Nehemiah 1 A People Built By God

Today we are starting a new sermon series going through the book of Nehemiah.

Now some of you might be familiar with this book of the Bible and know that it is about God’s people rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem

However, the book of Nehemiah is so much more than that.

The wall that Nehemiah leads the reconstruction effort on actually represents God’s work to build a people for his own possession.

A holy people separated from the world (hence the wall), who are forgiven of their sins and worship God alone.

In a very real sense, the book overall is about God’s work to bring his salvation to the world in Christ and how he invites his people to participate in that work

and how he desires to save his people from their sins and live with them in Jerusalem as

works through his people Israel to bring his salvation and the knowledge of his gospel to the world.

Now this might be surprising to some people because while they might not say it out loud, many Christians implicitly believe that the God of the OT is different than the God in the NT.

They look at the God of the OT as angry always pouring out his wrath and is always upset with his people while the God of the NT is loving, kind, and snuggly.

However, as we open our series in , we are going to see how God has been working since humanity first sinned in the Garden of Eden to save his people and bring glory to his name.

What we are going to see today is how since humanity first sinned in the Garden of Eden, God has been at work to save his people and bring glory to his name.

That he has always been a God of grace.

:1-3 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, 2 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. 3 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.”

Nehemiah is a central figure in the book that bears his name.

He is a godly, courageous manned determined to carryout what the Lord has called him to do in leading the people of Israel to rebuild the wall despite facing opposition at every turn.

And writing his memoirs he notes that it is the twentieth year.

When Nehemiah says its the twentieth year, he means that is the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I who reigned from 464 to 423 BC making the time Nehemiah starts his memoirs around 445BC.

Artaxerxes was a king of the Persian Empire which at the time was the largest empire in the world.

So Nehemiah is writing this passage about 450 years before Jesus shows up on the scene in Jerusalem

But Nehemiah says that he was in Susa.

Susa was a capital city of the Persian empire.

If you were to look at it on a map it is over in this region located in modern day Iran.

Now this raises the question. How did Nehemiah, a Jewish man who wrote a book of the Bible end up all the way in Susa which was around 850 miles from Jerusalem where the rest of the book takes place?

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

To answer this, allow me to give you a brief history of ancient Israel.

The nation of Israel was comprised of twelve tribes who were all descendents of a man named Abraham.

These twelve tribes were saved by God from slavery and Egypt and given the Promise land where they could worship God freely.

Abraham’s grandson was named Jacob whom God changed his name to Israel

God then calls a man named Abram and changes his name to Abraham saying the he was going to make him into a great nation and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him.

Eventually, the people of Israel asked God to give them a king like the other nations and God obliged and eventually raised up a man named David who God said was a man after his own heart and wrote most of the Psalms.

Then in the book of Exodus, Abraham’s descendents have become a great nation comprised of twelve different tribes who were descended from 12 of Abraham’s great grandsons.

David had a son named Solomon who built the temple where God’s presence dwelt on the earth in the Holy of Holies in the midst of his people Israel.

While in Egypt the people of Israel are subjected to cruel slavery where God eventually brings plagues against Egypt to deliver his people so they might worship him.

Then Solomon had a son named Rehoboam who reigned after him. Rehoboam was a foolish king who laid heavy burden on the northern tribes of Israel.

Then

Because of this, the northern tribes rebelled and the kingdom of Israel was split into two kingdoms. In the north was the kingdom of Israel, and in the south was the kingdom of Judah.

The kingdom of Israel had only bad kings who led God’s people into idolatrous worship.

Because of their idolatry, God judged them and raised up the nation of Assyria.

Assyria destroyed Israel and took the people into exile.

Because of their disobedience, God’s people were removed from the Promise Land.

Judah, the southern kingdom, faired a little better but not much. They had some faithful kings but eventually their wickedness grew and God judged them just like he had with the northern kingdom.

This time, God raised up the Babylonian Empire who conquered Assyria and eventually came and conquered Judah in 587BC so around 140 years before Nehemiah is writing this passage.

Babylon took God’s people into exile and removed them from the Promise Land as God had warned his people would happen if they failed to worship him alone.

This summary covers the books of Genesis-1 & 2 Chronicles as well as most of the prophets who warned God’s people of the coming judgement for their disobedience.

But then, in 539BC there was hope that God was going to redeem his people once again.

God raised up the nation of Persia who conquered Babylon and was led by a king named Cyrus.

