WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.800 Amen. 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:01.760 Thank you, Sam. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:03.359 Morning, everybody. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:05.360 My name is Matt. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:07.599 I'm one of the associate pastors here. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:13.199 And this morning we get to begin a new series in the book of Nehemiah. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:15.679 Nehemiah is an Old Testament book. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:21.760 Someone in the first service told me they have never heard of the book of Nehemiah. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.320 That gets me so excited. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.120 Because I love starting a new series, jumping into an Old Testament book. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:37.280 So whether you've never heard of it or you've read it a hundred times, we have the privilege to jump into this beautiful Old Testament book. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:45.200 But depending on where you're coming from, we need some background. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:53.600 I thought about uh if you're unfamiliar with the book, uh it's like when you go to a movie and uh it's like a sequel or something. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:57.439 Um like the Marvel movies back in the day. 00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:59.200 I love the Marvel movies. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:07.439 Um during COVID, we watched all of them again in order uh to uh to the big climax in Endgame. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.280 And uh it's so funny. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:20.480 Uh the uh there's the 21 movies that come before Endgame, and so if you want to know what's happening in Endgame, you have to watch those in order. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:22.400 Um not really. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:34.319 You can go to the movie and you might you'd enjoy it, but you'd have questions, you know, and you might miss things like when Captain America catches Thor's hammer at the climax of the final battle at the end of the movie. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:39.920 This is this is one of the high points of my cinema uh experience as an adult. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:52.719 When I was in the movie theater, uh the day this came out, watching the movie, when when Captain America catches this hammer at the climax of this battle, the theater erupted in cheers and clapping. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:59.519 And I've seen, you may have seen online there's like memes or like little videos of the like people across the world, right? 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:00.159 Why? 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:01.680 Why are they standing and cheering? 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.959 Because they've watched 21 movies of a story climaxing in this moment. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:16.719 And uh so if you're unfamiliar with uh the book of Nehemiah, you might miss, you may not stand up and cheer three or four weeks from now when we hit a point in the story. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:21.199 So we're gonna start up, I mean, as we should, as we should. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.479 So uh part of the sermon is just background. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:33.759 I want to fill you in on where this book comes in the story and the flow of the history of redemption, and also a little bit about uh the man it's named after. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:41.919 So uh this story, Nehemiah, begins at the end of what is known as the exilic period, the period of exile. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:43.120 But how did we get here? 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.520 So here's a brief timeline, the history of Israel. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:52.080 Around 1800 BC, God comes to Abraham and he sets his family apart as the people of God. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:59.840 About 1300 BC, God comes to Moses at Mount Sinai, calls him, informs the nation of Israel. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:05.599 About 1,000 BC, King David is anointed as the second king over Israel. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:19.759 About 80 years later, that kingdom, the kingdom of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel that God gave the promised land to, it splits in civil war into the uh the northern kingdom known as Israel and the southern kingdom known as Judah. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:29.280 About 200 years later, the northern kingdom of Israel is defeated and kind of wiped off the map by the foreign kingdom of Assyria. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:50.080 And about 150 years later, the southern kingdom of Judah is attacked by uh Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, if you recognize that name, comes and uh destroys the southern kingdom, destroys the city of Jerusalem, destroys the temple that Solomon built, the center of Jewish worship. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:57.120 Many are taken from uh Judah, the the the elite, the educated, the wealthy. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:00.479 They're taken into exile, into the kingdom of Babylon. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:06.240 That's where, if you're familiar with the book of Daniel, he's one of those exiles, the ones who's taken out. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:13.439 Uh about a hundred years later, Babylon itself is defeated by the kingdom of Persia. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.000 King Cyrus is king of Persia at that time. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:22.000 You read, uh we'll read King Cyrus' name throughout the book in the book of Nehemiah. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:26.480 Now, Persia's kind of foreign policy was sort of the opposite of Babylon. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:34.959 Babylon would conquer a nation and would would take the elites of society and try to assimilate them into Babylonian culture. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:37.920 Again, if you read the book of Daniel, that's what's happening. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.800 Um Persia's uh perspective was the opposite. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:47.839 They thought it was easier to rule people if you let them worship their own gods. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:59.600 So uh King Cyrus, we're told in the book of Ezra, was moved by the Lord to send the people of Israel back and to fund the rebuilding of the temple and the city of Jerusalem and the wall around it. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:04.240 So the first wave of Israelites returned to Jerusalem around 539. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:10.639 They begin rebuilding the temple, and this is the time of Haggai and Zechariah, the minor prophets in the Old Testament. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:15.439 Little less than a hundred years after that, Ezra is sent to Jerusalem. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:20.959 That's the book just before Nehemiah, about 14 years before Nehemiah himself is sent. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.639 So that's where we are starting in 445 BC. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:29.040 So let's look at Nehemiah chapter 1. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.759 The words of Nehemiah, son of Hakalia. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:58.639 Now it happened in the month, month of Kislev, in the twelfth year, as I was in Susa, the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem, and they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:04.399 The walls of Jerusalem, the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:12.480 As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and I mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the Lord of heaven. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:22.079 And I said, O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:36.319 Let your ear be attentive and your eye open to hear the prayer of your servant, that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel, your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.879 Even I and my father's house have sinned. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:45.920 We have acted very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments and the statutes and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:53.519 Remember the words that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:07:07.199 But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though you your dispersed be un under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:13.199 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and your strong hand. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:27.279 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and came to mercy in the sight of this man. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:30.240 Now I was a cupbearer to the king. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:31.839 The word of the Lord. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.319 Did you notice in Nehemiah's prayer? 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:37.920 Oh, sorry, point one. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.839 Nehemiah enters God's unfolding story of redemption. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.240 You don't want to miss that. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:53.120 Did you notice in Nehemiah's prayer that he calls on the Lord to remember the word he had spoken to Moses? 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:00.399 Now, Nehemiah is calling the Lord to remember the covenant that God made with his people at Mount Sinai. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.959 We talked about that briefly in the timeline. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.680 The Old Testament is really a history of a series of covenants. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:22.160 God made a covenant with Abraham, he made a covenant with Moses, he made a covenant with David, and they all kind of build on each other until they climax into the new covenant that Jeremiah foretells and that Jesus brings into existence. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:32.320 But what we see here in Nehemiah's prayer is that everything that happens in this book, everything that is happening to the nation of Israel is happening within the context of this covenant. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:37.279 Because the covenant was the grounds of the relationship God had with his people. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:45.200 And in that covenant, he gave them, he told them the law, and he said, If you keep my law, I will bless you. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.080 If you break my law, if you fail to keep my law, I will curse you. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:56.320 Everything that happens to God's people happens in the context of this covenant. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:03.360 So Nehemiah recounts in verse 8, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.360 And this is exactly what had happened. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:13.919 About 70 or 80 years prior to this, God had scattered his people through the destruction of Assyria in the north and Babylon to the south. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:22.240 If you're familiar with the Old Testament prophets, especially Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, this is what they were all about. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:28.320 They were calling God's people to be faithful to the covenant of God. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:33.440 And they were calling God to be merciful to this unfaithful people. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:43.360 But unfortunately, if you're familiar with those books and the history of Israel, God's people did not remain faithful, and so they were sent into exile. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:45.360 But the Lord goes on. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:58.240 He said, If you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:04.080 Now this part of Deuteronomy has also already begun to take place. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:17.360 In Ezra chapter 1, we're told that King Cyrus, the king of Persia, who defeated Babylon, had begun to send Israelites back to the land to rebuild the temple, to rebuild the city. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:20.960 Two waves have had already returned. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:26.960 One a hundred years before and one fourteen years before with Ezra. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:34.000 The temple, like I said, had been rebuilt, but the rebuilding of the city and the wall around Jerusalem had stymied. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:40.080 It had been it had been cut short because of opposition they were experiencing by others in the land. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:42.720 And so now, this is a context. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:57.679 Nehemiah receives this word from his brother and his companions, and he he weeps because God's promise of redemption, of returning his people to the land and restoring their place there, and restoring the city and the worship has been cut short. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:00.080 And so he is heartbroken. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:05.440 The remnant, they said, who had survived the exile, are in great trouble and shame. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:10.000 He hears that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and the cate, the gates are destroyed. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:11.600 And so he is moved. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:18.159 He weeps bitterly, he mourns for days, he fasts and prays before the Lord. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:20.799 And this shows us a lot about who this man is. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:28.159 Brings us to point too that Nehemiah, in this story, he is a new Moses for the people of God. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:35.039 In response to this heartbreaking news, he fasts, he prays, he mourns, and he cries out to the Lord in prayer. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:37.759 And we learn a ton about him through this prayer. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:38.399 What do we learn? 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:42.639 First, he is in the position of great influence, just as Moses was. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.559 We'll talk about that more in a second. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:49.440 He becomes aware of the suffering and distress of God's people, and he is heartbroken. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:52.559 And he cries out to the Lord on the people's behalf. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:57.200 He repents of sins, his own sins, and the sins of the people. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.759 He calls on the Lord to remember his covenant. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:07.360 And he begins to fill this place of one who will lead his people, God's people, back to the promised land. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:15.519 And spoiler alert, he will ultimately fail to bring the people all the way back to the Lord in obedience from the heart. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:19.519 And we will leave this book waiting for another. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:26.320 Now, all these things connect Nehemiah to Moses, but there's two other things I want us to note before we move on. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:32.080 First is that Nehemiah himself is raised up by the Lord to this task before him. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:40.720 In chapter two, he will tell us that it was the Lord who moved him, put it in his heart to do what he is about to do. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:48.720 Secondly, in this story that's unfolding around him, he realizes that he has a part to play. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.679 I love the way this book ends. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:13:02.320 And if you're paying attention and reading this narrative coming out, you get this glimpse at the end of the prayer that we are reading a story told by a master storyteller. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:09.200 Because he starts off by giving us this background that he's in Persia. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.360 His brother comes with these companions. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.480 He asks, right? 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:16.799 This is not the internet, there's no texting, uh, there's not even like a newspaper. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:28.080 So um takes years to get word, and so he asks them what's going on in the home country, and he learns that the people are full of shame, they are in distress, and so he is heartbroken. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:28.960 And he prays. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:33.919 And at the end of the prayer, he says, This, O Lord, give success to your servant. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:35.600 Success for what? 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.960 Grant him mercy in the sight of this man. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:40.879 Well, who is this man? 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.120 And then he gives us the last line of the chapter. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.440 He says, Now I was cut bearer to the king. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:54.159 Aha! Oh, it's like this unveiling, it's this reveal, this great reveal at the end. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:57.679 Why didn't he tell us he could have told us that at the beginning, but he waits. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:59.440 He builds this tension. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:10.480 We feel his grief and his anxiety for the people, but with this word, he reveals that he is a man in a place of incredible power and influence. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:15.440 Every day he is at the side of the king, and he puts his life at risk for the king. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.000 The king trusts him with his life. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:23.840 Nehemiah tastes the food, he drinks out of the cup of the king to make sure it's not poisoned. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:30.559 So he has incredible, he's in a place of incredible influence, power, and trust. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:32.480 Point three. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.799 We too are being called into God's redemptive story. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:53.600 Now I want to be careful here because these Old Testament stories sometimes, especially when we tell them to our kids or do Bible stories, we tell them like uh little moralistic tales or fairy tales, and you know, be like David or be like Ezekiel or whoever, be like Nehemiah. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.919 And that's that the morals of these stories that are not the point. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.879 Uh these this is not our story, this is God's story. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:04.320 And so he's the main character, and the focus needs to remain on him. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:06.320 Point one A. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:16.399 Point two is we can also learn from looking at these Old Testament characters, these Old Testament forefathers and four mothers in the faith. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.000 So, what can we learn from observing Nehemiah here? 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.159 Well, first, Nehemiah cares about more than just himself, or even more than just his family. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:32.559 He is moved by the plight of God's people and the glory of God's name among the nations. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:43.600 Second, even in the midst of suffering and oppression, Nehemiah confesses that the Lord's covenant faithfulness and his uh steadfast love for his people. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:44.000 Right? 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:51.279 The common view of the day is like, well, if we got defeated by the Persians or the Babylonians, their gods are stronger than our gods. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:57.440 But God had been very clear that Yahweh was the God of the whole world and all the nations. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:03.440 And so even though they were living under oppression, Yahweh still reigned above all. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:11.919 He was quick to confess his sins as well as the sins of the people, which is a fascinating thing to think about. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:18.720 That he he was he came before the people as a representative of the people to confess their sins. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:25.759 And so in so doing, he is throwing himself and the community at the Lord's feet and asking for mercy. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:34.080 He's not standing before the Lord and and calling out out of his righteousness, oh Lord, we are righteous, therefore, act on our behalf. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:38.480 Rather, he says, Lord, we are sinful, we have failed to keep your covenant. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.799 And yet you are the God who is faithful and full of steadfast love. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.159 He calls on the Lord's mercy and his grace. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:53.519 And he calls on the Lord to hear and to see this uh the situation and act in line with his word. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:54.320 Right? 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:59.200 As he he's throughout the prayer, he quotes Deuteronomy in four different places. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:01.200 And he says, Lord, remember your word. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:10.480 Yes, we have failed to keep your covenant, but you told us that if we would return to you, if we would repent of our sins, that you would come and you would redeem us. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:17.359 And in all of this, Nehemiah realizes that he has a part to play in this unfolding story. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:23.759 He's not just an observer, but that the Lord has placed him here for such a time as this. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:34.799 And what I love about this story is that it teaches us to ask the question where's God placed me in his unfolding story? 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:35.759 Right? 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:45.279 The Bible begins at creation and it ends with the new creation, the creation of the new heavens and the new earth when this earth and these heavens pass away. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.799 And so the story of the Bible encompasses us. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.079 We exist within the story. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.279 And I believe that God calls each and every one of us. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:59.519 When he calls us to himself, he calls us into his story. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:02.319 And it reminds me of this awesome old movie. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.839 If you're my age, it's you know classic, the never-ending story. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.200 You guys anybody remember? 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.480 Never-ending story? 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:09.920 No, no one? 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.759 Come on, interaction. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.640 Um I'm not alone in this room, am I? 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:15.279 All right. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.799 This is this awesome. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:42.559 It's a story about this kid, you know, preteen or some young kid, who finds a book in an attic and he starts reading it, and there's this big storm going on outside, and it's an adventure story, and he really gets wrapped up in the story and he gets all involved in it until at one point he realizes it's not just a story, it's not just a written-down story, but it's it's a it's a real story that's happening right now, and he actually gets drawn into the story. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.279 He becomes a character in the story. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.400 He meets the people in the story and what's unfolding. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:53.279 And I believe this is exactly this is a metaphor for the scriptures. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:00.720 God is telling us of this epic adventure story that takes place from creation to the new creation. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.680 A battle of good versus evil, of redemption, of love, of sacrifice. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:11.039 And he says, You, my beloved child, have a part to play. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:20.720 Jesus taught his disciples that even the poorest widow could bring glory to God in a small act of faithfulness that almost no one would notice. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:34.400 Do you remember that story when Jesus is with his disciples in the temple, and all the rich and and the marvelous people are bringing their tithes and their offerings, and then finally this little old widow uh drops her two pennies in. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:38.960 Probably no one else noticed, no one else wanted to notice, but Jesus notices. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.519 And he says to his disciples, Do you see this one? 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.920 Everyone else gave out of their plenty, she gave out of her want. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.799 She's given more than anyone else. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:55.759 In that moment, Jesus taught us that there is no small part. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.400 Oh, that's stupid saying, there's no small parts, there's only small actors, right? 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:12.880 Um each one of us, no matter where we are, no matter what our education level, our economic status, our race, our gender, God can use us in his story. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.000 And so where have you been placed? 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.000 Where is your influence? 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:26.079 Maybe it's just your children, maybe it's a whole company, maybe it's uh a political system, maybe it's just your friends. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:33.200 But God has placed you to take part in an unfolding story of redemption, and he has something for you to do. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:35.039 This is God's grace to you. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.880 He didn't need to include us, and yet he absolutely does. 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:44.559 Now, what's true about Nehemiah and Moses and us is that we ultimately fall short. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:51.519 No matter how hard we try, no matter how righteousness, how righteous we try to be, we fall short. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:55.680 Moses never stepped foot in the promised land. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:03.359 Nehemiah, while he was able to finish the building of the wall, he was not able to heal the hearts of God's people. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:11.920 And that brings us to our final point, which is that Jesus is the perfect and the better Nehemiah. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:19.200 Now, Jesus uh Nehemiah gives us a beautiful picture of a man who loves the Lord and loves God's people. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:25.599 But no matter how hard he tried, and he tries real hard, in fact, I think he crosses the line a couple times. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:30.240 He's not someone we necessarily want to emulate if you read through the end of the book. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:36.000 He kind of, you know, he gets fed up with people and he rips their hair out and beats them up. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:40.400 Not something we're not something we're gonna model here at Redeemer. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.440 But it's something we can relate with, right? 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.599 How many times have I yelled at my kids and then had to go and apologize? 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.839 Noah, keep keep your mouth shut. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:54.640 Um we know that we fall short. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:59.759 Um but just like Nehemiah, just like Moses, Jesus. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.319 Jesus comes in and he is the perfect mediator. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:10.079 He was born into a particular place and line of influence. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.680 His heart was broken for the plight of God's people. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:21.200 He owned and confessed their sins, and he leads us into the new and everlasting promised land. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:32.240 And unlike Nehemiah, Jesus is able to heal our hearts so that we can actually love God from the heart and live out of a redeemed heart. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:39.119 In Nehemiah's prayer, we saw that he is calling God to remember his promises from Deuteronomy. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:49.039 And one of those promises, God says, You know, I've scattered you to the four winds, but wherever my people are, I can gather them back to the place where my name dwells. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:56.000 The next verse that Nehemiah doesn't quote, listen, listen to this verse from Deuteronomy chapter 30. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.480 This is the continuation of that promise. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:10.720 He says, And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:17.839 And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and the enemies who persecuted you. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:19.440 Now this is actually true. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:25.599 God did pour out judgment on the nation of Assyria and the nation of Babylon, the nation of Persia. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:35.839 But this speaks to a day in the future when the better Nehemiah, the better Moses would come, when Jesus came and he took our sins on himself. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:41.440 He took the curses of the covenant and our failures on himself and he took them to the cross. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:44.160 And he died there on the cross for our sins. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.839 He entered the grave, and on the third day he rose again to newness of life. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:57.759 And he says to us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, if you will put your faith in me, then we become one. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:59.119 We are united to Christ. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:01.200 We are united with him in his death. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:06.000 We're united with him in his burial, and we're united with him in his resurrection. 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:15.200 And in that resurrection, we are given new life, circumcised hearts, so that we can love the Lord our God from the heart. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.200 And we can live, live out of those redeemed hearts. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:22.720 So, beloved, Jesus is the hero. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.319 He is the new and better Nehemiah. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:31.039 He is the one who will truly lead us into the eternal promised land. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.119 We follow him, we look to him. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:44.480 But even as we do, and even as we fall short every day, he calls us to walk with him in faithfulness out of this renewed heart of love. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:50.640 Like Nehemiah, you have a part to play in God's unfolding story of redemption. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:25:05.440 And as we go through this book, my prayer is that we will be swept up in this story and inspired and encouraged to go and to leave this place and to ask the Lord, how is it that you would have me play my part today and this week? 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:07.599 Beloved, let's pray for that. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:09.920 Lord, we love you. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:13.440 Lord, you didn't have to tell the story this way. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:19.440 Lord, we're often confused by the way you do tell the story, but this is good news. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:21.359 You have saved us. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:27.279 You've saved us by grace, not because of the good works we have done, but you've had mercy on us. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:29.440 And you call us to take part. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.720 We have a part to play. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.200 Lord, what is that part for each and every one of us? 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:34.480 Would you tell us? 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:43.519 Would you open our eyes and our ears to see you, to hear you, to see what you're doing around us, so that we can take part in that very good work? 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:45.200 We ask in Jesus' name. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:45.920 Amen.