PROCLAMATION
“And the king said unto me, (the queen
also was sitting by him) ‘For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return?’ So it pleased the king to send me; and I set
him a time.” Nehemiah 2:8 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
The Bible Book of Nehemiah was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Nehemiah,
the cupbearer to Artaxerxes the king of Persia. It came to pass that as Nehemiah took a cup of
wine and gave it to the king that the king noticed that he was sad. When the king inquired as to why the sad face,
Nehemiah answered that his city, the city of his fathers, lies in ruins and its
gates are burned. (Nehemiah 2:1-3) The
king asked what did he want him to do about it.
Nehemiah replied if it would please the king, then send him to Judah to
rebuild it. He also asked for letters to
the governors beyond the river to allow him safe passage; and to Asaph the
keeper of the forest so that he would give him timber. (Nehemiah 2:4-8) The king sent captains and horsemen along with
Nehemiah. When Sanballat the Horonite
and Tobiah the Ammonite heard this they were grieved. It took Nehemiah three days to reach Jerusalem. When he arrived he went out by night with a
few men to assess the situation. He did
not tell the leaders or the priests where he was going. (Nehemiah 2:9-16) Afterwards he told the people that Jerusalem lies
in waste. Then he told that the hand of
God was upon him, and that the king had given him permission to rebuild the
city. However, Sanballat and Tobiah,
along with Geshem the Arabian, laughed at them and scorned and despised them. They asked were we rebelling against the
king. I answered them saying , “The God
of heaven, He will make is prosper; and we His servants will rise up and build …
and you have no claim in Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:17-20)
APPLICATION
Nehemiah wept, mourned, fasted, and
prayed when he heard about the situation in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:4) Here we learn that The Lord God answered his prayer
and moved upon the heart of the king to allow Nehemiah to do something about
the situation. (Nehemiah 2:3-5) The Lord
God hears and answers the prayers of those who trust in Him. (1 Chronicles
5:20) The sincere and fervent prayer of
a righteous man produces much. (James 5:16) We just need to make sure that what we pray
for is within the will of God and will give Him glory, and is not for our personal
pleasure.
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