The book of Nehemiah is a rather odd book. For the first six chapters, it tells the story of how Nehemiah and the people rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. And, since it’s about a construction project, it is a riveting story. (Sorry about that pun!) It is certainly not a “boring” story!

We learned about Nehemiah’s burden to be a rebuilder, and then his vision as to how that could happen. We learned about his availability to God – a man with no special skills or talents to offer; merely himself. We saw how God turned the heart of the King of Persia to look on Nehemiah with favor and grant him permission to go and rebuild the wall – and not only to give him permission, but give him provision to get the job done.

Then we learned how Nehemiah went to Jerusalem and formed his team, taking people who, again, had no special skills as builders, but were merely available to God. And then we saw how they faced all sorts of opposition from the enemy, who didn’t want them to rebuild the wall – opposition that came from without and from within. And yet through all that Nehemiah was steadfast. He didn’t get discouraged; he didn’t let anything deflect him from what God had called him to do.

And so, in Chapter 6:15, we come to the climax…

So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

And if the book of Nehemiah ended right there, it would be a perfect ending. “They all lived happily ever after.” But it doesn’t end right there – and that’s a bit of a puzzle! It’s a strange book that way. It goes on for another 7 chapters. And those chapters are often bothersome and messy and full of unanswered questions and unresolved issues. Why is that? It’s because…

/	Chapters 1-6	Chapters 7-13
Theme	How the people work on the wall	How God works on the people
Raw Material	Stones and mortar	Human souls with a stubborn sin nature
Focus	Project – which has a beginning, a middle, and an ending	People – an ongoing process; often frustrating and confusing

If you are going to be a rebuilder for God, your responsibility is primarily to work with people – yourself, and others around you.

The Apostle Peter said that we are like “living stones” that God is building into a spiritual house in which he dwells. So that means that the raw material we work with is our own soul, and the souls of other people.

And working with people can be difficult, draining, and discouraging! It is the most challenging work in the world. Yet it is the work that God has called us to do as rebuilders.

Theodore Hesburgh, the chancellor of Notre Dame University, said “I used to resent the interruptions to my work until it dawned on me that the interruptions were my work.”

We would much rather work on a project where we can measure exactly how much progress we’re making. But that’s not what God wants for us as rebuilders. It’s people he’s interested in.

Chapter 7 – one of the responsibilities of the rebuilder is organization. People thrive when there is good organization. But the organization must always serve the people, and not the other way round.

1. Commanders

Nehemiah 7:1-2 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.

Hanani was “a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.” Nehemiah was a man of integrity himself, and he understood that the #1 qualification for a leader is integrity. (We seem to have lost sight of that in recent years.) And that integrity is inseperably liniked with the fear of God.

• what is the relationship between integrity and fear of God?

• a life of integrity is founded on the fear of God – the conviction that we are accountable to God for our actions

  • e.g. Nehemiah to nobles in ch. 5:9 “Don’t you fear God?”

  • Proverbs 1:7 - the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

  • Psa. 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” – so therefore, I can do as I please. I am not accountable for how I behave. Integrity is founded on the fear of God.

Now Nehemiah institutes some security measures. We can appreciate this in a post-9-11 world.

Nehemiah 7:3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”

The people had just completed the wall – a great accomplishment. The enemy was in disarray; fearful and lacking self-confidence (6:16). Nevertheless, Nehemiah ordered these security measures because he knew that often after a time of great spiritual accomplishment comes a time of great spiritual testing.

e.g. - Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal - Elijah runs in terror from Jezebel

• Jesus baptized by John; Jesus tempted by Satan

• Mt. 16 - Peter makes his great confession and is blessed by Jesus; Peter tries to convince Jesus to stop talking about the cross and is rebuked by Jesus

• Monday always comes right after Sunday – we have a tendency to spiritually let down our guard

Gordon MacDonald in his book Rebuilding Your Broken World talks about the causes of spiritual failure. Why do Christians fail and fall into sin, often in the very areas you would expect them to be strong? MacDonald said “An unguarded strength is a double weakness”

• 1Cor. 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! The very area in which you think you are strong may be the area where Satan tries hardest to bring you down.

• We need to be constantly vigilant because Satan is constantly active - 1 Peter 5:8

2. Census – v. 4 - 69

We’re not going to read these verses. It’s a big list – almost identical to the list we have in Ezra 2. Nehemiah is registering the people to determine who really belongs in Jerusalem, and who should live there. Look at verse 5…

So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:

Again, living in a post-9-11 world, we can appreciate that this was an “identity check” – the people needed to be able to establish their identity and citizenship as Jews who had returned from Babylon. So they had to check their family records and genealogies.

