Celebrate the Finish Line
Nehemiah - Pray, Plan, Persevere • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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***Series Title Slide***
The Book of Nehemiah starts with Nehemiah getting a report from his brother Hanani about the condition of the city of Jerusalem. The city was in shambles. The walls were broken down…the city was in a state of disgrace. Nehemiah prayed for forgiveness and favor as he contemplated how God was calling him to participate in the rebuilding of the city.
Last week in chapter 6, we read the following:
15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
The wall was complete and the project had been done with the help of God.
***Sermon Title Slide***
One might think that this requires a certain kind of celebration…a party of sorts. All of the resources - timber, stone, mortal - and all of the labor that went into this work of completing the wall. Certainly they would have a party right…not quite.
Instead, we get chapter 7 with a list of a bunch of names. This list is very similar to the list that is in Ezra chapter 2. Two years ago we did a series of messages from Ezra and when we got to chapter 2, I skipped it all together. You might be hoping that’s what will happen this week, but that is not the case.
In many outlines of this book, chapter 7 sits alone as a transition between the physical building of the wall - chapters 1-6 and the spiritual rebuilding of God’s people in chapters 8-13
In a way this chapter is a celebratory chapter…listing all of those who were there for this moment in time when the wall was completed. Celebrating God’s promise to bring God’s people back to the promised land when they returned to the Lord and obeyed His commands.
Let’s read starting in verse 1...
1 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed. 2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do. 3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
Sometimes structures and buildings are built for the sake of the structure and building. They have no real function other than existing. They, the building/structure, are the purpose in themselves. The city of Jerusalem as beautiful as it was and is, did not exist for it’s sake, but the for the purpose of holding people as they exercise their purpose in worshipping the Lord. The gatekeepers weren’t just guarding a structure, they were protecting the musicians and the Levites as they led the city in following the Lord.
If all God wanted was a pretty city, He would just create one. God desires for his people to come and worship Him. To follow Him. To live out their God given purpose by honoring him with their gifts and abilities. When his people follow him, God makes the space for them to do so.
In these first few verses, we see Nehemiah putting various people in various roles, according to their gifting. We see two men singled out for leadership. Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother was the same brother who brought the report to Nehemiah about the condition of the city. Clearly the two of them had a similar vision for seeing the city restored. Then there is this man Hananiah. Nehemiah says of him that he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most.
Most people have a basic of what integrity means. It’s a quality we should all be striving to have. A person of integrity is truthful, does the right thing even when others are not watching and has a heart toward holiness in all areas of life.
Not only was Hananiah a man of integrity, he also feared the Lord. This concept of fearing the Lord is one that is often misunderstood. It’s true that we are told to not fear 300+ times in the Bible, but we are also told to fear the Lord. What’s the difference? That is a question I’ve been asked a few times.
Let me give you a few Bible verses about fearing the Lord...
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Here is a passage with the opposite of the fear of God:
10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
A Pastor, Stephen Cole, wrote this about the Fear of God:
“The fear of God grows out of the knowledge of God. When you see who God is and you realize who you are by way of comparison, you fall on your face in fear, realizing that He could rightly cast you into hell for your many sins. Even when you know that He has been gracious to you through Christ, you do not presume on that grace by becoming irreverent toward the Holy One. You remember that He knows your every thought and deed, and so you seek to please Him in all you do. If you want your life to count for God, grow in the fear of God.”
Nehemiah puts Hananiah and Hanani in charge of the watch keeping duties. He gives them a few directives about when the gates are to be open and closed, but otherwise gives them a lot of latitude in staffing the gatekeepers and guards. This duty to protect the city falls not just on one, but is a community effort.
As I’ve been talking with folks about membership, this is one of the duties of our members - to be watchful and protect the church. In way, our elders are the leaders who accept new members into our church who are given, among other tasks, the duty to protect the church. I think sometimes there are those who can be a little too vigilant with this duty and there are those who get complacent and are not vigilant enough. When a church gets too vigilant in protecting itself, people who need Jesus don’t feel welcome. People who are struggling feel less than and are discouraged. Some who have a genuine desire to serve are pushed away into the “not good enough” category.
How can we know if we are being too vigilant? Here are a couple of questions...
Is what I am being protective about have to do with a preference of mine or is this a Biblical issue?
Is there a personal fear (not fear of God) underneath what I am trying to protect the church from?
Is there a way to safely say yes?
One thing to remember about Jerusalem at this time, and really at so many times in history…The enemies all around Israel have been so much stronger on paper. They have bigger armies, better weapons, tactically in a better position and yet all throughout history we see God intervene on their behalf. God is the one ultimately responsible for the victory. We are responsible for keeping our eyes on him!
Let’s read the next few verses.
4 Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. 5 So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
6 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
From here on, we get 60+ verses of names and families...I am not going to read each of the names, but I do want to point out a few of the groupings...
Verse 7 - The list of the men of Israel
Verse 26 - The men of Bethlehem and Netophah
Verse 39 - The priests
Verse 43 - The Levites
Verse 44 - The musicians
Verse 45 - The gatekeepers
Verse 46 - The temple servants
I don’t know if you are like me, but when I come to a passage like this in my daily reading, I’ll sometimes just scan the names and look for passages with actual words I can pronounce. There are several places in the Bible where it is just a list of names.
What this says to me is that people are important to God. Not just any people, but people with names…specific people. There have been billions of people who have lived and in this book of Nehemiah there are a couple of dozen individual people called out by name. That is what God does. He knows the name of each of his children.
He knows your name. Those who have put their faith in Jesus and have confessed him as Lord have there names written in a book. Listen to what it says in Revelation 21 about the New Jerusalem that we have to look forward too...
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
People matter to God. That is why his scriptures have so many lists of people. There is a book of life that has the names of those who’s faith is in Jesus as savior and Lord.
Is your name written in that book? Have you placed your faith in Jesus? Are you his? Do you know him and does he know you as his disciple?
Let’s read again in verse 61
61 The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel:
62 the descendants of
Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 642
63 And from among the priests:
the descendants of
Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
64 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65 The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
66 The whole company numbered 42,360, 67 besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 245 male and female singers. 68 There were 736 horses, 245 mules, 69 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
It was important that only those who were verified as from Levitical families would serve as priests. This was not so they could exclude someone from doing that…they just wanted to obey God’s Word fully. Until they could verify the family lineage of these folks, they were asked to not serve as priests.
Just a few more verses to finish up the chapter...
70 Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests. 71 Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. 72 The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver and 67 garments for priests.
73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns.
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,
Nehemiah acknowledges the financial cost of the work that was done and where the finances came from.
41,000 darics of gold is a little less than 800 lbs. Today worth around $30 Million.
4,200 minas of silver is around 5,000lbs. Today worth around $1 Million.
Not only did the governor and the wealthy families contribute, but most of the people contributed in some way. This is how the kingdom of God works.
After the mention of all of that, Nehemiah closes this section out talking again about the people and the roles they filled. This is not just about a fancy wall and nice city architecture. This is about God’s people. This about how they returned to God’s ways and honored him. As they did that, God provided favor. Favor for Nehemiah with the king. God provided protection for Nehemiah and the people who returned to Jerusalem. God provided the material needs for rebuilding and living in the city. God provided a miracle of seeing this wall finished in 52 days.
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