June 26, 2015
Pod prep:
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: THE REPENTANT HISTORY OF ISRAEL BY NEHEMIAH- NEHEMIAH 9:5-37
Israel had a disappointing history that was summarized in the book of Nehemiah. They had 120 years of a United Kingdom. Then the nation divided into two kingdoms. The southern kingdom of Judah had 20 kings out of which eight were Godly and good. The other twelve went from bad to evil. The northern ten tribes had twenty kings also, but none were Godly. Out of 40 kings there were only eight good ones in the lot.
Nehemiah wrote the book as a record of his actions. His name means ‘Jehovah comforts’. Even though he had never been to Jerusalem we believe his family had taught him to have a heart for Jerusalem. He traveled from the luxury of a lavished palace to a war zone. These are the actions of a man of courage. He was also a man of prayer and compassion for he wept for Jerusalem. His prayers were the catalyst for the return of Israel from godly punishment as described in II Chron 6:36-39 and Deut 30:1-6.
Nehemiah was born and raised in Babylon. The Jews that wanted to return to Israel had been allowed to do so about 90 years before but Judah was in terrible shape. The Jews that were not exported from Jerusalem were hostile to the newly arrived Jews, perhaps thinking that the new arrivals would want to regain their former territory. God’s Temple was in poor condition. The wall and gates of Jerusalem were destroyed. They had taken on the pagan practices of the Samaritans, Ammonites and Arabs living in the region. Nehemiah and many of the Jews remaining in Babylon were doing well financially and much better spiritually then the Jews who had returned to Judah 90 years earlier. Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, took a trip to Judah and was amazed and shocked at how truly horrible conditions were. Everything was in ruin and the people were intermarrying with the pagans AND BECOMING PAGANIZED.
Nehemiah was a regular guy. He was not of royal blood or a priest. He had a somewhat prestigious position as cup bearer. His duties included tasting the wine that King Artaxerxes was about to drink to make sure that it was not poisoned. It is also thought that he was the night watchman as the king slept. Poison was a weapon of choice for some palace intrigues. He had a good position with scary finality with regard to retirement benefits.
THE GREAT LEADER AND ORGANIZER THAT RE-STABLISHED ISRAEL IN THE HOLY LAND.
Nehemiah used both sacred and secular leadership to establish Israel. He built the physical walls and with Ezra the spiritual walls as well that defined and strengthened God’s people. His story is very exciting.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM NEHEMIAH
BE A CARING PRAYER. HE BEGAN with prayer and fasting Neh 1:4. He was humble and repentant vs. 6-8.
- BE A RISK TAKER FOR GOD. He took a risk approaching the King as he did (vs2:1-4, 15-16) while praying simultaneously.
- BE SMART AND CAUTIOUS. He got the facts before speaking (2:15-16) and was very cautious and wise.
- BE BRAVE AND BOLD. He was bold and brave and full of faith and asked for action.
- BE COMPASSIONATE. He had a heart for God, the Jewish people, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple services.
- GOD DETESTS COWARDS. He was not afraid of his enemies (2: 19-20). God does not want cowards. See Rev 21:8.
- REMAIN HUMBLE. He got things done and was not too good to do the dirty work like a few nobles (3:5).
- BE DETERMINED IN THE FACE OF HATRED AND OPPOSITION. He met anti-Semitism and hate with prayer, determination & preparation (4: 1-5, 13-18).
- BE SELF SACRIFING FINANCIALLY. He sacrificed his own financial self interest to serve others and forced the greedy to help the needy (5:1-16).
- BE HEROIC IN THE FACE OF PRESSURE. He was wise and bravely and avoided a trap “But I said,”Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go! (6:11).
- MAINTAIN SUSTAINED FOCUS. He was focused and did not let enemies distract him and QUIT THE WORK, (7:2-3).
- HE LOVED GOD’S FEAST OF TABERNACLES. He and Ezra led the greatest Feast of Tabernacles. (See Ch 8:14) They ordered people to rejoice during the Feast regardless of the need to repent. The Feast like all God’s Holy Days is festive and should be enjoyed as a feast. See Mark 2:26-27.
- CELEBRATE GOD’S BLESSING WITH MUSIC AND JOY. He used music to dedicate the Walls using duel choirs and bands, see Ch 12.
- BE FULL OF RIGHTEOUS, BUT CONTROLLED ANGER. He cleansed the Temple of ungodly stuff somewhat like Jesus did. (13:7-9).
- LOVE AND ENJOY THE SABBATH. He stopped their Sabbath breaking including treading grapes on the Sabbath and closed the shopping bazaars on the Sabbath. This is unlike our situation today SINCE HE WAS THE GOVERNMENT.
- STAY PURE OF PAGANISM. He stopped the marrying of pagans since it was undermining the faith. Those who are single need to remember this rule and not marry outside of true Christianity. See I Cor 7:39. Try hard to save all marriages that already exist when called into the truth. See Neh 13:23-27.
We must all learn to truly believe in power of prayer like Nehemiah. Do we care enough to pray for God’s work and His people? We must not fall into spiritual paralysis like 50,000 that lived in Jerusalem when Nehemiah first arrived.
When Nehemiah arrived in 444BC, he did his work unannounced. He realized that he would experience stiff opposition, but he had a heart like God’s and would not give up because he knew that he was doing God’s will. He quietly got things moving and developed a cadre of really good workers to help him supervise. He had tremendous strength of character and was a great motivator. In fact, most of the people were so happy to have some good leadership that they went above and beyond to help. They were sick of the corruption and abuse, just as we are today. Nehemiah realized that his first job was to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, which was a monumental, seemingly impossible task. He realized that in order for the people to protect themselves from their enemies, they had to have a wall to keep them out. Nehemiah was able to rebuild wall and gates in 52 days!
Please provide as much information as you can about the opposition faced by Nehemiah.
He used limestone for the walls and gates, with no mortar. Each block was perfectly cut to fit. Limestone is a soft rock that gets really hard after it is exposed to sunshine.
After Nehemiah became the Governor of Judah he got things settled and working well, He was there for about 12 years. Guess what? He returned to his home in Babylon and Judah fell apart again. It was just like he hadn’t even been there! The presence of a strong leader makes all the difference in a country. Tobias the Ammonite, even moved into the courtyard of God’s Temple. The Jews were not keeping the Sabbath, were marrying pagans and had returned to their former corruption. Sometime round 432BC Nehemiah had to return to Judah. He chased Tobiah out of the temple area and threw out all of his things, Just like Jesus had to do. Nehemiah was a wonderful leader.
Nehemiah had all the princes and Levites sign a covenant to promise that they would not return to their former ways and activities. The people also agreed. His final words at the end of his book are, “Remember me my God with favor”. We are sure that he doesn’t have to worry.
