How

Text: Nehemiah 8:13–18.

Intro: Last week we asked this question...

How can we persevere to Rise up and Build, when every Sunday is not a mountaintop Sunday?

We uncovered our first point of of how last week...

1. We continue united in His purpose!

Since this Sunday is a continuation of last week, I’m going to give a very short intro and we are going to jump right in. We established that what is being uncovered in Nehemiah, that the people are responding to is the feasts in the 7th month, earlier in the chapter there was the Day of Atonement, last week we began to consider the feasts of Tabernacles. Which was a week long celebration out in tents made of branches and represented a period of reflection, of where they came from, where they are, and where they are headed!

Remember this people kept coming back day after day... We talked about mountain tops and wouldn’t we love just to put it in cruise control and coast along there, but the reality is there are two valley’s per every mountain… However, for the Jews in Jerusalem, they kept coming back for more, they continued united in His purpose! And it was on the second day… that they found written...

We will continue today by asking the same question...

How can we persevere to Rise up and Build, when every Sunday is not a mountaintop Sunday?

2. We continue to seek joy in participation!

(verse 16)) Just like the people said… “Let us rise up and build”. Look at how many booths there are… There isn’t room for them all in one place… because of what we see in the beginning of the next verse...

(vs. 17) Notice first that all where united in purpose! “All the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity” (ALL)

Then notice this statement… “for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto this day had not the children of Israel done so...”

Any idea how long it has been? If you remember when we dated the earth using the Bible and how historically we can put a point on the map because Israel’s history records the 4th year of Solomon’s reign as 965 BC. Which is found in 1 Kings 6:1 “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel...” That is 480 years, making the beginning of their Exodus, 1445 BC. They wandered for 40 years, putting the battle at Jericho in 1405 BC. which was in the first year of Joshua leading the people. Now let’s move forward… By using the Bible and going from the 4th year of Solomon, who reigned from that point an additional 36 years. From Solomon we have Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and then finally Zedekiah, adds 380 years, add in the 70 years captive, the separate periods of return, and you land somewhere right around 445 BC.

That is 960 years…

Even after all those years, all that work, getting out of the comfort of their own homes, do you know what it brought them? Gladness! Not only gladness, but our Bible says it best, “very great gladness”!

There is joy in hearing the word of God, but even greater joy when obeying it!

What a celebration, this feast was not only for enjoyment but also for encouragement to continue! The JOY that comes from the LORD is REAL, LASTING, EFFECTIVE, and ENRICHES OUR LIFE! The temporary satisfaction that we get from appeasing our flesh is not only temporary but artificial and it cannot fill the hole that only Christ can fill! When that happiness is gone, people are left with an even greater weakness, and emptiness.

We must understand something...

God does not give us joy instead of sorrow...

God does not give us joy in spite of sorrow...

He gives us joy in the midst of sorrow...

It is not substitution, it is transformation...

It changes you and how we deal with the problems of in our life!

John 16:20 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”

Transformation! He continues… Ladies, remember when you had a child, all the months of discomfort leading up to the birth, all the time wondering when it would happen, then the birth happens, and it is like, oh no! I think I would take all the months of discomfort all over again...

John 16:21–22 “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

Do you remember, all the misery of child birth, but as soon as you saw that little baby, and held that precious life in your arms, you forgot what you just went through… Do you know why? Because in that moment, it all became worth it, so much so that you were willing to go through it all over again!

(vs. 17) When we study our Bible we quickly realize that this was not the first time since Joshua’s day that they celebrated the feast of tabernacles... 2 Chron. 8, they it celebrated during Solomon’s day. Ezra also had lead them to celebrate previously, the difference is found in how they celebrated! All the congregation!

Could you imagine, if every person in our church, came together in oneness of heart, with unity in purpose and continuance to seek joy in every way we get to participate in the service of the Lord!

Maybe it isn’t the easiest thing to deal with or to be done, but we can make the best of any situation.

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Do you know what that verse tells me? That there will be a lot more valley’s then mountain tops…

We can come to church and complain about all the people that aren’t here, or we can celebrate with the ones that are… Making the best of every situation!

All the congregation!

