A Study in Nehemiah Week 3

 

Earliest use of "Israel"

(Get your Bible and follow along as we study. In this case, just read all of chapter 7)

Chapter 7

Record keeping in the church has come into disrepute. Reading Nehemiah 7 one cannot avoid the conclusion that God’s leaders should be exceptional record keepers. In fact, much of the Bible is about record keeping. It is, in fact, the record of God’s character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

God relishes numbers. He wrote a whole book called “Numbers.” In it He spends a lot of time describing how Israel’s tents were laid out on the plains. Why would he do such a thing? Well, think of their layout, then think about what Balam saw when he went to curse Israel. God had been careful to show that they were laid out in the shape of a cross. Balam could not curse them.

In this book we have already seen how Nehemiah carefully and deliberately organized the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He delegated and he led. His mission was thereby accomplished.

In Chapter 7 we see more evidence of a leader organizing Jerusalem for growth. We see the porters, the singers, the Levites (assistants to the priests) and the co-“mayors” (one for governmental leadership, the other for protection).

We see that God, through Nehemiah, wanted His people to increase in number. Nehemiah found a register of the genealogy of the people and with it he designed a plan to populate Jerusalem. What if those record had not been kept?

It is so important to God that His people keep a record of His involvement in their lives that He lists those who were to increase the Population of Jerusalem. He embarks on what might be considered a boring list of names and leadership positions. But if you really understand what God is doing, it suddenly reveals His unsurpassable “genius.”

In our churches we used to keep records, just like God expects us to do. For instance in Sunday School we used to take attendance, check on tardiness (any idea why? There is a reason; a good one. Can you think of what it might be?), check on studying the lesson, on daily Bible reading, on giving, on worship attendance and “visitation.”

Someone who did not know their Bible or the character of the God we serve, decided that this emphasis on record keeping was somehow “unspiritual.” In effect they said, “Who cares?” Well, God cares, that’s who cares.

Group leaders (such as Sunday School teachers) should have an objective idea of the spiritual development of their class. Do some members need encouragement to be more regular in attendance? Do some need to understand the importance of not being disruptive? Do some need to know what’s going to be discussed in class before the class takes place?

Maybe some need to be encouraged to read God’s Word more regularly. They certainly should be encouraged to join together in worship. Many may need encouragement to give as the Lord lays on their hearts. And we should all be visiting the lost, the home-bound, the sick and those with other needs. Is all of that happening in your church? How do you know?

Why do we disparage what God has ordained? Few of us have considered organization, record keeping, progress checking and the like as spiritual.

Newsflash! God has demonstrated that record keeping is important! Careful record keeping results in Godly growth.

He has given us a record of His plan of salvation in the Bible. What would we do without it? If we believe Jesus is God and that He organized creation (John 1:1ff), and if we believe we are to be His followers, does it not behoove us to follow his example of keeping good records?

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-That's When He Steps In-Alvin Slaughter

A Study in Nehemiah - Week 2

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Chapter 6

Verses 1-4 – The wall was done except for the doors to the gates. Sanballat and his cronies pretended to want to make a deal with Nehemiah, but he knew them well enough to know that they meant him harm. Sanballat persisted, but Nehemiah was persistent, too.

Often Satan uses the “If you can’t beat them, join them” method to do his work. He tries four different approaches to get Nehemiah to compromise. They proposed a meeting in Ono, to which Nehemiah responded, “O, No!”

Verses 5-9 – Sanballat, liar that he was, accused Nehemiah and the Jews of plotting to overthrow the king. He said that was why they had built the wall. Nehemiah refused to be swayed from God’s work. He prayed for strength. Good idea for him and a good idea for us.

Nehemiah is pressured full bore by Sanballat, who circulates the false report about Nehemiah’s supposed intent to commit insurrection through gossip. Nehemiah respond by calling them liars.

Verses 10-12 – Shemaiah, the paid false prophet, had shut himself in his house and would not come out. Nehemiah perceived that Shemaiah had been paid by Sanballat to frighten him. He realized Shemaiah was not on his side.

Verses 13-19 – The building of the wall is completed, but the opposition still persists. Tobiah, who had apparently married one of the nobles’ daughters, sent intimidating letters to Nehemiah, in an apparent effort to bring dishonor to his name.

Here are some things to note about this chapter.

