ROUTE 66 22. Destination: Nehemiah - Amazon S366/22.+Nehemiah… · Ezra 7 and he steps into the spotlight again in Nehemiah 8. The Book of Ezra covers a period of 80 years and records

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ROUTE 66

22. Destination: Nehemiah

Our road trip through the 66 books of the Bible brings us tonight to the book

of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is an incredibly important and radically relevant

stretch of road along Route 66 because it teaches us so many lessons

about the Christian life and the realities of serving in the Kingdom of God.

Nehemiah is a living illustration of the words of Paul in his first letter to the

Christians in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 16:9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me,

and there are many adversaries.

By way of Nehemiah’s journal the Holy Spirit inform us of the realities and

the nature of living on mission; that is, living on mission is in reality

engaging in the clash of 2 kingdoms! It’s the kingdom of God versus the

kingdom of Satan. Opportunities and open doors to advance the Gospel

are going to be met by opposition to the Gospel; opposition to those who

love Jesus and seek to make His name known. We need to understand

that Gospel opportunities are always going to include opposition to the

Gospel.

QUOTE: J. Sidlow Baxter — "There is no winning without working and

warring. There is no opportunity without opposition. There is no open

door set before us without there being many adversaries to obstruct our

entering in. Whenever the saints say let us arise and build the enemy

says let us arise and oppose. There is no triumph without trouble, no

victory without vigilance. There is a cross in the way of every crown that

is worth wearing."

The book of Nehemiah is closely linked to the Book of Ezra that we studied

last week. As we noted last week, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were

originally a single book in the Old Testament Canon. The book of

Nehemiah is essentially Nehemiah’s journal — in which we see his passion

for the mission of God. The book of Nehemiah completes the story that the

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book of Ezra started. Nehemiah was the third of the great post-exilic

leaders (Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah). Ezra is the crossover character

as he plays a significant role in both books. He comes on the scene in the

Ezra 7 and he steps into the spotlight again in Nehemiah 8.

The Book of Ezra covers a period of 80 years and records the rebuilding of

the temple. In 538 BC Zerubbabel led about 50,000 Jews back to

Jerusalem. It took almost 20 years to rebuild the Temple. In 458 BC Ezra

led around 1,400 Jews back to Jerusalem. Ezra begins to faithfully brings

the Word of God to the people of God. The man Nehemiah appears on the

scene in Jerusalem about 14 years after Ezra came on the scene.

Nehemiah shows up with a two-phase building project. The walls of

Jerusalem that been torn down approximately 150 years earlier by

Nebuchadnezzar. Even during the time Zerubbabel was rebuilding the

Temple, those walls were still in ruins. The city had no protection

whatsoever. In the ancient world there was a proverb that said: “A city

without walls is no city!” Phase I of Nehemiah’s mission: Rebuild those

walls. Miraculously — the walls that had been in ruins for 150 years were

rebuilt in 52 days! Phase II of Nehemiah’s mission: Rebuild the walls of

worship and witness in the hearts of the people. Ezra the scribe played a

big part in Phase II.

When we come to the last verse of Nehemiah (13:31) we come to the

conclusion of the chronology of Old Testament history. Again — Genesis

12:1-Nehemiah 13:31 is the timeline of the history of the Jewish people. At

the close of the Book of Nehemiah the Bible goes silent for some 400

years. During that 400 year period of time two things are happening.

1.

The fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. When we get into the Book of Daniel

we see how much of Daniel’s prophetic ministry foretold the geopolitical

events that would transpire during the 400 years between the close of the

Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament.

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2. During that 400 year period of time God was preparing the world for the

arrival of Jesus Christ. By the end of those 400 years of silence the fiercely

monotheistic Jews were living under the rule of pagan / polytheistic/

emperor worshipping Rome. Israel was waiting to see if the messiah was

going to come, and what in the world was going to happen when He does.

