1. Walls
There are many famous walls in history:
* Great Wall of China
* Berlin Wall
* Vietnam Wall
* Wall Street is the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street in Lower Manhattan. Early Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam built an earthen wall for protection here.
* Walmart -- the most famous
* The City Walls of Jerusalem
2. Return from Captivity [Map]
a. Ezra -- Priesthood/Religion re-established
b. Zerubbabel -- Temple
c. Nehemiah -- Walls -- Nehemiah 6.15-16
1. Security
2. Identity -- city set on a hill
d. An emphasis on Community (Common Unity) -- Mission to reestablish Israel -- as a Community
3. As a Community:
I. They Heard God Together (8.1-12)
A. Power in Hearing the Word of God -- Romans 10.17
1. Audible Hearing that Produces Action
2. Man's words are good -- God's are best -- Stand to hear out of respect
B. The Place of Public Reading -- 1 Timothy 4.13
13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
1. No personal Bibles -- take for granted
2. Memory -- Psalm 119.11
3. Discoveries of God and his will -- a joyful event
Penny Marshall's popular 1992 comedy, A League of Their Own, sheds light on a little-known chapter of American sports history with its story of a struggling team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The league was formed when the recruiting of soldiers during World War II resulted in a shortage of men's baseball teams. The AAGPBL continued after the war (until 1954), and Marshall's movie depicts the league in full swing. Two sisters from Oregon signed to play for the Rockford Peaches near Chicago, whose new manager played by Tom Hanks, is a former home-run king who wrecked his career with alcohol. At one point in the movie, the character played by Tom Hanks reams out one of the players for losing a two-run lead for the team. She begins to cry and sob right on the field. And amongst his ranting and raving, the coach says, "There's no crying in baseball." Now, Nehemiah and Ezra are not exactly reaming out the Jews who have gathered to listen to God's Word, but they do say something quite similar to "there's no crying in baseball." They sort of say, "There's no crying in God's Word, there is JOY." Note Nehemiah 8:10.
II. They Worshiped God Together (8.13-17)
A. Discovery of the Feast of Tabernacles -- "THE" Feast (John 7)
1. Wilderness and Canaan
2. Dedication of Solomon's Temple -- 2 Chronicles 5-7
3. Significance of the Feast
a. Appeal for Rain
b. Use of Palm Branches and other limbs
c. Water Drawing Ceremony -- water and wine poured on altar -- Jesus on Cross
d. Reference to Holy Spirit (John 7.37-39)
B. The Three Pilgrim Feasts Emphasize the Common Unity of the People
1. Passover
2. Pentecost
3. Tabernacles
III. They Ministered for God Together
A. Reestablishing the Nation
1. Had Built the Walls Together
2. Withstood the Samaritans Together -- weapons and tools -- Nehemiah 4.16-18
16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
B. Reestablished the Community as a Community
1. Nehemiah and Leaders
2. Fellow Laborers (Nehemiah 3) -- no one was above laboring
3. Daughters of My People or Daughters of Zion (Isaiah 1.8, etc.) -- a title for the poor who lived outside the city walls (Urban and suburban) -- good kings allowed them in the city in times of siege; evil kings did not
1. Conceptualizing the Church (Dwight A. Pryor)
a. An intentional community --the people come together, born again, as members of a covenant community. There is companionship and peaceful coexistence (hopefully). There is a give and take. Each is independent and all have a measure of equality. All are priests in the kingdom. The common thread is the river of life, Yeshua (Jesus) himself.
b. An instrumental view -- Members of the covenant community become mutually dependent because of their commitment to koinonia. Now they contribute to a cause. Together we create something that on our own we could not. We are a community of priests. An individual's relationship to Yeshua is far from the fullness of the church. He saves, not just for one's sake, but to join us to the community so something can be created that honors him and advances his kingdom in the world. It is held that the church is the instrument that God uses to win the lost; to dispense the sacraments; and to advance the purposes of Yeshua the Messiah.
c. The Incarnational model is the highest view. One of the great revelations of the NT is Messiah dwelling in our midst. The incarnational model of the church demonstrates that as members of the covenant community contribute their skills, abilities, gifts, and income to advance the cause of Christ, they experience a supernatural unity. God's HS incarnates us and unites us. Paul's statement in Ephesians 1.22-23 is a profound challenge:
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
There was a very brilliant rabbi of whom it was said that you could never appreciate his godliness unless you were in his home and saw the way he related to his wife and children. Once the rabbi's wife injured her ankle and he took her to the doctor. He said, "Doctor, would you please examine my wife's ankle? She twisted it and it is hurting US."
1) We have a high calling as the church.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12.15
2) Church is more than an assembly -- it is a witnessing; working community -- a movement
2. Barn Movers
In a small town in Nebraska, there was a barn. It was considered an historic location. It was often submerged in 28" of water due to flooding.
The owner of the barn said to his son, "You know, if we could get enough people to lift that barn we could move it up the hill and it would be productive."
His Son was an engineering student in college. He began evaluating the barn with the number of boards, nails, timber, etc. to calculate the weight of the barn, which he concluded was 17000 pounds. He figured that if an average person can lift 50 pounds they would need 344 people to move the barn 144 feet up the hill.
They sent out a notice (proclaimed good news) and requested help from the community. The town happened to be having a centennial celebration. While the request for help went out, Mike began welding and nailing handles for lifting on the inside and outside of the barn.
On the centennial celebration day, 4000 people from 11 states showed up. The father and son selected 344 husky men and strong women for the task. The son told everyone to take a handhold and gave the command to lift. The barn went up and then they set it down with great excitement. He then said to them, "Follow me. Lift! Step, step, step." They began moving the barn up the little hill. Three minutes later they lowered it on a new foundation, there to be productive and never to be flooded again.
This is koinonia. Get a handhold in view of the love of God, grace of Yeshua, and fellowship of the Spirit. Contribute to the building of the church on this rock -- i.e., Messiah.
SY 3.9.14
