Joy, disappointment, and hope

Planning

Passage

Nehemiah 11–13 NIV

1 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. 2 The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. 3 These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns, 4 while other people from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem): From the descendants of Judah: Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, a descendant of Perez; 5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah. 6 The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem totaled 468 men of standing. 7 From the descendants of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, 8 and his followers, Gabbai and Sallai—928 men. 9 Joel son of Zikri was their chief officer, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the New Quarter of the city. 10 From the priests: Jedaiah; the son of Joiarib; Jakin; 11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the official in charge of the house of God, 12 and their associates, who carried on work for the temple—822 men; Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, 13 and his associates, who were heads of families—242 men; Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 14 and his associates, who were men of standing—128. Their chief officer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim. 15 From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 16 Shabbethai and Jozabad, two of the heads of the Levites, who had charge of the outside work of the house of God; 17 Mattaniah son of Mika, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 The Levites in the holy city totaled 284. 19 The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon and their associates, who kept watch at the gates—172 men. 20 The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, each on their ancestral property. 21 The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them. 22 The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mika. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the musicians responsible for the service of the house of God. 23 The musicians were under the king’s orders, which regulated their daily activity. 24 Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was the king’s agent in all affairs relating to the people. 25 As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its surrounding settlements, in Dibon and its settlements, in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet, 27 in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and its settlements, 28 in Ziklag, in Mekonah and its settlements, 29 in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its settlements. So they were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom. 31 The descendants of the Benjamites from Geba lived in Mikmash, Aija, Bethel and its settlements, 32 in Anathoth, Nob and Ananiah, 33 in Hazor, Ramah and Gittaim, 34 in Hadid, Zeboim and Neballat, 35 in Lod and Ono, and in Ge Harashim. 36 Some of the divisions of the Levites of Judah settled in Benjamin. 1 These were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Joshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluk, Hattush, 3 Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Joshua. 8 The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah, who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9 Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood opposite them in the services. 10 Joshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, 11 Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua. 12 In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families: of Seraiah’s family, Meraiah; of Jeremiah’s, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra’s, Meshullam; of Amariah’s, Jehohanan; 14 of Malluk’s, Jonathan; of Shekaniah’s, Joseph; 15 of Harim’s, Adna; of Meremoth’s, Helkai; 16 of Iddo’s, Zechariah; of Ginnethon’s, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah’s, Zikri; of Miniamin’s and of Moadiah’s, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah’s, Shammua; of Shemaiah’s, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib’s, Mattenai; of Jedaiah’s, Uzzi; 20 of Sallu’s, Kallai; of Amok’s, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah’s, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah’s, Nethanel. 22 The family heads of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua, as well as those of the priests, were recorded in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 The family heads among the descendants of Levi up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the book of the annals. 24 And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their associates, who stood opposite them to give praise and thanksgiving, one section responding to the other, as prescribed by David the man of God. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates. 26 They served in the days of Joiakim son of Joshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law. 27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. 31 I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35 as well as some priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph, 36 and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the teacher of the Law led the procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the site of David’s palace to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. At the Gate of the Guard they stopped. 40 The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, 41 as well as the priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets—42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. 44 At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron. 1 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent. 4 Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, 5 and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests. 6 But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission 7 and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. 8 I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense. 10 I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11 So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts. 12 All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. 13 I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites. 14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services. 15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.” 19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love. 23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. 25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?” 28 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. 29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. 30 So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. 31 I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, my God.

Passage structure

New residents of Jerusalem (Neh 11:1-24)

Residents outside of Jerusalem (Neh 11:25-36)

Ongoing priesthood and Levitical service (Neh 12:1-26)

Joyful dedication of the wall, culminating at the temple (Neh 12:27-47)

Nehemiah’s disappointments and reforms (Neh 13)

Marriage: Removal of Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly (Neh 13:1-3)

Leadership: Eliashib’s misuse of temple storeroom (Neh 13:4-9)

Money: Lack of payment for the Levites and subsequent temple neglect (Neh 13:10-13)

A plea for remembrance (Neh 13:14)

Materialism: Breaking the Sabbath (Neh 13:15-22)

Marriage: Intermarriage (Neh 13:23-27)

Leadership: Defilement of priestly office and Levitical service (Neh 13:28-31)

Big stuff

Big idea: True hope is only found in the new creation.

