Overview of Nehemiah, Adult Discipleship Class

I have some notes here. I mean, we’re kind of experimenting with the notes. And so if you don’t like them, I apologize. I’m open for feedback. This is just something, if you want to have a little bit of, can someone help me actually pass these out? Can we get a couple people to volunteer? Oh, thank you. Gracias. Awesome. There’s this, and then. Can I give you the whole stack? Thank you.

Anyway, so we continue our study in the Old Testament today. And if you will, please turn in your Bibles to the book of Nehemiah. I mean, the last Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther have been a really beneficial study for me myself. And I hope and pray that it’s the same for you all. This is a very unique time in Israel’s history.

And even though God seems to be quiet, he is most certainly still at work. Very great encouragement to us in the midst of all of our circumstances in life. So if you’ll remember, from our study of the Old Testament so far, that we began with the assumption that God’s words inspired, that it reflects his character, but also that who is the main character of the Old Testament? God is, right? God is. Yes, sir. Oh, more? I don’t. I’m sorry. I don’t. I apologize. Thank you.

God is the main character of the Old Testament, not Moses, not Adam, not Abraham, not Isaac, not Jacob, not any man, none of the kings, none of the judges, but God himself is. And so our goal in studying the Old Testament is to better understand the God who we serve. We began in the book of Genesis with learning about God as creator, right? God is not like the gods of the nations from where Israel came, Egypt, and where they would go, Canaan. God is sovereign. He is the only God. He’s holy. He’s other. He’s different. He created everything. And he also established the Abrahamic covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, creating for himself a people, a nation, a nation among the nations.

In the book of Exodus, we learned about the God who delivers, right? The God who delivers his people that were in bondage. We saw the amazing things that he did in Egypt, and also raising up a deliverer in Moses, and the many things at Sinai. And on the road to Sinai, we saw him designate Israel as a kingdom of priests and holy nation. unique role as the nation among the nations. They were to live differently, and in so doing, the Lord would bless them. And in that blessing, the nations would see how Israel prospered and would then want to worship the God of Israel. That was Israel’s role in the Old Testament.

Then we went to Leviticus, and we learned about the God who is holy, right? At the very outset, and Israel’s at Sinai, Moses goes up to the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, and he comes down and he sees what? The golden calf, right? He sees the golden calf. And with the emphasis on the tabernacle at the end of the book of Exodus, all of us are left wondering, how can a holy God dwell in the midst of a sinful people?

And we learned in Leviticus how that was. We learned about God’s holiness. We learned about the way to God, which was through sacrifice, a substitutionary atonement, as was talked about today. and the walk with God through obedience and that God would bless Israel corporately as a nation for obedience and curse them for their disobedience in Leviticus 26. We went to Numbers and we learned about the God who expects faithfulness from his people, right?

And was Israel faithful? No, no they were not. Israel wasn’t faithful. Israel continued to complain. And does God take complaining lightly? No. In fact, because of their unbelief, the Lord disciplined them by making it so that the whole first generation of Israel wouldn’t enter the promised land. Even Moses himself and Aaron weren’t exempt from that. Only Joshua and Caleb.

But then we learned about in the book of Deuteronomy that God is also the God who renews the covenant, right? God renewed his covenant with Israel as a nation corporately as Moses gave the sermon, his final farewell address to the people of Israel and warned them again, told them about what God had done before and how Israel had continued to rebel against him. warned them that if they disobeyed, they would inherit those same curses which were mentioned in Leviticus 26. And the cross-reference for that is in Deuteronomy 27 and 28. In the book of Joshua, we learned about the God who conquers and divides, right? We learned about God’s fulfillment of His promise that the descendants of Abraham would inherit a land, this great nation. and as they went and conquered the peoples of the land which God had promised to the nation of Israel. But we also saw, too, that Joshua was one man, and he needed to sort of divide it out amongst the tribes to clear out all of the peoples of the land.

Now, was that for a sort of modern thinking racist reason? Did they just not like the people because of their melanin levels? No, why? It was a religious reason. Because the peoples of the lands, they didn’t worship the true God. And if they left them in the land, they would be a stumbling block to the nation of Israel. But was Israel faithful and fulfilling that command to clear out the land? No, they weren’t, which then set Israel up for failure, which we saw in the book of Judges. Again and again, they started worshiping the gods of the nations. And as a result, God, in keeping with his word, brought about discipline for their disobedience, curses for disobedience. since God is a compassionate God and merciful, he raised up judges more like deliverers, not so much like gavel and cloak, but more like these temporary deliverers for the nation of Israel.

