Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 10
This week in Sunday school, we look at the second half of Nehemiah and the spiritual revival that took place under Nehemiah’s governorship. What sparked revival and reform? What changes did the returned Jews make in their lives and society? Why did Nehemiah have to rebuke the people during his second governorship? And why does Nehemiah keep asking the Lord to remember him and what Nehemiah has done for the Lord? We’ll consider these questions and more.
In this class, we’ll be examining Nehemiah 8-13.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
that’s good morning welcome back to Sunday school hey thanks thanks for those responses we’re looking now to the second part of Nehemiah today title of my lesson is God’s Word proclaimed last time you’ll remember that Nehemiah came as the third leader of restoration in Israel he came around 450 4 BC and we had the three steps of restoration Nehemiah was that third step God moved Nehemiah heart and gave me a my favor so that the Jews could rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and therefore remove Israel’s reproach but Nehemiah when he acted as governor of the Jews he did more than just physical restoration as we’ve already seen part of that physical restoration involved excitation and rebuking of the people to follow yahweh to be faithful to yahweh and today we’re going to see more of nehemiah spiritual leadership what was it that lien mah that Nehemiah did further to lead the people spiritually how do the people respond to any Amaya’s leadership and what does new mais work mean for us today let’s find out here’s our outline for today’s class we’re first going to look at knee of my eight see what takes place there the teaching then we’re going to overview what takes place between Nehemiah nine to twelve some changes that Israel made then we’ll look some necessary rebukes of israel nehemiah 13 and will finish by thinking about application what does all this mean for us now let’s pray God I thank you for this word Yahweh God you are great I pray that the people would see your greatness and your goodness and the goodness of your word today and we’d be encouraged and emboldened to follow after you Jesus name Amen all right let’s start with our first point take a look at the teaching and Nia my eight so please open your Bibles to need my eight name i ate is page 501 if you’re using a few Bible we’re going to read last verse or the last half the last verse of Nehemiah seven and then we’re going to read down to Nia my 8 verse 12 just to reorient e to the context the wall Jerusalem has just been completed we heard about that name I six me my seven contains a genealogical record it’s actually repeated record from Ezra of which families came up with zero beable to Jerusalem so basically we’re right after the walls have been completed or Jerusalem we step into name I ate let’s start at verse 73 of Nehemiah seven and we’ll read down to chapter eight verse 12 all along with me as I read and when the seventh month came the sons of Israel were in their cities and all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Watergate and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which Yahweh had given to Israel then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men women and all who could listen with understanding on the first day of the seventh month he read it or he read from it before the square which was in front of the Watergate from early morning until midday at the presence of men and women those who can understand and all the people were attentive to the book of the law as a described stood at a wooden podium which they had made to the purpose and beside him stood mattifier shima ania Uriah o kaya and Messiah on his right hand and padilla michele malkia has Shoom ash madonna Zechariah and moshulu on his left hand as I opened the book in the sight of all the people very was standing above all the people and when he opened it all the people stood up then Ezra blessed Yahweh the Great God and all the people answered amen amen while lifting up their hands and they bowed low and worship Yahweh with their faces to the ground also Joshua Bonnie share abaya jaaneman a khoob Sabbath ayodhya Messiah Kaleta azariah Jochebed a non polite the Levites explain the law to the people while the people remained in their place they read from the book from the law of God translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading then Nehemiah who was the governor and as for the priest and scribe and Ally vikes who taught the people said to all the people this days holy to Yahweh your God do not mourn or weep for all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law then he said to them go eat of the fat drink of the sweet and send portions to him who has nothing prepared but this day is holy to our Lord to not be grieved the joy of Yahweh is your strength so the Levites calmed all the people saying be still for the days holy to not be grieved all the people went away to eat to drink to send portions and to celebrate a great festival because they understood the words which had been made known to them all right let’s start our study of this passage with simple observations notice the timing here we’re in the first day of the seventh month according to Nehemiah 615 the wall Jerusalem was completed on the 25th day of the sixth month so this day and me and my eight is not Emma Slater less than a week later which all we should also note that according to Leviticus 25 and numbers 29 the first day of the seventh month is significant for Israel because it is the date of the Feast of Trumpets it’s a date for holy assembly for sacrifices and for no laborious work that’s what the Feast of Trumpets is about in modern times this feast actually continues this feast is known as Rosh Hashanah or jewish new year marking a kind of spiritual new start moreover according to Ezra 3 the first day of the seventh month is also significant because it was the date that sacrifices were restored under the rubble when the first group came to Jerusalem so the first day of the seventh month is a significant date so that’s when things are taking place here on this first day of the seventh month the people come out from their cities and they assemble in Jerusalem and notice for what they asked they asked Ezra to bring out the law and read it to them observe the description given of the law it is the book of the law of Moses which Yahweh had given to Israel the law is for of Moses from Yahweh now notice who’s in the