Nehemiah 11-Willing

We will be going through Nehemiah 11 this morning. Please go ahead and turn there in your copies of God’s Word. You will find this on page 514 in the Pew Bibles. We will read the first couple verses shortly.

Nehemiah has been a book packed with adventure, suspense, unbelievable miracles, prayer and so much more, with evidences on every page of God’s power displayed through Nehemiah and the Nation of Judah.

It began with Nehemiah receiving a very disheartening report from his brother concerning the City of Jerusalem, which was the city of his heritage. With a broken heart he went to the Lord in prayer, most likely hoping God would direct a powerful leader back to rebuild the city walls. He was partially right, God did direct a man to lead the rebuilding effort, surprisingly, the man God directed was him. Nehemiah would quickly learn that God does not do things the way man does things, but he also learned that God’s ways are so much higher than man’s ways and that when you yield to God, He accomplishes the unexplainable! From that point forward Nehemiah had to continually seek God for direction and continually trust God to do the impossible.

The impossible included the rebuilding of a massive wall around Jerusalem measuring 2 1/2 miles in length, and average of 8 1/2 feet wide, 39 feet tall with at least 6 towers which shot high above the walls, and all this in 52 days. This was done by a crew with none of our modern advancements who, based on what we see in Scripture, had no experience whatsoever in construction, led by a man who had spent his entire adult life living in the lap of luxury in a Persian palace 800 miles away. Oh, and did I mention they were under constant attack and had to finish the last half of the rebuilding with half of their crew standing guard and the remaining half working with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other hand.

One of the other things we learned as we have traveled together through the pages of Nehemiah is that His purpose did not end with the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem. In fact you could easily argue that the most important rebuilding effort had little to do with the physical walls around a city in rubble. To a very large degree, God’s bigger purpose was to tear down walls. Spiritual walls that had been fashioned by a people who had neglected God’s Word. That neglect led to a people who no longer knew God’s Word and as a result turned their backs on God’s commands. So, as they were being used of God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, He was also using the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra to tear down the walls they had constructed between themselves and God. Once those walls were down, their spiritual rebuilding could take place.

They had also been learning to trust God in everything. That lesson would prove to be very helpful in the chapter we will look at this morning.

Let’s look at the chapter together, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? I will be reading the first 2 verses of the chapter 11.

“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. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.”

While the walls around Jerusalem had been rebuilt, the city itself was virtually uninhabited. In fact, it was also in rubble and the rubble of the former homes had been used in the rebuilding of the walls. To live in a city with no walls was just asking for trouble, so most of the returning exiles lived outside the city, they lived inconspicuous lives, hoping to be noticed. That is the way they liked things. But you know one of the important lessons I have learned from my life as a believer and my time in God’s Word? Next Slide

God has not called any of His children to live inconspicuous lives. Mt. 5:14

Quite the opposite is true. We read in Matthew 5:14 Next Slide

Matthew 5:14 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

But just like the unwalled City of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, living as a “city on a hill” brings with it potential troubles, in fact if we don’t face some hardships as a result of our faith, we probably aren’t living as a city on the hill. With that thought in mind, there are some important truths in Nehemiah 11 that will prove to be very beneficial as we live as a “city on a hill”.

There we see:

3 things we need to be willing to do to open the door to God’s Light shining through us.

The first thing we need to be willing to do is; Next Slides

1. Willing to Trust The Hand of God. Vs. 1; Prov. 18:18; Joshua 1:9

We learn in the very first verse that these folks were willing to place their trust in God. This may not jump off of the page for you, but as we look at verse 1 more closely as well as its historical context, you will see why this was such a step of faith. In verse 1 we read;

To begin with we see that “the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem”. This was certainly an act of faith because they put themselves at great risk living there in a virtually uninhabited city. But they trusted the God Who enabled them to rebuild against such great odds.

However, they were not the only ones who were willing to Trust the Hand of God. We go on to read; “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.”

