When I mapped out our sermon series post-Easter, I had an idea that it might lead us into a season of transition coinciding with my forthcoming handing over the leadership of our church to the next person God is preparing already to come and lead us into a new thing. I didn’t know for sure, but I thought it might. So I thought it might be helpful to see and study some of the times in Scripture when change came, when there were “pivotal moments”, and be both encouraged by the faithfulness of God and also challenged and informed and encouraged by what He expects of us, His people, during those seasons of change.
Review:
In the great arc of Biblical history, we begin with creation, and then meet Abraham. We began with the pivotal moment in Abraham’s life, where God called him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. And we learned that God expects radical, complete, unflinching obedience. And we also learned that God is faithful – He provides for us like He did for Abraham with the ram in the thicket that became the offering in the place of Isaac.
The next great moment in the arc of the Biblical story is Moses and the Exodus, about 250 years after Abraham where the children of Abraham are slaves in Egypt. God meets Moses in the burning bush, and we saw the argument unfold and we saw Moses lose. And we are all very glad he did. We saw that God’s way is always best, and that our job is to obey even when we don’t like it and want to argue with God instead. And we saw that God was, of course, always present and completely faithful.
There are a lot of great stories from that point in history, but the next pivotal time surrounds Israel’s call for a king, and God anointing Saul and then David. This is about 400 years after Moses. Last week we looked at the story of David and Goliath, and once again we saw that God was faithful, and we saw in the text that it was actually God, not David, that killed Goliath – God just used David to do it. And, once again, we can find deep encouragement in the faithfulness of God to His people, in how God “shows up” just in time, does exactly what is needed, delivers His people from huge obstacles like Goliath, and it is very very good. We also saw in the story that David had to obey, David had to step into the path of danger, David had to be himself and use his particular gifts and abilities and not try to dress up in the king’s clothes, and we saw the result when he did. Goliath falls tumbling down and the God wins the battle on behalf of His people, the Israelites.
The time of David and Saul was the high point in the Biblical arc as far as the political prominence of the Jewish people. From that point, there are about 450 years of decline, with a series of kings and all kinds of political changes in the region. It ends with pretty much the complete destruction of the physical nation including the beautiful temple that Solomon had built, and the Jewish people being carried off into exile. Most of the stories from that 450 year period are from the prophets – Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, as well as the smaller books of the prophets right at the end of the Old Testament. And by the way, just as an aside, those “smaller books” are really great reading provided you do one thing first: familiarize yourself with the history surrounding the writing. Without that, they might not make a whole lot of sense. We also have some great stories from the time of exile, such as the story of Daniel. The story I’ve chosen for today comes at the end of that period, it is the story of Nehemiah.
Introducing Nehemiah:
I want to begin the introduction to Nehemiah with words of a letter that Jeremiah the prophet had sent to Jews in exile, from Jeremiah 29: “5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” Jeremiah passed on God’s instruction for the exiles to not live as insurgents, fighting their captors and trying to undermine them, but rather to settle in and be positive, even though they are in exile. A good principle for us still today, especially when we feel at great odds with the values of our society around us – we don’t abandon our faith or renounce our primary citizenship in the Kingdom of God, but we do engage our society and culture and seek its “peace and prosperity”.
Nehemiah is a great example of someone who did exactly that. The book of Nehemiah is kind of a personal memoir, and when we first meet him he tells us, “I was cup-bearer to the king”. Now this was not a “waiter” bringing the king’s pomegranate juice. This was a very high position, responsible for security, and often a place of high influence with the king.
Report and Prayer: (Neh 1)
The story begins with a report Nehemiah receives which breaks his heart. Here it is:
“In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
So here is the first lesson we learn at this pivotal moment in the Biblical story: get an accurate report on the state of things, and go to prayer. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes miss this. I want to jump in and fix things. I want to “do” something. I want to make progress. When I hear about something that is wrong, my natural inclination is to make a plan to address the issue and get it fixed. I can come up with ideas and strategies and implementation plans, and dive head on in, and sometimes miss this critical step of actually going to prayer. Waiting on God. Listening for His plan to address the issue. And asking and trusting that the real work, the hard work of actually changing the hearts of people, (which is often at the root of the problems in the first place), will be addressed by God.