That 400 years of silence was broken by the voice of one crying in the

wilderness (Isaiah 40:3). We know him as John the Baptist (the cousin of

Jesus). He literally walks out of the Judean wilderness to prepare the

people for the coming of Jesus. He shows up dressed in clothes made of

camel’s hair (which were a comfortable as you are thinking) —

accessorized with a big leather belt. He lived on a diet of locust and honey

(not hard to imagine what the combination of honey/beard/bug legs looked

like). John began his ministry and Jesus arrived on the scene and the New

Testament begins.

For four centuries God had been preparing the world for the arrival of

Jesus Christ. During that 400 years Alexander the Great would conquer

the Persian Empire — Greek thought and the Greek language would

spread throughout that part of the world. He unified the western world with

language. Following Alexander the Great and the fall of the Grecian

Empire was the rise of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire did two

very important things that would serve the advance of the Gospel. 1.

They

conquered the then known world ushering in what historians labeled PAX

ROMANA — the Roman Peace. 2.

Rome established a road system that

connected the world. When Jesus Christ came on the scene in Jerusalem

He was crucified upon a Roman cross, He rose from the dead, poured out

the Holy Spirit upon a handful of believers, and He commissioned them to

go into the whole world with the message of the Gospel. The Great

Commission was essentially communicated by way of one language on a

road system that the pagan world had built for them.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth

his Son, born of woman,

In the fullness of time — God was at work preparing the way for His Son.

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So Nehemiah brings a close the narrative of the Old Testament. Every

other book in the Old Testament (23 other Old Testament books for us yet

to study) are related to the time frame of all the other books we’ve covered

up to this evening.

THE NAME Nehemiah — means Jehovah comforts. Keep that in mind

when we get to Nehemiah 13 where Nehemiah tells us that he confronted a

bunch of men, cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their

hair.

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH is big stuff for us because the life of Nehemiah

instructs us about the essential character traits for the man or woman

concerned with the mission of God, and the essential character traits of the

man or woman who would lead others on the mission of God (husbands,

parents, sibblings, peer leaders, business place)

1.

He was a man of prayer. 2.

He was a man of faith. 3.

He was a man of courage. 4.

He was a “finisher.”

By way of this Holy Spirit-inspired journal we learn that Nehemiah led by

personally moving in the call of God and the mission of God. He didn’t wait

for someone else to get things moving, and then pretend like he was a

leader. He was a leader, and when he got going people followed.

Again — you might not think of yourself as a leader because you don't

have a title or an official leadership role. But if you’re breathing, you’re in

some way a leader! If you’re a husband, you’re a leader. If you’re a parent,

you're a leader. If you have sibblings, you're a leader. Among your peers

you supposed to be a leader

1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the

believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

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I love the verse that we saw when we studied the book of Judges —

Judges 5:1-2 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on

that day: 2“That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people

offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord!

HERE’S THE POINT — The work of God is accomplished; the mission of

God advances, when the leaders will lead and when the people will

willingly offer themselves. We see that clearly throughout the Book of

Nehemiah.

This book covers a period of 15 years. In the course of those 15 years we

see Nehemiah’s life in three stages:

1.

Nehemiah, the cupbearer. 2.

Nehemiah, the wall builder. 3.

Nehemiah, the heart builder.

THE OUTLINE OF NEHEMIAH

The Book of Nehemiah divides naturally along the lines of Nehemiah’s two-

phase mission.

I. The Reconstruction of the Wall (Nehemiah 1-7)

II. The Restoration of the people (Nehemiah 8-13)

Chapters 1-7 cover a period of about nine months. The actual work of

rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem took just over seven weeks — 52 days.

Chapters 8-13 deal with Phase II of the mission. Nehemiah would stay in

Jerusalem for 12 years! In a very real sense, the mission has only just

begun.

The hardest part of the mission was saved for last. The focus of the

mission shifted from stones and wood to human hearts. God needed to

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rebuild and revive hearts. The physical walls of Jerusalem had collapsed

because there was a collapse of worship and witness among the people.

