SERMON OUTLINE:
• Setting the Scene #1: A brief background.
• Setting the Scene #2: What the book is about?
• (1). He cared enough to ask (vs1-3)
• (2). He cared enough to weep (vs 4)
• (3). He cared enough to pray (vs 5–10)
• (4). He cared enough to volunteer (vs 11)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• People cry about a lot of things.
• They cry at weddings.
• Parents cry when their children leave home.
• Sometimes they cry at the birth of their children and grandchildren.
• They cry at sad movies.
• I have even seen grown men crying at a football match!
• Today we are going to look at a man who cried about a broken wall.
• That is right, a wall,
• Can you imagine crying over cement and brickwork!
• Now I often Quote: John Marsden (‘The Other Side of Dawn’)
• “Never cry over anything that can't cry over you”
• But Nehemiah would not have heeded that advice,
• He was the man who cried about a broken wall.
Question: Why did he cry?
Answer: is obvious because he cared.
• You will see that again and again as you read through this book,
• He cared about is past, the traditions of his people that were being lost.
• His heritage was important to him.
• He cared about his people’s future.
• And more important than all of that he cared about the glory of his God.
Setting the Scene #1: and give you a very brief background.
• In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament,
• The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book,
• That got divided into two books.
• Both Jewish and Christian traditions recognize Ezra as the author.
• And the books Ezra & Nehemiah continues where the book of 2 Chronicles ends
• (2 Chronicles chapter 36 verses 22-23; Ezra chapter 1 verses 1-2).
Ill:
• We are all familiar with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.
• We have been reminded through that movement,
• That in the past our own country was involved in the slave trade.
• Sadly, the trade slave is not finished, it continues today,
• e.g. Modern forms of slavery can include debt bondage,
• Where a person is forced to work for free to pay off a debt,
• e.g. Child slavery, forced marriage, domestic servitude and forced labour,
• Where victims are made to work through violence and intimidation.
• e.g. Trafficking of people,
• Mainly women, who are forced to work in the sex trade.
• TRANSITION: if you go back 2,400 years in time to the year 586 BC.
• The Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the city of Jerusalem,
• And took most of the inhabitants into slavery, into Exile.
• We read in 2 Kings chapter 24 verse 14, that King Nebuchadnezzar,
“…carried away all Jerusalem, all the officials, all the warriors, ten thousand captives, all the artisans and the smiths; no one remained, except the poorest people of the land”.
Ill:
• CAPTIVES: At the end of the sixth century B.C.E.,
• The kingdom of Judah was demolished by the Babylonian empire.
• Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed,
• And thousands of people were taken against their wills,
• And forced to live in captivity in another country.
• FREEDOM: Next time you are visiting London and have some spare time,
• Go along to the British Museum and look for The Nabonidus Cylinder of Sippar.
• You can read how Cyrus the Persian king defeated the Babylonians
• And how after the 70 years of enslavement,
• Cyrus gave permission for some of the Jewish people to return to their homeland.
• Not all the Jews returned home,
• But those who went back returned in three stages,
• Stage 1 was led by Zerubbabel.
• (Ezra chapter 1)
• The first return was around 538 B.C. under the leadership of a man named Zerubbabel.
• About 40,000 individuals returned home (Ezra chapter 2 verse 64).
• It was during this period that the people of Israel built the second Temple.
• Stage 2 was led by Ezra.
• (Ezra chapter 7 verses 1–10 and chapter 8 verses 1–14)
• About eighty years later, a second group, under the priestly leadership of Ezra,
• 1,500 men, which would approximate 5,000 to 6,000 totals, counting women and children.
• Returned to the land. Spiritual and religious reformation occurred at that time.
• And Nehemiah will lead stage 3,
• And as we enter the story of Nehemiah, this has not yet taken place.
The Jewish people who had gone back in the first two groups:
• Had rebuilt the temple.
• But, as we will learn, the walls of Jerusalem were down,
• Making the temple, the city, and the people vulnerable to attack by their enemies.
