HARD WORK IN HARD TIMES -- REBUILDING GOD’S WORK AND GOD’S PEOPLE COMMENTARY ON BOOK OF NEHEMIAH GOD’S LEADERS MOBILIZE GOD’S TROOPS TO ACCOMPLISH GOD’S WORK ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD DESPITE GOD’S ENEMIES Paul Apple (May 2010) For each section: - Thesis statement ... to focus on the big idea - Analytical outline ... to guide the understanding - Devotional questions ... to encourage life application - Representative quotations ... to stimulate deeper insight
E. (Neh 12:27-47) CELEBRATION OF SUCCESSFUL REVIVAL / REBUILDING -- THE DEDICATION OF THE REBUILT WALL INVOLVED AN ELABORATE CELEBRATION BEFITTING THE CULMINATION OF SUCH A SUCCESSFUL REVIVAL F. (Neh 13:1-31) DEALING WITH SPIRITUAL SLIPPAGE REQUIRES CONSTANT VIGILANCE AND GODLY LEADERSHIP TO PURIFY AND RESTORE PRACTICES TO BIBLICAL NORMS (Neh 13:1-14) CORRUPTION OF WORSHIP – BOASTFUL PRIDE OF LIFE (Neh 13:15-22) SECULARIZING THE SABBATH – GREEDY MATERIALISM – THE LUST OF THE EYES (Neh 13:23-31) MIXED MARRIAGES – THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH
Kidner: Since Nehemiah’s natural bent was for swift, decisive action, his behaviour here is remarkable. It shows where his priorities lay. Yamauchi: Custom of mourners being seated (cf. Ps. 137:1; Job 2:13) Overcome with intense grief – this should be an emotional message “and wept and mourned for days;” Weeping not a sign of weakness – Jer. 9:1; Acts 20:19; Ps. 69:9; Rom. 15:3 Swindoll: I am deeply impressed with the fact that, though he possessed a position in the world, he had a heart that was very tender toward God. It is rare to find these combined strengths in a person. Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” James 4:9-10 “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Application: What does God want us to be weeping and mourning about right now? Are we content to just look the other way and go on about our business?? B. Spiritual Response of Seeking the Lord 1. Concentrated Approach Shutting out Distractions by Fasting – denying normal human appetites “and I was fasting” (Esth 4:16; Dan 9:3; 10:3; Zech 7:3-7; 8:19) Focusing on God in Prayer “and praying” 2. Covenant Access to a Sovereign King “before the God of heaven.” Privilege to have a personal relationship with the majestic ruler of the universe; Special covenant relationship enjoyed by Nehemiah Where do we turn for help? Psalm 3:4 “I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain.” Psalm 5:1-2 “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray.” Psalm 11:4 “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven” Just because you have the Vision and feel the Burden doesn’t mean that you always take action
Verb: chazaq (Strong’s 2388) -- “use one’s strength; put forth strength” – word used throughout Neh 3 for “made repairs” Neh 1:10 used for the strong hand of God; Neh 2:18 (ASV) “And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” Gen. 48:2 “When it was told to Jacob, ‘Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,’ Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.” Sweat Equity -- “to the work” Sam Ewing: Hard work spotlights the character of people; some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all. 1 Tim. 3:1 “If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do” Staying on Task -- “on this wall”
Example of Egyptians by contrast – Jews were afflicted and oppressed and cried out; response was to beat them and lay even harder burdens on them (“Hand Me Another Brick” – play on title of Swindoll’s commentary) – Exod 1 :13-14; 5:7-21 Example of Split of Kingdom – Rehoboam – 2 Chron. 10:1-11 – followed the foolish advice of the novice counselors who advocated an oppressive type of domineering rule; instead of following the wise counsel of the older elders who lobbied for kindness and compassion IV. (Neh 5:19) LOOKING FOR REWARD FROM GOD – CONCLUSION -- MODELING CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS “Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” Same plea repeated at the end of the book 13:14, 22, 31 A. Appeal to God’s Faithfulness
“Remember me,” - Many promises about future rewards; God will not forget His loyal servants B. Appeal to God’s Sovereignty “O my God,” C. Appeal to God’s Goodness “for good,” – comes down on the side of goodness; loves to give good gifts to His children D. Appeal to God’s Justice “according to all that I have done for this people.” Harvest Law still applies