Why was this important? Because, as we saw last week, some of the families had begun to intermarry with the people of the surrounding nations, and if that were to continue, the Jews as a nation and as the people of God, would completely lose their identity. They would be simply absorbed and assimilated into the nations and would cease to exist as a distinctive people.

Now you may be saying: I can’t understand how any of this applies to us today. What possible spiritual lessons could God have for us in this long, boring list?

Well, simply this. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a distinct identity – your identity is in Christ. His life is now your life. He is the one whose “family name” you now bear. He has put his seal upon you. And it is that identity which guarantees your salvation - your entrance into heaven – nothing else.

John 1:12-13 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

There is only one “credential” that we need in order to have eternal life – and that credential is Jesus, the Son of God, living in our lives. Have you received him? Do you believe in Him as your Savior? Or are you trusting in some other credential?

If you look at verses 61-62, you’ll see that there were certain people who could not establish their lineage. They were physically present in Jerusalem, they were standing alongside the people of God, but “They could not show that their families were descended from Israel.” and so they ultimately had to be excluded.

And the same thing is true today. There are people who go to church, they are physically present among the people of God. They think of themselves as Christians. They wear a cross around their neck. They give to charities and do good deeds. But they are lacking the one essential thing which establishes their identity as a child of God – they have never personally invited Jesus Christ to be their Savior. They are relying on all these other things to get them to heaven.

Jesus told a story about people like that in Matthew 7

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven… Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

These people had done great things in the name of the Lord, and they were relying on those things to gain them entrance to the kingdom – but they hadn’t given their lives to the Lord, and so the Lord didn’t know them and they were turned away.

Revelation 20 talks about the Lamb’s Book of Life. And it says very clearly that if anyone’s name is not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. – Rev. 20:15

Our identity in Christ is essential for our salvation.

There’s another lesson in this list. It’s found down in verses 63-64…

And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name). These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

In order to be a priest in Israel, you had to be of the tribe of Levi and a descendant of Aaron. That was your qualification. These men could not establish their qualifications, and thus had to be excluded from the priesthood. They could not serve as spiritual leaders because were lacking the proper criteria.

What does that have to do with us today? Simply this – in the church, there is a need for spiritual leadership – for elders, who serve as the spiritual overseers of the church, and for deacons, who serve in various ministry capacities within the church.

And there are criteria for serving in these positions – spiritual and character qualifications that are given to us in 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1. If an individual does not meet these criteria, he cannot serve as a spiritual leader.

So whether it is salvation, or service, it is necessary to have the proper credentials.

3. Contributions

In verses 70 – 73, the people gave to the work, and to the ministry of the Lord at the Temple. And their contributions were very generous. God loves a cheerful giver – and remember, as Jesus said, For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” If you sow generously, you will reap generously. But if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly.

And notice that Nehemiah (the governor – v. 70 – he doesn’t even use his own name) led the way; provided an example of giving. These people had already given 52 days of their time; now they were giving of their treasure to the Lord’s work. They worked on the wall – they gave of themselves. And they gave of their substance.

Remember – you can never “out-give” God. You will never come to the place where you will say “I regret that I have given so much to the Lord’s work. It hasn’t been worth it. It has cost me too much.” God is no one’s debtor. When you honor him, he honors you.

Chapter 8 – a chapter about obedience

Nehemiah 7:73b When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

The people assembled before the Water Gate. You may remember the spiritual significance of that gate from our studies in chapter 3 – it represents the Word of God, and as such, it needed no repairs. There was a great plaza or square just inside that gate, with enough room for anywhere from 30-50,000 people to gather.

And the people DID gather – all the men, the women, and anyone else who could understand – which presumably means the older children.

And Ezra the scribe came out, climbed up on a high wooden platform which had been specially built for the occasion, and read the Law of Moses aloud to them. He read it from daybreak until noon (about 5-6 hours), and all the people stood up to hear it.

Now this is Ezra’s first appearance in the book of Nehemiah. He had arrived in Jerusalem in 458 BC, which was 13 years before Nehemiah got there. How come we haven’t heard from him before this? Maybe he wasn’t in Jerusalem – some scholars speculate that he may have had to go back to Babylon for a time. We don’t know.