• So, for these Jews who were back home again,
• It meant they were living in constant fear,
• The city of Jerusalem had been without a protective wall around it for about 150 years.
• From the destruction of the city by Babylonian invaders in 586 B.C.
• Until Nehemiah arrived in 444 B.C. the city was unprotected.
• So, without city walls and its fortifications,
• They were easy pickings for any other nation,
• Who wanted to invade and capture them, and make them slaves again?
Setting the Scene #2: What is the book of Nehemiah all about?
• Chapters 1-7:
• Nehemiah deals with the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls.
• He is going to make the city safe for the people who lived there.
• Chapters 8-10:
• Nehemiah wants to restart worship again in Jerusalem.
• The Law (Torah) is rediscovered and the people make oaths to live for God.
• Chapters 11-12:
• Nehemiah wants the people to repopulate Jerusalem,
• Many Jews had settled in Babylon and were enjoying comfortable lives.
• They did not want to return to the hard living of a destroyed city.
• Chapters 13:
• Nehemiah wants to reform of Jerusalem’s faith,
• He tackles issues of back-sliding, tithing, The Sabbath, and intermarriages.
Quote:
“Nehemiah, through God, built walls.
And God, through Nehemiah built saints (by saints we mean men & women of God).”
In the Book of Nehemiah, everything in Judea is restored except for one thing.
• The Temple is rebuilt,
• Jerusalem is reconstructed.
• The covenant is renewed.
• The people are reformed.
• The Messianic line is intact.
• The one thing missing is a king,
• But for this nation the next king would be the Messiah.
• But for him to appear they will have to wait another 400 years.
Note:
• The Book of Nehemiah is the last historical book in the Bible,
• It really rounds off the history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament,
• You have to wait some 400 years until the gospels will pick up the historical narrative.
(1). He cared enough to ask (vs1-3)
“The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, ‘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.’”
Ill:
• Years ago, a girl in a teacher in a very posh and exclusive private girls’ school,
• Asked her young pupils to write an essay about poverty.
• This is what one young girl wrote:
“Once there was a very, very poor little girl. Her mother was poor, and her father was poor. Their cook was poor, their gardener was poor, and their chauffer was poor, even her nanny and the governess were poor, everybody was extremely poor.”
• TRANSITION: When we meet Nehemiah, he is not poor!
• In fact, he is living in a palace,
• He may not have been rich but the man he worked for was.
• He worked for a Persian King called Artaxerxes (ar-taks-urk'-sez),
Nehemiah’s job is described as cupbearer,
• That could mean food taster, i.e. to make sure the king was not poisoned.
• It maybe he was a butler or even a bodyguard to the king.
• It would appear to be a position of great responsibility and privilege.
• Because he had access to the king,
• Nehemiah’s job is to taste the king’s wine and food, checking for poison.
• What a job, always the risk of danger if the food or drink was poisoned.
• But on the other hand, he got to eat & drink some of the best food & wine money could buy!
• Nehemiah’s job as food taster to the king.
• Probably meant that he was constantly on duty,
• He would be needed every-time the king had a snack or fancied a cup of tea!
• It may be that over time a bond between the two of them developed,
• And who knows, maybe he might be able to speak to the king about certain issues.
Quote: Warren Wiersbe:
“When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right places at the right time.”
Note the historical details of this story:
• We are told what time of year it happened, in the Hebrew month of Chislev,
• (mid-November to mid-December on our calendar).
• We are told what year it happened, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes
• Which was the year 444 B.C.
• We are told geographically where it happened,
• At the king’s winter palace.
• Which was situated in One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East,
• Susa served as the capital of Elam and was the capital city of the Persian Empire,
• (Today the modern town of Shush in Iran is located on the site of ancient Susa).
Ill:
• Large doors, swing on very small hinges,
• In life, life-changing events can be the result of small encounters,
• So, it was for Nehemiah.