And we saw this sort of downward spiral, starting with Othniel and then ending with Samson. And the consistent theme there was at that point, there was no what in Israel. Kane, good job. And everyone did what was right in what? Their own eyes, absolutely. Just like Genesis 3, just like the fall, the problem that we continually have is this sort of battle between doing what we think is best versus what God thinks is best. And which one is best, what we think is best or what God thinks is best? God thinks it’s best, right? Absolutely. Certainly easier said than done. And after judges, though, we saw that even in the midst of the chaos of that time, was God inactive? Was he distant?

No, he was intimately involved, continuing to care about the well-being of his people and preserving the line of which king that would come. David, good, from the tribe of Judah, and ultimately result in Jesus. We saw his redemption of Ruth and Boaz, that whole wonderful love story, and then at the end we saw the genealogy of David. After the book of Ruth, we saw in the book of 1 Samuel, the God who protects, right? Yes, we did, thank you. It took me a little bit there. The God who protects, right? Even though God has a specific king lined up for Israel, the scepter would not depart from which tribe? Judah, right?

Genesis 49.10. We saw that Israel wanted a king to be just like who? The rest of the nations. They wanted a king just like the rest of the nations. So they chose the tallest one, the one who was shoulder and head above everyone else in Saul. And was that good or bad? Bad. Moimalo, right? Not good.

And so we saw the Lord’s discipline in Saul’s life. and we saw the rise of David. After that we saw the God who blesses David with the Davidic covenant and the promise that one of David’s descendants would reign forever. And after that we went to first Kings where we saw the God who divides Solomon right with David’s son intermarried with the women of the nations and as a result the idolatry that was from their nations came to Israel And Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was wise or foolish? Foolish, right?

Absolutely. And the Lord separated the northern kingdom from the southern kingdom. And the northern kingdom was called Israel, good. And the southern kingdom was called what? Judah, right? So then the kingdom was divided. And eventually in 2 Kings we learned about the God who exiles. And both the northern and southern kingdom were exiled, but which one was exiled first? Northern kingdom.

And how many good kings did they have? None, right? Absolutely. And does anyone know who brought them into exile? Yeah, yeah, I hear it, I hear it. Assyria, yes, thank you, great work. Assyria. And then who brought Judah into exile? Babylon your Babylonians. Absolutely.

So then after that we saw another history of Israel’s monarchy and books of first and second Chronicles right first Chronicles We saw the God who chooses, and in 2 Chronicles, the God who chastens. And there’s more of an optimistic view in the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, because this is written from a post-exilic perspective, most likely from Ezra, the scribe who we learned about last week, and who I believe most likely wrote the book of Nehemiah, or at least compiled it. So we take a look at the book of Nehemiah here and I have on these papers for you the main theme of the book of Nehemiah is the God who what? The God who what?

Reconstructs. Oh my goodness. Yes, the God who reconstructs. And we can divide it pretty easily into two different sections. The first one is the reconstruction of the wall, which is in chapters one through seven. And the second section is in the restoration of the people, chapters eight through 13.

Now I mentioned that I believe that Ezra most likely compiled Nehemiah. And I think there’s a lot of good reasons for that. If we were to look at the Masoretic text, It viewed Ezra and Nehemiah as one book. If you look at the chronology of Ezra and Nehemiah, Nehemiah takes place 12 or 13 years after the book of Ezra. So it would make sense to have a continuous narrative. I think it explains Ezra Chapter 4, which we looked at last week, which was a little bit confusing at first. But I don’t think it’s as confusing when we take a look at the book of Nehemiah. So, let’s take a look at Nehemiah, verse one. Chapter one, verse one. The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah.

Now, it happened in the month Chislev in the 20th year. The 20th year here is of Artaxerxes, by the way. And Artaxerxes, mind you, is the fifth king in this Persian empire that we were looking at, right? We had Cyrus, who permitted the Jews to come back into the land.

We had Cambyses, who is kind of implied in the text. And then after him, Darius I. And is Darius I the same as Darius the Mede and Daniel? No, he’s not. Don’t get confused, right? And then after Darius I, we have Xerxes, the Ahasuerus, whose wife ends up being who? Who? Esther, good job. Yes, Esther. That’s how we know Xerxes and then Artaxerxes after him. This is in the reign of Artaxerxes in the 20th year. And we read, and I was in Susa, the capital. Here we have first person pronoun used by Nehemiah.

