The Power of ONECry

The Angers Bridge was completed in 1839 and had been used successfully for eleven years to cross the Maine River in Angers, France. No one, particularly the engineers, would have believed that it would become the site of a terrible tragedy. It happened on April 16, 1850.

In the midst of a violent thunderstorm, 486 French soldiers were walking in cadence across the bridge. The combination of the swaying of the bridge in the storm and the powerful resonance created by the lock-step of the soldiers caused the suspension cables to snap, plunging 226 men to their death.

To this day, military ranks around the world break cadence when crossing a bridge so as not to repeat this disaster.

Why did this happen? There is amazing power in unity!

They were united in PURPOSE

The people were united:

All the people had a mind to work (2:18; 4:6).

All the people took the section of wall in front of their house (chapter 3).

All the people defended against the enemy (4:12-23).

The wall was built in 52 days (6:15).

(There are many discussions about the size of this wall, but most estimate it was 15 feet wide by 2.5 to 3 miles long!) It’s amazing what can happen—for good or bad—when people are unified. God has designed things to work that way.

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Why can so much get accomplished when people are unified? Because God designed His universe to be so! He has great, eternal purposes for His creation that are to be accomplished through unity. In fact, there are some things that will only be accomplished through unity.

But what does God want to do spiritually with our unity, and what does that have to do with us and the need for revival and awakening in our day?

Their Unity Produced SPIRITUAL POWER

Because of their unity in purpose that unity produced something amazing. The people joined together in prayer and the Spirit unleashed amazing power.

They All GATHERED (v. 8:1)

Nehemiah 8:1 ESV

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel.

They All LISTENED (v. 2-3)

Nehemiah 8:2–3 ESV

So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

They All AGREED (v. 5-8)

Nehemiah 8:5–8 ESV

And 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. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

They all MOURNED (v. 9)

Nehemiah 8:9 ESV

And 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.

They All RESPONDED WITH OBEDIENCE (v. 13-15)

Nehemiah 8:13–15 ESV

On 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. 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, and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.”

They all REPENTED (9:1-3, 4, 38)

The People

Nehemiah 9:1–3 ESV

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

The Leaders

Nehemiah 9:4 ESV

On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

They Committed themselves to God

Nehemiah 9:38 ESV

“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.

So, what will we do with this? We can point and blame all different groups and issues in our society for our problems, but God is waiting for us to unite in one cry.

And that begins with one person at a time, one church at a time. It’s hard to imagine a more important or needy time in our nation than right now! What is God asking for ... from you? from our church? from the churches in this city? from the churches across our nation?

A. T. Pierson said, “There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.”

Right in the middle of the people’s prayer of confession in Nehemiah 9 is tucked an insightful statement (v. 27) that tells us what the Israelites had done in the past. It reminds us what we must do . . . and do now:

Nehemiah 9:27 ESV

Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.

We may sit around waiting on God for revival and awakening, but maybe God is waiting on us! His compassion is the same. His desire is the same. His power is the same. Perhaps He is waiting for us to unite in one repentance and one cry to Him!