Page 77 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all
of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as
they heard the words of the law. Exactly what caused the weeping, we are not told. We are told that all the
people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. John Piper says this about weeping over our failures.
“Warning has value in stirring us up to take the glories of holiness and heaven seriously so that we come to see
them for what they are and delight in them. But the delight in them causes true grief when we fall short. No
one cries over missing what they don’t want to have.” 194 Therefore, with this newfound desire to glorify God,
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people, said to
all of them. It appears that Nehemiah steps back into the light and joins Ezra and the Levites in instructing the
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people. Then he (I believe this is referring to Nehemiah) said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is
sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared (The poor) since today is holy to our Lord. Do
not grieve because your strength [comes from] rejoicing in the LORD.” It appears that in verse eleven, the
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Levites begin to instruct the people. And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is
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holy. Do not grieve.” Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great
celebration because they had understood the words that were explained to them. The Jews were struck to the
heart by what they heard. God's grace extended to them in giving them His law and ignited a yearning for
holiness in their souls. While they grieved over the disparity between what was offered through the law and
what they had settled for in practice, they experienced extraordinary joy because they understood the words
explained to them.

Nehemiah and the Levites must have reflected upon verses such as Isaiah 35:10, 51:11, or Zephaniah 3:14-17.
These verses speak about the restoration of Zion. Isaiah 35:10 Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will
enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow
and sighing will flee away. These verses speak about the beginning of the “already-not-yet” phase of the
restoration of Zion. Therefore, they have instructed the Jewish people to remember these promises and allow
the joy of this restoration to become the focal point of this celebration and not their shortcomings. Nehemiah
may have also used Isaiah 40:1-2, which says, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed. Again, I want to remind you of the
above statement, “already-not-yet” phase of the restoration of Zion. Yes, they have been restored, but they are
not yet fully delivered, and this will become very evident when we get to Nehemiah 9:36, and they are
reminded that they are still in bondage. The full restoration will not occur until Revelation 21:4.

Alan Redpath makes the following comments in his commentary. “The joy of the Lord means, in other words,
that our eyes must be off ourselves and on the Lord Jesus all the time. Someone has said, “The secret of joy is
just J-O-Y, in that order: Jesus, others, yourself.” Let me add and underline the fact that this is not something
you can work up, but something that the Lord imparts to His children. It is a fruit of the Spirit, safely nestling in
between love and peace in the great nine-fold cluster of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, 23. Let Him fill
you, and joy will be as natural as the murmur of a stream as it flows. And remember that joy will always reveal
itself to other people. As our text says, you will desire to send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared.
There is nothing as contagious as a joyful Christian.” 195

John Maxwell says, “When I realized that when a leader makes a bad decision, it affects him and many other
people. That gave me pause. While personal maturity may mean being able to see beyond yourself, leadership
maturity means considering others before yourself. I recognized that I could no longer be a Lone Ranger, doing
my own thing and asking others to do my bidding. I needed to think ahead and consider others.” 196

I am also reminded of the most famous question in the Westminster catechism, which asks, want is the chief
end of man? The answer is that man's chief end glorifies God and enjoys him forever. “Holiness and happiness
do not conflict with one another; rather, they go together! Isn't it amazing, and doesn't it sound odd to our
ears, to hear Nehemiah say, eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have
nothing prepared (The poor) since today is holy to our Lord? God's holiness does not make God a killjoy!

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