Lessons in Leadership from Nehemiah

Introduction

If you wish to follow along in your Bibles, be turning to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah in the first chapter. And in fact, we’re going to look at several passages out of the book of Nehemiah this morning. So just be turning there, and we’ll be looking at those in just a moment. We do have many who are visiting with us this day. We thank you for joining us as we’ve come together to worship our great God and our Father. And certainly on this day, fathers are on our minds. We think of the men of our lives who have meant so much to us and what a wonderful blessing that is. But that is a blessing because of how God intended it to be, what God set up.

Even from the beginning of Scriptures, we understand just how essential fatherhood is in God’s plan. We think of passages like what God said of Abraham in Genesis 18 and 19, that Abraham would command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. And one of the main lessons of fatherhood, the main purposes of fatherhood is that of leadership. And so what I want to do this morning is look from the book of Nehemiah as to, well, what makes a good leader. And you can apply that to fatherhood. You can apply that to motherhood. You can apply that to the leaders of this congregation. You can apply that to your work. You can apply that to your role at school, whatever capacity, whatever area of life you find yourself in, what is it that actually makes a good leader?

And the book of Nehemiah is so important in understanding that. So important, really, about understanding how it is that we can lead others, not just in what we think to be right, but in what we know God says is right. The year is about 495 BC. And Nehemiah, I’m sorry, 445. I was 50 years off. Nehemiah is serving in the court of the most powerful man in the world. He is serving as the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes. Some ninety years prior to Nehemiah’s serving in the court of Artaxerxes, another Persian king by the name of Cyrus allowed the Jews to go home. And there he commanded them to rebuild the temple to the glory of God. And he gave them these instructions. And we understand from the book of Ezra the setbacks that they had in that.

But ultimately, yes, the temple is fully rebuilt. When we come to the book of Nehemiah, we see that the people are in distress again. The word comes to Nehemiah, we read in Nehemiah chapter 1 and beginning in verse 1. Again, this is in the 20th year while I was in Susa, the capital. That Hanani, one of my brothers and some men from Judah, came, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity in about Jerusalem. And they said to me, the remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach. And the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. Again, 90 years has elapsed since Cyrus first declared that the Jews could go home.

1. Good Leaders Are Compassionate

And yet things have not improved for the Jews even while they’re home. Yes, the temple has been rebuilt, but the people are not living in safety and security. And so Nehemiah takes it upon himself to go and to lead his people. So let’s look at it this morning. Really, seven lessons in leadership from Nehemiah. And you know when you hear seven, if most good preachers preach three points, we’re going to take seven points this morning. We’re going to go through those points pretty quickly. But they’ll be on the board, and you can write them down for further study if you wish. First of all, what we see from Nehemiah is that he was compassionate. And good leaders are, in fact, compassionate. You see this, which we just read there in verse 3, and he hears about what has happened in Jerusalem, what’s happened with the wall.

And what is Nehemiah’s response in verse 4? When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. And I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Now think of this.

His people are in danger. But Nehemiah is not in distress. Nehemiah is in no danger. We can imagine that Nehemiah probably lives a fairly comfortable life, serving in the position that he does in the court of King Artaxerxes. But his heart is with his people. And I’ll hasten to add that his people are suffering because of their own unfaithfulness to God. And yet he is still compassionate over them. And in fact, that is borne out by the prayer that he’ll offer in the next few verses. He knows that they have sinned. He knows they need God’s forgiveness. And so he’s going to God on their behalf. Leaders are going to either sympathize or empathize with those whom they lead. They’re going to be put compassionate toward the needs of those whom they seek to lead.

We think of the greatest leader of all time, and that being Jesus the Christ. And what is that term that is used so often times of Jesus, even during his earthly ministry here, that he had compassion on the people. Passages like Mark chapter 6 and verse 34. As Jesus is about to engage in that great miracle of feeding of the 5,000. What is it that precipitates that feeding? He looks out the people, he sees that they are scattered like sheep without a shepherd, and he has compassion on them. And again, their condition was not his fault, it was their own doing. Their own doing is why they’re scattered like sheep, and yet he’s compassionate for them. He feels for them. He wants good things for them.

And thinking of fathers specifically this morning, we think of the rule and the law, the role, rather, of fathers. Or that we talk about a father’s relationship to his wife, and yet that is to be a relationship characterized by compassion.

That he is to honor her. We read from Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 22, that yes, the wife is to submit to the husband. He has the role of leadership in the family, and yet the husband is to love his own wife as his own body. That is compassion defined. Putting her needs first, feeling for her. And when fathers are urged in Ephesians chapter 6 and in verse 4, not to provoke their children to anger, that is again another call to compassion. You think of what is really in the best interest of your children. You feel for them and what they’re going through. Do not provoke them to anger. Train them in the way of the Lord. Leadership, true leaders, good leaders are going to be compassionate for those whom they lead.

