Nehemiah
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Have you ever built a sand castle?
If you have built a sand castle on a beach, you know that you have to be strategic in where you build it.
Build it too close to water and the tide may wash it away.
Build it too far away and the sand is too dry to build with.
It is helpful to have tools to build your castle.
If you have seen some of the intricate sand castle building competitions.
Canon Beach Or. holds an annual sand castle building competition each year.
There are divisions for everyone from amateurs to pros.
The pro division at the competition is given 5 hours to build their structure before being judged.
Everyone goes to the beach with the burden to build something beautiful.
In our story, we see Nehemiah had a burden placed on his heart for Jerusalem.
Nehemiah didn’t get there a say, let’s get to work.
As we will see, he gathered supplies, and made plans.
The pros building their sand structures have plans and designs laid out before they arrive to begin.
They face challenges along the way, sand not being the right consistency, temperature, wind, perhaps a stray seagull.
Nehemiah faced opposition from those who didn't want to see the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt.
While the builders of the sand structures rely solely upon their preparation and tools.
Nehemiah knows he has God’s help to overcome obstacles.
Despite the challenges the sand castle builders face, they must complete their structure within the time frame or they won’t have a chance to win.
Nehemiah knew the task at hand, and was determined with God’s help to rebuild.
Open your bibles to Neh 2:9-20
9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.
13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.
14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.
15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
17 Then 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.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
As I mentioned last week, the first miracle we see in this chapter was the kings initial response to Nehemiah.
He could have had Nehemiah banished, or even killed.
But instead he inquires as to what is causing Nehemiah’s sadness.
The next miracle is in the kings response.
Nehemiah says at the end of verse 8
English Standard Version Chapter 2
And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
As we come to verse 9, we see Nehemiah traveling to Jerusalem.
It is awesome to see that God not only provided for Nehemiah, but did so abundantly.
9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
Not only did the king allow Nehemiah to go, he sent him with a royal entourage.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
He likely displayed the kings banner all along his journey.
Ezra-Nehemiah The New Conquest (2:9–10)
the mention of an imperial escort further stresses Nehemiah’s role as a new political force to be reckoned with in the eyes of the regional establishment
Nehemiah arrives in style to Jerusalem.
This arrival gains the peoples attention because he arrives with the king’s authority.
A military escort would have drawn a significant amount of attention.
Some that attention was undesirable.
10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
The fact that Nehemiah mentions these names indicates that they were likely leaders in the land that he went to with the letters from the King.
We know from history, through other documents that have been found, that Sanballat was governor of the Persian province of Samaria in 407 BC, at that time he was advanced in age and had delegated much of his responsibilities to his sons.
These men that are introduced will cause a great amount of difficulty for Nehemiah.
Commentator Derrick Kidner
Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction and Commentary The Journey, Arrival and Night Survey (2:9–16)
These two men will throw a long shadow over the story. Both of them were men of influence and power
As you read through the book, we see these men popping again and again, causing problems for Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem.
There is added significance to the story through the places that are attached to their names.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite
The places tell more than where they were from, they tell the cultural background of these men.
Some commentators believe
Ezra-Nehemiah: A Mentor Commentary III. The Man of God Challenges Others (2:9–20)
The term Horonite refers to the town of Sanballat’s provenance, Horonaim of Moab
Others believe him to be from a region northwest of Jerusalem.
Ezra-Nehemiah: A Mentor Commentary III. The Man of God Challenges Others (2:9–20)
Tobiah the Ammonite is probably an official in Samaria.
What these places serve to do for us as readers, is to remind us of a longstanding conflict
The relationship between the Jewish people and that of the Moabites and Ammonites was not a friendly one to begin with.
Ammon and Moab were Lot’s sons,
You can read of the beginning of these people groups in (Gen. 19:36–38).
It was certainly not an appropriate or ideal situation.
The Israelites encountered the Ammonites on their way from Egypt to Canaan (Num. 21; Deut. 2:16–37).
During the period of the Judges both the Ammonites and the Moabites fought against God’s people (Judg. 3:10).
