1) Prayerful, depending on God for success, for wisdom to handle conflict, to get strength from God, to confess sin, etc. Great leaders pray, depending on God, in everything they do.
Here are the times when Nehemiah prayed:
Nehemiah 1:4-11 When he heard that there were no walls in Jerusalem
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah 2:4 Before he asked the king if he could go to Jerusalem
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven
Nehemiah 4:4-5 When the work was ridiculed by the enemies
4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
Nehemiah 5:19 When he dealt with charging interest to fellow Jews
19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.
Nehemiah 6:9 When threatened by the Samaritan enemies
9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
Nehemiah 6:14 When betrayed by fellow Jews and false prophets
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me.
Nehemiah 9:5-38 When confessing the sins of the nation
5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.[aLinks to an external site.]”
“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[bLinks to an external site.] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By dayyou led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon[cLinks to an external site.] king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subduedbefore them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight.Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”
Nehemiah 13:14 When tithes were not payed to support the Levites
14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
Nehemiah 13:22 When the people were violating the Sabbath
22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
Nehemiah 13:29 When rebuking some for marrying foreign wives
29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
2) Develop a God-inspired vision.Links to an external site.
Ch 1 Nehemiah had a cushy job as cupbearer to the king of Persia, but he had a vision of doing something great for God. Jerusalem and the temple had been rebuilt but there were no walls and the city was defenseless. Nehemiah had a vision of going to Jerusalem to rebuild those walls. Great leaders have great visions of what God can use them to accomplish.
3) Plan diligently, trust faithfullyLinks to an external site.
Ch 2 He gets to Jerusalem and the first thing he does is to secretly at night inspect the walls to come up with a plan before he talked to the people. Great leaders trust God but they use their wisdom to come up with a good plan to accomplish their mission.
4) Lead with courage and dependence on GodLinks to an external site.
Ch 2 He must be very nervous when the king asks him why his is sad. The king’s cupbearer is supposed to always be cheerful around the king. He can’t be showing his own personal sadness before the king. So Nehemiah prays and then shows great courage in telling the king about the walls and how he wants to take a leave of absence and go rebuild them. That took courage. The king could have become angry and had him removed as cupbearer.
Ch4 He showed great courage when the Samaritan enemies threatened the builders on the walls. He stood up to them and prayed to God for courage. The people were getting discouraged and afraid. The enemies planned to make several attacks on the builders at different places, but Nehemiah found out about their plan. He got the people back to work, carrying a defensive weapon in one hand and a bulding tool in the other.
4:
9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
10 And so [amLinks to an external site.]in Judah it was said:
“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much rubble;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us [arLinks to an external site.]removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.”
Great leaders must have great courage and trust in God when their followers become discouraged and afraid. Nehemiah did.
5) Build and empower teamsLinks to an external site.
Ch 2 He inspired the men to join with him in his vision. 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.
Ch 3 He appointed different men to each rebuild a small part of the wall or a gate in the wall. He delegated the work. He did not try to do it all by himself. He built teams of workers to accomplish the task.
6) Address conflicts with wisdom and compassionLinks to an external site.
Ch 5 He had compassion on some whom he heard had been charged interest on loans and were having difficulty paying the interest. Jews were not supposed to charge interest on fellow Jews but many were doing that. Nehemiah addressed this conflic which could have divided the workers among themselves and hindered the work on the walls. Often groups can be doing a good work for the Lord but start fighting among themselves and the work gets stopped. Great leaders know how to wisely handle such internal conflicts.
7) Maintain integrity and transparencyLinks to an external site.
Ch 5 He said that for 12 years he had payed to feed 150 of the leaders to eat at his table. There was a “governor’s allowance” that he could have used to pay for this, but he did not. Neither did he buy any land for himself. He showed great integrity. He sacrificed a lot to lead the project. Great leaders are not in ti for the money. They usually end up spending their own money to do the Lord’s work. 5:
14 Furthermore, since the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the previous governors who were before me [azLinks to an external site.]laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of my fear of God. 16 I also [baLinks to an external site.]applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep; also birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all sorts of wine were provided in abundance. Yet for all this I did not request the governor’s food allowance, because the forced labor was heavy on this people. 19 Remember me, my God, for good, in return for all that I have done for this people.
8) Stay focused despite distractionsLinks to an external site.
Ch 4 The enemies ridiculed the work on the walls. 4:1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the [aeLinks to an external site.]wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox were to jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!” Nehemiah did not let this ridicule slow him down.
So they continued the work till the wall was built up to half its height. 4:6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.”
These distractions did not stop Nehemiah. He stayed focused on the work. Nothing could stop him from fulfilling his vision.
