition and decay; the devotion which characterizes the diligent, spiritually-minded man of business, resembles the star which shines on in the storm as in the calm, when the sky is clouded as when it is serene.
III. He regarded the path of duty as the path of providential blessing. Not forsaking the common duties of his daily calling, he waited for the opening of his providential path. The faithful discharge of duty itself a blessing. This, the channel through which special grace most likely to flow. Men need not leave the world to find the secret of holiness; or their ordinary sphere of work to find the secret of blessing. The patient, conscientious discharge of life’s ordinary tasks, always the safest path to pursue. (α)
IV. He found the favour of his sovereign of great service in carrying out the work of God. His civility and humble demeanour had won the confidence and esteem of his royal master. This friendship now stood him in good stead. Yet he presumes not upon this regard, but approaches the throne tremblingly, as a subject should, even the most favoured. Monarchs like not presumption even in their courtiers. Diogenes says, “A man should use his prince or peer, as he would do the fire. The fire if he stand too near it will burn him; and if he be too far off he will be cold. So to be over-bold, without blushing or reverence, bringeth into discredit of both sides; for the king will think him too saucy, and the subject will forget his duty.” Courteous and kindly behaviour has nothing to lose, and much to gain. Civility costs little, and is often worth much.
Illustration:—(α) Mr. Carter, a pious minister, once coming softly behind a religious man of his own acquaintance, who was busily engaged in tanning a hide, and giving him a tap on the shoulder, the man started, looked up, and with a blushing countenance said, “Sir, I am ashamed that you should find me thus.” To whom Mr. Carter replied, “Let Christ, when he cometh, find me so doing.” “What!” said the man, “doing thus?” “Yes,” said Mr. Carter, “faithfully performing the duties of my calling.”
SPIRITUAL RECOLLECTEDNESS
Neh_2:4. So I prayed to the God of heaven
This, a remarkable illustration of religious presence of mind.
I. The outcome of a consecrated life. Unless he had been in the habit of making everything a matter of prayer, would not have been able thus to collect himself whilst trembling with excitement, fear, and suspense before the king. Having formed the habit of doing nothing without consulting God, had no difficulty in acting upon it. Agitated and affrighted, it would have been perfectly natural for him to have stammered forth his appeal in some incoherent manner. But here the irrepressible spirit of devotion, which permeated his whole life, revealed itself. If a man never prays anywhere save at stated times, and on public occasions, there is reason to fear that he never prays at all. If a man lives in the spirit of prayer, sudden emergency will spontaneously summon the familiar habit to his aid. Special prayer should be the outcome of constant prayerfulness. The way to have the heart in harmony with the worship of the sanctuary, is never to suffer its chords to be jarred. It was said of a distinguished Christian that he lived on the steps of the mercy-seat. It was said of a recent Bishop, who was sent to Western Africa, that “he lived upon his knees.” This is to live safely. This is to live in the porch of heaven. Hence it was said of a dying saint, “I am changing my place, but not my company.” Like Enoch, he had walked with God, and death was to him only like passing out of the vestibule into the inner sanctuary.
II. The result of long habit. Holy recollectedness not come naturally, nor easily, even to good men. Repeated action becomes habit. Practice makes perfect in this, as in other things.
III. A mark of self-distrusting humility. He dared not ask, without seeking wisdom higher than his own, in matter of such momentous issues. Self-diffidence impelled him to cast the burden of his responsibility upon one who was an unerring counsellor. “Travellers make mention of a bird so timid in disposition, and so liable to the assaults of unnumbered enemies, that she almost lives in the sky, scarcely ever venturing to rest her wings; and even when forced through very weariness to repose, she seeks the loftiest rock, and there still keeps her eyes only half shut, and her pinions only half folded, in readiness, on the first sign of danger, to spread her wings, and soar away to the heavens for safety.” True emblem of how the child of God should “pass the time of his sojourning here in fear.” Seldom should the wing of his devotion droop, or the eye of his watchfulness close; and even when he must repose it should ever be in an attitude of vigilance and prayerfulness.”—Stowell.
IV. A source of incalculable blessing.
1. It imparts confidence. “He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa_28:16). He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, whose heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee,” &c. The calmness which comes from reliance upon a wisdom that is superhuman; the consciousness of Divine support.
2. It preserves from missing the providential path. The God of providence will direct those who cast themselves upon his care. Such “shall not full direction need; nor miss their providential way.”
3. It conduces to the accomplishment of God’s will. When everything is submitted to that will, and the stumbling-blocks of self-will, pride, ambition, &c. are removed, nothing can hinder the fulfilment of the purposes of Jehovah.
EJACULATORY PRAYER
Neh_2:4. So I prayed to the God of heaven
I. It was suddenly required. A question addressed to Nehemiah by the king, point-blank, upon which hung, possibly, not only issues of life and death, but the success or failure of his long-prayed-for object. Great emergency. Great benefit to be able to seek aid of Omnipotence. Long formula impossible. No audible petition could be offered. Quick as thought the silent prayer of the heart flew to the ear of God, and not in vain. “He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him” (Psa_145:19). “The devout spirit, like the well-strung Eolian harp, not only gives out sweet sounds when woke by the gentler breathings that steal over its chords, but when vibrating under the ruder blasts that sweep across its strings.” “On many occasions the servant of God requires special assistance, care, and counsel. Men of business are frequently called upon to decide summarily on questions big with importance, to make up their judgment at once on measures the issues of which they can neither over-estimate nor foresee. How commonly is the physician forced to form his conclusions in a moment; yea, to form them on uncertain grounds, and indeterminate symptoms. Yet a mistaken conclusion may endanger the life of his patient. Now if in such circumstances the medical man, or the merchant, rely simply on his own skill, and confer simply with his own judgment, to the neglect of calling in the wisdom and blessing of the Almighty, what a fearful risk and burden does he bring upon himself! But let his heart breathe forth the aspiration to God—‘Lord, direct me.’ Will he not then, having cast his burden on the Lord, having invoked unerring skill, be able to act with faith, and nerve, and calmness? Call ye this fanaticism? The grossest fanaticism is that which leaves out God.”—Stowell. (α)
II. It was silently offered. No opportunity for audible vocal prayer. This, good when alone, or in public assembly for worship, but not possible now. A sudden and secret desire darted up to heaven. Thus Moses cried unto God, yet said nothing (Exo_14:15). Hannah was not heard, yet she prayed (1 Samuel 1). Austin reports it to be the custom of the Egyptian Churches to pray frequently and fervently, but briefly and by ejaculation, lest their fervour should abate. It is the praying and crying of the heart that God delights in. Let no man then excuse himself and say he cannot pray; for in all places he may lift up his heart to God, though in the market, or on the mountain. (β)
III. It was suitably addressed. “To the God of heaven.” Ezra had previously used this expression. (See explanatory notes). It recognized the supremacy of Jehovah, and his power over human hearts and events. Thus calculated to impart confidence, and destroy the fear of man. The expression is similar in meaning to “Lord of Sabaoth,” or “Lord of Hosts.” “All power is given,” &c.
IV. It was very brief. Yet quite long enough. Not time for much. A question had been asked and an answer was required. Yet, between question and answer, was ample time for sending prayer to heaven, and receiving a reply. Length no virtue in prayer. Faith and fervour the two principal elements of success. St. Augustine says, “He that carrieth his own temple about with him, may go to prayer when he pleaseth.” How quickly thought can fly many thousands of miles in a minute. Prayer can travel as rapidly as thought towards heaven.
V. It was completely successful.
1. In that wisdom to ask aright was given. Nehemiah’s petition was marked by—
(1) Becoming humility. “If it please the king.”
(2) Tact. “The place of my fathers’ sepulchres.”
(3) Forethought. “Let letters be given me.”
2. In that the king’s heart was favourably disposed towards him. “And the king granted me,” &c. This, God’s doing, in direct answer to prayer. Nehemiah confesses this when he adds, “according to the good hand of my God upon me.”
Illustrations:—(α) “Sudden extremity is a notable trial of faith, or any other disposition of the soul. For as, in a sudden fear, the blood gathers suddenly to the heart, for guarding of that part which is principal; so the powers of the soul combine themselves in a hard exigent, that they may be easily judged of.”—Bp. Hall.
(β) “As the tender dew that falls during the silent night makes the grass, and herbs, and flowers to flourish and grow more abundantly than great showers of rain that fall in the day, so secret prayer will more abundantly cause the sweet herbs of grace and holiness to flourish and grow in the soul, than all those more public and open duties of religion, which too often are mingled with the sun and wind of pride and hypocrisy.”—Brooks.
RELIGIOUS PRUDENCE
Neh_2:7. Moreover, I said unto the king, &c.
Not satisfied with bare permission to go to the relief of his co-religionists at Jerusalem, he makes provision for all contingencies, and anticipates every difficulty that is likely to arise. From this learn:—
I. That prudent forethought is essential to success in spiritual as in secular enterprises. For,
1. God has nowhere commended rashness. The reverse of this enjoined and approved in word of God. “He will guide his affairs with discretion” (Psa_112:5). “The fool shall be servant to the wise of heart,” (Pro_11:29). “A prudent man,” &c. (Pro_12:23; Pro_14:15). “He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good” (Pro_16:20). “Give not that which is holy” (Mat_7:6). “Which of you intending to build,” &c. (Luk_14:28). Examples.—Jacob (Genesis 32). Joseph (Genesis 41). Jethro (Exodus 18). David (1 Samuel 17). Abigail (1 Samuel 25). Paul (Acts 16). Town-clerk of Ephesus (Acts 19).
2. Pains-taking effort is at the foundation of all human success. “By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread” (Gen_3:19), is the curse pronounced upon all human labour. Even the curse turned into blessing, for labour is not necessarily an evil. “No gains without pains,” under present social laws. No reaping without sowing. No permanent and substantial success in business, or art, or literature, or religion, without earnest, patient, unremitting diligence (2Pe_1:10). This inexorable law-reigns in the spiritual realm as in the secular, for—
3. Spiritual work as well as secular is amenable to natural law. Miracles wrought now in the moral rather than in the physical universe. Not obsolete in the latter, more frequent in the former. Natural law is no respecter of persons. It demands allegiance from the saint and sinner alike. Errors in spiritual work are as surely followed by penalties as in secular. Sloth and senility undermine the success of religious as certainly as profane enterprises. Here, as elsewhere, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
II. That prudent forethought is not opposed, but helpful, to spiritual faith.
1. It furnishes a rational basis for expecting success. No right to expect success, merely because we hope for and earnestly desire it. “We are saved by hope;” but it must rest on a solid foundation. Hope without faith is dead. If there is a living, there is a dead, hope (1Pe_1:3). The one stimulates, the other seduces. Faith must have a rational basis to distinguish it from credulity. The basis may appear irrational to men who do not acknowledge God or the supernatural.
2. It acts upon the supposition that mental powers were given to be employed in the service of God. The use of this faculty no more opposed to strong faith and intense spirituality, than the use of other mental powers, as memory, imagination, perception, &c. All powers are to be consecrated to holy purposes, and diligently employed in assisting faith.
3. It takes no step without seeking Divine guidance and approval. Nehemiah used every precaution to ensure success, and made every needful arrangement beforehand, but not without previous thought and earnest prayer. Even so must we take each step, in religious work especially, depending on the Holy Ghost for direction. He committed himself to God; yet petitions the king for a convoy; teaching that in all our enterprises God is so to be trusted as if we had used no means; and yet the means are so to be used as if we had no God to trust in.