Nehemiah was well organized as is God. God wants His people to be organized. Organization is not evil, nor is it unspiritual. It is a way to get things done. Organization is nothing more than putting your socks on before you put your shoes on.

Nehemiah was not swayed by the naysayers. He knew what he needed to do, he planned it out, he delegated the work, and he reviewed the work. God’s people are to plan, coordinate and evaluate the work of the Kingdom of Christ.

Nehemiah was not afraid to “get his hand dirty.” He joined in the work. He helped those he had delegated. Christian leaders are to be involved wherever they are gifted. That might be teaching, singing, counting money…whatever he asks others to do he must be willing to help with.

Nehemiah was certain of God’s leadership. He did not falter in the face of adversity. He kept on keeping on.

Nehemiah would not want you to focus on him. He would encourage you to focus on God. God used both Nehemiah’s willingness and Nehemiah’s attackers to accomplish His work.

Nehemiah demonstrates the tremendous freedom we have in Christ. We have the freedom to do His work, even in the face of adversity.

Nehemiah showed that the Lord initiates the work and uses human perspiration to accomplish His tasks. A work started with man’s “perspiration” will smell bad. A work started with God’s inspiration will smell sweet.

Nehemiah overcame the temptation to compromise with the world. He was not swayed by false accusations and slander. He recognized the “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Nehemiah would do nothing that interrupted the work of the Lord.

Jesus could have allowed His work to be interrupted, but He did not. When he cried, “It is finished,” He proclaimed that He had seen His mission out to the very end.

Aren't you glad He did?

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-There is Grace-Lara Landon

Twelve Things (But Not Everything) You Need to Know

Twelve things you need to know about God 

1.  God is the Creator and Supreme Being of everything that there is.

2.  God is totally righteous beyond anything we can begin to imagine.

3.  God is sovereign, that is, He can act on His own without man’s permission.

4.  God knows everything there is to know…everything…no exceptions.

5.  God is everywhere at once.

6.  God is more powerful than all of the atoms of the universe.

7.  God exists in a triune nature: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

8.  The concept of the trinity cannot be fully understood but is imminently Scriptural.

9.  God is perfectly fair. If He and I disagree about fairness, I am wrong.

10. God totally loves His creation in a way that His creation will never understand fully.

11. God loves individuals (including you) as much as He loves all of creation.

12. God wants a personal relationship with you.

Twelve things you need to know about Jesus Christ 

1.  Jesus is 100% God.

2.  Jesus was 100% man.

3.  You will drive yourself crazy if you try to understand that.

4.  The man who was born in Bethlehem was named Jesus.

5.  Christ is the title given to the one who would bring salvation to the world.

6.  Christ is the Greek translation of the Old Testament Hebrew word for Messiah.

7.  Jesus was God incarnate and came to show us God, to live among us without sin, to be crucified, to die, to be buried and to rise from the grave. By Him sin is atoned for.

8.  Jesus is God; the Second Person of the trinity.

9.  Jesus is the Living Word through whom God created all that exists. (John 1:1-ff)

10. If you know Christ, you know God.

11. To know Christ, you must repent of sin, place your trust in, and only in, His finished work at the cross of Calvary.

12. By God’s grace you are saved when you place your trust in His Son, Jesus, Christ.

Twelve things you need to know about the Bible

1.  The Bible is God’s written Word and was inspired by Him.

2.  There are 66 books in God’s Word, written by 40 different men of different ages and at different times.

3.  The Bible contains things about you, but it is not about you…it is about God.

4.  Everything you need to know about God is in the Word of God. Nothing you need to know about God is not in the Word of God. Anything you think you know about God that is not in the Word of God, you just made up.

5.  The books of the Bible are in the Bible because each of them totally conforms to all of the others. (Many other books, such as the “Apocalypse of Peter,” the “Gospel of Thomas” and other writings are not included because they do not conform to the others.

6. The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

7.  The Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

8.  The Old Testament’s purpose is to record God’s choice of Israel as the nation through whom the Messiah (Christ) would come to bring salvation to the world and to point to Him.

9.  Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are about Christ.

10. Old Testament believers were saved the same way New Testament believers are saved: by trusting in Messiah. 

11.  There were 7 covenants in the Old Testament: The Edenic Covenant; the Adamic Covenant; the Abrahamic Covenant; the Noahic Covenant; the Land Covenant (Palestinian); the Mosaic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. Some were irrevocable, some were revoked by Israel.