Jim Drake: Commitments of a Leader 1. Commitment of Time – Nehemiah stayed on task for a long time (12 years mentioned here); look at how pastors hop around 2 Commitment of Sacrifice 3 Commitment of Compassion -- Understand where they’re coming from. Understand their strengths and weaknesses. Understand their limitations and personality quirks. And when you understand those things, have compassion on them rather than demanding things of them that they aren’t capable of doing. 4 Commitment of Humility Tim Olson: Integrity in a Corrupt World Introduction: The Temptations of Position and Power; keys to maintaining your integrity: (Neh 5:14-16) Focus on the Work ... Not the Perks (Neh 5:17-18) Focus on People’s Needs . . . Not Personal Rights (Neh 5:19) Focus on God’s Favor – Not Man’s Conclusion: Serve with Integrity
Nehemiah 6:1-19[[@bible:neh 6:1-19]] TITLE: GOD’S WORK PREVAILS DESPITE SATAN’S DEVIOUS TACTICS BIG IDEA: THE SCHEMING TACTICS OF GOD’S ENEMIES CAN NEVER THWART GOD’S PURPOSES INTRODUCTION: There are certain attitudes that can paralyze us and prevent us from accomplishing the work of God. Probably the biggest is Fear – fear of failure; fear of some type of opposition; fear of inadequacy; fear of what other people will think about what we are doing ... Coupled closely with fear is Discouragement – losing heart and wanting to quit the fight. Satan works overtime to create these attitudes of fear and discouragement – maybe you had to fight off these paralyzing attitudes this past week. Satan uses Deception to try to get us to disbelieve God’s promises and God’s resources and believe certain lies instead. He employs a number of devious tactics to promote Fear and Discouragement.
B. (Neh 6:17-19a) Relational Disloyalties that Threatened Kingdom Progress -- Enemy Tactic of Disloyalty (5) “Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him.” Those that we expect should be loyal to us cause us the greatest grief when they don’t stand by us C. (Neh 6:19b) Renewal of the Attacks “Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.” Breneman: Tobiah must have had many good traits, and some of the people were led astray by him; nevertheless, he was trying to hinder Nehemiah’s leadership. His involvement may be the most sinister aspect of the story. Only Nehemiah’s faith and clear-headed resoluteness equipped him for the challenge.
(Neh 6:5-9) False Stories – posing as friends concerned about rumors; open letter because it was intended to promote such rumors rather than help Nehemiah deal with them; - Rejection (Neh 6:8) – denial of the truth of these rumors - Prayer (Neh 6:9) – contrast between intended weakening effect that these rumors would cause and the strengthening that comes from God (Neh 6:10-14) False Prophecy – shut himself up under pretense of intense communion with God?? Now he has a word from the Lord; claiming that God had sent him 2. (Neh 6:15-16) The World’s Sorrow at the Work of God When the ungodly saw the evident blessing of God they lost their nerve; discouraged in their wickedness; we must not expect everyone to be pleased when God blesses His church; look at the self righteous elder brother of the Prodigal Son; look at the time of the Reformation and all of the conflict 3. (Neh 6:17-19) More False Brethren “Tobiah” – the Lord is good; son’s name = “the Lord has shown mercy” – had a nominal connection to God; kept up correspondence to nobles who supported him; related to some of them by marriage ties; trying to wear down Nehemiah’s resistance to false ecumenism and ruin
“and I had set up the doors,” Focus on Core Functionality “and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed” Gatekeepers – probably of the walls rather than the temple here Look at the importance of music in the realm of worship At least 18 references to singers and 8 references to giving thanks Not just an optional accessory – serves a core function - appreciate those who serve in this ministry - prayer for strong leadership here going forward - are we singing with all of our heart to the Lord Wiersbe: What good are strong new gates if nobody is guarding them and controlling who enters and leaves the city? What good are walls if the gates are open to every foe who wants to enter the city?