Illustrations:—As the hermits were communing together, there arose a question as to which of all the virtues was most necessary to perfection. One said, chastity; another, humility; a third, justice. St. Anthony remained silent until all had given their opinion: and then he spoke. “Ye have all said well, but none of you have said aright. The virtue most necessary to perfection is prudence; for the most virtuous actions of men, unless governed and directed by prudence, are neither pleasing to God, nor serviceable to others, nor profitable to ourselves.” Juvenal speaks to the same effect: “No other protection is wanting, provided you are under the guidance of prudence.” Bishop Hacket bears similar testimony:—“He that loves to walk dangerous ways shall perish in them. Even king Josiah, one of the most lovely darlings of God’s favour among all the kings of Judah, fell under the sword for pressing further against his enemies than the word of the Lord did permit him. The ancient Eliberitan Council enacted, that all those who plucked down the idols or temples of the heathen should not be accounted martyrs, though they died for the faith of Christ, because they plucked persecution upon themselves, and provoked their own martyrdom.”
THE HAND OF GOD
Neh_2:8. According to the good hand of my God upon me
The hand sometimes used in an ill sense, for inflicting punishments (Rth_1:13; Jer_15:17), for we strike with the hand. Sometimes in a good sense, for helping others, for we bestow favours with the hand. In Psa_88:6, “Cut off from thy hand,” means fallen from thy favour. Pindar uses the expression, “θεῶ σὺν παλάμᾳ,” in the sense of “by the aid of God.” Thus Nehemiah is to be understood. By the Divine favour, which inclined the king to do what he desired, his suit had prevailed.
I. The hand of God is with his people for protection. Nehemiah’s life was in jeopardy in God’s service. Hence God’s special protection.
1. He was protected from the wrath of the king. Had the king been in an angry mood Nehemiah might have paid for his temerity with his life. “The wrath of man” doth he restrain. David delivered from the outburst of Saul’s murderous anger. Nehemiah saved from the outbursting of Artaxerxes’. God will ever defend those who trust him and seek his glory, from the malice of evil oppressors.
2. He was protected from the hostility of his enemies. The Samaritans and surrounding heathen would have not only hindered his work, but probably taken his life, but for the military guard which the king granted, through God’s gracious influence. Thus will the Lord “make a hedge about his people” (Job 2), for “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him” (Psalms 34).
II. The hand of God is with his people for providential guidance.
1. The hand of God guided Nehemiah to the Persian court.
2. To the official position which brought him into the presence of the king.
3. The providence of God directed him when to speak, and
4. what to say. “If it please the king,” &c. “Silken words must be given to kings, as the mother of Darius said (ἤ δισία, ἥ ἣκιστα); neither must they be rudely and roughly dealt with, as Joab dealt with David (2Sa_19:5), who therefore could never well brook him afterward, but set another in his place.”—Trapp.
III. God’s servants should thankfully acknowledge the good which they receive from him. Nehemiah does not take any credit to himself, but gives all glory to God. This conduct requires—
1. Genuine humility. He might have boasted of his services to the king, of his place and authority in the Persian Court, and arrogated to himself the credit of success; but he was of another spirit, and ascribed all to the “good hand of his God.” Ingratitude is the child of pride; thankfulness the offspring of humility. A proud man will never be truly grateful; a humble man possesses the first element of gratitude. Benefit a vain man, and he will ascribe the service to his own desert, he will regard it as no more than a just tribute to his excellence; but serve a lowly man, and he will attribute the service to the kindness of his benefactor. A proud child thinks that he has laid his parents under obligation; a lowly child feels that he can never liquidate the debt of gratitude he owes to them. The same holds good in relation to God. We must be lowly to be grateful. The lark hides her nest in the grass, but her flight is far up in the heavens. This spirit continually exclaims, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed,” &c.; and, “I am less than the least of all his mercies” (Lam_3:22). Paul a striking illustration of it: “To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given,” &c. David also exclaims when the splendid offerings had been collected for the erection of God’s house: “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness,” &c. (1Ch_29:11).
2. True faith. The believer in chance who ascribes everything to fortune, or fatality, cannot own a Divine hand. Faith, discerning the Almighty hand within the machinery of second causes, actuating, controlling, determining all, is the parent of sincere gratitude. Men of business, from the very nature of their occupations, specially liable to lose the lively exercise of this practical faith. “Hard by the altar of incense in the ancient temple, stood the altar of burnt-offering. As the one signified the atonement to be made by Christ, and the other the fragrant merits of that atonement; so did the latter represent also the offering of prayer to God through Christ’s mediation by his faithful people, and the former the oblation of praise, presented through the same intercession, as a sweet-smelling savour to God. Prayer and praise are twin services. They should always go hand in hand. Praise is the fragrance breathed from the flower of joy. He is happiest who is thankfullest. This lesson taught by the brute creation. Morose and unkindly animals express as little of enjoyment as they do of gratefulness by their snarling and growling sounds. The beasts and birds of night are rarely gladsome. But the lambs which sport and gambol in their green pastures, and the birds which in the early morning wake the echoes of the woodland with their songs, all tell most unmistakeably that they are happy. How much more then must it be the blessedness of man ‘to look through nature, up to nature’s God,’ and glorify the giver in all his varied gifts.”—Stowell. (See Addenda.)
Illustrations:—“Your father had a battle with Apollyon,” said Great-heart to Samuel, “at a place yonder before us, in a narrow passage, just beyond Forgetful Green. And indeed the place is the most dreadful place in all these parts; for if at any time pilgrims meet with any brunt, it is when they forget what favours they have received, and how unworthy they are of them. This is the place, also, where others have been hard put to it.”—Bunyan.
Luther said when he heard a little bird sing, when he was out in the fields one morning, “The bird had no storehouse or barn, and did not know of any provision for the future, and yet it seemed to sing, ‘Mortal, cease from toil and sorrow, God provideth for the morrow.’ We do not find any sparrows with large storehouses, or any swallows with a great quantity of grain laid by for the morrow; yet never find a sparrow starved to death, or a swallow that has perished from cold. God ‘careth for them, and are ye not much better than they?’ ”
THE INITIAL STAGES OF A GREAT REFORMATION
Neh_2:9-20. Then I came to the governors, &c.
I. Great reformations often have an insignificant commencement, and are slow in developing their true proportions. Who would have expected such great things to spring from that interview in the palace, and now from the visit of this one man to Jerusalem? Yet who dare “despise the day of small things”? How slight the first streak of dawn! How minute the grain of mustard-seed! Some of the noblest exploits of the Church have had the feeblest beginnings. A few Christian men met together in the vestry of a plain chapel; they pondered and prayed over the state of the heathen world; they conceived and planned the glorious enterprise of evangelizing all pagan lands. They arose and built. The Church Missionary Society is the result. Not only small at beginning but slow in developing. May travel rapidly on land or by sea, but in morals must be content to proceed gradually. Deep-rooted evils, profligate and abandoned habits, not to be eradicated in a moment; nor are excellent characters manufactured in a moment, as a piece of work from the loom. The restoration of God’s image rather resembles the growing likeness to its beautiful original in the canvas of the artist. At first the outline, and slowly the form and features, of the human face appear; gradually they assume more distinctness and expression, and the likeness stands confessed. So does the Holy Ghost restore the waste places of Christ’s Church, and the moral deformities of his children.
II. Reformation work requires a vigorous leader. Nehemiah eminently qualified for the post, for—
1. He occupied a commanding social position. The office of cupbearer a very honourable one with the Persians. A son of Prexaspes, a distinguished person, was made cupbearer to Cambyses. The poets make Ganymedes to be cupbearer to Jupiter, and even Vulcan himself is put into this office. It gave him influence with king and court, and status amongst even Persian nobles.
2. He was inspired with intense enthusiasm. Without this fire no hearts melt, no great work accomplished. It burns up all evil sordid desires, and kindles all goodness. Jeremiah was influenced by it. Kept silence for a time, but was constrained to break out again, saying the word within him was like burning fire (Jeremiah 20). To the same effect Elijah cries out: “I am very zealous for the Lord of Hosts” (1 Kings 19). Moses prayed to be blotted out of God’s book, rather than his people should be destroyed (Exodus 32). St. Paul “counted not his life dear unto him,” &c. (Acts 20). Phineas, when none else would take the sword to vindicate the outraged laws of Jehovah, himself slew the offenders (Numbers 25). Our Lord himself, moved with indignation, drove out the profaners of his sanctuary (John 2). Such holy enthusiasm glowed in Nehemiah’s heart, and urged him to undertake this difficult and dangerous work.
3. He possessed unwearied energy and perseverance. His enthusiasm not fitful, but patient. He had calculated the difficulties of his undertaking, and was prepared to carry it through. No great work will succeed without plodding. A great statesman once answered a friend who inquired to what he attributed his great success in life, thus—“I know how to plod.” Without this virtue Nehemiah must have succumbed to the almost overwhelming difficulties that beset his path.
III. Reformation work should not be undertaken without a deliberate estimate of its magnitude and difficulty. Blind courage that counts no costs always short-lived. This stood the tests which it had to endure because founded upon intelligent and mature conviction.
1. Nehemiah forestalled opposition. An escort had been asked for and granted (Neh_2:10). Forewarned is forearmed. Thus did he fortify himself against failure from this quarter. Christian soldiers “must put on the whole armour of God” (Eph_6:11), and expect to be assailed. No mistake greater than presumption. To despise or ignore an enemy sure sign of weakness.
2. He carefully examined the work to be done. “And I arose in the night,” &c. (Neh_2:12). Wise proceeding before engaging in a work that might prove to be impracticable. Accurate knowledge helps the judgment and stimulates courage.
3. He weighed the matter before proceeding to action. “So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days” (Neh_2:11). Days spent in seclusion not spent in vain, if time be occupied in thought and prayer. (See outline on “Preparatory Retirement.”)
IV. Reformation work in its initial stages is almost certain to provoke opposition. “When Sanballat the Horonite,” &c. (Neh_2:10).
1. This often proceeds from a misconstruction of the nature of the work. “Will ye rebel?” (Neh_2:19). Bad men always ready to attribute evil motives. Sometimes springs from ignorance, more often from wilful malice. Charges of treason more frequently brought against reformation work than any other. Insinuation often more deadly in its operation than open calumny.
2. This often springs from aversion to self-sacrifice. For this reason the men of Jabesh-Gilead stood aloof when Benjamin was to be punished; and were afterwards destroyed for their neutrality (Judges 21). Work that requires self-denial and hard toil cannot be good in the eyes of those who have no love for any but themselves.
V. Reformation work cannot be carried on without mutual co-operation. “So they strengthened their hands for this good work” (Neh_2:18). Necessary as a security against discouragement. Individual workers labouring in isolation always liable to discouragement. “Not good for man to be alone.” Christ recognized this principle in religious work, when he sent his disciples by twos. Mutual sympathy and counsel will often cheer faltering courage, and strengthen failing hope.
2. Necessary as a safeguard against combined opposition. Good men must combine, and present a united front to the combined forces of wickedness and opposition. Unity is strength in all work, and in all conflict.
VI. Reformation work cannot succeed without the Divine blessing. “The God of heaven, he will prosper us” (Neh_2:20). When every precaution has been taken, and all available human aid enlisted, still all depends on God for success.
1. Because the forces of evil are too strong for the unaided powers of man. Melancthon found this by experience, when he thought to convert the world to Christianity in a very short time. “Without me ye can do nothing.” “Not by might, nor by power,” &c.
2. The blessing of God will compensate for any amount of opposition. “If God be for us,” &c. “Greater is he that is in you,” &c.