2. Good Leaders Lead from the Knees

But continuing in the story of Nehemiah, we see the second trait of leadership, and that is good leaders will lead from the knees. What I mean by that is that good leaders are praying. Good leaders are praying often. We saw that already here in chapter 1. That when he heard this news from the people of Israel from Jerusalem, he begins fasting and praying, and for time’s sake, we’re not going to go through and read all of his prayer this morning, but it is beseeching God on the behalf of the people, praying that God would be with them, and that God would forgive. He knows that he needs help and that he’s not going to be able to do what is needed among the people. He needs God taking care of the people.

And so he beseeches the help of God as he aims to do what is best. In the second chapter in verse 4, as the king, again, the most powerful man on the face of the planet of that time, King Artaxerxes sees that something is troubling Nehemiah. He’s wondering, why is your face downcast? And Nehemiah knows this is my opportunity. I can present my case to the king. And so the text so briefly states in verse 4 so I prayed to the God of heaven. I need God’s help. I need to convince this man that I have a just cause. And I need to go and help my people, but to do that, I’m going to need God’s help. And on and on and on through the book of Nehemiah, the fourth chapter in verse 9, where there’s the first some of the first opposition to the work that Israel is doing, that the Jews are doing.

Actually, go back to verse 4. There have been these taunts against the people and those around them saying, No, this wall’s not going to stand, it’s going to come down. And so Nehemiah says in verse 4, hear, O our God, how we are despised. He puts this in God’s court. You help us, you afflict our enemies. Verse 9, we pray to our God. And because of them we set up a guard against them day and night. They’re troubled by those outside. And yet a leader prays. He doesn’t say, okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Here’s all the military action that we’re going to take. Here’s all the precautions that we can take. He does that, but ultimately, whose help does he need? That is, of course, the help of God.

We can go forward 5, 19, 6, 9, 13, 14. All these passages emphasizing that Nehemiah, time and again, in any occasion, as he seeks to lead his people, he’s leading first by praying. Good leaders lead from the knees. Fathers may be thinking of the example of Job in Job chapter 1. Even though Job’s children were engaged in feasting and revelry all the time, and Job doesn’t know exactly what’s going on in those feasts, but he is praying and he is offering sacrifices for his children in case they have done something that has displeased the Lord. Fathers and mothers know that well. That is they are concerned for those whom they are seeking to lead their children. Every night they are praying to God on behalf of those children.

3. Good Leaders Plan

Elders and those who are concerned with the welfare of the flock every night and every day are praying to God for help in leading the flock of God. And I would add, if you’re engaged in business or engaged in teaching, or engaged in any other thing, and you are seeking to lead people, you need God’s help. Good leaders will always lead from the knees. They’ll be praying to God, praying to God earnestly and often. Good leaders plan. In the story of Nehemiah, we understand that Nehemiah eventually makes it to Jerusalem, and he spends there three days before he even speaks to any of the people. I want to read in Nehemiah chapter 2 in the beginning, verse 11, or actually verse 12. And on the night of that third day, Nehemiah goes out to survey, to inspect.

He’s going out all around him and seeing what is the work that needs to be done before he even begins to tell the people here is the work that needs to be done. It’s just a simple point. We won’t stay on this long. But a good leader plans. A good leader may know that, okay, there is work to be done. Nehemiah knows Jerusalem needs to be rebuilt. It needs to, the walls need to be rebuilt. There needs to be safety for the people. But to do that, he has to actually go out and survey and inspect what is the actual work that needs to be done. What is laying in ruins? What just maybe needs to be propped up a little bit more or maybe built a little bit more on top of it?

What has to be completely redone? I have to plan.

Okay, where are we going? No idea. No. You’ve got to plan it first. And as we are thinking of fathers and families on this day, we think of words like Joshua in Joshua 24 and in verse 15. Where he says to the children of Israel, if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. Whether the gods which your father served, which are beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You know what? That takes planning. As every father and every mother here would say that, Yes, I want that to be true of my house. That it does not matter what the rest of the world does, that me and my house we will serve the Lord.

That doesn’t happen by accident. You don’t just get up one day and say, okay, today we’re going to serve the Lord. No, you think about that. What are the days’ events going to be? How can I plan to help my family in serving the Lord? What time do we have when we can come together and read the Word of God together? I’m not going to be praying with my family if I don’t first purpose and intend that there will be time in this day to pray with my family. When we go out and we are engaged in activities, then those activities can easily lead to sinful activity. That doesn’t happen if I’m planning. Oh no, here’s where we’re going. We’re going to the beach this week.

