Nehemiah 1 God's Work Begun

Well, as we all know, it’s a new year. Time is flying by

As the new year was approaching, I was spending time...

Well, I was spending time being sick, for one thing

But I was spending time as I could, thinking and praying about what God had for us in the coming year

Did He have a special theme for us or a certain verse or

Some years we have had a special theme or a focus for that year.

This past year, it was “Image Bearers”

We also had our “At Fairview we are people who”

I hope that this was helpful for us and that it helped to vie us direction

But this year, as the New Year was approaching

I have to be honest with you, I was feeling very tired. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally

Preparing 3-4 sermons/month I’m finding can be very tough.

And I would appreciate your prayers in this. I know that numbers of you do pray regularly for us, and that means a lot to me

Because my desire is that all I do is directed by God and is in tune with His plan

But just continue to pray for clarity of thought and direction for me, and for spiritual insight into the Scripture and wisdom to explain

This year, as we enter 2024, I would like to take a few weeks and have a look at the book of Nehemiah.

For some of you, it’s probably already clicked in your brain that this is the first time that I have spent time leading us in a study of the OT.

And you’d be right

The reason for that is not because I hate the OT. I don’t

In fact, there is a lot that I like about the OT.

The reason that I have not gone there much, probably is because

Well, the OT can be very challenging to “get right” when we strive to interpret it.

Because the OT is full of these great stories

And we have all of these heroes like Moses and Joshua and David and Gideon

And we read these stories and we are like, “Wow, this is good stuff!”

And we feel inspired when we read them, but beyond that, we aren’t really sure what to do with them sometimes.

And because of that, there’s some common traps that we tend to fall into

One of those really common traps (and this can be true in our reading of the NT as well, but I’ve heard it done especially in the OT)

is that we start to read ourselves into the narrative of the Bible

We so badly want to “apply the Bible to our lives” that we start to think (maybe subconciously) that the Bible is sort of our story too.

And we start to grab verses and stories and promises out of the pages of Scripture and apply them to our situation when possibly that isn’t at all why those verses or stories have been preserved for us

There are a lot of illustrations of how this is done, but I don’t want to spend a lot of time on that this morning

One of those examples that I often think of is the story of David and Goliath

The story of how an undersized kid walks into a battle armed with nothing more than a sling and a few stones

And fearlessly dispatches a giant twice his size and delivers, not only the Israelite army, but the entire nation of Israel

It’s a favorite story of so many people including me

But then we try to make application somehow

We start to write ourselves into the narrative

Oh, I have giants in my life too

This relationship

This bill

This sickness

Those are my giants

And I need some stones to fight these giants

prayer

Scripture

Friends

Good advice

And God is going to take these stones and defeat my giants

Which, there are elements of truth in these thoughts. But we start to really come up with some head scratching sort of applications sometimes

Why? Because I feel like we miss the point of why those stories are there when we do things like this

See, the point of the story of David and Goliath is not

David

Not Goliath

Not Saul, or the Israelite army

That’s not what the story is about. And the story isn’t about your or me

The story is about God. Period full stop

It’s GOD’S story. It’s the story of God redeeming HIs people. Saving His people. Being sovereign. Being a God who is worthy to be reverenced, worshipped, and followed

And ultimately, looking forward, this story is meant to point us toward Jesus

You remember when the two disciples are on the road to Emmaus, and they are super depressed and discouraged about what has happened to Jesus

And then Jesus Himself comes and talks with them

And it says, that beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself

And we could talk a long time about this.

Point is, I believe that this story (David and Goliath) should in some way point us toward Jesus

This is true for all of Scripture. I believe that before we start to draw application and try to make Scripture fit our situation somehow

We need to pause and remind ourselves—Hey, this isn’t my story, and it isn’t even really about the characters in the story

This is, first and foremost God’s story. And what does this teach us about Him

So, as we head into the book of Nehemiah, that is what I want to remind us of.

This is another chapter in the story of God redeeming and working in the lives of His people

In particular, this is the story of God restoring, and renewing His people

Bringing them out of captivity and restoring them back to the city of Jerusalem

It’s like a revival. In fact, in many ways it is a revival

We are going to see the people, not only restored to their city, but their convanant relationship with God restored as well

We are also going to see themes of unity and opposition to the work of God

Nehemiah 1:1 “1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,”

Maybe at this point it might be helpful to just review some history

The people from the southern kingdom of Judah had been carried off as captives to the land of Babylon

You can read all about this in 2 Kings chapters 24 and 25. God had warned them time and again to repent of their wickedness and idolatry

And they had times of revival and some good kings, but always, they went back into idolatry and rebellion

at first, they were threatened by the kingdom of Assyria. But God saved them—there was that one time when God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that were beseiging Jerusalem.

But soon, the Assyrians were swallowed up by the Babylonians who became the dominant threat

And 3 times the Babylonian marched into Judah

And the 3rd time was the kicker. Because it was then, in about 586 B.C. that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed the temple, the city walls, burnt the city with fire, killed men, women, and children, and marched thousands of them off into captivity in Babylon.

That was about 140 years prior to the events in the book of Nehemiah!

140 years!

Which means Nehemiah was born in captivity.

And he is no longer in the Babylonian empire. he is now in the Persian empire which had swallowed up the Babylonians.

Now, people had already started to return to Jerusalem

Right in front of this book is a book called Ezra.

And these two book are in chronological order.

About 14 years earlier, the scribe Ezra, had led a large group of over 40,000 people back to Jerusalem

And they did some really good things

They rebuilt the alter

AND They began to rebuild the temple

But Nehemiah who had a job as cupbearer to the king was not in that group.