Now Cyrus was prophesied by Isaiah to allow God’s people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple to worship him once again.

This is where the books of Ezra and Nehemiah fit into the story.

Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book, but at some point in church history they were divided into two perhaps because the book of Ezra focuses on the rebuilding of the temple of God and Nehemiah focuses on the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

During Cyrus’ reign, he issued a decree that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem from their Assyrian and Babylonian exile to rebuild the temple and once again worship God.

In the book of Ezra, these exiles return and eventually build the second Temple, the very one Jesus would later visit, around 515 BC around 70 years before Nehemiah.

So, at the time Nehemiah comes into the picture, many of God’s people have returned from exile to Jerusalem, the temple had been rebuilt, but God’s people still remained unprotected 70 years later because as Nehemiah continues...

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, 2 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. 3 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.”

One of Nehemiah’s brothers comes to Susa and Nehemiah is eager to find out how God’s people are doing now that God is ending their exile and punishment for their disobedience.

Nehemiah asks about those that escaped referring to those who had escaped the exile and returned to the Promise Land to once again worship God, and the report he receives his not good.

Hanani tells him that the remnant of God’s people who returned are in great shame because the walls of Jersualem were broken down.

When empires conquered other nations in that day, they would remove the native people of the land and instead bring in foreigners to live in the land instead.

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 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. 3 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.”

The peoples and nations who surrounded Israel were surely mocking and scoffing Israel and their God because it appeared that the God of Israel was not even strong enough to help them build a wall to and rebuild his city around his own temple where he was worshiped.

This report rocked Nehemiah to his core.

The walls being broken down and the gates destroyed by fire probably refers to an event that happened in where God’s people attempted to build the wall earlier during Artaxerxes reign.

However, when he got wind of it, he assumed it was possibly motivated by a rebellion of the Jewish people against Persia so he had it destroyed with “force and power” according to Ezra 4:23.

The hope of God’s people was that their exile and shame was over.

The disobedience which led to their exile was put behind them and they were finally free to worship God as he had commanded them so that they could walk in all his promises and blessings as his people.

But Nehemiah gets a report that the temple, the place where the One True God of the universe is worshiped, is still vulnerable to Israel’s enemies without a wall.

Not only were God’s people still in danger, but their witness to the nations of God’s glory as the One True God of all Creation was hanging by a thread.

This report drove Nehemiah to prayer in Nehemiah 1:4-6.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

4 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. 5 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, 6 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,

So Nehemiah prays to God in hope that he will once again save his people and take away their reproach so that they might worship him.

When he says “let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant” Nehemiah is not praying unsure that God would hear him.

He knew that God would hear his prayer, but he was asking God to take action on behalf of his people to redeem them.

And he does so by recounting that God is a faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.

One central theme of the entire Bible is that God has a special covenant relationship with his people.

The word translated steadfast love is the Hebrew word Hesed which carries with it the idea of covenantal love and loyalty. it is this enduring faithfulness

And for you to truly understand why Nehemiah appeals to God as the covenant keeper, you need to see how God has used covenants in the story of redemption that the Bible tells us about.

A covenant is an agreement between two people that carries with it promises and obligations that are guaranteed.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

You will become a great nation that blesses the nations of the world

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

And then God makes a covenant with Abraham to solidify it.

What is unique about this is that God lays no conditions on Abraham in order that the promise would be fulfilled.

You will become a great nation and I will give them the Promised Land

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Circumcision

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The purpose of the Exodus was to birth the nation whom God would have a special relationship with.

The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

LAW AND PROMISE OF LAND

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Sinaitic covenant lays out the kind of nation God wanted Israel to be.

They were a people who by his grace were in a special relationship with the God of the universe who desired to bless them in order that all the nations of the earth might be blessed through him.

Israel was to be God’s conduit of grace.

But this special relationship carries with it more than just privilege. It also requires responsibility on the part of the people.

The primary concern for this covenant where God gave the law was how this special, divine-human relationship was going to be maintained between the One True God and the “great nation” that was descended from Abraham.

In other words, the Law was given to show Israel how to walk in the relationship of grace. Not a way to earn God’s grace.

They were to obey the law and walk in holiness because God had declared them his holy people. Not to earn his holiness.

And it was through this special relationship with his “special treasure” that God wanted to make himself known to all the families of the earth just as he had promised Abraham.

