A TIME TO CELEBRATE
Nehemiah 12:27-13:31
This morning is a morning of celebration!
You may have thought last week was!
And it was a very special Sunday—you kept the secret well!
Our staff is VERY grateful!
THIS Sunday is Celebration Sunday!
Israel’s back in the land, the temple’s rebuilt, now walls are back in place.
When physical reconstruction was complete, Ezra and Nehemiah directed their attention to their need for SPIRITUAL reconstruction.
1st step in spiritual reconstruction: commitment to listen to God’s voice, and do whatever God says.
They put that commitment in writing—they “signed on the dotted line”
They had to deal with 3 specific issues:
1. SEPARATION (from intermarriage) 10:30-Godly family lifestyles
2. SABBATH OBSERVANCE 10:31-Godly business practices
3. STEWARDSHIP 10:32-39-Godly attitudes toward worship
Last week we saw the importance of such a commitment for God’s people
1st service, 60 came forward to sign that commitment: that with God’s enablement, they would do God’s will!
We asked people to write an agreement with God and list issues He wants you to deal with (=> basket)
After Israel’s written commitment, it was time to celebrate what God had done
City’s coming to life—Urban renewal—homes rebuilt and businesses developing
God’s people resolved to obey God's law
.
[Now it’s time for the ... ] DEDICATION OF THE WALLS 12:27-13:3
It was a dedication service. They were committing their city to God.
Gathering and purification of people 12:27-30 at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The singers also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem . . . 30 When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.
Before celebration, the priests and Levites purified themselves.
Their hearts had to be right before the Lord. "Holiness precedes Happiness"
Celebration of two choirs 12:31-43 40 The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, 41 as well as the priests—... 43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.
2 companies called "thanksgivings"— they were the embodiment of what they sang.
We're not very good at saying "Thank you." We're like a little boy coming home from a birthday party. His mother asked: "Bobby, did you say "thank you" for the party?" "I was going to, but a girl ahead of me said, 'Thank you,' and the lady told her not to mention it. So I didn't."
The whole area around Jerusalem was filled with their noise.
—noisy, hilarious crowd, happily praising God together.
Appointment over storerooms for contributions and offerings 12:44 At that
time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.
They were excited for priests and Levites to give offerings Cp. Kemmerer
Separation from foreigners 13:1-3 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
Not an exclusion from salvation.
Foreigners could become part of Israel, as proselytes, but then they were no longer "foreigners".
True "foreigners" continued to identify with their own peoples and their old gods.
If they become proselytes, as Ruth, the Moabitess, who turned to God of Abraham—always opportunity to join God's people.
Two dangers with the law:
1. Pharisaism—keep the letter; avoid the spirit!
2. Extremism (legalism)—go beyond the law; make your own rules!
They caught the Spirit; they wanted to do what pleases Him.
A GRATEFUL HEART:
1. * SINGS JOYOUSLY—celebration could be heard for miles
2. * GIVES ABUNDANTLY Gratefully, hilariously, sacrificially
3. * OBEYS TOTALLY Faithfully, committedly
Years ago Christian paid high price for a slave. He abhorred slavery, and wanted to free him. Wealthy man told him: "I bought you to free you from bondage." He gave him papers to guarantee his freedom.
Slave in amazement. "Am I truly free? May I go wherever I wish?" "That's why I bought you, so you could be free from your chains forever." "Then my greatest joy will be to stay with you and serve you for the rest of my life."
DEMONSTRATION OF A GRATEFUL HEART 13:4-31
NEHEMIAH'S THREE REFORMS 13:4-31
He left for several years. "While the cat's away, the mice will play!"
1. CONCERNING THE TEMPLE 13:4-14 (10:32-39)
Removal of Tobiah's storeroom 13:4-9
Now enemy’s comfortably seated on inside, respected by people.
Swindoll observes that having Tobiah in God's house was "like having a possum in the chicken coop. Or having a bust of Luther in the Vatican!"
Nehemiah "threw out all his goods", ordered purification of rooms and restored them to their intended use. Getz: "He had the room fumigated!"
Restoration of tithes 13:10-14 People had stopped giving
Two-sided problem. Store rooms available to Tobiah; they weren't being used for anything anyway.
