WEBVTT 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.160 Now we're going to dive into Nehemiah. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:10.560 Before we dive into Nehemiah, though, I want to kind of set a precedent. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:16.399 This is an Old Testament book that's kind of in the middle of a lot that's going on. 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:33.359 And so we're going to take this first sermon and we're going to spend a hefty amount of time on the historical context of Nehemiah so we get a good understanding of what's going on, why are we here and why are we caring about this person named Nehemiah? 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:42.399 And then I'm going to go kind of short devotional in the exegetical portion where we look at Nehemiah 1, 1 through 11 here. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:48.719 But then that should set the scene and context predominantly for the rest of the book, right? 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.280 So the one of the reasons why we do sermon series through entire books of the Bible is because we're not trying to get it all done in this sermon. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:05.680 We're going to set the scene, we're going to build some context, and then we're going to push out into all that God has for us in this Old Testament book. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:13.280 So as we approach Nehemiah, chapter 1, and we have to ask ourselves one question. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:15.599 How did we end up here? 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:16.719 Right? 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:18.159 How did we end up here? 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:31.760 How do we end up with this man named Nehemiah who is getting this report from one of his brothers that the walls of Jerusalem have crumbled and that its gates are burned to the ground? 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:39.680 This is a report that Nehemiah gets, and then his response to it, we're going to press into in the actual uh preaching portion. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.319 But as we understand, how did we actually end up here? 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.519 Who is Nehemiah? 00:01:48.640 --> 00:02:03.439 Simply put, for the information that we have so far in chapter one, Nehemiah is an exiled Israelite who is the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I of Persia. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:05.439 So there's a lot in that statement there, right? 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:08.080 What does it mean to be an exiled Israelite? 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:10.639 What does it mean that he's a cupbearer? 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.240 Who is Artaxerxes? 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.199 What is Persia, right? 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.479 All these kinds of questions. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:23.840 What we have to understand is first, that statement, he's an Israelite in exile, or he's an exiled Israelite. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.319 What does that statement mean? 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:31.840 For us to understand that, we really have to go all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:54.960 And we have to look at something Moses wrote down in Deuteronomy's chapters 28 through 30, where he's prophesying over Israelite as God's mouthpiece, uh to that that he's prophesying judgment upon Israel, and he's promising future blessing all in kind of the same fell swoop. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:55.439 Okay? 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.319 So this is Deuteronomy chapters 28 through 30. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:06.000 Moses prophesies the judgment of God that produces this dispersion, this state of exile. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.680 And along with that, the mercy of God. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:17.919 So the judgment of God produces the dispersion, but the mercy of God gathers them back into himself after a period of time. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:22.800 So let's look through kind of, we're not gonna read all of Deuteronomy 28 through 30. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.120 I'm gonna give you kind of the the highlights of this prophecy. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:30.719 So first let's look at Deuteronomy 28, verse 45. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:33.039 Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 45. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:37.840 Uh, this is Moses speaking, prophesying on behalf of God to the people of Israel. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:45.599 All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:46.560 Why? 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:53.840 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:01.199 All right, so so God's gonna inflict judgment to destroy Israel, and he gives us the reason. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.960 Uh because they were unfaithful. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.120 They did not keep his commandments and statutes. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.960 That's kind of the motivating factor uh for God. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:23.040 In 2849, he continues, uh, the Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation's whose language you do not understand. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.480 So so again, God's gonna bring judgment upon them. 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:28.480 How is that judgment gonna come? 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.480 So he's already promised that it's coming. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:36.240 He's given us the reason why it's coming, and now he's communicating to Israel how it's gonna take place. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:42.959 A foreign nation whose tongue you do not even understand is going to swoop in and destroy you. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:52.240 What they're doing, fundamentally, is they are being used to inflict the judgment of God upon his people. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.879 Let's understand God's sovereignty in this. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:59.680 Let's understand God's will in this and his good pleasure. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.639 He he is inflicting that upon his people. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:07.120 Then we read in uh Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 64. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:11.759 And the Lord will scatter you, so this is this dispersion, right? 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:24.639 The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.160 Uh so so again, look at look at the sovereignty of God. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:47.199 He's gonna bring judgment, he's gonna destroy Israel through a foreign nation, he's gonna cause this dispersion, and in that he is going to permit their hearts to be given over to false gods and idols uh that have no power to save them or redeem them. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:49.199 Now we continue. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.120 This sounds great, doesn't it? 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:57.120 If if we're gonna start opening up the floor to prophecy at Sacred Mission Church, let's not start here. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:02.639 That'd be a good, I would appreciate that, and I think everyone else would appreciate that in the long term. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:03.680 Let's continue though. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:06.399 Verse uh chapter 29, verses 24 through 28. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:07.439 Moses is still going. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:11.439 He's still, he's still he's still spitting bars, as they would say. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:16.480 All the nations will say, Why has the Lord done this to this land? 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:19.279 Why has the Lord done this to this land? 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:21.680 What caused the heat of this great anger? 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:25.120 So all the nations are gonna look at Israel and they're gonna ask a question. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:28.480 What in the world did they do to deserve this? 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:37.600 That that's how tragic and devastating their state will be, that the other nations will look on and say, What in the world did they do? 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:38.959 And here's the answer. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:57.680 Then people will say, It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods whom they had not known, and whom he had not allotted to them. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:04.000 Therefore, that's the reason the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:13.199 And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:14.639 As they are this day. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:21.360 So, so that this day, it predates the insertion of Nehemiah, right? 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:31.120 So that this day that Deuteronomy is talking about, it predates the point that we enter into the history of Israel with Nehemiah, who we're talking about. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:43.279 So, so they have been scattered throughout the world, they are under foreign rulers, uh, they are experiencing the judgment of God because they've abandoned his covenants and they've abandoned his commandments. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.879 Uh, but God's judgment is not the end. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:08:01.519 God being a God of steadfast love and one who does not break his covenant that he makes is going to promise in his mercy redemption for Israel. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:09.920 So not only was the judgment of God in his sovereignty, but also the blessing of God is in his sovereignty. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.879 Let's look at that in Deuteronomy 31 through 3. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:25.600 And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mine among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:33.919 So repent, turn your heart back to him, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with what? 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:38.399 With all your heart, with all your soul, and the Lord your God will do what? 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:47.360 He will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:57.519 So the sovereignty and the judgment of God is paralleled with the sovereignty and the mercy of God as he promises to gather them back in. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:04.240 Now, Nehemiah comes into play with the gathering taking place. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:14.799 That promise of God, where he said, I will bring those who have been scattered from the ends of the earth back into the land that I have given you. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:19.519 Nehemiah inserts as that has been taken place. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:20.639 That's where we're at. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:26.559 So we're in the promise of God, not in the judgment of God with Nehemiah. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:36.080 Now, the first experience of this judgment that we read about in Deuteronomy 28, it comes in the time of about 722 BC. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:46.879 And here's what happened: there was this army coming out of Assyria that invaded the northern tribes of Israel. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:10:01.440 So at the time that the Assyrians come in, Israel had been split into two kingdoms: a northern kingdom, which had the uh predominant ten tribes of Israel, and the capital of that northern kingdom was Samaria. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:09.600 Then you have the lower kingdom of Judah, which also incorporated Benjamin, and its capital was Jerusalem. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:18.240 So Israel was divided, northern kingdom, southern kingdom, Samaria the capital of the north, uh Jerusalem the capital of the south. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:30.399 In 722 BC, what happens is Assyria comes in and invades the northern capital and pushes most of the Israelites eastward. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:32.240 So they take over Samaria. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:41.200 Most of the Israelites are pushed eastward, and that's the first experience of this judgment that God delivers in Deuteronomy 28. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:51.840 Now, about 135 years later, the second experience of God's judgment happens in Jerusalem. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:58.639 Jerusalem, the capital of Judah in the south, fell to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:04.320 If you're familiar with the Bible to any measure, that name, Nebuchadnezzar, probably rings a bell, right? 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:06.080 Because it's funny and weird. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:20.159 But he was a powerful king, ruler of Babylon, and it was Babylon along with the Chaldean army who came in as allies and overtook Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:31.840 And when they had done that, the majority of the Israelites were taken into captivity and enslavement and dispersed throughout the land of Babylon. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:51.440 Now, in both occurrences in 722 BC and here in about 587 to 586 BC, there were some Israelites who remained, who remained in the Northern Territory, specifically the capital of Samaria, and who remained in the lower territory, the lower kingdom, especially in the capital of Jerusalem. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:57.519 This is important because if you're again familiar with the Bible here, we're going to help kind of unpack this. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.720 Samaria being the capital sounds a lot like what? 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:02.799 Samaritans, right? 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.279 Samaritans that we hear about in the New Testament. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:14.240 These Israelites who stayed behind and started to intermarry non-Israelite people from the surrounding nations. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:28.879 And what they would say was that they actually uh uh diminished or tainted the pure blood of so the Samaritan people to Israelites were known uh as less than human. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.120 They were referred to as dogs. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:44.240 It was even uh understood that uh they would not receive the resurrection in the life to come, that God's judgment was so on them that they would not even be beneficiaries of the resurrection. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:48.159 So the Samaritan people come out of that whole movement, okay? 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:52.720 Now, let's read 2 Kings 25, 8 through 10. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:55.679 Then we're gonna read the story of Nebuchadnezzar just real quick. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:12.559 So this is again about 135 years after the first invasion, we're in about uh 587 to 586 BC, in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, that was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:19.200 Nebuzeradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:20.320 And what did he do? 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:29.519 He burned down the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned down. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:38.000 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.240 So here's what we have in this judgment. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:56.720 Not only is the Israelite people dispersed and exiled out of their homeland, taken into captivity, but everything that they had built, everything that their identity was rooted in, was now in ashes. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:11.759 The temple that they had erected under King Solomon, where the presence of the Lord dwelt, uh where they were making sacrifices of atonement unto the Lord, where they worshiped the God of heaven and earth, was brought to ruin. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:19.679 And the walls and gates that fortified their city, that protected them, were crumbled. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:28.000 And so as they depart in captivity in exile, they look back over their shoulder at what once was. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.919 Now it's just ruins, burnt to the ground. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:45.919 In 539 BC, the king of Persia, his name was Cyrus the Great, he enters into the known land of Babylon peacefully. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:58.320 But this dude was deep, we would say, because he did not engage in any battle, but he conquered Babylon by just rolling in. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:11.120 So in peace and without engaging in battle, the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great, enters into Babylon, conquers the land, and incorporates Babylon into Persia. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:27.440 So all that was Babylon, of which the Israelites found themselves as captives under their wicked rule, now becomes Persian, and they find themselves under the rule of a Persian king named Cyrus. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.840 Now, there are aspects about Cyrus's reign and rule that were good. 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:34.240 And we're going to read about that here. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:54.240 We're going to read about Cyrus here in about 538 BC, just a year after he took over Babylon, under his rule, the exiled Israelites were freed to go back to Jerusalem and reconstruct the temple that had been ruined. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:02.480 Let's read in Ezra 1, 1 through 4, and look at the sovereignty of God in the heart of wicked rulers. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:03.600 Watch this. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:10.799 In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:12.159 What did the Lord do? 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:22.879 He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:35.679 Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:47.440 Whoever is among you of all his people, the Israelites, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.080 He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:17:06.559 And let each survivor, those who are in exile, in whatever place he sojourns, that is the kingdom of Persia, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides free will offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:13.279 Did you see the sovereignty of God in the wicked heart of a pagan king named Cyrus? 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:19.039 God's promises cannot be thwarted by any earthly power. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:20.720 Let's understand that. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:39.519 That he stirred the spirit of Cyrus, that he even made a decree and wrote it down. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:47.359 Now, writing it down, that point is very special and particular to the story and how it plays out. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:49.359 So, what happens? 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:54.720 All of these exiled Israels in the land of Persia, they start coming back home. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:04.400 Now, they have depleted in number greatly compared to their flourishing inside the land of promise that God had given them. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:10.319 So in their exile, they started to diminish, and they're not as great in number as they once were. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:14.079 But some of them start going back to Jerusalem. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.559 And this is a very long period of time. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:20.799 Remember, this started initially back in 722 BC. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:22.880 We're currently in 538. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:42.160 So we're talking about a span of time here where there has now been generations of people born in exile who never knew Jerusalem, who had never seen the temple, who had never understood or known what the walls and gates looked like in their beauty and glory. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:43.279 They didn't know that. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.720 They were born in Persia. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:50.799 They were born in a different foreign territory and land, and they had not known what once was. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:19:03.759 So as they start journeying back into Jerusalem, the work of rebuilding the temple came to a completion in 516 BC under King Darius I of Persia. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:12.960 Now, inside of these uh uh ancient lands, we have to understand that that power and rule changed hands quite a bit. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:19.440 Uh through through death in battle, through death by assassination, power grabbing, all these different things. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.799 There's there's often times where uh the hand of rule switched quickly. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:31.680 And some men had uh the ability to have longer periods of reign and rule, and some men didn't. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:36.319 It just depends on how good you were, how powerful you were, how much people respected you. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:44.720 So in 516 under King Darius I, the temple is completed. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:20:07.200 But here's what we have to understand: even though in 516 the temple was built, the rest of the reconstruction efforts inside of Jerusalem had been halted and put to a stop because they had met opposition uh from within Persia in their efforts to reconstruct all of what Israel was. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:14.079 In Ezra chapter 4, we read about these uh people called the adversaries of Benjamin and Judah. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:19.279 Now, the adversaries of Benjamin and Judah, they were more than likely Samaritan people. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:21.359 And here's kind of how we know that. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:27.279 Uh, there's this man named Zerubbabel who's kind of leading up the reconstruction of Israel. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:36.799 He is an older, elder Jew who has gone back into Judah from exile, and he's leading a lot of this reconstruction process. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:44.640 And uh these adversaries, the Bible calls them, of uh Benjamin and Judah, come in and they ask Zerubbabel, can we help? 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.759 Can we help rebuild Israel? 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.319 And Zerubbabel says, No. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.359 And they respond back, Well, we've been here. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:58.799 We've lived in this land, we've even made sacrifices to your God. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:12.000 And we find out later in Ezra and throughout the story unfolding that these were Samaritan people who had intermarried and who was not only worshiping the God of Israel, but was also worshiping other gods also. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:23.119 So they were practicing uh uh this kind of pluralistic deism, uh worshiping false gods and intermarrying throughout the people of the lands around them. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:30.000 And so Zerubbabel says, No, you cannot uh help or assist in the rebuilding of Israel. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:34.319 So they get angry, and what they do is they make up this lie. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:48.240 And they say this they say, let us get together and get all these different powers, these governors and other people of authority inside of Persia, and let's develop a letter that we send to the king. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:22:11.920 And what we're going to communicate in this letter is that if the king allows them to build this city to completion, that they're gonna revolt against the king, that their motivation for building Building up the walls and the gates is to fortify themselves back to a strength where they can actually revolt against his kingship and power and dishonor him. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:18.000 So they write this letter in Aramaic, the Bible says, and they send it to a king named Artaxerxes. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:24.880 Now, I want to submit that there is confusion here historically and theologically. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:34.400 Where the position we take is that this is not the Artaxerxes that Nehemiah is the cutbearer for. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.160 In history past, throughout kings of Persia, they often daunted many different names. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:49.920 Articxerxes and Xerxes were the names that many other Persian kings were known by, of their multiple names that they would have. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:23:03.119 And so if you read through the timeline narrative cleanly, it makes sense that this is not Articerxes, the one of whom Nehemiah is the cupbearer of, but this is a different king named Surtis. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:06.240 Now, Serdis only reigned for about seven months. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:10.000 Remember, I said some of these kingships didn't last a long time. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.480 He only ruled for about seven months. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:20.079 But we get a glimpse in Ezra IV to the letter that was written to him that caused him to take action against the Israelites. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:24.240 So Ezra 4, chapters uh uh chapter 4, verses 23 through 24. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:44.000 Then when the copy of the King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shemshai, the scribe and their associates, there's a lot of S's in that, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem, and by force and power made them cease. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:52.720 Then the work of the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:54.559 So why is all this important? 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:01.759 Well, Artaxerxes, who Nehemiah is the cupbearer to, reigned after Darius. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.359 The temple was completed under the reign and rule of Darius. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:16.160 And so if this ceasing, this halting of official order had to be taken place, it had to be taken place before Darius. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:29.279 And we only had a couple of kings that reigned in between Cyrus, who gave them permission to start rebuilding the temple, and Darius, of whom they completed under his rule and reign. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:34.720 So there was this king named Cerdus, and he ruled over Persia for about seven months. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:52.720 And I want to submit, though there are differing and varying opinions, this is who they're talking about, that he went by another name, and Ezra was just simply using one of his other names in his narration and chronic uh chronologically working through the history of Israel. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:10.000 So when King Darius first had initially come into power, it was reported to him by certain men that the Jews were kind of slowly rebuilding the temple and going against the order of the previous king to cease all reconstruction efforts. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:16.400 That they were kind of under the radar trying to do what they could and rebuild certain things. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:32.720 And when they're asked, when the when the Israelites are asked by these men, by what authority do you have to do this reconstruction, they respond, King Cyrus made a decree that allowed us to gather back into Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.759 So, you guys still tracking with me? 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.000 Everybody understand where we're at in the story? 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:44.960 So what happened was these men went to Darius and they said, Look, the Israelites are kind of slowly reconstructing the temple. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:55.359 And when we asked them by what authority do they have to do this, they said there was this decree by King Cyrus of Persia that gave them the freedom and liberty to do this work. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.519 So what does Darius do? 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:01.119 Darius says, All right, well, if that's true, let's find that decree. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:08.960 Remember, I said it was important to understand that the Lord stirred the heart of Cyrus, not just to make a verbal proclamation, but to write it down. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.720 You see the intricacy of God's sovereignty and his will. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:13.759 Well, what do they do? 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.720 They searched the house of records and archives. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.319 They found the decree. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:21.920 On the Cyrus cylinder, they found it. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:28.079 And it's a historical cylinder that we can find today, this decree of King Cyrus of Persia. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:39.359 King Darius conducted the search for the decree, and when it had been retrieved and brought to him, he gave the Israelites permission to continue the reconstruction of the temple in full force. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:51.680 So, official construction of the temple starts in 536 BC, and that time they faced opposition and experienced a 16-year halt in their reconstruction efforts. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:27:00.400 The temple was then finished under Darius I in 516 BC, and in total, it took about 20 years to rebuild the temple. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.319 But that's with a 16-year kind of freeze in that. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:26.160 So we're entering the story of Israel in the scene of Nehemiah, about 69 years after the completion of the temple in 446 BC, in the 20th year of the reign of King Artaxerxes I of Persia. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:28.640 That's how we ended up here. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:31.920 That's Nehemiah. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:37.279 So, here in verses 1 through 3, we're brought into the story of Nehemiah. 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:43.519 He's in Susa, which is this kind of capital area of Persia. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:46.880 And if you see, it says that it was in the month of Chislev. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:53.440 Chislev was this time in the calendar of around mid-November to mid-December. 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.759 Susa was kind of like the winter retreat of the kings. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:00.079 Kind of like how we have snowbirds, right? 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:02.799 Who go from Ohio to Florida during the winter time. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:11.039 These Persian kings would go to Susa during this month of Chislev of mid-November to mid-December as this kind of winter retreat. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:13.599 So Nehemiah's the cupbearer of the king. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:16.400 Wherever the king goes, Nehemiah goes. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:21.519 Because he has to make sure that there's no efforts to poison the king. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:30.240 He's a very trusted friend of the king, someone that he will receive counsel from and that he knows has his back. 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:32.400 So Nehemiah journeys with him. 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:34.000 He's in Susa, the capital. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:46.160 Now, if we understand kind of the difference between Sousa, which is due east of Jerusalem, it's about the same distance as Cincinnati to Jacksonville, Florida. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:46.799 All right? 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:54.400 So how many of I know many of us, many of us have made that treacherous journey from Cincinnati to Orlando, right? 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:54.960 Yeah. 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:56.640 Everybody in here? 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:57.920 You've done, yeah. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:01.279 And uh and so Orlando's a little bit farther. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:06.240 But if you if you took a pit stop in Jacksonville and you like took a picture of the sign, oh, we're in Florida. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:10.960 Uh that that's kind of how far they would have to travel from Susa to Jerusalem. 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:14.240 But Susa's due east, pretty much, of Jerusalem. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:19.759 So this is where Nehemiah is residing, and he's visited by Hanani. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:21.920 He calls him one of my brothers. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:28.000 Now, now there's no inclination to understand or assume this as a blood brother. 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:40.640 It's better to understand this as a kinsman, another Israelite whom he knew and had relationship with, comes to him with other men from Judah, and he asks them about two things. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.880 How are our people and how is our city? 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:47.680 How are people and how is our city? 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:56.480 You see, upon their visit, Nehemiah asked them about the Jews who had survived exile and the condition of Jerusalem. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:58.559 Nehemiah was an Israelite. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:01.920 We have to understand this, but he was born in exile. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:07.200 Again, there's no reason to understand or believe that Nehemiah had ever even been to Jerusalem. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:17.599 Born in exile, a cupbearer to the king, it's likely that he had never even been to the land of Judah or visited Jerusalem in person. 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:19.440 He was born in exile. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:21.519 Potentially had never been there. 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:26.559 Definitely, definitely had never seen the Jerusalem that once was. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:28.079 We can know that for sure. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:39.119 He had never seen the glory of the temple, he had never seen the fortified city, he had never seen a if he ever did journey to Jerusalem in his life, he saw an ash heap and crumbles. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:41.839 That's all that he would have seen. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:48.640 They give Nehemiah a report, but it's a grim report. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:57.920 They say this when he asks, this is the report that they give the remnant there in the province who has survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:03.519 The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:14.720 We have to recall Ezra IV that these adversaries of Judah and Benjamin were shut down and assisting with the rebuilding of the temple. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:25.920 And what it says in Ezra IV is that when the order was made to cease reconstruction, it was done so by force and power. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:27.759 By force and power. 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:34.559 So we don't think that they just rolled up and handed them a scroll and then Israel was like, okay, I guess we have to stop now. 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:45.519 No, it's believed that that by force and power they came and they shut down even the beginnings of the reconstruction that had taken place. 00:31:46.079 --> 00:32:01.440 And so when when when uh Nehemiah is getting this report, yes, the temple has been fully rebuilt, but for 69 years the people of Israel have not been able to rebuild its walls and its gates. 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:09.839 And the people there are in despair, in great trouble, and shame. 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:21.519 In this 69-year gap between the completion of the temple and the report to Nehemiah, Israel had faced a lot of internal and external difficulties that kind of caused them to just quit. 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:32.960 We read throughout Ezra that he actually, Ezra himself tried to re-establish the law of God, the Torah, in the hearts of God's people to produce fruitful obedience and righteousness. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:34.960 But they started intermarrying. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:42.000 And there gets all this messiness where Ezra calls them all to divorce and there's grumbling and complaining, there's outside difficulty that comes in. 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:49.680 All this mess that we're not going to dive into this morning, it kind of creates this like apathy within Israel. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:55.359 And we see that in the evidence that yes, the temple's been re-erected, but not to its former glory. 00:32:56.079 --> 00:33:01.279 There's frustration in that amongst Israel, that they're angry that it's not what it once was. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:09.279 And then we still get this report 69 years later that the walls and gates are in ruin, destroyed by fire. 00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:16.799 We see this portrait of empathy and despair in this opening phrase of Hanani to Nehemiah. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:22.960 The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire. 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:32.079 As we look at verse 4, our kind of summary understanding of verse 4 is our response to circumstances exposes our reliance. 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:38.480 Our response to circumstances exposes our reliance. 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:44.400 Let's read verse 4 just to recap and understand how Nehemiah responds to this grim report. 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:52.000 My people are in great trouble and shame, and the walls have been torn down and the gates destroyed by fire. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:34:04.480 Verse 4 As soon as I, Nehemiah speaking, heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.159 What was Nehemiah's response to the circumstance? 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:10.400 It was reliance on God. 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:18.400 When we face circumstances in our life, the way that we respond exposes our reliance. 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.639 Where does our reliance lie? 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:25.119 Does it rely on God or does it rely in something else? 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:30.000 You see, Nehemiah's response was reliance upon God. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:33.920 Here we're brought intimately near to the person of Nehemiah himself. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:43.599 This is the first time where we're able to see and understand this character of who Nehemiah is, the heart behind this name. 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:47.519 He's a man whose reliance is deeply rooted in God. 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:52.079 His response to the report of Jerusalem shows us his love for the people of God. 00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:52.559 Right? 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:56.159 He asks, How are my brothers who have survived the exile? 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:00.880 And it's a response of intense emotion and weeping. 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:08.239 He sits down in his place, almost like his knees gave out, unable to stand, and he weeps over their condition. 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:12.960 Nehemiah loves the people of the kingdom of God. 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:18.400 We also see his reliance upon the God of heaven. 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:28.559 So if his love for the people of God was a response of intense emotion, his response and reliance upon the God of heaven was a response of immense trust. 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:36.480 He weeped and mourned and he prayed and fasted to the God of Israel for many days. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:45.119 You see, what's fascinating about this is that to turn to God for Nehemiah is his first response. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:48.880 It was the first action that he took. 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:59.599 As soon as the report came to him and he was faced with a difficult circumstance, his first option was to turn to God. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:01.679 It wasn't his last. 00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:50.239 And he is communicating in both word and work, in both petition and prayer, and fasting and denying his flesh that without the mighty hand of God, he and his people are hopeless. 00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:54.800 Then we move on to verse five through seven. 00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:58.000 We start to see the introduction of Nehemiah's prayer. 00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:07.199 So we're shown his response and his reliance upon God, and then we're invited into the prayer itself. 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:15.199 In verses five through seven, what we see in Nehemiah's prayer is we have to be honest about God and ourselves. 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:18.079 We have to be honest about God and ourselves. 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:19.360 Here's what I mean by that. 00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:24.079 Here in verse five, we're able to be made witness of the first recorded prayer of Nehemiah. 00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:25.840 And he opens it with what? 00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:27.599 With confession. 00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:31.679 Nehemiah starts his whole prayer here with confession. 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:39.599 He's honest in his confession about who God is, and he's honest in his confession about who he is. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:45.199 It's an honest confession about God and the people of Israel. 00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:46.800 First, he's honest about God. 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:47.840 Let's look at this prayer. 00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:56.800 He says, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. 00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:08.000 Nehemiah is only able to pray with confidence because he intimately knows and honestly confesses the truth of God himself. 00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:12.480 What empowers Nehemiah to go before God? 00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:14.639 It's the truth of God. 00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:25.199 That he is a God who keeps his covenants and has steadfast love for his people. 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:27.599 God does not break his covenant promises. 00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:31.679 When he makes a covenant, he keeps it because his name is at stake. 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.639 We've talked about this several times in other sermons past. 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:38.880 His name is at stake if in any aspect of that covenant is broken. 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:49.039 And then his steadfast love communicates that in his good pleasure and will, he establishes and sets his love upon whom he desires. 