Nehemiah 7-10: Built To Be Together

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We read Nehemiah 7–10 and watch God rebuild more than a wall as the people organize, listen to Scripture for hours, confess sin, and commit together to live God’s way. We wrestle with what it means to follow Jesus in community, to learn God’s heart through his Word, and to find people who will walk out obedience with us. 
• why our walk with Jesus cannot be isolated 
• how Nehemiah honors the community behind the rebuild 
• why genealogies and records matter for identity and integrity 
• Ezra reading the Law aloud and teachers helping people understand 
• conviction, tears, and the command to choose joy and generosity 
• the festival of shelters rediscovered and practiced with great joy 
• confession, worship, and a sweeping retelling of Israel’s history 
• what God’s mercy and justice reveal about his character 
• a written covenant with real-life promises and responsibilities 
• questions to reflect on about who shares your commitment to live biblically 

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Transcript

Honoring The People Who Built

Genealogies And Who Belongs

Ezra Reads The Law Aloud

Joy Of The Lord Is Strength

Festival Of Shelters Restored

Confession And Public Worship

Israel’s Story Of Mercy And Rebellion

A Written Covenant Of Obedience

Why Biblical History Shapes Faith

SPEAKER_00 0:11

This is the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast, and this is Mike. Thanks so much for joining me here as we read the Bible together. It's uh I think it's a really important thing to read the Bible in the context of community. And I get it, I'm not like in the car with you right now. We're not sitting next to each other and and reading this out loud, working through it together exactly, but we have this sense of community of like, hey, this is not something that we can that we just do on our own. Our our walk with Jesus is not a solo thing. And yeah, there's there's great times and great opportunities to to spend just one-on-one time with Jesus and and just kind of your own quiet time, private time, whatever you call it. Like that's great, and that's important too. But we can't allow ourselves to get isolated as we go through this work of learning God's heart through his word and applying it to our lives. We have to do this in community. That's the way God built it. As you read the, especially the last half of the book of Ephesians, Paul there is talking about God revealing his mysterious plan to actually build a whole body that is the church and that's people all together, Gentiles and Jews alike coming together to work together to be the body of Christ, which is pretty wild, but this is the plan. It's the plan to do this together. And this idea of community is really the heartbeat behind this uh next section of the book of Nehemiah. As we've been reading in Nehemiah, uh, the wall has been built. That was a very important project for God's people. And uh it the city of Jerusalem represented God's presence among his people. And when its walls were in ruin, then there was plenty of reason for people around, the onlookers, to think very poorly of God. And uh Nehemiah didn't want that, the people didn't want that, so they got together and they rebuilt the wall. They had to come overcome a lot of obstacles, as we mentioned last time. Um, and now it's been done. But there's still more book of Nehemiah to look at here, and there's still more developments to come. But we're gonna look today at Nehemiah giving honor to the community that was involved in this project. In the book of The Rubble and the Wall, I mentioned that God may have called Nehemiah alone to do the work, but he did not call him to do the work alone. Same goes to you. God may have called you alone to do something in the kingdom, but he did not call for you to do it alone. Let's see the power of community unfold here in Nehemiah 7, and we'll read through chapter 10. Now I will say in this section there's a lot of just names or family names and numbers of people. Uh as it's been chronicled here. I'm not going to read all of those. I'll save you some of the monotony and repetition, and I'll summarize where it's appropriate. And of course, we'll slow down and zoom in where there's some story to tell, and we'll go through this section like that. So this is Nehemiah 7 through 10 in the New English translation. When the wall had been rebuilt, and I had positioned the doors and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, and then I put in charge over Jerusalem my brother Hanani, and Hananiah, the chief of the citadel, for he was a faithful man, and feared God more than many do. I said to them, The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them, position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes. Now the city was spread out and large, and there were not a lot of people in it. At that time houses had not been rebuilt. And my God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, the officials, and the ordinary people so that they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records of those who had formerly returned, and here's what I found written in that record. These are the people of the province who returned from the captivity of the exiles, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city. They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Remeah, Nehemani, Mordecai, Bilshon, Mispereth, Bigveh, Nehum, and Bana. The number of Israelite men was as follows. And here's a list of a bunch of descendants of various men and families, and their numbers. We're talking thousands, but not hundreds of thousands. One little detail here is from among the priests, the descendants of Hobea, the descendants of Hakaz, and the descendants of Barzali, who had married a woman from the daughters of Barzali the Gileadite and was called by that name. Barzali the Gileadite also, by the way, comes up in 2 Samuel 17 through 19, as King David was trying to flee from the uh the takeover of his son Absalom. Barzali the Gileadite was faithful to David and provided him with supplies, and grew to be an old man and was invited back to live in the kingdom when David was returning to be king, and Barzali said, Ah, no, I'm too old for that, but here, let some of my family come live with you. And so that's Barzali, and here he comes up again. Uh in now, continuing in verse 64, they searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but none were found. That's a problem. They were therefore excluded from the priesthood. The governor instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thumim. That was the priestly way of determining from God what was true and what was not. The entire group numbered forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty. So, now in chapter eight. When the seventh month arrived, and the Israelites were settled in their towns, all the people gathered together in the plaza, which was in front of the water gate, and they asked Ezra, the scribe, remember Ezra, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which included men and women, and all those able to understand what they heard. And this happened on the first day of the seventh month. And he read it before the plaza, in front of the water gate, from dawn until noon, before the men and women and the children who could understand. All the people were eager to hear the book of the law. Check it out, it's an out loud Bible experience. He stands up on a stage and reads. How would you like to listen to the Word of God read, not just the Word of God, the Law of Moses read out loud, from sunrise until noon? We're talking four, five, six hours. How long how long are you willing to stand and listen to the Bible? Maybe we should make one of these episodes five hours long and see how it is. No, we won't do that. Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform constructed for this purpose. Standing near him on his right were Matathiah, Shima, Anea, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Messea, and on his left were Pedeah, Mishael, Malkaijah, Hashem, Hashbanada, Zechariah, and Meshelam. Ezra opened the book in plain view of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people, and when he opened the book, all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people replied, Amen, Amen, as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Jeshua, Bani, Sherubiah, Jamin, Akab, Shabbatai, Hodiah, Messeah, Kelitah, Azariah, Josebad, Hanan, and Peleah, all of whom were Levites, were teaching the people the law as the people remained standing. They read from the book of God's law, explaining it and imparting insight, and thus the people gained understanding from what was read. I I I know I probably geek out about this more than other people might, but how amazing is it that it's being read out loud and everyone is their attention is just wrapped up in the reading of God's word, and now you have Bible teachers who are coming along and explaining how to understand what the Bible is, and everyone there is gaining understanding. They're not just like, oh, I'm bored, I don't know what's going on. Everyone gained understanding from the reading of God's word, as it was as it was read from a literal stage. Amazing, amazing event. Okay, I know, I gotta move on. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priestly scribe, and the Levites, who were imparting understanding to the people, said to all of them, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Don't mourn or weep, because all of the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. And he said to them, Go and eat the delicacies and drink sweet drinks, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Don't grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Then the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be quiet, for this day is holy, don't grieve. So all the people departed to eat and drink, and to share their food with others, and to enjoy tremendous joy, for they had gained insight into the matters that had been made known to them. On the second day of the month the family leaders met with Ezra the scribe, together with all the peoples, the priests and the Levites, to consider the words of the law. They discovered written in the law that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, and that they should make a proclamation and disseminate this message in all their cities and in Jerusalem, go to the hill country and bring back olive branches and branches of wild olive trees, myrtle trees, date palms, and other leafy trees to construct temporary shelters, as it's written. So, all the people went out and brought these things back, and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard, and in the courtyards of the temple of God, and in the plaza of the water gate, and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate. So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed temporary shelters and lived in them. The Ezraelites had not done so from the days of Joshua, son of Nun until that day. Everyone experienced very great joy. Ezra read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last, and they observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly as was required. On the twenty fourth day of the same month the Israelites assembled. They were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. For one fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins and worshipping the Lord their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Binui, Cadmiel, Shaniah, Buni, Sherobiah, Bani, and Kanani, stood on the steps and called out loudly to the Lord their God. The Levites, Jeshua, Cadmiel, Bani, Hashbenea, Sherubiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the Lord your God. May you be blessed, O Lord our God from age to age. May your glorious name be blessed, may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, along with their multitude of stars, the earth and all that's on it, the seas and all that's in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. You are the Lord God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham, and when you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a covenant with him to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Gergeshites, and you have fulfilled your promise, for you're righteous. You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. You performed awesome signs against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians had acted presumptuously against them. You made for yourself a name that's celebrated to this day. You split the sea before them, and they crossed through the sea on dry ground, but you threw their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into surging waters. You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illuminate for them the path they were to travel. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. You made known to them your holy Sabbath. You issued commandments, statues, and laws to them through Moses your servant. You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. But they, our ancestors, behaved presumptuously. They rebelled and they didn't obey your commandments. They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a god of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry, and unfailing in your love. You didn't abandon them. Even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said this is the god who brought you up from Egypt, or when they committed atrocious blasphemies. Due to your great compassion, you did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. You imparted your good spirit to instruct them. You didn't withhold your mana from their mouths, you provided water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them. Even in the wilderness they never lacked anything. Their clothes didn't wear out, and their feet didn't swell. You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess. And their descendants entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were inhabitants of the land, you delivered them into their hand, together with the kings and the peoples of the land to deal with as they pleased. They captured fortified cities and fertile land, they took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things, wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness. But nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you. They disregarded your law. They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies, and therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from their adversaries. Then when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. And when they cried out to you in your compassion, you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again, and you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and didn't obey your commandments, and they sinned against your ordinances, those by which an individual, if he obeys them, will live. They boldly turned from you, and they rebelled and didn't obey. You prolonged your kindness with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your spirit through your prophets, and they still paid no attention. So you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. However, due to your abundant mercy, you did not do away with them altogether, you didn't abandon them, for you're a merciful and compassionate God. So now, God, the great, powerful, and awesome God who keeps covenant fidelity, do not regard as inconsequential all the hardship that's been fallen us. Our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day. You're righteous with regard to all that's happened to us, for you've acted faithfully. It's we who have been in the wrong. Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They've not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you've solemnly admonished them, even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible goodness that you had lavished on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices. So today, yeah, we're slaves. In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy its good things, we are slaves. Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, and we're in great distress. Because of all of this, we're entering into a binding covenant in written form. Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names on the sealed document. On the sealed document were the following names Nehemiah, the governor, son of Hakaliah, along with Zedekiah, Sariah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pasher, and the names go on and on from there. Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all of those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand, hereby participate with their colleagues, the town leaders, and enter into a curse and an oath to adhere to the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, along with his ordinances and statutes. We will not give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring people, and we will not take their daughters in marriage for our sons, we will not buy on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. By the way, take note of the things they're promising here. This is going to come up again next time we read Nehemiah. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan. We will accept responsibility for fulfilling the commands to give one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple of our God, for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings, to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work at the temple of our God. We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it's written in the law. We also accept responsibility for bringing the firstfruits of our land, and the firstfruits of every fruit tree every year to the temple of the Lord. We also accept responsibility, as is written in our law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God. We will also bring the first of our course meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine and of olive oil to the priests in the storerooms of the temple of our Lord, along with a tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. A priest of Aaron's line will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with all the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God. Signed everybody. Well, we'll see how that turns out. But chapter nine was wow, what a beautiful history of the nation of Israel and God's relationship with his people. I mean, if you if you didn't read any of the Old Testament, you could just read Nehemiah chapter nine and get the SparkNotes version of it. And that is the importance of knowing your Bible, knowing biblical history. Now you may not be a Jew, okay, but if you are a person of God, if you are a God follower, you need to know how God has extended his heart to his people. What kind of God is this God that you follow? It's the kind of God who is merciful and patient, but does not let sin go unpunished. He always gives warning, he always gives a way out, but he does not let things go indefinitely. He's good, he's gracious, he's merciful, he is a God of abundance. He gave the best land and abundance and great great wealth and resources to his people. But we also get to learn a little bit about ourselves when we realize that when we get comfortable, we take for granted what God has done, and we end up drifting away. From the time that God called a nation to himself, he had always planned on Israel being an example of what it is to be with God, but Israel. The name itself means he who wrestles with God, and they did not realize how much they would be an example often of what not to do, but yet we still see the unchanging qualities of God that are true today. Think back about what God has done in your life. Do you see similar parallels to the lives of Israel and their relationship with God? Thinking back on our history in our relationship with God should cause us to want to repent and strive for holiness and not drift from God anymore. Are we going to be perfect? No. But his patience is just so that we have more time to get right with him. And we're not meant to do this alone. Who do you have around you who would sign a similar promise or covenant like Nehemiah did with the people around him? Not saying you have to follow this thing, and we certainly aren't beholden to all of the Old Testament laws like they were at the time. But who around you is willing to live biblically like you, who are willing to read the Word of God and say, yep, that's the way we're going to live? Find those people, strengthen those people, commit to God with those people, and just see what God does in your community. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day.