Rebuilding the Walls
March 13, 2011 - 21
Today is a big day, we are finishing up the OT portion of The Story. It’s been an incredible journey moving through the OT. In preaching class we were told never do a series more than 4-8 weeks long, because people will lose interest, but we’ve done a great job at the first 21 weeks of moving through the Bible. I want to thank you for your commitment to stick with it. To hang on during Sunday School as you talk about the same topics. Only 10 more weeks to go. Great job!!
Today, we’re looking at chapter 21 of The Story, and one of our main characters is a man named Ezra. He was a priest who helped gather the people together and told them he wanted them to listen very closely to what he’s about to say.
Let me give you a little bit of the setting. Thousands of people have returned from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem. 50,000 Israelites came back under the leadership of an Israelite named Zerubabbel to rebuild the temple. Then we had the story about the Israelites being saved in Persia, through Esther. And then two more groups of people returned, one group with Ezra the priest, and a final group with Nehemiah. His assignment was to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem and around the temple.
The title of the chapter is rebuilding the walls. I don’t want to spend much time talking about the rebuilding, but want to talk about what this means in our lives. I don’t want to talk about the bricks and mortar as much as I want to talk about what happened inside those walls, which has incredible application to our lives.
If you’ve got your Story or Bible, turn to chapter 21 or Nehemiah 8. We’re going to be jumping around today, looking at lots of scripture. Ezra has gathered all of the people of Israel who have now returned from captivity as an assembly. We’re going to start with Nehemiah 8:1, or pages ~
1 All the people assembled with one accord in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.
3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. 5 He opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.
6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites — instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all,
“This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
140 have passed since the Israelites gathered together as one body. 140 years since they gathered like this, and the very words of God were opened. Those who were there, included the men, the women and all who could understand, which included the children. In addition to Ezra reading, there were Levites spread throughout the crowd who could answer questions and interpret these words of God.
The people were so overwhelmed at hearing and understanding God’s word. It stirred them up so much and they began to weep. So much so, that Nehemiah, Ezra and the other priests had to calm them down; and declared this was a holy day. What an incredible story. At the end of the day, they not only read the word, but they understood it for themselves.
So, what are we to understand from this story? Let’s take a look back through this chapter to see what God has to say to us.
If you look on page 242 or 291, Nehemiah received a report from one of his brothers who came back from Jerusalem, and this was the report ~
3 “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
That’s the condition of the city and the walls of Jerusalem. That’s what Nehemiah learns. Now let’s look at his reaction to this devastating news. . .
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah wept over all that happened in Jerusalem. It wasn’t just that this magnificent city had been destroyed, but their devotion to God had also been destroyed. Remember in the book of Luke, Jesus wept and lamented over Jerusalem because so many people had rejected Him and they would suffer because of their rejection.
In the same way Nehemiah weeps over the lostness of the people of Israel, have you ever looked around, looked around Alexandria or looked around your community and wept over its condition. Not the physical condition, but the spiritual and emotional state of your community. We should be weeping over the number of people who are lost without Christ. This should be our driving force as a church.
Just like Nehemiah and Jesus, we should be weeping, grieving, fasting and praying. The deep, deep question for us is this . . . and it’s a hard one, Do we care? Am I concerned about someone’s spiritual state of being? Do they know Christ? Or am I more concerned about what the church can do for me? Do I really care if someone is lost? Or am I more concerned if someone is wearing the proper clothes or doing what’s right and proper?
You get the point! How much do we care about the mission field which is outside our back door? Well, Nehemiah goes on and prays this prayer
5 “LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.
I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my ancestral family, have committed against you.
7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
Let me tell you something, this is one of the most powerful passages in the Bible. This is worthy of an entire sermon in and of itself. Did you notice how Nehemiah started this prayer? It’s a great prescription for us. He starts out by praising God and stating some of God’s characteristics.
Does God need to hear this and be reminded of His greatness? NO! But we do! Don’t we sometimes need to be reminded about how great and powerful and glorious God is? We forget that God is a forgiving God, that God loves us, even with our sinfulness. We forget things like that, so Nehemiah starts his prayer with a reminder to himself that God is great and awesome.
On top of that Nehemiah tells himself, by the way, remember that my God keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him. And you know Lord, how very much I love you. It’s a great way to start prayers when we’re asking God for help. Because it calls to our heart, spirit and mind the power, nature and character of God.
