Rebuilding The Wall: Take Authority over what God has given you

Rebuilding the wall

Nehemiah 13:10–13 NKJV

I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

Dr. Moody has been doing a series out of the book of Nehemiah. This has been a great series in which Dr Moody teaches on the great leadership of Nehemiah. This has been an absolutely powerful series. Generally when you here a sermon from Nehemiah from the book of Nehemiah speaker only covers Nehemiah as a cupbearer. Although Nehemiah’s position as a cupbearer was a very trusted position, a very high level of responsibilities. The cupbearer tasted the food for the King. Nehemiah made sure the king was safe.

Through the series Dr Moody has been teaching we learn that Nehemiah is much, much more then meets the eye.

The title of the series is called “Rebuilding the wall”

Dr Moody begun with rebuilding the wall: 1). Re-establishing commitment.

Dr Moody taught us the large responsibilities of a cupbearer and the commitment that one must have to obtain such a great and precious position.

RTW; 2). Re-establishing Covenant, Here he taught the important’s of the Temple (The inner court and Outer courts).

RTW; 3). Restoring People

RTW; 4). Reversing Atrophy.

Atrophy; To waste away or experience a reduction in size as a result of degeneration caused by punishment , poor circulation, loss of nerve supply and lack of usage.

RTW; 5). Reinstating Our Position. How do i get back in position, how do i get back to where God wants me to be.

RTW; 6). Responding to problems.

In this service Dr Moody dropped a Moodyism on us, “Whenever the devil can't destroy the church with persecution or disrupt the church with problems he disrupt the church by participating in it.

RTW; 7). Repelling Disruption.

You have two battles, whats on the inside and whats is going on outside. (internal and external).

Disruptions are there to make you stop doing what God told you to do. You will never fulfill the purpose of God if you are always disrupted by stuff.

When you look at Nehemiah life You can see the many leadership skills he learned by watching the king.

One of the great tools Nehemiah learned by watching the king is how to walk in authority , how to posture himself as someone with authority, how to talk with authority. Observing, listening and imitating is a powerful training tool.

Have you ever watched little boys on the basketball court playing basketball after watching the big boys play, there just imitating what they saw and learned. what they saw and learned from watching the NBA games. They pick a star player and just do what they do.

How hears Nehemiah, he has been granted permission from King Artaxerxes to go to Judah to assist his exiled people. The only training Nehemiah really has is the times of watching the King operate in authority and what his God had put on his heart.

Nehemiah is in Jerusalem and he faces many challenges, many obstacles. Because, Nehemiah is walking in such authority he does not allow anything or anyone to stop him. As you see the people elect him governor.

Have you ever been around someone sounded like they new what what they were talking, or how to do something and because they looked and sounded like they new what they were talking about you just yield to them.

There is one particular area of Nehemiah walking in authority i want to deal with.

Nehemiah 13:10–13 NKJV

10 I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. 11 So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

Nehemiah is walking in super authority, but in

IV. Background and Theme

Nehemiah was the third great leader in the Jewish restoration. Zerubbabel led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem in 538–537 B.C. (Ezra 2) and supervised the building of the temple. Almost eighty years later, Ezra the scribe came to the holy city with a second group of Jews, bringing sweeping reforms through his ministry of God’s Word. But in time things degenerated in Jerusalem.

Thirteen years after Ezra’s expedition, Nehemiah was burdened by God about conditions in Jerusalem. After receiving permission to rectify the situation, he provided the kind of quality leadership the Israelites desperately needed. His roots were deep in God (notice the numerous references to his prayer life); this enabled him to weather the storm of opposition that buffeted him from the outset of his mission. It has been well said that “there are three kinds of people in the world—those who don’t know what’s happening, those who watch what’s happening, and those who make things happen.” Nehemiah was a man who made things happen. Whereas the book of Ezra deals with the temple and worship, Nehemiah deals with the walls and everyday work. The book of Nehemiah brings God into the everyday affairs of life.

Cupbearer. Cupbearers frequented the courts of kings and high officials in antiquity (1 Kgs 10:5). Their primary duty was serving wine to the king to avoid the danger of assassination by poisoning. These men were close to those in authority and sometimes exercised considerable influence. Generally several of them served the king with the “chief cupbearer” (butler) at their head (Gn 40:1–23). Solomon’s court included cupbearers (2 Chr 9:4). and Nehemiah was called “cupbearer to the king” (Neh 1:11–2:1); Rabshakeh may have been a cupbearer (2 Kgs 18:12–19; Is 36:2).

