As we continue our churchwide Bible study on the Book of Nehemiah we see an incredible parallel being drawn to the western world church of our day.
Nehemiah was burdened by what was concerning to God and as a result he moved from a comfortable life to a sacrificial one. Pain has a purpose in the midst of God’s plans. Don’t just automatically try to escape it. Sometimes you need to embrace it and even sit with it until you know it’s true name to discover where it is coming from and what purpose might be resulting from it. Many times, this is the way the Lord gets our attention to awaken our passion toward his kingdom and his work. Problems and pain take us to prayer when we handle them correctly.
Nehemiah is risking his life to express any burden in the presence of the king. This was a ruthless king who had killed his own brother to take the throne. Nehemiah is now asking this king to make a decision against his own kingdom to reverse a ruling that had stood for over 100 years.
Nehemiah 2:1-5 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” ESV
Nehemiah had been fasting and praying and notice the result of this has become conversational integration of prayer. Notice Nehemiah’s conversational lifestyle with God.
Walking in the spirit is simply where every decision you make are discussions you have with God.
Nehemiah 2:6-9 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. 9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ESV
The church of our day is entering into a season of great favor and prosperity.
Nehemiah makes the trip, evaluates the project and speaks to all the people who were to do the work.
Nehemiah 2:18-19 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. (and they lived happily ever after!) 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” ESV
There will be opposition to your mission. Giants in your life are an indication you are close to a Promised Land! Take heart and remember, God gives to us as a possession (Exodus 6:8).
Any good parent knows you don’t just give everything to your children without teaching them responsibility. If we’re not careful we give our kids everything except what gave us the ability to give them something.
We will read about a lot of opposition and it serves us well to realize God never apologizes for difficulty because he uses it for our good! He didn’t’ apologize to Joseph. Rather he used his pain and suffering to raise him up and provide in a time of crisis. God didn’t apologize to Jesus for his suffering but he used the cross to raise him up giving him a bride from every nation and every tongue. We live in a fallen world but we look to a Risen King.
GP2RL: Read two chapters of Nehemiah a day thanking God for his grace and favor in our lives.
NEHEMIAH: GRACE AND FAVOR
DISCUSSION GUIDE
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the ruins of the work of God in our world. God’s people had grown distracted and disconnected from God’s plan for them to be the expression of His Kingdom in the Earth.
Jerusalem had been in ruins since the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. Nehemiah lead the third of three returns to Israel after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Even in a state of ruin God was still at work looking for someone who would have a heart to respond to what God was about to do.
This is the condition of the Western church today. Much can be gained by a close examination of Nehemiah’s response in his day. God woke up a fresh movement that brought life but it was met with great challenges. No matter how challenging it was God was always seeing his work through.
God’s work is a work within us as we learn to respond to Him. It is God’s plan is for us to spend time drawing close to his heart and hearing his voice together as a family. This is why we start each meeting with this question first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Realize, there is great power in just reading the Bible together and allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken His conversational nature in the group.
Nehemiah 2:6-9 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. 9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ESV
Nehemiah 2:18-19 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” ESV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. DISCOVER: Have each person give a simple 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, Encourage people to try not to add insights or application yet. Just simply summarize.
3. DEVELOP: What do you sense God may be speaking to you personally as we focus on these verses?
4. DEPLOY: We are to be doers and not hearers only. What will you do this week in response to what you sense God is revealing in this time together?
Everywhere we go, we bring...
GP2RL: Read two chapters of Nehemiah a day thanking God for his grace and favor in our lives.