King David waged war against the Moabites (2 Sam. 8) and the Ammonites.
We know from Dt 23:3 that both groups of people were prohibited from entering the assembly of the LORD
3 “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever,
They were not allowed to be part of the formal worship.
The exclusion of both groups, the Ammonites and the Moabites, is due to their failure to provide Israel with the basic necessities in their sojourn in the desert and their hiring of Balaam to curse God’s people
You can read of that part of Israel’s history in Num 22-24.
There is a longstanding history of conflict and difficulty that continues into Nehemiah’s time.
Interesting though, and further showing the gracious nature of God,
The OT itself revokes this exclusion when Ruth showed love to Naomi, embraced her God, and became a full member of the Israelite community, even becoming the great-great-grandmother of David
This is an early example of the truth we now hold in
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When people turn to the Lord for forgiveness, He is faithful!
No matter the sin, when people faithfully turn to follow God.
When they embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior, God is faithful to forgive.
With Nehemiah now in the city, we see he was there three days before doing much of anything.
It likely took time to set up where he was staying, but more than that, Nehemiah was taking time to get the lay of the land.
On that third night, he goes with a few trusted men.
He says that he had told no one what God had put into his heart to do.
Why the secrecy?
Why did he have to survey the city at night?
He arrived with the blessing of the king after all?
The obvious reason has to do with the opposition that he had mentioned in verse 10.
Even having the king’s blessing, Nehemiah did not want any news to get back to them of what the plans really were.
Tobiah certainly had influence in the city.
As we will see at the end of this book, he even makes his way to having a chamber prepared for himself to stay in the temple!
Sanballat and Tobiah had allies in the city who would quickly report on his movements.
To state his purpose without any lead in, could give his enemies enough time to wage a smear campaign against him and turn the locals who are there against Nehemiah.
The people the city knew this man had come with the kings blessing, but they did not know his purpose yet.
Was he there to take more money from them?
Until he gauged the size of the problem for himself,
Nehemiah did not want to stir up trouble which would pose difficulties enough at any stage of the work, especially before it even began.
We see in verse 13-16 the description of the path that Nehemiah took in his nighttime reconnaissance mission.
In it we get a taste of the devastation and the magnitude of the project ahead.
Walls broken down, gates destroyed by fire.
At one point, the rubble was so bad that the animal that Nehemiah rode was unable to pass through.
I have included a map in your bulletin, you can see on the screen here as well.
Nehemiah only inspected the southern section Jerusalem during his nighttime expedition.
But it gave him enough information to move forward with the next step.
This nighttime mission ought to cause us as readers to give thought to examining that which God has called us to.
Remember, the broken down walls show the physical state of Israel, but they also show the spiritual state of the people.
In your own life, have you taken a trip around get the lay of the land of your own spiritual life?
I hope that your walls are not in the same state as Jerusalem’s here, but perhaps they are.
Perhaps you need a major overhaul in your life.
To make significant changes to bring yourself into a right relationship with God.
That first step is faith in Christ, that He has paid the price for your sins.
After placing faith in Christ though, we must still maintain our defenses.
As you examine your own spiritual life.
What weaknesses do you see?
In what ways are you prone to sin?
What are those areas that appear so difficult that you can not get through them?
As Christians, we are called to lives of holiness.
Peter writes
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
In our men’s study this week, we were discussing Romans 6.
One of our questions was in regards to how the passage helps us to battle temptation.
We often and easily forget that we have been set free from sin.
We don’t consider ourselves dead to sin and live to God.
We forget that sin is no longer reigning in us.
But we often live like it is and give in.
We forget that We are now instruments for righteousness.
do you know that your sin, past, present, and future, has been fully dealt with at the cross?
And your guilt was entirely removed through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead as well.
It is true.
I want to encourage each of you this week, take inventory of your spiritual walk with the Lord.
Is there sin in your life that keeps dragging you back?
Back to your old way of life?
Old way of thinking?
In those places where your find yourself coming up short, where you find yourself being drug back.
take action, and enlist the help of others as Nehemiah did after his survey.
