Step 3—Rebuilding Through Commitment
Rubble to Restoration: A Study in Ezra and Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Introduction:
What does devotion mean to you?
Ch. 9:38-10:29) Committed to follow the Word of God
Ch. 9:38-10:29) Committed to follow the Word of God
With the spirit of revival sweeping throughout this Jewish community, the leaders of the returnees made a decision to write out the commitment they were making to the Lord in a binding document. I believe that they felt strongly that a written document of their commitment would be more meaningful and also more likely to be kept than a simple verbal agreement.
This document was signed by the leadership of the people.
The priestly leaders, numbered 21
The Levite leaders, numbered 17
The political leaders, numbered 44
The rest of the people didn’t sign, but verbally agreed to follow God, to make His Holy Word the basic law of the land. Even the children who were old enough to understand gave their verbal agreement to the document of commitment. The really cool part of this was that the foreigners who had turned to the Lord by faith and separated themselves from their wicked neighbors were also included.
The stated purpose of this agreement was twofold.
The people wanted a sworn oath from every citizen of their community, an oath that they would obey God’s law.
They wanted every citizen to understand that God’s curse would fall upon them if they disobeyed.
Essentially they wanted to make absolutely sure that everyone understood the document and that they would take this seriously and obey God or face his wrath.
Application:
As a church and family, we hold to the foundation of God’s Word, and believe that we should obey His commandments.
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Family it is the Word of God that should instruct us how to live. It is His Word that tells us how to live moral, righteous, and just lives. How to live productive lives. How to be caring and compassionate. How to have true peace and security. That we should have a high regard towards the sanctity of life.
This is the kind of life Nehemiah and the returnees desired And this should be the kind of life that we should crave too.
Listen to what the Word of God can do for us, if we are willing to submit to it.
Obedience to the Word of God set the foundation for our belief in God and...
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
Another good passage to helps understand the importance of this:
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Obedience to the Word of God will help us to live a righteous and just life, a life that rejects sin and iniquity.
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
The Word of God is the instrument Christ uses to establish the church and the means by which He cleanses and sets apart the church.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The Word of God is the way to establish biblical respect and brotherly love.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
The Word of God tells a person how to receive life in Christ and how we have assurance of eternal life.
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
The Word of God gives us hope.
4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Obedience to the Word of God builds spiritual maturity.
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
The Word of God warns of the consequences of being disobedient to the Word of God.
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
The Word of God teaches us how to be wise
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
7 Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son,
But a companion of gluttons shames his father.
The Word of God delivers people from the bondage of sin.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For further study check out the rest of Romans 6.
The Word of God lays the foundation for being truly successful and prosperous.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
v. 30) Committed to be set apart
v. 30) Committed to be set apart
The covenant agreed to was a binding commitment to keep the family holy, set apart to God. No returnee was to marry a person from any of the surrounding nations, that is, an unbeliever. In fact, the Law of God clearly stated that such intermarriage was strictly prohibited.
[Deuteronomy 7:1-4; Joshua 23:11-13]
We might ask ourselves why was God so forceful in forbidding His people to marry unbelievers? Because the effect of intermarriage is serious. Through intermarriage two distinct people become one:
16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
When two people are married, they separate themselves from all others and commit their lives completely to one another. Throughout the years, they influence one another. Eventually they begin to adopt the same beliefs and behaviors, and focusing on the same goals. This is only a few reasons why believers should not marry unbelievers.
If they were allowed to marry unbelievers, they would more easily swayed from the Lord and His Word. This was a significant decision being made by the returnees.
[example: chair]
Family you might has married an unbeliever, know that you will face a variety of problems and hardships. You will be temped to be influenced by the unbeliever and enticed to give into sin. Children make thing much more difficult too, one parent wants to go to church while the other doesn’t see the need. So raising kids can be very tricky.
