Nehemiah 2:

In the 12th year of king Artaxerxes of Persia, Nehemiah served him wine and he noticed that Nehemiah was sad but was not sick.  The king then asked what the problem was and Nehemiah told him about the walls and gates of Jerusalem, which were destroyed by fire.  So Nehemiah was actually a servant in Babylonia captivity (slave) not even a priest.  The king then asked for his request and Nehemiah wanted to go to Jerusalem to rebuild it.  He also requested letters from the king for easy passages and access to building materials for the city, gate, temple, and his home.  On his way, Nehemiah showed the governors the king's pass, they were very displeased because he was coming to uplift the Jews, but Nehemiah kept his agenda a secret.  After he inspected the damage to the walls and gates, he then called Judah and told them all the king had given him and God's plan to rebuild Jerusalem.  So Judah began the work of rebuilding their home against the opposition of the governors.  When you have something to do for God, yourself, or your people that is good and mighty, just go ahead and do it.  Get your paper work together and ignore the opposition.  Africans and Blacks must learn from this in order to build stronger communities and nations.

Nehemiah 3:

Judah came together to build the walls and gates of Jerusalem. It seems so far in our studies, God is more interested in Judah than Israel.  Judah is made up of only two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) from the old 12 tribes of Israel.  Judah was the tribe of David, who God promised will be on the throne forever, and the Benjaminites were the most active group since the time they returned as slaves from Egypt.  God even chose Saul, a Benjaminite, to be Israel's first king until he messed up and it was given to David.  After Solomon failed to live up to expectation, God broke Israel into two.  Israel was for the rest and the descendants of David was to rule Judah with just two tribes and have Jerusalem as their capital.  So the promise of God to Abraham for Jesus and Jerusalem is only to Judah and not all of old Israel.  In all our studies, you can see that God has basically ignored Israel for Judah.  While the kings of Israel were evil and never followed God, Judah was usually corrupted by Israel, but had some good kings in our past readings).

Nehemiah 4:

Soon the Governors and their army came to jeer at Judah as they worked and tried to discourage them with their words.  But Judah kept building until the wall was joined and half way up.  Nehemiah then told God to punish them for their jeering and that they should also be attacked and captured on their own land.  So the Governors, the Arabs, and the Ammonites planned to cause confusion among Judah, so Judah prayed to God and set up protection by day and by night.  Soon, Judah prepared for war, and when the enemies found out, that spoiled their plan. So when half of Judah worked on the wall, the other stood as an army prepared to fight.  This was how they guarded themselves while they built the wall.  Success does not come easy.  Aside from knowing what to do and having the determination to do it, you must strategize because your success journey make actually be a reduction journey for others who would like to be your opposition.  Despite the fact that Jerusalem belonged to Judah and they had every right to build it the way they wanted even with the king of Persia's approval, people had to stop them.  This is because the emptiness and lack of a wall in Jerusalem may have meant easier and quicker passage for trade to others.  With the wall, they may have to take a longer and more costly route.  So the right to prosper could be a disadvantage to others benefiting from your lack.  So plan, communicate, and strategize always!!!

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