Proverbs 25:28 "Whoever doesn't have rule of their own spirit is like a

city broken down without walls."

God wanted to build a city within the city — He wanted to rebuild the walls

of worship and witness in the hearts of His people so that through them He

could continue to roll out His redeeming plans and purposes and bring the

Jesus into the world. Under the leadership of Nehemiah we see a great

revival break out in chapters 8-13 as a result of the ministry of the Word of

God through Ezra, the scribe.

The book of Nehemiah — especially chapters 8-13 is important for us

because in them God shows us that He saw Jerusalem as much, much

more than walls and buildings. It was the people inside the walls that were

precious to God. God intended Jerusalem to be the place where “the apple

of His eye” would worship Him and shine as witnesses of the One True

God in a world of idols.

HERE WE GO!

I. The Reconstruction of the Wall (Nehemiah 1-7)

Chapter 1 through Chapter 2:9 gives is the prelude to the reconstruction of

the wall. When we meet Nehemiah he is not a wall builder — he was a

cupbearer. Cupbearer was a position of great responsibility and privilege.

At each meal, he tested the king’s wine to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.

The pride and pomp of a monarchy required that those who stood close to

the king in public had to be handsome, highly cultured, well versed in the

court protocol, articulate and trust worthy — capable of advising the king if

asked. That kind of access made the cupbearer a man of great influence

— which could be used for good or for evil. It is really mind blowing to think

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that Nehemiah was in that position because he was the descendent of a

conquered people. His ancestors were Prisoners Of War.

A FEW REALLY IMPORTANT ELEMENTS for us here in this opening

section:

1.

God wants to use what you DO in order to get who you ARE into a

specific place where you can have gospel influence.

2.

Nehemiah’s mission was rooted in his faithfulness as a cupbearer to the

king — his faithfulness in a secular environment. Cupbearer is not a

ministry in the church (It would be a messed up church where the pastor

needed a cupbearer to taste his coffee to see if it was poisoned).

Nehemiah’s faithfulness in his secular job was critical to the advancing of

the mission of God concerning the city of Jerusalem — and Jerusalem is

central to the redeeming plans and purposes of God concerning the

coming of Jesus.

CHRISTIAN — God has strategically placed you right where you are for

His mission!

3.

Nehemiah spent his life serving King Artaxerxes, achieving and enjoying

high status and tremendous privilege within the kingdom. But all of that

changed in a day! God had Nehemiah in the palace as a cupbearer so

Nehemiah could become a wall builder! God was going to crash in to

Nehemiah’s life and in a moment Nehemiah was going to see that he was a

part of a greater kingdom, serving a greater king — and he becomes a

great missionary. That happened on a day that looked like any other!

NEHEMIAH 1

1….Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I

was in Susa the capital, 2that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with

certain men from Judah.

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These are some of the missionaries we learned about in the book of Ezra

And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had

survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3And they said to me,

“The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in

great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and

its gates are destroyed by fire.”

The work of rebuilding the city had come to a grinding halt — but the Holy

Spirit was working in the life of Nehemiah.

4As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for

days,

This is the starting point for the rest of the book of Nehemiah! Nehemiah

wasn’t looking for a “burden! He didn’t get up that morning asking God to

make him a missionary. But God set up this providential meeting!

Providence is the hand of God slipped into the glove of human affairs!

Nehemiah was just making conversation. The question he asked might

very well have been a conversation starter — Hey bro, so how’s life back in

Jerusalem? And in a moment God invades Nehemiah’s world.

This is where Nehemiah’s passion for the mission of God began.

Nehemiah is wrecked and weeping because he is able to see Jerusalem

as God sees it; because he shares in the very heart of God — the passion

and compassion of God concerning Jerusalem. That is how God “calls” us

to ministry — that is how God moves us to live on mission! The Christian

life is relational — it a human heart tied to the heart of Jesus. Nehemiah’s

heart is tied to the heart of God. How about your heart — my heart?

