Several writers have sought to distil universal principles of leadership from Nehemiah’s actions. It is undoubtedly true that Nehemiah understood leadership, and so his conduct is certainly instructive for those who come after him. A clear example is to share in the hardship of his workers; he, too, worked around the clock (Nehemiah 4:23) and so set the example for others.
Yet the reason this chapter is in God’s Word is surely not (simply) to give instruction in good leadership. Rather, as the Lord through Nehemiah began the work of rebuilding the holy city, with a view to the coming of the Christ and his ministry there, hellish forces invariably seek to stymie God’s kingdom-advancing work. Yet every conspiracy of the devil can never ultimately succeed. That was true in Nehemiah’s day and is even more true in our dispensation, given Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness on the cross of Calvary. That in turn also means that the instruction of this paragraph to remember the Lord, who is great and awesome
(Nehemiah 4:14) has even more clout for us today than it had for Nehemiah’s initial audience. In fact, the apostle Paul hints at this very verse when he tells Timothy to remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead…as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering
(2 Timothy 2:8–9).
19 And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.