Dependence on God

We saw in the last chapter that the first dynamic of effective leadership illustrated in the memoirs of Nehemiah is the relationship between the leader and God. Unless his or her relationship to God is right the leader will never be God’s choice for any situation, nor in the final analysis will the leader ever be effective. Still it is not only to a heavenly superior that leaders must relate. They must also relate to earthly ones, and for this reason the second dynamic for any true leader involves what we generally refer to as the role of middle management.

Nehemiah’s difficulties did not stop there either. To be sad in King Artaxerxes presence was dangerous enough. But in addition to that, what Nehemiah wanted was to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls, and it was precisely this king who earlier had been petitioned against the rebuilding of the walls and had stopped the work as a result. Nehemiah’s plan meant asking him to reverse his own former policy.

The second secret of dealing with a superior successfully is tact. We speak about tact often. Yet more often we fail to exercise it. We think that it is more needful to “speak our mind,” Notice how tactful Nehemiah was with Artaxerxes.

The fourth secret of middle management success is prayer. We have already looked at Nehemiah’s great model prayer in chapter 1, noting that it had the elements of a formal petition: adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. It gives insight into Nehemiah’s habits of personal devotion. Here we see something else. Nehemiah is talking to the king. The king asks what he wants. He realizes that after months of prayer the decisive moment has arrived. He is ready to speak. But before he speaks he utters a quick additional prayer “to the God of heaven” (v. 4).

The final secret of successful middle management in this story is dependence upon God. Nehemiah had been planning. Dependence on God does not eliminate planning any more than it eliminates hard work. But while he was planning he had also been praying. And at the end, after the king had granted his request to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and had agreed to supply him with the necessary letters of requisition, Nehemiah acknowledged that in the final analysis his success was not due to his own careful planning but to God: “And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests” (v. 8).

What a thrill, to tackle something extremely difficult and to keep at it until you reach a triumphant conclusion. This is what Nehemiah did. Therefore, it remains thrilling to read his story even today.

Yesterday, we said that the first thing Nehemiah did after the wall was completed was give glory to God. Second, as Nehemiah reports his achievement, he does not allow success to blind him to his continuing problems. Or, to put it another way, he does not pretend that his success was greater than it was. Many people do this. They are so pleased with their success that they will not admit any failures or imperfections. Nehemiah does admit them. In fact, chapter 6 ends with a record of letters Tobiah sent to intimidate Nehemiah (vv. 17-19).

Nehemiah’s first step after having completed the rebuilding of the wall was to make a few key appointments. The first verses of chapter 7 tell us about three general categories of appointments (gatekeepers, singers and Levites) and two specific ones: his brother Hanani as the civil leader of Jerusalem (Nehemiah was governor of the province) and Hananiah as the military commander in charge of Jerusalem’s new defenses.

2. Jews who were laymen (vv. 8-38). This is a long and numerically significant list, as might be expected. It is in two parts. The first part lists eighteen individuals from whom the then living descendants came. The second part lists twenty towns in which the returning exiles settled. The introduction to the census suggests that these were the towns from which the families of these people had come originally.

The final action taken by Nehemiah in his attempt to consolidate his earlier work and prepare for the tasks to come was to provide for those who would now be working in the temple. We find this in the last verses of the chapter.