• Verse 2 tells us that he bumped into one of his brothers (Hanani),
• Who had just returned from a visit to Jerusalem,
• And Nehemiah wants to hear all the news concerning Jerusalem,
• What started out as an ordinary day,
• Would turn out to be a turning point in Nehemiah’s life.
• In fact, his life would never be the same again!
God often works on ordinary days:
• e.g. It was just another day when Moses went out to care for his sheep,
• But on that day, he saw bush on fire, it was burning and burning, yet not be consumed,
• As he approached God spoke to him from the flame of the bush,
• And called him to become a prophet (Exodus chapter 3).
• e.g. It was an ordinary day when the shepherd boy David was sent a message to go home,
• He left the flock of sheep and found his family all gathered around Samuel the prophet.
• Samuel looked at this runt of a boy and declared him to be Israel’s new king!
• But on that day, he was anointed king
• (1 Samuel chapter 16).
• e.g. It was an ordinary day when Peter, Andrew, James, and John,
• Were monotonously mending their nets after a disastrous night failing to catch fish.
• But that was on that ordinary day Jesus called them to become fishers of men
• (Luke chapter 5 verses 1–11).
• e.g. The day of salvation is often an ordinary day for people,
• No warnings beforehand, no message written in the sky, no angelic visitor,
• Simply a day when God speaks through his word and we at last hear and respond!
• (2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 2)
Note: He cared for his people!
• Nehemiah asked about Jerusalem and the Jews living there because he had a caring heart.
• As a good Jew he knew the importance of his past, the importance of Jerusalem,
• And their importance of living for and following the true God.
• The news for Nehemiah was not good,
• You could summarise it in three words: remnant, ruin, and reproach.
• Remnant: no great nation, maybe 50 to 60,000 people living in the city.
• Ruin: the city had been destroyed and looked like a place where a bomb had gone off.
• Reproach: nothing was left to boast about, it was an embarrassment to its former glories.
Ill:
• Jose Mourinho has been a very successful football manager.
• When he moves to a new club the opposing fans taunt and mock him,
• They sing to him, “You’re not famous anymore”
• What they are doing is reminding him all his success is in the past,
• He is living on former glories,
• He has nothing in the present.
• TRANSITION: That is what is happening in Nehemiah.
• The other nations mock them because they are living on former glories,
• And nothing in the present.
(2). He cared enough to weep (vs 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, not because he was weak but because he was strong,
• And y weeping he puts himself in good biblical company.
• e.g. Jeremiah wept (Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 1),
• e.g. David (the Psalmist) wept (Psalm 42:3)
• e.g. The apostle Paul wept (Acts chapter 20 verse 19),
• e.g. Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke chapter 19 verse 41).
• Tough Question:
• When was the last time we wept for our nation, our city, our family & friends?
• Answer:
• Me neither, which is probably why we make so little impact on them!
God put a burden on Nehemiah’s heart,
• Notice he, “fasted and prayed”
• I was thinking as I prepared this talk,
• When did I last hear a sermon on fasting – again, it has been a while!
• Is this why we are so powerless at times!
• Nehemiah spent several days fasting, weeping, and praying.
• He knew that somebody had to do something to rescue Jerusalem,
• And he was willing to go.
• Quote: “Revival starts with one person and it starts with a broken heart!”
(3). He cared enough to pray (vs 5–10)
“Then I said:
‘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 father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 ‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.”
10 ‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.”
As you read the book of Nehemiah, prayer saturates this entire book!
• Prayer is one of the overriding themes of the book,
• And it is the secret to Nehemiah’s success.
• Chapter 1 contains the first of 12 different prayers recorded in the book.
• In fact, the book begins with a prayer request in Persia,
• And closes with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise in Jerusalem.
Now your homework today is to read those 12 prayers:
• (Only take you about 15mins):
• You will see an incredible variety in his prayers,
• e.g. chapters 8 and 9 contain prayers that are filled with adoration.
• e.g. chapter 12 is full of thanksgiving,
• e.g. chapters 1 and 9 contain prayers of confession,
• e.g. chapters 1 and 2 contain prayers of Petition (requests),
• Those 12 prayers also contain prayers of.