You may be wondering how this was a step of faith, I mean based on western life for us today, this seems like nothing more than a throw of the dice, but the casting of lots to them was way more than tossing a few dice, more than just a game of chance. You see we have the entirety of God’s Word, and 90% of God’s will for us is contained in the pages this incredible Book. They didn’t have a Bible readily available. The printing press was 1800 years in the future, and the rules for transcribing the Holy Scriptures were so specific that there were very few copies available. Without a copy of God’s Word available, one of the ways they were able to discern the will of God was by the casting of lots. Amazingly God literally had His Hand on the outcome of the casting of lots. You could say that these dice were loaded. We read in Proverbs 18:18; Next Slide

Proverbs 18:18 ESV

18 The lot puts an end to quarrels and decides between powerful contenders.

In other words this was an act of faith for all involved. They had to trust that if the lot fell on them, God Himself would be their strength, He would be their provision, He would be their refuge. They were likely filled with fear when the lot fell on them, not unlike Joshua when God chose him to take over for Moses and lead the people into the Promised Land. He was filled with fear, so God reassured him in Joshua 1:9; Next Slide

Joshua 1:9 ESV

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God reassured Joshua that he would never be alone. Those on whom the lot fell had seen the mighty Hand of God powerfully move through them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days. They too knew God’s Hand was upon them.

That brings us to the next thing we need to be willing to do for God’s light to shine, we need to be: Next Slides

2. Willing to Get Out of the Boat.-Vs. 11:2; Mt. 14:22-32

Please understand, beyond just moving this was a huge deal for them. You see all of these individuals were most likely moving from nice homes, nice neighborhoods where they were surrounded by friends and family, businesses or jobs that provided a good source of income. And they were relocating to a place where the first thing they had to do was to build a home, and don’t forget, they had to hunt down the supplies for building, because everything left over from when Nebuchadnezzer destroyed the city had been used in the construction of the walls. This was huge, but they knew God would provide, He had proven Himself as worthy of their trust.

In thinking of this, I am reminded of what we read in Mt. 14:22-32. Directly preceeding this passage in Matthew was the feeding of 5,000 men, not to mention the women and children that were also there, with only 5 small loves of bread and 2 fish. On top of that, Jesus had also spent much of the day working miracle after miracle in healing their sick. Let me read this to you.

“22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. 23 And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out His Hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.”

Now often times when pastor’s preach this passage, they are quick to point out that Peter sunk the moment he took his eyes off of Jesus, truthfully I would do the same because that is exactly what happened. But there is something else I don’t want us to miss in these verses. There were 12 disciples there that night, but only one who trusted Jesus enough to get out of the boat. In all of history we only know of 2 individuals that have ever walked on water. Only two! The other 11 remained safe in their comfort zones inside the confines of the boat instead of experiencing the miraculous. The rest missed an opportunity to walk on water, never getting out of the boat.

That brings a question to mind; Next Slide

I wonder if the reason we don’t walk on water is we never get out of the boat?

What I mean by that is, I believe that God gives His followers unbelievable opportunities time and time again that are ignored because we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone. We think to ourselves; “I could never do that!” and God’s message is, “You’re right, you can’t, but I can through you.” What Peter did that night was impossible, yet he stepped out of the boat.

There were 12 disciples there that night, only one walked on the water, and that one disciple became the most influential of all of the rest. Peter was the one Jesus chose to lead the rest after He was gone. Next Slide

I wonder how much spiritual greatness is in this room that will not get out of the boat?

Following Jesus is full of risks, but I imagine if you were to interview Peter today, he would tell you it is worth the risks.

This brings us to the last thing we see in chapter 11 that we need to be willing to do for God’s light to shine, we need to be: Next Slides

3. Willing to Serve Selflessly. 11:10-12; 15-18; Phil. 2:3-8

In verses 10-12 we see some of the priest who committed to serving in the temple and then in verses 15-18 we see some of the Levites listed. In both instances every indication we get is that these individuals willingly and unselfishly gave up their livelihood to serve in and around the temple. This meant that they were now dependent upon the obedient generosity of others to serve full-time in the temple. This can be very rewarding, but it can also be very difficult if the giving of the people wanes, this will come in to play in chapter 13 which we will see in a couple weeks. The point here this morning is, these individuals were serving sacrificially.

This was something Jesus Himself, pattered for us. Paul writes of this in Philippians 2:3-8 where he writes of the example set by Jesus; Next Slides

Philippians 2:3–8 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We see in the life of Jesus that He is not asking of us what He was not willing to do Himself. In fact, He was the perfect example of serving selflessly. We read in Mark 10:45;

Next Slide

Mark 10:45 ESV

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Ultimately for us this chapter boils down to; do we trust in God enough that we are willing to do what ever it takes to open the door to God’s Light shining through us?

Are we:

1. Willing to Trust The Hand of God.

2. Willing to Get Out of the Boat.

3. Willing to Serve Selflessly.

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