So this is the memoirs of Nehemiah, even though I do believe it’s compiled by Ezra. And he says in verse 2 that, “‘Henani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came. And I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remained from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They said to me, “‘The remnant there in the province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down. and its gates are burned with fire.

Now, mind you, the events that have taken place in the Book of Ezra have already happened. In fact, in the Book of Ezra, it was a pretty long period of time, even though it doesn’t necessarily seem like that. Ezra himself doesn’t come until later in the book, and that’s because from the time of Cyrus permitting the Jews to come back, and then Ezra’s time, it’s roughly an 80-year stretch. So, I mean, long period of time. And then here we have 13 years later. Now, before Ezra came, the Jews had constructed something again. And what was that thing that they constructed in the Book of Ezra?

The temple. Good job. The temple, right? The temple was reconstructed, which was huge. Israel wanted to worship the Lord in the way that he commanded, wanted to worship in Jerusalem in the temple. And they were able to come back and rebuild the temple. We talked about how the old men wept when they looked at the foundations and how different it was than in Solomon’s time. And it was a very exciting time because even though they continued to have these adversaries that sought to sort of work as a special interest group to sway the kings of Persia, the Lord’s decree is what stood and Israel or Judah and Benjamin were able to come back into the land.

So the temple’s already built. But here the focus in verse three is the wall of Jerusalem. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire. And Nehemiah said that now it happened when I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I’ll have you turn back to Ezra chapter four really quickly because I just want to show you how this all fits together.

We see in chapter four, verse four, that the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the ways from, all the days from Cyrus, king of Persia, right, first king, Persian king, over this time, even until the reign of Darius, the king of Persia, who’s Darius I. And it says in verse six, now in the reign of Ahasuerus, who was Xerxes in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

So that’s like an isolated incident, that verse. And then in verse seven we read, and in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithridath, Tebiel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia. So this Artaxerxes king is more, this is during the time of Nehemiah. And even though some of the events here in the book of Ezra really are concerned with Darius I, it sort of skips to the future.

And it’s trying to show that again and again the adversaries of God have tried to go against his people and his promise to his people. and have failed, and the Lord reigns. So it’s connected, and especially if you read Ezra and Nehemiah together, it fits really, really well.

So anyway, Nehemiah’s mourning in verse 4, if you turn back to Nehemiah chapter 1. And he says in verse five, I beseech you, O Lord, the God of heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. His loving kindness that he’s talking about here, he’s not saying that God’s loving kindness and the way of salvation is for those who somehow earn it by keeping his commandments, but it’s speaking corporately of what covenant. Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience belong to which covenant?

Mosaic, right? The Mosaic Covenant. Absolutely. And so he’s appealing to God’s Word that he promised. He said, We have worked in utter destruction against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments which you commanded your servant Moses. And the implication is, do they deserve blessings or curses? curses, right? Absolutely. And he’s admitting it, essentially.

But he says in verse 8, Remember the word which you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though those of you who have been banished were at the ends of the sky. I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause my name to dwell. And what Nehemiah really does here is he combines multiple of God’s promises in Deuteronomy that even though they would disobey and would go into exile, that because the covenant is ultimately founded upon God himself, Israel would come back to the land when they repented. And so he’s just appealing to God’s compassion.

And they want to go back to the place where he has chosen, verse 9 says, to cause his name to dwell, which he says is Jerusalem in Deuteronomy 12.5. And so he’s praying though, and he’s in much distress because he needs to talk to Artaxerxes. He feels compelled to talk to Artaxerxes.

In verse 10 we read, They are your slaves and your people, Israel is, whom you redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, I beseech you, I plead with you. May your ear be attentive to the prayer of your slave and the prayer of your slaves who delight to fear your name and make your slaves successful today and grant them compassion before this man.” Who do you think this man is that he’s talking about? The king. And who’s the king at this point in the Persian Empire? Artaxerxes.

And Artaxerxes was the one, which I didn’t read in Ezra for today because of our limited time, back then, who was informed that Israel was just seeking to rebel against the king, that they were trying to reconstruct this city who had a history of rebelling against the kings that were over them. And so, that has just happened, where then he pauses everything, and now the walls are burned, and the efforts have been temporarily thwarted, and Nehemiah feels this anguish inside of himself. and a desire for the well-being of Jerusalem.

