Nehemiah 12-13

What does it say?

The priests and the Levites who returned to Jerusalem with the governor Zerubbabel are listed. The chief priestes and Levites who had come up with Zerubbabel during the reign of Darius as well as those who served in the days Nehmiah the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe. The Levites from all the land were sought out for the dedication of the the wall of Jerusalem. Choirs were appointed to sections of the wall. Great sacrifices were offered and they rejoiced and their joy was heard from afar. The people gave to the priests and the Levites their dues as was required by the law. On that day, the book of the law was read allowed and it was heard that Moses said, “No Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,” so, they applied this to all foreigners. During Nehemiah’s absence, Tobiah the Ammonite official had been given a room in the temple; this displeased Nehemiah, so he cleaned Tobiah’s things out of the room and restored its proper use. Also, the Levites had abandoned the house of God because the people had not given them the tithe of grain, wine and oil; Nehemiah restored the Levites to their post and the people gave as required by the law. The sabbath day had become like any other day of the week, goods were being brought into Jerusalem and sold to the people; therefore, Nehemiah rebuked Israel. Nehemiah commanded that the gates of Jerusalem be shut on the sabbath (sun down to sun up) and he appointed Levites as guards; for a while, merchants came and camped outside of the gate but after being threatened by Nehemiah they came no more. Nehemiah found that all Israel and even the priest were intermarrying with the people of the land, women of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab; Nehemiah rebuked them, speaking of to the people about how Solomon was lead astray by foreign women. So, Nehemiah once again purified Israel of everything foreign and appointed tasks for the priests and the Levites and appointed times for supplies to be brought into the house of God.

What does it mean?

It did not take long for Israel to revert to everyman doing as he saw fit. The leaders had agreed in writing to keep the covenant, and all of Israel rejoiced at the dedication of the wall. During Nehemiah’s absence, reporting to king Artaxerxes, the agreement was abandoned. Nehemiah resorted to making laws to enforce the covenantal commandments. This shows that man left to himself will always revert to his sin nature. All of mankind is by nature sinful. Unless the natural man is under threat of loss in the natural realm he will not keep the moral law of God. This set up the situation of Jesus day, the Pharisees burdened the people with commandments and traditions; therefore, Jesus called them hypocrites, quoting Isaiah: Matthew 15:8-9 (NASB)

‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,

BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,

TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”

A situation was being set up at the end of Nehemiah; if a man and or laws were not in place to force obedience to God’s law, the people would not keep God’s law because it was not in their heart to do so. People do not need legalism. They need a new heart. They need to be born again.

What shall I do?

I shall preach law to the proud and gospel to the humble. Legalism is a great deal of work because someone has to be in place to enforce the law. The only means that we are given to convert people is the gospel. The gospel is the power of God for salvation. (Rom. 1:16) It isn’t that law should not be preached because it is the law which brings the knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:19-20) However, the answer isn’t more law but the gospel. The law cannot save anyone but is solely the tutor to bring men to Christ. (Gal 3:24) 

Nehemiah 10-11

What does it say?

Nehemiah the governor and leaders signed the document. They vowed (knowing the curse) to walk in God’s law as was given through Moses, to keep all of the commandments and statues of the law; they also vowed not to intermarry with the people of the land and to keep the Sabbath. They also vowed to give a temple tax, one third of a shekel. They cast lots for who would bring up wood to burn in the temple at appointed times; and vowed to bring in the first born, the first fruits, and give one-tenth of what up from the ground to the Levites. Lots were cast for one-tenth of the people to live in Jerusalem, while nine-tenths lived in the other cities of Judah; those who lived in Jerusalem were blessed by the people. The people who did not live in Jerusalem lived on their own property. The sons of Judah, the sons of Benjamin, the priests, and Levites who lived in Jerusalem are listed and numbered according to their patriarchal names. The Levites who were in charge of singing kept the commandment of David concerning music day by day in the temple. The people who lived in the other cities of Judah and Benjamin are not listed but the cities were. 

What does it mean?

For the retuned exiles the law given through Moses, the Temple and the city of Jerusalem became central and the outlying communities less important. For the returned exiles community meant Jerusalem, worship meant the Temple and obedience the law. However, can any man perfectly keep the law? If the works that they vowed to do are not done with a whole heart they would be guilty of violating the law. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb 4:12) When the community does these things what will be the intentions of the heart?

What shall I do?

Jesus said to not make vows because we do not have the power to make things happen but let your yes be yes and your no be no. (Mt 5:33-37) Theonomy is a hypothetical form of government ruled by God’s law. I do not believe that theonomy is possible in this fallen world. Men have rebellious hearts. Under threat, men will outwardly observe the law but not from the bottom of the heart. I shall not place a yoke on my brother which no man is able to bear but I shall point all men to Christ alone for salvation from the curse of the law. (cf. Acts 15:10-11) 

Nehemiah 8-9

What does it say?

Ezra the priest and scribe brought out the book of the law of Moses, he stood up on a platform, opened the book the people stood up, he blessed the Lord, he read the word from early morning to midday and the Levites explained the law to the people. The people began to cry but Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites told the people to rejoice and they did celebrating a festival to the Lord because they understood the word. The leaders gathered in a council regarding the words of the law and proclaimed a proclamation that the feast of booths should be observed, so the people made booths of olive branches and lived in them for seven days; during the feast Ezra read from the book of the law of God daily and on the eight day they had a solemn assembly. The people confessed their sins and they wore sackcloth with dirt upon them. The Levites commanded the people to arise and recounted the entire history of the Old Testament before the assembly in prayer to the Lord; blessing the Lord for his lovingkindness, confessing the sins of Israel and confessing that the leaders are agreeing in writing to keep the covenant. 

What does it mean?

The Scriptures must be translated into the language of the people so that the people may understand the word of God. Trained men are to explain the text to the people. Once the word is understood, the response of the hearer should be rejoicing, confession of sin, repentance and observance of the word of God.

What shall I do?

Learned men have translated the Scriptures from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, so that I can read the word in my own language. I have studied in a seminary, so that I might explain the text to others. I shall continue to read the word and explain the word to others. I know that understanding in the hearer should cause rejoicing, confession of sin, repentance and observance of the word of God.

Nehemiah 7

What does it say?

Nehemiah appointed two men in charge of Jerusalem; Hanani his brother and Hananiah the commander of the fortress to bar the gates during the night and post guards; he consider them honorable men. Than it was put into Nehemiah’s heart to enroll everyone by their genealogy; however, the genealogical book of those who came up first was found. These are remembered by their patriarchal names along with the priests, the Levites, the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants. Those who came up previously who could not prove their genealogy to a son of Israel, a son of Aaron, or a son of Levi were also remembered but restricted from temple service. The entire assembly that previously came up was 42,360 persons, 7,337 servants (245 of the people were singers), 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys. The treasury that was given by these who first returned was remembered. Lastly, it was remembered that the people settled into the land and lived in each their genealogical city.

What does it mean?

We have a tendency to forget that there was a history and people who came to Christ before us. Studying those who came before us is a very good thing to do. When we study church history we become connected to the church as a whole. The situations that we now face may have been faced by Christians in the past. How did they respond? Did their response prove to be something we should model or did it prove to be something that we should avoid? We should know our history.

What shall I do?

I shall study church history, thereby becoming connected with the people who preceded me in coming to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Today, the churches faces a crisis. We are restricted from meeting together as a large group. What did Christians do in the past who were not able to meet in large congregations. Did they splinter into small house churches? I have seen this in the present. In Cuba it is ilegal to have a large meeting of believers come together in a building that was not established as a church before the Cuban revolution. However, many who have come to the Lord in Cuba gather in small house churches. Churches in East Texas are attempting to continue what we have been doing by videoing a service that can be watched on a computer. I think that we should look to the past for the answer because the church has faced crisis in meeting before. The church has also survived plagues. I shall consider our past for the present.

Nehemiah 4-6

What does it say?

Sanballat the Samaritan and Tobiah the Ammonite became angry; therefore, they mocked the Jews who were rebuilding the wall. Nehemiah prayed to the Lord because the people were demoralized, they continued to rebuild and the wall was joined together to half its height. Sanballat, Tobiah and the other people of the land conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem; therefore, they prayed to the Lord for protection, stationed guards night and day, and Nehemiah spoke encouraging words to the Jews in the Lord. The Jews continued the rebuilding project and each man had his sword at his side ready to rally together at the sound of the trumpet. Day and night each man remained in Jerusalem, didn’t remove his clothing, and kept his sword with him at all times. Some of the people cried out because their Jewish brothers were taking advantage of them, taking their property and putting them in bondage for food. Nehemiah scolded those who were charging interest to his brother and requested that they give the people back their fields, each man promised to return each his field, requiring nothing for them. Nehemiah was appointed governor of Judah but did not tax the people as previous governors had done but feed the people who gathered at his table at his own cost. Sanballat with the other governors of the land accused the Jews of planning to rebel against the king and accused Nehemiah of planning to become king of Judah, but Nehemiah told them that this was not true; therefore, he prayed to the Lord to strengthen his hand. Tobiah the Ammonite and Sanballat the Samaritan hired a false prophet Shemaiah to trick him into sheltering in the temple which would give the appearance that he was exalting himself as king. It took only 52 days to complete the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, this discouraged the other peoples of the land; therefore, Tobiah the Ammonite sent letters to frighten Nehemiah. 

What does it mean?

Threats and discouraging words abound in this world. We must trust in the promises of God in Jesus Christ and observe all that he commanded. Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. He has commissioned the church to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the triune God and teaching them to observe all that he commanded. (Mt. 28:18-20) The enemy does not like this and will use fear to discourage and will also try and discredit our intentions. We must not become discourage or be tricked into unrighteous actions out of fear. 

What shall I do?

I confess that I have been discouraged. Nearly one year ago I graduated with a Master’s degree in Theological Studies and felt a desire to teach; particularly, pastors who do not have access to formal theological education. I began looking into theological education in the mission field. Eventually I became a partner with Biblical Training Center for Pastors and was set to begin training pastors with another man who had been doing theological education in Cuba for twenty years. I went there for a 1 week seminar in September of 2019 and was very encouraged. I then rearranged my life and work so that I could go to Cuba and teach 3-4 times a year. We were to return to Cuba in December but were denied visas by the Cuban government. We were to return again in April but the man who had been doing this ministry developed an inner ear problem which gave him vertigo. Then this corona virus came about shutting down all international travel. I shall not be discourage but will continue reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching them his word while praying that the Lord opens up opportunities. 

Nehemiah 1-3

What does it say?

Nehemiah inquired about the Jews and the condition of Jerusalem. Nehemiah lamented the condition of Jerusalem and confessed that it was right for the Lord to punish Israel for their sin; he then reminds the Lord of his promise of restoration if they repent. Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king. Artaxerxes the king saw that he was sad and asked the reason; therefore, Nehemiah confessed it was because of the condition in Jerusalem and requested that the king allow him to go repair the city and the wall of the city for which the king granted him the request. Nehemiah arrived with a letter from the king to the governors of the provinces but Sanballat was displeased. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem and was there three days before he arose at night, riding on a donkey, surveying the condition of the wall. When he returned, Nehemiah revealed to the Jewish officials his plan to rebuild the wall, but when Sandballat and Tobiah heard that the Jews were rebuilding the wall they accused them of rebelling. So, the rebuilding began, first with the Sheep Gate and the high priest hung its doors. Then the Fish gate and all around the wall. Then the Old gate and the wall was being repaired by each his brother. The Valley gate and the wall. The Refuse gate and wall. The Fountain gate and each man repaired a section of the wall. And the Horse God and each repaired the section of the wall in front of his house all the way around back to the Sheep gate.

What does it mean?

The Lord God is abounding in lovingkindness and truth. Whatever he has promised will be carried out despite evil. The Lord put it in Nehemiah’s heart to repair the wall, softened the heart of king Artaxerxes and used Nehemiah to inspire the Jews. When a body of believers are united as one, a seemingly impossible task can be accomplished.

What shall I do?

I hear reports that the world is in a terrible condition. At this time, the Corona virus is said to be a global pandemic. The panic over this disease is causing economic strain. My home church (Sylvania) is not meeting on Sunday mornings but our pastor is preaching his sermon on the internet. I also know that death by war, famine, pestilence and wild beast are a result of sin.(Rev 6:7-8) So, what can I do? I can repair the wall in front of my house; preaching the law and gospel to my neighbors while taking care of my sickest neighbors in the intensive care unit.