Episode 169: What's the Truest Thing About You? (Neh. 7)

We trace a personal lie about belonging to the deeper truth of identity in Christ, then open Nehemiah 7 to see why names, roles, and boundaries mattered for a restored people. From census lists to Matthew’s genealogy, we follow the thread from exile to Jesus and land on a secure identity that frees us from comparison.

• adoption story exposing a belonging lie
• roles versus identity and why labels fail
• modern identity pressures and their cost
• Nehemiah’s appointments, delegation, and security
• census purpose, family lines, and priestly proof
• royal priesthood and identity in Christ
• gifts, generosity, and shared rebuilding
• Jeremiah’s promise fulfilled and hope restored
• genealogy from Zerubbabel to Jesus
• practices to replace lies with Scripture truth

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who may be wrestling with who they are and I encourage you to spend some time this week writing down what Scripture says is true about you - Just Google what does Scripture say is true about me?

If you would like to continue this walk with me through Nehemiah because you've learned something or already discovered more about what your Bible has to say, just subscribe to Moments to Ponder, and I'd love to have you join me

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Transcript

Welcome And Big Question

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hi friends, I'm Betsy and I want to welcome you to Moments to Ponder. If you're interested in learning more from the Bible but sometimes struggle to know how it connects to you, you've come to the right place. This podcast is designed to help you spend a few moments in God's Word and take away something to ponder. I pray this time together is an encouragement for you. This is episode 169. What is something you believe about yourself? Okay, and what if you found out that it wasn't true? How would you feel about that? For years, I believed that I didn't belong in my extended family. As an adopted kid, along with my siblings, we are just quite different than my cousins and their families. They all share that DNA thing, and uh we don't. And because of that, I believed the lie that I wasn't truly a real family member because I was adopted. It's hard when you feel different, isn't it? It helped a lie formed that different wasn't welcome. And it became a part of what I believed about myself. Then one day, during a chat with a cousin, I realized that what I believed wasn't true. She called out the lie. Yes, I'm different, but I'm as much a member as any cousin, and it was my belief that was wrong. I had been walking in the identity of an abandoned outsider instead of a full family member, which I was. It changed how I saw that family, my family, and it changed how I saw me. If you're on any kind of social media, watch TV at all, or walk through any public space that's populated with people, then you've seen the war on identity. People trying to figure out who they are. Maybe you're in that war right now. I feel like everywhere we look, we see people struggling with identity questions. And so we fill in the blank. We tie ourselves to work and say, I am an achiever. Or tie ourselves to a position. I am a leader or our job, I am a teacher. Or we connect ourselves to a community. I am a Christian. I could go on and on, but when you look at what I just listed, although they are parts of me, they're roles or groups I'm a part of. They're not my identity. For instance, I'm a new grandma, but that's not my identity either. That's a role I have the pleasure of participating in. I actually bring my identity to the role. Now we'll define identity as the truest thing about you. So what is the truest thing about you? The challenge here is that there are lots of things trying to say they are the truest thing rather than looking to the truth and what he says about you. Your identity, your deep soul-level, unique identity doesn't come from your age or your gender, or your abilities, or your ethnicity, or your race, your family, your past, your job, your relationship status, your religion, or even your sexual orientation. Okay, let's go through that list again because it's a lot, and for many of you, this flies in the face of what you actually believe. You might not actually agree with me as I give this list, but I want you to think about it. Your identity doesn't come from how old you are. Your age will change and you will still be you. And it's not on your gender. It's not dependent on whether you're male or feather, female, or both, or neither. And it's not based on your abilities. It's not on how good you are at something or how smart you are or how not smart you think you are, or your physical or cognitive abilities or disabilities. It has nothing to do with your ethnicity, Italian or Dutch or Hispanic. It's not about your skin color and it's not about a category. And it's not dependent on who your family is or isn't, or on your past, on what you've done or haven't done, or what's been done to you. Your identity is not based on your job. It's not what you do as an occupation. And it's not your relationship status, whether single, married, dating, engaged. That's not your identity. That's a relationship status. And it's not based on your religion, like not on a specific