Nehemiah 1:2–3 “2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And 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.””

So, one of Nehemiah’s brothers, with some other men came back from Judah to visit, and Nehemiah is very curious about what things are like there

He knows that Ezra and this large group have gone back

And he wants to know how things have gone for them.

Well, the men say, things are still pretty tough.

The people are still feeling a good deal of shame because the wall is still broken down and the gates are destroyed with fire

Well, Nehemiah’s response is immediate and profound

Nehemiah 1:4 “4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”

He wept and mourned for days. He fasted and prayed

Now why did Nehemiah respond like that? Remember, he has never lived in Jerusalem

This is more than 140 years after Jerusalem was destroyed.

Does he just have a warm spot in his heart for Jerusalem? or what’s going on here?

You know, I’m originally from Greenwood, DE. , a town less than half the size of Kalona

I have a major warm spot in my heart for that little town.

But if I received the news that a tornado had come along and wiped it off the map, I would be really sad, but I don’t know if I would have the same kind of response that Nehemiah did.

The reason Nehemiah responds like this is because of the significance that the city of Jerusalem has, and because of the special covenant relationship that God had with His people

See, Jerusalem was a symbol of God’s protection and God’s favor.

When God was protecting His people and favoring His people, the city flourished. It was strong and fortified.

The people felt safe and secure inside of it.

But when God removed His protection, the city was vulnerable. The people were vulnerable.

Even in captivity, the people longed for the city of Jerusalem

Psalm 137:1–6 “1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!”

And it is very significant to Nehemiah that the walls are still broken down and the gates are still burn

what it says to him is that God’s favor and protection have not been restored to His people

They are still very vulnerable

And this distresses him greatly

And he mourns, and fasts and prays

2. Spiritual renewal will always be accompanied by a sorrow over sin

Folks, for spiritual renewal to take place, this response that Nehemiah had must be part of our response as well

It’s for us to recognize the ugliness of sin and what it has done to our relationship with God

And the shame that it brings upon us.

Sin smudges and blurs the glory of God that is supposed to be evident in the lives of His people

We are to bear His image, His glory.

The people of Israel, the city of Jerusalem were to be clear beacons of the glory of the God of Israel

Yet, here they are in ruins

Do you want spiritual renewal? Do I?

Then are we prepared to weep and mourn and fast over the ruin and the shame brings to the glory of God?

Nehemiah wept and mourned for days

And then he began to pray

Nehemiah 1:5–7 “5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”

Did you catch how Nehemiah prayed here?

Remember, again. Nehemiah was not among those who were carried away into captivity

It’s not his fault that he is in captivity, living in a foreign land, among a strange people

He could have prayed,

“Lord, forgive my ancestors for all that they did to get us to this point! I don’t know what they were thinking.

Why didn’t they listen to you, Lord?

They were sinful, and rebellious.

But me! Now look at me, Lord. I’m doing better, aren’t I? Bless me, LORD! Restore me back to our homeland!”

He could have prayed like that. But he doesn’t

No, instead, he makes no difference between himself and his ancestors

He joins in with bearing the sin and the consequences of his ancestors

6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”

The way that Nehemiah prays here, I find to be convicting and instructive.

You know, I often pray for us here at Fairview

I hope you do too

I pray for our community and for our country

And quite honestly, it’s often easy when praying for us as a group,

It’s easy to be like the Pharisee in the story that Jesus told in Luke 18, where

The Pharisee stood off by himself and prayed,

“Lord, I thank you that I’m not like THOSE guys”

You know, the really bad guys. Thank you for making me good making it easy for me to obey the law

that’s really arrogant, isn’t it?

It’s a temptation, though

But you know, what Nehemiah models for us here, this idea of collective guilt is so important, when it comes to spiritual renewal

It takes a special kind of humility, the kind that the LORD values and loves, to be able to pray like this

LORD, it is we who have sinned.

WE have been rebellious. WE have been proud. WE have lost our way, and lost our focus

WE are bearing your punishment

LORD, forgive us. Restore us.

This takes a special kind of humility.

Whether I think that I’m part of the problem or not, I join in and recognize that, by the very fact that I am born with a sinful nature, I am indeed part of the problem!

So, Nehemiah prays. He confesses their collective sin

And then he does something else interesting

He reminds God of His covenant

Nehemiah 1:8–10 “8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.”

Nehemiah reminds God of the covenant. He reminds God of His own words

And you know what? I think that’s OK.

Do you think that God delights in hearing you remind Him of what He has said?

I certainly do!

You know, last semester I taught a Bible class at Pathway, and I loved it when my students were able to remind me of what I had said to them

When they could repeat back and say, “Hey, this is what you said about the name Jesus”

or, “This is what you said about the title, Son of Man”

Or this is why you said context was so important

I loved if they could do that.

Why? Because it showed that they valued what I was teaching them. They valued it enough to learn it and repeat it back to me

We see often in Scripture, particularly in the Psalms, where the writers reherse the acts of God out loud to Him and remember His covenant

And I believe that God delights when we repeat back to Him what He has said

Because it shows that we value His word.

I believe that an important part of entering into spiritual renewal is reviewing in our hearts and minds what God has said

Remembering the punishment that comes from rebellion

Remembering the blessings that come from meditating on the word of God, and obeying the words found there

And I believe that this is a key part of spiritual renewal as well

Remembering what God has said and done in the past

Calling it to mind and voicing it out loud to Him

This is where we are going to stop today

But the questions in front of us are:

Do we desire the work of God among us

Are we prepared to mourn over sin and to humbly confess it?

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