One of the complaints raised against the Bible is that it is impractical and too “spiritual” to be of real use. The opinion is usually voiced by those who do not know the Bible well, though in fairness to their view it is right to acknowledge that the Bible does have spiritual goals. Even Nehemiah, which is extremely practical, has doctrinal themes. Professor and author, Howard Vos finds seven great teachings in Nehemiah: (1) God’s providential care of his dispossessed people, (2) the fulfillment of prophecy, (3) how to handle opposition to the work of God, (4) prayer, (5) the importance of holiness, (6) the qualifications of God’s servants, and (7) how to worship God. But even these “spiritual” matters are presented practically. There is outstanding teaching about the very practical matter of leadership.
As we continue journeying through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, we have studied two of the dynamics of leadership: the relationship of the leader to God and the relationship of the leader to his superior (boss) or bosses. In Nehemiah 2.11-18 we will look at the relationship of the leader to his subordinates seen in Nehemiah’s account of his arrival in Jerusalem and the manner in which he took command.
In one sense, Nehemiah is the story of a great man meeting and overcoming challenges. We have already seen how he met the challenge of persuading King Artaxerxes to send him to Jerusalem. It was difficult because Persian kings could not easily be persuaded to do anything and because, in this case, the request involved getting Artaxerxes to reverse a previously established policy. Nehemiah succeeded with this first challenge, but now that he had arrived in Jerusalem, he faced a second problem that was no less difficult.
The problem was to get the wall of Jerusalem built. The task was overwhelming, there was a history of failure, and the workers were discouraged.
Commentators differ over the size of the city at this time and therefore over the length of wall Nehemiah was to build. But even by the most modest estimates, the circumference of the city was one and a half to two and a half miles. Moreover, the destruction was great, and the stones reassembled were massive. This was not a case of a group of workers merely constructing a garden fence, a brick wall, or even a large earthwork fortification. The blocks that had been tumbled down into the valleys below were of great weight, and these had to be exposed and then hauled back up to the site of the wall and reassembled. This required many workers, diverse skills, and even, a certain amount of lifting and moving machinery.
Nehemiah faced a second great difficulty. Not only was the task itself overwhelming, but it also had been attempted before and had been given up, which meant he was bucking a history of defeat. Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, which was 445 BC, but the work had actually begun in the second year of King Cyrus in 538 BC, more than ninety years earlier. At the time, the first contingent of Jews tried to rebuild the temple, but even that lesser task had proved difficult. It took fifteen years to get the temple finished. Then, when the first attempt to re-erect the walls was made, opposition arose and the appeal by the governors of Trans-Euphrates to Artaxerxes to have the building stopped was successful. This happened after the return of a second wave of exiles in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. When Nehemiah arrived, the most recent failure was only thirteen years in the past. Nehemiah faced not only a difficult task but inertia as well.
To make matters worse, the only people Nehemiah had to work with were discouraged – as we also would have been in that situation. If Nehemiah had approached the matter without careful preparation, they would have said, “We cannot do it. We have tried several times already and have failed each time. We cannot change the situation.”
An overwhelming task? Yes. But overwhelming tasks are opportunities for great men, which Nehemiah was. Turning from his superior to his subordinates, we see how he went about changing the situation so that within the next fifty-two days (less than two months), this great task was accomplished. As in the case of his dealings with King Artaxerxes, when Nehemiah was in a position of middle management, we see several elements to his success.
Maranatha!
(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)
Pastor Steve can be reached at PastorSteve@MaranathaBibleChurch.org