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18 And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

DISOBEDIENCE WOULD BRING EXILE

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

It is different than a contract because a covenant involves an ongoing relationship between both parties in order to fulfill the promises and obligations of the covenant together.

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. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 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.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

Throughout the Bible, God enters into covenant with his people, and as God’s people we must understand these different covenants so that we can see God’s purposes in redeeming sinners.

8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 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.’ 10 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.

Now I was cupbearer to the king.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

CHRIST IS THE PROMISED OFFSPRING Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

In regards to Nehemiah’s prayer, we must start with the Abrahamic Covenant

Abraham was first known as Abram and lived in a city called Ur. Which if you look back on our map, Ur is right here.

CHRIST IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

And one day God comes to Abram completely by grace and says

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So the Lord essentially says to Abram, “Abram, I want you to follow me and I’m going to bring salvation to the world through you, and I’m going to do it by doing two things.

First, I’m going to bless you. I’m going to make you into a great nation and give you a land that I will show you.

But I’m not just doing this to bless you Abram. I’m doing something you don’t see yet. I’m blessing you so that you will be a blessing to the world.

Because the second thing I’m going to do in you is bless all the families of the earth.

these are the promises God makes to Abram

Then, later in his life God comes to Abram and confirms these two promises by making covenants with him.

First we look at .

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After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

This event is years after God called Abram out of Ur.

Abram had been resting on this promise that God was going to take away his shame of he and his wife being barren, but it still had not happened.

What in the world was God doing?

And Abraham asks the next chance he gets saying, “God, I’m still childless. It doesn’t seem like this promise to make me into a great nation so that I might bless all the families of the earth is going to happen given my age.

But God takes him outside and says, “Abram, do you see how many stars are up there? You can’t even count them. That is how many descendants that you will have.”

Then God tells Abram to gather some animals and they cut them in half because covenants were often solidified with blood in a way of saying, “If I don’t hold up my end, then may I be destroyed just like these animals.

Then Abram falls asleep and has a vision where God alone walks through the animal halves showing that God is taking all the obligation to fulfill this promise to Abram on himself.

This first covenant therefore emphasizes that God will surely bless Abram and make him into a great nation and give them the promise land.

Then we move to another affirmation of the promise from in another covenant made in .

Notice that both of these covenants are not independent of each other. They each flow out of the one promise in to make Abram a great nation, give his descendants a promise land, and bless all the families of the earth through them.

The covenant in affirmed the first promise of nationhood

The covenant in affirms the promise to bless all the families of the earth through Abram.

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BECAUSE OF CHRIST THE NEW COVENANT Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

So now, Abram is 99 years old and still has not received the child God had promised him.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

I mean how is he ever going to become a nation and bless all the families of the earth if he can’t even get one child?

And God comes to him again and says Abram, I’m going to make you the father of a multitude of nations just like I promised.

In fact, I’m changing your name from Abram (which means exalted father) to Abraham (which means father of a multitude).

God expands the promise to say to Abraham, “you aren’t just going to be the father of a nation, but of a multitude of nations.”

Hinting to the fact that Abraham will not be the Father of a multitude of nations physically, but spiritually as all the nations of the earth are blessed in his offspring.

And it was through this offspring that God was going to bring his promises to fruition.

And we finally see God’s ultimate purpose in calling Abraham and promising to make him a great nation.

He wanted to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham’s offspring so that God would be their God. That he could build a people for himself that would worship him alone.

That they would be free from their sin and idolatry to find all the fulfillment and satisfaction in him alone!

This is the grand purpose of God in the world. He is at work to redeem a people for himself to save them so that they would worship him!

And God is promising to do this through Abraham’s offspring

And God gives Abraham a sign that he will bring to pass his promises in circumcision.

This covenant is different than that of where God took all the obligations upon himself to make Abraham a great nation.

Here God lays obligations on Abraham saying to him walk before me and be blameless.

The blessing of walking in relationship with God which came completely by grace now carries the responsibility to respond to this grace in holiness.

And from , God begins to carry out his purposes to save a people for himself because Abraham and Sarah give birth to Isaac, who gave birth to Jacob who God changed his name to Israel.

Then Israel had 12 sons who would become the 12 tribes of Israel, and this family ended up in Egypt in order to escape a great famine.