Fallen condition focus: We give up because we’re trying to find true hope in the now.

Good news statement: Jesus makes everything perfect in the new creation.

Big question: What do you do when everything comes crashing down?

Sermon structure

Intro

Ellen’s question about being happy

Joke about this person being anonymous so that people don’t stop asking me questions

1, Joy

Promises about Jerusalem

New residents of Jerusalem (Neh 11:1-24)

Residents outside of Jerusalem (Neh 11:25-36)

Ongoing priesthood and Levitical service (Neh 12:1-26)

Joyful dedication of the wall, culminating at the temple (Neh 12:27-47)

Much for us to be joyful about too

Joy is tied to thankfulness - Nehemiah 12:31

Joy comes from God - Nehemiah 12:43

Joy should be based on God’s gifts

Transition: chapter 12 isn’t the end of the story. Nehemiah has quite a disappointing end.

2, Disappointment

Nehemiah’s six disappointments, disappointed by the people of God (not outside nations)

Impurity: Removal of Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly (Neh 13:1-3)

Leadership: Eliashib’s misuse of temple storeroom (Neh 13:4-9)

Money: Lack of payment for the Levites and subsequent temple neglect (Neh 13:10-13)

(A plea for remembrance (Neh 13:14))

Materialism: Breaking the Sabbath (Neh 13:15-22)

Marriage: Intermarriage (Neh 13:23-27)

Leadership: Defilement of priestly office and Levitical service (Neh 13:28-31)

Our disappointments (similar themes), especially after great joy

Injustice

Leadership

Money

Worship

Relationships

How do you deal with these disappointments?

How does Nehemiah deal with the disappointments?

Good: Calling out to God, not accusing God (Jerusalem promises don’t specify the timing. Our disappointments with God often stem from false understandings of his promises - e.g. no suffering, no sin from fellow believers)

Bad: Cursing them, pulling out hair (Neh 13:25)

Transition: There must be a better way to deal with disappointment. End of the book but not the end of the Bible.

3, Hope

Without hope: despair, giving up, anger, aggression

With hope: perseverance because you’ll know it’ll be okay

Hope can only come through if the justice issue (encompassing leadership, money, worship) is addressed.

Thank God for the rest of the Bible. Thank God that he has a plan that deals with the disappointment. That God that he gives us hope.

How?

1, Justice addressed at the cross

All of us have sinned. All of us on our own efforts deserve hell.

Justice is shown at the cross with Jesus paying the punishment for us.

Yet, disappointment is still present.

Personal example of disappointment with Christian leadership

Affirmation of other people’s disappointments

Christians who have trusted in Jesus are still disappointed.

Injustice still exists. It has to be removed forever by someone with the authority to do it. And we have a certain hope that this will happen.

2, Justice is addressed when Jesus returns.

Acts 17:31 “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.””

Examples of how this addresses present injustices

Turn to Rev 21:1-8

v. 8 - Hell

New heaven and earth

vv. 1-4 - New heaven and earth.

v. 4 - No more disappointment

Show how this hope speaks into present disappointments

This hope is why we can have joy/comfort/peace even when we’re disappointed.

Conclusion

Answer to Ellen’s question

The emphasis on Christian joy

The reality of disappointment

The power of hope

Sermon

Intro

Earlier this year, someone at our church was telling me about something difficult in his or her life.

This person said a certain difficult situation was making them unhappy.

And they said something I found interesting.

They said they were unhappy and that Christians should be happy.

They said they were unhappy but Christians should be happy.

Should Christians be happy?

And how should we respond when we face difficulties in our life?

In that situation when I was in conversation with this person, I just listened.

But their comment stood out to me.

It stood out to me so much that I’ve crafted this sermon to address that issue.

Hopefully this doesn’t stop people from sharing stories with me.

I promise not to make every conversation we have into a sermon.

But I do think this issue is something relevant to everyone.