4. Good Leaders Get Buy-In

Which, which, which part of the beach can I go to where there’s not that many people? You know, once you want to go swimming, well, where can I, where can I go where me and my family, we’re not going to be exposed to all this immorality and this immoder stress. It only happens by planning. Planning every day, planning for every occasion. And we understand that events and circumstances come up where we cannot plan, but if you’ve been planning all along and you put good plans into place, and you can cope with those things. Good leaders plan. You’ve got to think ahead. And if we want to lead our families in the way of God, certainly we must make those plans. Good leaders get buy-in. It’s kind of a buzz word in the corporate world and educational circles.

Buy in. Buy in is important. Buy in is a leader saying that this cannot just be my vision. This needs to be the vision of all those who are engaged in this project. So Nehemiah has gone out and he has surveyed the walls. And then he comes back in verse 17 and says, You see the bad situation we are in. That Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach. I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me, and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, Let us arise and build. So they put their hands to the good work.

That’s buy-in. That is a whole people saying, You’re right. This is what we need to do. Now, if this thought just never occurred to anybody before? Well, probably not. What does Nehemiah come and say? Here’s the words of God. And here is the favor that we have with the king. Here is what God has said we need to do, and God has orchestrated events such such that it can happen. He is encouraging the people and getting them to buy into this vision that yes, we can, in fact, rebuild the walls is good to the people, and so they work. A good leader, while we understand when we think of fathers and mothers, we do understand that there are those times when we just have to say, Yeah, do it because I say do it.

You know, that I can’t tell you how many times that comes up, especially when trying to get Jerry ready for bed, and he wants to know, well, why do I need to do this? Just do it because I said do it. We understand, we understand those things, and sometimes the issues are much bigger than that. But ultimately, a leader of his family or leaders in the church or leaders in society, it cannot just be do it because I say do it. Do it because I’m the one who’s in charge here. It is do it. Let’s do it because here’s the value. Here’s where this will take us. Here’s how God can bless us if we follow in God’s ways. You want to look at a spiritual example of this, I encourage you to turn over to Proverbs, the first chapter.

Proverbs the first chapter, and many of us have been reading through Proverbs this week and last week as a part of our daily Bible reading. We understand all this wisdom that the wise man wants to impart to his son. But I just want to look at the first chapter and a few verses from there. In the first chapter, the wise man begins by emphasizing here is how valuable wisdom is. Here is what wisdom will do for you. And then he says in verse 7 that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. And then encourages his son to hear your father’s instruction. Do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck.

What’s he doing here? He’s trying to get by him. That is not good enough for him just to say to his son, okay, son, here are the things that you must not do. And here are the things, son, that you must do. He will do plenty of that. But before the first command, he says to his son, here’s why you need wisdom. Here’s what wisdom will do for you in your relationship with the Lord. And so, son, I’m begging you, listen to me, listen to your mother, because we’re trying to take you in the ways of God. And so hopefully, his son would follow those ways, not simply because mom and dad said do it, but because, yes, they imparted to me that that is what’s valuable, that is what’s true, that is what will lead to good things in my life, and so I’ll follow them.

5. Good Leaders Guard and Lead from the Front

Good leaders are looking for buy-in. Good leaders guard. As they’re looking to lead people, they’re also looking all around. Where are the dangers to the people? Going back to Nehemiah in the second chapter. In verses 19 and 20, we begin reading about those officials and those men who are seeking to harm the Jews, who were seeking to keep them oppressed. And so we read about Sanba the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite and Gesham the Arab. And that they begin to mock and despise us, and they are saying, What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? And so I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven will give us success. Therefore, we, his servants, will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.

And you’ll see Nehemiah carrying this fight throughout the rest of the book. Even to the very end where he has to cast one of them out of the temple. Because he will not allow those people to inflict this kind of, well, depressing speech, if you will, on the people who are doing the work.

So he’s guarding. And he is protecting. That’s not always the easiest thing. Sometimes elders of a congregation have to do things to help guard and protect the flock. Sometimes we, as fathers and mothers, we have to do things that are not popular decisions. Make choices, but they are necessary because we’re looking to guard and protect those whom we might lead. Good leaders will also lead from the front. Saw a picture not too long ago that stuck with me, and I saved it and thought I’d share it with you this morning. This was originally put in the idea of business, so you’ve got the boss, but I think it would apply to anything. We’ve got many who would like to lead this way. Do it. I said, do it.