Nehemiah 6:15–19 (BBC): 6:15–19 Despite continued opposition, the wall was completed in fifty-two days, a remarkable feat. This evidence of divine blessing demoralized Judah’s enemies. One further grief Nehemiah endured while the walls were going up is added in verses 17–19. Many of the nobles in Jerusalem stayed on friendly terms with the wicked Tobiah because they were related to him by marriage. (Tobiah was governor of the Ammonites—2:10.) The nobles reported Nehemiah’s words to Tobiah on the one hand and praised Tobiah in Nehemiah’s hearing on the other. We meet Tobiah again in chapter 13.

Although it took only fifty-two days to finish the walls, Nehemiah had plenty of other duties to fill up his twelve or more years as governor.

Nehemiah 13:1–9 (BBC): NEHEMIAH’S SECOND VISIT: REFORMATION OF JERUSALEM (Chap. 13)

A. Expulsion of Tobiah from the Temple (13:1–9)

13:1–3 After serving for twelve years in Jerusalem, in 433 B.C. Nehemiah returned to Babylon for an unspecified time. Then he obtained permission to visit Jerusalem again, a visit that dealt with the correcting of abuses. “On that day” (v. 1) may refer back to the last chapter, or it may refer to another day during Nehemiah’s absence (v. 6). In either case, the Word was read, including the part barring Moabites and Ammonites from the congregation. These Canaanites had not only refused bread and water to God’s people, but had hired Balaam to curse them. But God had turned the curse into a blessing. What a wonderful God He is! The people responded by separating the mixed multitude from Israel.

13:4, 5 In expelling the foreigners, they were finishing the job they started in 9:2. Eliashib the priest had made a home for the wicked Tobiah in the forecourt of the house of God, using a storeroom which should have been full of tithes for the Levites and priests.

13:6–9 Upon his return it did not take Nehemiah long to remedy the situation. Other problems had also appeared in his absence, and Nehemiah indignantly campaigned to halt these evils.

Nehemiah 13:10–14 (BBC): Restoration of Tithes for the Levites (13:10–14)

Nehemiah rebuked the officials in charge of such matters for their irresponsibility in neglecting the Levites. The Levites who had been forced to work in the fields to make a living were regathered, and faithful men were appointed … to distribute the tithes among them. For this good deed Nehemiah asked his God to remember him (v. 14).

Nehemiah 13:10–14 (TOTC Ezr/Neh): 13:10–14. A run-down establishment

A grudging attitude to tithes and offerings was a mark of the times. Before the exile, superstition had made people lavish with their religious gifts (cf. Amos 4:4f.; 5:22), but now the temptation was to give as little as one could—no longer out to bribe God but (in Malachi’s expression) to ‘rob’ him by defaulting. Nehemiah, faced now with the Levites’ desertion of their posts, had the insight to put the blame where it belonged: not on the absentees of verse 10 but on the officials of verse 11. There had been great resolves of good stewardship in the ‘firm covenant’ of chapter 10, promising that ‘We will not neglect the house of our God’ (10:39); but by now the fine words were feeding nobody. Nehemiah’s own remonstrance would have achieved just as little, had he not followed it with the good administration of 11b and the careful appointments of verse 13.

Nehemiah 13:10 (JFB): Ne 13:10–14. Nehemiah Reforms the Officers in the House of God.

10. And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them—The people, disgusted with the malversations of Eliashib, or the lax and irregular performance of the sacred rites, withheld the tithes, so that the ministers of religion were compelled for their livelihood to withdraw to their patrimonial possessions in the country. The temple services had ceased; all religious duties had fallen into neglect. The money put into the sacred treasury had been squandered in the entertainment of an Ammonite heathen, an open and contemptuous enemy of God and His people. The return of the governor put an end to these disgraceful and profane proceedings. He administered a sharp rebuke to those priests to whom the management of the temple and its services was committed, for the total neglect of their duties, and the violation of the solemn promises which they had made to him at his departure. He upbraided them with the serious charge of having not only withheld from men their dues, but of having robbed God, by neglecting the care of His house and service. And thus having roused them to a sense of duty and incited them to testify their godly sorrow for their criminal negligence by renewed devotedness to their sacred work, Nehemiah restored the temple services. He recalled the dispersed Levites to the regular discharge of their duties; while the people at large, perceiving that their contributions would be no longer perverted to improper uses, willingly brought in their tithes as formerly. Men of integrity and good report were appointed to act as trustees of the sacred treasures, and thus order, regularity, and active service were re-established in the temple.

