This study is very personal to me and for Crossroads
• In 2006 I was at CCV when I got word of the situation at Crossroads.
• I was studying Nehemiah
• Nehemiah 1:9 was used by God to give me insight and hope
Nehemiah 1:9 (NASB) 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.'
Timing of Nehemiah
538 BC God allowed the people to return
• They started well
• Then they stalled
• God sent Prophets to call them to the Promises of God and His Blessings.
478 BC Esther became Queen
458 BC a second group of exiles return with Ezra
• Ezra calls the people back to God and purity
445 BC In Late Autumn; Nehemiah will now enter The Story
• cupbearer of to King Artaxerxes
o the son of the King who was married to Esther
• Most likely it is because of the faithfulness of Esther and Mordecai that Nehemiah was awarded such a trusted position.
3 Things Nehemiah focuses on:
1. He prayed first then planned.
His part in the Story as Prophecy was enacted.
November of 445 BC: Gets news of the situation in Jerusalem; his heart breaks and he prays.
Nehemiah 1:4 (NASB) 4 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
Why did God wait from Fall to Spring to answer Nehemiah’s hearts desire?
March of 444 BC: God answers his prayer…
Nehemiah 2:1-4 (NASB) 1 And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, "Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" 4 Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Note—he is praying before he plans!!!
The point is because Nehemiah prayed then planned he was key to the fulfilling of an amazing prophecy!
Why did God wait from Fall to Spring to answer Nehemiah’s hearts desire?
Daniel’s prophecy given 95 years earlier…70 weeks.
• Daniel 9:25-26 (NASB) 25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
March 5th 444 BC.
• Nehemiah 2:7-8 (NASB) 7 And I said to the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.
69 weeks begins.
This is a week of years.
• The Children of Israel were to keep a Sabbath Day and a Sabbath year.
• Jeremiah said they were judged for each year they did not keep the Sabbath. Lev. 26:35. 2 Chron. 36:20-22.
It starts with the decree given here...
• 7 weeks = 49 years
• 62 weeks = 434 years
• 69 = 483 years.
483 years brings us to 33 AD
• This would be using the 360 day calendar the Babylonians, Persians and Jews used.
• March 30th 33 AD- The date of the Triumphal entry?
By the end of this period the Messiah would come, be revealed and die for our sins.
So we should look for a man who lived and died in this period who was...
1. Born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:4-6; Micah 5:2)
2. Born of a virgin (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14)
3. Entered Jerusalem triumphantly riding on the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1-11)
4. Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:11-12; Matthew 26:15)
5. Was killed as his hands and feet were pierced (Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10)
6. Is there anyone who fits this along with the hundreds of other prophecies?
Nehemiah was a part of all of this, because He prayed first.
When he arrived he waited and let God lead...
Nehemiah 2:11-12
11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12 ♫ And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except[+] the animal on which I was riding.
"into my mind" is literally "on my heart"
We all need to pray and then plan...
Our being called to CCV from Tucson
When threatened He prayed and then acted...
Nehemiah 4:9
9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
We need to pray and then take action
Time I prayed and then bought homeless man food
2. He persevered in the midst of trials.
There were 13 Challenges Nehemiah faced:
The First 7 weeks: Remember Daniel was told the walls, plaza and moat would be built in troubling times.
• When it was time to start the work, the Walls would be built in 52 days.
• Yet it would be with trials and threats.
• By the time the 7 weeks or 49 years were passed, the city and Temple would be ready for the coming of Jesus.
Problems and How Nehemiah Responds
1) Walls broken and gates burned.
• Grief and prayer (1:4), and motivation of the people to rebuild (2:17-18)
2) False accusation of the workers. (2:19)
• Confidence that God would give them success (2:20)
3) Ridicule of the workers. (4:1-3)
• Prayer (4:4-5) and action (greater diligence in the work, 4:6)
4) Plot to attack the workers (4:7-8)
• Prayer and action (posting of a guard, 4:9)
5) Physical exhaustion and threat of murder (4:10-12)
• Positioning of people by families with weapons (4:13, 16-18) and encouragement of the people (4:14, 20)
6) Economic crisis and greed.
• Anger (5:6), reflection, rebuke (5:7), and action (having the people return the debtors’ interest, 5:7b-11)
7) Plot to assassinate (or at least harm) Nehemiah. (6:1-2)
• Refusal to cooperate (6:3)
8) Slander against Nehemiah (6:5-7)
• Denial (6:8) and prayer (6:9)
9) Plot to discredit Nehemiah (6:13)
• Refusal to cooperate and prayer (6:14)
10) Tobiah moved into a temple storeroom (13:4-7)
• Tossing out Tobiah’s furniture (13:8)
11) Neglect of temple tithes and offerings (13:10)
• Rebuke (13:11a), stationing the Levites at their posts (13:11b), and prayer (13:14)
12) Violation of business activities (13:15-16)
• Rebuke (13:17-18), posting of guards (13:19), and prayer (13:22)
13) Mixed marriages (13:23-24)
• Rebuke (13:25-27), removal of a guilty priest (13:28), and prayer (13:29)
Through all of his challenges, he overcomes and is found faithful.
Because he clings to God and Diligently sticks to his calling.
• Nehemiah 6
1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,
2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together at *Chephirim in the plain of Ono." But they were planning to harm me.
3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot[+] come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?"
4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.
We all need to stick to what God has called us to.
Because his focus was on pleasing God.
• Four times Nehemiah would call out...
• Nehemiah 5:19 Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
• Nehemiah 13:14 Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.
• Nehemiah 13:22 ...For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.
• Nehemiah 13:31 ...Remember me, O my God, for good.
• He wanted to please God above all else!
• God answered his prayer. The Book is included in the Word of God for all time and all eternity.
3. His power came from God in 3 ways:
I am going to tell you those 3 ways and then expand on them…
1. Power is found in God's word. ( Nehemiah 8)
2. Power is found in celebration and community.
3. Power is found in public commitment.
1.Power is found in God's Word.
Gathered all the people old enough to understand vs. 1-3
• Read the Book of the Law for 6 hours. Starting at early morning.
• Nehemiah 8: 2 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. 3 He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday[+], in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
• How many of us would have showed up?
• Algier Fitch behind the Iron Curtain.
• Gave the sense and the meaning. Vs.7-8
• 8 ♫ They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.
God's Word has power for us to succeed.
Joshua 1:8
8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Me praying on the Mount of Temptation overlooking Jericho.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
God's Word is not boring!
2.Power is found in celebration and community.
Nehemiah 8:10
10 Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
How do we respond to and practice Holiness?
It should be with celebration!
Some view Holiness like a funeral when it should be a birthday party!
God's presence and Holiness is not boring!
Prodigal son returns and The Father throws a party with dancing!
• Jeff Walling...square dancing in 5th grade class
3.Power is Found in Public Commitment.
Put their commitment in writing for all to see…
Nehemiah 9:38 (NASB) 38 "Now because of all this We are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests."
