July 28th, 2024
From The Series: When
God Rebuilds…
Part 25 The Power of
a Godly Civic Leader
Nehemiah 1 & 2
Mountain View
Evangelical Missionary Church (Goal:4500 words)
This morning, we have moved on to
a new book in the Bible, the Book of Nehemiah. We have jumped ahead in history
about 13 years to the year 445 BC. We are not going to go through this book as
thoroughly as we did with Ezra. We will cover the first two chapters this
morning looking at the most significant verses for our lesson. In the original
Hebrew canon, Ezra and Nehemiah are presented as one continuous work. They are
seen as one book by the Jewish people. There are some similarities and overlaps
between the two books, so it is not absolutely necessary that we go through his
book verse by verse in light of the fact, that we just finished Ezra so thoroughly.
The object of the
Book of Nehemiah is the same object of the Book of Ezra: to show how the people
of Israel after their return from the Babylonish captivity, were, fully
re-established in the Land of Promise.
So far in this era of Israel's
history that we have been walking through it is interesting to note that the
LORD has raised various people to accomplish His goals and now He must raise
another. In the first chapter of Ezra, we saw how the LORD had stirred the
heart of a King to allow His people to return to Jerusalem, then the LORD
raised a prince in Zerubbabel to act as the first governor of Jerusalem. Next,
the LORD raised two prophets to motivate the Jewish people to continue with
their tasks and after that the LORD raised a Priest to ensure the Temple was
complete and the people's hearts were prepared to return to their godly
lifestyle. We read how by this time their homes were refurbished and the temple
was rebuilt, but the city and its infrastructure were in a sad state.
God needed to raise a layman to
complete the much-needed work on the city walls and gates. This layman was
Nehemiah. We will see that Nehemiah was the perfect God-chosen man for the job.
After lying in rubble and ruin for 141 years, Nehemiah oversees the completion
of the wall building in just 52 days.
In the next few weeks as we skip
through the Book of Nehemiah we will see that we each have a role in building God's
Kingdom and will face enemies in our efforts to complete our God-given tasks.
We will also see how God's Word
rebuked these people and reminded them of the necessity of proper observance of
God's Law. The same is true for us today. Our final lesson that we will glean
from the Book of Nehemiah will be the effect that all this will have on God's
people. It resulted in a rededication of His people to the LORD.
It is interesting to note that
the Book of Nehemiah represents the end of the historical writings of the
Hebrew canon. What I mean by that is the Book of Nehemiah is the last written
book on the history of God's chosen people and the final book of the Old
Testament, the book of Malachi will be written near the end of Nehemiah's
lifetime.
Malachi would be the last prophet
the LORD would use to speak to His people until the arrival of John the Baptist
who heralded the arrival of the Messiah. The time between Malachi and John the
Baptist was 400 years.
As Christians, aren't you glad
that we have the Bible and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we can
hear from God daily? Praise God for the work of the Holy Spirit. Speaking of
which, may we take a moment to pray?
We do not have time to read the
entire first two chapters of the Book of Nehemiah this morning, but I still
wish to encourage you to have your Bible open or turn on your devices and
follow along with the verses we will be looking at to see what God's Word has
to say to us this morning.
The title of this morning's
message is, "The Power of a Godly Civic Leader". The three main
points I hope to convey from these verses are:
1) Notice that the concerns of
Ezra & Nehemiah are different.
2) Godly leaders put pleasing God
first.
3) Godly leaders are willing to
take risks to do what is right.
READ NEHEMIAH 1:1-4
"1 The words of Nehemiah son of
Hakaliah:
In the
month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani,
one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them
about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They
said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in
great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates
have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat
down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of
heaven."
Stop right there for a minute. This brings us to our first point of the
morning. The concerns of Ezra and Nehemiah are different. They are different,
but they are complementary. Let me explain. We learned that Ezra was a scribe,
a teacher of the Law. A man concerned, making sure that he and his people were
living their lives according to the Holy standards set by Yahweh. Ezra was
doing much the same job as a pastor would today.
