The Month of Nisan (not the car)

I was re-reading for the millionth tiime the book of Nehemiah this morning and I ran across something right at the beginning I don't think I had realized before. "In the month of Nisan." Remember, Nehemiah was the Hebrew that was taken into captivity, was cupbearer to the king, and had the nerve to ask the king to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. He asked that all the materials, the escort for the 800 mile journey, the letters for safe travel, and the paid vacation away from his job, to be provided by the king with NO conditions. The nerve. He even asked for a fully furnished residence in Jerusalem when he arrived so he could oversee the process. The nerve. All to rebuild the city wall of this distant, broken down city. What an idiot. Who did this Nehemiah think he was? Nehemiah could have been killed on the spot by the king. Nehemiah asked for the moon and he got it. As you get to the 2nd chapter you read these simple, seemingly meaningless words..."In the month of Nisan." So, big deal, right?

The month of Nisan is the month of passover (Exodus 12), the most significant occurence in the Jewish calendar. It was the month of promise, covenant, and deliverance. This truth brings new and fresh insight to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had been praying for four months and now during this passover month, he was ready to make his move. It was a holy time, a sacred time, a time from which he no doubt drew great inspiration and strength from. Timing is everything for Nehemiah and it seems that his timing was perfect and was God's timing. This brings out the deeper meaning of this miracle book of the bible that does not contain 1 single supernatural miracle, but I will save that for another post.

God uses significant celebration times to cause us to move boldly in new directions. It wasn't that Nehemiah was outwardly celebrating, but he was no doubt inwardly remembering and drawing strength from the past promises and faithfulness of God.

So when the month of Nisan comes... will I be ready? Will we be prayed up? Will we have the plan scripted and ready?