baldtheologian Nehemiah: When Fear collides with Faith

Working Together for God’s Glory

nehemiah wall_final

 

They consecrated the wall…Nehemiah 3:1b NASB

 

When we first read through chapter three it seems pretty dry, doesn’t it? There are lists of names and assignments. For some I’m sure it appears to be nothing more than a list of jobs and those who do those jobs. Not very exciting stuff. But there are some beautiful nuggets here if we’ll just take the time to mine them.

Before we find those nuggets, I’d like to make a couple of observations.

First this chapter reveals that Nehemiah was both an extraordinary administrator and leader. He was able to not only mobilize a large group of people but also he led them to undertake an enormous task with vigor. Achieving that requires great vision, organization and motivational skills. So Nehemiah demonstrated that he could both organize and lead.

The second observation I’d like to make here is this passage demonstrates what a group of folks can do when working together for a common goal. While their goal – rebuilding the wall – the particular job that they performed varied. Not everyone did the same thing. But they all worked together and in working together they achieved more than they could have working alone. I am reminded of a truth I learned in the Marine Corps: my part of a mission – be it big or small, visible or not-so-visible, attention getting or forgettable – did not matter. What mattered was that we accomplished the mission. If we accomplished the mission, then my contribution – no matter what it was – was significant.

This concept we see at work in Nehemiah is so very important for the Church to learn and practice today. Whether your particular gift puts you in front of people or behind the scenes, it is important to achieving the goal we have been called to accomplish.

For the rest of today’s article, I’d like to view the purpose of the work we see taking pace here in chapter three.

Man’s Ultimate Purpose

The big question is why am I here? What is my purpose in life? To those who reject Christ, their purpose has to be self-fulfillment. We see it all around us. The various acts of selfishness – from selfish acts of hoarding resources to the selfish act of abortion-on-demand – mankind is just so “ME” oriented. Some in the church have bought into the empty philosophy of the world and created little social cubs called a “church”. Sadly this will always fail because it builds on the shifting foundation of man.

What we need to do is build on the rock foundation of Christ.

But what does that mean for man’s purpose in life. What should we do?

If we truly are God oriented then we will seek to bring Him glory rather than serve our appetites. Instead of being “ME” oriented, I need to be “HE” oriented. If I am oriented towards God, then I will seek to glorify Him and not me. Understanding this is of paramount importance if we are to serve God with a pure heart and pure motives. If my ultimate aim is to glorify God, then the way that comes about – my job or your job – isn’t as important as the goal.

 If I am focused on glorifying God, then I can see my part – whether big or small – as integral to the mission.

So what the purpose of Nehemiah’s work? Lets take a look.

 

The Purpose of the Work

Nehemiah was able to build his team around a central rallying point. He pointed them to the purpose of the work – the glory of God. They weren’t just working on walls, they were worshipping their worthy God. The workers were discourage about the conditions of the city and disgraced in the presence of their enemies. It was difficult for them to sing out the truth of Psalm 48:2, which describes Jerusalem as “beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth.” They probably longed to see God’s city regain its splendor and be a showplace for God for all the nations to see. They were concerned with God’s glory, not the nature of their work.

We can easily see the rallying cry of Nehemiah – the central purpose of the work at hand – was to glorify God. The priority was on God, not them.

Take a look at verse 1:

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel Nehemiah 3:1 NASB

We could easily classify this as placing the priority on God and not themselves. Why? Well, close to the wall’s northeast corner, the Sheep Gate provided easy access to the Temple. The reason for the name of this gate is because the sheep used in the worship of God entered through this gate. do you see their priority? It was as if they were saying “Take care of God first, then we’ll think of ourselves. They established that God is central to their mission and their life together as a people. It’s another way of saying, “Put God first.” Close to the wall’s northeast corner, this gate provided easy access to the Temple, and was given this name because of all the sheep that entered through it to be sacrificed. By beginning here, Nehemiah is establishing that their relationship with God was central. This was the most important place to start.