Should we be happy?

And how do we deal with disappointments when they come up?

We’ll see the answers to these big questions in our passage.

And in God’s plan of salvation.

We’re looking at the last three chapters of Nehemiah today.

Nehemiah 11 to 13.

And I’ve structured this morning’s sermon under three points.

Joy.

Disappointment.

Hope.

Quite straight forward.

Joy.

Disappointment.

Hope.

Let’s get into it.

1. Joy

Point 1.

Joy.

At this time in the book of Nehemiah, the city of Jerusalem in pretty empty.

So chapter 11 shows how they fill the city with people.

The leaders move into to Jerusalem.

People are also chosen randomly by casting lots.

And people volunteer to live there.

Let’s read the first two verses of Nehemiah 11.

Nehemiah 11:1-2.

Nehemiah 11:1–2 NIV

1 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. 2 The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

We won’t read the rest of the chapter.

But to summarise it, it basically gives the details of who move in to Jerusalem.

And from verse 25 onwards, it also describes people who lived outside of Jerusalem.

That might make us wonder,

What’s so special about Jerusalem?

Nehemiah 11 isn’t like me going to the local library to read a history book about how Canberra was populated.

Because Jerusalem is special.

Yes, Canberra is special too...

But Jerusalem has promises from God scattered throughout the Old Testament.

God promised, especially in the times of the kings and through the prophet, that Jerusalem was the place of his presence.

Jerusalem was the city where God will bring his people.

The city where God will bring peace.

Where there will be no more evil.

Jerusalem is special because it’s the city of God’s promises.

So chapter 11 is showing us how the city of God is being filled.

And that’s a reason for joy.

We’ll see that joy later in chapter 12.

It’s a joy for the people of God to return to his city, Jerusalem.

And there are other reasons for joy too.

In the first half of chapter 12, in verses 1 to 26, we see another long list.

It might look at first glance like a long list of names.

But what this list is showing is from the very first return from exile, roughly 90 years ago with Zerubbabel, there were priests and Levites.

People who had special roles in helping the Jews worship God in Jerusalem.

So again, we’re seeing how the people’s relationship with God seems like it’s being restored.

The Jews are in the right place.

They’re worshipping God with the help of the right people.

They’re making good progress!

And that’s another reason for joy.

There’s joy in the resettling of Jerusalem.

Joy in the restoration of worshipping God with the help of the Levites and priests.

And the third reason for joy is that the wall around Jerusalem is complete.

We saw that in chapter 6.

Nehemiah and the Jews worked hard to build the wall around Jerusalem.

It provided protection for the city.

And it was another expression of the restoration of God’s people.

So the Jews celebrate all these things with a dedication service.

A dedication of the wall.

Let’s read verse 27.

Nehemiah 12:27.

Nehemiah 12:27 NIV

27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

The rest of the chapter explains how massive of a celebration this is.

Nehemiah gets the Jews to celebrate in song.

They’re thanking God for all his goodness to them.

He sets up two choirs to sing songs of praise.

These two choirs start at different places on the wall.

They move around in opposite directions along the wall, singing songs to thank God.

And they finish off at the temple.

It’s a big celebration!

A big demonstration of joy!

Maybe you noticed that this isn’t just a celebration of anything.

Everything they’re celebrating is related to God.

They’re celebrating the restoration of their worship of God.

They’re celebrating the resettlement of Jerusalem, the city of God.

They’re celebrating the completion of the wall around Jerusalem, again the city of God.

Their joy is all related to God.

And it’s joy given by God.

It’s in verse 43.

Nehemiah 12:43.

Nehemiah 12:43 NIV

43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

Chapters 11 and 12 describe a lot of rejoicing.

So what do these chapters teach us about joy?

Well we see three things about joy.

Three lessons.

Firstly, the joy of God’s people is centred around God and his provision.

God’s people rejoice because of God and his provision.

The Jews celebrate God.

They celebrate that he has provided for them in the resettling of Jerusalem.

They rejoice that he has given them the Levites and priests for proper worship.

They sing songs because the wall around the city of God has been built.

Their joy is based on God and his gifts.

And that should be true for us too.