Illustrations:—(α) The artist Correggio, when young, saw a painting by Raphael. Long and ardently did the thoughtful boy gaze on that picture. His soul drank in its beauty as flowers drink moisture from the mist. He waked to the consciousness of artistic power. Burning with the enthusiasm of enkindled genius, the blood rushing to his brow, and the fire flashing from his eyes, he cried out, “I also am a painter!” That conviction carried him through his initial studies; it blended the colours on his palette; it guided his pencil; it shone on his canvas, until the glorious Titian, on witnessing his productions, exclaimed, “Were I not Titian, I would wish to be Correggio.”
(β) In the museum at Rotterdam is the first piece painted by the renowned Rembrandt. It is rough, without marks of genius or skill, and uninteresting, except to show that he began as low down as the lowest. In the same gallery is the masterpiece of the artist, counted of immense value. What years of patient study and practice intervene between the two pieces! If all have not genius, all have the power to work; and this is greater than genius.
(γ) Coleridge, one day when some one was enlarging on the tendency of some good scheme to regenerate the world, threw a little thistle-down into the air, which he happened to see by the roadside, and said, “The tendency of this thistle-down is towards China! but I know, with assured certainty, it will never get there; nay, it is more than probable, that after sundry eddyings and gyrations up and down, backwards and forwards, it will be found somewhere near the place where it grew.” Such is the history of grand schemes of reformation apart from Divine power and benediction.
(δ) William Rufus, having seen the coast of Ireland from some rocks in North Wales, is reported to have said, “I will summon hither all the ships of my realm, and with them make bridge to attack that country.” This threat being reported to Murchard, Prince of Leinster, he paused a moment, and then said, “Did the king add to this mighty threat, if God please?” and being assured he made no mention of God in his speech, he replied, rejoicing in such a prognostic, “Sure, that man puts his trust in human, not in Divine power, I fear not his coming.”
SECULAR AID FOR SPIRITUAL WORK
Neh_2:9. Now the king had sent captains of the army, &c.
This martial escort granted to Nehemiah in response to his own request. As an official dignitary, had right to public honour and body-guard. Learn—
I. That the Church may employ secular power for purposes of protection. When one has suitable means at hand for avoiding danger, he must not despise them (Jos_2:15; 2Co_11:33).
1. Every law-abiding subject has a right to claim the law’s protection. This holds good except in the case of conduct which is likely to provoke a breach of the peace.
2. It is a good man’s duty to seek the protection of secular power rather than rashly to expose himself to danger. Paul sought the shield of the law when certain men had taken an oath to kill him (Acts 23).
3. When secular aid is denied, or granted only on terms inconsistent with righteousness, the believer may confidently cast himself upon the protection, of Jehovah. “When my father and mother forsake me,” &c. Under such circumstances the three Hebrews and Daniel committed their case to God. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him” (Psalms 34).
II. That the Church may not employ secular power in matters of faith. Ezra’s work had been more purely spiritual than Nehemiah’s now was, hence he sought no such aid as this. Both sought the religious reformation of the people, but Nehemiah’s chief mission was to restore the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.
1. God has never authorized the use of any but moral means in spiritual work. All coercion inadmissible. “My kingdom is not of this world.” “Go ye into all the world,” is the commission which follows upon the proclamation of Divine sovereignty. “All power,” &c. “He that winneth souls is wise.” The fire and the rack may command submission, but will never win the heart, or convince the conscience. (β)
2. The employment of secular power in matters of faith has always been productive of disastrous results. This method predominated over all others in the dark or mediæval ages. Hence the war and bloodshed, strife and controversy, hatred and heresy that prevailed. A notable exception was Stephen, king of Poland, who when urged by some of his subjects to constrain certain who were of a different religion to embrace his creed, nobly answered, “I am king of men, and not of conscience. The dominion of conscience belongs exclusively to God.”
Illustrations:—(α) An old lady taking a long railway journey, prayed almost all the time that God would protect her from harm. When she reached the last platform, and was but a few minutes walk from her home, she felt that now she could take care of herself; but just here she fell, and received an injury from which she was a long time recovering. We must trust in God at all times.
(β) The missionaries to the Fiji islands were threatened with destruction by the enraged natives, and had no means of defence except prayer. Their enemies heard them praying, became fearful, and fled. The reason was given by one of themselves. “They found you were praying to your God, and they know your God is a strong God; and they are gone.” St. Augustine was saved from death by a mistake of his guide, who lost the usual road, in which the Donatists had laid wait to murder him.
FIRST HINDRANCE.—SECRET JEALOUSY
Neh_2:10. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah, &c.
The name Sanballat signifies a pure enemy; for he belonged to a spiteful people who had always been troublesome to the children of Israel, and did constantly vex and provoke them to evil (Num_22:3-4).
I. Here is jealousy tyrannical in its spirit. The Hebrews in Palestine had been hitherto poor and helpless. They were anxious to improve their condition, but these enemies were eager to keep them poor that they might be able to oppress and plunder them. Jealousy naturally cruel, inasmuch as it feeds upon the poverty and destitution of others, and fears their prosperity, lest it should lose its food. They probably heard of this new enterprise through their wives, who might be Jewesses. Among the Turks every vizier used to keep a Jew as private counsellor, whose malice was thought to have had much to do with the Turks’ bitter persecution of Christianity.
II. Here is jealousy anti-religious in its attitude. Grieved that any should “seek the welfare of the children of Israel” (Neh_2:10). Their opposition doubled by the fact that this was God’s work, and these were his people. They hated the name and worship of Jehovah. The malice of unbelievers and scoffers against the kingdom of God can never be satisfied. If envy had not blinded these men, they might have seen that they meant them no harm. As the building of this Jerusalem had many enemies, so the repairing of the spiritual Jerusalem (the Church) by the preaching of the gospel hath many more.—Pilkington.
III. Here is jealousy covetously selfish in its motives. Samaria had become the leading state west of Jordan, and any restoration of Jerusalem might interfere with this predominance. The fear of losing their gains had much to do with the acrimony of their opposition. Hippocrates in his epistle to Crateva gives him this good counsel; that if it were possible, amongst other herbs, he cut up that weed covetousness by the roots, that there be no remainder left; and then know certainly that together with the bodies, he would be able to cure the diseases of the mind.
IV. Here is jealousy self-torturing in its effects. “It grieved them exceedingly” (Neh_2:10). The expression a very strong one. (Compare Psalms 112) “The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth.” Keen mental torture implied. Envy compared to a poisonous serpent. Because it cannot feed upon other men’s hearts it feedeth upon its own, drinking up the most part of its own venom, and is therefore like the serpent Porphyrius, which was full of poison, but wanting teeth, hurt none but itself. Austin describes it as a “madness of the soul;” Gregory, as “a torture;” Chrysostom, “an insatiableness;” Cyprian, “blindness, a plague subverting kingdoms and families, an incurable disease.” A disease that neither Esculapius nor Plutus could cure; a continual plague and vexation of spirit, an earthly hell.
Illustrations:—The poets imagined that Envy dwelt in a dark cave; being pale and lean, looking asquint, abounding with gall, her teeth black, never rejoicing but in the misfortunes of others, ever unquiet and careful, and continually tormenting herself. (See Addenda.)
“The Bible abounds with instances of this sin. We find it in Cain, the proto-murderer, who slew his brother in a fit of jealousy. We find it in the dark and gloomy and revengeful spirit of Saul, who under the influence of jealousy plotted for years the slaughter of David. We find it in the king of Israel when he pined for the vineyard of Naboth, and shed his blood to gain it. Yea, it was envy that perpetrated that most atrocious crime ever planned in hell or executed on earth, on which the sun refused to look, and at which nature gave signs of abhorrence by rending the rocks; I mean the crucifixion of Christ; for the Evangelist tells us, that for envy the Jews delivered our Lord.”—J. A. James.
The infatuated Caligula slew his brother, because he was a beautiful young man. Mutius, a citizen of Rome, was reputed to be of such an envious and malevolent disposition, that Publius, one day observing him to be very sad, said, “Either some great evil hath happened to Mutius, or some great good to another.” “Dionysius the Tyrant,” says Plutarch, “out of envy punished Philoxenius the musician, because he could sing; and Plato, the philosopher, because he could dispute better than himself.” Cambyses killed his brother Smerdis, because he could draw a stronger bow than himself or any of his party.
PREPARATORY RETIREMENT
Neh_2:11. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days
God’s servants frequently thus retired for deliberation before entering upon arduous tasks. Moses had a forty-years half-involuntary preparation for his life work, in the wilderness of Midian. Paul spent three years in Arabia before commencing his career as a missionary. The disciples were commanded “to tarry at Jerusalem until,” &c. Our Lord himself, at the commencement of his public ministry, was “led of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.” And here we see Nehemiah spending three days in retirement, before entering upon a work that would tax all his powers and graces to the very utmost. Consider the reason of this—
I. It gave him time to look round. Jerusalem altogether strange to him. Unacquainted with the exact state of affairs or parties in the city. To have rushed headlong without premeditation into so gigantic an enterprise would have been madness. Probably made secret inquiries as to vigilance of foes, and spirit of people, as well as their numbers, character, and wealth. Knowledge always source of power to workers and leaders. Knowledge of human nature, human history, and character, of great service in Christian work.
II. It gave him time to look forward. Evidently a man of wise foresight. Could see both difficulties and the way to meet and overcome them. Careful, yet not over-anxious, because made God his counsellor and guide. Neither optimist nor pessimist. By anticipating difficulties we may obviate them, and so make them comparatively harmless when they do come. Guard against other extreme, of making them when there are none, and magnifying them when they are insignificant. Such pre-vision not inspiriting, but disheartening.
III. It gave him time to look within. Now was the time for self-examination. Motives tested, heart probed. Trying moment to faith. Looking at self alone drives to despair. “Who is sufficient for these things?” the cry of one burdened with such tremendous responsibility. Luther spent the night before the Diet of Worms on the floor of his little chamber, humbling himself before God, and laying hold on Divine strength. No wonder he triumphed.
IV. It gave him time to look upward. The contemplation of his own faults and frailty alone would have completely unnerved him for the work he had come to accomplish. His eye would turn from personal demerit to infinite perfection; from personal impotence to infinite strength. From penitence to prayer a single step, thence to confidence and hope. Such preparation necessary for all who would achieve great works for God. Careless self-confidence as sure to meet with failure as humble and contrite faith to be crowned with success. (See Addenda.)
Illustrations:—“Domitian, about the beginning of his reign, usually sequestered himself from company an hour every day; but did nothing the while but catch flies, and kill then with a penknife. God’s people can better employ their solitariness, and do never want company, as having God and themselves to talk with. And these secret meals are those that make the soul fat. It was a wise speech of Bernard, that “Christ, the soul’s spouse, is bashful, neither willingly cometh to his bride in the presence of a multitude.”—Trapp.
The noblest works, like the temple of Solomon, are brought to perfection in silence.—Sir A. Helps.
Solitude hath been the custom not only of holy men, but of heathen men. Thus did Tully, and Anthony, and Crassus, make way to that honour and renown which they afterwards obtained by their eloquence; thus did they pass a solitudine in scholas, a scholis in forum, “from their secret retirement into the schools, and from the schools into the pleading place.”—Farindon.
THE WALLS INSPECTED
Neh_2:12. And I arose in the night, &c.
I. A work involving considerable danger.
1. From the rained state of the walls (Neh_2:13-15). No safe path. Stones scattered along road made travelling dangerous. God’s servants often required to traverse perilous roads. Missionaries often wonderfully preserved when journeying.