While in Egypt, God began to fulfill his promise to Abraham to make him a great nation because tells us, But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

And because they grew so strong in number, the Pharoah of Egypt placed them into slavery and bondage to keep them from revolting and overthrowing Egypt.

This is where God brings Moses in the book of Exodus, brings plagues against Egypt and leads his people out of Egypt to Mount Sinai to establish his covenant with them.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

God gives his people the 10 Commandments and his Law which he commanded that his people must obey and promised to bring them into the Land that he promised to give to Abraham.

In essence the covenant at Sinai spelled out the type of nation God intended Israel to be, namely a holy nation.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

To reflect his character and to be a light to all the nations about God’s holiness

The primary concern of God’s giving the law is how the relationship between God and his people was must be expressed and maintained.

If God’s people were truly his, then they must live like it.

Most Christians assume that obeying God’s law is what saved people in the Old Testament until Jesus shows up and God changes his mind and starts giving grace but that’s not a proper understanding of how God worked in his people.

God was still the God of grace in the Old Testament. 2X It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

God saved Israel not because of anything they had done, but because he chose to by his grace just like he does with each and every one of us.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And he endured with Israel by grace because even when they were faithless, God reminded them that he was the God who keeps covenant with his people.

Being in a special relationship with the God carries with it more than privilege. It requires God’s people to take responsibility in maintaining the special relationship themselves.

Namely, this responsibility was to love God which is expressed in obeying his commandments.

God showing hesed, or covenantal love and loyalty was to be reciprocated by his people. If God was going to stay faithful to his covenant than his people should too by obeying God’s commands.

And God’s people took this responsibility in Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And from Sinai, God took his people to the promised land, but the people had little faith. Because they did not believe God’s promises that he would give them victory over the people who lived in Israel, God took them out to the wilderness for 40 years until that generation died off which is described the book of Numbers.

After that generation died God again brought them to the edge of the Promise Land in Moab where Moses reestablish the covenant at Sinai for a new generation.

Before this new generation may enter the Promise Land as God had promised Abraham, they had to accept God’s covenantal love for themselves.

This is covenant is expressed in the entire book of Deuteronomy.

However, there is a distinct emphasis in Moses’ teaching at Moab about how God’s people would be expelled from the land if they failed to remain faithful to God’s covenant.

2X “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

“When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

And this undoubtedly happens. Because of Israel’s unfaithfulness in worshiping other gods, God raised up Assyria and Babylon who took God’s people out of the Land.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

It is because Israel broke the covenant that Nehemiah is in Susa. Knowing this, Nehemiah’s does the only thing he can. Repent. And recalling this passage from Nehemiah continues his prayer saying...

7 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. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.

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. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,

25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Nehemiah confesses how God’s people have not lived like it and the plight they are now experiencing they deserve because they broke the covenant they had made with God.

But Nehemiah continues his prayer continuing to recall what God had promised in if God’s people repented of their sin and returned to him that God had told them he was a God of grace and if they repented, then he promised to redeem them.

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.’

Nehemiah is asking God to fulfill his promises to his people.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

To bless Israel so that they might be a blessing to the nations and all the families of the earth might now that the God of Israel is the One True God and he desires to redeem sinners.

Nehemiah continues...

They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 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.

Here is the amazing thing about Nehemiah.

He sees that God is doing something amazing in the world.

That God desires to give salvation to sinners through Israel, and instead of thinking to himself, “Well that’s nice. I’m sure glad God saved me. I hope he saves others too.” Nehemiah saw God’s work as an invitation to join him to bring salvation to the world.

He determined that he would do what he could to further God’s work in the world and asks God to give him success and mercy in the sight of this man. The man who he worked with everyday as his cupbearer.

Nehemiah was asking God to give him success with the most powerful man in the world, this pagan King Artaxerxes, to ask him to let Nehemiah join God in his work to bring salvation to all the earth by returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall to protect God’s people and their worship of God in the Temple

The Big Idea: of this passage is that God is faithful to his covenant people.

From Adam and Eve, God has been working to bring salvation to the world through Israel and invites his people to join him in his work.

And this is why he has raised up Nehemiah to be in a position to accomplish God’s own purposes on the earth

Nehemiah did it by using his position and influence to help Israel rebuild the wall

Now what does this have to do with us? Why study a book of the Bible about a guy named Nehemiah who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem?

Because we are still God’s covenant people.

Remember God’s first promise to Abraham from .

God was going to bless Abraham and make him a great nation and in so doing bless all the families of the earth.