Listen we should seek joy in participating, whether cleaning, working in nursery or children’s church, or cooking, or teaching, we can find ways to be joyful! It isn’t as difficult as we make it out to be sometimes. Just consider the simplicity of the Jews in Jerusalem here… Even with all that they had been through, from captivity to their home, the rebuilding, the enemies, and yet“…there was very great gladness.”

Seeking joy is simple...

Psalm 100 “A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.”

But remember, just as simple as it is to seek joy, it is just as simple to seek misery...

How can we persevere to Rise up and Build, when every Sunday is not a mountaintop Sunday?

1. We continue united in His purpose!

2. We continue to seek joy in participation!

3. We continue to see Jesus in prophecy.

(verse 18) Day by day! A Bible conference for seven days! Imagine how the people were strengthened spiritual! But look at the eighth day! “A solemn assembly”.

Why do I say we must see Jesus in prophecy? Because that is exactly what I see in verse 18!

Zechariah 14:9 “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”

We were in Zechariah last week when we discussed the feast of the tabernacles being kept during the millenium kingdom, when Jesus, is king of the earth!

We discussed how Peter was up on the mountain top, and do you know what, we can be hard on Peter, but consider what is taking place here in Nehemiah 8, and consider what is said in Zechariah 14, and I can understand why Peter thought while he looked upon the Lord in that moment, on this earth, in all of His glory, why he thought some tabernacles where appropriate!

Malachi 4:4–6 “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, Which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

Where Peter is standing all things pertaining to the body of Christ, the church, are a mystery, that had been hidden since the foundation of the world. The second coming of Christ, the judgment by the Son of man, the time of Jacob’s trouble, none of that was a mystery!

Revelation 11:3–4 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”

Matthew 16:27–28 “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

I am guilty, but before we get to hard on Peter’s finite mind in that mountain top experience… Let us first consider the situation that was before him… Because when I do that, I can’t blame him for asking the question… “if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles;”

2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Matthew 17:1–2 “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”

God’s number of perfection is 7… days in the week, colors in the rainbow, notes in the musical scale, days of creation, clean animals on the ark, Jacob served for Rachel, In Egypt, years of plenty, years of famine, Jericho fell, branches on the candlestick, years to build the temple, Job’s sons, and the days his friends spent with him, before the offered, 7 rams, and 7 bullocks. Naaman washed in the Jordan, day of atonement, blood was sprinkled 7 times upon the mercy seat, there are 7 feasts, Jesus spoke seven times on the cross, the last one saying it is finished, there are 7 men chosen to serve in Acts 6, in Revelation the number 7 is seen 59 times.

Patterns of 7 seen throughout the Bible… 7 days, weeks, months, years, weeks of years, decades, and millenniums. Seven Millenniums being seven thousand years…

In Matthew when Peter saw the Saviour transfigured, it was after the 6th day… That would make it the seventh, and His face did shine as the sun!

Days of creation… Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31… 6 days, 6 evenings and morning… 2:1-3… The pattern changes… No evening!

2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

God blessed the seventh day, sanctified it, set it aside as the LORD’S day, made it an eternal covenant with His people Israel, it is the Sabbath day, the day of rest..

1 Kings 8:65–66 “And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.”

Remember we said that the feast of tabernacles was a time of reflecting on the past, present and future, that future being the kingdom of the Lords, Christ!

In both Nehemiah 8 and 1 Kings 8, we notice the eighth day… On it first there is an assembly, before the people are sent away.

Revelation 20:11-15.

Imagine! As the 7th day comes to a close, the millenium kingdom, there is an eighth day where there is a solemn assembly…

All of this is seen right here in Nehemiah 8… We must continue to see Jesus in prophecy!

Revelation 19:10 “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Do you know why I don’t get caught up in all the things going on in the world and trying to determine if they are a sign of the end times.

Right here in the Scriptures the Bible says, the “testimony of Jesus in the spirit of prophecy.”

All the arguments over the years of Barack Obama being the anti-christ, or Donald Trump… If Jesus isn’t the focus, then their isn’t worth wasting the time to discuss what could be...

2 Cor. 5:4-11.

See how seeing Jesus in prophecy will help you persevere to continue in those things that really matter!