Today’s post will discuss why Nehemiah was perfectly suited
for his role as governor in Judah.
The office of Cupbearer to the king, which Nehemiah held,
was a high ranking office and a potentially risky one (Nehemiah 1:11). The
royal cupbearer was required to pour wine into the royal cup and then taste it
to test whether the drink was poisoned.[1] However, the direct access
which the cupbearer had to the king made this position very influential.
Williamson states that, “[cupbearers] were also expected to be convivial and
tactful companions to the king. Being very much in his confidence, they could
thus wield considerable influence by way of informal counsel and discussion.”[2] Therefore, Nehemiah was
not just a servant to the king, he was a close confidant, and this is
recognized by the king’s apparent concern over his downcast expression on his
face in 2:2.
As Cupbearer, Nehemiah was able to observe the king and
other officials as they conducted business regarding all kinds of matters and
with all kinds of people. This experience in and of itself would have given
Nehemiah insight into the appropriate way to ask the king for a leave of
absence as well has the best time to do so. Ezra 4:21 indicates that it was
this same Artaxerxes who issued the command to stop construction in the city of
Jerusalem.[3] Nehemiah was, therefore,
asking the king to reverse a prior decree. He made his petition in the month of
“Nisan” which was the first month of the New Year according to the Persian
calendar.[4] In 2:6, it is mentioned
that the queen was in attendance with the king. Now, the queen did not
regularly attend court with the king so it is very possible that Nehemiah would
have approached the king looking downcast at a feast or festival to celebrate
the New Year (Nehemiah 2:1-2). Furthermore, there is evidence that at certain
feasts and celebrations, the king showed generosity and granted some of the
requests of his people or officers.[5] Therefore, Nehemiah was
also able to maneuver himself and use the knowledge he had gained at court to
gain his request to help his people.
Nehemiah was very aware that he was risking much with his
request. In his story he indicated that he was afraid and that he prayed to God
before outlining his petition. He communicated clearly the reason he was sad
and made his request with great diplomacy to return to “the city in Judah”
(Nehemiah 2:2-3). By avoiding the mention of Jerusalem he avoided bringing up
Artaxerxes’ previous decree that construction must stop. The request to return
to his ethnic home must have come as a surprise to the king, because the text
does not give any indication that Nehemiah had previously desired to return to
Jerusalem.[6] Indeed, he was an example
of the fact that some of the Jews in exile attained high positions politically
and economically and as such did not necessarily wish to return to Judah.[7]
Nevertheless, the king accepts Nehemiah’s change of heart
towards his homeland, and granted that he might have a leave of absence for a
time and gave him all the required documents he would need as well as an escort
for safe travel (2:7-8). Nehemiah proclaims in 2:8b that “the hand of my God
was upon me.” This phrase is exactly like the one quoted in Ezra several times
(7:6, 9, 28, 8:18, 22, 31).[8] It indicates that what
seems to be the gracious grant of the king is actually “a channel through which
the King of kings reaches his people.”[9] Therefore, Nehemiah, while
being a high ranking Persian official, was also an instrument of God that was
used to restore His city. Furthermore, Nehemiah’s experience in the Persian
court gave him the political know-how to deal with his new position as
governor, his enemies in Judea and Samaria, and the traitors within the Jewish
community.[10]
God was preparing Nehemiah to restore His city from a very
young age. I am sure that the leaders of his day could have seen God’s plan
they would have suggested a different career route for Nehemiah that they
believed would have made him more influential in Jerusalem. However, God’s plan
was perfect. Nehemiah had a close relationship with the King, and was able to
get support from him for God’s work. We can’t always tell how certain
situations, jobs, or projects are going to help us later in life. This is where
we must trust that God is bringing all things together for the good of those
who love Him (Romans 8:28). Consider the possibility that right now, you are in
training for a particular purpose that God has created you, and only you, for.
To ensure we get the full training we will need, we must be obedient and
faithful to God, depending on His word and strength to see us through each and
every day.
One last word on Nehemiah, in Matthew 10:16, Jesus says, “I
am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be shrewd as snakes but
innocent as doves.” Nehemiah is a great example of this. He used his knowledge
to give himself the best possible chance to succeed in asking the king to
return to his homeland and restore the city of Jerusalem, but was innocent of
any foul play. God calls us to be smart, clever, and to use what we know and
can do to help ourselves and others, but we must also be innocent of any sin.
We do not do illegal things or threaten to get the end result, as many others
would. This is what makes us different. We are intelligent, clever, and wise,
but also gentle, tactful, and innocent.
[1]
Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A
History of the Persian Empire (Winona Lake, Eisenbrauns, 2002), 264.
[2]
H.G.M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, Word
Biblical Commentary, Vol 16 (Waco: Word Books Publishers, 1985), 174.
[3]
Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, New
American Commentary, Vol 10 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1993), 173.
[4]
Breneman, 175.
[5]
Breneman, 175.
[6]
Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, 175.
[7]
Charles F. Fensham, The Books of Ezra and
Nehemiah, (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans, 1982), 157.
[8]
Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, 93.
[9]
Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, 93.
[10]
Derek Kidner, Ezra & Nehemiah (Downers
Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1979), 13.
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