00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:52.000 And nothing can remove that from them. 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:53.760 So this gives what? 00:38:53.920 --> 00:39:01.760 This gives Nehemiah confidence to pray because he's intimately aware and honestly confesses the truth of God. 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:06.159 Great and awesome, keeper of covenants, steadfast in love. 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:16.079 Our prayers have been power and experienced power when they're established and rooted in who God is. 00:39:16.400 --> 00:39:20.800 Look at the way that Jesus teaches us to pray. 00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:25.360 Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:27.280 What does Jesus teach us to do? 00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:30.320 He teaches us to start our prayers with power. 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:32.239 Where does that power come from? 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:35.119 By an honest confession of who God is. 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:37.840 That gives us power. 00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:48.480 There's no power in the amount of faith that we have, there's no power in the eloquence of our words, there's no power in the persistence of our prayer. 00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:54.239 Our power begins when we honestly confess who God is. 00:39:55.280 --> 00:39:58.159 Because he is the answer of our prayers. 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:01.440 Next, he's honest about himself and the people of Israel. 00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:13.840 He says this finally in the closing of verse 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 00:40:14.480 --> 00:40:26.480 His confession of self is brutally honest before God, because he knows before the creator of the universe, the God of heaven, he is unable to hide anything. 00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:31.679 He is exposed before the Maker of heaven and earth. 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:33.039 So guess what? 00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:34.559 Just be honest. 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:44.079 Just be honest with who you are and what you have done in your shortcomings and failures, in your unrighteousness, in your sin. 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:47.360 Be honest as you come before God. 00:40:48.400 --> 00:41:01.440 It is the contrast of who God is and who we are that powerful prayers are able to be produced. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:10.559 In the contrast of who God is and the reality and honesty of who we are, powerful prayers are able to be produced. 00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:11.039 Why? 00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:19.440 Because when we're honest with who we are, we won't be so reliant upon our own strength. 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:27.039 Constantly, we are endeavoring to be reliant upon ourselves. 00:41:27.360 --> 00:41:30.400 Our own strength, our own wisdom, our own power. 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:31.119 Why? 00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:35.920 Because if we're honest, we think too highly of ourselves than we ought to. 00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:43.440 But Nehemiah exalts the name of God, not the name of self, and he humbles the name of self before the Lord. 00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:49.440 And in that equation, a powerful prayer is produced. 00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:56.159 Next, in verses 8 through 11, we see God's promises provide the strength to take responsibility. 00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:59.920 God's promises provide the strength to take responsibility. 00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:04.480 Now Nehemiah is going to draw from the faithfulness of God's promises. 00:42:05.119 --> 00:42:09.199 He says this remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses. 00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:16.320 And Nehemiah almost uh uh quotes from Deuteronomy chapters 28 through 30. 00:42:16.559 --> 00:42:30.480 The intimacy of Nehemiah with the word of God is astounding, and the leveraging that he uses in his prayer shows us that his prayer is rooted, again, not in his own strength. 00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:41.840 His reliance isn't in him, but he is he is he is calling on the God of heaven and earth who has made this covenant and keeps his promises to do what he said he would do. 00:42:41.920 --> 00:42:44.559 That's what Nehemiah's petitioning for here. 00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:47.519 And he quotes right from Deuteronomy 28 through 30. 00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:50.239 His intimacy with the word of God, what does it do? 00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:53.920 It enables him to petition to see the work of God. 00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:55.039 Let me say that again. 00:42:55.280 --> 00:43:03.280 Nehemiah's intimacy with the word of God enables him to petition to see the work of God. 00:43:03.760 --> 00:43:17.840 When we know God's promises, when we're intimate with his word, when we're able to know and recount what God has promised for his people, then we are able to petition God to fulfill those very promises that he has made to us. 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:22.719 And it is only able to do that if we're intimate with the promises in the first place. 00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:30.000 The more we know God's word, the more we're gonna able to petition him to see the work fulfilled. 00:43:31.599 --> 00:43:41.280 Nehemiah knows the promises God has made to his people, and it is those very promises that gives him the strength now, at the end of his prayer, to take responsibility. 00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:50.639 So Nehemiah shows both reliance upon God and he strives to take responsibility to see something happen. 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:52.239 I love this end of the prayer. 00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:54.559 Nehemiah kind of prays for these things. 00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:04.239 Of the master and who strives to accomplish his will. 00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:07.679 First, he asks for his prayer to be heard. 00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:11.760