Moving In
Notes
Transcript
Turn with me in your Bibles to Nehemiah 11. The wall is built, the spiritual awakening has begun, and now it’s time to revitalize the city of Jerusalem. Stand with me as we read Nehemiah 11:1-2. This is God’s Word, and if you let it, it will change your life.
1 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.
Pray
Back in chapter 7, Nehemiah describes the problem of low population in Jerusalem:
4 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.
Now this may not seem like a big problem. But it was. Imagine in your mind New York City, or Boston, or San Francisco. But instead of a bustling metropolis, imagine they were ghost towns with just a couple of hundred instead of a couple million people living there.
I can’t say that I blame folks for not living there. After all, the city didn’t even have a finished wall up to that point, so why would there be many people living there? But now that the wall is finished, Nehemiah sees the need to repopulate the city in order to revitalize it. People would bring skills to Jerusalem to establish the goods and services the local economy would need. They would also bring their money, giving that economy some means by which to grow. They would open up shops and provide services to make the city function. Without a population, Jerusalem would be a nice, strong wall with nothing worth protecting on the inside.
Where You Dwell Is Where You Are Fully Invested
Where You Dwell Is Where You Are Fully Invested
For the leaders, living in Jerusalem was not mere convenience: it was a necessity. Without leaders fully invested in the welfare of the city, the future was not good for Jerusalem. That’s why verse 1 deals first with leadership:
1 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.
This wasn’t just a temporary living arrangement. This is a permanent dwelling. They didn’t rent homes in the city: they bought homes. There was no intention of moving, no more pressing investment of the efforts or thoughts of the city’s leaders than their neighbors and fellow Jerusalemites.
It is so crucial to see this play out in our lives: where we dwell is where we are fully invested. That’s why David refers to a far greater dwelling in Psalm 27:
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
The Sons of Korah also sang of a heavenly dwelling:
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Where you dwell is where you are fully invested. This is an important aspect of leadership, but it’s also true of the residents. To get individuals to move in, they held a form of lottery where one out of ten people where chosen:
1 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.
This “lottery” wasn’t by random chance. They used a means of devising God’s will - casting lots - to discern who God wanted to live in the city. So this place where God’s name was to live forever would also be the place where God chose and called the inhabitants to live there. God wanted people to dwell in Jerusalem and fully invest in their city of residence, so he hand-selected those who would dwell in that city. In other words:
God Has Called Us to Dwell in His Habitation
God Has Called Us to Dwell in His Habitation
We are not just to dwell in an earthly city, as though it is our final home. We are to look forward to dwelling elsewhere. We see this idea play out:
2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
But the NT also takes a different perspective. Not only do we dwell with God, or long to dwell with him eventually, but he dwells with us now:
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
All this looks forward to the day when that dwelling is made perfect:
3 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.
And his words are to dwell in us, too:
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
This dual nature of God dwelling with us and us dwelling with God is foreshadowed here in Nehemiah. Just as God called individuals - chose them - to dwell in his city, so God has chosen us to be part of his family, his holy habitation, his church. We did not choose God - he chose us. He created us and called us and now is conforming us into his perfect will.
So far we have laid out to premises: truths that lead us to a conclusion. Premise 1: Where we dwell is where we are fully invested. Premise 2: God has called us to dwell in his habitation. Therefore:
Our Dwelling with God Means Our Complete Investment in His Work
Our Dwelling with God Means Our Complete Investment in His Work
2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
Notice the attitude of these people: they did not begrudgingly go. They did not murmur or complain as they packed their boxes and moved into the city. They went willingly. Some may have volunteered - maybe God placed on their hearts the desire to live in the city and they said “I’ll go: pick me!” Maybe others thought, “I’m willing to go, but let’s see what God wants.” Neither is a terrible answer. Both show a willingness to follow the will of God however it is revealed. The point isn’t how they know God has called them to go - the point is that they are willing to answer the call affirmatively: “Yes, Lord!”
That means that when they move into the city, they are willing not only to be present, but to be actively involved in the work God wants them to do. It means they will actively restore the city - they will rebuild the walls of houses and public places, they will replant gardens long left to weeds, they will reopen shops in the market long-since closed down. They will put the effort into breathing new life into that old city, making it once again a place for God to dwell and to reign.
Now to us: God has called us to be the church. Not just be in church. Keith Green had a way of hitting you directly between the eyes. He said:
This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth…you don’t need to hear a call, you’re already called.
Are you fully invested in God’s work, or are you merely present for his company?