2. From the enmity of the Samaritans. Had they known would probably have waylaid so small and defenceless a company. Exposed to the midnight marauders who lurked about the city, taking advantage of its open condition. This danger did not deter. God often protected his servants from malice and bloodthirstiness of hostile nations. Missionary annals of Church furnish many instances of sublimest heroism and hair-breadth escapes from threatened destruction.
II. A work requiring personal sacrifice.
1. He gave up his much-needed rest. The physician will watch by his patient all night. The captain will not think of sleep if his vessel be in danger. So should the Christian forego his rest in times of danger, that he may call upon God in faithful prayer. David “rose at midnight to give praise” unto the name of the Lord (Psalms 119). Our mortal enemy, Satan, sleepeth not night or day, but continually “goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;” and had we not an equally vigilant watchman we should be destroyed. “Behold, he neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, that is the watchman of Israel” (Psalms 121). Christ himself set us an example of self-denying vigilance; prayed the whole night before sending forth his disciples (Luke 6). Joshua marched all night to conquer the Amorites (Joshua 10). Gideon arose in the night to pull down the altar of Baal (Judges 6).
2. He laid aside his official dignity. Might have sent a deputy, or gone attended by strong escort, or numerous retinue; but preferred to go himself, to teach us that nothing should be painful or degrading to any man, however exalted his station, which concerns the prosperity of God’s City and Church David, when the ark was brought out of Abinadab’s house, played on instruments, and after casting off his kingly apparel, danced before the ark in his ephod. Michal mocked, and was punished; but David declared that he would yet “more lowly cast himself down,” and was blessed of the Lord (2 Samuel 6). Moses forsook the dignity and pleasure of Pharaoh’s court to become a tender of sheep, that he might serve the cause of God (Hebrews 11). Christ washed the disciples’ feet, and humbled himself to the death of the cross, that he might effect our redemption. Such humble self-abasement is the greatest honour that can come to a man. Pride has its own reward, and a paltry one it is; but humility shall be rewarded by the great Father in heaven.
III. A work requiring great moral courage. The view of such a wreck likely to dishearten. The magnitude of the task would appear all but overwhelming. Would serve to impress him with a sense of personal insufficiency for so gigantic a work. Ezekiel, surrounded by the valley of bleached bones, when suddenly asked, “Son of man, can these bones live?” in despair could only reply, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” Nehemiah, surrounded by a ruin equally hopeless, can only cast himself and his work upon the strength of the Omnipotent. (a)
IV. A work which had an important bearing upon subsequent operations.
1. It furnished accurate information of the work to be done. Some render the words, “viewed the walls,” “broke the walls” (i. e. broke off a piece of the wall), to try the soundness of it, that he might know whether it required to be pulled down entirely, or might be repaired on the same foundation. Must have been moonlight, or could not have seen to do this; as, to have carried torches or lamps would have betrayed their presence. Knowledge obtained by personal investigation always most valuable. Illustrate this in the case of pastors, sick visitors, and Sunday School teachers. They who come into personal contact with human nature in its varied phases know best how to remedy its ills, repair its losses, and alleviate its woes. In all religious work knowledge is power.
2. It kindled his enthusiasm for the performance of the work. The greater the ruin, the greater the work of restoration. Small works require commonplace zeal; but great enterprises demand extraordinary grace. Two truths brought home to him by sight of ruins.
(1) How faithful God is. He threatened that Jerusalem should become a heap (Isa_25:2). Here was the manifest fulfilment of the threat. Surely, if God be faithful in punishing, he will not be less faithful in healing.
(2) How vile sin is. This desolation the result of Israel’s disobedience. The restoration of the city should be a sign of Israel’s return to obedience; these thoughts would serve to inflame Nehemiah’s zeal. The same thoughts are calculated to stimulate all Christian effort.
Illustration:—(a) As Luther drew near to the door which was about to admit him to the Diet of Worms, he met a valiant knight, the celebrated George of Freundsberg, who four years later drove the French into the Ticino. The brave general, seeing Luther pass, tapped him on the shoulder, and shaking his head, blanched in many battles, said kindly: “Poor monk, poor monk! thou art now going to make a nobler stand than I or any other captain have ever made in the bloodiest of our battles. But if thy cause is just, and thou art sure of it, go forward in God’s name, and fear nothing. God will not forsake thee.” He went forward and won a glorious victory.
A TIME FOR SILENCE
Neh_2:12. Neither told I any man what God, &c.
There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak (Ecc_3:7). Taciturnity in some cases an eminent virtue. He is a wise man who can discern the proper season for its exercise. Jerome says, “Let us first learn not to speak, that we may afterwards open our minds with discretion.” Solomon puts silence before speech, as a virtue rarer and more precious. Learn—
I. Good intentions are best kept secret until they are ascertained to be practicable. Nehemiah would only have marred his work by disclosing his intention before he was sure it was worth disclosing. Ideas are prolific as insects, but few of them are fit to live. When Nehemiah had viewed the walls, he was able to render a reason, and expound his plan for their restoration. A good rule for all who contemplate any work of importance. They should first consider, then speak. Rashly to enter upon a crude enterprise is to court failure. A wise man will not open his mouth to others until he has formed some plan for the accomplishment of his purpose. Guard against other extreme of obstinate persistence in a course condemned by others as unpractical.
II. Good intentions are best kept secret until they can be carried out with decisive energy. Great enterprises demand great faith, and intense enthusiasm. Many a grand reform has prematurely failed through the half-heartedness of its chief supporters. Had Luther been less bold he would have been unfit for the work which God entrusted to him. Courage is contagious, and cowardice too.
III. Good intentions are best kept secret from those who are likely to oppose them. Nehemiah aware of the vigilance and enmity of Sanballat and his party. Careful to avoid betraying his purpose to those who were related to them by inter-marriage. Herein we see the prudence of this great man. In this, worthy of our imitation, who are engaged in good works for God. Take no counsel with scoffers, nor give them any advantage in their profane opposition. Caution and forethought as necessary in this warfare as in carnal. We must not cast pearls before swine.
IV. Good intentions are best kept secret until the co-operation essential to success can be relied on. This work impossible without co-operation. Useless to attempt it until this secured. By personal effort and interview we prepare the way for united action and ultimate success. The soldiers must be enlisted one by one, then the battle-cry may be sounded. Workers in the Church must be secured one by one, then the work may be openly announced. This preparatory work done in silence and secresy, afterwards declared openly.
Illustration:—“When Homer makes his heroes to march, he gives them silence for their guide; on the contrary, he makes cowards to babble and chatter like cranes. The one pass along like great rivers, letting their streams glide softly with silent majesty; the others only murmur like bubbling brooks. A sign of not being valiant is to strive to seem valiant.”
AN APPEAL FOR HELP
Neh_2:17. Then said I unto them, &c.
I. The ground of the appeal. “Ye see the distress that we are in” (Neh_2:17). An appeal to their patriotism, their pity, and their piety. God’s city is desolate, your city is in ruins. “We (putting himself along with them) are in distress.” A reproach to the Church, an object of derision to the world, shall we rest satisfied where we are? “Ye see.” The fact is patent, it cannot be concealed. No need to expatiate on this point, for you are mourning on account of it every day. See here model for all Christian appeals. Shame a powerful motive. To this Nehemiah appealed. What inconsistency in their conduct!—that they who boasted of the greatness and goodness of their God should be living in this miserable plight, as though he could not or would not deliver them! For very shame we should arise and build the waste places of Zion; strengthen her stakes, and lengthen her cords; then shall her converts be multiplied.
II. The nature of the appeal. “Come, and let us build.”
1. It solicited personal effort; “let us build.” Time for debating and discussing past. Time for work had come. Nehemiah not satisfied with their good wishes, or money, or prayers; but sought their personal assistance. Every Christian is called upon to take his share of work in the Church. Not all adapted for same kind of work. All kinds of work, intellectual and manual, may be sanctified to the cause of God. In Israel’s battle with Midian, when Sisera was defeated and slain, we find all kinds of work recorded and commended (Jdg_5:14). Meroz was cursed for its cowardly neutrality. We may not substitute money, or prayers, or good wishes for work. “Every man’s work shall be tried,” &c. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.” “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The child and the invalid, the school-girl and maidservant, the merchant and his errand-boy, have all some work to do for God. To every believer he says, “Go work to-day in my vineyard.” At our peril do we say “I go,” and go not.
2. It promised personal aid. “Let us build.” Not go, but “come:” not go ye, but come, “let us build.” An example as noble as rare, to see a courtier leave that wealth, and ease, and authority in the midst of which he was living, and go to dwell so far from court in an old, torn, and decayed city, where he should not live quietly, but toil and drudge like a day-labourer, in dread and danger of his life. Yet they who are earnest in God’s work think not of ease, and bid none go where they are unwilling to go themselves, or do work which they are too proud to touch. Personal example in workers, and soldiers especially, far more powerful than personal authority. Come, always more successful than go.
III. The motive urged. “That we be no more a reproach” (Neh_2:17). Here we see the misery they were in urged as a motive for action. Several years had elapsed since Cyrus gave them permission to return, and yet hitherto they had been unable to rebuild the walls. This plea often occurs in the Bible. “For thy great Name’s sake,” an argument often employed by eminent pleaders. (2Ki_19:4; Psa_42:10; Psa_74:18; Psa_79:12; Psa_89:51; Pro_14:31; 1Ki_8:41-42; 1Ch_17:24; Psa_25:11; Psa_74:10; Jer_14:7.) Jehovah jealous for his name, and will vindicate his character. When his Church is reproached and scorned he is assailed, and in jealousy for his honour will defend his own. Christ said to Saul of Tarsus, “Why persecutest thou me?” The wounds inflicted upon the members of his body on earth, were felt by him, the living head, in heaven.
IV. The encouragement offered. “Then I told them of the hand of my God,” &c. (Neh_2:18). The time for silence now past, and the time for speech come. The walls inspected, the work carefully planned and thoroughly resolved upon, it only remained to make a bold appeal for immediate help, and commence forthwith, before the enemy could muster their forces or mature their plans. Note, promptness in religious work will often sweep away like a tornado all obstacles, and baffle all opponents. He assured his co-patriots—
1. That God was the instigator of the work. “I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me” (Neh_2:18). In previous verse the law was preached, here the gospel. First, he set forth their misery, then encouraged them by the promise of God’s mercy. This order the true one for all teachers and ministers. They are the best scholars who will work without the rod: yet none so good but need the rod sometimes. A wise schoolmaster will make such use of both gentleness and severity as to gain his point with the least possible friction.
2. That the king approved of the work. “Also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me.” God had given him such favour in the king’s sight, that as soon as he asked licence to go and build the city, where his fathers lay buried, it was granted; and the liberality and goodwill of the king were so great that he granted him soldiers to conduct him safely to Jerusalem, and commission to his officers for timber to build with. Why should they mistrust or doubt! With both God and the king on their side, what needed they more? God’s servants should always seek to make themselves agreeable to those in high station, that they may receive their help in doing his work. Learn to be thankful for wise and benevolent rulers, and pray for their conversion (1Ti_2:2).
V. The success of the appeal. “And they said, Let us rise and build” (Neh_2:18).
1. The response was prompt. Without delay or discussion they entered with spirit upon the work there and then. Would that all congregations were equally prompt in accepting the invitations of the Gospel! “Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2Co_6:2). Would that all Christians were as ready to work!
2. The response was practical. “Let us rise and build.” Not propose substitute, or alternative, but undertook the work required of them. Example for all Christian workers, not to go round difficulties, but meet them in the face. Practical work must be done in a practical way. Fancy and flimsy methods break down, whilst simple and personal effort accomplish great results.
