Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago I asked you all what you would like to study in the coming weeks on Sunday nights.

Debbie answered by saying the “little guys” aka the minor prophets.

This got me thinking about some of the key figures in the Old Testament that get skipped over sometimes, especially by preachers.

You can google sermons on the gospels or Paul’s letters and get millions of results.

Unfortunately, this cannot be said of the Old Testament Historical Books or the Major/Minor prophets.

So, what I am hoping to do for the next couple months is to go through the book of Nehemiah as we start looking at key Old Testament figures and how they point us to Jesus Christ and how their stories matter to us today and call us to action.

This book takes place

The book of Nehemiah acts as a sequel to Ezra and is a post-exillic book in the sense that it takes place after the exile to Persia.

We know that after the rule of Solomon, the nation of Israel split into 2 kingdoms (Israel in the North and Judah in the South).

Israel would be captured in 722 BC by the Assyrians while the nation of Judah would be captured in 597 BC by Babylon.

In 536 BC, Persia would conquer Babylon to become the most powerful nation in the world.

Ezra returned to Jerusalem around 458 BC with some fellow exiles from Babylon and they rebuilt the temple and established the Mosaic law.

Ezra does a great job of setting the stage for Nehemiah as it shows that the exile did not mean that God was finished with the people of Israel, in fact He had much more in store for them!

As we get into Nehemiah, we believe that he returned to Jerusalem around 445 BC.

The city was a shell of its former self and was defenseless and surrounded by its enemies on all sides.

What we see time and time again throughout Nehemiah is that God protects His people and God’s people must be faithful in keeping His commands.

This, after all is the purpose of the law, keep the law and experience covenantal blessings or disobey the law and experience covenantal cursing.

A couple of key themes in the book include:

The Lord hearing our prayer (1:4-6)

The Lord working through rulers to bring about His greater purpose (2:8)

The Lord protecting His people (4:14)

The Lord being merciful and faithful to His promises - even though His people continue in sin (9:32-55)

Worship being the center of life for God’s people - including the giving of their resources (10:32-39)

God’s people needing to be on their guard against their own personal weaknesses (13)

With this background information in mind, and having a rough outline in front of us, let’s dive into the first chapter of Nehemiah!

Nehemiah 1:1-2:

This first chapter of Nehemiah is packed with Biblical truth and applicable points for us today.

What we see in this chapter is Nehemiah’s concern and prayer while chapter 2 shows us the response (or action) to this prayer.

News from Jerusalem (1-3)

How fitting is it that the name Nehemiah actually means “The Lord comforts”?

This is a very fitting name for this energetic leader who combined a deep trust in the Lord with precise planning, careful organization and discreet but energetic action.

Christian leaders find inspiration in the life and character of Nehemiah today.

If you are stuck in a tough situation with enemies surrounding you, Nehemiah is your guy to look to in how to handle that situation.

I’ll go ahead and spoil the story, though, and tell you that the answer is to trust in God.

In the first 3 verses of show us the news that Nehemiah received from Jerusalem.

Nehemiah states the time that he received this news - “Chislev” corresponds to what we would call November or December.

Additionally, the king of Persia at this time (Artaxerxes) began to reign in 465 BC, meaning that the 20th year would be 445 BC.

As mentioned before, Ezra arrived in the 7th year of this king’s reign, which is why we believe that he arrived in Jerusalem with the first wave of exiles in 458 BC.

Additionally, Susa would have served as the winter residence for the king of Persia (and one of the mightiest cities in the world at this day and age)!

We are not entirely sure who Hanani was.

He could have been a real brother of Nehemiah or he could have been a friend or simply a fellow Jew - we know that sometimes we call someone a brother whenever they are actually a dear friend or simply a brother in Christ.

This individual is probably an actual brother of Nehemiah’s, however this is not something that we know for 100% sure.

What we do know is that Jerusalem was in a difficult situation!

In , we see that the walls of the city were broken down and the gates were burned.

The enemies of Judah sent a letter to the King of Persia (Artaxerxes) and Artaxerxes forced the Israelites to stop rebuilding the wall.

Nehemiah gets this report and we get valuable insight into the character of Nehemiah.

This is not a man who is interested in his immediate family or his own fame, his vision included God’s people even though they were hundreds of miles away!

Christians must seek to have a global concern for God’s work today as well!

