Week 21 Nehemiah
The OT doesn’t hesitate to show the flaws of its high-profile people. But there aren’t any skeletons in Nehemiah’s closet.
Like Joseph, Ruth, and Daniel, Nehemiah comes through with a pristine record. One of those character guys who – without even trying – makes me feel a bit inadequate.
Nehemiah wasn’t only a good guy. He was super-competent.
He already had his career-job as cup-bearer-to-Persian-royalty. The king knew him, respected him, was interested in him, and talked with him like a guy, not a serf. So Nehemiah was able to negotiate a leave-of-absence to go to Jerusalem: the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it. He even got state financial backing.
What he did during his Jerusalem leave was impressive:
he spearheaded the wall-rebuilding project
faced-down a cartel of strong opponents
organized a civilian militia
corrected economic inequities and class conflicts in the city
manoeuvred around innuendo, false prophets, and mud-slinging
registered the citizens
organized mass religious gatherings for teaching and worship
addressed religious and social abuses
And those weren’t even his real jobs.
He was smart, organized, efficient, a good motivator and project manager, determined, focused, almost devoid of self-interest, deeply committed to the resuscitation of Israel, and heavily dependent on the Lord.
Nehemiah had asked Artaxerxes for a time-out to travel to Jerusalem. By the time he went back to work in Susa he had helped reset priorities in Jerusalem in a big way.
Note: quote from Nehemiah 2:5 (NASB version)