And we read at the end of verse 11, the reason why he’s asking for compassion before the king was because he was a cupbearer to the king. Very powerful position, one that had much trust of the king, and so he saw an opportunity. God providentially placed him there so that he might speak to the king. In chapter 2, the king recognizes that his face is sad, verse 2, though he isn’t sick.

And when he notices this, he was very much afraid, probably for multiple reasons. One, because… He didn’t probably want to draw attention to himself too much other than his normal duty. But secondly, because Artaxerxes just wrote that letter for things to be stopped in Jerusalem.

Then he says in verse three, Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father’s tombs, lies waste and its gates have been consumed by fire? And so this is the moment of truth. But we read in verse four, it says, Then the king said to me, What would you request? He doesn’t say Jerusalem before, Nehemiah doesn’t say Jerusalem before, I think that’s also significant. And so as Nehemiah is about to respond, he says, I prayed to the God of heaven, and he says in verse five, I said to the king, if it is good for the king, and if your servant is good before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my father’s tombs, that I may rebuild it. And then in verse six, the king asks how long he’ll be, and then ultimately, it was good to the king to send me, and I gave him a set time.

And the king ends up giving a letter that some of their resources for timber would be helped, in verse eight, to be used for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. And this was granted, he says at the end of verse eight, because the good hand of my God was on me.

And because we don’t have a ton of time today, I’m gonna try and do my best to do sort of like a bird’s eye overview, but just think about this for a second. Think about this. There is no logical reason why the Persian kings should show any favor to Nehemiah, or any of the Jews for that matter. There isn’t. I mean, if we’re looking on paper, it wasn’t like Nehemiah said, he came up with some logical argument about, oh, look at what we have done economically, look at how we could help you as a kingdom if you were to help us. He doesn’t go there.

And yet the king still grants him so much favor. And like Esther, and we’ll get there next week, Lord willing, even though God’s name isn’t mentioned in the book of Esther, does that mean that God stopped working? No. In fact, it’s the only book where God’s name isn’t explicitly mentioned. It’s fascinating, and I can’t wait for us to study that, because it’s amazing to watch Divine Providence at work. Even when God’s quiet, He’s still at work.

And, I mean, there’s an application to our own lives, too, that there are many times where it seems like God is silent. and we must remind ourselves through God’s Word and even also through our own personal experience in the past and the Ebeneezers that we have that the Lord is present, that He still reigns and He’s working all things for His glory and our good.

What man means for evil, He means for good. And so what I see here is this has to be a miraculous thing. And Nehemiah recognizes this. That the reason why Artaxerxes showed him favor in verse 8 was because the good hand of my God was on me. And this is a continual theme throughout the book of Nehemiah. It was because of the hand of my God this happened. Not because of me. Even though Nehemiah is a great leader. Although we’ll also see that it was because he feared the Lord. It’s not because of Nehemiah.

It’s not because of anything other than God’s faithfulness to the Mosaic Covenant. Faithfulness to His promises. And so, verse nine says, that he came to the governors of the provinces beyond the river and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me commanders of the military force and horsemen.

In verse 10, we see the antagonists. Then Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it. And it was a very great evil to them that someone had come to seek the good of the sons of Israel. Just out of a guess, when you look at the descriptions of Sanballat and Tobiah being a Horonite or an Ammonite, do you think that those are friends or enemies of Israel? Enemies. Good guess, Jeannie. You got it right. Absolutely. So you got Horonite. Scholars wonder where that comes from.

I think most likely it comes from a place called Betharon, which before the Northern Kingdom went into exile. This was one of the cities sort of close, kind of like a bordering city, but still in the Northern Kingdom. Now remember what we talked about last week, about how we had sort of like Israel in the north, and then Judah in the south. Which one went into exile first? Israel, absolutely. Israel went into exile first.

In fact, the Assyrians were kind of smart with what they did, too. They didn’t want another rebellion and uprising because they didn’t take everyone from the northern kingdom into exile. They were very strategic in what they did. And so then they tried to bring people from the surrounding lands into the former northern kingdom of Israel to sort of confuse them, to make their loyalties mixed, to make sure that they wouldn’t have sort of an uprising or rebellion. Mind you, we’re after the exile of both Israel and Judah.