The purpose of all ministry, and really of life itself is the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 puts it succinctly: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” In your life, are you doing everything to the glory of God? Are you looking to draw attention to Him or to yourself? Do you see your part of kingdom work important to be viewed and approved of by others or do you seek to bring glory to God?

God is not so interested in your part of ministry – your part in kingdom work as much as He is interested in the learning of your heart to bring glory to Him.

Next week we’ll continue in chapter three and see some important principles we must follow as we work together to bring Glory to God.

baldtheologian Nehemiah: When Fear collides with Faith

Seeing beyond the Rubble

nnehemiah wall_final

 

In the mid 1970’s my parents bought a house in my hometown. We had lived on our street for a number of years and in two different houses. The house we were renting at the time was a two-story house with a bit of land. The house my dad was interested in buying was also a two-story house with a bit more land than what we currently had. Sounds good, right? Well what I have yet to tell you is that the condition of the house and land. It was…well, it was in bad shape. And by bad shape I mean really not good shape. It was really old, the grounds had been overgrown with weeds, briars, and other such things. I thought my dad had lost his mind. But the problem was that I was seeing the present condition and my dad was seeing the finished product. My dad saw beyond the rubble. So did Nehemiah. So does God.

We see the present situation while God sees the finished product.

We see spiritual things much like I saw that old house. We see the present situation while God sees the finished product. We need more than ever to see the finished product in spite of the present condition. Nehemiah did this when he saw the walls. He was able to communicate his vision of the finished product to those around him. Lets take a look at Nehemiah, the wall, and the people.

Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” So I answered them and said to them, “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.”         – Nehemiah 2:17-20 NASB

 

Nehemiah was faced with a massive undertaking. The walls of Jerusalem had been toppled. The gates were burned. Complicating things was that Jerusalem was surrounded by folks who hated them. Nehemiah had to perform many tasks just to get to the point of beginning the rebuilding effort.

Recruiting

After replenishing his resources and assessing the need, Nehemiah now recruited workers in verse 17. In some way not mentioned in the narrative, Nehemiah gathered together a large group of prospective partners. Let’s look and see how he put his work force together:

First, he identifies with the workers: “Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in.” Nehemiah is passionately involved in the city’s welfare and feels its need as acutely as though he had been living in the desolate city all his life.

Next, he presents spiritual perspectives. They are in trouble – and its not just because Jerusalem is in ruins. He sees their spiritual disgrace. The sight of those collapsed walls for well over a century has created the impression in the pagan mind that the God of Israel has abandoned his people. He recognizes that there are always spiritual issues involved – a building project is more than just brick and mortar. As His people, we have to be aware of the spiritual opportunities and challenges as they present themselves to us.

Then, he invites immediate action. Everybody knows exactly what is required, “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace,” and everyone realizes that the task must begin without further delay. Nehemiah is asking a lot of the people. He’s not afraid to ask them to step up to the plate. The sacrifices will be huge. They will have to take time off from work in order to rebuild the walls. Who will protect their families? Before people can respond they need to know that there is someone greater than Nehemiah behind this project.

 

Inspiring

That leads to the next task – Nehemiah inspired confidence in the people in verse 18. While rebuilding the walls is an important job, the central theme in the book is the sufficiency of God. His mind dwells on the greatness of God and he wants his workers to do the same.

Our growth is important, but the central thrust must be the sufficiency of God.

Listen to Nehemiah’s testimony: “I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.” He didn’t reach Jerusalem because he was a skillful persuader, or because the queen was possibly a compliant helper, or because the king was a generous benefactor, but only because God was a sovereign provider. Since God had done all that, He would certainly help them to complete the task of rebuilding the walls.
By telling the people what God had already done, he was firing them up for what He was about to do. His appeal was positive as He focused on the glory and greatness of God. When you think about it, it’s amazing that the people said, “Let us start rebuilding.” Think about what they could have said. They could have been apathetic – they had been living in the rubble for a long time and could have just stayed there. They could have reminded Nehemiah that the Jews had “already tried that” before in Ezra 4 and were stopped by the authorities.
We often face those same two obstacles within the church. Either “we’re content with the way things are” or, “we tried that before and it didn’t work!”