(Neh 7:43-45) Levites (Neh 7:46-60) Temple Servants and Sons of Solomon’s servants (Neh 7:46-56) Temple Servants (Neh 7:57-59) Sons of Solomon’s servants (Neh 7:60) Total “All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.” D. (Neh 7:61-65) Purity of Worship -- Legitimacy is a Key Issue -- Documentation Problems Purity of the church must be maintained III. (Neh 7:66-73) THE CONSECRATION OF GOD’S PEOPLE – THEY MUST PUT A PRIORITY ON THE HOUSE OF GOD BEFORE THEIR OWN HOMES A. (Neh 7:66-69) Strength in Numbers – People of God much stronger when assembled together
But the voice of truth tells me a different story And the voice of truth says “Do not be afraid!” And the voice of truth says “This is for my glory” Out of all the voices calling out to me I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth. We have many voices calling out to us – which voice will we choose to listen and believe? - Voice of Temptation - Voice of Inadequacy - Voice of Doubt - Voice of Humanism - Voice of Pride Truth floats my boat – there are many things we choose to celebrate in life – maybe some of you have recently celebrated a birthday; certainly the Olympic athletes are celebrating their great victories in the Vancouver Games – God’s people have special occasions that merit celebrations as well
Sacred Stewardship – which the Lord had given to Israel Privilege of protecting and passing along God’s revelation to others Application Oriented – who could listen with understanding – Tremendous Access America = Land of Opportunity Look at Bible smuggling ministries – many countries have limited access to God’s Word Do we desire to listen and understand and apply the Word of God? 7. Strategic Timing – on the first day of the seventh month Deut 31:11-13 Perfect time for the people to repent and make a fresh start in trying to follow the Lord:
standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Kidner: the royal reception given to the Word of God. This day was to prove a turning-point. From now on, the Jews would be predominantly “the people of a book” Sometimes we get so casual that we forget that even our posture says something – look at how the TV analysts are focusing lately on not just what someone says ... but their body language – What’s your posture this morning – How attentive are you to the Word? Everything was arranged and orchestrated to promote respect for God’s Word – thus encouraging submission and obedience Let’s say “Amen, Amen” before we even understand what God requires of us
Kidner: holiness and gloom go ill together . . . To be altogether joyful was the prospect held before the guests of God (Dt. 16:15), and words that went most naturally with “holiness” were not only “justice and righteousness” but “glory”, “beauty”, “strength” and “joy.” Swindoll: The people began to weep because they knew they were guilty. They thought back over the years they had lived with no spiritual guidance. They also recalled the sins of their forefathers that had caused them to fall into captivity. The depth of their guilt brought weeping. (And that’s a good sign, by the way. At times, guilt is an excellent motivation. Not all guilt is wrong. Sometimes God uses guilt to bring people out of sin and into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.) In this moment of guilt, Nehemiah stood and said, “Now stop that. God is forgiving. Let’s move on. This is a holy day. This is a day not to cry but to celebrate.” Famous Tom Cruise line: “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” We need to make sure that we move quickly from conviction of sin to a heavy dose of the grace of God and the sufficiency of His power and His resources
Incomparable, unchangeable You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same You are amazing God You are amazing God II. (Neh 9:7) HE IS THE GOD OF ELECTION AND TRANSFORMATION “You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham.” Abram = “the father is exalted” / Abraham = “the father of a multitude” (Gen. 17:4-5) Application: - Do you acknowledge God’s Sovereignty to do as He pleases or do you want to be in control? - Are you thankful for the way God has guided you in life and the changes He has brought about? Hymn: The Church’s One Foundation (200, vs. 2) Have Thine Own Way, Lord (372)
