There are parallels all through the Book of Nehemiah for the establishment of a city for the Kingdom of God.
- Our Father in heaven knows when our heart is downcast and the reason for it.
- He asks us to communicate with Him – prayer.
- We are to make intercession for our region whether it be a city, a county, a state, a nation, or whatever the Lord is laying on our heart.
- We need to ask for the wisdom of God, his strategies, in order to pray accurately and most effectively for the region.
- We then come into agreement, or communion, with God for the sake of His will being done in the interest of the region, for the good of the Kingdom of God, and to the glory of God.
- As we pray according to the will of God, He can fully back our prayers and fulfill our requests.
- God sends us to accomplish the task, or assignment, of what He laid upon our heart to begin with.
- As we act according to His will, we have peace and safety that only He can give to us.
- God provides everything we need to accomplish the task he assigned to us.
- We then rejoice with praise, thanksgiving, and worship as we give God the glory for the victory.
- God not only provides all of this, He also gives us a security detail – His angels.
Book of Nehemiah
N: Nehemiah
A: Artaxerxes the King
N: 2:1 “Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.”
A: 2:2 “Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.”
- Nehemiah had been of a specific countenance before the king, so much so, that on this day the king took notice that something troubled the heart of Nehemiah.
- Jesus, our Lord and King, and the Father, know our heart at all times, including when we are troubled.
N: 2:3 “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?”
A: 2:4 “For what dost thou make request?”
N: 2:4 “So I prayed to the God of heaven.”
- Nehemiah explained the reason for his spirit being down.
- The king invited him to make a request.
- Nehemiah prayed to God, I believe, to make sure he made the proper request of the king.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 1:5 KJV
N: 2:5 “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.”
- This was his desire and request. The favor of the Lord was upon him.
- We see in verse 6 that the king did send him to Judah.
N: 2:6 “So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.”
N: 2:7 “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;”
N: 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.”
- The king did send Nehemiah to Judah as his heart desired.
- The king also gave letters of safe passage for Nehemiah to travel freely and arrive safely at his destination.
- The king also provided the materials required for the job.
- Nehemiah gave thanks to the king but gave the glory to God for the kindness of the king.
N: 2:9 “Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.”
- Not only did Nehemiah receive permission to go to Judah, with safe passage and letters for the needed materials, the king also sent along a security detail for Nehemiah.