One More List (Nehemiah 11:1-12:26)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
A. Preliminaries
A. Preliminaries
Good Morning.
Today we continue our series in the 10th Chapter of Nehemiah. We will be focusing on the entire chapter which begins on Page 477 of the Bibles in your pews.
Israel has made a public confession of their sin, and they have drawn up a covenant. And they have said together “We will not neglect the house of our God.” And we got a long list of names in Chapter 10, of all the people who signed the Covenant.
Well guess what we get in this chapter? More names. It’s a long list of names, stretching from verse 4 in Chapter 11, all the way to verse 26 of Chapter 12!
And as our custom has been when we encounter a name list, I’m going to leave the scanning of the names to you. The list is huge. But we will begin by reading the first three verses.
B. Sermon Text
B. Sermon Text
So if you will stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:
Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
You may be seated.
C. Transition to Sermon
C. Transition to Sermon
So we have once more reached a rather intimidating list of names. But as has always been the case, the list is connected to the story.
So what is going on here?
In short, Jerusalem needs to be repopulated. The temple is built. The wall is finished. But most of the people are still living outside the city.
And so the problem is obvious: What was the point of building that wall if nobody’s living in the city?
Now this is not a chapter dedicated to the goodness of living in a city, as though it’s a sin to live in a more rural area. We have to keep in mind that Jerusalem is no ordinary city.
God had promised at the start of Nehemiah
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.’
This is where God’s name was to dwell. Returning to Jerusalem was the whole point.
And the people are not living there!
D. Sermon Points
D. Sermon Points
So there are at least three things I’d like us to note from our rather large passage this morning. Some principles we can draw from it.
Names are Chosen
Duties are Given
Worship is Protected
D. Sermon Prayer
D. Sermon Prayer
Let’s Pray
Blessed Lord, you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning—grant us that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
From The Book of Common Prayer (1552)
I. Names Are Chosen
I. Names Are Chosen
Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns.
So they determine who will live in the city by casting lots. Which is an interesting practice, it happens several times in the Old Testament, and once in the New Testament (at Pentecost), where marked stones would be placed into a jar and either one would be drawn at random, or they would pour the jar and the first stone that came out was the winner.
Now when we hear that, that sounds to us like a lottery or like gambling, but that would be a false comparison.
The theology of its use is rooted in Proverbs 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
This verse is not meant to say that casting lots is holy. The point is to say there is no such thing as random chance.
They needed decisions made, they needed to figure out who was going to make the move to Jerusalem. So they picked the names at random you might say, because the Jews lived in a world where nothing was random.
Casting lots was a public confession that God was governing the outcome. And the point is that they are not using it to escape responsibility. They are using it to say “This is up to the Lord.”
But then we find something curious.
And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
Willingly offered? Yes.
But I thought they were chosen? Yes.
Things are phrased this way because God’s sovereignty and human will are not opposites. This text really does a number on the idea that sovereignty makes human action meaningless. Because for the rest of this chapter, and well into the next chapter, we have a list of names with assigned duties. God recorded this, as if to say “Here are the assigned duty posts that I have given to my people.”
God is at work here assigning posts and duties to His people. And the things that seem random to us are part of his perfect plan.
When we went through The Gospel Comes with a Housekey on Wednesday nights, one of my favorite insights from Rosaria Butterfield was “God never gets the address wrong.”
That house that you live in, is in a neighborhood. With neighbors. And God never gets the address wrong.
That place where you work. That family you have. Those kids you have. That person you married. That job you have. That job you got fired from. That affliction you’re walking through. None of it is random.
Now that doesn’t mean you will always discover the reason for it. God’s sovereignty is not a puzzle given to you to solve. But it is a security you are given to confess. The doctrine of the sovereignty of God isn’t given to help you explain the world. But it is given to help you live in it.
II. Duties are Given
II. Duties are Given
These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants. And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah...
So begins the long list of names. And for the last time in this sermon series, we are going to talk about the value of lists of names.
God is not embarrassed by this record-keeping. Clearly he loves it. It’s all over Ezra and Nehemiah. Some of you are probably tired of hearing me talk about it. Because why do we need another list of names?
And the answer to that would be that this is not just a list of names. Look closer.
Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.
Second over the city. That sounds important.
Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God,
Ruler of the house of God. Sounds very important.
and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God;
Ok, so we have the inside work and the outside work.
The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172.
Keeping watch at the gates—that sounds rather mission-critical
I think you get the point.
This is not just a list of names.
This is a list of jobs.
Because what you will notice as you read through the Bible is that to be known by God doesn’t just mean you get to go to heaven.
It means you are given something to do here on earth.
We don’t know anything about the personal lives of these people.
Joel. Son of Zichri. What was his favorite color? I have no idea.
Zadok. Son of Meraioth. Did he prefer chicken or fish?
Jozabad. One of the chiefs of the Levites. Was he a morning person or a night owl?
The names in this list are not defined by personality, preferences, or self-expression. They are defined by their responsibility.
Because to be on God’s list is to be given good work to do. Now, this work is all of grace, it doesn’t save, and it doesn’t earn favor, and it doesn’t grant immortality. You know what does grant immortality? The fact that God writes your name on his list.