Ch 6 As the work on the walls was nearing completion with no gaps in the walls but no doors in the gates (the finishing touch), the enemies were desperate and sent letters to him 5 times offering to meet with him, supposedly to have “peace talks” with him, but really they were planning on killing him. They came up with false rumors that Nehemiah was trying to get himself made king and rebel against the Persians, which wasn’t true. Nehemiah stood up to them despite all the distractions to the work.
Ch 6 One of his fellow Jews to try to scare him into going into the temple for safety which would have been a sin since he was not a priest. He refused to enter the temple and trusted God for his safety. He then discovered that his fellow Jew had been hired by the enemies to get Nehemiah to enter the temple and sin. They could have then used that to discredit him as a leader and get the work on the walls stopped.
Ch 6 Because of his leadership, the walls were completed in 52 days despite all the distractions (6:15). The enemies lost their confidence. But some of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah, a leader of the Samaritan enemies b/c they had intermarried with some of the Samaritans. They had been corresponding in letters with Tobiah the whole time, betraying Nehemiah. They tried to praise Tobiah when with Nehemiah. Tobiah sent more letters to frighten Nehemiah, threatening to cause him to lose his leadership position since many of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah. None of this stopped Nehemiah.
9) Celebrate milestones and give glory to GodLinks to an external site.
Ch 7:1 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed. He is getting the people ready for a great celebration over the finishing of the walls.
Ch 8 Nehemiah gathers the people and has Ezra read from the book of the Law (the Pentateuch, the fist 5 books of the OT). They made a podium for him to stand on. The people stood as he read from early morning to noon! 8:6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Other leaders explained what Ezra was reading in more detail. The people were crying as they heard the reading and realized how much they had sinned in not keeping the Law like they should. BTW this was the reason for Ezra making the 2nd return from Babylon, i.e. to get the people keeping the Law better. Nehemiah told them to quit weeping but instead to go get ready to celebrate a joyful feast, the Feat of Tabernacles. Ezra read to them that it was the time of the year to celebrate that feast. So they gathered branches and palms to make little booths to live in for 7 days, reading from the Law the whole time and celebrating with food and great rejoicing. The people had not celebrated this feast as they should since the days of Joshua! On the 8th day they came together for a solemn, reverent assembly.
Nehemiah inspired the people to enjoy doing God’s work, to obey God fully, and to give God the glory for success. Great leaders know how to bring people together to enjoy doing God’s work.
10) Commit to ongoing spiritual renewalLinks to an external site.
Great leaders are not just about getting the people to start a building program to build a new church building or an addition. They are more concerned about spiritual reforms needed among the people. It is easier to get people excited about building a building than it is to confessing and repenting of our many sins.
Ch 9 Nehemiah persuaded the people to confess their sins. 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. 3 While they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.”
Then comes a long summary of the history of the Jews up to that point in time. It mentions all that God had done for Israel (the plagues, the conquest of Canaan, etc.) but how that over and over the people disobeyed God. Ch 9 is a prayer of confession of the sins of Israel in their whole history up to that point in time. But it repeatedly said that God had compassion on them and asks God to have compassion on them again as they commit to have a revival and keep God’s laws..
9:16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy;
And You did not abandon them.
9:Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and compassionate God.
Nehemiah and Ezra inspired them to make an agreement, a covenant, in writing to obey God and the Law (9:38). The leaders all signed it. 1) To obey all the Law. 2) To divorce foreign wives they had married and not give their children in marriage to foreginers.. 3) To not buy and sell on the Sabbath. 4) To pay a yearly temple tax to support the sacrifices and work in the temple. 5) To give the firstfruits of everything they grew to the Lord to support the priests and Levites. 6) To move 1 of every 10 Jews in the land to live in the city of Jerusalem as 9/10 of the people lived in other cities. The leaders already lived in Jerusalem.
Ch 12 This led to another celebration and “dedication” of the completed walls. 12:27 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.” There were 2 choirs of singers on top of the walls.
Ch 13 Nehemiah made a trip back to Susa. No doubt he told the king about the rebuilding of the wall and how God had blessed the work. But when he returned to Jerusalem, he found several issues and addressed them. 1) Some of the Jews who were related by marriages to Tobiah, the Samaritan enemy had made a room in a chamber of the temple for Tobiah to stay in. Apparently Tobiah had fallen out of favor with his fellow Samaritans. Nehemiah kicked him out of the room. 2) He also remanded the people for not paying tithes to the Levites. 3) He rebuked them for buying and selling on the Sabbath and ordered that the gates to the city be shurt at sundown on Friday and not opened until the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday. 4) He severely rebuked some for marrying foreign women and made them swear to stop doing that. 13:25 So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.”
Nicky's Notes 