When bad news arrives
Ezra 9:8-9
Nehemiah 1:1-4
Background of Nehemiah:
“Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it”
The HISTORY of the people of Israel was given to us SO THAT we could learn the lessons and avoid repeating their mistakes. “Warnings from Israel’s history” (says the NIV chapter heading):
“Now these things occurred as examples to keep US from setting our hears on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.’ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did– and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did– and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did– and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-11)
**What is the lesson?? I want to learn the lesson!! God’s chosen people, the Jews, couldn’t seem to get it right...so it must be really complicated– right??
It’s actually AMAZINGLY simple!
It’s so simple you wonder how anyone could get it wrong!
It’s so simple, you have to ask yourself, “Why do I so often forget this?”
The primary lesson is Obey and honor God and He promises to bless you
2 fold: Disobey and ignore God and you will experience trouble and suffering
“When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul , according to everything I command you today, THEN the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-4)
And generation after generation of Israelites experienced this cycle of OBEDIENCE for a time, followed by a DECLINE (growing cold and compromise) into sin and idolatry, followed by God’s JUDGMENT and usually their defeat and slavery to some military power.
**The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are a glimpse into one of those periods when Israel had fallen into sin and rebellion against God and were being dominated by the Persian Empire. They had been either KILLED or REMOVED from their homeland and most of the things important to them lay abandoned and ruined.
**BUT GOD WAS AT WORK!!! In the 5th century B.C….after almost 70 years of dominance… the Persian rulers began to...not “allow”...but INSIST that Jews to return to Jerusalem.
“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia…” (Ezra 1:1)
The result of this first movement was that almost 50,000 Jews got to return and they attempted to rebuild the temple...BUT it would be ALMOST 50 YEARS LATER that a priest named Ezra would be sent back by King Artaxerxes with the authority and resources to rebuild the temple.**Now “JUMP AHEAD” another 15 years...and you find God moving in the heart of a man who was uniquely gifted to TACKLE another important task that needed to be done for the sake of Jerusalem’s IDENTITY and PROTECTION. That man is King Artaxerxes “Cup Bearer”...a man named Nehemiah.
1.) Nehemiah has genuine concern for his people- (verses 1 and 2)
“The words of Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah (Ha-ca-lee-ah): In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.”
**I don’t know if this question has ever come to your mind: “Why did Nehemiah CARE about what was going on with people hundreds of miles away from him?” He had a good job...a very prominent and important job. As long as he didn’t fall out of the king’s favor, he was really “set for life”. So, why did he care?...
- Was it “Because HE was a Jew!” Oh really? So we care about every other person who is an American? We always show concern for homeless Americans? And when a flood or tornado rips through a community in our nation, we always feel a tug in our heart?
-Was it “Because of the fond memories he had of Jerusalem?” Actually Nehemiah was the son of a slave...he had been born in captivity and at this point in his life had never set foot in the land of his forefathers.
-Actually, in these verses, his concern seems to grow out of two things:
1.) The involvement of his own brother, Hananai, in the work of the exiles AND
2.) His understanding of the importance of Jerusalem to his people in their worship.
**It’s likely that it never occurred to him that HE could do anything about this but PRAY and show CONCERN, so that’s exactly what he did!!
Question: Do I have a genuine concern for what people around me are going through?
2.) Nehemiah hears a report that breaks his heart- (Verse 3 and first half of 4)
“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. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.”
**The importance of a WALL in Nehemiah’s day could not be overstated. Without a wall, a city was nothing more than a group of people waiting to be robbed, harassed and even killed. During that first 50 year period, an attempt was made to rebuild the walls but King Artaxerxes was warned about the history of the Jewish people and he demanded that they stop. So those 50,000 or so people were LITERALLY in constant danger and the broken city walls and burned gates were a constant reminder of the humiliation that their captors had subjected them to.
America has become a nation whose walls are broken down...and for the most part, we didn’t have an enemy come in and take them down by force— WE dismantled the walls so that we could be “free”. The freedom to do WHAT “I” want to do WHEN “I” want to do it has destroyed the walls of MARRIAGE and FAMILY and SELF-CONTROL and ABSTAINANCE and everyone is in DANGER because there are no walls anymore.
ALL AROUND US are individuals...marriages...and families that are in DANGER because the walls are down and they don’t even understand why.
***It’s NOT ENOUGH for us to point to our “better” marriages and “happier” families while those around us are victimized...they want to know if we CARE.
Question: Can I still be ‘broken’ by the pain of life?
-When I hear of a hurting marriage
-An abused child
-A lonely widow
Dr. Tony Campolo said: “We are caught up in a particular point in our national life in which we are not only terribly materialistic, but worse than that, we’re becoming emotionally dead as a people. We don’t sing, we don’t dance, we don’t even sin with much enthusiasm. There is deadness everywhere. High schools are apathetic. Colleges are apathetic. Worst of all– churches are apathetic. If WE are no longer alive– what hope is there for the world?”
3.) “Don’t just DO something...sit there!” (verse 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.”
**We are all familiar with the saying- “Don’t just SIT there...do something!” It’s very “American”.
I appreciate what Nehemiah does. When confronted with the report from his brother, it doesn’t say the he offered a single word of advice...he didn’t offer to speak to the king about the matter...he didn’t make a personal “resolution”...he got before the God of heaven and he PRAYED. Actually...he FASTED and PRAYED.
We’ll deal with the prayer itself NEXT week, but today I want to leave you with that image...of a man who has been confronted with a HUGE PROBLEM...and who feels an INTENSE BURDEN and is not going to DO ANYTHING or GO ANYWHERE until he really prays about it.
Question: What’s my instinctive reaction to “bad news?”
-Work things out on my own?
-Talk to people about it?
-Fall into depression?
-Let it bring me to a place of true dependence upon God again?
Application: How are things going in your life?
-If you would say “Things are going well with me!” do you realize that God hasn’t blessed you so you could simply “soak it in” for yourself. Everything you have (including a good marriage and happy family life) is a resource God expects you to use for His glory.
-If you would say “Things are not going well with me!”, it’s time to take responsibility for the broken-down walls in your life and seek help in rebuilding them. If Hanani had not been honest with Nehemiah about the condition of the people, he probably wouldn’t have responded in the same way...open up with a godly friend you feel you can trust. Tell them about your burden or your struggle.
-And recognize the place that real prayer and brokenness before God will play in your rebuilding. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor, labor in vain.”