  Someone has defined leadership as “the art of getting people to do what they ought to do because they want to do it.”   I want to do all I can to help us do the things we ought to do because we want to do them – because the gracious hand of our God is upon us.

 

Protecting

The fifth task comes almost immediately after the decision to make an impact takes place: He Handled opposition. Whenever we get serious about kingdom work, Satan will oppose us. The first two enemies have already been identified in verse 10. Now Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite are joined by Geshem the Arab. In verse 10, the opponents are “very much disturbed,” now this troublesome trio becomes highly vocal in their attacks on Nehemiah and his work crew.

Let’s look at their tactics:

First, they derided the efforts of the workers. Verse 19 says that they “mocked and ridiculed” them. Verbal onslaughts have always been part of the enemy’s demoralizing tactics. They laughed at the workers and belittled both their resources and their plans.

Next, they suggested that they were rebelling against the king – that weapon had worked once before in Ezra 4: “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” This was a cutting allegation to the timid workers.
I love how Nehemiah deals with these bad guys. He doesn’t answer their lies or engage in a conversation with them. Nor does he just ignore them. He first exalts the God who called him to do the work in verse 20: “The God of heaven will give us success.” He wasn’t concerned about their fictitious insinuations – he was concerned that God would get the glory in the project.

Whenever we get serious about kingdom work, Satan will oppose us.

 
Nehemiah wanted his people to know that God had everything in control. Even though Geshem controlled the southern approach to the city, and the other two thugs patrolled the north and east, Nehemiah was not ruffled. In his reply, he made three things clear:

· Rebuilding the wall was God’s work
· The Jews were God’s servants
· Their opponents had no part in the matter.

 

Involvement

The last part of verse 20 says it rather strongly: “We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” Their opponents had no past right, not present prerogative to be there, and no future role in the city.
Let me just say that as believers we should expect spiritual opposition and even be thankful for it. It’s a sign that we’ve angered the enemy and encroached on some territory that He thinks is his. If there’s no conflict or opposition, then we’re probably not disturbing the enemy enough. Remember, Satan only shoots at moving targets!

Have you ever looked on a situation as hopeless? Have you ever been intimidated by the task ahead. Sometimes – perhaps oftentimes – we do this because we use only our eyes when looking at problems or issues. When we are faced with obstacles that look insurmountable, we need to see with God’s eyes as much as possible. We need to see beyond the struggle – beyond the problems – and see the goal, the finished product that God sees.

baldtheologian Nehemiah: When Fear collides with Faith

Treckin’ n Checkin’

nehemiah wall_final

 

Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. Nehemiah 2:9-10 NASB

 

Faith in Motion

Nehemiah, with the King’s approval, protection and with supplies in hand, begins his task. He begins by leaving the only home he has known for a land a good bit away. Lets not lose the significance of this. Nehemiah left all he knew in order to go somewhere he had never been in order to obey God. Wow. That is faith in motion.

Now we notice in v.9 that he met with some opposition. We know this because he gave the letters the King had given him so that he could have safe passage. When we journey according to God’s plan, we don’t always find that the road is paved and smooth. We also often find that there is opposition to what we are doing. But God always provides for us! Here, God provided for Nehemiah through the King who gave letters and some soldiers. For us, God gives us HIs protection through His plan for us.

No matter who opposes our journey into God’s will, when we are traveling with His letters, no one can deny our passage because God has already determined that we should pass. 

Enemies Arrive

Now we are introduced to the main nemeses of Nehemiah: Sanballat and Tobiah. We’ll get to know these two characters throughout tNehemiah’s work in and around Jerusalem. They were displeased with Nehemiah. In fact, as we will see later, this “displeasure” was more like hatred. Now why would anyone hate a man sent by the Kingt of Persia, protected by the King’s own letters and soldiers, ostensibly doing the King’s work. The King of persia was the mightiest King on earth at this time. Seems to me that people would get out of Nehemiah’s way and seek to help, not hurt him.

