Rebuilding Walls
Patrick Reardon on a man both practical and prayerful.
Nehemiah is arguably the Bible's best example of a man of the world who was also a godly man, deeply reflective and much given to prayer.
Status
A Jew trained in the diplomatic and executive skills of the Persian court,
Nehemiah was possessed of a firm grasp on how to get things done. The Bible
calls him a royal cup-bearer, but this term should not make us think of a simple
domestic servant. That bearing of the cup at the king's table was but the
symbolic function of an individual of great importance in the realm. The term
‘royal chamberlain’ comes closer to the modern idiom, for this was no menial
position. The Persian art of the period portrays the cup-bearer ranked second,
right after the crown prince, in the gradations of the royal court. Archaeology
indicates, moreover, that sometimes cup-bearers were buried in the same crypts
as the emperor's own family. Nehemiah, then, was a high official of the realm,
the ancient equivalent to our ‘prime minister.’ All important business with
the crown passed through his hands.
Fasting and Prayer
In December of the year 445 (Nehemiah 1.1), certain fellow Jews came from
Jerusalem to see Nehemiah at the court of Artaxerxes I, bearing the sad news
that some local opposition back in the Holy Land, evidently implementing an
official decree, had put a stop to the construction of the walls around the city
of Jerusalem (1.2–3). It is impossible that Nehemiah did not know this
already, but the first-hand report gave him a strong new impression of the full
tragedy of the situation. It threw him into a depression for days, a depression
accompanied by fasting and prayer (1.4). This is our first of many examples of
Nehemiah in prayer.
Fortified by prayer and fasting, Nehemiah prepared to argue his case before
Artaxerxes. He bided his time until the following spring, Nisan, the month of
the Passover. Doubtless Nehemiah was waiting for the most opportune and
advantageous moment, watching the movement of government, carefully observing
the emperor's moods and attitudes. He resolved finally to display his feelings;
it was not an inadvertent dropping of his guard, but a calculated move (2.1),
and the emperor, as expected, noticed (2.2). There was a sudden tense moment,
because ancient potentates liked to be surrounded by happy, healthy faces (cf.
Daniel 1.10–13!). Nehemiah stated the matter quickly and succinctly, for
Persian emperors were busy, efficient men, not famous for their patience. In
addition, they could be terribly fickle and capricious (cf. Esther 4.11!).
Nehemiah knew all this, and even while he spoke to Artaxerxes, he continued to
speak to God in his heart (2.4). We know his brief prayer was efficacious,
because he managed to make his complaint without criticizing either the emperor
or anyone in the Persian government
Diplomatic skill
Nehemiah was the consummate diplomat, schooled in the arts of a complex
international court. In that scene with Artaxerxes, for example, Nehemiah only
answered the emperor's question. He made no request until the king explicitly
asked for one, and we observe that the request, made at precisely the moment
when it should have been made, was immediately granted.
Likewise, throughout the book named after him, we ever find Nehemiah playing a
cool, deft hand, maintaining strict control over the cards held close to his
chest. His several opponents, always obliged to guess what hand he was holding,
ever acting in the dark, were no match for him. In every instance we watch
Nehemiah disclosing only as much information as was needed to accomplish what he
had in mind. His adversaries never found out about anything he did until it was
too late to stop him. If anyone wants to examine what it means to be as cunning
as a serpent (which Jesus our Lord commands us to be), he will discover no
better example than Nehemiah.
Constantly in touch
For a man accustomed to dealing with the administration of an empire that
stretched from the Khyber Pass to the Danube River, the modest organization
required for building the walls of Jerusalem was scarcely a challenge. Sections
of the work were apportioned to various families, villages, and professions, and
the construction of the walls was completed in record time. Overseeing the
construction all the while, the self-possessed, reflective Nehemiah talked with
God in short, frequent, and fervent prayers that are interspersed throughout the
narrative (2.8, 10, 20; 3.36-37; 4.9; 5.13,19; 6.14,16; 13.14, 22, 31, 39).
Patrick Henry Reardon is a Senior Editor of Touchstone: A Magazine of Mere Christianity. www.touchstonemag.com