denomination or practice, like an individual belief or an affiliation. And it's not your sexual orientation. It's not about who you like or who likes you. It's deeper than that. These things make up a part of your life, but they don't define you unless you let them. And if you base your identity in a role or a gender or an ability, you will always have this less than feeling because that's not meant to define you. All of these things change or fall apart or get terminated or become less or break. And if your identity is tied to them, then you're gonna find yourself not knowing who you are when one of them shifts. Your identity is deeper than all of those things, and honestly, it doesn't change. With all the inputs we can access today, the war over identity is loud. We have an enemy that loves to keep us from our truest self in Christ. He has caused false identities to derail communities, bring conflict, break relationships and families, and create entire distracted lines of thinking that cause people to walk away from God. Can you see the enemy's hand in that? We all have a desire to know who we are at our core. We're created with this desire. But because we live in a world that is so ready to define us, we can get caught up in the wrong identity very easily. In fact, for many people, the lies about identity become so real they sound like fact, like minded. Jenny Allen has a new book out called The Lie You Don't Know You Believe. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to, and I think it has to do with this topic right here. You've probably noticed as I have that the struggle of figuring out who we are for many people can lead to depression and mental illness or doubt, even suicide. It's scary. Because I've walked in the lies. The achievement lie, the abandonment lie, the abilities lie, the belonging lie. And I've watched hundreds of teenagers struggle through the questions of figuring out who they are and trying on different communities and trying on different belief systems in order to figure out who they are when God is standing there saying, Let me tell you. And it's not like people or industries or media hasn't tried to define me, but now I know the difference between a role or a team or orientation and identity. So why go into all of that today? I mean, it is a passion of mine, but as we look at Nehemiah 7, I see this unique element within it. And I hope you can see it too as we work our way through this unique chapter. We're going to dive in right at verse 1. And Nehemiah is writing: After the wall is finished, and I had set up the doors and the gates, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were all appointed. So it's important for us to remember that Nehemiah had one main thing in mind, and it honestly wasn't the walls. It was the benefit the walls would have for the people of God, the safety through gates and walls and doors and gatekeepers, and peace in order to worship. Singers and Levites were appointed. Okay, verse 2. I gave the responsibility of governing Jerusalem to my brothers Hanani, along with Hananiah, the commander of the fortress, for he was a faithful man who feared God more than most. I said to them, Do not leave the gates open during the hottest part of the day. And even while the gatekeepers are on duty, have them shut and bar the doors. Appoint the residents of Jerusalem to act as guards, everyone on a regular watch. Some will serve at sentry points, and some in front of their own homes. This is an interesting little paragraph. We see Nehemiah giving the governing authority to his brother and the security to the commander of the fortress, in order to keep, in his mind, the main thing the main thing. Now, yes, he does give them some directions because they still have strong opposition, but we see a man who knows who he is and what God has called him to do. Just because the walls were done didn't mean the work was over. Just that specific part of the work was over. Now that the people were safe, it was time to work on the infrastructure, homes, provisions, and long-term worship. Have you ever noticed that when someone is secure in who they are, competition and comparison are no longer an issue? It's because when we know who we are, there is a confidence that comes and we are no longer threatened by the gifts of others. And as Nehemiah hands over his governing authority to his brother, we see that Nehemiah is secure in who God has called him to be. He shares the security with the commander. Both Hanani and Hananiah are faithful men, and Nehemiah can trust them, as he continues to live into his identity as builder. Verse 4. At that time the city was large and spacious, but the population was small, and none of the houses had been rebuilt. So my God gave me the idea to call together all the nobles and leaders of the city, along with the ordinary citizens, for registration. God is prompting him to count the people. This is an interesting ass. It's kind of like God is saying, Yeah, we need more people here, but let's see who's here already. So Nehemiah continues. Okay, so we're looking way back to the Zerubbabel entrance, the first return. And this is what was written in that record. Here's a list of Jewish exiles from the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived. Their leaders were Zerubabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Saraiah, Reliah, Nehemoni, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Big Vai, Rehum, and Bana. Using the census that Ezra has written, which is what Nehemiah has found, we also find this list in Ezra chapter 2. We see the list of names, and there's also a list of numbers of those who had come to Jerusalem, starting with Zerubabel and the other leaders who were part of that first group. Now, if you were looking in your Bible right now, you would see a long list of names and some numbers. We can see the organizer in Nehemiah here. Before he begins, he has to take stock of what's already in place. Just like he did when he started the walls. He took that little tour around to see what was already going on. He's doing that again because he needs to know who can actually come into Jerusalem from the surrounding cities and who will remain in their towns. Now there's a few other reasons why this census is important. Nehemiah is going to discover the practical element of who is actually still here, since Ezra wrote all this down, and how many of these people actually are in need of housing in the city, and how many will stay in their towns. And it's important to note the family lines because of God's promises to Abraham, which goes back a long way. For God and the Jewish people, it's all about the land and who they are. Their identity as God's children is under everything that has taken place. They are the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Prophecies have been spoken of a Messiah that will come from the line of Judah. So we need to know this line of Judah. And for Judah, Jerusalem is central to who they are. This city represents so much of who they are as God's people. So for the sake of time and pronunciation, I'm going to summarize verses 8 through 60. In this list, there are 38 family lines or communities, along with a number of people in each one. For example, one group has almost 4,000 people in its community. Then we see a list of 13 Levite families and 32 temple servant families, and then 10 families that descended from the servants of King Solomon. So that takes all of those verses. And then we get to verse 61, and it says this. Another group returned at this time from the towns of Talmelah, Tel Harshah, Karib, Adan, and Emir. However, they could not prove that they or their families were descendants of Israel. This group included the families of Deliah, Tobiah, and Dakota. Nakota, sorry about that, a total of 642 people. Three families of priests, Hobiah, Hekas, and Barzilli, also returned. This Barzilli married a woman who was a descendant of Barzilli of Gilead, and he had taken her family name. They searched for their names in the geological records, but they were not found. So they were disqualified from serving as priests. The governor told them not to eat the priest's share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thumim, the sacred lots. Okay, there's a lot in here, but let's just focus on this. These families weren't kicked out of Jerusalem. They just weren't considered true Israelites or priests. Now it's important because God wants a pure record of this line of Judah. And so not having this proof mattered, even though the people did matter. These priests could not serve in the temple because they could not prove that they were from the line of priests, and only priests in the line of priests could serve. Now, it sounds a little harsh because they were left off of being servants, but it's a critical element in God's laws because priests were set apart to work in the temple, and they took that very seriously. Way back at the beginning of this study, I shared the analogy we would be referring to as we went through this book, that just as Jerusalem was for God's chosen people, and its temple was led by priests who were set apart, we are now the temple of God, and we are set apart. In first Peter 2 9, we're told, You are a chosen people speaking about us. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. So because of Jesus, we are royal priests, set apart, chosen, his very own, and that is what defines us. That is what defined God's people. Our identity that we take forward into every role, community, or position that we hold is one of being set apart, chosen, a royal child of God. Verse sixty-six. So a total of forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty people returned to Judah, in addition to seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven servants and two hundred and forty-five singers, both men and women. They took with them seven hundred and thirty six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules, four hundred and thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven hundred and twenty donkeys. That's quite a list. But just to go back there, over forty-two thousand people. Verse 70. Some of the family leaders gave gifts for the work, meaning the work of the walls and the work of rebuilding the city. The governor, who remember is Nehemiah, gave to the treasury 1,000 gold coins, 50 gold basins, and 530 robes for the priests. The other leaders gave to the treasury a total of 20,000 gold coins, and some 1,750 pounds of silver for the work. The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold coins, about 2,500 pounds of silver, and 67 robes for the priests. So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and some of the common people settled near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their towns throughout Israel. These numbers translate into fields sown, stones lifted, gates hung. The rebuilding of Jerusalem was not a project of just a few leaders, it was a movement of families. And as the project begins to move into its next phase, Nehemiah made a list of what it cost. If we step back and take this all in, we're reminded of the promise in Jeremiah 29, verse 10, when it says this. Then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a hope and a future. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you, and will bring you home again to your own land. Jeremiah is referring to this very moment in time. Seventy years passed, and then Zerubbabel returns, and the people are brought home. This was the hope and future that they were looking toward the whole time they were in captivity. And it's being lived out through Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah. God ended their captivity and restored their city, bringing them home. And this list shows that people actually fulfilled this promise of God. Now, I admit when we see a name list like this, it's easy to skip over. I've said that before. Like this one is all numbers and stuff. And so we can kind of go past it quickly, but there's so much meaning there. And then in Matthew 1, we see another name list, a genealogy, and we often skip over it just to get the Christmas story started. But if you look within this list, there's something kind of cool. And it shows us how God's overarching story connects way back in 400 BC to this moment. Look at Matthew 1, verses 12 and 13. It says this after the Babylonian exile, Jehoiachin was the father of Shateel. Shelteel was the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubabel was the father of Abdad, and Abud was the father of Elichim, Eliakim. This list continues until we get to verse 16 where it says this Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. Did you know that Srubbable was in the family line of Jesus? I didn't know that till this study, and I've read that genealogy list before. It just never stood out to me. Nehemiah's list to Matthew's list, it helps us see the return from exile all the way to the coming king. God had a plan, he made a promise, and we can see it when we watch the lineage of these people. That fulfillment of promise led to the legacy of true identity that we get to enjoy today. From God's children in Judah to God's Son in Jerusalem, to us as his children today, God says, I know the plans I have for you. Nehemiah often I think might be seen as a chapter that doesn't have a lot of value because it's just lists and numbers. But let's remember this: it reminds us that every individual is important, that families are important, and that the work they did was valuable. And it also makes a statement on identity. Just as genealogy and identity defined who had certain access to certain responsibilities in Israel, so does our spiritual identity with Christ today. In Galatians 3, 26, it says this. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs. And God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. That's our identity, not based on our ethnicity, our role, or our gender. It's based on who we are in Christ, loved, set apart, and defined by Him. Dear one, when you embrace who God says you are, changes everything. It lives deeper than any title, role, position, or orientation. You are not defined by your past, performance, or circumstances, but by your life in him, or rather, his life in you. Your identity in Christ is a gift to receive. It's not earned, it's just offered. And it answers the question, who am I? With a truth our hearts actually recognize. You have infinite value because you are loved by Him. You're not an outsider because you are adopted into His family with full membership rights. And you're free, empowered by Him to live into all He has placed in you because you are forgiven and loved. You have purpose, you have access to God, and you are His light in this world. And when we stand in that and have confidence in our identity, it removes the lies of competition and comparison and brings the joy of celebrating how God has made others. Yes, I know we still live in a world that would love to define us differently. And in order to live into our identity, we need to continually replace the lies of our world with the truth of Scripture. It's important for us to stay connected to the one who made us and know what he says of us. We need a community that will encourage us. And just like rebuilding a city, we know that spiritual growth is a process with the Holy Spirit and it happens from the inside out. Your identity is the truest thing about you. Amen. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who may be wrestling with who they are. And I encourage you to spend some time this week writing down what Scripture says is true about you. Just Google what does Scripture say is true about me? And look up those verses. If you would like to continue this walk with me through Nehemiah because you've learned something or already discovered more about what your Bible has to say, just subscribe to Moments to Ponder, and I'd love to have you join me.