Nehemiah Intro and 1:1-11
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Background of the book
Background of the book
Well, friends, with Memorial Day having come and gone, that places us officially in the Summer season, which also means a new sermon series for us. And this summer we are going to take some time to study the book of Nehemiah.
Faithful Restoration
Setting in the Bible:
Whenever we study a new book of the Bible, I believe, it is important for us to understand the broader context of what is happening in the lives of the people whom the book is both written about and written to.
In your bulletin’s this morning I have included an outline, or acrostic, to help you understand the time period we are talking about. CASKET. We will often give you the outline of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration to help you understand the storyline of the Bible…but within that, a lot happens! And while sometimes the Bible is organized chronologically, it isn’t always. The OT is organized by genre - Law (first five books), then historical (Joshua- Esther) then wisdom (Job-Song of Solomon) and then finally four major and bunch of minor prophets.
This book, Nehemiah, is in the last section of historical books of Ezra-Neh and Esther.
Setting in history
Now, I said Ezra-Neh because they have historically been viewed as one book and have been separated out in our English Bible based upon the shifts in major characters.
What has happened is that about 200 years before this God’s people began to be exiled by God at the hands of ruthless empires as a result of their unfaithfulness to God. The Assyrians began dominating Israel by whisking the Northern Kingdom away in 722 BC, and then the ultimate fall was the fall of Jerusalem and Judah in 586 at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon in 586 BC.
Eventually Persia conquered Babylon (which fell in line with the prophesy given by Isaiah in chapter 44 and 45), and the Lord worked through the Persian emperor, Cyrus The Great, who offered an edict in 539 - about fifty years later - authorizing and encouraging the Jews exiled by Neb to relocate to the land of Israel and actively engage in rebuilding the temple destroyed by Neb. Interestingly, this is a culture that was very pluralistic!
Three Waves
There then became three waves of returning exiles. The first two are captured in the book of Ezra - the first led by Zerubbabel (a descendant and David) and focused on rebuilding the temple. The second wave was 60 years later led by Ezra which focused in on people returning to God’s law.
The final wave is where we pick up today…thirteen years after Ezra, Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the King of Persia, leads the last group of exiles back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
And it it worth noting that this the hisorically the last pictures we get before the arrival of Jesus in the NT.
Fixer Upper, a show that follows Chip and Joanna Gains throughout Waco, TX as they take old houses and fix them up (for a ridiculously low amount of money!). And there was one episode where I watched as this man had an old family house and wanted them to fix it up. Now, I tried to find a picture of it, but couldn’t…but have you ever been driving down the road and seen a house that looks like it had been abandoned for like 50 years with trees growing through the floors (like this old greenhouse that used to be at the corner of Dreshertown Road and (???). When I saw it I said to myself, “Is this even possible? Can it be rebuilt? Are these contractors trustworthy? what’s going to happen as it is being built? And even the thought, it’s too broken!”
Well, friends, that is where the nation of Israel finds themselves as we walk into this book. Hundreds of years of rebellion against God led to their ouster, led to their temple - the dwelling place of their God and the source of their national identity- torn down, and with it the walls that surrounded it in Jerusalem. After the long journey to Jerusalem, and at this point, some 73 years after the return from exile, they are still looking at their walls in a pile and wondering, “Is this even possible? Can it be rebuilt? Are these contractors trustworthy? what’s going to happen as it is being built? And even the thought, it’s too broken!”
Friends, I don’t know how you come into this place today, but I would venture a guess that there are at least some of you who feel the same way, particularly with regards to your own brokenness and God. Relationally, spiritually, morally, the walls have crumbled. And you wonder, ““Is this even possible? Can it be rebuilt? Are these contractors trustworthy? what’s going to happen as it is being built? And even the thought, it’s too broken!”
My friends, I would contend today that we are are crumbled messes. [We are all broken and in need of restoration.] (FCF)And as we read and listen over the course of this summer, my prayer, and the preaching team’s prayer, is that you will see that [the God we serve is a God of faithful restoration] (Prop)
My friends, And as we read and listen over the course of this summer, my prayer, and the preaching team’s prayer, is that you will see that the God we serve is a God of faithful restoration
... can this thing even happen? Can it be built? Is the contractor trustworthy? What will happen as we wait?
And as we read and listen over the course of this summer, my prayer, and the preaching team’s prayer, is that you will see that the God we serve is a God of faithful restoration
As we will see in all of this, God is the one who is at work…So let’s begin to look at this idea of Restoration.
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, 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. 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.”
Pain
Pain
As we jump in, we find Nehemiah hanging out with the King at a beach retreat for Persian Kings on the Persian Gulf (Susa). We also find some time markers…this largely takes place in the Spring and Summer of 445. And here we see that a brother (likely biological) comes to Neh with a report: they are in great trouble and shame…why? because the wall is broken down, and gates destroyed by fire.
Pain
Pain
The walls were down. In many ways this equalled shame, because, remember that to be conquered by another nation meant being conquered by their God. The walls being down still signalled a type of impotence. He is not able to be worshiped the way He deserves. It means trouble and shame. If we look a little further ahead to v. 9 we’ll get an even deeper glimpse into what is going on...
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.’
The Temple, and Jerusalem, is where God’s name dwells. He put His name on a place and on a people, and it is as good as dirt.
I don’t know if we quite can grasp what is going on here…but it is like the house you grew up in being in shambles…forever!
This is the dark shame that you have been unwilling to share. The addiction that has left you a heap, the longing you thought would never be fulfilled.
But embedded in this problem is a great promise that we would be left wanting if we miss it.