• Anguish, joy, protection, dependence & commitment.
• Nehemiah is a book or rather a story of.
• Compassionate, persistent, personal & corporate prayer.
• As you read the book you will discover that prayer gives Nehemiah perspective,
• It will widen his horizons, sharpens his vision, and dwarfs his anxieties.
Note: Let me point out a few things regarding this prayer.
FIRST: Notice his description of God (vs 5). “God of heaven”
• The other nations worship all sorts of God,
• But they were idols on the earth,
• But the God of Nehemiah and his people worship and pray to the God of heaven.
Ill:
• You will remember that Jesus taught his followers to pray,
• N.I.V.: “Our Father in heaven” K.J.B.: “Our Father which art in heaven”
• (Matthew chapter 6 verse 9).
• “Our Father” reminds us of the love of God.
• "Father" shows us God is not distant we can know him and enjoy his company and care.
• "In heaven" reminds us of the power of God.
• Literally reads: "Who is in the heavens".
• Although God is as close as the air that surrounds us,
• He is as incomprehensible as the galaxies beyond us.
• "In heaven":
• Reminds us that God can act and to work in our situations.
• "In heaven" is a place of power and authority.
• e.g. Downing Street or The White House.
SECOND: “Awesome God”
• Our God is worthy of our praise and worship.
• Our God is to quote Moses, “majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders”
• (Exodus chapter 15 verse 11)
• The word "awesome" is really a God word and should be reserved for him,
• It is so powerful a word that there is no other word to define it.
• The closest definition of awesome is "utter amazement," "extreme wonder."
Ill:
• Some of you know that when I first moved into the area of Hampshire,
• I had a market stall on Fareham market.
• I sold a mix of second hand books,
• Some secular books and the majority were Christian books and also Bibles.
• Every book of course has a title,
• But it is not very often that a book title tells the whole story.
• Usually titles are chosen because they are catchy, not because they are informative.
• One book that I had plenty of copies of bucked the trend,
• The title not only cached your attention, it also told you exactly what the book is about.
• It was written by J. B. Phillips and called, ‘Your God Is Too Small.’
• The title says it all.
• So many of us struggle because our God is much smaller than the God of the Bible.
• We have him neatly defined and kept in a box of our own making.
• TRANSITION:
• We need to appreciate afresh that our God is an "awesome God".
We may use certain words to describe his essence:
• e.g. Sovereign, Almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Infinite, Eternal,
• And Immortal, to mention only a few.
• But let’s remember those words don’t even scratch the surface of who he is,
• No list of adjectives could ever adequately picture the immenseness of God.
• He is bigger than our biggest list of words and grander than our grandest conceptions
And that is so important, because Nehemiah was:
• He was going to experience real hardship,
• Verse 3 tells us that those who went before him,
• Experienced, “great trouble & disgrace”
• And he and his men would face a similar situation.
• He was going to take on a great work,
• And rebuilding the walls was not a simple task,
• Nehemiah describes it as a “great project” (chapter 6 verse 3),
• He describes it as “Extensive” and “Spreads out” (chapter 4 verse 19),
• The workers were in danger because they were quite isolated from each other.
• Nehemiah had a great gig task, but he also had a great big God!
• In verses 8-10 he remembers God’s power in history.
“‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.”
10 ‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.”
• I love Nehemiah’s faith He reminds God and helps build his own faith up,
• By reflecting on what God has done in history.
Ill:
• I made a video phone call yesterday to Ivor Cooper,
• (a friend, someone who has been involved in this Church on many occasions).
• A few years ago, Ivor was diagnosed with several brain tumours,
• Some have been removed and some remain.
• But when Ivor was first told, he was shocked he wept, e reacted like anyone else might react when they get life changing news,
• But as a Christian preacher he also had this insight,
• “It’s time to practice what I have preached to others over the years”
• TRANSITION: God can sustain us in difficulties,
• Our hope in this life and the life to come are fixed in him!”