the Red Sea resounded down the corridors of history and echoed off each obstacle: “Of course not!” This is the story of the Exodus. Redpath: Confessions of sin and repentance are not things to be left in the background of Christian life, things that were only connected with the early days of Christian experience – far from it. It is the humble and contrite heart which God does not despise. It is the proud whom He knoweth afar off. If you avoid in your present Christian life a daily humiliation before God, you will soon become hardhearted, cold and indifferent to the things of God. God will never plant the seed of His life upon the soil of a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed where the conviction of his Spirit has brought brokenness, where the soil has been watered with the tears of repentance as well as the tears of joy. Days of great joy in the Lord are always accompanied by days of great humiliation in ourselves. How often the discovery of something new in the loveliness of the Lord Jesus has brought with it the discovery of some new corruption in our own hearts. Breneman: The exodus profoundly influenced Israel’s theology, especially in three areas: (1) in the way Israel viewed history as God’s acts and as a dialogue between
going to show that great contrast between our sin and God’s Goodness from the historical record of God’s gracious dealings with the nation of Israel. - God’s Goodness displayed over and over - Man is totally Undeserving because of his ungratefulness and disobedience and rebellion - So Why does God still remain faithful and shower His people with Goodness?? Because of who He is = He is Supremely Good Remember the rich young ruler who approached Jesus in Mark 10:17-18 “Why do you call me Good? No one is good except God alone.” This is the Gospel Message – Where sin abounds, God’s Grace abounds even more; His Grace is greater than all of our sin – not a license or encouragement to sin – but encourages us despite our failures to keep turning back to God for forgiveness and grace – His goodness endures forever 2 Tim. 2:13 “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
5 REPETITIVE CYCLES OF GOD’S AMAZING GOODNESS DESPITE MAN’S UNGRATEFUL REBELLION Historical review started last week in Neh 9 with this great prayer of confession of sin and testimony to God’s Covenant Loyalty. You remember it started with the Call of Abraham and the formation of the nation of Israel from the Book of Genesis (Neh then continued into Book of Exodus (Neh 9:9-12); then the giving of the Law and the preservation of the nation in the wilderness through vs. 15. [Last Week’s theme: 8 WAYS WE EXPERIENCE GOD’S COVENANT LOYALTY – PROMPTING OUR WORSHIP] Today we are looking at Neh 9:16-31 I (Neh 9:16-17) CONTRAST BETWEEN MAN’S REBELLION AND GOD’S GOODNESS – PERIOD OF NUMBERS AND WILDERNESS WANDERINGS A. Man’s Ungrateful Rebellion – Despising the Goodness of God Root Problem = Pride in establishing Self as the Ultimate Authority "But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;” In contrast to God . . . “our father” = talking about the people of God; we know that unbelievers refuse to recognize the authority of God and set themselves up as the
- Nice to eat fruit without having to cultivate the trees f. Summary: Great Satisfaction with the Abundance of God’s Goodness “So they ate, were filled and grew fat, and reveled in Your great goodness.” No limits to God’s Goodness III (Neh 9:26-27) CONTRAST BETWEEN MAN’S REBELLION AND GOD’S GOODNESS – PERIOD OF THE JUDGES A. (Neh 9:26) Man’s Ungrateful Rebellion – Despising the Goodness of God Casting Off God’s Authority "But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, and cast Your law behind their backs” very disrespectful Killing God’s Messengers “and killed Your prophets who had admonished them so that they might return to You”
Upside Down Rulership “Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please,” Man likes to think he can be autonomous; ruling over himself – but he ends up in bondage Upside Down Relief – Jesus came so that we might experience great peace “So we are in great distress.” Commercial: “How do you spell Relief? Rolaids” – brand of antacid; baseball season almost beginning – they used to sponsor the Major League Baseball award for top relief pitchers Breneman: God’s providential role in history is displayed with great care in this chapter. What humans may attribute to secular causes, the biblical authors understood to have derived from none other than the living God.