What does that mean for us? In the modern church today, and for new
Christians, many do not realize the full role of a pastor in the church. The
pastor's role is not just to preach on Sunday mornings, nor is his job confined
to administrative work within the church. A pastor's job includes teaching
God's Laws and commands to his people and encouraging them to live a holy and
acceptable life for God.
That is why a shepherd is such a good metaphor for the role of a pastor.
Shepherds often must rescue and save sheep from themselves when they get into
trouble. This idea really rubs some of us the wrong way. We like to believe the
secular lies that we are our masters and we are not accountable to anyone but ourselves.
This simply isn't what Scripture teaches.
In Acts 20:28, we read when the Apostle Paul called for the church
elders at Ephesus to meet with him. The words of encouragement that Paul said
to them are recorded for us to learn from today. Paul said, " 28 Keep
watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, y which he bought
with his own blood."
The Apostle Peter echoed these words in a circle letter that was written
and sent to be circulated among churches in Asia Minor. Peter wrote in 1 Peter
5:2, "2 Be shepherds of God’s
flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but
because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain,
but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to
you, but being examples to the flock."
So that was Ezra's job description. In a few weeks when we get to
Nehemiah chapter 8, we will see another
example of the public reading of God's Law to His people and the effect it has
on the people.
But Nehemiah's role was vastly different from Ezra's. Different but complementary.
Nehemiah was probably from the tribe of Levi and we can deduce that from
reading Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 4 & 5. Look there with me. Nehemiah goes
before King Artaxerxes and Nehemiah is looking sad, so the King asks a question
and Nehemiah answers, " 4 The
king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and
I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour
in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are
buried so that I can rebuild it.” The reference to his ancestors being buried in
Jerusalem indicates that Nehemiah was likely a Levite. Nehemiah's father's name
is not listed among the faithful remnant who returned to Jerusalem. This may
have been because he wished to remain in Susa to be near his son, or perhaps, Hakaliah
may have been a successful businessman and did not wish to leave his assets
behind to help settle Jerusalem.
We see from the beginning of chapter two that Nehemiah was a
high-ranking official in the royal court of King Artaxerxes. Look at verses 1-3
with me.
"1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King
Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the
king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king
asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be
nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said
to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when
the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been
destroyed by fire?”
At the end of verse 11 of chapter
1, Nehemiah describes himself as "cupbearer to the King". A cupbearer
would pass the wine to the king. Often the cupbearer would taste the wine first
to make sure that it had not been poisoned. Imagine the level of treachery in
the court that the royals had to endure when you had to have someone check your
drinks to make sure there wasn't an assassination attempt being made on your
life.
In one of the Apocrypha books, the job of the cupbearer is expanded
upon. Tobit 2:21 says, "And Achiacharus intreating
for me, I returned to Nineve. Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the
signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts: and Sarchedonus appointed
him next unto him: and he was my brother’s son." We see from this
passage that in ancient days, the cupbearer had other duties such as a steward
and overseer of accounts, possibly household accounts such as making sure there
was enough food and wine to keep the royal household functioning well.
"The keeper of the signet" would have been a sign of significant
trust as having the king's signet ring meant you could put the king's signature
to any piece of paper and it would become like law.
We can see from this description that Nehemiah had worked himself up
from the son of a displaced exile, a refugee if you will, to one of the highest
positions inside the royal court one could attain to outside of royal birth. Consider
that fact and how amazing that was. Clearly, the hand of God was upon the life
of Nehemiah.
This brings to mind others that God had placed in leadership positions,
such as Joseph in the court of Pharoah and Ester in the court of Xerxes. Two
other individuals, placed by God in royal courts so that they would be in a
position to help His people when they were needed.
We saw in 2 verse 5 that Nehemiah was willing to give up this comfort
and power to return to the land of his forefathers and use his talents and
skills to help his people out. In a manner of speaking Nehemiah is a type of
Christ in this book. Notice that Nehemiah is willing to sacrifice his comfort
for the sake of his people.
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul says this about the Lord Jesus Christ, " 9 For you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so
that you through his poverty might become rich." What does that
mean for us today?