Well the answer is rather simple. Sanballat and Tobiah hated the sons of Israel. They hated them. Racism was alive and well all the way back in Nehemiah’s time. Scripture states they were displeased because Nehemiah had come to “seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.” Wow. Do we see that today? Well, yep we sure do. What did Nehemiah do? What should we do when faced with opposition? Lets take a look.

So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 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. So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.                                                                   – Nehemiah 2:11-16 NASB

 

Chillaxing in the Rubble

The first thing Nehemiah did when he arrived at his destination was to take a break. Yep, that is what he did. Look at v. 11. When he arrived, he was there for three days before he did any evaluation of the wall or the work that lay ahead for himself and those with him. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he could appreciate why his brother Hanani was so bummed out. As he looked at the city’s shattered walls and useless gates, he was overwhelmed. But, before he could examine them more closely, there was a greater priority. Nehemiah needed a nap. The journey of four months took its toll on Nehemiah. Take a look at Ezra 8:32 – Ezra did the same thing when he arrived in Jerusalem.

Everyone needs to take a rest from time-to-time: Nehemiah in Jerusalem, Ezra in Jerusalem, Elijah needed rest under the juniper tree, and Jesus withdrew with his disciples for rest. We need to make sure we Chillax – rest and recuperate -on a regular basis. I know folks who think rest and relaxation is wrong. these folks work and work and work. They have no time for rest. Most of these folks have the mistaken idea that their worth in God’s sight is somehow diminished if they take some time off. How wrong can a person be! Take time off from time-to-time. If Nehemiah, Ezra, Elijah and Jesus all did it…well, lets just commit to chillaxing every once in awhile.

 

Scoping out the Situation

Nehemiah, after getting himself recharged by rest, takes a look at the situation he is facing. We see this in verses 12-16. Nehemiah knew that in order to lead this project, he would need a firsthand picture of what needed to be done. He then scoped out the damage to the walls one dark night. With the moonlight showing the mounds of broken stone and demolished gates, Nehemiah made some notes to himself. Seeing all this damage to Jerusalem had to be discouraging.

Look at what he found: broken walls, burned up gates, piles and piles of rubble, so much so that his mount could not pass through. Wow, that is some kind of rubble. Now he did this all at night, I think, so that others would not get discouraged. This is great leadership. The leader of the people must know the situation and formulate a plan in order to motivate those he leads.

We really need to pay attention to Nehemiah here and learn some great leadership: always know what your up against before you try to motivate others to join you.

 

– Nehemiah discovered this was going to be a demanding job. The wall would be at least a mile long and at least three to four feet thick and fifteen to twenty feet high. That is a lot of rock to move. Remember, no hydraulic lifts existed back then. My back aches just thinking about this.

– Nehemiah discovered the work was going to be dangerous. One reason he went was because Nehemiah knew there were enemies lurking about. If they saw him scoping out the damage during the day they may have attacked and tried to scatter his workforce. Nehemiah, knowing there was opposition, wisely chose to perform a recon mission under the cover of darkness.
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· Nehemiah discovered he couldn’t do this himself. This may go without saying, but i’m going to say it anyway: the work Nehemiah faced was monumental – and he could not do it by himself. He discovered that for sure when he surveyed the damage. I wonder what was flying through his mind as he saw the destruction all around him.

You know doing a work from God seems monumental sometimes. Sometimes it seems that the task is too big to be done. It can be discouraging to see how much needs to be done. But we need to know what we need to do to even embark on the work.

We should never be discouraged with the size of the task ahead, the opposition we encounter, or the danger involved. Why? Because our King – THE King of the universe – has given us His letter, His resources and His protection.

baldtheologian Habits of the Holy

The Cardiac Kids

As I have progressed through this life God has given me, I have learned that the major battle we have with God – I mean THE major battle – is over control. We see the issue of obedience as being one of control and, to be fair, in some ways it is control. And we humans don’t like ceding control to anyone…including God.

 

Back in the 1970’s there was a football team in the US that earned the nickname “The Cardiac Cardinals”. Many of their games were close that went down to the final few moments before the Cardinals would win. They kept giving their fans heart attacks (metaphorically speaking), thus the “Cardiac” part of their nickname.