Application:
Family, as we walk day by day, we are constantly bombarded by the seductions of this world, the enticements to give in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-16). It takes focus and strong effort to control our thoughts and our bodies and to continually seek the to grow in Christ. It is going to take diligent effort to walk faithfully and victoriously.
We are continually having to wage war against the Devil, the world, and our flesh… Because of those things we need help from other believers, and in particular the help of a godly spouse.
[Youth Group] Don’t recreationally date… its stupid. Dating needs to be intentional.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
v. 31) Committed to observe God’s ordinances
v. 31) Committed to observe God’s ordinances
The covenant agreed to observe the Sabbath and all other holy days. Keeping the Sabbath was a distinctive practice of the Jews, an observance that was not kept by the other nations. To the other nations and people, the Sabbath was just like any other day. Nothing was distinctive about it. Activity and business continued as usual.
Only the Jews adhered to this command. Setting aside a day for rest and meditative worship of their God. This law was one of the basic 10 commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). The leadership of the Jewish returnees knew there would be constant pressure from the unbelievers to conduct business on the Sabbath. There would be a strong pull to open up their shops and business on a day set apart to the Lord.
What I love about this verse too is that they made a commitment to observe all the holy days as well as the Sabbatical year. This was significant… because it meant that the land would be allowed to rest, lie, uncultivated every seventh year in order to regenerate itself. God’s Law established the need for ecology, the protection of the earth (Lev 25:1-7).
In addition to the land lying uncultivated, the law of the Sabbatical year spelled out that all the Jews who had been forced to become servants due to death of their major providers were to be released (Exodus 21:2-6). Even all debts were to be cancelled (Deuteronomy 15:1-6). Despite these advantages, for many of these returnees they were poverty-stricken.
In rebuilding their nation, they needed all the commerce they could develop in order to prosper and strengthen their economy. Going a whole year without produce to sell would definitely affect their business contracts with the surrounding nations. Faith—a complete trust in the LORD—is being demonstrated for us.
Are we to observe these laws today? I believe that Scripture is clear about keeping the Sabbath day. the NT is clearly teaches and gives us examples of believers’ setting apart one day of the week for rest and worship. There isn’t anything in the NT to indicate that we are to observe the Sabbatical year though.
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.
2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
This doesn’t mean that the OT is lesser than the NT. Both are equally the Word of God. Because of that principles found in the NT should be applied to our lives and also those found in the OT too.
OT believers committed themselves to the Sabbath and to the Sabbatical year, so we are to commit ourselves to worship one day a week. What was the heart behind the Sabbatical year? To care for the land that God had given his people, so we are to take care of the planet that God has given us, after all we are stewards.
vv. 32-39) Committed to support God’s work
vv. 32-39) Committed to support God’s work
They laid dow n a yearly tax to support the workings of the temple. They required people to bring wood to the temple on a rotating basis. They committed themselves to obey the command to bring the first born and the firstfruits, and the tithe (10% of the produce of their lands) unto the house of God.
They simply did two things. First they agreed to give as God had commanded: the first born, firstfruits, and the tithe. Second, they agreed to give as the special need required, the one-third of a shekel tax and the wood.
Firstborn and firstfruits were risky ways to give, because your land might not yield much more produce, and your cow or ewe might not give birth again—yet the first still belonged to God and was given to the priest. God had promised to bless this giving of the firstborn and firstfruits in faith:
9 Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
[39] We will not neglect the house of our God. If before they covenanted to make money only in ways that would glorify God, here they covenant to spend their money in ways that glorify God—and beginning it all with giving unto the Lord.
Simply said, the Bible says we need to be givers. Not so much for the sake of those we give to, but because giving sets our heart right about material things. God Himself is the greatest giver.
Family if you hold on to money so tightly that you will not be a giver, than you have revealed where your heart is when it comes to money.
The NT speaks with great clarity on the principle of giving; that giving should be regular, planned, proportional, and private:
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.
Giving should also be generous, freely given, and cheerfully given:
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Communion:
Communion:
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
[Bread]
[Cup]
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’