3. The response was unanimous. “Let us rise and build.” Even the listless were stirred for the time (Eliashib for instance). All with one accord undertook to carry out the work by God’s blessing, and the king’s favour. Cooperation necessary to the success of any large undertaking. World never converted until the churches are united.
THE STRENGTH OF UNITY
Neh_2:18. So they strengthened their hands for this good work
I. Consists in its power to protect individual workers against discouragement.
1. Isolated workers are always liable to depression. This, the result of bearing alone the burden of care and duty incident to their work. Few men have the indomitable courage of a Nehemiah, a Paul, a Luther. Most spirits quail when unsupported by the aid and sympathy of kindred workers.
2. Mutual sympathy and conference relieve mental strain, and renew exhausted energy. “Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend” (Pro_27:17). Burdens confessed are half removed. Mutual counsel will cheer the drooping spirit, and stimulate to increased effort. Christ recognized this when he sent out his disciples two and two. It is not good for man to be alone. “Where no counsel is the people fall” (Pro_11:14). “Two are better than one, for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth” (Ecc_4:9-10).
Illustration:—There are stragglers in the Church as well as in the army, who fall out of the ranks and are lost. Sometimes they manage to subsist for a while, living on the charity of the people and the scraps left by those in camp, but generally fall a prey to their isolation and exposure. One such found his way, during the American war, to the hospital at Sedalia. He was dying then, and could not give his name or regiment. He was a mere boy, and unequal to the toil of marching. He was wet and cold and weary, and in a few hours died, and was buried in a nameless grave. So do many fall out of the Church’s ranks, and soon faint by the way. Pliny writes of a stone in the island of Scyros, that if it be whole, though a large and heavy one, it swims above water, but being broken it sinks. So long as saints keep whole, nothing shall sink them; but if they break up, and divide, they are in danger of going down.
II. Consists in its power of resisting combined opposition from without.
1. The full force of individual strength only awakened by the enthusiasm of united action. Men are like the stone pyrites, which is cold and dull until well rubbed; then it becomes so brilliant and hot as to burn the hand. Intense earnestness only kindled by the contagion of glowing spirits. Coals need to be pressed together to become thoroughly hot. So do souls require to be brought into very close contact, and inspired by one common impulse, to be fully roused to fervour and self-sacrificing devotion.
2. In unity, the full force of individual strength is directed against the common enemy. Not as separate individuals, but as forming one combined and glowing mass. Such union is resistless as a stream of glowing lava.
Illustrations:—The sand-reed, which grows on the sandy shores of Europe, represents the influence of religion and the Church upon society. Its roots penetrate to a considerable depth, and spread in all directions, forming a net-work which binds together the loosest sands; whilst its strong tall leaves protect the surface from drought, and afford shelter to small plants, which soon grow between the reeds, and gradually form a new green surface on the bed of sand. But for the sand-reed, the sea-wind would long since have wafted the drift-sand far into the interior of the country, and have converted many a fruitful acre into a waste; but that invaluable grass opposes its stubborn resistance to the most furious gale. So does the united front of Church organization present an insuperable barrier to the aggressions of profanity and unbelief.
Standing one day before a beehive, Gotthold observed with delight how the little honey-birds departed and arrived, and from time to time returned home laden with the spoils of the flowers. Meanwhile a great yellow hornet, the wolf among bees, came buzzing up in eager quest of prey. As it was evening-tide, and the bees after the heat of the day had settled about the mouth of the hive to breathe the cool air, it was amusing to observe that their fierce adversary lacked courage to attack their combined host and serried ranks. True, he often advanced for the purpose, but seeing how densely and compactly they were sitting, was forced to retreat empty-handed. At last, a bee, somewhat belated, arrived by itself; and on this straggler he instantly seized, fell with it to the earth, and instantly devoured it.
III. Consists in its power to cope with the inherent difficulties of the work, which otherwise would be insurmountable.
1. Work which cannot be done by few may be accomplished by many. This true of the wall-building. A small company of workers, however willing, would have been altogether inadequate for the work to be done. True of many other large Christian undertakings. Especially true of church or chapel building where the workers are mostly poor.
2. Work which cannot be done by many acting separately, may be accomplished by the same acting in unison. Unity is strength. It doubles the capacity of each individual worker. A hundred separate links or threads will accomplish nothing; but join into a chain or a cable, and they may save a hundred lives.
Illustrations:—“Separate the atoms which make the hammer, and each would fall on the stone as a snow-flake; but welded into one, and wielded by the firm arm of the quarryman, it will break the massive rocks asunder. Divide the waters of Niagara into distinct and individual drops, and they would be no more than the falling rain; but their united body would quench the fires of Vesuvius, and have some to spare for other volcanoes.”—Guthrie.
“Union is power. The most attenuated thread when sufficiently multiplied will form the strongest cable. A single drop of water is a weak and powerless thing; but an infinite number of drops united by the force of attraction will form a stream, and many streams combined will form a river; till rivers pour their water into the mighty oceans, whose proud waves, defying the power of man, none can stay but he who formed them. And thus, forces which, acting singly, are utterly impotent, are, when acting in combination, resistless in their energies and mighty in power.”—Salter.
“A thousand grains of powder, or a thousand barrels, scattered, a grain in a place, and fired at intervals, would burn, it is true, but would produce no concussion. Placed together in effective position, they would lift a mountain, and cast it into the sea. Even so, the whole Church, filled with faith, and fired by the Holy One who gave the tongues of fire on the Day of Pentecost, will remove every mountain, fill up every valley, cast up the highway of the Lord, and usher in the jubilee of redemption.”—Boardman.
SECOND HINDRANCE—OPEN DERISION
Neh_2:19. They laughed us to scorn, and despised us
I. Here is an attempt to stop the work of God by the combined opposition of wicked men. “When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah,” &c.
1. The work of God is sure to meet with opposition from wicked men. They must hate and hinder it, because they are opposed to all that is good or godly. The triumph of good means the overthrow of evil. They will find some excuse for their oppression, and thus endeavour to make their conduct appear reasonable.
2. The work of God will often provoke the combined hostility of those who have nothing else in common. Thus did the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, &c., combine for the destruction of Israel, but in vain, for Jehovah brought to nought their evil counsels. Such opposition Luther met with when he began to reform. The pope excommunicated him; the emperor proscribed him; Henry, king of England, and Lewis, king of Hungary, wrote against him; but the work prospered, because it was of God.
II. Here is an attempt to stop the work of God by pouring contempt upon it. “They laughed us to scorn.”
1. They despised the workers. “As a company of fools, who could never effect what they attempted. So Erasmus and Sir Thomas More thought to ridicule the Lutherans out of their religion. This the Scripture calls cruel mocking (Heb_11:36), and ranks it with bloody persecution. The bitterest persecution which man can inflict is that of cruel taunts and scurrilous invectives: but the least harmful also. Jude, Peter, and Paul, all foretold that in the last days there should come mockers (2 Peter 3; 2 Timothy 3; Jude). Christ thus spitefully treated by Herod, Pilate, the priests, and the people. Solomon says, “He that mocketh shall be mocked” (Proverbs 3). David thus describes the reward of mockers, “He that dwelleth in the heavens shall mock them, and the Lord shall have them in derision” (Psalms 2). Michal was childless all her life as a punishment for mocking David (2 Samuel 6). The children that mocked Elisha were devoured by bears (2 Kings 2). Belshazzar, king of Babylon, was destroyed with his kingdom when he despised the warnings of God (Daniel 5).
2. They ridiculed the work. “What is this thing that ye do?” Scoffingly they asked the question, as Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Wicked men will never be fast for a taunt. If the Church’s character be above reproach, the Church’s work is ridiculed as impossible or useless.
III. Here is an attempt to stop the work of God by insinuating an evil design. “Will ye rebel against the king?”
1. When a good work cannot otherwise be hindered an evil motive is sure to be suggested. The work is open, the motive secret. More easy to explain and defend former than latter. Men fear what is secret. Wicked men employ this dread for their own ends.
2. Disloyalty to the State has always been a favourite charge with the Church’s enemies. Elijah is accused by Ahab of being a troubler of Israel (1 Kings 18). David was persecuted by Saul because the people sung, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18). Daniel was accused of disobedience, and consigned to the lions’ den, because he prayed to the God of heaven (Daniel 6). The Israelites were persecuted in Egypt lest they should rebel against Pharaoh (Exodus 1). Herod sought to slay the infant Christ, lest He should dethrone him (Matthew 2). Christ was accused and executed as a malefactor guilty of treason (John 18). The Apostles were accused of teaching sedition, and subverting the commonwealth (Acts 5). St. Paul was charged with the same crime, at Athens (Acts 17). Luther was called a “trumpeter of rebellion.” To excuse the shameful massacre of St. Bartholemew, a medal was struck with the inscription, Valour against the rebels, on one side, and on the reverse, Piety hath excited Justice.
IV. Here is an attempt to stop the work of God utterly frustrated. “Then answered I them, and said,” &c. (Neh_2:20). The boastful arrogance of Sanballat nothing daunted Nehemiah; and as they were not ashamed to charge him and his people unjustly, so he is not ashamed to step forth boldly in defence of the work they had undertaken. Thus Moses bearded Pharaoh; thus Jephthah withstood the Ammonites (Judges 11); thus Hezekiah defended the Jews from the blasphemies of Rabshakeh; thus David stood up against Goliath (1 Samuel 17); thus did Moses and Aaron withstand the reviling and calumny of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16). Nehemiah here in the same spirit appeals to God as the ground of his hope, and the source of his confidence. Balak, the king of Moab, hated the camp of Israel, and bribed Balaam, a prophet, to curse them. Just so does the world hate the Church, and is never happier than when it can hire the ministers of the Church to turn against it, and betray its interests. But it can no more succeed by its curses than the wicked Balak could; it must seduce Christians to sin, and then it prevails; not by its own power, but by tempting the Church to provoke the anger of God. (See Addenda.)
Illustrations:—(a) Pliny, governor of Pontus, under the emperor Trajan, was appointed to punish the Christians, but seeing their great number he doubted what he should do, and eventually wrote to the emperor that “he found no wickedness in them, but that they would not worship images, and that they would sing psalms before day-light unto Christ as God, and did forbid all sins to be used among them.” The emperor hearing this became a great deal more gentle to them (Euseb. Lib. 3 cap. 33). Sallust, tormenting Theodorus, a Christian, in various ways, and for a long time, to make him forsake his faith, but all in vain, went to the emperor Julian, and told him what he had done, counselling him that “he should prove that way no more by cruelty, for they got glory by suffering patiently, and he got shame in punishing so sharply,” because they would not yield to him.
CONFIDENCE IN GOD AN INCENTIVE TO WORK
Neh_2:20. The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore, &c.
“Knowledge is power,” says the philosopher; “faith is power,” says the saint. And what is faith? Confidence in God, in his almighty power and faithfulness; a confidence which nerves the soul for every task. No principle can brace a man like the principle of implicit trust in God. It leads not to indolence, but to effort, because—
I. It suggests almighty protection. “The God of heaven.”
1. It regards Jehovah as King of the celestial universe. “Lord of Hosts,” one of God’s most frequent names (Psa_46:7; Isa_1:24; Jer_46:18; Zec_1:6; Mal_1:14). “All power is given unto me in heaven” (Matthew 28). When the God “who rolls the stars along,” and “upholdeth all things by his word;” the God who doeth according to his will amongst the armies of heaven, and controls the hidden forces of the universe; the God who is Almighty, and Omniscient, and Eternal, to whom every celestial knee bows in willing homage and adoration; when this God is on our side, who can be afraid?—what can hinder?