12.  There is 1 covenant in the New Testament: The covenant made through Jesus Christ. The New Covenant supersedes all other covenants and renders them obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13)

A Study in Nehemiah Week 1

A Study in Nehemiah Week 1 (Get your Bible and follow along as we study.)

Nehemiah OUTLINE:

I. REBUILDING the WALLS,

Chapters 1 — 7

A. Nehemiah’s prayer for remnant at Jerusalem, Chapter 1

B. Nehemiah’s request of the king, return to Jerusalem, and review of ruins of Jerusalem, Chapter 2:1-16

C. Nehemiah’s encouragement to rebuild the walls, Chapter 2:17-20

D. Rebuilding the walls and gates, Chapter 3

E. Nehemiah’s response to opposition, Chapters 4 — 6 
Wall completed, 6:15

F. Nehemiah’s register of people, Chapter 7 (Only 42,360 people, 7,337 servants, and 245 singers returned.  Compare this with the fact that Judah alone had 470,000 warriors [1 Chronicles 21:5].)

II. REVIVAL and REFORM,

Chapters 8 — 13

A. Great Bible reading led by Ezra, Chapter 8

B. Revival — the result, Chapters 9, 10

C. Reform — another result, Chapters 11 — 13

Chapter 1

Verses 1-4 – Nehemiah and Ezra were likely written by the same person. Nehemiah asks some visitors about Jerusalem and learned that the walls and gates are in shambles. He weeps, mourns and fasts and then prays a very simple prayer.

Verses 5-11 – This chapter records  the prayer. “Terrible God” is properly translated “Reverend God.” The word “Reverend” should never apply to a person, it should be applied only to God. Nehemiah confesses (6-7), reminds God of His promises (8-9) and casts himself on the mercy of God (10-11).

Chapter 2

Verses 1- 10 – The cup bearer was the one who tested the king’s drink to ensure that it was not poisoned and was of good quality. King Artaxerxes grants Nehemiah’s request for time off to build the wall and offers him whatever he needs to get the job done.

Verses 11-16 – Nehemiah estimates the size of the job he has undertaken and plans the job ahead. As we will see, he also coordinates and evaluates the job, both as it is being done and when it is finished.

Verses 17-18 – Nehemiah selects key leaders to whom he reveals his plan to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem.

Verse 19 – Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem ridiculed the plans. No doubt they said things like, “Nehemiah, you are over organizing this thing. You should spend your time worshiping God, not doing this unspiritual thing. We’ve never done anything like this before and we shouldn’t be doing it now.” They probably said, “This job is too big and we’re too small in number. We’ll never get the job done.”

Verse 20 – Nehemiah’s answer is brief, but to the point. “The God of Heaven…,” the one who organized all of creation, “…will give us success.”

Many church leaders: pastors, deacons and others, hate the difficult business of carefully thinking through a plan before they implement it. They consider planning to be unspiritual. They feel the same about organization and structure. Somehow, they believe God works by magic or genie-ism (my brand new word).

Anyone who reads anything between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21 and does not see total organization as one of God’s characteristics needs to go back and take 3^rd grade reading over.

If we organize like God and follow His method of planning, He will enable us to accomplish what He wants done. We cannot skip steps, skimp on planning or coordinating or fail to evaluate as we go and expect Him to let us proceed. We must follow His ways and not our own.

Ezra Continued

The Hebrews placed Ezra-Nehemiah in the Writings just after Daniel and just before the books of Chronicles.

There were three specific returns of Jews to the land of Judah.

The first was led by Zerubbabel and involved an initial rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The second was led by Ezra who oversaw the rebuilding of the Temple and the reinstitution of the sacrifices.

The third was led by Nehemiah and involved the rebuilding of the defensive walls of Jerusalem.

There are three major points to Ezra:

 1. The Sovereignty of God. The Lord is seen to be directing the events of history as He moves pagan kings to do His will (Proverbs 21:1).

2. The Continuing Need for a Land. God’s plan called for a return of the Jews to the land. They had been taken away as a punishment for their idolatry. They are now brought back so that they might serve Him and worship them in the land. This would be necessary so that the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem.