And we saw last week about how Ezra wasn’t happy with the other peoples from up north coming down to help build the temple because, not because of their ethnicity necessarily, not because of their melanin color or whatever. Instead, it was because of their religion, right? And we can even cross-reference this with the books of the kings. about how these people practiced what’s known as syncretistic worship, which was a mixture of the worship of the true God with false gods. Which is this good worship?

No, no, very, very bad. And so, most likely, when we look at the Horonites in general, and Sanballat specifically, This is highly problematic and there’s reasons that we would look in the later in Nehemiah I believe it’s chapter 4 where it talks about how he had some sort of relationship with the Samarian army and Samaria was the capital of the northern or southern kingdom Northern. And so he very likely had some sort of relationship with the Samaritans, or the Samarians. He might have been the leader up there and sort of sets himself up as an antithesis of Nehemiah, if you will. The second one we see is Tobiah, who was an Ammonite. And the Ammonites came from who?

Anyone know? This one’s going to be a really tough question. I’ll give you a hint. The Moabites came from the same people. Yes. Who said Lot? Yes, up top. Thank you. Confidence is key in this class. And you did a really good job. Came from Lot, right? Absolutely. And are these people of the nation of Israel? No, they aren’t, right?

So you have the Ammonites. And you also have the Moabites coming from Lot. They’re enemies of Israel. There’s many different instances where we even think of Balaam and seeking to sway Israel. That was because of the Ammonites and the Moabites. And so they’re commanded not to show mercy to them when they go and conquer the land because of their corrupting influence. And because of that, when we have Tobiah, Tobiah is of the Ammonites, and therefore we should be assuming as readers of the narrative that he is an enemy of Israel. Another interesting thing, too, is the name Tobiah, right? No offense. Does anyone know anyone named Tobiah?

No? I actually think it’s a cool name, etymologically speaking. What really happens, what this word is a combination of, is in Hebrew, it’s talking about good and sometimes things are backwards in Hebrew. Don’t fret. I know you’re working through Greek right now. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel once you’re done with both of them. Anyway, you’re left to right right now, wait till you’re right to left. Anyway, reading-wise in learning Hebrew.

But what it means is good, The Lord, really, the Lord is good. And so what’s fascinating about Tobiah is I think he also represents the same people that are involved in syncretistic, defiled worship. And so they don’t like this idea that Nehemiah is going back and trying to be faithful to the Mosaic Covenant. Sanballat, because of probably his political power in the North, And Tobiah, because of their animosity towards him. And there’s many political reasons too, why they end up being a continual problem, which if we make it through all of Nehemiah, we’ll see towards the end.

And so then in verses 11 through 20 in chapter two, Nehemiah inspects Jerusalem’s walls. And he tries to do so sort of discreetly. And in verse 17, he says to the Jews, he says, You see the calamity we are in, that Jerusalem lies in waste and its gates burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.

And I told them how, is it his own hands? No, the hand of my God had been good to me, and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, let’s arise and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. And so then Sanballat and Tobiah aren’t happy about this, verse 19. And then Nehemiah responds to them by saying, the God of heaven will give us success. Therefore, we his slaves will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem. Now, when Nehemiah says here that the God of heaven will give us success, does that mean if one of us in here were to go and buy a lottery ticket or something and we were to say God is going to give us success, that if we have faith that we’re going to win the lottery?

No. Does it mean that if we just believe that there’s some circumstance that we want, we just name it and claim it, that some way, somehow, we will get it if we just have enough faith? A mote enough, right? Enough faith, right? And it’s like, no, no, not at all.

The reason why Nehemiah prays this way, and we need to remember the context in which he’s in, is because of the Mosaic Covenant. It’s because of God’s promises, His revealed Word, right? That He says, The God of heaven will give us success because we know he has chosen us as a people.

He has chosen us to be a kingdom of priests and holy nation. And because of this, he will be glorified. We know from his word that he’s going to restore us. And so because of that, we believe he will give us success. It’s an amazing thing to think about. And so there is a little bit of a difference, but the application for us is that we can take great faith in God’s promises that he’s revealed to us. that He’ll never leave us or forsake us, no matter what situation or circumstance we might be going through, no matter how difficult it might be, no matter how much the world seems to rage, or Satan, or even our own sinful fleshes, we’re fighting it. We know the Lord will give us success because of His promises. We also know that He’s working all things for His glory, as mentioned before, and our good. And so then they begin to repair this wall of Jerusalem.

