Nehemiah 1 God's Work Begun
Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Well, as we all know, it’s a new year. Time is flying by
As the new year was approaching, I was spending time...
Well, I was spending time being sick, for one thing
But I was spending time as I could, thinking and praying about what God had for us in the coming year
Did He have a special theme for us or a certain verse or
Some years we have had a special theme or a focus for that year.
This past year, it was “Image Bearers”
We also had our “At Fairview we are people who”
I hope that this was helpful for us and that it helped to vie us direction
But this year, as the New Year was approaching
I have to be honest with you, I was feeling very tired. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally
Preparing 3-4 sermons/month I’m finding can be very tough.
And I would appreciate your prayers in this. I know that numbers of you do pray regularly for us, and that means a lot to me
Because my desire is that all I do is directed by God and is in tune with His plan
But just continue to pray for clarity of thought and direction for me, and for spiritual insight into the Scripture and wisdom to explain
This year, as we enter 2024, I would like to take a few weeks and have a look at the book of Nehemiah.
For some of you, it’s probably already clicked in your brain that this is the first time that I have spent time leading us in a study of the OT.
And you’d be right
The reason for that is not because I hate the OT. I don’t
In fact, there is a lot that I like about the OT.
The reason that I have not gone there much, probably is because
Well, the OT can be very challenging to “get right” when we strive to interpret it.
Because the OT is full of these great stories
And we have all of these heroes like Moses and Joshua and David and Gideon
And we read these stories and we are like, “Wow, this is good stuff!”
And we feel inspired when we read them, but beyond that, we aren’t really sure what to do with them sometimes.
And because of that, there’s some common traps that we tend to fall into
One of those really common traps (and this can be true in our reading of the NT as well, but I’ve heard it done especially in the OT)
is that we start to read ourselves into the narrative of the Bible
We so badly want to “apply the Bible to our lives” that we start to think (maybe subconciously) that the Bible is sort of our story too.
And we start to grab verses and stories and promises out of the pages of Scripture and apply them to our situation when possibly that isn’t at all why those verses or stories have been preserved for us
There are a lot of illustrations of how this is done, but I don’t want to spend a lot of time on that this morning
One of those examples that I often think of is the story of David and Goliath
The story of how an undersized kid walks into a battle armed with nothing more than a sling and a few stones
And fearlessly dispatches a giant twice his size and delivers, not only the Israelite army, but the entire nation of Israel
It’s a favorite story of so many people including me
But then we try to make application somehow
We start to write ourselves into the narrative
Oh, I have giants in my life too
This relationship
This bill
This sickness
Those are my giants
And I need some stones to fight these giants
prayer
Scripture
Friends
Good advice
And God is going to take these stones and defeat my giants
Which, there are elements of truth in these thoughts. But we start to really come up with some head scratching sort of applications sometimes
Why? Because I feel like we miss the point of why those stories are there when we do things like this
See, the point of the story of David and Goliath is not
David
Not Goliath
Not Saul, or the Israelite army
That’s not what the story is about. And the story isn’t about your or me
The story is about God. Period full stop
It’s GOD’S story. It’s the story of God redeeming HIs people. Saving His people. Being sovereign. Being a God who is worthy to be reverenced, worshipped, and followed
And ultimately, looking forward, this story is meant to point us toward Jesus
You remember when the two disciples are on the road to Emmaus, and they are super depressed and discouraged about what has happened to Jesus
And then Jesus Himself comes and talks with them
And it says, that beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself
And we could talk a long time about this.
Point is, I believe that this story (David and Goliath) should in some way point us toward Jesus
This is true for all of Scripture. I believe that before we start to draw application and try to make Scripture fit our situation somehow
We need to pause and remind ourselves—Hey, this isn’t my story, and it isn’t even really about the characters in the story
This is, first and foremost God’s story. And what does this teach us about Him
So, as we head into the book of Nehemiah, that is what I want to remind us of.
This is another chapter in the story of God redeeming and working in the lives of His people
In particular, this is the story of God restoring, and renewing His people
Bringing them out of captivity and restoring them back to the city of Jerusalem
It’s like a revival. In fact, in many ways it is a revival
We are going to see the people, not only restored to their city, but their convanant relationship with God restored as well
We are also going to see themes of unity and opposition to the work of God
Nehemiah 1:1 “1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,”
Maybe at this point it might be helpful to just review some history
The people from the southern kingdom of Judah had been carried off as captives to the land of Babylon
You can read all about this in 2 Kings chapters 24 and 25. God had warned them time and again to repent of their wickedness and idolatry
And they had times of revival and some good kings, but always, they went back into idolatry and rebellion
at first, they were threatened by the kingdom of Assyria. But God saved them—there was that one time when God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that were beseiging Jerusalem.
But soon, the Assyrians were swallowed up by the Babylonians who became the dominant threat
And 3 times the Babylonian marched into Judah
And the 3rd time was the kicker. Because it was then, in about 586 B.C. that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed the temple, the city walls, burnt the city with fire, killed men, women, and children, and marched thousands of them off into captivity in Babylon.
That was about 140 years prior to the events in the book of Nehemiah!
140 years!
Which means Nehemiah was born in captivity.
And he is no longer in the Babylonian empire. he is now in the Persian empire which had swallowed up the Babylonians.
Now, people had already started to return to Jerusalem
Right in front of this book is a book called Ezra.
And these two book are in chronological order.
About 14 years earlier, the scribe Ezra, had led a large group of over 40,000 people back to Jerusalem
And they did some really good things
They rebuilt the alter
AND They began to rebuild the temple
But Nehemiah who had a job as cupbearer to the king was not in that group.
Nehemiah 1:2–3 “2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.””
So, one of Nehemiah’s brothers, with some other men came back from Judah to visit, and Nehemiah is very curious about what things are like there
He knows that Ezra and this large group have gone back
And he wants to know how things have gone for them.
Well, the men say, things are still pretty tough.
The people are still feeling a good deal of shame because the wall is still broken down and the gates are destroyed with fire
Well, Nehemiah’s response is immediate and profound
Nehemiah 1:4 “4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
He wept and mourned for days. He fasted and prayed
Now why did Nehemiah respond like that? Remember, he has never lived in Jerusalem
This is more than 140 years after Jerusalem was destroyed.
Does he just have a warm spot in his heart for Jerusalem? or what’s going on here?
You know, I’m originally from Greenwood, DE. , a town less than half the size of Kalona
I have a major warm spot in my heart for that little town.
But if I received the news that a tornado had come along and wiped it off the map, I would be really sad, but I don’t know if I would have the same kind of response that Nehemiah did.
The reason Nehemiah responds like this is because of the significance that the city of Jerusalem has, and because of the special covenant relationship that God had with His people
See, Jerusalem was a symbol of God’s protection and God’s favor.
When God was protecting His people and favoring His people, the city flourished. It was strong and fortified.
The people felt safe and secure inside of it.
But when God removed His protection, the city was vulnerable. The people were vulnerable.
Even in captivity, the people longed for the city of Jerusalem
Psalm 137:1–6 “1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!”
And it is very significant to Nehemiah that the walls are still broken down and the gates are still burn
what it says to him is that God’s favor and protection have not been restored to His people
They are still very vulnerable
And this distresses him greatly
And he mourns, and fasts and prays
2. Spiritual renewal will always be accompanied by a sorrow over sin
Folks, for spiritual renewal to take place, this response that Nehemiah had must be part of our response as well
It’s for us to recognize the ugliness of sin and what it has done to our relationship with God
And the shame that it brings upon us.
Sin smudges and blurs the glory of God that is supposed to be evident in the lives of His people
We are to bear His image, His glory.
The people of Israel, the city of Jerusalem were to be clear beacons of the glory of the God of Israel
Yet, here they are in ruins
Do you want spiritual renewal? Do I?
Then are we prepared to weep and mourn and fast over the ruin and the shame brings to the glory of God?
Nehemiah wept and mourned for days
And then he began to pray
Nehemiah 1:5–7 “5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”
Did you catch how Nehemiah prayed here?
Remember, again. Nehemiah was not among those who were carried away into captivity
It’s not his fault that he is in captivity, living in a foreign land, among a strange people
He could have prayed,
“Lord, forgive my ancestors for all that they did to get us to this point! I don’t know what they were thinking.
Why didn’t they listen to you, Lord?
They were sinful, and rebellious.
But me! Now look at me, Lord. I’m doing better, aren’t I? Bless me, LORD! Restore me back to our homeland!”
He could have prayed like that. But he doesn’t
No, instead, he makes no difference between himself and his ancestors
He joins in with bearing the sin and the consequences of his ancestors
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”
The way that Nehemiah prays here, I find to be convicting and instructive.
You know, I often pray for us here at Fairview
I hope you do too
I pray for our community and for our country
And quite honestly, it’s often easy when praying for us as a group,
It’s easy to be like the Pharisee in the story that Jesus told in Luke 18, where
The Pharisee stood off by himself and prayed,
“Lord, I thank you that I’m not like THOSE guys”
You know, the really bad guys. Thank you for making me good making it easy for me to obey the law
that’s really arrogant, isn’t it?
It’s a temptation, though
But you know, what Nehemiah models for us here, this idea of collective guilt is so important, when it comes to spiritual renewal
It takes a special kind of humility, the kind that the LORD values and loves, to be able to pray like this
LORD, it is we who have sinned.
WE have been rebellious. WE have been proud. WE have lost our way, and lost our focus
WE are bearing your punishment
LORD, forgive us. Restore us.
This takes a special kind of humility.
Whether I think that I’m part of the problem or not, I join in and recognize that, by the very fact that I am born with a sinful nature, I am indeed part of the problem!
So, Nehemiah prays. He confesses their collective sin
And then he does something else interesting
He reminds God of His covenant
Nehemiah 1:8–10 “8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.”
Nehemiah reminds God of the covenant. He reminds God of His own words
And you know what? I think that’s OK.
Do you think that God delights in hearing you remind Him of what He has said?
I certainly do!
You know, last semester I taught a Bible class at Pathway, and I loved it when my students were able to remind me of what I had said to them
When they could repeat back and say, “Hey, this is what you said about the name Jesus”
or, “This is what you said about the title, Son of Man”
Or this is why you said context was so important
I loved if they could do that.
Why? Because it showed that they valued what I was teaching them. They valued it enough to learn it and repeat it back to me
We see often in Scripture, particularly in the Psalms, where the writers reherse the acts of God out loud to Him and remember His covenant
And I believe that God delights when we repeat back to Him what He has said
Because it shows that we value His word.
I believe that an important part of entering into spiritual renewal is reviewing in our hearts and minds what God has said
Remembering the punishment that comes from rebellion
Remembering the blessings that come from meditating on the word of God, and obeying the words found there
And I believe that this is a key part of spiritual renewal as well
Remembering what God has said and done in the past
Calling it to mind and voicing it out loud to Him
This is where we are going to stop today
But the questions in front of us are:
Do we desire the work of God among us
Are we prepared to mourn over sin and to humbly confess it?
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