|
"Therefore the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.' So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?'"
(Nehemiah 2:2-3)
This week, I am focusing on how to lead well in challenging times. Everyone knows that we are living in some very difficult and strenuous days, especially for leaders. In the midst of crisis and chaos, the people look to leadership to set a course out of the disarray to a better place. Nehemiah was a tremendous leader who led his people in a time of national calamity. The protective wall around his beloved city of Zion, Jerusalem, lay in ruins for decades since the Babylonian Captivity, but God raised up this man of prayer and courage to rebuild it.
Just how bleak were the times in which Nehemiah lived? Here is some historical context that will help you understand: After the failed administration of King Saul, God raised up the shepherd David to lead his people, and by and large, he led very well from 1000-970 BC. After David, his son Solomon, ruled from about 970-930 BC, and though he expanded Israel's territory and did mighty things, his heart drifted from God. When he died, his kingdom was divided between his son Jeroboam, who ruled the ten tribes of Israel in the north, and his son Rehoboam, who ruled the two tribes in the south. Both kingdoms departed from the law and commands of God and were defeated by foreign enemies, just as God predicted through Moses and other prophets of God.
Israel in the north fell in 722 BC to the Assyrian Empire, and Judah in the south fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC. Israel was scattered abroad to many nations, but the southern kingdom of Judah went to Babylon for 70 years. In 539 BC, the Babylonians fell to the Medes and Persians, and as a result, many Jews were allowed to return to their homeland. There were three returns that are of special importance to the student of Scripture. Zerubbabel led the first group back in 538 BC, and they rebuilt the Temple in 515 BC. Ezra the priest led a second group back in 458 BC to help restore the spiritual life of the city. Judah experienced a revival as the people turned from their pagan practices and worshiped Yahweh. Then, in 444 BC, Nehemiah led the third wave back, and the purpose of his return was to rebuild the wall around the city.
One commentary reads, "In 444 BC, 14 years after Ezra's return to Jerusalem, Nehemiah also returned and God used him to guide Judah in rebuilding the city's walls and in reordering the people's social and economic lives. What he accomplished in a brief period of time was an incredible feat. How he accomplished this goal is one of the major emphases in the book that bears his name." (Getz, G. A. (1985). Nehemiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 673). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Nehemiah lived in Persia in the 5th century and was a layman, not a priest or prophet, but simply someone that loved God and loved the people of God. He was a phenomenal leader; someone you would follow into battle, trust, and do all you possibly could to assist in the mission. His mission was a large one that would take every ounce of strength, courage, and patience he had and then some.
So, God has this large assignment, and He chooses a layman in a foreign King's palace to do His work. I just love the way God works. He chooses whom He wants, prepares them for the big day, and then launches them onto the scene to do heroic feats, where in the end, all will have to say, "Look what our great God did with this man or woman."
When God has a strategic task to delegate to someone, He looks for a man or woman who has great character and is trustworthy. May you be that person!
|