2. It regards Jehovah as the providential ruler of the terrestrial universe. This implied rather than expressed. “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.” In earth because in heaven. All destinies in his hand, all events under his control.
II. It suggests providential direction. “He will prosper us.”
1. The way may be dark, but God will unfold it. When we have, like Nehemiah, done our best, and given our utmost, then we may safely commit our cause to God and patiently await the issue. Thus Abra ham followed the leadings of Providence (Genesis 12). Thus confidingly did he place his son Isaac on the altar (Genesis 22), saying, “God will provide himself a sacrifice.” Thus the apostles went at the Saviour’s bidding without scrip, &c. (Luke 22). In this spirit let all who fear God boldly begin his work, and continue it steadfastly, looking for his guidance, and they shall not be disappointed.
Illustration:—A Swiss chamois hunter, crossing the Mar de Glace, fell into one of the enormous crevasses that rend the ice in many places. He fell a hundred yards without serious injury: but his situation seemed hopeless. He could not climb out; and the cold would soon freeze him to death. A stream of water ran down the crevasse; he followed it, wading, stooping, crawling, or floating as best he could. At length he reached a vaulted chamber from which there was no visible outlet. The water heaved threateningly. Retreat was impossible. Delay was death. Commending himself to God the hunter plunged into the whirling flood. Then followed a moment of darkness and terror; then he was thrown up amid the flowers and hay-fields of the vale of Chamouni. Thus mysteriously are we led by a gracious Providence to safety and success.
2. The way may be crowded with difficulties, but God will remove them. “He will prosper us.” Difficulties as many as Nehemiah encountered may beset our path and work, but not more or mightier than God can remove. How deliverance shall come we know not, and must leave to God. All we know is that it will come in due time. On one occasion Luther was very importunate at the throne of grace to know the mind of God, and it seemed to him as if God spoke aloud and said: “I am not to be traced.” We can trust where we cannot trace. The Almighty has his “times and seasons.” An eminent saint thus wrote to a friend: “It has frequently been with my hopes and desires in regard to providence, as with my watch and the sun. My watch has often been ahead of true time; I have gone faster than providence, and have been forced to stand still and wait, or I have been set painfully back.” Flavel says, “some providences are like Hebrew letters, they must be read backwards.”
III. It suggests Divine benediction. “He will prosper us.”
1. It matters not how men may hinder if God prosper the work. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
2. It matters not how the king’s favour may fluctuate if Jehovah’s remain the same. He is the Unchangeable One. Man’s favour may be fickle, and therefore little to be relied upon. God’s never fails, therefore with confidence his saints may say, “He will prosper us.”
IV. It anticipates ultimate success. “He will prosper us.”
1. It concludes that what God initiates he intends to complete. A good beginning is a strong reason to persuade a man that God will grant good success in the end. David comforted himself when he met Goliath by the thought that be who had delivered him from the lion and the bear, would now continue his gracious interposition. God’s plans never fail.
2. It concludes that what God commences he is able to consummate. When God said to Paul that all the souls with him should be safe, there were various means used; all were not able to swim to the shore, and the ship was not able to bring them all to shore, but yet by broken boards and by one means or other, all got to shore. So the Lord brings things to pass in a strange, but a sure manner; sometimes by one way, sometimes by another. He breaks in pieces many ships, that we think should bring us to shore, but then he casts us on such planks as will eventually bring us there.
Illustration:—“I looked upon the wrong side of a piece of tapestry and it seemed to me a continued nonsense. There was neither head nor foot therein, a company of thrums and threads, with many pieces and patches of several sorts, sizes, and colours, all which signified nothing to my understanding. But then looking on the reverse, or right side, all put together did spell excellent proportions, and figures of men and cities; so that indeed it was a history, not wrote with a pen, but wrought with a needle. So, if men look upon some of God’s providential dealings with a mere eye of reason, they will hardly find any sense therein. But alas! the wrong side is before our eyes, whilst the right side is presented to the God of heaven, who knoweth that an admirable order doth result out of this confusion; and what is presented to him at present, may hereafter be so showed to us as to convince our judgments of the truth thereof.”—T. Fuller.
THE MISERABLE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH’S ENEMIES
Neh_2:20. Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, &c.
I. They are excluded from the Church’s pale.
1. Jerusalem a type of the Church militant and the Church triumphant. There God’s name recorded.
2. From which sinners are self-excluded. By their country, creed, and conduct Sanballat and his friends were excluded from communion with the true Israelites. Scoffers by their own conduct condemn themselves to separation from the true spiritual Church of God. Idolaters can have no part with those who worship the true God, for he will be worshipped in “spirit and in truth.”
II. They are cut off from the Church’s privileges.
1. The privilege of Church membership. “No portion.” This a privilege which many ignore. If the Church is the Body and the Bride of Christ, surely it must be an honour to belong to it.
2. Privilege of Church support. “Nor right.” To the poor and afflicted this a great boon. As in the Apostles’ days, so now the Church undertakes to care for its poor.
3. Privilege of ancestral reputation. “Nor memorial.” The Samaritans endeavoured to claim Jewish ancestry, but unsuccessfully. Saints are held in sweet remembrance in the Church. Their name is often “as ointment poured forth.” This honour denied to the families of those who have no fellowship with the Church.
III. They are forbidden to participate in the Church’s work. As they feared not their threats, so now they would have none of their help. “Be ye not unequally yoked,” &c. God’s servants are knit together by two bonds; the one is Christ their head; the other, brotherly love. Neither of these exist amongst idolaters. This work is—
1. The most exalted in which any human being can engage. Work for God, for human souls, for the Church which Christ has redeemed by his own blood, for all eternity, cannot but exalt and ennoble those who take part in it.
2. The most remunerative in which any human being can engage. All is pure gain without any loss. The gain is not temporal, but eternal. The reward is found in the glory that is brought to Christ, the salvation that is brought to men, and the reflex benefit which descends upon the soul of the worker.
3. Work which requires moral qualifications possessed only by the true servants of God. Hence the unfitness of the Samaritan unbelievers. God never sends men out into the world as apostles until they have become true disciples in heart and life.
ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 2
Neh_2:8. THE HAND OF GOD,—THANKSGIVING
I. The duty of thanksgiving. “Giving thanks,” a duty commanded (Eph_5:20). When thanks are given thankfulness is implied, or it is mere formality. The seat of thankfulness is the heart; there it ought to be cherished with the utmost care, and every motive remembered by which it is enlivened and increased. If the heart be thankful, it is perfectly reasonable and proper that its feelings be expressed. The most powerful arguments enforce this duty.
1. Its antiquity. It is as old as the creation. No sooner did intelligent beings exist than gratitude was expressed: “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job_38:7). Paradise was the seat of thanksgiving before man fell; and consequently before the voice of prayer was heard, or the sigh of penitence was known.
2. Its perpetuity. It not only commenced sooner, but will continue longer than other duties; it will survive most other acts of service. Prayer will cease; repentance will be no more; faith and hope, as to their present use, will terminate; but thanksgiving will be the delightful business of the upper world, and will extend to the countless ages of eternity.
3. Express injunctions to give thanks are numerous in Holy Scripture. “O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good” (Psa_107:1). “Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto our God” (Psa_147:1).
4. Example of the best men. What good men have lived without gratitude? What eminent characters are recorded in the Bible who abound not in thanksgiving? Nature conspires to engage us in this employment. “All thy works praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee.” “Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion; bless the Lord, O my soul.”
II. To whom thanksgiving is to be offered.
1. To men. We ought to give thanks to men for the favours we receive from them. So far as they are our benefactors they are entitled to grateful acknowledgments, and ingratitude is justly marked as one of the worst of crimes, and as evidencing the basest disposition of heart.
2. To God. He is our greatest benefactor: every other is but his instrument and agent. The Most High is our best Friend; for other friends we are indebted to him, and they are all of his sending. Hence the injunction, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High” (Psa_50:14). “Giving thanks unto God, even the Father.” Here we are reminded of his paternal character. He has the heart of a father, the tenderest feeling, the kindest affection. “Like as a father,” &c. Such is the God to whom our thanksgivings are offered.
III. The time when thanksgiving is seasonable.
1. When we enter the sanctuary. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.”
2. When we are the recipients of abounding mercies. And who is not? He daily loadeth us with benefits.
3. When we have received some special favour, or been delivered from some great calamity. Hannah prayed and wept, and returned to offer thanksgiving in the place where she had prayed (1 Samuel 1). The lepers were reproached by Christ for not returning thanks for their miraculous cure. Nehemiah acknowledged “the good hand of God,” which had been over him for good, opening alike the king’s heart, and his own providential path.
4. Always. “Giving thanks always.” “I thank my God alway, on your behalf.” “I will bless the Lord always; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psa_34:1). Saints are not to be always singing praises, or with their lips expressing gratitude; yet there is a sense in which they are always to be “giving thanks.” They ought to cherish a thankful heart, a disposition of gratitude; and should frequently take occasion, by every suitable means, to manifest and express it. Thanksgiving should therefore be offered to the end of life, and in every changing circumstance of life. “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,” &c. (Php_4:6). This service is never unseasonable; and sometimes it is peculiarly appropriate.—Kidd.
Neh_2:11. PREPARATORY RETIREMENT
The pleasures and advantages of solitude have been often admired, and recommended. All love the world; yet all complain of it; and whatever schemes of happiness are devised, the scene is always laid in a withdrawment from it. It is there the warrior feeds his courage, and arranges the materials of victory. It is there the statesman forms and weighs his plans of policy. There the philosopher pursues his theories and experiments. There the man of genius feels the power of thought, and the glow of fancy. And retirement is friendly to communion with God. Consider—
I. The duty of retirement. Premise two things—
1. The place, is indifferent. It matters not whether it be a private room, or an open field.
2. It is not a state of absolute retirement. Man was made for society as well as solitude. A great part of our religion regards our fellow-creatures, and can only be discharged by intermixing with them. What our Saviour thought of hiding in woods and cells, appears obviously from his words, “Ye are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men,” &c. It is therefore possible for a Christian to be alone, when he ought to be abroad. It may be much more pleasing often to sit alone, reading or reflecting, than to be called forth to give advice or to visit the afflicted. What God requires is comparative and occasional secession for moral and spiritual purposes. “Stand in awe, and sin not; commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” “Enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.” This duty enjoined by example as well as by precept. “Isaac went out into the field at eventide to meditate.” “Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled with him a man, until the dawning of the day.” “Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house,” &c. Daniel retired three times a day. Peter went up to the house-top to pray about the sixth hour, and received a Divine communication. Of our Saviour, whose life has the force of a law, it is said, “In the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” At another time, “he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” The Sabbath brings us immediately into the presence of God, and gives us an opportunity to examine our character and condition, such as cannot be obtained during the six days of toil. It renews those pious impressions, which our intercourse with the things of time and sense is continually wearing off. This retirement often enforced by the dispensations of Providence. Affliction both disinclines us to social circles, and disqualifies us for them. Sickness separates a man from the crowd, and confines him to his bed that he may ask, “Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?” A reduced condition will diminish your associates. It will drive away the selfish herd, who think that a friend is born for prosperity. This retirement produces—
1. A devotional temper. There we can divulge what we could not in the presence of the dearest earthly friend.
2. A desire to rise above the world. This will induce a man to retire. Where is the world conquered? In a crowd? No—but alone. In the midst of its active pursuits? No—but viewed in the presence of Jehovah, and in the remembrances of eternity. Then its emptiness appears. Then the fascination is dissolved. Then we look upward, and say, “Now what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”
3. A wish to obtain self-knowledge. Only when alone can he examine his state, estimate his attainments, explore his defects, discern the source of past danger, or set a watch against future temptations.
