Nehemiah 2:1-8--Nehemiah Sent to Judah

Nehemiah 2:1-8
English Standard Version

Nehemiah Sent to Judah
2 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

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In the first month of the Hebrew calendar (the month in which Passover happens), during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah presented himself before the king to present wine to him (remember that he is the cupbearer to the king, and it is his duty to taste the wine first and present it to the king once he knows it's not poisoned).  Even though Nehemiah had not been crying in Artaxerxes's presence, it was obvious to the king that Nehemiah was sad--it was probably written all over his face, and he probably looked like he had been fasting.  The king knew the signs and asked Nehemiah what was wrong (since Nehemiah was close to him, he probably wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help).

Nehemiah was afraid, because letting the king know he was grieving and sad was something worthy of death (for whoever worked before the king was always supposed to look and do their best so that the kind would never know you had any troubles, for he had enough troubles of his own to worry about).  However, Nehemiah had courage and answered the king that he had received news that the city of his ancestors--the place where all of his family members are buried--was in ruins, and its gates destroyed with fire.

The king asks Nehemiah what it is he would like him to do, and, after a short prayer, Nehemiah answers that he would like permission to be sent by the king to Jerusalem to rebuild the city.  This would be a bit "ask" for anyone to make, but it's an especially big "ask" because you can't just replace a cupbearer overnight.  That role is filled by someone you trust completely with your life--someone who would be willing to sacrifice their own life to save yours (it was literally their job to eat or drink the poison first so that they would get sick or die first and the king would be safe).  It's going to take a long time for Jerusalem to be rebuilt--in fact, that is the king's next question.

The king, with the queen sitting next to him, asks Nehemiah how long he will be gone for, and when he will return.  This is a good sign as the question infers that he's inclined to let Nehemiah go but is concerned about getting someone to stand in his place temporarily while he's away, and it sounds like the king wants Nehemiah to come back and continue to serve him once the city is rebuilt.  Nehemiah gave the king a time, but it's not stated in the text.  Whatever Nehemiah said pleased the king though, so I would assume that Nehemiah gave an answer that he would be gone for a limited time and planned to return, as the king would probably not have been pleased if Nehemiah's answer was that once Jerusalem was rebuilt, he intended to stay there and live out the rest of his days there.

Nehemiah then asked the king for letters to carry with him to the governors of the Land Beyond the River (the same ones that caused all the issues for Ezra in the past, but which ended up paying for the Temple and the daily sacrifices out of their royal treasuries) to instruct them that they were to give Nehemiah and those with them safe passage until they reached Judah.  He also wanted a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he might be instructed to give Nehemiah all the timber needed to make the beams for the gates of the fortress of the Temple and the walls of the city.  While the Temple building had been built, it had no gates or walls to defend it yet.  Nehemiah also asked that the letter say that some of the timber give from the king's forest should be used for him to build a house for himself, as he would be living there for a while and need a dwelling place in the city as he managed this major construction project.

The passage ends by letting us know that the king gave Nehemiah everything that he asked for, but Nehemiah realized that all of this really came from the hand of God Himself.  Only God could have turned the heart of the king to show this kind of favor to Nehemiah, just like God had turned the hearts of King Cyrus and King Darius to help Ezra.  Nehemiah is encouraged that the LORD is with him in this task, because it will be an impossible task to complete without the help of the LORD.

Next time we'll change scenes and jump far ahead in time as Nehemiah will be in Jerusalem, and we'll get to meet the main antagonists of this book next time as well.