LESSON #1 — Before building there is burden. Before work there is

weeping. Effective ministry always begins with a burden.

QUOTE: Alistair Begg — There can be no hope of revival if there aren't

tears being shed.

I don't want you to misunderstand me here. Emotionalism ≠ burden!

Nehemiah didn’t hear this news and start to drum up some tears. We need

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to care! We need to care about the crumbled walls of worship and witness

in our own hearts. We need to care about the crumbled walls of worship

and witness in the church. So many people look for a church where they

get a big helping of “I feel good.”

QUOTE: William Still — Some want to have their lives sorted out BY

Christ but not FOR Christ.

LESSON #2 — Burden births prayer

The man who had such a passion for the mission of God understood the

importance of prayer in undertaking the mission. Nehemiah's prayer life is a

theme that runs his journal. His journal opens in a prayer and it closes in

prayer. His journal records 12 of his prayers.

Nehemiah knew that the only way to respond to the burden was to take it

before the Lord.

QUOTE: James Montgomery Boice — The first thing to do with a

burdened heart is to unburden it before the Lord.

John Bunyan — the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said — "You can do more

than pray after you've prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you

have prayed."

LESSON #3 — Before work there is waiting.

He sensed the call and he waited and prayed for FOUR months!

Nehemiah 1:1 "It came to pass in the month of Chislev”

Nehemiah 2:1 "And it came to pass in the month of Nisan." Chislev =

late November; Nisan = mid-March.

He waited until his heart was right – until the time was right… until then, he

just sat tight - and prayed. During those 4 months of prayer and fasting

Nehemiah began to plan for the ministry. When the opportunity suddenly

came for him to tell the king about his burden to go to Jerusalem, he knew

exactly what to share with the king. When the king asked him, What do

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you want? — he didn't say, “Uh, you know, I haven't really thought about

that!”

He spent four months praying and planning for the future ministry that God

was calling him to until one day. Chapter 2 records that day.

NEHEMIAH 2 2And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not

sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much

afraid.

It was an offense punishable by death to be sad in the presence of the

king.

Nehemiah understood the potential consequence of being sad in the

presence of the king — but he also realizes this is his opportunity. He

seizes the moment, and tells the king the burden God has placed on his

heart.

HERE’S THE POINT — Guys, it’s not enough to receive a burden. The

moment comes to act. You get it from God – take it seriously - bathe it

prayer – see it through Scripture – but then you’ve got to act.

3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face

be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins,

and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4Then the king said to me,

“What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5And I

said to the king,

Four months of prayer — now four seconds of prayer!

Nehemiah prayed about the work in Jerusalem. Nehemiah thought through

all that would be entailed in the work. I’m sure that in the course of those 4

months that he thought — HOW in the world can this ever happen? When

there seems to be no way — God has a way. The most powerful man in the

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world says, “What do you want? What do you need? What can I do for

you?

Nehemiah goes big! I want you to give me letters so I can travel freely and

that state I have your permission to build. The king said, Here’s your letter.

Nehemiah says, Thanks for the permit — but can I have another letter that I

can take to the lumber yards stating that I can have all of the materials

needed to rebuild this wall and that you're going to pay for it?

Look at Nehemiah 2:8

8 …. And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my

God was upon me.

In a day Nehemiah the cupbearer becomes Nehemiah the wall builder! He

walks out the doors of the palace and he walks onto the mission field.

The rest of chapter 2 deals with Nehemiah leaving Persia, traveling to

Jerusalem, surveying the damage, and sharing the vision.