Here is a Gospel presentation you can share with your friends. The Bible
tells us that in the beginning Jesus was with God and that He was God. Jesus is
a member of the Trinity. Though Jesus was God, He did not deem His godhood so
valuable that He was not willing to put a portion of that power aside for a
period of time and to add a human form to His divine form.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, God entered into His creation
through the womb of a virgin. He was born as a man, a fully God, fully human. A
one-of-a-kind being. Jesus did not give up being God to become human, but He
left the comfort of Heaven where He was sitting at the right hand of the
Father, a place of the highest honour. Jesus left that comfort and entered into
the dirty, filthy, smelly, existence of toil and hardship of a Middle Eastern
peasant some two thousand years ago. Living a life under foreign occupation by
some of the cruellest overlords ever to have been, the Roman Empire.
An empire so cruel that they nailed their enemies to wooden crosses for
days until they became too weak to breathe and these criminals and enemies
would die a very public slow and painful death as an example to others.
This was the life that the Son voluntarily entered into so that He could
reconcile a rebellious people back to the Father. Despite all the conditions
present in His life, Jesus would live a perfect and sinless life, the only
human ever to have been able to do it, so that He would be the spotless lamb
and would therefore be the only acceptable sacrifice to the Father.
Even though mankind foolishly tells itself over and over that we are
good and all false religions, even culture will tell you that you are good and
if you work hard enough you can earn your way to heaven. This is a damnable lie,
spread by the Father of Lies himself in an attempt to appeal to our human pride
and turn us away from Jesus.
The Bible tells us that our acts of righteousness are like filthy rags
in the eyes of God. The Bible tells us that we are all in Adam, meaning that
since our first father sinned against God, we are all tainted with that sin
from birth, even before we have our first thought or take our first action. If
you think that is unfair, then you will not be able to accept the forgiveness
that can be found in Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the second and
last Adam. Meaning that just as all sinned in Adam, all who are chosen can be
forgiven in Jesus Christ. You cannot accept the reward without first accepting
the responsibility for the sin.
Two thousand years ago, on a day determined by the Trinty, the Son was
arrested, endured a false trial and condemned by the words of lying men. He was
then turned over to the cruellest of oppressors where He would be beaten and
tortured within an inch of His life. Then the Son of God would be publically
humiliated by being forced to carry the very means of His death through the
streets of the city on His way to His site of execution. The very same streets
and in front of the very same people who less than a week earlier had welcomed
Jesus to the city with hymns and calls of praise.
Once He had reached His place of execution on a hill outside the city on
the edge of a very public road for all the world to see, this God-man was
nailed to that wooden cross and raised up and violently dropped three feet or
more into a hole so that all who passed would be able to see his near-naked
form all bloodied and torn.
While he hung there between two thieves, His executioners gambled over
His only possessions, the very clothes off His back. Hanging there, Jesus was
not yet done His work. For even though He was in torment and agony, Jesus still
managed to turn to one of the thieves who was hours away from his death,
recognized who Jesus was and was forgiven and welcomed into paradise that very
day.
After that, Jesus accomplished the pinnacle work of His first earthly
ministry and for three hours He endured the separation from the Father and bore
the wrath from a Holy and Just God that was due to us for our transgressions
to pay our sin-debt to the Father. The Bible clearly says that though He knew
no sin, Jesus became sin on our behalf, so that we may be reconciled back to
the Father.
Two thousand years later, the majority of mankind remains rebellious and
pride-filled by refusing to accept this gift, a gift that the church calls
Grace. The rebels are happy to live in this time of Grace and enjoy the absence
of instant justice from the Father that we all currently enjoy. Many make the
mistake of confusing the mercy of Grace with a perceived weakness of a God who
is powerless to act in His World. Lies are spread that it is Satan who is the
God of the World. Satan is a defeated foe and he only has as much power and
freedom to wreak havoc on this world as the Father permits.
The actions of the rebellious are not being forgotten. The sins and
transgressions are being tracked and the wrath of God due to those who rebel is
being stored up in a cup. The Book of Revelation tells us that a day of
judgment is coming when the wrath of God will be poured on humanity and those
whose names are not written in the Book of Life, will be thrown into the pit
for eternal separation from God and everlasting torment.