Priest’s lack of commitment to do things God's way gave people an excuse: Why should they support program when priest wasn’t obeying God?
2. CONCERNING THE SABBATH 13:15-22 (10:31)
They weren’t only allowing foreigners to sell, they were working o
3. CONCERNING INTERMARRIAGE 13:23-31 (10:30)
LESSONS FROM NEHEMIAH'S THREE PERSONAL APPEALS:
The appeal, repeated three times is individual and representative:
"Remember me, O my God . . . ."
14-". . . and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services."
22-". . . and have compassion on me according to the greatness of thy lovingkindness."
31-". . . for good."
Even more important: effect of Nehemiah's actions among God's people:
They are following Him. Thus they may expect God to bless them.
LESSONS FROM ISRAEL'S FOUR [THREE] REPEATED FAILURES:
1) Failure to honor God in our associations (4-9; 23-31)
It’s important who we are linked with, in marriage, or business partnerships, but specifically in serving God.
2 Cor. 6:14-18 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do
righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light
have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?
What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What
agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the
temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among
them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 “Therefore come
out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I
will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and
daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
They decided it was time to work together—time for compromise, building bridges, pulling together to accomplish great things. Just one problem—God said not todo that!
Today people say we need to work together to accomplish great things, to save our planet, to build God's kingdom.
God wants a distinct people, separate from other religious people
who do things in another name but don't honor Him,
or who do things in His name but refuse to do them His way. We aren’t to live in isolation, but we are to be distinct from those who don't follow Him.
Amos asks "Can two walk together unless they agree?"
Paul asks "What fellowship can light have with darkness?"
When we start associating with people who walk in darkness, we start acting like people who walk in darkness.
Dog poster: two homely dogs that look just alike—kind with clingy skin—"when 2 spend a lot of time together they begin to look alike!"
How many times have we heard story of kids started downhill because of the gang they were running around with?
It happens to adults too. Keep company with the wrong crowd and you eventually begin to look like the crowd.
2) Failure to honor God with our possessions (10-14)
Those who were to serve in temple went back to their farm jobs.
Emphasizing law will never motivate people to give to God.
When Israel obeyed and gave, it’s always out of gratitude to God.
Gratitude and giving go together-it's a continuous circle.
Gratitude > Giving > Blessing > Gratitude > Giving > Blessing > Gratitude
A grateful Christian is a giving Christian.
3) Failure to honor God with our time
Law of tithe, & law of Sabbath never repeated in N.T.
Worship changed from Sabbath to 1st day.
Paul tells us we aren't under that law anymore.
But like many areas, we confuse grace with libertinism.
We spend little time worshiping God, serving Him, or fellowshiping with others
4) Failure to seek God's plan in marriage 13:23-31 Intermarriage
So angry he debated them, cursed them, struck some, pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, that they would stop.
26-27 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”
God’s people respond positively to Neh: but it’s his zeal, NOT theirs.
When Malachi comes, he has to deal with same issues again. How quickly we forget!
OUR LIFE TODAY:
Are there things we need to change to live the way God wants His people to live?
We're not asking pagans to live like Christians. Challenge to God's people.
What does God want us to work on to identify ourselves as His?
Leighton Ford remembers an event from the life of his son Sandy who died of a heart problem at age twenty-one. He developed the problem at 14 but went through time of remission during teens and returned to run track and cross-country.
Sandy was in a one mile race, close to the tape and moving ahead toward a record-setting victory, with a 40 yard lead. Suddenly he developed a problem in his legs, stumbled and fell. He picked himself up, stumbled a few yards more, and fell again. Looking back he saw the 2nd-place runner closing in on him. He got up on his hands and knees and crawled under the tape, across the finish line and fell there, having won the race.
That's perseverance. That's what Nehemiah had.
Nehemiah made a commitment with God to keep going.
He was going to hang in there and obey what he knew God wanted.
As God's people, we must inspect our own lives and be sure every area is turned over to Him and committed to doing things His way!
Will we finish the race? Will we have reason to say, "Remember me, O my God, for good!"
Israel responded in gratitude when they just got their old city back.
How much more has God done for us? How should WE respond in gratitude?