3. The Grace of God.  He was bringing the people back into the land to give them another chance to serve Him and to follow Him. They had formerly sinned in their idolatry. Now there is a call to renewed purity.

Ezra is a book of covenant renewal. The people return to their covenant relationship with God and renew their promises to follow Him.

Ezra can be outlined like this:

A.  Chapter 1 – 6: The First Return to Jerusalem under Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel

                       

Chapters 1 – 2: The Return from Babylon

                                    Chapter 1: The Edict of Cyrus

                                    Chapter 2: The Exiles who Returned

                       

Chapters 3 – 6: Rebuilding of the Temple

                                    Chapter 3: Construction Begun

                                    Chapter 4: Construction Opposed

                                    Chapter 5: Construction Delayed

                                    Chapter 6: Construction Completed

           

B.  Chapters 7 – 10: The Second Return to Jerusalem under Ezra

                        Chapters 7 – 8: The Return from Babylon

                                    Chapter 7: The Decree of Artxerxes

                                    Chapter 8: The Journey to Jerusalem

                        Chapters 9 – 10: The Restoration of the People

                                    Chapter 9: The Problem of Mixed Marriages

                                    Chapter 10: God’s Solution to the Problem

In this post we will deal with chapters 7-10.

Chapter 7

Verses 1-10 – Our first introduction to Ezra is in the seventh chapter of the book that bears his name. We see Ezra's priestly pedigree. We also see that he was a student of the Word of God. We no longer need the office of priesthood, because we are each priests in every sense of the word. As priests, one of our duties is to feed on the meat of the Word of God.

Verses 11-26 – King Artxerxes sent a letter to Ezra giving him permission to bring the Jews to Jerusalem, their most sacred place of worship. Our place of worship is in our hearts and in the church. The word for church in the Greek is ekklesia, meaning “the called out gathered”.

Chapter 8

Verses 1-14 – This is the roster of who Ezra brought with him to Jerusalem. It is meticulous. Meticulousness is part of God’s character. It is what brought the universe into being. If He were not meticulous, our salvation would be in doubt or altogether impossible. It was His perfect plan that afforded us salvation in Christ.

Verses 15-36 – Here we have the detailed account of the trip to Jerusalem.

Chapter 9

 Verses 1-15 – In these verses, we find Ezra in deep sorrow over the intermarriage of the Jews with pagans. He prays exhaustively about this sad situation. God required His people to be pure; perfectly pure from morning to night in every possible way.

With respect to marriage, God knows that when one of His unites with someone who is not his it is difficult to raise the unbeliever up (unless he turns to Christ in faith). Most often the believer is brought down, emotionally and spiritually. That is why Paul wrote: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

In the Bible, marriage is always a picture of our relationship to God. It is to be like the union of Christ and the church, for whom He died. God hates divorce because it pictures that Christ’s love for the church can somehow be broken.

The Jews were semi-pure at times and very impure at other times. Like us, they just could not keep God’s law perfectly.

When Ezra was informed that the people had sinned against God by marrying their heathen neighbors, he learned that the leaders (priests, Levites, princes, and rulers) had "been foremost in this unfaithfulness." The very people charged with the responsibility of modeling obedience to the law violated that trust by transgressing the law. Their disobedience no doubt emboldened others to do the same. We must keep in mind that God will hold leaders accountable for the example they set.

All the time, God was revealing His plan of salvation, as he forgave Israel over and over again for their trespasses.  He forgives us our trespasses through the shed blood of Jesus at the cross of Calvary.

Chapter 10

Verses 1-17 – Ezra’s actions and prayer had a tremendous impact on the people. Their consciences were awakened to the seriousness of the problem.

Shecaniah stepped forward to make a penitent proposal. He was a man who was not only willing to admit sin, but to do something about it. He proposed that the offenders "put away [divorce] all the [pagan] wives and their children."

While this proposal seems harsh by modern standards, the religious identity of the Jewish people was at stake. Shecaniah exhorted Ezra to act on his proposal and promised him the support of the people. Ezra responded by calling upon the people to take an oath to put Shecaniah's proposal into action.

Verses 18-43 – This list of those who had intermarried shows that none of them were able to hide their sin. They were exposed.

Sin is not to be trifled with and it cannot be hidden from God. When man sins, his only recourse is to repent and trust fully in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

HAPPY NEW YEAR