Nehemiah 2:1-10

 

Ne 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.

 

The month Nisan was March/April which was the first month of the Jewish calendar.  It has now been four months since Nehemiah heard the report about the condition of Jerusalem.  It was still in the year 445 B.C.  Nehemiah gives a major principle in this verse.  After he prayed about the condition of Jerusalem to the LORD, he did not quit his job and go sit on the mountain waiting for the LORD to answer.  He continued to do his job and he knew that the LORD would answer in his timing because Nehemiah knew that God was a prayer answering God.  If he says no, it is still an answer.  Then Nehemiah admits to the fact he was sad in the king’s presence.  That was a dangerous condition to be in before the king.  Normally, those who attended the king were never to be sad in his presence because it could cost the person his life.  All the servants of the king were supposed to placate him and not test him.

 

Ne 2:2

Wherefore 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,

 

Apparently the king had liked Nehemiah since he saw him every day.  Then the king knew that something was wrong with him.  He knew he was not sick because he was probably in good shape but then the king noticed that he had sorrow in his heart, maybe even depression over the situation in Judah.  The LORD was now preparing both of their hearts.  Nehemiah prayed his prayer of contrition four months ago but now he is showing signs of sadness.  It was God’s timing for both of them.  The king would notice the sadness in Nehemiah and would inquire as to why he was sad, so now Nehemiah would have his chance to make his feelings and requests known to the king.  He was very afraid because he knew that appearing before the king in such a state meant that it could possibly be his removal from his position or maybe the removal of his head.  Yet he did not know that it was the LORD’s doing.

 

Ne 2:3

And said unto the 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?

 

Then Nehemiah did not hesitate to openly speak with the king about what was troubling him.  By making the statement “Let the king live forever” he was letting the king know that he was not dissatisfied with the king or even his position in the court.  He then begins to speak about what was really troubling him.  Nehemiah then spoke about the place of his father’s sepulchres which was a wise place to begin.  As a pagan king, Artaxerxes would not have concerned himself with religion or the temple but in every culture there is a sacredness about the grave.  Even when I was a child my mother taught me to never walk on a person’s grave.  It would be like walking on the person buried there which would show disrespect.  Then the very city which was associated with those sepulchres were wide open because they had been burned with fire during the siege of Babylon.  It also means that the gates were in ruination and destroyed.  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. (Jeremiah 14:2) 

 

Ne 2:4

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

 

Then the king showed some wisdom in that he asked Nehemiah what request would he like to make of the king.  Then Nehemiah used much wisdom, he did not blurt out immediately his desires but prayed first to God for the right words.  Remember Nehemiah was still a servant of an earthly, pagan king so he had to speak the words properly or else he could suffer death.  Pagan kings had little regard for human life.  Since Nehemiah was in a land filled with false gods, he makes sure that he clarifies that he prayed to the God of Heaven, the only true God.

 

Ne 2:5

And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

 

Then Nehemiah responds to the king and asks him that if he found favor in his sight that he would send him to Jerusalem.  Notice the way Nehemiah asked the king making it all his decision to allow him to go to Jerusalem and begin a building project of repairs to the gates and whatever else that needed to be repaired.  The king knew that Nehemiah was not trying to get out of work or to escape because he saw genuine concern in Nehemiah for the conditions of Jerusalem.

 

Ne 2:6

And 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.

 

Then we see that the queen was also seated with the king so this may not have been a formal time in the court and may have been a less formal meeting with Nehemiah.  She may also have been influential in the king’s decision to send Nehemiah to Jerusalem. Then the king asked him how long his journey would be and when would he return.  It is obvious that the king really liked him and wanted to know when he would return.  No particular time frame was given for the length of time that Nehemiah would be away.  So the king was pleased and he granted Nehemiah’s petition to begin his journey and since Nehemiah prayed about this situation, he was able to give the king a time frame for his journeys and the time he would need to do needed repairs although no specifics are given.

 

Ne 2:7

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

 

Then Nehemiah knew the protocols of politics and the rulers.  He asks that the king would give him letters to be given to the other rulers in the kingdom so they know that the business of Nehemiah was sanctioned by the king.  Basically, these were letters of safe conduct.  These were also used in the time of Luther when he debated John Eck at Leipzig.  He had to have letters of safe conduct from the Duke in the district he was traveling to.  Once Nehemiah had those in hand, he was able to travel anywhere he wanted to within the Persian empire.  This way he would have a guard with him and the provisions needed to fulfill his journey.

 

Ne 2:8

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, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

 

Then Nehemiah asked the king if he would grant a letter to Asaph who was in charge of the king’s forest.  Nehemiah knew that he would need a good amount of timber to rebuild the walls and the gates.  It was the forest of Libanus.  It was common to build city walls and gates out of wood.  This is why they are so easily burned during a siege.  The house mentioned was not the palace of the king because then it would have looked like Nehemiah was setting himself up as king of Judah and Jerusalem.  These would have been the outer walls of the courts which joined to the temple and the outward court and eventually the entire circumference.  This must have been a large order of wood for such a huge project.  Nehemiah also knew that the king’s favor was according to the will of God and that this project was favored by God and that is why the king seemed so conciliatory toward the needs of Nehemiah. 

 

Ne 2:9

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

 

The river in view was the Euphrates River which as in Babylon.  As Nehemiah progressed from territory to territory he would present his letter of safe conduct to all the local governors.  He was also given a military escort which could have looked like the advance guard of an invading army but when the letter was presented all suspicions were allayed.


Ne 2:10

When 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.

 

Here we are introduced to the trinity of evil who will be the nemesis of Nehemiah who would oppose Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the walls.  The other person was Geshem the Arabian who is mentioned later in the book. The names “Sanballat” is an interesting name.  It is a Hebraized form of the Babylonian name “Sin-uballit” which means “Sin (the name) gives life.”  Him being a Horonite means he was associated with the area of Beth-Horon.  He may have been a descendant of one of the Babylonian invaders or was Babylonian himself.  Tobiah means “The Lord is good” and he was an Ammonite who was traditionally the enemies of Israel.  The word “grieved” carries with it the meaning of “vexed, to fear, evil.”  So these men had no desire to see the walls of Jerusalem repaired because they were the enemies of Israel and they knew that if the walls were built and the gates repaired, then Israel may become strong again and they would have no place there.  They were grieved because they now saw someone who cared for the people of Israel because they did not genuinely care.

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