Sometimes I think we Christians should be referred to as the “Cardiac Kids”. A similar nickname for sure but for different reasons. The reason isn’t because we are “winning” at the last moment in life. No, the reason is much more important than that. We have a heart problem that shows itself, in varying degrees, in all Christians. This heart issue only betrays a deeper issue but is evidenced by our struggle with a simple, four-letter word. What is that word? O-B-E-Y. We have problems with obeying God with the right attitude. Shoot, we have problems with obeying God with ANY attitude.

Why do we have difficulty with the word “obey“? I’ve found out that if I want to get a reaction from people all I have to say is the word “obey”. We react to it. Some people even hate that word. So what is the big deal with being obedient? Why do we hate it so, so much.

Obedience is a big theme in the Old Testament. I remember one of my professors at Capital Bible Seminary, saying during one of my Old Testament classes, that God desired obedience greater than He desired sacrifice. The same is true in the New Testament. We see obedience to God taught from Matthew to Revelation. Why so much? Well, perhaps it is addressed so much because we humans have a problem with it. Our problem is not an easy one to solve because we see obedience as being dominated. When we obey, we sometimes think that we have been pushed around…dominated….lost control of our life. We see obedience so incorrectly.

Jesus taught that obedience is more about our heart than we think. Take a look at John 14:23-24 to have a snapshot of what Jesus thought about obedience:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and

We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the

word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” John 14:23-24 NASB

Why did Jesus link keeping His words with love for Him? What is the connection between keeping His commands and loving Him? And is keeping His commands the same as obedience? Why does Jesus make this link? Let’s think about this for a moment and consider some examples from every day life and see if this will help us. Have you ever loved someone? I mean really loved someone with every fiber of your being?

I’ve been married now for 12 years. I love my wife. I mean I really, really love my wife. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. If she asks me to do anything, I’ll do it as quickly as possible. You know what? My wife feels the same way. We love each other. We demonstrate our love for one another by keeping each others desires and requests paramount. How could I do any less for God? Think about this for a moment.

Let’s say I tell my wife I love her. Now let’s say that my wife asks me to perform a reasonable act of service. it doesn’t matter what she asks. She asks me to do something for her. Now let’s say that I’m watching something on TV or reading a really good book. I turn to her and say “No, I don’t think I’ll do that for you. I have better things to do. Love ya babe!” Now, does my statement that I love her mean anything? No, they’re just words.

But let’s change this a little. Let’s say I respond “Geez honey, I just sat down and began to watch my game. Why didn’t you ask me to do that earlier?” I do what she asks me to do, but have I demonstrated my love for her? In all honesty, no. You see, robotic obedience, obedience with a bad attitude, or rejection of a request indicates a bad heart. I may say I love her but my actions betray a corrupt heart.

How is my heart condition with God? Do I obey with a poor attitude? Do I obey out of guilt? Do I obey out of an attempt to get God to accept me or like me? If I do, my obedience to God really means little. I should obey out of a heart that is thankful and one that has love for my God.

Obedience to God’s commands – whether those commands came through the burning bush, a prophet, Jesus, or an apostle – reflects my heart condition more than anything else. And my heart condition reflects my soul condition. So if my soul condition is ok and my heart condition is ok, my hands and feet will be ok too. In other words, if I am not battling God for Sovereignty (the Soul issue – authority) that will reflect itself in obedience (the Heart issue – control) and will work itself out through my hands and feet – that is, my work for the Lord will be the natural outworking of my vision of Him, and my  obedience to Him.

Obedience can be forced and many do force it. But that is just fake obedience because the heart and soul issues aren’t right. My heart needs to be right with God so that I can keep His words and obey Him with the right attitude.

So how is my heart? How is yours? Are we ready, wiling and able to obey what God wants us to do? With a good attitude? Or do we need to visit the Great Cardiologist and have some work done?

We all have issues with obedience. but hopefully, as we are progressively sanctified, those issues  become less and our heart becomes more His and less ours.   Then we’ll no longer be a Cardiac Kid!