Because there is so much for us to rejoice in.

We rejoice because...

Because Jesus has laid down his life for us so that we could be saved.

Because we now call on God as our Father.

Because he is working all things for his glory and our good (that’s what we sang this morning).

Because God has given us one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Because we know that everything will be made perfect in the new creation.

And I could go on and on and on.

There is so much to be joyful about.

Our joy should be based on God and his gifts.

The second lesson is this:

Joy is closely linked to thankfulness.

Joy is closely linked to thankfulness.

That’s a natural result of joy being based on God and his gifts.

If God is so gracious to us in giving us what we need and more, of course we should be thankful to him.

It’s what the Jews did in our passage.

They recognised it was God who had provided for them.

So they sang songs of thanksgiving to God.

It makes me think of how children are given presents.

And sometimes, they’re so focussed on the present…

And they forget to say thankyou to the person who gave them the gift.

Parents have to teach their children to say thank you.

It doesn’t always come naturally.

The mature child is the boy or girl who can both enjoy the gift AND express gratitude for it.

We as Christians have been given so much.

So let’s be thankful to the one who gave it to us.

God.

We can joyfully thank God in prayer.

In song.

In our conversations too!

I love hearing people say, “I’m so thankful to God for… helping me through this tough time.”

Or “Thank God that he has healed me”.

Or “God has been so good to me in surrounding me with brothers and sisters who love me”.

So in our joy, let’s be thankful.

Thank God for how he has given us so much to rejoice in.

And the third lesson is an answer to our question at the start.

Should Christians be happy?

Yes!

Christians have so much to rejoice in.

Our restored relationship with God, our hope and peace and comfort, our family in Christ, our assurance in eternal life...

We see this joy clearly in Nehemiah 12 as the Jews celebrate.

We see this joy throughout the Bible.

Galatians 5 says the fruit of the Spirit includes joy.

Philippians 4:4 “4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Christians should rejoice.

And we don’t just rejoice by stretching out a smile.

We rejoice by focussing on God and his good gifts.

Our joy is in God, who gives us much to rejoice in.

And yet, you would’ve noticed that Nehemiah 12 isn’t the end of the book.

Chapter 13 is the final chapter.

In that chapter, I don’t see any joy.

So we’re at point 2.

2. Disappointment

Disappointment.

Despite all the celebration,

Despite all the rejoicing,

Despite God being so gracious to the Jews and giving them much to rejoice in,

The Jews mess up multiple times in chapter 13.

And Nehemiah, their governor, is full of disappointment.

In fact, there are six disappointments in this passage.

We don’t have time to go through them in detail, but I’ll speak to them all briefly.

You might like to follow along in your Bibles if you have chapter 13 open.

Let’s look at the six disappointments.

Disappointment 1.

Verses 1 to 3.

A while back, God had forbidden the Ammonites and the Moabites from joining the Jews because they were his enemies.

But the Jews willingly allowed them to worship God with them.

When the Jews find out their mistake, they get rid of the Ammonites and Moabites.

Disappointment 2.

Verses 4 to 9.

There was a storeroom in the temple.

And Eliashib the priest used this room not for storing things for God but as a place an enemy to stay.

Tobiah, one of the men who opposed the Jews in the rebuilding of the wall.

When Nehemiah finds out, he clears out the room and restores it to its intended purpose as a storeroom.

Disappointment 3.

Verses 10-13.

The Levites were supposed to help out at the temple.

But they hadn’t been paid for their work, so they had to find support elsewhere.

And that led to the temple being neglected.

When Nehemiah finds out, he puts new leaders in charge so that the Levites are provided for.

Disappointment 4.

Verses 15 to 22.

God had given the Jews a solemn command not to work on the Sabbath day.

But these Jews kept working on that day.

They broke the Sabbath command.

When Nehemiah finds out, he rebukes them and enforces the Sabbath.

Disappointment 5.

Verses 23-27.

Some of the Jews married enemies of God.

This isn’t a comment about interracial marriage (God isn’t racist).

It’s about sticking with God and not worshipping false gods.

Nehemiah finds out and rebukes these people too.

And disappointment 6.