Nehemiah 13:10–16 (FSB): 13:10 the food of the Levites had not been given A violation of the covenant that the community had signed (9:38; 10:28–39).

13:11 Why is the house of God forsaken A violation of the commitment in 10:39.

13:14 Remember me, my God, concerning this One of the remembrance prayers offered in Nehemiah (5:19; 6:14; 13:22, 29, 31). See note on 5:19.

13:15 treading the wine press on the Sabbath Another violation of the commitment document signed by the remnant (10:31).

Ancient winepresses typically consisted of two bowl-like excavations hewn into solid rock to a depth of one to three feet. One excavation was lower than the other, and the two were connected by a channel. Grapes were placed in the upper excavation and were crushed by the feet of those who trod on them. The juice that was produced then flowed into the lower excavation, where it was gathered into wineskins or left to ferment.

wine, grapes and figs Suggests the time is probably somewhere between August and October—the months of the grape harvest. The figs mentioned were autumn figs, which ripen in August (Jer 8:13; summer figs ripen in June).

13:16 Tyrian men Tyre was a Phoenician port city north of Judah that is mentioned frequently in the Bible (for example, 1 Kgs 5:1; Ezek 26–28; Mark 7:24; Acts 21:3).

Tyre HBD

Nehemiah 13:6–14 (BKC): 13:6–9. Artaxerxes is called the king of Babylon because his rule over the Persian Empire included Babylon. Nehemiah’s return to Artaxerxes (at either Persepolis, the capital, or Susa) was in 432. Some time later (perhaps two years or more) Nehemiah asked to return to Jerusalem. How long he stayed this second time is not stated. Malachi may have ministered about that same time (see the chart “Chronology of the Postexilic Period,” near Ezra 1:1).

Hearing what the high priest had done for Tobiah (Nehemiah called it an evil thing; cf. Neh. 13:17), Nehemiah was deeply distressed. Eliashib had been involved in restoring the walls (3:1), but now inconsistently he had allowed an opponent to reside inside the temple complex! Understandably Nehemiah was so angry that he went into the temple room and tossed out all Tobiah’s household goods. He then had the rooms (apparently Tobiah had also occupied some rooms adjacent to the large chamber) purified, either ceremonially or by fumigation or both, and restored the temple articles and offerings that belonged there.

3. nehemiah’s encounter with the officials in judah (13:10–14)

13:10. Nehemiah’s next task pertains to why Tobiah was able to occupy one of the temple storerooms. They were empty because the people had failed in their commitment to bring their tithes and offerings to the Levites. As a result the Levites and others who were to live off these offerings as they performed spiritual services for the people had to work in the fields caring for their livestock (cf. Num. 35:1–5). This meant they had less time to work in the temple.

13:11–14. Nehemiah reprimanded the Jewish officials for neglecting this aspect of the work of the temple (the house of God; cf. vv. 4, 7, 9, 14). Malachi addressed this problem too (Mal. 3:8–10). The officials had failed to make sure the people of Judah obeyed the Lord in these matters. What made this problem even more distressing for Nehemiah, and difficult to believe, is that these leaders had previously signed a document promising before the Lord and the people that they would never again let this happen (Neh. 9:38; 10:14–29, 35, 37, 39). They had even said specifically, “We will not neglect the house of our God” (10:39b).

Thru the Bible Vol. 15: History of Israel (Ezra/Nehemiah/Esther) Chapters 11—13

The Levites who served in the temple had not been properly supported; so they had to get a job working in the fields. God’s service, therefore, had been neglected. I believe today that many ministers are being asked to do more work than they can handle. Many a minister is having to neglect the study of God’s Word because his church wants him to be an administrator and practically everything else. He needs help with the responsibilities of the church so that he will be free to study and pray. I love Nehemiah—and I think now you will discover why. He said the preacher ought to have a raise. He tells them, “You are going to bring in the tithe that belongs here and see that these men are taken care of who are in the service of God.” My! I love a layman like that—and God approved it, by the way.