By Staff
Nehemiah was an activist. He was a Jew enslaved to a foreign king. Nehemiah's heart was for Jerusalem, the city of God. When visitors from Jerusalem came to Shushan where Nehemiah lived and worked, he questioned them about the plight of the city he yearned for.
Nehemiah had a good job and was comfortable even though he was an exile. He was cupbearer to the most powerful king in the area (Nehemiah 1:11).
Nehemiah had access to all the best things in the world, but Jerusalem was his focus. Nehemiah was an activist in that he took direct, positive action to correct things he thought needed fixing.
Two groups of Jews had already returned to Jerusalem. The first group began the rebuilding of the temple, but stopped the work when opposed by the locals. The temple was eventually completed, and Ezra led the next group back to Jerusalem to teach the people the laws of Jehovah God and to reinstitute proper temple worship.
The temple was finished, worship was restored, but Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem still lay in ruins (Nehemiah 1:3).
The condition of the city of Jerusalem distressed Nehemiah. He saw something that needed to be done. Rather than waiting for somebody else to do it, he proceeded to take it on. He prayed, confessed the sins of negligence and disobedience, and when asked, quickly petitioned the king for time off, provisions, and authority to accomplish the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:5).
Nehemiah left Shushan with a definite plan. He had authorization to acquire all the timber necessary to rebuild the city gates (Nehemiah 2:8). The walls would be built out of existing rubble.
Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, surveyed the situation, and called the people together. He did not tell them anything they did not know, but he did bring a new vision.
Vision is being able to see what others do not see.
Nehemiah rehearsed the condition of the city, the walls, and the gates (Nehemiah 2:17). He then related his discourse with God and the resultant working of God (Nehemiah 2:18).
It wasn't a long speech, but it struck all the right chords. Nehemiah was talking to people who had been living in bad conditions. They had accepted the status quo and seemed fearful of grasping the obvious.
Cultures and societies are moved by people who have the ability to see beyond the apparent difficulties, discount the seeming impossibilities, and state the obvious with conviction.
The response of the people is stated in Nehemiah, chapter 2, verse 18, “‘Let us rise up and build.' Then they set their hands to this good work.” Nehemiah could see finished walls, new gates, and a secure city, while the rest of the people could only see a mess.
A little vision can go a long way.
Nehemiah deftly guided the people through the difficulties and obstacles of the massive project of building city walls, defensive towers, and erecting new gates. The Bible does not tell us that Nehemiah made specific assignments as to which section of the walls certain people would work on. The startling thing is how many people simply went out in their front yards, took rubble they had been looking at and stumbling over for days, and rebuilt the wall in their area (Nehemiah 3:28-30).
Once again, we see the power of vision-somebody seeing what we do not see, nudging us in the right direction.
Jerusalem had been victim to bullies-some people who had a negative vision of how fear and intimidation could paralyze and enslave a group of people. Nehemiah saw the bullies for who they were and led the people with his right vision to a great victory.