How does one get their name written in the Book of Life? Simply acknowledge
that you are a sinner in need of God's help. Acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth
was who He said He was, God in human form who lived a sinless life so that He
would become the only acceptable sacrifice to pay what we owe to God for our
sins. Acknowledge that Jesus completed this work on the cross and we can do
nothing to add to it for our sakes. Jesus voluntarily laid down His life as a
sacrifice, died and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Then, supernaturally, He
picked up His own life and was raised back to life. After 40 days of further
teaching and after appearing to more than 500 witnesses, He ascended to Heaven
once again where He presently sits again at the right hand of the Father
interceding on behalf of His people with the Father.
You can accept this gift through a simple prayer. Know in your heart
that this is true and you will receive the gift of salvation. You do not have
to clean up your life before you say this prayer. We are called to come to the
cross just as we are. After you are saved, then you are called to live a
radically different life from those who are lost around you. Read God's Word,
worship with God's people, and live a life in community with others who are
called by Christ. Be discipled by others more mature in the faith and work on
yourself to improve and become more like Jesus every day. This is the Christian
life. If you are not living this life to the fullest extent, come and see me
after the service and let's discuss what you may be missing.
So, Nehemiah was a type of Christ because he
too was willing to give up on his comfort for the sake of his people and try to
make a better life for them. Look back with me to chapter 1 and verses 3 &
4. "3 They said to me, “Those who
survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and
disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned
with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat
down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of
heaven."
Why did this news upset Nehemiah
so much? The walls had been destroyed for over 140, hadn't they? Well, not
exactly. If you remember back in Ezra chapter 4:23 we read the following, "23 As soon as the copy of the letter of
King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their
associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them
by force to stop." Apparently,
the forced stop included the breaking down of the walls and burning of the
gates. But why were the gates so important? We read elsewhere in the Bible that
the gates were not just for safety and security. We see that the gates were the
place where governing occurred. Chiefs of clans gathered there to discuss
matters, criminals were tried there, and justice was administered at the gates
of the city. Important subjects were discussed and business deals and land
purchases were negotiated at a city's gates. The city gates were a combination
of modern City Hall and courthouse.
Without the gates, it was difficult for
legitimate administration work to be carried out. This is what distressed
Nehemiah, for we can see that he was a talented administrator and we can tell
that because he rose from captive to the royal court on the merit of his work
and the hand of God.
This leads us to our second point, "Godly
leaders put pleasing God first". Turn back to 1 verse 4 to see what
Nehemiah's reaction was to the bad news. "4 When I
heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and
prayed before the God of heaven." Nehemiah sat down
and mourned, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. We see here an
example of a godly leader because before he decided on any action to take, he
went before the Lord in prayer to seek His guidance. He went for "some
days". How long would that have been? Probably about four months. He
received the news in the month of Kislev and God presented Nehemiah with the
opportunity to ask a favour of the king in the month of Nisan. That's a period
spanning four months.
We don't have time to read it all this morning, so your homework this
week is to read the prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11 and meditate on what the prayer
is saying to you. Perhaps compare it to Ezra's prayer in chapter 9. Look with
me at chapter 1 and verse 5 of Nehemiah.
“5Lord,
the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your
ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying
before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel." Stop right there
for a second. We see that Nehemiah begins his prayer acknowledging who God is and
recognizing some of his attributes.
We continue, "I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself
and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have
acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and
laws you gave your servant Moses." Stop there. We see that confession is
an important part of these prayers offered by Ezra and Nehemiah. How often are
you making confession to God a regular part of your prayers? If you are not
doing this, then perhaps this is a reason that God is not answering your
prayers.
For the sake of time, jump down to verse 11 and see what Nehemiah was
asking for, "11 Lord, let your ear
be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your
servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by
granting him favour in the presence of this man." Think about that.
Every day for four months, Nehemiah prayed that on this day he would be
granted success in the presence of the king. Everyday for four months, Nehemiah
prayed the same prayed eagerly anticipating that on that day God would grant him success. Success in
the form of uprooting his life to go and use his talents in a hostile place and
difficult conditions all for the sake of others.