God promised to do this through Abraham’s offspring.

Later Paul tells us Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

Paul explicitly says that the offspring promised to Abraham who was going to bring blessing to all the nations is Jesus

Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Because in Jesus’ life death and resurrection Abraham became the father of many nations.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

Abraham is the father of many nations because Gentiles, that is anyone that is not a Jew, are grafted into the people of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We are saved from our sins through the gospel of the promised offspring, Jesus Christ.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

What about the Covenants at Sinai and Moab which were largely focused on the Law as the human obligation for maintaining the covenant relationship between God and his people.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Israel failed time and time again to keep God’s Law which was why they were in exile.

Every single sinner has failed to keep it because even one sin James tells us makes us guilty of all of it.

But Jesus said Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Now in coming to fulfill the Law Jesus was saying that he came to obey it on our behalf.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

We could never keep God’s law perfectly but in order to be saved, we must be perfectly holy before God.

Jesus, God incarnate comes to earth, lived a perfect righteous life on our behalf.

So Christ fufills the human obligations of the covenant of the Law as our substitute

Not only did Christ fulfill our obligation to the Law, he also took all the curses and punishments for failing to obey the Law on himself.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Christ became a curse for us. On the cross, God the Father poured out his wrath on God the Son so that when we put our faith in Jesus by God the Spirit, all of our sins are paid and we are forgiven.

It is because Jesus both fulfilled the Law and took its Curse on our behalf that we are able to be declared righteous in Christ.

Going back to Nehemiah, If God’s people had not rebuilt the temple and the wall in Jerusalem, and been dedicated to living according to the Covenant, we would still be waiting for Jesus to come as the fulfillment of the covenants, die on the cross, and forgive us our sins.

The events in Nehemiah things were necessary for God to do to bring about his Messiah, the Savior of the world, so that he could establish the New Covenant with his church.

Remember, God is the same in the OT as the New. He still has a relationship with us through the New Covenant.

When Jesus gave us the Lord’s supper he said in This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

When Jesus died on the Cross he ushered in a New Covenant for God’s people that is described in :31-34

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

God notes how the Covenant at Sinai and Moab were able to be broken by God’s people because they still had dead, stony, sinful hearts.

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

But because of Jesus, God has put his law in our hearts. In other words he gives us new hearts that desire him more than our sin.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

But because of Jesus, God has put his law in our hearts. In other words he gives us new hearts that desire him more than our sin.

And because of Jesus, we who were far off because of our sin have been brought near to God where we know him and have a relationship with him to worship only.

And this covenant is not like the others because it is God’s action that guarantees the promises of the new covenant.

Where we could break our obligations in the old covenant God guarantees the new by the obedience of his son

We do not have obligations laid on us to maintain our covenant relationship with God

Instead God takes all the obligations upon himself because God said that he has forgiven our iniquity and remembered our sin no more all because of the gospel of Christ.

God is a faithful God who always keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.

shows us that despite our sin, God is still working his purposes on the earth to save us from our sins and free us to worship him as our God.

God’s covenants found in the Bible are proof that God gives grace to sinners because what kind of God enters into relationship with his enemies?

The Bible says that in our sin we have made ourselves enemies of God but he did not right us off.

He pursued us and made a covenant with us promising that he would be our God and we would be his people.

And this is now possible because God has been faithful to his promises to Abraham, and to his promises to Israel by sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God to die for our sins so that we could be transformed from God’s enemies to his sons and daughters.

So that in Jesus all the nations of the earth would be blessed and God would be our God and we would be his people

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 36:22-29

Nehemiah 1 A People Built By God

Introduction

1. A Troubling Report

How Did We Get Here? (Historical Context)

2. A Troubled Prayer

God’s Faithfulness

The Faithfulness of God

Abrahamic Covenant

The Call of Abram

Affirmation of God’s Promises

You will become a great nation and I will give them the Promise Land

The Nations Will Be Blessed Through You

Covenant at Sinai

Covenant at Moab

The Unfaithfulness of Israel

A Plea for Redemption

In regards to Nehemiah’s thought, our purposes start with the Abrahamic Covenant

Abrahamic Covenant

Promise of Nationhood and Land Affirmed

Promise to Bless the Nations Affirmed

The Covenant at Mount Sinai

The Covenant at Moab

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

A Plea For Redemption

Jesus and the New Covenant

Conclusion