When Nehemiah returned, he gathered the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
17 Then 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.”
He told them how the Lord was upon this project.
God is at work in your life.
He wants you to grow in your relationship with Him.
He wants you to grow in personal holiness.
More Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion Compromise: Natural Drift from Holiness
People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.
We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
Citation: D. A. Carson, quoted in “Reflections,” Christianity Today (7-31-00)
Nehemiah included himself as one in trouble with them.
He did not say, see the trouble you are in.
See the trouble we are in.
Nehemiah did not use external motivation to encourage the people to build.
Nehemiah did not promise prosperity with rebuilt walls.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.
The New International Version Chapter 2
Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.
King James Version Chapter 2
come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
It was an appeals to no longer be ashamed.
To apply this spiritually for ourselves.
The people of Jerusalem were motivated by their earthly citizenship and responded, as the story shows, by rebuilding the walls of their city.
We have a heavenly citizenship
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Are you proud of that citizenship?
Are you motivated to work enthusiastically for the realization of God’s kingdom here?
There is work to be done, walls to be rebuilt.
And the thing that we are building, is not something that can be destroyed.
Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
This is important, as he says in the next verse.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We must also remember Nehemiah’s attitude in this
The Message of Nehemiah: God’s Servant in a Time of Change 5. God’s Servant Testifies (2:9–10)
he believed it important to record in writing his profound conviction that everything was due to God’s arranging
The only power for anything to be accomplished is the through God alone.
The only way the wall will be rebuilt, the city restored, the people revitalized is through the power of God.
This is such an important thing for us a Christians today to realize.
The only power for change in our lives, change in our families, our church, our community, our country, is through Jesus Christ!
God sent his son that we might have new life.
Try as hard as we might, lasting change will never occur if God is not the one initiating that change.
Nehemiah planned everything as carefully as he possibly could,
but he affirmed that more than careful organization was necessary if Jerusalem’s walls were not to remain a heap of ruins.
God must work, and he did; that is why Nehemiah included in his written memoirs the first of many references to his greatest debt.
When other people took up his story he did not want this important truth to be marginalized:
Remember the end of verse 8 And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
He repeats this again in verse 18
Nehemiah 2:18 (ESV)
18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good,
Do you see that need in your own life?
God MUST work.
And He will!
None of this will be easy.
As we see at the end of this chapter, opposition comes knocking at the door.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
We have a 3rd character introduced in opposition to Nehemiah here.
Geshem the Arab, is added showing that the opposition really is coming from all sides.
North - East - South -
to the west is the Mediterranean sea.
Derek Kidner writes
Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction and Commentary Reactions to the Plan (2:17–20)
So, with already a hostile Samaria and Ammon to the north and east, Judah was now virtually encircled, and the war of nerves had begun. There was an edge to the taunts in the word rebelling, for a case could always be trumped up which might change the king’s mind and excuse an attack or an assassination.
These men Nehemiah says
English Standard Version Chapter 2
jeered at us and despised us
They begin their opposition by questioning the legitimacy of the task and their motives.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?
These questions designed to distract and deter Nehemiah are nothing new.
The same concept was used to tempt Eve.
Did God really say?
Sometimes opposition is a sign that you’re doing something wrong, but in this case, opposition was a sign that Nehemiah was doing something right.
While the enemies expressed the hatred of their hearts, Nehemiah expressed his faith in God.
20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah humbly declared that he was only a servant, and he humbly proclaimed that the outcome would be God’s doing, not man’s accomplishment.
Despite human opposition, the work would succeed because it was God’s work and it was God who had called Nehemiah and inspired him to do the work of reconstruction.
His declaration that the enemy would “have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem,” was a statement of fact.
As you begin to examine the spiritual state of your own life, you should expect opposition.
New stresses will come that were not there before.
Temptation to things we ought not do may become stronger.
That little whisper, you don’t need to worry about that to live a holy life.
Nehemiah pointed to the God of heaven who would make them prosper.
This is the same God that will help you to prosper in your own life.
As a Christian, Satan, and sin has no portion, no right, no claim over your life any longer.
You are a child of God, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus.