Nehemiah 1:4 – Seeking to make a difference in a broken world

None of us will ever be immune to crisis. The fallen world specializes in bad news. Anyone living in this world will encounter them. But what makes the difference between people is how they respond to crises. Some will morn and go into a state of depression and distress to a point of resignation. Some will be saddened by the circumstances, but they are not passive, they turn to God for solutions. Why? Because they know God has the whole world in His hand. Nothing can ever happen to the community of God without His permission. And for that matter, nothing can happen to us without God’s approval. So instead of being fretful, a person who trusts God will turn and seek Him. This was precisely what Nehemiah did.

Hence, Nehemiah explicitly said in verse 4 that “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” He turned to God. He knew that the one that could make the change in the circumstances of his nation was the God of heaven, the God whom they as a nation had a covenant relationship with. He is the “God of heaven” because that's where His throne is and from there, He reigns over all the earth for time and eternity. Nehemiah said that he was before this Sovereign God. Who could better give a solution in times of crisis? Smart move!

Weighed down by the matter, all levity left Nehemiah. He could not live life flippantly nor sit idly by watching his beloved community languishing in desperation. Knowing that the answer was with God, Nehemiah turned to Him. He did not only seek Him for one day but for many days. We are not told exactly how many days he sought God, but we surmise that he persisted because he needed clear directions and steps to deal with the crisis. One critical lesson we need to take note of when seeking God is this: We must seek Him in urgency, but we must at the same time wait on Him patiently. It is His answer that we need and that requires time to discern. 

In this verse, we are told that he was fasting and praying. These are important spiritual disciplines. Notice they are put in the continuous tense. In other words, he did not just do it once and stop. He did it continuously and persistently. There was a sense of urgency. Jerusalem and her people were living far below what their covenant with God had promised. Nehemiah knew that unless God broke into their circumstance, they would continue in their desperation. His fasting shows us how important and urgent the matter was to him that he would sacrifice his meals to seek God. His Praying tells us that he knew that without God there would be no solution or positive outcome to the situation. Wisely, Nehemiah tarried before the Sovereign God.  

Are we facing a crisis? We live in times where divine intervention is more needed than ever. In the escalating crises in our world, without divine intervention, the church and the world will careen uncontrollably and helplessly down the nasty path. Like Nehemiah, we can no longer continue in our felicity and live in our wrongly perceive eutopia. It's time for us to rise and seriously seek the God of heaven in fasting and praying. We need a revival!                       

Nehemiah 1:1-3 – Are you concerned for Kingdom advancement?

Interestingly the meaning of Nehemiah is “the LORD comforts.”  How apt his name was for his time. For such a harrowing time, nothing was more needed than the LORD’s comfort for the Jews. It was at such a time that the spirit of the Jewish community that returned from exile needed reviving and focus. And the gracious God used Nehemiah in such a time to bring hope and comfort to a discouraged community. He was the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes and was serving him away from Jerusalem.

The first seven chapters as well as chapters 11 and 12 of this book are written in the first person, hence we can say that they are the memoirs of Nehemiah. Being personally involved in God’s renewing work for his community, he was suited to write this  historical account. He began the book by stating the time that he was informed of the condition of the Jews back home in Jerusalem. It was in the month of Kislev. According to the Hebrew calendar, Kislev was in the ninth month and would roughly be around November and December. The first month was Nissan. The place where Nehemiah was at that time was Susa. This was where the winter residence of the Persian King was located. While he was in Susa, some Jews came to him. Among them was Hanani. He was most likely a blood brother.

Nehemiah  was comfortable in his position and had prestige and power. It is easy for a person in his position to adopt a nonchalant attitude. Yet in such a position and far away from home, he showed concern for his people back home. He was keen and interested to know what was happening to the  Jewish community back home in Judah and Jerusalem. his people. In verse 3, we are told that “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” Nehemiah was not an out-of-sight-out-of-mind person. In his position, it was easy to mind his own business. Yet he was genuinely interested in what was happening to God’s people and His community.  In other words, he had a heart for  God and His work.