Action after Prayer: (Neh 2)
There is a great scene at the beginning of chapter 2: “2 Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. 2 So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”
Then I was terrified, 3 but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
4 The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”
This is a big risk, and it comes after Nehemiah’s prayer. Now we have Nehemiah’s prayer recorded in chapter 1 (and it is a beautiful prayer), but the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what God’s answer to that prayer was. We don’t know if God directly instructed Nehemiah to take this risk, or if God gave him the courage to take this risk, or if Nehemiah just knew that he had left it with God in prayer so now it was time to act. But regardless, the prayer time was complete and now there is action.
I mentioned we sometimes forget the prayer part; well sometimes we forget the action part as well. I sometimes see people being passive, being inactive, feeling stuck and immobile, and not doing anything to address the problem. At times, I even hear “well I’ve prayed and now I’m waiting for God to change/fix/work.
Both prayer and action are essential, and prayer has to come first. I’m positive that the king’s response of the offer to help is a direct result of God answering Nehemiah’s prayer. But I am also positive that it wouldn’t have happened without Nehemiah’s action. A great example of this might be with people we care about that do not yet know Jesus. Some people plow ahead into conversations about faith without spending focused, intentional, sustained times of prayer for those people. And that often does not bear fruit. Other times, I hear people pray for those people but never act – either to share your story, to listen to theirs and then point them towards Jesus by actually praying with them, or inviting them somewhere to hear the message of Jesus and experience His love, etc… Both prayer and action are required.
Hard Work:
I know this is a really quick overview of a great story, but here is the executive summary: King Artaxerxes gives Nehemiah permission, resources, and time to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the nation and the wall. Nehemiah goes, casts the vision, rallies the people, confronts the opponents, protects the people, sees through plots against him personally, completes the project, celebrates with the people as they renew their allegiance to God, confronts issues of injustice within the people (between the rich and the poor) quickly and definitively, and then made sure the story was written down for everyone to know. That is one sentence for about 11 chapters of a great story, which absolutely does not do it justice so I’m giving you the assignment to read the story yourself before you go to bed tonight. It will probably only take you 20-30 minutes, and you will enjoy the story and God speaking to you through it.
There is one part of that story that I do want to look at today in more detail, because I think it speaks to us personally and corporately. It is chapter 4:
4 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, 2 saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”
4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”
6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm.
7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”
11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”
12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!”
21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. 22 I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. 23 During this time, none of us—not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water.
The story comes right in the middle of the campaign. The enemies don’t like what they see – this is change, and it is not going to be good for them, and so they oppose it. First they just mock, and then they begin to get violent, and make plans to come and fight. An external threat appears.
And internally, the people have been working really hard on this wall rebuilding project. They feel overwhelmed, and they feel tired, and they feel like there is too much to do. This is a pivotal moment – what are they going to do? They want to give up. They want to toss in the towel, lay down their tools, and go back to the way things were, when sure the wall was a pile of rubble but there were no enemies around, no threats, and certainly none of this back-breaking labor that they were feeling wasn’t going anywhere anyway.
So now to today. I’m wondering if that scenario sounds familiar in any of your lives – you’ve been working hard to change something, and even though you started enthusiastically and made some progress, sure enough pretty soon you faced some opposition. Maybe some mockery. Maybe the pull of what it was like before (even though “before” was really not good) gets stronger and stronger. And the change starts to feel really really hard, really overwhelming, and you just want to say “the workers are tired and there is too much to do and we can’t get it all done”. Maybe you have felt that at some time in your life, maybe even recently.
What do we learn from Scripture? In Nehemiah, the people come together. God intervenes with the enemies, and the people pull together. They refocus on the big picture – on the change that is needed. They watch each other’s backs – literally! And they keep going until the job is done. Nehemiah says through this whole time, they worked so hard that they didn’t even stop to change their clothes. In chapter 6 we learn that this process took 52 days – that is a long time to work hard, day in and day out, but it was worth it. The wall gets rebuilt, and the city is once again the center of the nation of Israel.
Conclusion:
At this pivotal moment in Biblical history, it was time for a change. Nehemiah prayed and he acted. And then they stuck with it, even when it got hard, and with God and His people working together they overcame, and it was good.