DON’T MISS THIS — Nehemiah traveled the 800 miles to Jerusalem to do

the work of rebuilding the walls and the people. There are those who see

God’s mission — but they stop short of actually going out and doing what

needs to be done for the goal to become a reality. It happens every time

we study the Bible. Sometimes we substitute talking about the mission for

actually doing it. It’s a totally different thing altogether to actually go out and

do it. Our adversary the devil and his minions don’t mind as long as all we

do is plan and pray and talk — but when God’s people start doing

something that pertains to God’s glory, opposition is going to come.

After a two to three months journey to Jerusalem the first thing Nehemiah

did was to survey the damage. Nehemiah needed to see the city with his

eyes, see the real need — and it was a mess. The size of the mess didn't

kill the mission.

HERE’S THE DEAL —

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1. Without burden — without vision — and without a heart knit to the

passion of God and a passion for the glory of God — your going to walk

away from big messes. Nehemiah didn’t leave because he was convinced

of his calling and cared more about the glory of God than the size of the

mess and the sacrifice needed to complete the mission!

2.

Nehemiah understood that God is bigger than the biggest mess. He looked at the pile of rubble 15 feet high, 3 feet thick and 2 miles long —

and started calculating the materials needed.

I love the close of chapter 2

17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem

lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of

Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18

And I told them

of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of

the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise

up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

Bottom line — The mission of God involves work!

NEHEMIAH 3 records for us how the work got done! We see that the

people of God worked together in the mission of God. It's a radical, real life

picture of Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:16 NKJV from whom the whole body, joined and knit

together by what every joint supplies,

The Body of Christ is knit together by what every joint supplies,

according to the effective working by which every part does its share,

causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

THAT is how the mission of God moves forward. Ministry happens, the

Gospel advances, when every single member of the body recognizes that

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it's knit together in one body with one purpose with one head and every

part of the body does its part.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — When you're skipping out on church, when

you’re walking away from the Lord, you're ripping the whole body off

because you are part of the body of Christ — and God has a functioning

part for you to play within the body. If the church is going to accomplish

what God wants to do in this region you and I need to start walking with

Jesus. We need to stop flaking in our devotional life and prayer life. We

need to stop compromising in the things we watch. We need to stop

making excuses for why we aren't involved in the mission of God with our

time, talents and treasures.

Nehemiah 3 is a radical picture of what it looks like when everyone buys in

to the mission of God.

THERE ARE SOME OTHER BIG LESSONS FOR US in Nehemiah 3

1.

We see that people from various vocations and backgrounds were used

to rebuild the walls. There were priests working on the wall. There were

Levites. There were civic leaders — the intelligentsia. There were farmers

and family men. There were goldsmiths. There were perfumers! The

project was not contracted out to tradesmen. It was rebuilt by guys you

would never think of as builders.

2.

We see that people served where they were most effective. We're told

repeatedly in Chapter 3 that people worked right outside their own home.

They were personally vested in that work.

Christians — If you have kids, do you serve in children’s church?

Children’s Church should rock because parents are highly invested in the

spiritual lives of their kids. It’s kind of amazing that parents will pour hours

of time in their kid’s athletic endeavors (little league practice — 8 dads

coaching on one team — 8 skill stations the kids rotate through — every

practice devoted to different skils). Imagine if parents did that in children’s

church.

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3.

The people that were organized under the leadership of Nehemiah. No

one was running off doing his own thing. Sadly, there is there was one

group that refused to do anything.

5 ….but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

Put a star next to verse 5 — a note in your margin there that says “lame!”

These guys were so self-important that they weren’t willing to do any

manual labor — KJV put not their necks to the work of their Lord. What a

contrast to Paul the apostle who was willing to make tents for the sake of

the Gospel. How unlike Jesus — God incarnate — who was a carpenter

(Mark 6:3).

NEHEMIAH 4-6 deals with opposition.

Nehemiah 4:1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the

wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews.

The Holy Spirit inspired Nehemiah to pen this journal so that from it we

could get an insight into the schemes of the devil in this warfare.

2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are

familiar with his evil schemes.

