Obstacle of Diversity
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Obstacle of Diversity
Nehemiah 3
INTRODUCTION
Most wars have been fought between one nation and another.
Man naturally divides. Tower of Babel. Nation against Nation (no longer just brother against brother).
Even Civil wars are a clash of cultures.
We naturally look for people like us and hang out with them.
Churches around the world have a tendency to be a segregated time.
Hardest part about missions is understanding the new culture.
Sometimes things just don’t make sense.
In Malawi they have a party during the giving time.
Running sound at African American funeral at Wewoka.
Yet, it is the nations that are pictured in heaven, worshiping together. It’s not about conformity its about diversity. Unity in diversity.
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
God created diversity. Diversity is good. In Jesus diversity is used to unite, not divide.
Nehemiah begins the work on the walls. He pulls together a diverse group in order to complete the task.
1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.
2 And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
28 Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house.
29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired.
30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber.
31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner.
32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.
4 Ways Nehemiah Succeeds with Diversity
1- He Had a Godly Purpose
1- He Had a Godly Purpose
The purpose was to bring stability to the city so there could be consistency in worship at the Temple. The temple was. Big part o the purpose.
It came from a heart to bring glory to God.
He started with the Northeast section of the wall- this is where the priests worked and lived (notice chapter three ends with the section close to their homes. These sections touched each other).
The purpose comes from the vision he had in chapter 1 and 2.
5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
The people got used to the status quo. Was it worth the effort to make it better. Easy to get this way as a church.
There is no coasting. You are improving or declining. Is Gods Kingdom worth the risk?
2- He Had a Godly Plan
2- He Had a Godly Plan
3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired.
The plan- get everyone to do their part.
The plan is how we accomplish God’s purpose.
God calls us to a purpose, we must use our abilities to figure out the best way forward.
God’s plan usually requires a community working together in a miraculous way.
ILL - we are a battle ship not a cruise ship
Sitting around watching others work is not an option.
He had a goal and pushed to accomplish it.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
He focused on what was most important.
Other reforms were put on hold until the most important thing was accomplished.
How often do churches major in the minors?
We exist to make Jesus known to the nations. We must not get sidetracked by insignificant programs.
3- He Had Godly People
3- He Had Godly People
Those that came back to Judah from Babylon did so because of religious conviction.
Some never left.
Some were not Jews - just neighbors.
They were united by a need for a strong Jerusalem.
Unified behind a purpose given to them by God.
Diversity in People
Family associations
Guilds
8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
Goldsmiths and perfume makers- some of oldest guilds in history.
A part of the small middle class.
Used the marketplace to sale their goods- probably close to this section of the wall.
Religious groups
High priest/ priests/ Levites
From different areas around Jerusalem
7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of the governor of the province Beyond the River.
Gibeonites= from Gibeon- the Canaanite city that tricked Joshua into an alliance. They had to serve the Temple. It was a levitical city.
Have a good work ethic.
Some refused to work. Too good to do their part.
5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.
Some worked harder than others. They kept going when they were finished.
11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens.
Nehemiah 3:20 (ESV)
20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
Body of Christ
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
God has given us the same calling and the calling cannot be accomplished without us living as the body of Christ.
4- He Had Godly Places
4- He Had Godly Places
These gates and walls matter to God.
1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
The gates were significant to the health of the city and the city was significant to the health and protection of the Temple.
The Temple could not function property without the gates. Gates had spiritual and religious significance.
Significance of the Gates
The Sheep Gate
The Sheep Gate
1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.
2 And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.
3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
The sheep gate had no locks and bars. The way to salvation was to remain open.
Dung Gate
Dung Gate
14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
It was a main exit to the Valley of Hinnom, where the city disposed of its garbage. The word gehenna means “valley of Hinnom” and identified this area that Jesus used as a picture of hell, “where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44). King Manasseh had sacrificed children to idols in that valley (2 Chron. 33:6), and King Josiah had desecrated the place by turning it into a rubbish heap (2 Kings 23:10).
Fountain Gate
Fountain Gate
15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.
Located near Pool of Siloam and the water tunnel built by King Hezekiah.
Source of drinking water.
Picture of the Holy Spirit.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Water Gate
Water Gate
26 and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.
Source of water used for washing.
Water Gate is a picture of the Word of God.
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
The reading of the Books of Moses by Ezra later in Nehemiah takes place at this gate. They build a giant pulpit for which Ezra reads and explains God’s Word.
East Gate
East Gate
29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired.
Golden gate
Ezekiel saw glory of God depart from this gate.
18 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.
19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
1 “Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
2 The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening.
Jesus will return to this gate
1 Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east.
2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory.
Turkish King sealed it in 16th century.
But it will be magnificently reopened when Christ returns.
Muster Gate
Muster Gate
31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner.
The Inspection Gate- inspect the troops.
We will all one day stand before our God for inspection.
9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
CONCLUSION
Are you ready to stand before the judgment seat of Christ?
Two Parts- have you been faithful? Are you saved?
What is God going to say about your faithfulness to the Body of Christ?
Are you ready to stand before Jesus?