But I think this is good for us to grasp. Because we tend to measure our responsibilities by what we find hard.
Oh, that’s really hard. God must not be calling me to that. You’d better re-think that line of reasoning. So often we want our names written down, but our responsibilities erased. But God writes our names down so that he can hand you good work to do for his Kingdom.
So what is the work you’ve been given?
Some of you are going through a hard patch in your marriage.
I want you to think of your name on a list.
James, son of Dylan, married to Linda. So that they might glorify God together by persevering through their trial. By naming their sins to each other. By keeping short accounts. By forgiving quickly and totally. By loving each other so well, that their children are both in awe and grossed out.
Some of you are grieving a loss. Really heartbroken.
And God has written your name down.
Lydia, daughter of Thomas, who lost her brother, or her mother or her best friend. And had to trust God in the midst of the emptiness and the grief.
Some of you might be in a season where God is bringing you through a trial with your kids.
Jonathan, son of Jacob, who learned to persevere with his children, both in prayer and in presence, finding the courage to discipline and to love well.
You get it.
And you see why this totally rips apart the idea that God being sovereign means we don’t do anything.
We don’t say “Well, this is how God wants it, so that means I just don’t do anything.”
No. Christians say “This is how God wanted it, so I know how I must live.”
So a way you can apply this is to ask yourself, first, what has God called me to do and be?
A husband? A father? A mother? An employee? A son? A daughter? A friend? A sibling?
Ok. What are the duties that come with that vocation, with that calling?
What is the duty you are tempted to run from the most? Is it prayer? Patience? Submission? Forgiveness? Trust?
That’s where God has called you. And he means to give you the grace to walk after him with joy. Maybe you’re not up to it. Maybe you’re worn out with nothing left to give. Brothers and sisters, look around you. Because there’s not just one name on this list. There’s a whole army here. Because when God writes your name down, he puts people beside you, ready to pray for you, to encourage you, to admonish you sometimes, to rebuke sometimes, but always to hold you up for the sake of your joy and your good work for the Kingdom.
III. Worship is Protected
III. Worship is Protected
The most prominent vocations or works or jobs in this passage are those relating to worship.
The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani...of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God.
So there were singers who were employed for the purpose of leading worship.
They were also funded
For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, as every day required.
We see further mention of the same in
And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.
We see the same in
And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch.
You see that establishing worship in Jerusalem was critical here. God does not rebuild Jerusalem and then just hope someone starts singing. He rebuilds Jerusalem and makes certain they will never stop singing.
This is how important singing and worship is to our God. He makes sure there are people to order it, to preside over it, to lead it, to organize it, and so on.
What we can learn here is that God guards his worship by making sure that someone is overseeing it. This is part of the duty of pastors and elders in the church today—to ensure (as best we can) that the worship of God’s people is rightly ordered, reverent, joyful, and biblical all the way to the bottom.
We learn in the passage that men are appointed to oversee the praise, they are told where to stand, and how to lead. This wasn’t a jam session. This was Covenant Worship.
Worship in Jerusalem did not survive because the people felt like singing—it survived because God assigned men, funded the work, guarded the service, and commanded the praise.
And what we should learn from this is that when God rebuilds a people, He does not start with their feelings. He starts with their praise. And when He rebuilds their praise, He does it carefully, so it will still be there tomorrow, and next year, and forever.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In our passage this morning, we find that the Holy Spirit is not afraid of lists of names or carefully ordered structures.
He assigns the work by name to his people by name so that the work will continue.
Because God’s people are like a powerful army on earth, taking ground for the Kingdom, day by day, year by year, generation by generation.
But we have a word for an army with no assigned ranks. That’s just a mob.
We have a word for a choir that has no parts. That’s just noise.
We have a word for a church with no duties or places to serve. That’s just a social club.
Sometimes you hear that accusation. That the church is just a religious social club. It’s usually not an accusation you hear from people meaningfully involved in fellowship and ministry.
So a mere list of names can inspire us and drive us with joy to the good work God has set before us.
And even better than that, these names are meant to point beyond themselves. What we learn from this is that God loves to keep track of his people by name.
And so it should not surprise us when Christ, during his earthly ministry said
...rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
And from our passage in Nehemiah, I think the only correct response to that is “Of course they are.”
In Nehemiah, names are written down so the city can be rebuilt. In Christ, names are written down so the city can never be destroyed.
And I think this helps us grasp the significance of lists like this.
Because, is a list like this boring? Well, I suppose it can be, yes.
But when is a list like this not boring?
The answer is “If your name is on it.”
It’s not boring if your name is on it. If your friends’ names are on it.
I mean are yearbooks boring?
Not if you’re in them. Not if your friends are in them.
So it is with the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Where the saints of God will find their names written forever.
At Advent, we celebrate God who is coming, and at Christmas, we rejoice in God who has come. Come with a name. Immanuel. And with a job. Indeed he has left the hardest work for Himself. Rescuing us from sin and death and darkness, saving us by name. Giving us good work to do, and giving us a gladder and louder song that will echo for eternity.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