Now mush and get your whip out and it’s not a leader. A leader leads from the front. He’s setting the example. He’s not just sitting back there and saying, now do this because I demanded that you do it. He’s saying, let’s all do this, and I’m going to show you how. I’m going to show you why it works. I’m going to show you why it’s valuable. He’s leading. In the book of Nehemiah, you come to the fifth chapter. There had been this issue in the fifth chapter of Jews charging interest, usury to their brethren. And that in fact leading to the enslavement of some of the poorer of the people. That was a practice condemned in the Old Testament, that God would not allow his people to engage in such practices.

And so Nehemiah has to deal with that. But you come to the fifth chapter and in verse 14, and it’s not enough for Nehemiah just to say, don’t do that anymore. Nehemiah also shows, and I’m going to show you an example of why it means not to oppress the people. It says in verse 14 of chapter 5, moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year of the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years. Neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. Now he was entitled to that. As a servant of the king, he was entitled to that. They said, I declined it. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides 40 shekels of silver, even their servants domineered the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of God.

I also applied to the work on this wall. I also applied myself, rather, to the work on this wall. Two examples of leading from the front. Nehemiah is not just saying to the people, okay, we’ve got to rebuild this wall, you go and do it. No, he’s saying, I’m out there working on the wall too. And he’s not just saying to the people, stop charging interest, stop abusing your brethren. He’s giving an example. I’m not going to charge my brethren, even though he was entitled to it. I’m not going to do that to my brethren. I’m going to set an example of one who cares for my brethren.

6. Good Leaders Lead Toward God

Lead from the front. Don’t sit back there cracking the whip. Leave from the front. Set examples. Show this is the way it should be done. And be the example of one who follows God. And finally, good leaders lead toward God. The final section of the book of Nehemiah is all about spiritual principles. In the eighth chapter, it’s about having the words of God read to the people. There is Ezra the scribe reading the words of God to the people. And then there are those who are translating, making sense of it for the people. The point being, though, it was seen as needed that the people hear the word of God. Going further in the text, we know from chapter 8 and verses 13 through 18 that they found within the law that there was a feast that they should be keeping that they had not been keeping.

And so they decide we will keep this feast of booths. Good leaders are going to lead their family in worship. They’re going to say, this is what our God deserves as we commemorate the sacrifice of his son.

In the ninth and tenth chapters, we have the matter of covenant. We have two aspects of covenant that have always been important. Covenant involves the blessings that God has promised his people, and covenant also involves obligations on behalf of the people. And you have both of those aspects emphasized in chapters 9 and 10. As Nehemiah reminded the people, here is what our God promised our forefathers. Those things did not come to pass because our forefathers continually sinned. We can have those blessings, though, if we will follow God. So the people enter into covenant again with God. Good leaders are going to emphasize what it means to be a part of God, what it means to be in covenant with Him. They’re going to emphasize here’s how great our God is, here’s how loving our God is, here’s what our God has done for us.

But good leaders will also emphasize, and here’s how we ought to follow him. If we want those blessings of God, then here’s how we follow God. And finally, in the 13th chapter, we have Nehemiah as a leader rebuking sin. Whether it be the matter of the tithes that the Levites had not been receiving, whether it be the matter of the men who had married foreign wives, or whether it be the matter of Sabbath days being profaned, Nehemiah took steps to rebuke the sin of the people and to correct. That’s not an easy thing either. But good leaders want to lead the people toward God. And sometimes that means rebuking practices that are wrong and would take us away from God. I’ll say again, if you would take those seven principles, then you’ll be a good leader in any aspect of life.

Conclusion

As a father, I need to know those principles. I need to follow those principles. As a person of society, I need to follow those principles so that maybe I can help lead someone else to God.

But if you think back, what is the whole point of Nehemiah? Nehemiah is trying to go back and to bring about what God had promised for his people. And that is if they would follow him with their whole heart, then yes, God would bless them. God would bring them back to the land. And yet the people were being oppressed again because they were not following God. I don’t claim to be the leader of this church. I am not the leader of this church. But as one who has the opportunity this morning to speak before you, I would simply say this. Here’s what God wants of us. Here’s what God wants of us. He has promised his utmost blessings on us. He has promised the forgiveness of our sins.

He has promised us eternity with him in heaven.

But to have those, we must follow. So I extend this invitation to you. Follow him. Believe in him. Believe that he has your best interest at heart. Believe that his will is the will that we need to follow. Repent of the wrongs that you’ve done and be baptized so that your sins may be forgiven, knowing that your God, your Father, will in fact do what he has promised. Can we aid someone this morning? Won’t you come as we stand and as we sing?