In Nehemiah 2, he requests and get permission from the king to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. He travels to Jerusalem and gets his first supporters and opposition almost simultaneously. My favorite thing about this chapter is the king’s name, Artaxerxes, who I believe was the son of Xerxes. Any name with an X in it is cool, much less one with 2 Xs.
We find out that Nehemiah is not just a regular guy, but that he has a regular audience with the king. I think this adds weight to the life changing decision God has led him to. He probably lives very nicely, yet he is going to lay it aside to go serve his people. Imagine leaving your position as special advisor to the president in order to go work with the homeless. I think that gets somewhat close to the life change Nehemiah is making.
I’m not sure if it means that Nehemiah had not been sad in the presence of the king until that day or if he still wasn’t but the king could notice something different. Commentators seem to think that he chose that day to act sad in front of the king, but the fact that Nehemiah is afraid makes me think the king caught him off guard. If that is the case then God is forcing Nehemiah’s hand here. I think the time period that elapsed between chapters 1 and 2 was four months, so God might be saying, “It’s time for you to make a decision.” Nehemiah of course shows some courage by telling the truth to the king when he could have easily just said everything was fine.
I read that the letters he requested probably could have been for those who would oppose the rebuilding of the wall. Apparently this rebuilding project had already been shutdown by the king in the book of Ezra. And then in an even bolder request he not only asks for permission to leave, but he also asks the king to fund the project. I think this is a big deal because rebuilding this wall could have easily been seen (and was later in the chapter) as an act of rebellion towards the king. By building a wall around the conquered city of Jerusalem, it might seem as if they were trying to rebuild the strength of their nation so that they could break free of the king’s rule. Apparently the king either did not see it this way or he trusted Nehemiah.
Another instance of showing Nehemiah not to be just some regular guy is that he does not travel alone or even with just one or two servants. It seems he has quite an entourage, but even the king’s orders did not overcome what must have been an extreme prejudice against the Jews. I guess these guys were serving Nehemiah even though he was Jewish, just because the king ordered them. They are however unwilling to take the next step which is helping the entire nation of Israel.