Nehemiah 13:6 But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem.
I suppose anyone who has been around kids long has heard one child say to another some version of, “You’re not the boss of me!” Declaring some level of autonomy is very important! Of course we know what they mean. “I don’t have to obey you.” (It’s probably more understandable than we’re comfortable admitting.)
Nehemiah had been given a burden from God about the broken-down cond-ition of Jerusalem. The king of Babylon, whom he served as cupbearer, had given him permission to go and see to things. Nehemiah went and was successful be-yond his wildest dreams! The walls had been rebuilt under his leadership in under 60 days! They had a dedication ceremony, the Scripture was read publicly, the people were coming back into right relationship with God and Nehemiah was the governor. What could be better?
Then we see in today’s verse, right in the middle of a description of some problems that had developed some time later, Nehemiah is back in Babylon! Why would he go back there?! Had he forgotten that Babylon was the cause of the destruction of the temple, of Jerusalem and its walls? Had he forgotten that Babylon had carried away prisoner his own people? They were so far away with plenty to occupy their minds, why go back? Wouldn’t that be dangerous? Wasn’t he risking his own freedom? Hadn’t he become free of them?
Nehemiah wasn’t worried about any of that. He went back because he had said he would. But more importantly than that, Nehemiah went back because he knew Who was in charge. It may have been the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes’ kingdom, but Nehemiah knew that ultimately it was God that was in control!
When we come to the place where we realize that God is in control and we are His servants, we can rest easy. If He is in control, I can relax and just obey Him. If God is in control, I can more easily obey my boss. If God is in control, I can trust Him to be working things out for my eternal good. The person I see when I show up for work or school might think they are the ‘boss of me’ but I can relax when I know that God is the ultimate ‘Boss of me’!
Blessings
Pastor Russ