gathered assembly we have men women and all who could listen with understanding older children would probably fit to this latter group note with Deuteronomy 31 11 to 13 says describing a similar feast actually another one that takes place in the seventh month that involves the reading of God’s law this Madhu terada me 31 11 to 13 says when all Israel comes to appear before Yahweh your God at the place which he will choose you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing assemble the people the men and the women and children and the alien who’s in your town so that they may hear and learn and fear Yahweh your God and be careful to observe all the words of this law they’ll chew their children who have not known will hear and learn and learn to fear Yahweh your God as long as you live in the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess so I bring up that scripture just to note that God actually prescribed a reading of his law at certain feasts and you wanted everyone to attend men women children and even foreigners foreigners drew in the midst now notice how long as it reads the law back here near my eight from early morning to midday so probably from about six a.m. to 12noon six hours of hearing God’s law as it reads from a wooden podium standing on a raised platform with certain other men on his right and on his left and noticed the assembled Jews verse 3 says that all the people are attentive in fact the people stand up as soon as Ezra begins to read and when Ezra praise a benediction that people respond with a double amen and bow down to worship Yahweh with their faces to the ground notice that certain Levites assist Ezra these Levites also read from the law and then translate or explain the sense so that the people can understand a passage is a little ambiguous as to how this assistance took place whether as are red and then the Levites all spoke or Ezra read partly anime the Levites jumped in and their explanations were interspersed with Asura’s reading we’re not told specifically how that happened nevertheless they did their assistance and notice how the people responded or how the people respond they weep when they are exposed this reading and teaching the Jews weep azra Nehemiah and the Levites however they tell people not to weep but to instead rejoice and celebrate a feast and there are some reasons given in the text for why they should do that verse 10 and 11 why should you not weep why should you celebrate instead for this day is holy to the Lord this is a holy day verse 10 the joy of Yahweh is your strength we probably heard that phrase a lot that actually comes from this passage the believe it’s the only time the scripture this phrase is used the joy of Yahweh is your strength don’t weep and then verse 12 another reason for celebration why were the people celebrating verse 12 because the people understood the words that had been made known to them okay now that we work through our observation step let’s consider interpretation first why do the people assemble as one and asked Ezra to read them the law on the first day of the seventh month why would they do that we could point to a couple of different things but hopefully you notice that this is a significant date so whatever their reason for assembly it probably has something to do with the fact that this is a holiday this is a holy day according to the law it’s the date of the Feast of Trumpets so it is a day proper for them to assemble someone familiar with the law probably Ezra Nehemiah knew that this was a date of assembly a feast date and they circulated the word among the people and called them to assemble and the people wanted to do this and probably we’re more more motivated to assemble considering what God had recently accomplished for them they had just finished or rather God had just accomplished the rebuilding of the wall in jerusalem and the people also have recognized through their experience of building the wall their continual need for God if they’re going to continue in the land they need to seek God and they need to seek God’s law so they want to assemble they want to hear the law and it’s appropriate that they do do so on the first day of the seventh month because it is a holiday now another question according to verse one who gave Israel its law was it Moses or was it God you so you can say that again yes it’s correct to say that it’s Yahweh but it’s also correct to say that it’s a Moses because we see both of them represented it is the law of Moses that God gave to Israel what we’re really seeing in that statement and we’ll also see it further on in Nehemiah is a nice little example the doctrine of inspiration of Scripture we know that version the New Testament all Scripture is god-breathed and yet it was human writers who wrote it same thing we’re seeing here Moses wrote the law it was a human who wrote it but his words were from God so Moses law can rightly be said to be the law of God and the law from God God wrote the law or God gave the law but Moses gave the law it was the law of God through Moses and is the inspired word verbally inspired Scripture another question if the people stood when as her red and we’re told as your red for six hours did Ezra and the people really stand for six hours straight and if they did how I don’t know about you but that sounds like a long time to stand I don’t know if I could do that perhaps the Israelites were better at standing than we are perhaps their society just was a because of the more emphasis on manual labor or other things they just had better leg and back muscles than we do I don’t think I could last more than an hour of just standing still but perhaps they weren’t standing the whole time does say they stood when Ezra began reading but perhaps they didn’t stand all time perhaps there were breaks perhaps they only stood when Ezra was reading when other people were reading or other people were explaining what was read perhaps the people sat down again maybe people only stood when they read whatever there could have been reasons for them to sit down without without showing any sort of disrespect to Ezra they did stand when Ezra read and they did pay attention the Bible is not lying to us here they did stand hear God’s Word for six hours but why did they stand why stand at all couldn’t they have just sat down the whole time yes yeah that’s probably what this goes back to we don’t or we can’t say for sure but this is probably a sign of reverence for God’s Word though it may have had a practical benefit as well that it helped that people pay better