Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20101226.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Nehemiah: Excelling In Leadership In Hard Times
Part IV: Private Preplanning To Excel In The Midst Of Opponents
(Nehemiah 2:10-18)
  1. Introduction
    1. Fulfilling God's assignments for us is hard if we face human opposition, especially if we need other believers to help us achieve them and those helpers are easily influenced by the opposition!
    2. Nehemiah faced such daunting opposition to his plan to lead Israel to rebuild the wall, so he demonstrated in Nehemiah 2:10-18 real practical wisdom in planning to succeed in such circumstances (as follows):
  2. Private Preplanning To Excel In The Midst Of Opponents, Nehemiah 2:10-18.
    1. We know from Nehemiah 1:3 that Nehemiah had heard how the returned Hebrew exiles faced great affliction and reproach from their surrounding Gentile neighbors.
    2. Accordingly, when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem with letters from the king authorizing him to work for Israel's good (Nehemiah 2:9), notable Gentile officials of realms surrounding Israel were "very much disturbed" that he had come to "promote the welfare of the Israelites," Neh. 2:10 NIV:
      1. One official, Sanballat the Horonite, is mentioned in the Elephantine Papyri as governor of Samaria, and Tobiah was the governor of Ammon, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Nehemiah 2:10.
      2. Since Samaria was north of Israel and Ammon to its east, opposition by these rulers meant strong foes to Israel surrounded them, and had significant influence on the area, influence they wanted to keep!
    3. Nehemiah realized he could not be sure who of even the exiles would consistently side with him against such powerful, influential Gentile foes, so he privately planned his next steps, Nehemiah 2:11-16:
      1. He stayed three days without taking action to get the foes to ease their reconnaissance, Nehemiah 2:11.
      2. When things seemed settled, Nehemiah took a few men with him to guard his effort, and, under cover of night, went out of the city itself to survey the area around the destroyed city wall, Nehemiah 2:12a.
      3. He did not tell anyone, including the men with him, what he planned to do at Jerusalem, but kept his ideas to himself best to protect the welfare of his effort given the opposition faced, Nehemiah 2:12b.
      4. Nehemiah took only one horse with him, the horse he rode, so as to attract the least attention, but to get a good view of what he wanted to see on horseback versus being down on the ground, Nehemiah 2:12c.
      5. He exited the valley gate on the west side of the old city, a narrow, long part of the southern part of Jerusalem. He turned further south, and went around the narrow southern tip of the city wall before turning north to go along the eastern side until the rubble made it impossible for him to continue further on horseback, Nehemiah 2:13-14; The MacMillan Bible Atlas, 1968, map 170, p. 108.
      6. Nehemiah dismounted, and went a bit further on foot to view the layout before secretly returning the way he came and reentering the valley gate from where he had begun his mission, Nehemiah 2:15-16.
      7. He evidently used this short, secret trip outside and along a part of the fallen wall to estimate if there were enough useful stones lying along the fallen wall area to use to rebuild the whole city wall itself.
    4. In returning to the city and estimating there were ample resources of useful, fallen blocks running along the wall, Nehemiah shared his plan to rebuild the city wall with the Hebrew leaders, Nehemiah 2:17-18a:
      1. Nehemiah told Israel's leaders that the current devastated site of Jerusalem needed to be repaired so the city could have protection from her Gentile foes, so he urged them to rebuild the wall, Nehemiah 2:17.
      2. He added that the Persian king had given him edicts to get the wood needed to rebuild the gates, that this with the current resources of fallen wall stones could be used to complete the task, Neh. 2:18a, 8.
    5. This news was met with motivated approval, and the Hebrews were encouraged to help Nehemiah, 2:18b.
Lesson: In facing opposition to accomplishing God's will, Nehemiah privately investigated and sensibly planned how to achieve his objectives before sharing the plan with his helpers so as best to succeed.

Application: (1) May we minimize the capacity of foes to counter our efforts to do God's will by privately researching all areas involved that we might make a sensible plan for action. (2) When we have done our research, may we set goals that consider the cost we will face in being opposed. (3) Then we can tell our helpers our plans so they can be motivated to help us complete the project.