Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Zeal

Zeal

So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. – Nehemiah 13:25

Zeal is another leadership attribute we can learn from Nehemiah. He was zealous for God and in defending His precepts. We had earlier read how Nehemiah led the people to be reconciled with God and separate those of mixed origin from among them so that they would not incur the wrath of God by joining the rest of the congregation at sacred assemblies.

The trip he made to Persia and the time he stayed there must have led to a relapse of a sort, as evidenced in him returning to meet Eliashib allocating an apartment in the temple of Tobiah, and the Levites being neglected and deprived their portion which in turn forced them to seek livelihood elsewhere. Another relapse that Nehemiah discovered upon his return was a wave inter-marriage among some of the people with some marrying from the nations that God had forbidden them.

Hear him:

About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all. (Nehemiah 13:23-24, NLT)

This development upset Nehemiah to no end. He was fuming and raging at the people, cursing, striking and pulling their hair to prove his point. Imagine what kind of sight that must have been; a ruler throwing such tantrums because his people had disregarded the law of God and were doing their own thing.

Among his many qualities, Nehemiah also added an unmistakable zeal to his name. With this he set an example for every leader as to what to stand for and how to enforce standards among their people. He was unapologetic in his commitment to God and uncompromising in his defense of God’s command. Surely, we can all learn from that.

You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Follow-through
• How God Creates: Creating by Making
• What Jesus Did
• God Moves in Different Dimensions