Nehemiah was willing to use his talents for the sake of others. You
know, we learn a valuable lesson from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the
parable of the talents. We don't have time to turn there this morning but you
can find the scriptural reference in the bulletin. While the word talent in the
parable is referring to a unit of money, I understand that the same lesson can
be applied to the gifting that God gives each of us. The use of that gifting for
the good of God's Kingdom will be one of the only things that we will be held
accountable for on the Day of Judgment.
I believe that I was given a gift for research, writing and public
speaking. This is manifested in the gift of teaching. I didn't discover I had
these gifts until after I was saved. Or, more likely, I didn't receive them
until after I was saved. Either way, god made it plain on my heart that I was
to use these gifts that He gave me for the teaching of His Word. I love doing
it. I get such a joy every time I get to teach the Bible whether that's to 12-year-olds
in Sunday School, to college students in a weekly Bible study, to young adults
in our home, or to other men at the Armoury. It is such a joy to share what God
has revealed to me whenever I get a chance. I know that Marilyn feels the same
way and she too has a passion for teaching God's Word. So let me ask you, how
are you using the gifts and talents that God has given you? Are you using them
for the sake of the Kingdom? How do you think you will fare when you give an
account before God?
Turn with me now to the second half of verse 18 in chapter 2 where we
will find the final point that we have time for this morning. Nehemiah writes, "They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began
this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the
Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they
mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you
rebelling against the king?”
20 I answered them by saying,
“The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding,
but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right
to it.”
Some context here. Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem without fanfare and he
goes out in the night to get a first-hand assessment of the state of the walls
surrounding Jerusalem. He comes back into the city and the next day introduces
himself to the authorities there in the city and gives them a report and a plan
to rebuild. He also gives them a pep-talk by assuring them that the hand of God
is on him and his plans. We see that Godly leaders are willing to take risks.
The risk was not just that Nehemiah could have been attacked by bandits
while he was out inspecting the walls at night. Look at verse 19. Once the work
began, the old enemies from the same sources but with new names, raised their
heads and tried to put a stop to what the Jewish people were doing. Sanballat
the Horonite, Gesham the Arab, and pay particular attention to Tobiah the
Ammonite. Ole Tobiah will become a player later in chapter 13 of this book. These
are the very same issues that Zerubbabel had to deal with.
Despite the ridicule, Nehemiah pushes on by declaring that the God of
heaven will give them success and that the enemies would have no part in it.
Nehemiah had to risk offending them to remain true to God and His intentions
for Jerusalem. When we compromise with the enemies of God in an attempt to not
offend, we end up offending God most of all. The message of the Gospel is
offensive and if you truly love someone, you may need to risk your relationship
in order to tell them the truth. Some people will be quick to take offence at
your words just so they will not have to deal with the sin in their lives or be
forced to examine their actions.
Godly leaders are willing to take risks in order to do what is right in
the eyes of God. That is who we must be most concerned about offending.
CONCLUSION
What happens when we do not have
godly leaders? Well, we see things like the blatant mockery of Jesus like we
saw at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics a couple of days ago. A live
recreation of DaVinci's painting of the Last Supper featuring homosexuals and
drag queens representing Jesus and the twelve apostles. An open mockery of the
Christian faith was on display for all the World to see.
Isaiah 3:4 warns us of this result
when our leaders turn away from God. Isaiah 3:4 says, "4 “I
will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them.”
This is what we see today. Infantile leaders with Peter Pan complexes who
refuse to grow up and deal with the world's problems with wisdom and integrity
and instead cling to radical ideologies no matter the harm they inflict, and
they kowtow to the groups who throw the biggest temper tantrums in the public
square.
This is why the Bible instructs us
to pray for our leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us, "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those
in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and
holiness."
Do you pray for
our leaders between Sundays? Perhaps the first step in the revival that this
country so desperately needs could start with Christians praying for the
Salvation of our leaders on a daily basis.
Let me dismiss you with this
prayer.
24 “ ‘ “The
Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
You are dismissed. Go in peace.
Pastor
Paul’s Points:
1) Notice that the concerns of Ezra
& Nehemiah are different.
2) Godly leaders put pleasing God first.
3) Godly leaders are willing to take
risks to do what is right.
Questions
to meditate on this week:
1) Why are godly leaders important?
2) Is Canada a "Christian"
nation?
3) Can you identify one current godly (Christian)
politician?