That opposition to the people of God and the mission of God came from

without and from within. The external opposition from without came in three

forms.

1.

Mockery and ridicule (4:1-6) — If it weren’t for our pride, mockery and

ridicule would never be effective. But truth be told, we care about what

people think of us, we care about how they perceive us. Ask yourself this

question: What is the number one reason you don’t talk to someone about

Jesus? Answer — we don't want them to think we’re weird. We don't want

them to dislike us.

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2.

Threats — Sanballat’s absolute commitment to oppose the mission of

God escalated from ridicule to threats of violent terrorism.

Nehemiah 4:11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we

come among them and kill them and stop the work.”

We know so little of such opposition. Yet in modern church culture

Christians raise the white flag and walk away from the work.

By the way — all of that opposition was piled on top of physical fatigue. It

was on the heals of the threat of terror that the workers were running out of

gas

Nehemiah 4:9-10 9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a

protection against them day and night. 10

In Judah it was said, “The

strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much

rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”

Massive project! Rebuilding a wall 15 feet high, 3 feet thick and 2 miles

long. Ridicule! Threats of terrorism! Physical and emotional fatigue.

Everything seems to be coming apart at the seams.

Your adversary the devil never stops just because you’re frazzled.

3.

Schemes aimed at leadership (Nehemiah 6) — Out of shear desperation

the opposition moved from the people of God as a whole to the one man

leading the people of God.

QUOTE: Donald Campbell (Dallas Theological Seminary) — "They

launched a war on Nehemiah because they had at least come now to

see that he was the key to the entire project. Remove him from the

scene and the work would immediately cease."

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HERE’S THE DEAL — It’s crucial that we recognize the implications this

conspiracy has for us in the 21st century. If Satan can defeat a Christian

leader, he can cripple a whole ministry and discredit the cause of Christ.

Nehemiah 6 speaks to husbands — because they lead in marriage; Dads

and moms — because they lead their children; pastors — because they

lead the flock of God; ministry leaders — because they are extensions of

pastoral leadership; peer leaders — because you lead in social circles by

your example and actions; teachers, coaches, employers and supervisors.

You might not be aware of the opposition aimed at your marriage, your

family, your circle of friends, your school or classroom, your team or your

business. But when God is moving the work forward and milestones and

mission goals are being met, the leader becomes the high value target!

Far worse than that there was opposition from within (4:7-5:19). The

greatest threat to the mission of God is GOD’S PEOPLE DIVIDED. God’s

mission is brought to a grinding halt when God’s people are divided.

When our adversary the devil can’t stop God’s people and God God’s

mission by outward attacks and threats, he attacks the unity of the Body of

Christ. The unity of believers is a precious and powerful thing!

Psalm 133:1-3 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell

in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the

beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For

there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

God honors unity among the brethren. He pours His Spirit out upon hearts

united around the cause of God, the glory of God, and the wellbeing of the

people of God. Unity among the brethren is a powerful witness to the

reality of the coming of Jesus.

John 17:20-21 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will

believe in me through their word, 21

that they may all be one, just as you,

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Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the

world may believe that you have sent me.

John 13:24-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one

another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35

By

this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for

one another.”

The Bible is filled with the realities of how messy and hard life is — how

hard and messy things can get while laboring in the mission of God.

What was at the core of this division? Greed and selfish ambition gashed

the people of God and the work of God. Write this verse in the margin of

your Bible next to Nehemiah 5:1 and tuck it away in your heart.

James 3:15-16 NLT For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of

wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16

For

wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find

disorder and evil of every kind.

Living for self-interest and self-gain is absolutely counter-productive to the

mission of God. Remember, the mission was to restore the glory of God.

The rebuilding of the walls was actually rebuilding their witness to the world

—

Nehemiah 2:17 Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may

no longer suffer derision.”

HERE’S THE POINT — Selfishness gashed the main artery of the mission.

The very thing that Sanballat wanted to accomplish was being done from

within.