attention when you’re standing not laying down or reclining you’re more apt to pay attention to the reading of Scripture and explanation of Scripture note that’s standing for God’s Word is not something that’s commanded in the law of course it’s not a bad thing and it’s still something that many people and churches do today including Calvary whenever there’s a scripture reading I think we stand and it’s the same in other churches too so it’s a sign of reverence and it’s also practical for paying attention now did the Jews the assembled Jews understand the word of God’s law that were read to them you so the people understand what was read they did they did but how do we know that yeah first of all makes it pretty explicit but we can actually point to a number of things this passage that all emphasized the people understood the reading they understood God’s law because versus two to three if we just start back knee at the beginning of this passage talks about the people assembled were to understand men women and all those who can understand were to attend the people came even children came with the expectation of being able to understand God’s law verse 8 also emphasizes understanding when it says the Levites they assisted Ezra so that the people could understand their goal was to cause the people to understand so the people assemble the expectation of understanding that teachers also expected to help the people understand verses 9 and 10 says that the people were weeping when they heard God’s law why would they be weeping because they understood it they understood what God’s law was saying and that truth was affecting them emotionally and then verse 12 as someone mentioned it takes the same concept and inverts it that people rejoiced and why did they rejoice because they understood the words of God that had been made known stem now this is very significant the assembled Jews understood God’s Word as read and taught to them even though that law had been written by one author nearly a thousand years earlier yet the people this widely disparate group of Jews they all understood it so what we’re seeing here is not only that the inspiration of Scripture is highlighted in this passage but also the perspicuity of Scripture perspicuity just a word that means clarity or understanding God wrote a word that can be understood by people even people far removed from the original date or place of writing this is an understandable word now why is this so significant well many of you can appreciate that since since the Bible has been written but especially since the Enlightenment period of the late 1700s there have been constant attacks on the authority and the understandability of the Bible people have asserted that the Bible is unclear you can’t know what it means where you need some outside authority to help you understand what it means you need the wisdom of men or you need some sort of scientific method or they’ve even insisted that definitively recovering what the author originally was trying to say is impossible now we’ve all got our biases we’re not in the same time as that guy there’s no way we can possibly understand what the Bible originally meant all we can do is experience something something spiritual when we read this has become very popular in our day these views but this passage and the truth we see here flatly contradict any of those assertions because here we have juzt a different ages gender social position and education level all understanding God’s Word God’s ancient word from Moses now someone may point out well didn’t they have helped didn’t the Levites assist the people in their understanding well yeah but that’s what God’s always designed teachers of his word to do God’s Word is written to be understood by all but it gave teachers to help the people understand isn’t this what we see in Ephesians 4 11 to 13 Paul writes God gave teachers to the church for the equipping of the Saints and it’s good that we have teachers for this reading in Nehemiah there may have been some parts of the law as read to these returned exiles that were difficult for the people to understand so the experts in the scriptures Ezra the Levites they help the people get past these difficulties by explaining whatever information the audience did not understand what kind of unknowns may have hindered the listeners understanding of the text yes right very good one potential hurdle is language now the people coming back from exile they may have been speaking Aramaic some of them may have been only speaking Aramaic or some of them may have been speaking a version of Hebrew that was influenced by Aramaic and that’s not the same as the are not necessarily the same as what was written by Moses and so even though Aramaic is related to Hebrew they’re both Semitic languages it’s kind of like maybe polish and Russian they’re related and you can understand some of the things even if you don’t know the other language specifically they might not understand all the words of Moses original language or they there might be some syntactical expressions that don’t appear in Aramaic that do appear in the original Hebrew of Moses and so they would need some help understanding that maybe or it’s possible that the people generally could understand what the word said but there were some difficult sections due to language that they would need some help with but what other hurdles might present challenges for understanding yes okay yeah so you point out that just they might not even if they understand the words they might not understand necessarily the concepts because they haven’t been continually exposed to the law they didn’t they may hear that God did certain things and they may hear the explanations but they might not readily grasp those explanations that Moses kids or that the law discusses and so just to see the truths of Moses illustrated in history asthma and the scribes Ezra in the Levites can explain this is what it said and this is what has happened so yeah that’s another way that the people could be assisted in their understanding certainly other challenges would be geographical made people never been to the places that are involved in the law of Moses there’s cultural differences people know in the returns or the time of the returned exiles didn’t live in the same society that the patriarchs did and so they might not understand why the patriarchs did what they did so there’s the need for cultural assistance and certainly there’s a lot of time difference almost a thousand years since Moses since Moses wrote his law and he’s certainly talking about times I go back even further from his own writing so there are some potential unknowns that teachers would need to assist their audience with but such difficulties are all surmountable it’s not like we encounter one of these difficult to say oh no there’s no way there’s no way we can we can figure this out no actually they’re all surmountable a teacher familiar with the hebrew of the original text can help a strictly aramaic speak Aramaic speaker understand what Moses original words were or teacher who’s familiar with geography beyond Palestine he can help those who have never been to Egypt he can help them understand teachers help bridge the gaps that come from not being familiar with a particular language place a time or a culture and this is what we see them doing and this is only common sense right he would help somebody to understand you feeling the information that they don’t already know and we do this for the Bible what we’re really describing here is the discipline of exposition the discipline of exposition and that just means a preacher when it comes to a biblical text he explains the meaning of that text of scripture to people by giving extra information about the time place language or culture so that those listening can understand the texts original context that is the setting in which the text originally appeared the author is original intent and then the passage is necessary application that’s what exposition is you help the audience understand by filling in the information they don’t know and then as they understand the original meaning of the author you help them see how to apply it in their own lives this is what we practiced at Calvary we do a form of exposition in Sunday school but that’s what our preaching is all about understanding the original meaning of the text but what we do at Calvary and what other churches do with X additional preaching is not novel it actually goes back to the Bible even back in Deuteronomy 15 it says Moses expounded the law so X additional preaching goes back to Moses and we see it here in Nehemiah we seed in the Book of Luke Jesus expounded or explained the scriptures to the roof to the disciples on the road of Emmaus and we see also in the book of Acts and each one of these cases a teacher is explaining the original meaning of God’s Word to people so that they can understand it and live it out in their lives fahza Tori preaching that is a god-ordained discipline and it’s what we need that’s what the Jews needed it’s what we need also now why did the Jews weep when they heard the law read and explained that might seem like an unexpected reaction oh yeah go ahead so yeah they understood their sin that’s got to be part of it they heard the law read they hadn’t been exposed to law or maybe some of them hadn’t been exposed to the law for a long time and they just heard how they had not kept the law they were shamed they felt the guilt they felt the sorrow of their sin and the sins of their fathers because they knew here’s God’s righteous law here’s God’s righteous standard and we’ve not kept it there’s another aspect though probably to this era why else would they weep you hand in the back yeah go ahead you you yeah thanks Roy yeah that’s part of their feeling guilty feeling the sorrow of their sin they can even recognize there’s a pattern between what Israel did in the past even in coming up from the wilderness even up all the way till the return from exile Israel keeps turning away from the Lord but the Lord keeps being faithful he chastens these people he sends judgment on his people but he also restores them when they repent and they keep seeing this pattern they keep seeing how they turned away from God and they feel convicted they feel sorrowful certainly involved with their sorrow over their sin is the sorrow over the consequences of sin they’ve seen how the continual pattern of rebellion against God has led to so much loss so much judgment so much heartache they forfeited so many blessings and their fathers forfeited so many blessings because of their sin and they surely assuredly heard that section of Deuteronomy where they heard all the curses that come on those who do not keep the law and they realize that’s exactly what happens to them the curse that even go all the way you will be removed from the land if you continue to rebel against God and they know that’s what’s happened and so they feel convicted over their sin but they also feel very grieved over all that they themselves have done to themselves by their sin there’s great reason for sorrow as they hear the law and yet the leaders forbid grief and instead command rejoicing now why why would they do that well as we’ve already seen some reasons are given in the text let’s see these explain a little bit first this is a holiday this is a feast and it’s a day of celebration it’s not a day for weeping it’s not appropriate to weep on the Feast of Trumpets but secondly something has happened on this day which is a cause for great joy and that is the people here and understand God’s Word as difficult or harsh as anything from God’s law can be simply hearing and understanding God’s Word is a great benefit joy and the psalmist says that God’s Word is like a lamp who would not rejoice when he finally finds a lamp after walking in darkness that the people were able to hear and know God’s Word was a great privilege God was showing his people even his returned exiles how to have fellowship with him and how to experience his blessing you may remember that one of the judgments from Jeremiah was that as the people were rebellious against god and his prophets God promised i’m going to send a famine of the word of god to you you’re no longer going to have access to my word and that was a judgment but now we see the opposite we see a blessing here is god’s word that the people were able to hear and know and understand God’s Word was an immense blessing and privilege of course we can also make parallel to the Reformation here what a great blessing it is to actually have access and to be able to understand God’s Word but there’s a further blessing that was a cause for rejoicing in this day and it’s based on having God’s Word and that’s found in that phrase the joy of the Lord is your strength though Israel had suffered and lost so much due to her own sin she had not lost the most important thing she not lost God Israel’s covenant what God was intact you can imagine after hearing this whole lawn and realizing your disobedience you might wonder does God still covenant with us has he abandoned us is he still our God look at all that we’ve done but as they hear the law and they see how God has been faithful and as they see God bringing them back into the land they realized he is still their God and they are still his people this is a cause for joy this is a cause for strengthening because if you have God then anything that you’ve lost can be reversed God has the ability to restore God is the ability to deliver from sin God brings joy into every aspect of life he is the source of joy he is joyful in himself there God to be their source of joy the joy of yahweh is their strength being still even after all this allowed to experience the goodness of God to experience God Himself was to empower them for wise and obedient living so no even though they have all these things to grieve over there is yet cause for rejoicing it’s a holy day it’s a day where they get to hear God’s Word and it’s a day where they are reaffirmed that God is still their God and they are still his people and the people they took that the words of God’s law to heart we’re going to transition to our second section now we see God’s law we see God’s Word proclaims but we also see that the people of vision will make some changes make some changes based on God’s law in response to God’s law we’re just going to overview these changes they take place from knee mi-8 to Nehemiah 11 what do the people do in reaction to hearing God’s law well later on in the chapter 8 of Nehemiah they celebrate another feast they hear that the future Tabernacles was prescribed by God for the seventh month and so they celebrate it and each day of the feast they again listen to God’s law they want to keep hearing God’s law soon after the feast they have a second assembly this time it’s not a assembly for celebration it’s a day for fasting and confession of sin as well as more listening to God’s law so we see this in Nehemiah 9 and 10 as another assembly it’s all about confessing sin hearing God’s law and fasting now there are some notable developments that take place in this third assembly first at the assembly the people who have intermarried with foreigners separate from them second the Levites pray a prayer confessing Israel’s history of sin but also confessing God’s covenant faithfulness this is a little bit back I think about Roy was saying I maybe somebody else their prayer acknowledges that Israel deserved its judgment but it also asks God to restore Israel on the basis of covenant God we have deserved everything that’s come upon us and yet we know you’re faithful to your covenant so please restore us as we turn back to you and as part of this turning back that people actually make an oath they threw their leaders they sign a document they seal a document that in which they covenant to seek the Lord and abide by his law they said we all swear that we’re going to obey and there’s even a curse they invoke a curse on themselves if they do not obey and if they do not follow the law what should you see some of the language of their contract look at Nehemiah 10 verses 28 and 29 me my 10 verses 28 29 summarizing the attitude of the people after listing the signatures of the the leaders of Israel verses 28 29 now the rest of the people the priests in the Levites the gatekeepers the singers the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves in the peoples of the lands the law of God their wives their sons and their daughters all those who acknowledge and understanding are joining with their kinsmen their nobles and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law which was given through Moses God’s servant and to keep and observe all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes so they’re taking this idea of Covenant very seriously say we want our we’re affirming our place in this covenant we want to follow the Lord and the rest of what follows in chapter 10 outline specific areas where the people’s where we will obey God certain flashpoints of obedience the first is they promised not intermarry with pagan people’s around them they promise not to buy or sell on the Sabbath they promise to provide for the yearly service and offerings of the temple and they promised to support the priests and the levites with offerings and contributions memory according to God’s law the priests and Levites they were to focus on temple work and that means they had to be supported they couldn’t go and work land or manage their own businesses they needed to be supported by the people and so the people swear we’re going to fulfill that we’re going to do what God’s law requires we’re going to support the temple personnel so they make all these oats they make these promises and then there’s one more positive change chapter 11 the people partially repopulate Jerusalem maduru slim had been in ruins and very few people were in Jerusalem so they asked for volunteers and they selected some men by lot and those men came and lived in Jerusalem it’s not fitting for such a great city the city of God’s temple to be so sparsely populated and so they bring people back into Jerusalem so we see these good changes over these chapters chapter 8 to 11 these revivals and reforms what caused them ultimately God was the cause but the means of this revival it’s the word it’s the Word of God as Ezra Nehemiah and the Levites read and taught the word to the people the people became hungry hungry to know and to do God’s will what a blessing to have leaders committed to giving people what they really need the explained Word of God these leaders were blessing by doing what they did but what happens when godly leadership is removed because that’s going to happen look over Nehemiah 12 if you remember when Nehemiah first sets out to go to Jerusalem he told artaxerxes I will return that was part of the arrangement what are you going to go when you gonna come back according to Nehemiah 514 Nehemiah serves as governor of Israel for 12 years but then after that he leaves he goes back serves the king of Persia artaxerxes and then some time later Nia my returns to govern Israel for a second time in me and my 12 in the second half we hear about a dedication service a worship service honoring Yahweh based on the rebuilding of the wall it’s another day of great joy and celebration honoring honoring Yahweh people here again from the law there’s nonny my 1243 says the people rejoice because God had given them great joy even the women and children rejoiced and on this day of celebration we see two further reforms to more changes for israel nehemiah 1244 247 says that on that day on the day of this dedication men were appointed to store and collect the contributions of the people for the priests and the Levites and then in chapter 13 verses 1 to 3 we here also that on that day after the people heard the law read to them the Jews in accordance with the law excluded the ammonites and the Moabites from the Assembly of Israel and from worship in God’s temple now is one of the things that the law had called them to do they make these reforms but why would these reforms necessary and why did they take place now in this day of dedication well the record of Nehemiah the book of Nehemiah it closes with a surprising explanation doesn’t close with this joyful dedication service it closes with a somewhat surprising explanation notice Nehemiah 13 for it begins with the phrase now prior to this something happened before these reforms took place before the teaching of God’s law again on this day and before the dedication service celebrating god’s restoration of Jerusalem’s wall something happened some things happened let’s hear what they were let’s read Nehemiah 13 4 230 follow along with me please i need my 13 verses 4 230 now prior to this ally ship the priest who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our god being related to Tobiah had prepared a large room for him where formerly they put the grain offerings the frankincense that utensils in the tithes of green wine and oil prescribed for the Levites the singers and the gatekeepers and the contributions to the priests but during all this time I was not in Jerusalem for the 32nd year of artaxerxes king of Babylon I have gone to the king after some time however I ask lead from the King and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that a lie ship had done for Tobiah by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God it was very displeasing to me so I threw all of Tobias household goods out of the room then I gave an order and they cleanse the rooms and I returned their utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them so that the Levites and the singers who perform the service had gone away each to his own field so i reprimanded the officials and said why is the house of God forsaken and I gathered them together and restore them to their posts all Judah then brought the tide of the grain wine and oil into the storehouses in charge of the storehouses I appointed shell and Maya the priests Zadok described and padhai of the Levites in addition to them was hanging pain in the son of Zack or the son of mattaniah where they were considered reliable and it was their task did to distribute to their kinsmen remember me for this oh my god do not blot out my loyal deeds which I perform for the house my god and its services in those days i saw in judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys as well as wine grapes figs and all kinds of loads and they brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day so I admonished them on the day they sold food also men of Tyre we’re living there who imported fish in all kinds of merchandise and sold them to the sons of Judah on the Sabbath even in Jerusalem then i reprimanded the nobles of judah and said to them what is this evil thing you are doing by profaning the Sabbath day did not your father’s do the same so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath and came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath I commanded that the door should be shut they should not open them until after the Sabbath and I station some of my servants at the gates is that no load would enter on the Sabbath day once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem then I warned them and said to them why do you spend the night in front of the wall if you do so again I will use force against you from that time on they did not come on the Sabbath when I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath day for this also remember me oh my god and have compassion on me according to the greatness of your loving kindness in those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod Ammon and Moab as for their children hath spoken the language of Ashdod and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah but the language of his own people so I contended with them and curse them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by God you shall not give your daughters to their sons nor take of their daughters for your son’s or for yourselves did not Solomon King of visual sin regarding these things and among the many nations there was no king like him and he was loved by his God and God made him king over all Israel nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin do we then hear about you you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women even one of the sons of joy de the son of a lifeship the high priest was a son-in-law of San ballot the hora night so I drove him away from me remember them oh my god because they have defiled the priesthood and the Covenant of the priesthood and the Levites thus I Pyrrha fide them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites each and his task and I arranged for the supply of wood at a point of times and for the firstfruits remember me oh my god for good all right let’s observe this last section of Nehemiah notice alyiah ship ally ship is a priest but according to Nehemiah 31 and Nehemiah 1328 he’s not just a priest he’s the high priest and yet what unthinkable transgressions has a liar ship committed before all Israel you what does the live ship done you he’s done at least two evil things first of all we hear that he’s related to tamiya to buy it is an ammonite not to mention an enemy of the Jews get the high priest is related to him presumably by marriage this means that Ally ship has allowed pagan intermarriage into the high priests own family and we here later on in the past July ships grandson is married to another enemy of Israel and Pagan San ballot the horror night so twice as the high priestly family guilty of intermarriage with evil foreigners but more than this alyiah ship made a special chamber for Tobiah in the courts of god he took a section of the temple one of the chambers of the temple one of the storage rooms and he made that to buy his personal space Tobiah has been a villain throughout this book and yet he has a special chamber in God’s temple and God’s temple complex this is heinous sin and blasphemy and it’s committed by the high priest Nehemiah makes clear this had not happened under Nehemiah swatch Elijah did this after Nehemiah left and when Nehemiah learns of it Nehemiah is very displeased as we’ve seen throughout the book Nehemiah doesn’t feel simply it doesn’t simply feel this pleasure he takes action for Yahweh sake he throws out all Tobias goods he has the room cleanse and he returns the appropriate temple materials to the room by the way does this cleansing of temple space remind you of anything we see this somewhere else don’t we yeah Danny exactly yeah and it’s the same thing right you have the leaders who are allowing the temple to be corrupted or to be compromised by by evil activity and Jesus zealous for God cleanses the temple we see that same zeal in nehemiah cleansing the space from Tobiah we’re not told specifically what happens to a lie ship name I doesn’t say how or if he dealt with him but certainly he dealt with but Elijah had done but there are other problems upon Nehemiah return vs 10 to 14 what else do we learn Israel has been failing to do versus 10 to 14 you that’s right they’re not supporting the temple workers these people have left the temple and they’re gone back to work their fields and notice Nehemiah response he rebuked the officials of Israel the leaders of Israel and he restores the Levites and singers to their posts furthermore he appoints certain people to distribute the collections of Israel to the temple personnel as ought to be done and then we see a prayer into jeff tune in verse 14 remember my deeds oh my god and I do for your holy temple but there’s more what transgression Disney mi discover in verses 15 to 22 you and we’re not keeping the Sabbath they’re violating a Sabbath by working on the Sabbath by buying and selling on the Sabbath and notice again Nehemiah takes action you can fronts the Sabbath violators he rebukes again the leaders of Judah it commands that the city gates be shut to traveling merchants before the Sabbath begins he warns Gentile merchants that they will be punished for coming in on the Sabbath or even for spending night outside the city walls on the Sabbath and he appoints Levites to serve as gatekeepers for the Sabbath to make sure no violations take place notice new mines excitation to the nobles and verse 17 Nehemiah says why do you profane the Sabbath did not your father’s do this and God judge Jerusalem you are adding to the wrath of Israel or wrath on Israel and then another interjected prayer in verse 22 for this also remember me oh my god and have compassion on me but then there’s another problem verses 23 to 29 what has Israel done they’ve entered married they’ve again intermarried with foreigners and the influence is so obvious half the children can’t even speak the language of Israel the language of the Jews and notice Neumeier’s reaction here is quite detailed he contends with these engineering Jews he curses them he strikes them he pulls out their hair and he makes them swear not to intermarry with foreigners he makes reference to Solomon Solomon was beloved by God and a great king yet even he was led astray by pagan into marriage why then Nehemiah asked do you act on faithfully by marrying foreign women and so we here in verses 32 31 a summary of all Nehemiah Zephyrs i purified the people from everything foreign I appointed the priests and the Levites and their proper duties and I arranged for the collection of the necessary supplies for the temple then notice two more interjected prayers towards the closing of passage Nehemiah asked God remember the wicked violators among the priests Oh God who have defiled the Covenant of the priests and the Covenant of the Levites but also me my praise remember me oh my god for good so we had a lot to observe in this section let’s now interpret a lot should the high priests intermarried with the families of the two enemy governors to buy it and San valid why would he do this why would the high priest intermarry with these governors the families of these governors you you yeah thats that could possibly be what’s going on here I’ll say something about that in just a second there’s some overture some way to make peace we can’t say for sure the reason but based on who each of these people are this looks like a power grab this is about securing authority and connections to enhance Elijah ships authority as a leader in Israel when you are leader and you intermarry with other leaders you’re shoring up your power and authority your support ally sheep would do this or a lie she would accomplish this by engineering with the families of these powerful governors he may have rationalizes actions by doing as you suggest Rob saying this is so that we can have peace with these governors show them that we can all be on the same side but even if that is an excuse this is a plain violation of God’s law and by a high priest no less the people of Israel not to intermarry with foreigners but especially the priests they were not to do so there were even stricter standards about who the priests could marry and yet ally Shiv allows his family to violate those commands of God’s law more than once another question I think back to what we heard about the Covenant Israel and its leaders swore and nehemiah 10 what is significant about the list of compromises that we see in Nehemiah 13 exactly Danny you’re right everything they swore everything that was recorded for us in me and my ten we specifically will not do these things they’re all the things that they do in the am I 13 they violate the Sabbath they intermarry with foreigners they don’t support the temple personnel how did this happen surely the Jews can’t claim ignorance hasn’t been that long since Nehemiah has left Israel they all heard the law of God what happened to their oath not only is Israel compromising again but the priests and nobles are leading the way it should remind us of what we heard earlier in the book of Ezra the leaders are foremost in compromising now another question did neomycin when he cursed people struck them and pulled on their hair well probably not these are surprising acts to be sure but not necessarily inappropriate remember calling down curses on evildoers is something that appears throughout the Bible think of the impact tory songs go over the people had already called down a curse on themselves if they broke the Covenant that they were swearing so by cursing them Nehemiah is actually just reiterating what they’ve already pronounced on themselves furthermore we got to remember near my position he acts as Israel’s leader in governor so he has some authority to inflict corporal punishment and pronounce certain statements certainly we can see that from these actions Nehemiah is filled with anguish and also righteous anger towards Israel’s wickedness how could they so violate the law so obviously violate the law that they recently swore to uphold and we should have a similar righteous anguish and anger over unrepentant sin but our expression of those feelings should look a little different than Nehemiah let’s not go striking people we’re pulling on their hair and let us be very careful about pronouncing or praying any sort of curse on evildoers that’s not something to be done lightly and other questions think about the short prayers in Nehemiah in this last section what do these prayers reveal about Nia Maya’s understanding of God running short on time so I’ll answer this question myself we’ve seen these prayers that Nehemiah understands that God will vindicate Nehemiah belief in God God will reward Nehemiah for Nia Maya’s faithfulness these prayers are not an example of works righteousness salvation Nehemiah is not gaining favor a salvation with God by doing good things the rescue attacks in the New Testament they help us clarify that but because Nehemiah believes God me my trust that God will remember Nia my faithfulness and he’s gonna vindicate him you believe that God will vindicate him this is basic to God’s covenant with Israel we’ve been hearing about this since Ezra Ezra Nehemiah god favors those who seek him but his faces his anger is poured out on those who forsake him Nehemiah agonizes over Israel’s compromises and he goes about reforming and causing usual to repents with much work but he does this work in hope he says God you see God please remember remember I believe you I’m showing that what I do please remember me of course that’s a prayer that God honors God does and God did remember Nehemiah and this is true for us to you when you agonize to remain faithful to God know that your work is not in vain God sees God will remember and he will be glad to vindicate you on the last day the joy of Yahweh is also your strength as it was for Israel and as it was for Nehemiah a couple more points briefly think about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah together now we saw three steps of restoration under the rubble Ezra and Nehemiah but what do you notice took place sometime after each one of those revivals and each one of those restorations the people visual slide back into sin a slide back into compromise often the very same compromises so we see a pattern and it’s just like Israel’s old pattern and yet in these revivals what was the key what was bringing about these revivals under Ezra both Ezra and Nehemiah it was God’s Word it was the law now the book of Nehemiah even though it revolves around the construction of the wall it doesn’t end with a construction of the wall you might think of this dedication service that’s a nice way to tie off this book that’s not the way the book of Nehemiah ends and instead ends with a list of Israel’s compromises and many Amaya’s zealous efforts is difficult work that he did to bring Israel back in line with God’s law as before in Ezra Israel repented of her sin but only after being firmly confronted and shown that she is seriously breached God’s covenant so we’re seeing that yes there is some revival and there are some faithful ones but Israel as a whole is still so prone to sin it’s like they just keep drifting back like a magnet sounds just like the Book of Chronicles and Kings we have these righteous leaders and it’s like they’re pulling as hard as they can and the people are so resistant they have to pry the idols that out of people’s hands we’re seeing that same sort of heart still in Israel we’ve not yet arrived at what Jeremiah said that New Covenant well i will put the long on their hearts and no one will have to say no the lord because they will all know me know people still need to hear that hear people still need to hear god’s law people still need to be exerted to follow the lord but what was the point what was the point of these books as you’re in Nehemiah then I’m going to synthesize a a summary of what they’re all about got the pathway there why did they eat why did he write these books well in light of all god is none and both judgment and restoration as we’re urges Ischl to repent truly and finally be faithful to God’s covenant gone has an abandoned them therefore they should seek God the key to Israel’s keeping covenant with God is scripture people must learn love and do God’s will but even if the nation as a whole remains hard-hearted God will also deal justly with individuals those who remain faithful to God he will remember them even while the rest go astray and also those who are unfaithful to God God will remember them too and these points are true for us today we’re out of time so if you have other questions or comments please let me know by email but here’s some questions to get us thinking about what does this mean for us it’s basically the same points that I was just making in light of all God has done for us and both showing us the consequences of our sin and also blessing us give me asking us what we don’t deserve well we finally repent of our sins and follow Jesus Christ in righteousness do we love the scriptures it was key for the Israelites to follow God do we see it as key for ourselves do we make learning practicing and sharing the Scriptures a priority it is a supernatural word and also do we agonize for the sake of obedience to God and for the souls of others in a short hope that God will remember us he will vindicate us well that’s it for today next week we actually turn into the last book of the Old Testament Malachi spend two weeks there also lord willing you’ll actually be seeing my wife next week she’s gonna be traveling back to New Jersey social she looks forward to spending some time with you and I know that you will be an encouragement to her let me close in prayer and then I’ll see you next week well God we thank you for this word you’re we’re so grateful to have the blessing of your law because it shows us how we can have fellowship with you and got it affirms that when we follow you you will vindicate us you will reward us you will remember us what help us help us to be faithful we know how easily we are beset with sins we do have the old man with us but we pray that you deliver us from the old man that you would cause us to walk and newness of life free from sin and in a pattern of obedience to use that we can be witnesses of you show others that their salvation and our Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus name Amen thanks Calvary see you next week