Pulse
Pulse
There was a great problem…that the walls were still down. However, there is a word in v. 3 that we fact that if we miss it, we miss one of the great themes of the book. This was a continuation of the book of Ezra, and the thing the author wants to keep before us is this word that we have in v. 3…remnant.
In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
Remnant assumes something negative…judgement. But it also signals grace. You see, with the rubble all around them, the Holy Spirit inspired this passage for us to see a pulse as we see growing focus on God’s redemptive work. God delivering His people from slavery in Egypt, from Babylonian captivity, and ultimately, from sin and death.
Again, if we jump ahead just a bit, we see this theme...
They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
You see, with the rubble all around them, the Holy Spirit inspired this passage for us to see a pulse as we see growing development
And it will be ultimately realized in the person of Jesus Christ.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Seeds and trees burned by fire.
Friends, we all suffer from redemption amnesia…forgetting that the God of the universe is in control, regardless of the situation around us. God is driving all of human history towards His ultimate restoration, and that cannot be thwarted by downed wall, cultural views of sexuality or human life, a president or presidential candidate. Our media…all outlets, make it very clear that we have imbibed the messages of fear that surround us. Our suicide and addiction culture indicates have given into the narratives of hopelessness. But embedded in this is a reminder of what we talked about just two weeks ago - that God is still at work. there is still a pulse
Now Anthony, this is all well and good, but this is the very reason I can’t believe in this Jesus…because the God you depict is an angry one. Judging his people by tearing down their city, then ultimately having to kill his son on the cross for their sins!
Let me simply say to that, that first, if God is God - creator of heaven and earth and King, and if He is also, as God’s word says, just and good…then it is totally within his right to judge us. In fact, if he didn’t, we’d call him a terrible ruler. But to the grumpy part, this scene of God’s people returning from judgement is an arrow pointing us to the cross where we see a different picture of judgement. You see, here that on the cross, God does not demand our blood, but offers his own.
Prayer
Prayer
While we could easily focus on the good things that Nehemiah does as a leader…and he does a LOT of good things…we want to focus on God’s perfect ways, not Nehemiah’s pretty good ones! That even amidst Nehemiah’s great leadership, it is the Lord who is preserving a remnant. And we see from Nehemiah’s first actions here that He too sees God as the hero of this story…this story of faithful restoration.
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. 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, 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. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 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.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Neh 1:
When Nehemiah saw what had happened, what did this great leader do? Did he do a SWOT analysis? Did he do a strategic plan? Did he do a before action review? No…He wept and mourned. FOR DAYS!
Can we just stop and think about this for thirty seconds? When we experience pain in our lives…do we do this? I thought about some of my responses to some of the pain that has taken place in my children’s lives and recognize that I often do everything but mourn. I do plan and strategize instead of stopping and mourning with my kids. Total aside, but maybe we should practice this as modern people. Just shutting our mouths and crying with someone. Even Jesus, when Lazarus had died and he was being spoken to in a non-helpful way…he wept.
Total aside, but maybe we should practice this as modern people. Just shutting our mouths and crying with someone. Even Jesus, when Lazarus had died and he was being spoken to in a non-helpful way…he wept.
Then he prayed! It wasn’t his last resort…it was his first. Next week we will see how he also switched into planning and doing, but let’s also sit in the fact that He prayed. So let’s look at how he prayed, because I don’t know about you, but prayer is a struggle. The cool thing is, God gives us glimpses of different types of prayers throughout Scripture. We have things like the Lord’s prayer, but also have other prayers that we can look to to guide us, particularly if we are facing areas where the worship of God is being compromised.
Anatomy of a prayer.
Of note, it is almost like Nehemiah had the scroll for Deuteronomy open in His lap as he prayed.
Character- (v. 5) - Nehemiah starts off reminding himself who God is in the midst of what he is hearing.
Steadfast Love - Hesed.
Great and awesome God, which comes from
You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
Then he reminds himself, and prays to God, the reality that this God is a God who keeps his promises.
Confession (v. 6-7) - self and others. We are used to prayers of appeal, but I believe even our prayers of appeal must be tempered with confession. This reminds us that we can certainly get things wrong in our asking for things.
Appeal (8-11) - remember what you’ve said!
You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
8 - curses of
“And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
9 - Remember what else you said will happen if your people come back to you.
If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.
“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.
v. 10 -
For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’
Give success!
Well, friends, while we could easily focus on the good things that Nehemiah does as a leader…and he does a LOT of good things…we want to focus on God’s perfect ways, not Nehemiah’s pretty good ones!
Dt 9:29
Conclusion
Conclusion
Spoiler alert, by the end of this book you will be left wanting more. In fact, the one who wrote this book wrote it still having not seen the full realities of what God promised, fulfilled. They are faced with the questions you would imagine they would have - “Is this even possible? Can it be rebuilt? Are these contractors trustworthy? what’s going to happen as it is being built? And even the thought, it’s too broken!”
In the short-term…yes, the walls get rebuilt…but get knocked over again. But remember, this is driving us to something far greater.
Last year I had a the joy to spend some time with a brother, Ed Stuebner, just before he passed from this life, and during that visit he asked me to read him a passage….
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
You see, spoiler alert, by the end of this book you will be left wanting more. In fact, the one who wrote this book wrote it still having not seen the full realities of what God promised, fulfilled. They are faced with the questions you would imagine they would have - “Is this even possible? Can it be rebuilt? Are these contractors trustworthy? what’s going to happen as it is being built? And even the thought, it’s too broken!”
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
God eventually takes that fixer upper and restores it, and all of His creation, us included, to a greater glory than we could even imagine through the Lamb who lights the city with His radiance…and for those who call on Him in faith, we will dwell with him there forever!
Is it even possible? Is it too broken? No way! Is the contractor trustworthy? Absolutely. God is a God of faithful restoration.