There’s another bad marriage.

This time between someone in the line of priests and another enemy who opposed to rebuilding of the wall.

So Nehemiah purges out everything impure from the priesthood.

He gets them to worship God properly again.

That’s a lot of disappointment.

Despite the people recommitting themselves to God,

Despite God being so gracious to them and giving them so much to rejoice in,

There’s still a lot of disappointment.

Sadly, this disappointment wasn’t just a reality for Nehemiah.

It’s a reality for many of us too.

There’s disappointment when a relationship breaks down.

Disappointment when we work hard but it seems to make no difference.

Disappointment when people in our families hurt us.

Disappointment when leaders we should be able to trust end up abusing their authority.

Disappointment when fellow Christians are hypocritical.

Disappointment in ourselves when we hurt others.

So what do you do when you’re disappointed?

What do you do when life let you down?

Let’s think about how Nehemiah deals with the disappointments.

There’s some good with how Nehemiah responds.

Four times in the passage, he calls out to God.

And you may have noticed that in Nehemiah’s prayers, he never blames God.

It’s not God’s fault for these disappointments.

It’s the people who have stuffed up.

I suspect some of us though are tempted to blame God instead.

When things are difficult, it’s easy to be disappointed in God.

We might think that God has let us down.

Our disappointment with God usually comes from when we have the wrong expectations of him.

Maybe we expect God to make our lives pain-free.

Or that God will only allow us to have a small amount of pain.

If we expect God to allow only minimal pain, of course we’ll be disappointed in him when pain happens.

I’ve seen this when people doubt God after they lose a job.

When people doubt God when they or loved ones battle with illness.

When people doubt God while they’re going through relational difficulties.

All these doubts are understandable.

But they come from incorrect expectations of God.

When we’re tempted to doubt God, let’s be realistic.

Are we holding on to expectations of God that are unfair?

Have we misunderstood his promises?

God is good.

He gives us all we need.

He continues to care for us, even when we don’t understand why we have to go through some difficult times.

Nehemiah doesn’t doubt God.

But he does some things that are questionable.

Let’s look at verse 25.

Chapter 13:25.

Nehemiah 13:25 NIV

I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. ...

Nehemiah is resorting to violence to make things right.

His disappointment has moved into desperation.

Even his prayers shows his desperation.

He’s no longer asking God to fix the situation.

It seems like there’s no hope.

You’ll notice that we’re at the end of the book of Nehemiah.

Disappointment is how Nehemiah’s story finishes.

But.

The book of Nehemiah is only part of the whole Bible.

God has more planned out for his people.

And as we see what God has in store for us, we’re not left with disappointment.

What God has in store for us gives us hope.

We’re at point 3.

3. Hope

Hope.

Why are we looking at hope?

It’s not just because God’s plan for us gives us hope.

But because we need hope.

See, without hope, we’re like the end of Nehemiah.

Without hope, we’re left with despair.

We might give up.

Or we might resort to anger and aggression.

But when we have hope, we can persevere.

When we have hope, we know that somehow, things will be okay.

In a situation of utter disappointment, when people let us down, when there’s injustice,

How can we have hope?

Thankfully, God has given us the rest of the Bible.

God has a plan that deals with all our disappointment and he shows that plan.

So how does God deal with our disappointments?

He does that primarily at two points in time.

Firstly, at the cross.

When we read a passage like Nehemiah 13, we might distance ourselves from the Jews who disappointed Nehemiah.

None of us have brought an Ammonite or Moabite into church.

None of us have reallocated a temple storeroom for an enemy of God.

But all of us, if we’re honest with ourselves...

All of us have disappointed others.

All of us have done the wrong thing and broken God’s laws.

And that presents us with a big problem, doesn’t it?

We want justice when others do the wrong thing.

So if we’re consistent, justice should be served when we do the wrong thing as well.

God is consistent.

And God is perfectly just.

And in God’s justice, those who have done the wrong thing deserve eternity separated from his good presence.

At the same time, God wants us to be in relationship with him.

He loves us and seeks our good.

He wants us to enjoy eternity with him.

So how can God be both perfectly just and perfectly loving?

