Learning from Nehemiah

Nehemiah plays a key role in the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem after the exile. His particular pioneer project is the rebuilding of the city walls. It seems an impossible project, but Nehemiah is convinced that it is the task to which he is called. He is fortunate enough to have friends in high places and so he goes and gains permission from the king. He then encourages and challenges others to get on with the job. It is a big task and there clearly is careful planning, and also hard work. He divides those who are working with him into teams giving them specific chunks – and so divides the task down into smaller achievable tasks. He is pretty single-minded. He endures ridicule. And he achieves what he sets out to do.

Nehemiah was an inspiring leader and he got those engaged in the wall rebuilding project to achieve what many would have long given up as impossible. Raymond Brown (in “The Message of Nehemiah” BST) suggests nine features of the task undertaken by these builders:
- Their priority – they worked out what they were going to do first, and so on.
- Their unity – people from a wide variety of backgrounds worked on the wall.
- Their individuality – they worked together, but brought their differences to the project.
- Their disappointment – it didn’t always go well.
- Their commitment – there was a lot of sacrificial giving.
- Their enthusiasm – they didn’t just start this project, they kept at it.
- Their privilege – they didn’t regard it as a gruelling chore, but as a priceless opportunity.
- Their reward – they got there.
What are the questions that arise from the story of Nehemiah? Perhaps some of them are these:

- What is the real aim, the mission statement?
- What’s going to happen if/when it doesn’t go well?
- How is the project an opportunity?
- What’s the end aim?
- How does it bring a range of people on board?