“When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days;
and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
(Nehemiah 1: 4, NASB)
Nehemiah was a man of God who had a tender heart for the things that concerned the Lord. He loved his people and was grief stricken at the news of their plight (1:1-3). Three points permeate this first chapter of Nehemiah. Let us consider briefly what they are.
- Nehemiah was Moved about His People’s PLIGHT (Neh. 1:1-3).
- Nehemiah was Motivated to go Before the Lord in PRAYER (Neh. 1:4-11a).
- Nehemiah
Mentions His Job POSITION (Neh.
1:11b).
Now Nehemiah’s prayer can be understood in a fourfold way
(See Neh. 1:4-11):
- He prayed with Concern!
- He prayed with Conviction!
- He prayed in Confession!
- He
prayed in Confidence!
Nehemiah, the Cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. He was
responsible for tasting the wine and sampling the food to make sure it was safe
for the king to drink and eat. Nehemiah was a safe-guard against any enemy of the
king who would try to poison him. However, the description “Cupbearer” best
describes his primary position as a “wine taster” for the king.
There is a wonderful comparison here between Nehemiah and the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, both bore the cup. Nehemiah preserved the king by serving as cupbearer incase of the possibility the wine might contain the poison wrath of the king’s enemy; whereas the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of kings bore the “cup” of God’s wrath on behalf of His enemies (see Neh. 1:11b; Matt. 26: 39, 42). So in a sense, Nehemiah is a type of Christ in being willing to bare the wrath of the enemy; whereas Christ bore the cup of God's wrath for our sin. Consider below these five meanings about “wine” in the Scriptures:
(1.) Wine,
symbolic of earthly joy (See Psalm 104:15; Prov. 31:6).
(2.) Wine abused
as a means of drunkenness and debauchery (See Eph. 5:18; 1 Pet. 4:3).
(3.) Wine as
associated with the wrath of God (See Matt. 20: 22; 26:39, 42).
(4.) Wine,
symbolic of the Blood of Christ under the New Covenant (See Luke 22:20; 1 Cor.
10:16; 11:25).
(5.) Wine used
as a form of medicine (See Prov. 31:6; 1 Tim. 5:23 ).
Death and the curse were in our cup,
O Christ, 'twas full for Thee!
But Thou hast drained the last dark drop,
'Tis empty now for me.
That bitter cup, love drank it up;
Now blessings' draught for me.
--Anne
Ross Cousin
(Hymn#
176)
