These small group studies of Nehemiah contain outlines, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, and applications. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.
Nehemiah 2 Bible Study Commentary – Nehemiah’s Prayer and Plan
Nehemiah 2 Bible Study Video
Nehemiah 2 Podcast
Outline
I. Nehemiah talks with Artaxerxes (1-8)
II. Nehemiah inspects the walls (9-16)
III. Nehemiah proposes rebuilding the wall (17-20)
I. Nehemiah talks with Artaxerxes (1-8)
Discussion Questions
- How long had it been since Nehemiah heard about the state of Jerusalem?
- What can we learn about Nehemiah’s job in this passage?
- What caused the king to ask Nehemiah why he was sad?
- Why was Nehemiah very afraid?
- What can you learn about how to deal with fear from Nehemiah?
- How did he deal with his fear?
- How did Nehemiah respond when the king asked him what he requested?
- What does his response show about his preparation/planning for this issue?
- What do we learn from him about prayer?
- What do we learn from him about planning and preparedness? How does prayer work together with these things?
- What specific requests did Nehemiah make of the king? What does this show us about him? Are there any lessons we can learn from this?
- How did the king respond to Nehemiah? Why? What principles can we learn from this?
Cross-references
Esther 4:11 – “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
Esther 5:1-2 – On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
Verses on Planning
Luke 14:28-33 – In this passage Jesus talks about the importance of considering the consequences of making an important decision before making it.
Proverbs 21:5 – The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 16:3 – Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Proverbs 6:6-8 – Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
James 4:13-15 – Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. The month Nisan – How much time had passed?
2. I had not been sad in his presence – It seems it was against court traditions for officials or nobles to be sad in the presence of the king. The officials’ job was to serve the king and make him happy. The king seemingly didn’t want to be reminded of the troubles of his people. They were to do their jobs well and leave their problems outside the court. After all, their problems would be considered of far less importance than the very smallest of the king’s own problems. In the end, this shows the perspective that the king’s happiness and well-being was of primary concern. The people existed to serve the king and not the other way around.
3. The king noticed Nehemiah’s sadness – He had kept it to himself for quite some time, but on this day (whether intentionally or not) his sadness was visible enough that the king noticed and commented on it.
4. Nehemiah was very much afraid – Notice his response. He wasn’t excited about the opportunity to share with the king or at least that wasn’t his primary emotion. He was scared of what the king would do to him for breaking this tradition. Artaxerxes could have certainly fired him. But he could do a lot worse. He could have him executed. Kings at that time didn’t require much of a reason to have people killed.
But notice in the following verses how Nehemiah responded. He was scared, but he didn’t let that fear control him. He didn’t freeze. He didn’t panic. He didn’t turn around and run out of the court. Nehemiah didn’t apologize and beg for forgiveness or mercy. While he was afraid, he also knew that there was an opportunity here. It was the opportunity he had been praying for and he seized it while he could so that it would not go to waste. In fact, we will see that he was very bold.
Application: Fear is a natural reaction sometimes. But God doesn’t want us to allow our fear to control us. We must move past our fear to do what God wants us to do. What are some things you may be afraid or nervous about that you may need to do anyway?
• Sharing the gospel.
• Changing jobs.
• Making sacrifices for God’s kingdom.
• Public preaching, leading a Bible study, discipling others
• Talking to your parents about the Lord
• Confronting someone in sin
• Speaking up against peer pressure or the evils in society
• Getting married?
• How can you be bold in these situations?
5. Nehemiah’s first response to the king – Nehemiah first responds politely, “Let the king live forever.” He lets the king know that even though he is sad it doesn’t mean he is a bad subject. He is not committing rebellion. But he does have a legitimate concern. After telling the king clearly the reasons for his sadness, he then poses the king a question, “Why should my face not be sad?” In other words he says, “I have a good reason for being sad.”
6. The king asked him for his request – In the last chapter we saw that Nehemiah was praying for this issue. He was also praying that God would grant him compassion in the sight of the king. Now we see that his prayers were being answered. Nehemiah saw the answer and responded appropriately to it. This is simple, but an important lesson for us.
Application: When you pray for something, watch carefully for the answer! We don’t want to pray for something and then miss it when the answer is right in front of us!
7. Nehemiah’s spontaneous prayer – Nehemiah had already prayed about this issue. But now in the heat of the moment, he still didn’t rely on his own wisdom. He tossed up one more heartfelt prayer to God. It was probably a very quick, silent prayer. And yet that prayer had power. It had power because it matched Nehemiah’s life of prayer. Our life should be filled both with dedicated times of private prayer, and also with those short prayers of help in times of need. If you only ask God for help in times of need and never prayed to Him before, those prayers may lack the same power. God wants to see us rely on Him through prayer consistently, making it a habit rather than only turning to Him in times of intense need.
Application: We can learn from Nehemiah that we should rely on God all the time. No situation is too urgent to offer up a quick prayer of help. Our lives should, like his, be saturated with prayer. Our natural response when facing decisions, trials, temptations, or emergencies should be to say, “God help me!”
8. Nehemiah’s request to the king – Here we see Nehemiah frankly asks for the king’s permission to himself lead an expedition to repair the wall! This is a huge request! Generally kings may be skeptical of walled cities in other nationalities that were subjugated to them. If Jerusalem was walled, logic says the people in it may decide to rebel again. But Nehemiah wasn’t afraid to make big requests. Why not?
We know he had already prayed about it. And I believe God had already led him to make this plan. He knew what he was going to ask before the king even asked him. William Carey said, “Attempt great things for God; Ask great things of God.” This should be our attitude as well.
Don’t ask the question, “What can I do?” Instead ask the question, “What needs to be done?” That is the question Nehemiah asked. After he realized what needed to be done, he was bold enough to go for it. This request was also quite abnormal. There was apparently no benefit for the king. Instead he lost a trusted official for a long time. God was obviously working.
9. How long will your journey be? – Nehemiah was able to quickly give a clear answer. This clues us that he had prepared well. He had researched the situation. He knew abou