compassion for us; Ps. 149:4 “the Lord takes pleasure in His people” – Ephes. 3:10-11 God’s eternal intention and purpose is that He might show the riches of His grace through the church; Does God really care about my troubles? As we come to know our own sins, shame comes upon us; trouble: something weighing on your heart; think about it all day at work; saps your energy; takes away all your joy; sighing of heart
Brings up the question: Is there a different standard of participation for special music in NT times than in OT worship that was centered around the temple? Centralized worship vs decentralized – makes a difference in how much money we put into the splendor of the building; does it make a difference in terms of our approach to special music? Probably can’t afford to pay a professional orchestra to be dedicated to playing top level music Different contexts are going to call for a different level of quality control. Devoted Spirit – No question that same spirit of love and devotion and passion still applies With gladness – Heart of Joy With hymns of thanksgiving – Heart of Thanksgiving With songs to musical accompaniment – Heart of Devotion This is the essential aspect of worship – must be genuine, heart-felt; not just going through the motions You definitely want someone who knows the Lord and can sing with conviction from the heart. God is never pleased with just an external show; He always looks at the heart. Why do Christians get the reputation of being so glum – look at the exuberance that should be expressed in our worship. If our hearts are truly glad, we should do more than mumble the words of a song. Look at how excited we get when singing our college fight song at the football game. The triumph and victory of what Christ has accomplished for us should be reflected in our singing. 3. Diverse Musical Instruments – cymbals, harps and lyres Why no mention of musical instruments in the NT?? Some church groups would argue that musical instruments should not be used for accompaniment in this church age; that Christ advocated a very simple style of worship; that the content of our singing should focus mainly on the Book of Psalms. Seems that the Holy Spirit has given us a lot of freedom in this regard. Certainly God is still giving out musical gifts and talents and abilities – these should be used to the glory of God Eph 5:19 singing and making melody – 2 different words used Does instrumental music and accompaniment of our singing enhance our worship experience? Raises the question of what type of musical instruments would be appropriate? Why not drums? As long as you follow certain principles of worship:
“So I reprimanded the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?’” What is really important to you? Are you seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Spiritual Ministry Takes Priority Over Financial Support for the Leadership Roles “Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.” Notice he did not pay them first; he had them recommit to their proper roles for spiritual leadership and ministry; then he had the people perform their financial obligations Financial Support Depends on Faithful Giving on the Part of All of God’s People “All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.” Financial Support Requires Reliable Administration “And in charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen.” Looking for faithful men who could be trusted (Neh 13:14) CONCLUSION: PRAYER REFRAIN – SOLICITING GOD’S FAVOR “Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.” “Remember me” – this refrain occurs at the end of each of the three rebukes in Neh 13:22, 31 = basis for outlining the chapter Appropriate to expect God to show favor and reward such faithful behavior; not expressing any pride here; Nehemiah has put his life on the line in many situations and taken decisive action to further God’s kingdom purposes [Ruth 2:12 – encouraging verses] CORRUPTION OF WORSHIP REQUIRES CONSTANT VIGILANCE AND GODLY LEADERSHIP TO PURIFY AND RESTORE PRACTICES TO BIBLICAL NORMS
Paul Decker: Illustration: Need to Confront Sin, Reject Compromise, take stand for Righteousness A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft soothing voice, "Isn’t it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let’s negotiate the matter." Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, "I want a fur coat." "Good," said the bear, "that is a negotiable item. I only want a full stomach, so let us sit down and negotiate a compromise." They sat down to negotiate and after a time the bear walked away, alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach, and the hunter had his fur coat! Well, that goes to show that compromise is not always ideal, right? Confinement: Closing Off Opportunity “and made them swear by God, ‘You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.’” Nehemiah got them to make a commitment to change their actions Illustration: confinement efforts in the Gulf by BP to try to control the spread of the oil spill; important not to minimize the damage; not to cover up the problem; be truthful Consequences: Corporal Punishment and Shame “and struck some of them and pulled out their hair,” “Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me.” “chasing” him off Not exactly a model for parental nurturing (Neh 13:30) Consecration: Purification and Refocusing “Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task, and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits.” III. (Neh 13:31) REFRAIN OF SEEKING GOD’S FAVOR FOR COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP “Remember me, O my God, for good.” Theme of Remembrance
Duncan, Rick. Edwards, Jonathan. Fitzpatrick, Mark. Gentle, Derek. next to them.html Gephart, Dr. Keith. Gill, John. Guzik, David. Haak, Carl. Hamilton, Stephen. Harvey, Byron. Hippler, Scott. Johnson, John. Johnson, Phil. Jones, Jason. Lawson, Steve. Living Hope Church. Malick, David. Website: McGee, J. Vernon. Moore, David. Piper, John.