Next, Nehemiah confesses to God, not only the sin of Israel, and not only the sin his family has committed, but his sin as well. And again, who did they commit these sins against? Against God. It’s a reminder of the prayer from David in Psalm 51, his prayer of repentance after his affair with Bathsheba. In verse 4, he says, against you only have I sinned. We need to be reminded every sin we commit is a sin against God, as well against our brothers and sisters. So, Nehemiah confesses his sinfulness. He explains they have not followed the commands, decrees and laws God gave to Moses. Nehemiah is petitioning God, asking God for forgiveness of sins of the entire nation of Israel, including his sinfulness.
How are we at coming before God with our list of prayer requests? Are we willing to humble ourselves in prayer. . . confessing our sinfulness, asking God to release us from the hold sin has over us? Are we even willing to claim we have something wrong with us? Too many Christians think it’s a sign of weakness if they admit wrong. Too many think they can conquer whatever it is that’s affecting them, including sickness.
Yet, God wants us to use Him as our resource and that means we admit our sinfulness to Him, we repent, turning away from what’s grabbed us, so we can have a healthy and full devotion to God. It means if the doctor gives you a diagnosis, maybe you have high cholesterol, it means you take a pill to keep your heart healthy. Maybe you suffer from depression and you think it’s a sign of weakness if you take medicine, but it’s not weakness, it’s strength to admit you have a need, then to take steps to get right. How absurd it would be for someone with high blood pressure to say no, I don’t need the meds, that would be a sign of weakness.
So, we need to admit our weaknesses, shortcomings and sinfulness; asking God to be attentive to our request. We ask that God grant us a favorable answer. Why not ask that? Do we think God doesn’t want to be bothered by us? Then He would have told us DON’T make your requests known to me. But instead He tells us make our requests known to Him. WHY? So, we would experience His power, peace and comfort. He desires to give us the desires of our heart.
And when we pray, we should pray as Nehemiah did, asking God for success in what we are asking for. There’s nothing wrong with asking, as we seek God’s will.
I want to focus on one other passage. It was written by a prophet named Malachi. Malachi is the last book in the OT, and it’s the last time God was actively speaking to the people for 100's of years. Malachi had some strong words for the people of Israel. In Malachi 3, He says this on page . . .
6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘how are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, “How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse — your whole nation — because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there maybe food in my house.
The Lord Almighty says, “Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it’s ripe. 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
It seems pretty clear what Malachi is driving at. The Israelites had a very well defined system of how they were supposed to give their offerings to God. Very simply they were not following it, and they were paying the price. So, God gives an amazing challenge to the people . . . God said test me; come on; test me, I dare you to out give me. I dare you to trust in me.
That’s what God is saying at this point. You cannot out give me. Nobody can. You can hoard all the money for yourself, but in the end, had you freely and joyfully offered the money to me, you would have been blessed beyond what you could imagine. Now, Malachi is specifically referring to money. God expected the people to tithe, or give Him 10%, and he would bless them. This doesn’t mean if you give God 10%, He will give you more money, but it might, and the more money you have the more you will be expected to give back to build His church.
But God might bless you in many other ways. It could be spiritual gifts, it could be with peace, it could be with spiritual insight, it could be with a job, it could be a multitude of things.
But I want to close with one other thought about this section. I can see a direct application to our giving to God on all fronts.
Should we give God our 10%? I believe yes. But also . . .
Should we give God our time and get active serving Him? Yes
Should we give God our devotion and worship?
Opening His Word, praying, practicing spiritual disciplines?
Should we give God our unique gifts and talents?
Should we give God our bodies by caring for ourselves?
Should we give God our hearts?
You see folks, remember how last week we ended . . .
I can do all things through Christ who give me strength.
We can only gain that strength and power when we put our full trust and devotion into Him. Only if you give Him your whole self, will you then experience your storehouses overflowing with blessings. I don’t know what those blessings will look like, but wouldn’t you like to experience it.
How do we do this? It’s incredibly difficult, yet, it’s easy to say . . . Give yourself to God. Make that first sacrifice . . . yourself. Give Him you. Humble yourself, repent, ask Him to be your Lord, your Savior.
Remember the words of the passage we just read, Return to me, and I will return to you.
We must take that step of faith and return to God, and when we do, He promises us, He will come to us. And in the end, there is this reminder from God, in verse 12, He said, “then all of the other nations will call you blessed.” You see, because of our worship and devotion for God, others will take notice. They will see it in the way we live our lives and they will want what we have. And my friends that will give you access, an entry point to talk about Jesus.