And there’s a whole lot of different places. But the one thing I want to show you in Chapter 3 is where he starts. Chapter 3, verse 1, he says, And then if we come to the very end in verse 32, talks about the upper room of the corner, and the what gate? The sheep gate.

What he’s saying here, don’t get distracted by all of these different names, they’re all helpful for historical context, but what he’s saying is, we went around the whole wall. We’re not just building part of it, we’re fixing the whole thing, and the Lord’s granting us success.

So then Sanballat and Tobiah end up mocking their work in chapter four, They said in verse 2, Sanballat specifically, what are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they complete it in a day? Can they bring the stones to life from the dusty rubble, though they are burned? And Tobiah’s roast is kind of funny.

He says in the next verse, he says, you know, even if a fox were to jump on the wall, it would break. And then Nehemiah switches, we see in his sort of memoirs, now he’s speaking to the Lord and he says, here, O our God, for we are despised. Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before you, for they vexed the builders. And so he says in verse six, they built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height and the people had a heart to work. And so the enemies of Israel in verse 7 are very angry. But, and Nehemiah sees the fear of the people. And he aroses in verse 14 and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, do not fear them.

Remember your own strength. Remember yourselves? No. Remember the Lord, who is great and fearsome. Don’t look at them, look at God, right? And fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. I mean, this is obviously about the Lord and how great he is, and his hand being over all of this. But I do think there is sort of an implication drawn from good leadership about in the midst of a very stressful conflict that he points them in the right direction. And I think the Lord certainly works through him. And even though the Lord is sovereign, he also works through means when he chooses to do so.

So they did the work we read in verses 15 through 23. The one hand had the trowel and the one hand had the sword. I say that because Spurgeon actually used that as a metaphor for his own paper. It was really cool. It’s called The Sword and the Trowel.

Simultaneously seeking to build up the church while fighting off bad theology and doctrine as well as sin. in the church and so in verse 17 it says that those rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. As for the builders each bore his sword girded at his side as he built. while the trumpeter stood near.” It’s crazy circumstances, but the Lord certainly blesses it. In fact, Nehemiah says in verse 23, “‘Neither I, my brothers, my young men, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes.

Each took his weapon, even to the water.'” I mean, it’s pretty crazy. I mean, if someone were to say today, you know, that they bring their concealed carry into the shower, I would be a little worried about them. But here, it’s a little different. Trying circumstances. They are seeking to defend themselves. The war wages all around them. They’re trying to destroy the walls from every side.

And yet, Nehemiah and the rest of the people trust in the Lord. And the Lord is the reason for why they are succeeding. And I’m going to stop there because we don’t really have much more time to go through the rest. But at the end of this, when we look at it, it’s amazing to think about how in the book of Ezra, there’s this continual refrain that pagan rulers and the enemies of the Jews continually try to thwart God’s plans. And yet God has the final say, because He promised to Israel to bring them back into the land. Because the Mosaic Covenant is contingent not ultimately upon them, though blessings are for obedience and curses for disobedience. Ultimately, it depends upon God’s character, who is a faithful God and compassionate. And when His people cry out to Him, Israel in the Old Testament cried out to Him. He returned them to the land and nothing would stop them.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you for your word. We see, Lord, your faithfulness in this book. We see your faithfulness with your people. And we see your work in the midst of the building of the walls and all of the crazy circumstances that Nehemiah had to deal with. And Lord, we know that you are the same God that you were then. That, Lord, you are faithful to your people.

And that no matter what is happening, no matter how crazy life circumstances may be, No matter how difficult our task for the gospel seems to be, no matter how much the world rages and roars and Satan seeks to discourage us, and even fighting against our own flesh, the battle may continue and will. Lord, instead of being discouraged, we have great hope knowing that you are faithful, that you’re with us, and that no matter whatever we face, trial or triumph, that you reign above it all. And so we ask, Lord, that instead of looking to all of our circumstances or the particulars or even ourselves, that we would look to you this week. that we, like those building the walls at Jerusalem, when we are afraid, for Lord, we certainly will be, since we are fallen sinners. We pray that you would remind us to look to yourself, that we would look to you and find our strength in you, not because of us, but because of you. It’s in your name we pray these things. Amen. So normally, like I said, I hoped for time for questions and answers.