Nehemiah is a living example of how to combat selfishness and divisive

agendas.

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1. Bring the truth of God’s Word along side of the divisive actions and

attitudes. What the Word say? I need to obey that. Nehemiah reminded

the people of God’s commands concerning borrowing and lending.

2.

Be an example of the truth. Nehemiah reminded the people of the way he

served the people of God in the mission of God. He made no personal

profit in the project. He shared his food and provisions. He actually bought

men and women of slavery.

NEHEMIAH 6:15-16 15

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day

of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16

And when all our enemies heard

of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own

esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with

the help of our God.

II. The Restoration of the people (Nehemiah 8-13)

Chapters 1-7 cover a period of about nine months. The actual work of

rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem took just over seven weeks — 52 days.

Chapters 8-13 deal with Phase II of the mission. Nehemiah would stay in

Jerusalem for 12 years! In a very real sense, the mission has only just

begun.

The hardest part of the mission was saved for last. It was the hardest part

of the mission because of the materials Nehemiah had to work with — He

was no longer working with stones and wood. In Phase II he was working

with human hearts. God needed to rebuild and revive hearts. The physical

walls of Jerusalem had collapsed because there was a collapse of worship

and witness among the people.

As we come to this section of the book Nehemiah has gone from

cupbearer to wall builder — and now governor. In that role he will work

alongside of Ezra. And Ezra had a teaching ministry there in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah will bring Ezra's teaching ministry to the forefront of the nation.

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The Holy Spirit at work through Ezra’s teaching ministry will transform the

people's lives.

These closing chapters are absolutely jammed with truth that is so

powerful, so personal and so practical for our lives today.

I’m just going to touch on them.

NEHEMIAH 8 1And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the

Water Gate.

Church is more than a crowd. It is a gathering. When God is restoring

and reviving His people we don't just see crowded churches — we see

men and women gathering as one — coming with hearts set on God,

hearts desiring God

1 …. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of

Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel.

When God is reviving and restoring an individual He plants in their

heart a hunger to hear the Word of God. This was a large group of

people who were united — as if they had a single heart that was beating

for, longing to hear from God.

How were they going to hear from God? They knew that God had spoken,

that God had given them the book book — God had spoken to Moses and

Moses wrote it down. As we’ve learned in our ROUTE 66 series, Moses

wrote the Pentateuch (the five books): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,

Numbers and Deuteronomy. With one heart they said Bring out the book!

If God is reviving His people, if God is restoring His people, they need, they

desire, to hear from God. Is God reviving your heart?

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5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was

above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.

As the Bible was opened they stood in respect. They recognized the book

as their authority. Do we find in the posture of our hearts a respect for

God's word and a readiness to receive it?

8They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly (distinctly),

and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

God's word was read, then it was explained. That is exactly what

expository preaching is. You read a little bit of God's truth and you unpack

it, explain the meaning.

9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and

scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people,

“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all

the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.

Why did they cry? The light of God’s Word showed them how wrecked they

were. God’s Word will do that! Big God, small you — perfect God,

imperfect you. That's a good Bible study.

God’s Word should break us — and then our response should be to come

seek God for the grace and power to changed. That is the process on this

side of eternity.

13

On the second day

On the second day we see them doing the same thing they did on the first

day. Maintaining a revived heart involves a continuing in the very same

things brought about revival in the first place. Nothing flashy about that!

Nothing novel about that. THAT has always been the way God works.

QUOTE: Eugene Peterson — “Perseverance is a long obedience in the

same direction.”

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13On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people,

with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in

order to study the words of the Law. 14

And they found it written in the

Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel

should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15

and

People discovered how God wanted them to live (CH. 8).

NEHEMIAH 9

Nehemiah 9:1 1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month

It's the 24th

day! They were doing the same thing that they were doing on

the first day of the seventh month.