• Nehemiah like Ivor are resting on the fact God keeps his word (vs 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,”
• The word, ‘remember’ is a key word in this book,
• He uses it again and again and again,
• (Neh. 1:8; 4:14; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31).
Ill:
• A man went to his lawyer and told him, "My friend owes me £500 and he won’t pay up.
• He will not keep his word his promise. What should I do?"
• The lawyer asked him,
• "Do you have any proof he owes you the money?"
• The man replied, “no”
• The lawyer then said, "OK, write him a letter asking him for the £5,000 he owes you,"
• The man replied, "But it's only $500,"
• "Precisely”. Said the lawyer,
• “That’s what he will say in his reply and then you’ll have your proof!"
• TRANSITION: God keeps his word.
• He does not backtrack on his promises, he is faithful, reliable, and dependable!
The problem for Nehemiah is this,
• The people did not keep their promise to “keep God’s commandments,”
• So, the greater part of Nehemiah’s prayer (vs 6–9),
• Was devoted to confession of sin.
• Humbly Nehemiah used the pronoun “we” and not “they,”
• He identifies himself with the sins of a generation of people he did not even know.
• It would have been easy to look back and blame others for the mess his people are in,
• But Nehemiah looked within and blamed himself!
• “We have sinned! We have dealt very corruptly!”
Ill:
• Sin of course is always a problem between people and a holy God.
• The Bible teaches that we are sinners by nature and sinners by practice.
• Sinners by nature we even see that in small children,
• Notice how parents never tell them, “remember to be good”?
• We are sinners by nature and sinners by practice.
• Sin will always separate us from a holy God.
• That is why of course God the Father sent God the Son into the world.
• That he would provide forgiveness for sins.
(4). He cared enough to volunteer (vs 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 favour in the presence of this man.’
I was cupbearer to the king.”
Ill:
• On an advert for donating blood, the poster read: "Be a volunteer Blood Donor,"
• Somebody had graffitied underneath those words, "That's the best kind."
Nehemiah had a great big problem preventing him helping his people
• It was king Artaxerxes,
• Nehemiah could not simply quit his job and move to Jerusalem.
• He was an appointee of the king,
• And he needed the king’s permission for everything he did.
• He would also need the king’s provision and protection,
• If he were to travel from Iran back to Jerusalem.
• Without official authority to govern,
• An official guard for the journey,
• And the right to use materials from the king’s forest,
• The entire project was destined to fail.
• He would need God to soften the king’s heart,
• To give him permission to resign his job and go back to Jerusalem.
Ill:
• Too often, we plan our projects and then ask God to bless them,
• But notice that Nehemiah did not make that mistake.
• He sought God first (vs 4),
• He wept, knelt, and prayed,
• And then stood up and worked,
• Because he knew that he had the blessing of the Lord on what he was doing.
Nehemiah planned to volunteer to go to Jerusalem to supervise the rebuilding of the walls.
• He did not pray for God to send somebody else,
• Nor did he argue that he was ill-equipped for such a difficult task.
• He simply said, “Here am I—send me!”
Ill:
• A monologue worth sharing
• The Passing of ‘Someone Else’ (Author unknown).
“The church was bowed in grief this week to learn that one of our most valuable members, Someone Else, passed away. This death creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Someone Else has been with us for many years. During all these years, he did far more than a normal persons share of the work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results.
Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend — one name was on everyone’s list: “Let Someone Else do it”.
Someone Else was also among the largest givers of the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference.
This beloved church member was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing super-human; but a person can only do so much. Everybody expected too much of Someone Else.
Now Someone Else is gone. Who will pitch in to do the things that Someone Else has done? If you are asked to take a job in church, we hope you won’t reply, “Let Someone else do it”. Now we need you to pick up where Someone Else left off.”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=WTdqnhidnCiacVU0Is9Iw7v0Bc0B5QML
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/1U_EvpqtaAo