We must not get so wrapped up in our own situations that we lose sight of what God is doing in the lives of other Believers around the world - and as Nehemiah will show us, we must pray for them as well!

Verse 3 wraps up this report by talking about a Jewish remnant.

Nehemiah is referring to the Jews who had returned from exile.

We see throughout the Old Testament that God will always have a remnant - a people who will worship Him and call Him Father.

Sometimes we see that this number shrinks drastically, however God promises to always maintain a remnant.

This is true in the New Testament and in our lives today, as well!

We know that not every human being on the planet is a Christian, however we do know that there is a universal church that represents the bride of Jesus Christ.

We know that we worship the one true King and that we have a job to do, just as was the case for the remnant that Nehemiah is talking about.

What Nehemiah does next should be the way that we respond to difficult situations and adversity.

He sat down, wept, confessed his sin and prayed for God’s help!

Confession of Sin (4-7)

Sometimes we confuse emotional response with being something that is unauthentic, however Nehemiah’s response to these first 3 verses is certainly authentic and passionate.

He expresses sorrow by weeping and mourning and then he asks God to intercede and he does this with discipline and diligence.

If we say that we love God and we genuinely want His glory to be revealed to the world around us, we should feel deep sorrow whenever the advancement of the Gospel is halted.

We will be disciplined and diligent to pray for the situation as well!

If we do not feel sorrow in these situations, we must check ourselves and stir ourselves and one another to wake up.

Nehemiah was a man of faith and we find 2 sources of his trust in God.

At the beginning of his prayer he understands who God is and throughout the prayer he shows that he truly knows the Word of God.

In verse 5 (the opening of his prayer), Nehemiah addresses God and makes 3 statements about God.

First, Nehemiah addresses Yahweh as the great and fearsome God, he adds that Yahweh is the God who keeps covenants and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

This is a crucial prayer on the part of Nehemiah as He will ask God to do what He has promised to do!

Not only is God the covenant keeping God, but He also loves His children and maintains devoted, faithful love to those whom He has a covenant with.

If you are a child of God today, you can pray this same prayer and ask God to keep His covenant with you.

God’s Word tells us that He will never leave, nor forsake us.

You can go before God today with boldness and know that He is surely there and He is listening.

is a similar teaching to what Nehemiah prayed in , as verses 40-42 state that there is a punishment for covenantal disobedience (exile) but there will be restoration from exile.

Nehemiah knew this prophecy/teaching, and He simply asked God to keep His promise.

God always keeps His promises and He cannot do anything contrary to His Word.

He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Think for a moment about Nehemiah, though.

He experienced the exile and he prayed to God that he might experience what God promised would come after the exile.

He prayed that God would restore the weak pile of rubble that was Jerusalem.

Whenever we pray, we have confidence that we pray to the God of Gods and the Lord of heaven.

The next portion of Nehemiah’s prayer is interesting, to me, as he begins to confess his sin in verses 6-7.

Nehemiah shows in these verses that the nation of Israel, as well as his own family and himself, have fallen woefully short of keeping the commandments.

Because of this, Nehemiah acknowledges, the nation of Israel finds itself in the situation that they are in.

He approaches the throne with humility and confesses his sin before God and prays that he might experience God remembering His covenant of bringing the exile to an end.

Whenever we pray, we must remember what God has done in the past.

How He has proven Himself to be true and faithful time and time again!

How He has far exceeded our wildest imaginations.

Praying for God to Remember (8-11)

Nehemiah’s prayer in verses 5-7 was based on the Word of God.

Even though Nehemiah came before God empty-handed, with nothing deserving the Lord’s favor or attention, he nevertheless did not come uninvited.

What we see in verses 8-9 is a prayer that is based on Deuteronomy.

Nehemiah realized that God justly punished Israel, but he reminded God that this very situation had been anticipated in and of His promise of mercy, faithfulness and forgiveness.

Think of the guts this prayer took.

Nehemiah called on God to remember His word and promises.

Why do you think Nehemiah was so emotionally affected in verse 4? Because he knows his Bible as we see in verses 5-9! Do you want to love God, His kingdom, and the advancement of the Gospel?

Do you want the strength of a character to look a desperate situation full in the face and have the wherewithal to do something about it?

Fill your mind with the Bible!

Hide God’s Word in your heart!