Real, ongoing, personal and corporate revival produces an insatiable

desire to know God, to love God, worship God and to be in community with

God's people!

Nehemiah 9:5 5Then the leaders of the Levites…. called out to the

people: “Stand up and praise the LORD your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they prayed: “May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!

As a result of the teaching the Word of God, people worshipped the God of

the Word.

Nehemiah 9 ends with

Nehemiah 9:38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in

writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our

Levites, and our priests.”

This covenant was their way of saying, “God, in light of your incredible

mercy and steadfast love for us, we are every one of us yours forever —

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and we'll write it down and we'll sign our name next to it. And the moment

we begin to think other wise, please discipline us!”

In light of the mercies of God the reasonable response is to say, “God, I'm

your man forever” not, “How much I can get away with?” but, “How much I

can give myself to you each and every day.”

NEHEMIAH 11-12:26 Deals with the repopulation of the city of Jerusalem

NEHEMIAH 12:27-43 Deals with the dedication of the walls to the Lord.

The people had dedicated themselves to the Lord (chaps. 8–10). They had

dedicated to the Lord all they were, all they did and all they could ever

hope to become. Now it was time to dedicate the work that the people had

done. This is always the correct order. It’s no good to dedicate walls and

gates, or buildings, if the people aren’t dedicated to the Lord!

Nehemiah knew that the restored walls were not first and foremost about

man and for man. He knew that those walls were all about God. He knew

that those walls would have never been rebuilt and restored without God.

It was God‘s mission to rebuild the wall. Nehemiah knew that it was God

who broke into his life and broke his heart over the condition of the wall.

Nehemiah knew that it was God who gave him a vision for the mission.

Nehemiah knew that it was God who enabled him and his team to finish the

wall in 52 days.

Nehemiah wanted to remind the people that the rebuilt wall was not about

them and not for them. Nehemiah wanted God to be honored and glorified

every time the people looked at that wall — it had been in ruins for 150

years but God restored it and they got to be a part of that work!

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Nehemiah not only wanted them to see that the wall was all about God, he

wanted them to see that the restored wall was for God — for His use and

for His glory! The wall of was intended to protect that which was dear to the

Lord. It was to protect His people and provide a secure place for them to

worship Him. It was to protect the place where He met with them and

where they met with him — the temple.

In that scene we see the people standing on what God had built and they

worshipped Him there!

What an awesome picture. Has God built your marriage, re-built your

marriage? Has God built your family, re-built your family? Has He built your

educational life, or re-built it? Has He built your business, or re-built it?

Then 1.

DEDICATE it to the Lord — because that which He has rebuilt is all

ABOUT God and it is all FOR God. 2.

STAND ON what He’s built/rebuilt —

STAND IN what He’s built/rebuilt — and GIVE THANKS!

CLOSE

I will leave you with this — The beginning of Nehemiah gives us the start

date for one of the most important prophesies in the whole Bible — the

prophecy of Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:24 KJV “Seventy weeks (NLT - A period of seventy sets of

seven) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish

the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make

reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and

to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25

Know

therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment

to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be

seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (69 sets of seven).

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Nehemiah 1 is the start date of that prophecy. A man by the name of Sir

Robert Anderson wrote a book called The Coming Prince in which he did

extensive research to find the start date. He discovered that Artaxerxes

issued the decree on March 14, 445 B.C. Sixty-nine sets of 7 years = 483

years. Using the 360 day calendar year of that era works out to 173,880

days. Start at March 14, 445 BC and go forward 173,880 days and you will

come out to the 10TH

of Nisan 32 AD on the Jewish calendar (April 6, 32

AD on ours); the Sunday BEFORE Passover in the year 32 AD.

That was the day Jesus road into Jerusalem —

Luke 19:37-42 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent

of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to

rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that

they had seen; 38

Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name

of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. 39

And some of the

Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy

disciples. 40

And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these

should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. 41

And

when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42

Saying,

If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which

belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.