4. Love to God. When we are supremely attached to a person, his presence is all we want; he will be the chief attraction, even in company. Friendship deals much in secrecy; kindred souls have a thousand things to hear and to utter that are not for a common ear. This pre-eminently the case with the intimacy subsisting between God and the believer. “The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger intermeddleth not with his joy.” “Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and there will I speak comfortably unto her.”
II. The advantages of retirement.
1. It furnishes opportunity for communion with God. “Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee” (Eze_3:22). We admire the nobleman that kindly notices a peasant; and the sovereign who deigns to converse with one of his poorer subjects. But here is the Creator talking with his creature. Some of us cannot aspire after intercourse with many of our fellow-creatures by reason of our condition, and our talents. But whatever be our condition, or our talents, we have a free and invited access to God. The subject of this communion is variously called “his secret,” and “his covenant.” “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.” “He will speak peace unto his people.” “The meek will he teach his way.” The mode of this communion is not supernatural, as of old. God talked with Moses, as a man talketh with his friend. It is mere fanaticism to expect God to commune with us in dreams, visions, sudden impulses, and audible sounds. He opens our understandings in the Scriptures. He leads us into all truth. He applies the doctrines and promises of his word by his Spirit. The result and evidence of this communion will be that our hearts will burn within us. Other effects produced by this communion are—
1. A deep and solemn sense of our vanity and vileness. Fellowship with God, instead of encouraging unhallowed presumption, gives a man such intimate views of the peculiar glory of God as fill him with godly fear. Thus was it with Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Job, Isaiah, and Peter.
2. An unquenchable desire for closer communion. That which contents the believer makes him insatiable. He desires no more than God; but he desires more of him.
3. An ever-increasing likeness to God. “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.” Some boast of being much with God; but so censurable are their conduct and temper, that fear of their fellow-creatures would like to have much to do with them. “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”—Jay.
Neh_2:19. OPEN DERISION
I. The sin of mocking weakens every virtuous restraint. There are restraints of education, of example, of regard to reputation. But when a man becomes a mocker, such restraints are relaxed; they gradually lose their hold. With every advance in levity and jesting, a sense of shame subsides, the fear of incurring censure abates, respect for the authority of parents and for the opinion and expostulation of friends declines, custom degenerates into habit, and habit becomes settled and easy.
II. The sin of mocking strengthens vicious propensities. This naturally results from the preceding. As the one declines the other gains ground. Let a man become indifferent to what is right, and he will practise what is wrong; let him cease to do good, and he learns to do evil. Is a bad temper, for instance, which is never repressed, no worse after years of indulgence? Does harmless mirth never proceed to profaneness? Does the habit of loose talking never lead to falsehood, nor settle in deceit? You cannot mock at the Bible without your regard for the sacred Book sinking in proportion. You cannot mock at sin but your aversion to sin dies and your love to sin revives.
III. The sin of mocking gives great advantage to your worst enemies. Such are improper companions. Go with them one mile, and they will easily induce you to go two. Every compliance only emboldens their demands, and facilitates their conquest; and every victory they gain only throws you more completely into their power. Walk in the counsel of the ungodly, and stand in the way of sinners, and ere long you will sit “in the seat of the scornful.” But there is a worse enemy than these; “the spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience,” “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” Resist him, and he will flee from you; but invite his attacks, and you inevitably fall into his hands. We read of those “who are taken captive by him at his will.” These are they who indulge the tempers he would have them indulge, who practise the works which he instigates and approves.
IV. The sin of mocking exposes to peculiar marks of God’s displeasure. Witness the destruction of the youths who mocked Elisha (2Ki_2:23). Some who have scoffed at the Bible and blasphemed its author have been struck dead in a moment. Persistence in sin has more often been followed by judicial hardness. Men who have begun with jesting at the things of God, and sporting with their own iniquity, have been given up to strong delusions and final impenitence.
V. The sin of mocking terminates in remediless ruin. There is a world beyond the present. There mockers of every class have their full recompense. “They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations; I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them.” “Ye have set at nought my counsels, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh.” “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish” (Isa_66:3-4; Pro_1:25-26).—Kidd.
ILLUSTRATIONS
The hand of God. Protection.
1. John Knox, the celebrated Scotch reformer, had many remarkable escapes from the malicious designs of his enemies. He was accustomed to sit at the head of the table in his own house, with his back to the window; but on one particular evening he would neither himself sit in his chair, nor allow any one else to do so. That very evening a bullet was shot through the window, purposely to kill him; it grazed the chair in which he usually sat, and made a hole in the foot of the candlestick.
2. Posidonius, in the Life of Augustine, relates that this good man, going on one occasion to preach at a distant town, took with him a guide to direct him in the way. This man, by some unaccountable means, mistook the usual road, and fell into a by-path. It afterwards proved that in this way the preacher’s life had been saved, as his enemies, aware of his journey, had placed themselves in the proper road with a design to kill him.
Envy. “Dionysius the tyrant,” says Plutarch, “out of envy, punished Philoxenius the musician, because he could sing, and Plato the philosopher, because he could dispute better than himself.” Cambyses, king of Persia, slew his brother Smerdis, out of envy, because he could draw a stronger bow than himself or any of his followers; and the monster Caligula slew his brother because he was a beautiful young man.
“Base envy withers at another’s joy,
And hates that excellence it cannot reach.”
Derision. A poor man who had heard the preaching of the gospel, and to whom it had been greatly blessed, was the subject of much profane ridicule and jesting amongst his neighbours. On being asked if these persecutions did not sometimes make him ready to give up his profession of religion, he replied, “No. I recollect that our good minister once said in his sermon, that if we were so foolish as to permit such people to laugh us out of our religion, till at last we dropped into hell, they could not laugh us out again.” Admiral Colpoys relates that when he first left his lodgings to join his ship as a midshipman, his landlady presented him with a Bible and a guinea, saying, “God bless you, and prosper you, my lad; and as long as you live never suffer yourself to be laughed out of your money or your prayers.” The young sailor carefully followed this advice through life, and had reason to rejoice that he had done so.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 God gives us every day, and all day long,…
Neh 2:4
God gives us every day, and all day long, something to choose about, and the reason is because He wants to try us, to see whether we do right, to exercise our minds and see whether we act according to the Bible.
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I. The first rule about choosing is not to choose at all if you can help it, but to let God choose for you, because nine times out of ten when boys and girls or men and women choose for themselves they choose badly.
II. If you must choose, if it is your duty to choose, always before you choose lift up a prayer to God to help you and guide you as to what you shall choose. Remember what Nehemiah did. When the king asked him what he wanted, he lifted up a prayer to God that He would not allow him to ask foolishly, but that He would enable him to make a wise choice.
III. When going to choose, always think of other people as well as of yourselves, and try to choose unselfishly.
IV. Whenever you are choosing, choose that which will give you trouble at first, or, to put it in Bible language, choose the Cross.
V. Whenever you choose, choose for your soul. Choose for eternity. Choose the Lord Jesus Christ. After alt, it is not we who choose Christ; it is Christ who chooses us. We do choose Him; but when we see all the secrets revealed in heaven, we shall see that it is as our blessed Lord saith (Joh 15:16): "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit."
J. Vaughan, Sermons to Children, 1875, p. 149.
References: Neh 2:4.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1390; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 220; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 254; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 138, and vol. ix., p. 94. Neh 2:12-16.—Ibid., p. 269.
Neh 2:17
Jerusalem for us is the Church. "The wall of Jerusalem is thrown down," the fugitives said to Nehemiah. Is not this the message which many voices bring us today from all quarters of Christendom? Let us see what the example of Nehemiah ought to teach us.
I. The sorrow of Nehemiah is the first thing which strikes us in his history. Jerusalem is desolate; that is sufficient cause for his heart having no rest. Do you understand such sorrow as Nehemiah’s? Do you know what it is to groan as he did over the desolation of Jerusalem? The lightness of our sorrows may be measured by the feebleness of our works, for those only can act powerfully upon this world who carry everywhere its misery and its sorrows in their soul. Nehemiah suffers, but in self-humiliation. Jerusalem lies waste through the fault of the elders, who ought to have saved it; and he, a stranger to their unfaithfulness, accuses himself of it. "Lord," says he, "have mercy on us, for we have sinned."
II. But Nehemiah does more than lament. He acts, and to act he knows how to sacrifice all. To the peace which he enjoys he prefers the dangers of a struggle without a truce, to the brilliant future which awaits him the reproach of his people. The spirit of sacrifice—this is the second feature which he gives us as an example; moreover, it is that which always distinguishes those who wish to serve God below. These alone are able and worthy to raise the walls of Jerusalem, who, as Nehemiah, will know how to sacrifice all for God.
III. Notice the greatness of Nehemiah’s faith. This greatness must be measured first by the paucity of his resources, and then by the vast obstacles which he encounters. In face of mockers, in face of shrewd men, in face of politicians, listen to his language: "The God of heaven, He will prosper us, but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem." Like Nehemiah, we have beheld the ruins which our epoch has piled up, but their very magnitude fills us with hope. Come, and let us raise again the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
E. Bersier, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 1.
Neh 2:17; Neh 6:15; Neh 12:43
I. Consider the fact of declension, decadence, degeneration, from a Divine type. Of this we have two instances: in Israel and in the Church. (1) Under the old dispensation, Israel in the Divine intention signified those in whom a great idea was realised. Proofs that this ideal unity was never lost sight of may be seen (a) in the life of Elijah; (b) in the life of St. Paul. (2) A parallel instance of declension from a Divine type we have in the Church. Decadence—partial and temporary decadence, at all events—seems to be a condition of the Church’s existence here below. Earth is strewn with the shattered wrecks of heaven’s ideals. It is well. The disappointments of history teach us to look forward and upward.
II. In the restoration wrought by Nehemiah we have (1) a type of all God’s true repairers; (2) lessons for all such repairs. Notice (a) the builders worked under arms; (b) they worked under the harmonious co-operation of priesthood and laity, we might almost say, in modern language, of Church and State.
III. Notice, lastly, the triumph. There had been discouragement from without and within. When the Church’s builders are up and doing, Sanballat will not be silent. Tobiah’s bitter epigram will not be wanting. But after all discouragement, the day of triumph dawns upon these waiting hearts. The strength of the Lord had been their joy; the joy of the Lord became their strength. Is it not even so with the Church? God’s people have a mind to work. The Church shall be repaired. One day God’s summer light shall strike upon the topmost row. Christ, the Divine Healer, will own the work of restoration by miracles of love at the sheep-gate and the pool of Siloam. The theology of the Incarnation will prove itself by enabling men to understand what is otherwise a tangled mass of contradictions—the character and life of Jesus.
Bishop Alexander, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 241.
References: Neh 2:17.—S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., Appendix, No. 11:2:18.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 173; A. Rowland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 54; A. J. Griffith, Ibid., vol. xvi., p. 137. 2—Parker, Fountain, June 28th, 1877. Neh 3:8.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 235. Neh 3:12.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 346. Neh 3:15.—M. G. Pearse, Sermons to Children, p. 24; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 790; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 103.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Nehemiah's Resolve to rebuild Jerusalem
Nehemiah's Resolve to rebuild Jerusalem
This chapter gives an account of Nehemiah's request for leave to rebuild Jerusalem, his arrival there, and his survey of the ruined walls, which it was decided to restore.
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1. Wine was before him] LXX has 'wine was before me,' implying that it was Nehemiah's turn to act as cup-bearer (the king having several). This would explain why Artaxerxes had not observed his servant's sadness during the four months that had elapsed since the arrival of the news from Jerusalem.