But what we do know is that Jewish people today regard this man Ezra as the second most important person – second only to Moses – in whole the history of the Jewish people. In fact, they refer to Ezra as the “second Moses”. Because it was Ezra who called the people back to the Law of God in those uncertain years after their return from exile in Babylon.

You have to understand that the years from 400 BC to the birth of Christ (we call that the Intertestamental Period) was a very perilous time for the Jewish people. They were few in number; they were surrounded by pagan religions and by neighbors who were hostile toward them; they were about to be subjected to social and cultural and political forces in the time between the Testaments that would threaten to wipe them out as a distinctive people.

If it had not been for what Ezra did what he did right here, the Jewish people might have simply disappeared into the pages of history, like the Arameans, or the Hittites, or the Babylonians. And what did he do? He simply communicated the Word of God to the people.

1. Communication

He opened up the Word of God and simply read it to the people – something that hadn’t been done in years. Many of these people would have been hearing the Word of God for the very first time.

• The public reading of the Word was commanded in the Law of Moses. The children of Israel were to do it every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 31:10-13)

• The public reading of the Word was something that was actually practiced by Jesus himself. He went into the synagogue in Nazareth, as was his custom, and he read aloud from the scroll of Isaiah (Luke 4)

• The public reading of the Word of God is something that God expects of us today – it is one of our duties and responsibilities as Christians. Paul wrote to Timothy: “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13).

• Even though we live in a visual age – in an age of images - there is something supernaturally powerful and captivating about hearing the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Notice that these people stood up for the reading of the Word – they stood out of respect, and they stood for 5-6 hours! And the public reading of the Word elicited a powerful response. Look at v. 6…

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

But something else was happening in v. 7-8. There was not only communication, there was…

2. Clarification

The people were not only having the Word read to them, they were having it explained to them.

The Levites — instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

The people were not only given the opportunity to hear the Word of God, they were given the opportunity to understand the Word of God. It was explained to them so that they could absorb what it meant, and how it related to their lives.

Jesus did the same thing in Luke 4. After he read from the prophet Isaiah, he sat down and explained to the people what it meant.

When Paul told Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, he didn’t stop there. He went on to say “and devote yourself to preaching and to teaching” – in other words, to making sure that the people understand the Word of God.

This is the hallmark of good preaching – does it make the Word of God clear and understandable? Does it help you to see how God wants you to apply His Word in your world today? And does it lead you to want to respond?

When these people heard the Word of God, and understood it, they responded to it. And they responded on several levels, because when we open up our lives to the Word of God, it has an effect on our total being:

1. They worshiped – v. 6 – spiritual response

   1. “…all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” (notice the physical activity in worship)

2. They wept – v. 9 – emotional response

   1. “…all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.”

   2. They wept because they were aware of their own sinfulness – how they had fallen short of the glory of God

   3. This was not a “feel good” religion!

      1. Jesus: Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted

   4. But being a Christian is not all mourning. Having mourned over our spiritual condition, we can rejoice has done something about it!

   5. Nehemiah said “Do not weep or grieve anymore. Go and have a party. Celebrate! For the joy of the Lord is your strength! (v. 10)

3. They went – v. 12, 16 – volitional response – they obeyed the Word of God and they went out to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles

3. Celebration

The Feast of Tabernacles was the last of the annual feasts of the Jews…

1. Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread - held in the Spring and commemorated the Exodus

2. Feast of Firstfruits or Pentecost - (7 weeks later) – first-fruits of wheat harvest

3. Feast of Ingathering or Tabernacles – held in the Autumn to commemorate wilderness wanderings and to give thanks for the bounty of promised land.

According to the Law of Moses, this Feast was to be held from the 15^(th) to the 22^(nd) of the seventh month. And we know from the beginning of chapter 8, that it was already the beginning of the seventh month when Ezra got up to read the Law. So the timing was perfect!

The people went out in obedience to the Word of God. They gathered branches and brought them back into the city, where they built booths – little temporary shelters to remind them of the wilderness wanderings, when they lived in tents.

• I wonder if it would be a good idea for us to have a “Feast of Tabernacles” every year – and live in tents or some temporary shelter – just to remind us that our lives are not about our homes and our cars and our money – we are just pilgrims passing through the wilderness

  • This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through

  • My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue

Nehemiah 8:17 The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

And that is always the case when we…

1. hear the Word of God

2. understand the Word of God

3. obey the Word of God.