Like him. we are also living in challenging times. What’s happening in the world signal that we are living in a difficult time.  The church is still recovering from the Covid pandemic. Sadly, many Christians have become both apathetic and lethargic. Being accustomed to the easy, passive lifestyle of staying home, even getting back to physical worship on Sunday has become a struggle. People who were once actively involved had chosen to take a backseat in ministry. It is times like this that we need more people like Nehemiah. Can God and the church count on us to be one? May God stir in us a spirit for His Kingdom and His kingdom. Let us arise from our spiritual slumber and return to kingdom business!     

 

 

Introduction to Nehemiah

We will continue our reflection in the Book of Nehemiah. This is a post-exilic book that complements the book of Ezra. While Ezra deals with the rebuilding of the temple and the initial reformation of Jerusalem after the Jews returned from captivity, Nehemiah deals with rebuilding the broken walls and gates of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah was Artaxerxes’ cupbearer. To be chosen as the king’s cupbearer, he must be a trustworthy man. Why? Being so close to the most powerful man, he would obviously have the best opportunity to assassinate the king. He would be the one to taste the king’s wine and food before the latter drinks or eats them. This was to ensure that the king would not fall prey to any attempt to take his life by poisoning him.

But in his position, Nehemiah would also be the best to influence the king to be sympathetic and show favor toward his people. This book was a challenge for God’s people to restore the broken walls of Jerusalem. For us, it’s a call for us to strengthen the walls and gates of our spiritual life. As we explore this book as will be gleaning strategic principles that will help us to build them. We are living in days where the call to strengthen our spiritual life is more needed than ever. So let’s brace up for an exciting journey!

Lessons we will be discovering from this book includes the attitude we need to adopt in servicing God, the resilience we need to overcome opposition, the diligence we need to complete our God’s entrusted assignments, and the necessity to rely on God totally through prayer in all undertakings.

Ezra 10:19-44 – Living responsibly

In these closing verses of Ezra 10, we find a list of offenders. In every segment of the returnees, from leaders to followers, from priests to Levites, singers to ordinary Israelites there were found among them those who had busted the warning not to marry foreign wives. These were said to have married foreign wives and some even had children from their marriages. Instead of making it to the hall of fame, these had made it to the hall of shame. The one positive thing we walk away from these verses is that they were all willing put away their foreign wives and offered sacrifices for their sins. It is here that they left us a lesson. Sin will surely be found in our walk with God, the important thing is that when the Holy Spirit reveals to us, we must deal with it immediately and swiftly.

Here are a few critical questions we need to ask so that we will be challenged to walk thoughtfully. Which hall would we rather be in, the hall of fame or the hall of shame? Would we rather be a hero of faith or a zero of faith? So many people committing the same offense could be a case of “monkey see monkey do” These verses underscore for us the necessity to be vigilant in our faith journey. We are each personally accountable to God. It’s important who we take as a model in our journey with God. It is good to make this a maxim in life, “others may but I cannot.” We must all make time to evaluate and appraise our spirituality frequently. Just because others are doing it, it does not mean that we must do it. Let’s be wise, seek to understand what the will of God is, and live to honor God!

 

Ezra 10:9-17 – A uncompromising love for God

Ezra 10:9 tells us that within three days all the men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. They all sat in the open square before the temple. The rainy season plus the serious matter at hand made them shiver to hear the judgment of Ezra. Speaking candidly, Ezra told them in verses 10-11 saying, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. Now, therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 

By and large, the people assembled agreed with him. Loudly in unison, they replied, “that’s right.” And they concurred that it was their responsibility to set the matter right by getting rid of their foreign wives. However, in verse 15 we are told that a few, four to be precise, objected. Since the serious matter was widespread, plus the rainy season, it was impossible to settle the matter within one or two days. So a suggestion was made that leaders and the people who had committed the offense come with their appointed officials according to appointment to see to the settlement of the issue. Ezra took up the suggestion and in verse 16 he appointed “men who were heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name.” They convened the meeting to investigate and settle the matter, which took them three months to complete.