2. Sore afraid] i.e. for the success of his intended request.
6. I set him a time] Nehemiah's absence seems to have lasted twelve years (Neh_5:14).
7. Convey me over] RV 'let me pass through,' i.e. the Persian provinces between Shushan and Judæa.
8. The king's forest] RM 'park,' identified by some with certain gardens at Etham, some 6 m. from Jerusalem, in which (according to Josephus) Solomon used to drive. The palace] RV 'the castle': and so in Neh_7:2. This was situated on the N. of the Temple (the house), and subsequently called (by Herod) 'Antonia.'
9. Captains of the army] Nehemiah as Tirshatha or governor (Neh_8:9; Neh_10:1) was invested with civil and not, like Ezra, ecclesiastical authority only; and consequently was attended by a body-guard: contrast Ezr_8:22.
10. The Horonite] so named either from Beth-horon or Horonaim. Nothing is known of Sanballat beyond what is related in this book. Heard of it] Nehemiah on his way to Jerusalem had probably passed through the Samaritan colony of which Sanballat was leader (Neh_4:1-3).
12. At Jerusalem] RV 'for Jerusalem.'
13. Viewed the walls of Jerusalem] The topography of ancient Jerusalem is too obscure to admit of the various parts of its walls being identified with certainty, but 'the valley gate' from which Nehemiah issued on his survey was at the SW. corner of the SW. hill, and opened into the valley of Hinnom. From it he pursued his course first along the south wall, and next along the eastern wall, up the side of the 'brook' (Neh_2:15), i.e. the Kidron.
14. There was no place] The ground was so rough and encumbered with fallen masonry that he could not follow the line of wall closely.
15. Turned back] presumably along the N. wall, so as to make the circuit of the city.
19. Geshem] called 'Gashmu'.in Neh_6:6 he was doubtless an Arab sheikh. Will ye rebel?] The same construction had been put upon the Jews' proceedings on a previous occasion: Ezr_4:13.
20. Ye have no portion] Nehemiah's words had reference to the desire which the Samaritans once had to unite with the Jews (Ezr_4:1-5).
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 first month i.e. April.
Nisan
first month i.e. April.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. The King’s question (Neh 2:1-2)
CHAPTER 2
1. The King’s question (Neh 2:1-2)
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2. The King’s permission (Neh 2:3-8)
3. The arrival in Jerusalem and the night-ride (Neh 2:9-16)
4. The resolution to build the wall (Neh 2:17-18)
5. The ridicule of the enemy, and Nehemiah’s answer (Neh 2:19-20)
Neh 2:1-2. The last sentence of the previous chapter, “For I was the king’s cupbearer,” belongs to this chapter. Nehemiah is seen exercising the functions of the King’s cupbearer to minister to the joy and pleasure of the monarch. Notice that it was four months after his prayer. Hanani had visited his brother Nehemiah in the month Chisleu, the ninth month, and Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year. How many prayers he must have offered up during these three months! How patiently he waited for the Lord’s time! He carried a heavy burden upon his heart, expressed in a sad countenance, which was at last noticed by Artaxerxes. “Why is thy countenance sad, seeing that thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart,” said the king. Then was Nehemiah sore afraid fearing the king’s displeasure.
Neh 2:3-8. Nehemiah answered the king and acquainted him with the reason of his sadness, “why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father’s sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?” From the meek answer Nehemiah gave we learn that his forefathers were inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he belonged therefore to the tribe of Judah. Instead of the angry outburst Nehemiah feared, the king asked graciously, “For what dost thou make request?” How his heart must have been stirred when the king uttered these words! He had prayed four months before that the God of heaven grant him “mercy in the sight of this man.” And now the answer to his prayer was at hand. When the king had asked for his request, Nehemiah prayed again to the God of heaven. He found time to pray between the words of the king and the answer he gave him. His lips did not speak, his knees were not bowed, nor did the king see any other sign that Nehemiah prayed. Yet there was earnest believing and prevailing prayer. It was an ejaculatory prayer, the soul’s cry to God, carried swiftly by the Holy Spirit to the throne of God. This man of God every step of the way cast himself upon God; prayer was his constant resource. Such is our privilege. As we walk in His fellowship we too shall pray and look to the Lord as Nehemiah did. It is a blessed occupation to cultivate a prayerful mind; indeed it is the breathing of the new life. Whatever our experiences, the heart which is in touch with God will always turn to Him even in the smallest matters. After Nehemiah had stated his request the king granted what he had asked. His prayers were answered; God had touched the heart of the monarch. “So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.” The requested letters to the governors beyond the river to convey him till he came to Judah, and to Asaph the forester to furnish him with timber needed for the work, were granted to him. In this, like pious Ezra (Ezr 7:6; Ezr 8:18; Ezr 8:22) Nehemiah saw the power of God displayed--”according to the good hand of God upon me.” Faith not only depends on God, but also sees, His gracious hand and gives the glory to Him. In faith Nehemiah could say “my God,” like Paul in writing to the Philippians (Php 4:19).
Neh 2:9-16. He crossed the river Euphrates and traversed Transpotamia till he reached Samaria. He delivered the letters. Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, Samaritans, are here mentioned for the first time. Sanballat may have been the governor of the Samaritan mongrel race. They were grieving exceedingly at Nehemiah’s appearing, when they heard he had come “to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.”
Sanballat (hate in disguise) is called the Horonite, an inhabitant of Horonaim, which was a southern Moabite city (Isa 15:5; Jer 48:3; Jer 48:5; Jer 48:34) and Tobiah, the servant, an Ammonite. They came from Moab and Ammon, blood-relations of Israel, being bastard offspring of Lot. The Moabite and Ammonite were not to come into the congregation of God forever; the curse rested upon them. They did not meet Israel with bread and water when they came forth from Egypt. They hated the people of God, and had hired Balaam the son of Beor to curse Israel (Deu 23:3-6). They were the bitter enemies of Israel, which explains the displeasure of Sanballat and Tobiah when Nehemiah came with the king’s credentials. They represented typically those who profess to be children of God, but are not born again; their profession is spurious and carnal, and as mere religionists, with a form of godliness but destitute of its power, they are the enemies of the cross of Christ and of the real people of God.
Nehemiah continues his narrative. “So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.” We can well imagine, though he does not inform us of it, that these three days were more than days of rest from the strenuous journey. They were days of waiting on God, renewed prayer for guidance and wisdom. He was alone with his God. When the three days of waiting were over he began a night ride to inspect the condition of the different gates and the wall. When all was quiet and people asleep, this servant of God went on this memorable night inspection, accompanied by a few men. No one knows what God had put in his heart; he kept it a secret. There was no boast that he had come to do a big work, and no heralding of his plans. The man of faith, who trusts God, can go and act without making known what the Lord has commissioned him to do. He alone rode on an animal; the others walked. It must have been a sad journey as he passed from gate to gate in the walls. Desolation and debris everywhere. The gates were burned to ashes, and finally the rubbish in the way was so great that the animal he rode could no longer pass through. And how he must have sighed when his eyes beheld the ruin and havoc, the results of the judgment of God on account of Israel’s sin!
And how many other true servants of God have spent nights like this in considering the failure and ruin among God’s people, burdened with sorrow and deep concern, sighing and groaning, with hearts touched like Nehemiah’s, ready to do the Lord’s will.
Neh 2:17-18. The rulers, the Jews, the priests and nobles were ignorant of all he had done. On the morning after that night journey, he called the people together to tell them what the Lord had put in his heart. But with what meekness and tenderness he speaks to them! He does not reproach them or charge them with unfaithfulness and neglect. He does not assume the role of a leader, but identifies himself with the people. “Ye see the distress that we are in”--he might have said, “You see the distress you are in.” Then he told them of what God had done. But we find not a word of credit to himself, nor of the lonely hours spent during that sleepless night. Then the people resolved to rise up and build.
Neh 2:19-20. Sanballat, Tobiah and a third one, Geshem the Arabian (an Ishmaelite) were at hand with their sneers. “They laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?” They realized that Nehemiah had come to build the wall of exclusion, and bring the people back to their God-given separation; therefore these outsiders began at once to antagonize the messenger of God. Magnificent is Nehemiah’s answer. “The God of heaven, He will prosper us.” He puts God first. Knowing that they were doing His will in rebuilding the wall, he had the confidence and assurance that God was on their side and none could hinder. “Therefore we His servants will arise and build.” This was their determination to do the work. “But ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.” It is the refusal of their fellow help. Though they might have claimed a relationship with the people of God, yet did they not belong to Israel. Their help was not wanted. What a contrast with the unseparated condition which prevails in the professing church in what is termed “work for the Lord” in which the unsaved and ungodly are asked to participate!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Nehemiah’s Request Granted by the King
Nehemiah’s Request Granted by the King
v. 1. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, the first month of the Jewish church-year, some four months after Nehemiah had received news regarding the pitiful conditions in Jerusalem, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, the years of whose reign were counted from some other month than Nisan, namely, by Persian reckoning, that wine was before him, it being the custom to drink a little wine with some dried fruits before dinner; and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king, serving it as his office required. Now, I had not been beforetime sad in his presence, it being poor policy at Oriental courts not to show a satisfied and happy face.
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v. 2. Wherefore the king, noting at once that something unusual had happened to sadden his trusted servant, said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. It was true then as it is now: "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance; but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken," Pro 15:13. Then I was very sore afraid
v. 3. and said unto the king, Let the king live forever! the common formula of address to the king. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father’s sepulchers, for Nehemiah seems to have been a descendant of the royal house of David, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? This explained the dejected air which Nehemiah wore even in the presence of the king.
v. 4. Then the king said unto me, rightly guessing that Nehemiah had a request to make in connection with this sad state of affairs, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven, sending up a silent prayer for strength and assistance.
v. 5. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father’s sepulchers, literally, "the city the graves of my fathers," probably intend. in a double sense, that I may build it.
v. 6. And the king said unto me, (the queen, as some think, Esther,also sitting by him, this being a private occasion, at which the principal wife of the monarch could be present,) For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased king to send me; and I set him a time. This circumstance proves that Nehemiah enjoyed the favor and confidence of the Persian monarch in an unusual degree, since he himself fixed the length of his commission.
v. 7. Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, to the great territory between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, that they may convey me over, under the protection of a military guard,till I come into Judah;
v. 8. and a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, the royal palace of Solomon, which lay in ruins, and for the wall of the city, and for the house I shall enter into, the Temple itself, which he would, of course, visit and inspect. So the materials for the building of all these structures were to be furnished from the timber of the royal park somewhere in the neighborhood of Jerusalem. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. All believers who are honestly concerned for the welfare of the Church will receive what they desire and work for. God Himself is zealous for His people, for His Church, and hears the prayers of His faithful children in its behalf.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 4, 7 In the month of Nisan
In the month of Nisan
"Nisan" is the name of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. (See: Hebrew Months)
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in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king
"in the 20th year that Artaxerxes was king" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here Nehemiah tells background information about his demeanor before the king. (See: Background Information)
But the king
"So the king"
Why is your face so sad
Here Nehemiah is referred to by his face because the face shows one's emotions. AT: "Why are you so sad" (See: Synecdoche)
This must be sadness of heart
This speaks of Nehemiah being sad as if his heart were sad, since the heart is often considered the center of emotions. AT: "You must be very sad" (See: Synecdoche)
Then I became very much afraid
As Nehemiah prepares to answer, he is afraid because he does not know how the king will respond.
translationWords
year
Artaxerxes
king
wine
face
heart
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 2:1 never . . . sad in his presence:…
2:1 never . . . sad in his presence: A servant was not to let his personal life interfere with serving the king.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.