Well it’s seen clearly at the cross.

At the cross, Jesus took the punishment for us.

Jesus, the Son of God, the morally perfect man, willingly paid the price for our injustices.

He paid our debt.

He satisfied God’s justice.

At the cross, Jesus took on our punishment.

And that means that whoever trusts in him is forgiven.

That’s God’s love.

This is a wonderful thing!

Something to celebrate.

Something to rejoice in.

We sing songs of praise to God because he has saved us through Jesus.

We tell others of how good God is in saving us.

And yet, even though we have the incredible joy of salvation in Jesus, we still face disappointments.

We are hurt by those around us.

We sometimes face the consequences of someone else’s sin.

If God has already dealt with the disappointment that is our sin at the cross,

Then the second way he deals with our disappointment is yet to come.

Much of our disappointment is with injustice in our world.

And ultimate, final justice will happen when Jesus returns.

The day sometimes called Judgement Day.

This is the day described in Acts 17:31.

It’s up on the screen.

Acts 17:31. [explain pronouns]

Acts 17:31 NIV

31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

One day, Jesus will return.

He will bring ultimate justice.

Those who trust in him have already benefitted from God’s justice at the cross.

That is, they will be declared righteous and have eternal life.

And those who remain in their sin will face eternal punishment.

Hell.

Brothers and sisters, some of you are struggling with some injustice in your life.

Maybe you’ve brought it to people in authority.

The government, church leaders, people higher up in your company, whoever...

I do hope that these people bring about the justice you’re looking for.

But sometimes they don’t.

What do you do then?

You look to the future.

To Judgement Day.

On that day, everyone will face the judgement seat of Christ.

And those who are in the wrong will be condemned.

There will be perfect justice.

And it’s not only justice that’s accomplished on that day.

Let’s turn in our Bibles to our final passage for today.

Revelation 21:1-8.

Revelation 21:1-8 is a picture of what the new creation will be like.

It will be perfect in every way.

No more disappointment.

Let’s start with verse 8 since it summarises what we’ve just talked about.

Perfect justice.

Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NIV

8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Justice will be accomplished in the new creation.

But not only justice.

Let’s read verses 1 to 4.

Verses 1 to 4.

Revelation 21:1–4 NIV

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

In the new creation, there will be no more disappointment.

No more death.

No more grieving.

No more sin or conflict.

In the new creation, we will be with God and his people forever.

Our deepest needs will be perfectly satisfied.

We’ll experience eternal joy.

So as we come back to the present, it is our certain hope of that future...

Our assurance of the new creation...

That helps us through our disappointments.

Our disappointments aren’t the end of the story.

Nehemiah 13 isn’t the end of the story.

We have something far greater to look forward to.

And that keeps us going.

It is because of this hope, only because of this hope, that we can be comforted.

It is this hope that gives us peace.

Perhaps even joy.

Because we know that we’re on God’s side and things will end well for us.

Conclusion

Someone here at church once said to me that Christians should be happy.

They said this after experiencing some great disappointment.

Should Christians be happy?

In one sense, yes!

We should be happy!

There is so much for us to rejoice in.

Our salvation, our restored relationship with God, our family in Christ...

God has given us so much to rejoice in.

At the same time, we live in a broken and sinful world.

People around us let us down.

We let ourselves down.

So it makes sense to be disappointed.

There are many appropriate times to grieve.

Thankfully, amidst our disappointment, God has given us hope as well.

He has forgiven us if we trust in Jesus.

And he has shown us the glorious new creation that we look forward to.

So it is this hope that helps us through our disappointment.

This hope that fixes our eyes on God.

It is because of this hope that we can rejoice again.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for being the giver of so many good gifts.

You have given us Jesus, who died on the cross for us.

You have forgiven us and granted us eternal life.

You have restored our relationship with you and brought us into relationship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you!

Yet, many of us are disappointed by those around us and even by ourselves.

We pray that you would help to fix these situations in the present.

And we pray that you would remind us again and again of the great hope we have.

That Jesus will return and bring about the perfect new creation.

Thank you for this hope.

May it sustain us to keep persevering until that final day.

In Jesus’ name

Amen