The issue at hand was their marriage to foreign women. Humanly speaking, to put away their wives would seem brutal and unsympathetic. But more than the seemingly unkind act this passage is giving us a critical principle concerning our devotion to God. We must not allow anything to come in the way of our total commitment and devotion to God. Any disobedience must be dealt with ruthlessly so that we will not be hindered in our relationship with Him.  Think of what Jesus said in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life cannot be my disciple.” Jesus is not asking us to hate the list of people mentioned in this verse. He is asking us to put him first in our love and must not even allow the people listed to become the hindrance to our devotion to Him.  We must offer to Jesus a radical and uncompromising love. 

Ezra 10:1-8 – Needing a spiritual renewal

Deeply distressed by the people’s compromising marriage because he knew that it was on account of this that they were sent to exile. Despite the severe judgment, the people still had not learned and indulged in marrying the foreigners.  So in deep contrition, the bewildered Ezra was fasting and praying. As he was mourning and prostrating before the Lord in deep prayer in the temple, men and women from Israel assembled to him there. Ezra 10:1 said that they were weeping bitterly. There before Ezra, Shecaniah confessed their unfaithfulness and promised on oath to correct their wrong.  They would put away their foreign wives and children as Ezra had counseled and do as the law had stipulated. There they encouraged Ezra to  arise, saying that they would be with him as he courageously helped them to right their wrongs. 

Ezra then arose and made the leading priests, Levites, and all of Israel take an oath to do what was proposed. Meanwhile, Ezra went into the quiet room in the house of Jehohanan (a friend) and spent time fasting and mourning over the people’s unfaithfulness.  Then a proclamation was made for all exiles in Judah and Jerusalem to gather in Jerusalem. And within three days, if any of them would not come, his property would be seized and forfeited, and he would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

For change to take place, the realization of one’s wrong is not enough. It must also be accompanied by repentance and contrition and a determination to correct the wrong. This was what the Jews who returned to Jerusalem inspired by Ezra did. Do we need a reformation in our personal lives? Are that areas of wrong in our lives that need to be identified, repented, and changed? Let’s seek the Lord earnestly so that there can be a movement to get us moving in the right direction and in line with God’s plan and purpose and us. 

 

 

Ezra 9:10-15 – Don’t test the patience of God

To get to the root of a problem, an honest appraisal is required. As it was for the people of Israel, it will be for us. Ezra confessed that as His people, Israel did not take heed to the instruction of God, who had warned them of the impurity of the people and the land which they were entering to possess. They were warned not to have any alliance with the natives of Canaan, whether in marriage, business, or lifestyle. God’s objective was to prevent an unholy model for the subsequent generations. Their failure to take God’s instruction had them into needless judgments. Yet even in His Judgment, His mercy toward them was clear. Israel had received less than what their sin deserved.  

Graciously, God had allowed a remnant to return to rebuild Jerusalem. In the light of God’s great mercy, Ezra shuddered to observe how the remnant could fall into the same disobedience that had previously led the nation into God’s judgment. So he asked two rhetorical questions. The first question is “shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? This question should be answered with a “no.”  God’s people must not test the patience of God. The second question is “Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction until there is no remnant nor any who escape?  The answer to this second question is yes, God’s anger could be kindled when we return to commit the same sin again. This time there may be no way out of His judgment.

In verse 15, Ezra then rounded up praying, “O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.” He humbly threw himself into the mercy of God and pled with Him not to destroy His people.

In verse 15, Ezra then rounded up praying, “O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.” He humbly threw himself into the mercy of God and pled with Him not to destroy His people.

Lesson 1 - God is patient, but that does not mean that we can test it. While God is patient, it does not give us the right to wear it thin.

Lesson 2 - do not spurn the grace of God. Don’t repeat the sin that He has so graciously forgiven. To do so would be like returning to our vomit.

Lesson 3 - seek to know God’s Word but more importantly seek to obey it to avoid needly discipline.  Remember Hebrews 3:7, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart as in rebellion…!”