WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.200 Nehemiah chapter 1 is a a new book, and in a sense it's an old book. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:10.240 In the Latin Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, Nehemiah and Ezra are one book. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:28.239 It's likely in the uh the Jewish writings that they were always one book, much like our Bible splits 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah uh were likely initially one book and then um split for various reasons that don't concern us. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:35.039 And so as we jump into Nehemiah tonight, we're really picking up where we left off uh a year ago or so in the book of Ezra. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:41.280 And but nevertheless, it's got its own heading, and so I'm excited to jump into this new book as I prayed earlier. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:47.920 It's uh foreign people, a foreign place, a foreign time, uh, but it's a familiar story. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:56.640 Um my wife and I back uh early on in our marriage started watching 24 when it was uh brand new out that TV show. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.799 Some of you can make the sound in your head, I'm sure. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.479 Uh I've lost the ability, praise God, to remember that theme song. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.760 So don't remind me of it later, because then it'll take another you know 15 years to drive that out of me. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:17.280 But this is before back, you know, young children, back in the day before Netflix, in order to watch a show like this, you had to like watch it you know, an episode at a time as it was released. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:19.200 You had to wait every week for this. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.480 It was kind of a a big deal back then. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:39.359 And uh we made it through, I think, a couple seasons, and it was on the third season where we realized something that was not uh conducive to our watching uh this show anymore, which was that the seasons seemed to follow the exact same plot as each other. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:41.439 Did you notice when you watch the show? 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:45.280 I'm talking, you know, 10 years ago, jog your mind, 14 years ago, whenever. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.120 They followed the same plot as each other. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.000 It's the same villain, the same even the hidden recording. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.439 I mean, come on, at least come up with a new plot device, please. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.159 And so it got too predictable, and we left. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.120 And there's lots of TV shows that are even like that. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:00.159 It is lazy writing. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:06.560 You know, once you watch like four or five episodes of your favorite crime drama, you realize it's following the exact same formula. 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.159 It's like the third character you meet. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.240 That's the one who did it every time. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.280 You know, unless it's if there's ever a random Christian in one of those shows, they always make the random Christian the guilty guy. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:16.560 I'm sure you've realized that too. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:22.000 But apart from that, they follow the same pattern and it gets pretty disappointing. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:28.159 Well, Nehemiah, as I mentioned, it's a new book, but it is the same story we have seen before. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.840 That in a sense, there is nothing new to the book of Nehemiah. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:42.719 Much of the Old Testament follows the same plot trajectory from even if you're familiar with Genesis, you've seen this story before where God calls people, he sets them aside. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:55.039 They believe in him by faith, he gives them their promise, and they step forward into what he's into the land that they've given them, into the promised land that they've given them, and then they sin and God judges them for their sin, and then they lose the land. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.960 This happens in Genesis. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:00.159 This happens in Exodus, like twice in Exodus, by the way. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:04.960 And this happens in the book of Judges, although they don't ultimately get exiled in the book of Judges. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:09.840 You see the same cycle play out over and over and over again, even in the book of Judges. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:24.560 You see it in the whole trajectory in the kings through Samuel, and then ultimately David himself getting expelled for his sin from the promised land, and he's restored, and then Solomon leads a civil war, and they get expelled from the land, and then they return after the exile. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.159 That's the same story we're seeing taking place here. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:35.919 Remember that under Solomon, the nation of Israel, it was twelve tribes divided after Solomon's death. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.479 It's split into open civil war, ten tribes in the north and two tribes in the south. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:48.800 The ten tribes in the north were exiled in the seventh century before Christ, 750 plus years before Christ, they lost the promised land. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:50.639 They were exiled. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:59.360 It was a couple hundred years later that the southern tribes, Jerusalem, that area, Judah, Benjamin, they also were expelled from the Promised Land. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:03.280 They were evicted from God's land because they never honored the Sabbath years. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:08.879 They didn't keep the God had told them to release their slaves every 50 years for the year of Jubilee. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.120 They rest their land on every Sabbath year. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.520 They never did these kind of things. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:18.160 And so God judged them for the seventy sets of seven that they were in the promised land. 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:21.839 They would receive that series of judgment from them. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:30.399 They lost the lands, they were exiled from their land, they were scattered into Assyria, is where the north went, and the south went off into Babylon. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:43.040 Eventually Babylon fell to Persia, and Daniel, who had risen in the ranks in Babylon, continued rising in Persia and was a voice of influence and defended the Jews in the exile. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.879 But during this time, the book of Daniel, the Jews are not in the Promised Lands. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:48.399 They're not in Israel. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:49.759 They've been exiled. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:55.279 And so Daniel, the story of the Old Testament, shifts from Jerusalem and goes out to Babylon. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:59.519 And then when Babylon falls to Persia, it focuses on Persia. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:16.319 Daniel was, when he fades away, he promises at the end of Daniel's life, he promises that the years Jeremiah had decreed for their judgment were coming to an end, and Israel would be allowed to re-enter the promised land when Cyrus, the Persian king, gives the go-ahead. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:18.399 And that happens in the book of Ezra. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.079 Cyrus announces that the Jews can begin to return to the promised land. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:28.319 So to give you a scope here, we're talking about 550 years before Christ. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:37.120 So 550 years before Christ, Israel had not been in the land for decades, a generation or two had gone by without being in Israel. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:41.759 There's still a long time, 500 plus years before Jesus is born. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.079 In that window there, the Jews start to trickle back into the promised land. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:47.839 There's different returns that are led. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:49.600 We looked at those in the book of Ezra. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:54.959 Ezra chapter 1 through 6 is the first return that happens in about 530 BC. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.839 They start working on the temple about 515 BC. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.639 Remember, the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.240 They start rebuilding it. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.560 There's a break in the book of Ezra. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:08.720 There's a break right after Ezra chapter 6, and that's where the book of Esther fits in. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:10.800 And we just finished looking at that on Sunday night. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:17.279 Esther takes place right in that little window right there, again, about 500 years before Christ. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.279 We jump back in the book of Ezra. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:21.839 We finish off the book of Ezra, Ezra 7th or 10. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.959 Ezra leads the Jews back to the Promised Land. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.040 The temple work is complete. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:31.279 And that brings us up to around 450 BC. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.600 So 450 years before Christ. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:39.519 Israel has been in some respect back in the promised land for more or less 50 years. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.399 They have their temple built back up. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.759 They're speaking their language back in the land. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:47.759 They even have priests back in the land. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:51.120 Remember that part in the book of Ezra where they're looking for frantically for priests. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:56.399 They finally get priests back in the land, and then the book of Ezra comes to a close. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:02.319 So you would think that all would be well in Israel land at this point. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:09.360 The temple is back, the priests are back, they are celebrating Passover again in the book of Ezra. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:10.959 So this is good. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.000 And then the book of Nehemiah picks up. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:18.240 There's already foreshadowing of things going wrong, by the way, if you remember how the book of Ezra ended. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.720 It did not end with happiness at the book of Ezra. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:33.839 Remember, Ezra ended with them intermarrying the foreign women, exactly what they did back in the book of Numbers, back in the original wandering through the wilderness, exactly what Solomon did back in 1 Kings. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.879 They're repeating the same folly they've done before. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.120 So you're already seeing this is the same story. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.040 I feel like I have seen this before. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.279 It's not going to end well, and of course it's not going to end well. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:51.040 Chapter 1 of Nehemiah, the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:56.800 Now it happened in the month of Shalev in the 12th, 20th year. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.879 I was in Susa at the citadel. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:01.759 Now Susa is one of the two capitals of the Persian Empire. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:04.000 Remember, it was the Medio-Persian Empire. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.920 They had two different capital cities. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:09.839 One was their winter capital, one was their summer capital. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:14.639 And that was that was just how the Persian emperors rolled. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:16.879 And they liked Susa for the winter. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.399 This is the winter era. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.199 A lot of this is documented by extra-biblical sources. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:27.120 This book is taking place, it says the 20th year here, but it's taking place in 445 BC. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.839 This is documented in secular sources, but it fits with the chronology here. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:35.519 So 445 years before Christ is when this happens. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:40.320 Nehemiah is in Susa in the citadel or the castle, the fortress. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.879 This is where the Persian Empire and the Persian Empire was the largest empire in the world at this time. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:46.399 They were rivaling Greece. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.799 They already had wars with Greece. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:53.120 This is after the book of Ezra, Ezra, after the book of Esther. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.200 This is where Nehemiah steps in. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.519 And he is there in the citadel. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:01.200 Hanani, one of my brothers, and we're going to see Hanani again later. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:03.039 Brother here doesn't just mean Jew. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:09.519 It means his actual brother, his younger brother, we'll find out, came with certain men from Judah. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:16.399 So Nehemiah, we don't know this yet, but he's in a position of influence in Susa in the Persian Empire. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:24.320 And he's a Jew, and he has a Jewish brother who was back in the promised land, back with the Jews in Judah. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:26.159 And he's come back. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.360 This is a world without telegrams. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:34.559 It wouldn't even be easy to send Nehemiah a letter back then because that would be the official discourse. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:35.919 It'd have to go into the records. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.600 You know, in the American government, we have kind of the Freedom of Information Act kind of thing. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:40.799 There's a government record. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.399 You, you know, it has to be kept and all that. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:52.240 You read biographies of more recent presidents, and they talk about telling their staff to limit emails, knowing that every email they'll send will be sent out. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:10:02.000 You know, President Obama, a bunch of his staff switched to Google Chat to try to avoid that, and then a bunch of the Google Chat records got released and Freedom of Information Act kind of things. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.559 President Trump just used Twitter, and it was all I guess it was his shortcut. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:14.799 They had the same thing here, where any letter that would have been sent to Nehemiah would be a public record from the king's citadel. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:20.480 And so there's not a lot of communication, especially if you wanted to send something sensitive. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:28.320 All the messengers, all the people that run to and fro with the letters, and the Persians had a very uh intricate system of this. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.639 We talked about that in the book of Esther. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:32.480 They all worked for the king. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:44.720 You know, so the king is the king is the emperor is not going to allow secret messages sent from one of your advisor's brothers in a potentially a hostile city to the advisor without him knowing about it. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.600 And so there's no real good way to communicate. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:52.799 Well, when this happens, Hananiah comes and visits Nehemiah. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:11:00.720 And Nehemiah asked them, Hananiah and the certain men from Judah, asked them, what's happening in Jerusalem? 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.799 What's happening with the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile? 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.919 And notice even the language Nehemiah is using for the Jews that are back. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.200 He's describing them as having escaped from Persia. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:16.960 There's no doubt here that Nehemiah's heart is with his people back in Israel, back in Jerusalem, back in the promised land. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:18.559 He's in a position of influence. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:28.080 He can't go, he can't be with the Israelites, but his heart is there, even to the point where he refers to those who have made it back to Jerusalem as having escaped. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.000 They've survived the exile. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:32.399 And he wants to know what's happening. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.159 And they said that they here is his brother and their friends. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:43.279 The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile, they are in great trouble and shame. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:45.759 And this is likely the purpose of their visit. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.720 The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:52.559 Its gates are destroyed by fire. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.000 Things are bad in Israel. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:01.360 This is probably not the news, we'll see from Nehemiah's response, not the news he was expecting. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:05.039 The last dispatch he would have received was probably good news. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:09.919 It was optimistic. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:12.399 But now he hears that this is actually bad. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:13.840 The wall has fallen. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.759 The wall is critical for Israel's preservation, to guard the temple. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:23.679 If they're going to put gold and the instruments they use for worship back in the temple, they need to be able to defend it. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.879 Jerusalem itself is a very defendable city. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:28.639 It's isolated in the mountains. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.799 You can't do a sneak attack on Jerusalem. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:31.759 That would be impossible. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:36.000 Your only way to approach would be either from the Mediterranean Sea or from the Dead Sea. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.440 You come in from Jericho. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:40.960 You would have a day's notice at least that an army is coming. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:47.519 Nevertheless, you need walls because if an army does come, you're going to need to be able to defend the city. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:53.919 Now, why would an army come if it's all protected by the Persian Empire? 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:59.519 And this is where you have to be a little bit familiar with the dynamics, the religious dynamics of Israel. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.320 There were the Samaritans that did not like the Jews. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.240 And this is a big feature in the book of Ezra. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:08.080 Remember, they wanted to partner with the Jews in building the temple. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.080 And the Jews said no. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:11.679 They said, You have no part with us. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:19.919 And so the Samaritans sent lies about the Jews to the Persian emperor, saying, These people are conspiring against you. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:21.679 They're conspiring. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:24.159 That was a big feature in the book of Ezra. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:25.919 And so they need defense. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.559 The people around them could attack, and the Persian Empire would not be able to defend them. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:46.639 For there to be any hope of Israel existing with Jerusalem as its capital, with some kind of distinct ethnic identity, distinct language, distinct religion and worship, which is what God had called them to have, to bring the Messiah into the world, they would need the wall. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:51.600 Instead, the wall is destroyed and Israel is put to shame. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:53.759 The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.080 And the word shame there is critical in verse 3. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.320 Like this is not an okay scenario. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:00.000 These are God's people. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.279 These are God's people. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:06.559 You know, it's one thing if your crazy neighbor's yard is overgrown and there's, you know, abandoned cars in front of it. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:10.960 But it's another thing if it's the mayor's yard that's overgrown and with abandoned cars in the yard. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.200 Like it makes your city look bad, you know? 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.639 Come on, at least mow the grass once a year, kind of thing. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:18.080 That's this attitude here. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:26.480 It's one thing if some random city over there, if if if Beth Seda, if it's overgrown and its walls are tumbled down, who cares? 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.080 But Jerusalem? 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.120 These are God's people. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:37.200 They tied their identity and their prosperity so much to Yahweh. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:41.679 If Yahweh is real, won't he take care of his people? 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:43.120 That's the question. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:50.399 And so here's Israel saying, We believe in the true God, not the Persian deities, not these own local deities. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:55.440 We don't believe in them, not the Greek pantheon that's starting to come in. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.559 We don't believe in those gods. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.120 We believe in Yahweh. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.360 And the nations look around and say, okay, where's evidence of your Yahweh? 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.960 Your temple looks like a yard sale. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:10.879 It looks like a flea market. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:13.200 You can't even have a garage door on. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:15.279 Your wall is in shambles. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:17.840 And so the people are put to shame. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.960 Psalm 137, verse 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skills. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.240 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:31.759 If I don't remember you, if I don't set Jerusalem above my highest joy, that's a psalm Nehemiah would know. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:36.240 If I forget Jerusalem, may I forget the ability to speak. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:56.240 He wants to know what's happening there, and he finds out the worst news he could have: that it is in trouble. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:01.519 His people are in trouble, his temple is in trouble, and they are in open shame. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:07.759 Now, why are things bad in Jerusalem? 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:12.960 There's approximate answers, and there's bigger answers. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:14.799 You start to get to the real answer. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:21.679 Obviously, the realest answer is that God is sovereign, and the proximate answer is that they haven't built the gate yet. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:22.480 But why not? 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:24.720 All the middle part is where the real fun is. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.600 Why hadn't they built the wall yet? 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.320 Well, they didn't have the work ethic. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.279 Haggai ran into that in the book of Haggai. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:38.320 They were too concerned about building their own houses than building God's place. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:40.000 They didn't have a leader. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:44.320 They didn't have somebody who was a good enough leader to motivate them to build the wall. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:57.440 They had Ezra, certainly, and Ezra was pouring himself into preaching the word to the people, but they had nobody from the political side of things that could motivate them and exercise that kind of political leadership on a mass scale to motivate them to actually work. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:59.519 They weren't blessed with that kind of person. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:02.559 Why not? 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:05.039 Because they were in sin. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.559 They were in sin, they were marrying foreign women. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.960 They were repeating the same practices that got them exiled to begin with. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:14.400 And Nehemiah knows this. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:20.480 That's what's so interesting about Nehemiah 1, the way he responds to this news, is Nehemiah breaks down. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:27.599 It says in verse 4, I set heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.519 And that's the kind of person Nehemiah is. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:38.000 He is broken to his core over the news of God's people in open shame. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.160 He's repenting. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.839 Now did Nehemiah sin here? 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:46.000 Well, certainly he's a sinner. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:47.119 He comes from Adam. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.839 Certainly his people have sinned. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:52.480 His brother and his friends are all in Jerusalem. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.119 We see this, of course, so he has connection to them. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:02.880 And nevertheless, Nehemiah repents about this sin, and he's going to repent for the rest of this chapter, is him repenting from his sin. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:06.720 Even though it wasn't his own personal sin. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:09.359 Again, Nehemiah was sinful. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:10.799 He had a sin nature, of course. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:13.039 He's from Adam, his family had sin and all this. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:18.400 But Nehemiah is in a position of influence, and so he takes ownership of this. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:28.240 He responds to this as I think the best modern analogy to this would be as a father who finds sin that is tolerating and running rampant in his family. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:34.400 How should the father respond when he finds his children in a certain kind of sin? 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.680 With an excuse like, oh, it wasn't me that sinned. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:40.400 Or with a brokenness. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:45.440 Like, oh, this sin is happening right here with the people I love. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:47.680 Certainly the latter. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.000 And Nehemiah is, I think, a powerful model for that. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:55.920 And so I want to take that and give us an outline as we go through it this morning, how to repent. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.480 Because Nehemiah, this is one lesson you can get from Nehemiah. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:04.799 You can get this lesson from just about every chapter of Nehemiah, honestly, but I want to draw it out of Nehemiah chapter 1, how to repent. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:06.720 And I think I've got five reasons here. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:07.599 Yeah, five reasons. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:12.480 There are five steps here, or five components of biblical repentance. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.000 And before we get to this list, let me just say why this is so important. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:21.039 Because there's a lot of false repentance, there's a lot of worldly repentance. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:26.720 Worldly repentance is making an external confession of sins, but not being broken over sin. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:33.039 And worldly repentance may even have tears on the outside, but it doesn't actually lead to any kind of change. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:36.559 There's a worldly sorrow from people who don't like the situation they're in. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.759 There's a worldly sorrow from people that just get in trouble. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.480 You know, as you recognize you recognize that. 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:45.920 If you're speeding and you get pulled over, you have worldly sorrow, right? 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:47.759 Like, oh, I am so sorry. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:50.640 I cannot believe that I was doing that. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:51.759 15 over? 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:52.799 That's incredible. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.200 I am the guiltiest, vilest sinner ever. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:56.640 I repent immediately. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:57.920 That's worldly sorrow. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:03.920 And you know it's worldly sorrow because 15 minutes later you will be driving the exact same speed again. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.279 That's worldly sorrow. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:11.759 Worldly sorrow leads to hell when it comes to sin. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.160 It leads to hell when it comes to spiritual things. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:21.839 And there are lots of people who are deluded about their relationship with the Lord because they have not actually repented of their sins in a biblical way. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.279 They've experienced worldly sorrow about their sins. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:29.920 At a human, superficial level, they are sorry about their sins. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:34.480 But they have never been reconciled to God through faith. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.079 So this is a huge outline here. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:43.279 Don't let this just be one outline that's on the screen for you at a moment in your life at some Sunday evening service. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:47.599 I want you to really think through this outline as we go through it, because this is huge. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:57.920 If you don't have this experience in your life, it's worth asking yourself if you have a right relationship with the Lord, if you've had your sins forgiven. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.519 Have you really been made right with the Lord? 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:06.640 Of course you can have an external kind of repentance and not be right with the Lord. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:09.039 Of course, you can be at church and not be a Christian. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:15.839 The question is, do you have these marks of repentance in your life? 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:17.519 This is a step for how to repent. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:21.519 And if you're here tonight and you're not a believer, look at this list as we go through it. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:27.039 If you're here tonight and you're not a believer, look at this list and understand this is what is required. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:32.000 This is what the Lord demands of us as we come to him in faith. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:34.799 So first, mourning. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:36.079 Mourning for sin. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.000 And you see this right away in verse 4. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:39.359 We looked at it for a second already. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:43.599 Nehemiah heard these words, immediately sat down and wept. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:44.400 Right away. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:49.920 As soon as he heard these words, he's down on the ground, he's weeping, he's mourning. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.279 And this is not just like the oh, I'm sorry, I feel bad about this. 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:55.920 Notice it says he mourned for days. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.440 He continued fasting and praying. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.680 Before the God of heaven. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.440 This is real repentance. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:10.160 Sitting down, meaning he's lost his his pride. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:18.319 Fasting, meaning that he's training his body here to pursue the Lord over himself, over his own physical desires. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:23.519 He's set food aside because how can he eat when the his own people are in disrepair? 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:26.079 He's weeping over his sin. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:29.680 Now, let me be clear. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:35.920 I'm not saying that unless you've sat down on the ground for days and fasted and wept that you're not a Christian. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.559 But listen, our culture doesn't err in that direction. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:44.640 Our culture errs in the other direction of, hey, I did something bad and I feel bad about it. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.000 You know, parenting, you have this experience all the time. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:53.519 You can see through kids true and false repentance instantly and parenting, can't you? 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.079 With like, you know, I'm sorry I poked you in the eye. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:58.240 Would I said I was sorry? 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:04.000 I'm detecting a lack of authenticity. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:18.240 Verse, you can see when one child sins against another and they feel broken about it, they they're they're crying about it as much as the person who was hurt because they actually do feel bad about it. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.319 And then apply that to spiritual things. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:25.039 It's so easy to see with children, but can you see it with yourself and your own sin? 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.319 Do you are you ever broken over your sin? 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:35.680 This is sort of the the entry card, the entry fee to Christianity. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:39.920 To come to Christ, you have to have this experience. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.279 You have to be broken over your sin. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:54.400 If you're raised in a non-Christian home living for the Lord, maybe it's not going to be a prolonged period of mourning like this. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:54.880 I don't know. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:56.160 Every person is different. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:07.920 But if you're raised away from the gospel, there has to be a moment where you are confronted with your sin, you're convicted by your sin, and you recognize that your sin is against God and it hurts you. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:13.599 You recognize that God is holy and you are not, and it has to have an effect on you. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:16.880 Not an effect like, oh, it's a good thing I heard about Jesus. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:17.839 Let's move on with this. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:19.359 No, linger a little bit. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:21.359 Take a step back and wait a little bit. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:22.720 Wait in your brokenness. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.079 Wait for a little bit in where you've encountered your sin. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.920 Wait and realize how you sinned against God and what that actually means. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:38.480 That God is holy, He's exalted above us, He's perfect and He's loving and He cares for us, and our sin is against Him. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.480 That has to affect you. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:42.880 Spend some time there. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:44.240 This is what Jesus means. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:46.319 Blessed are those who mourn. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:49.680 For they shall see God. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:55.039 Without the mourning over sin, there is no of the seeing of God. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.440 There is no gateway into glory without the brokenness over sin. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.680 This is what I mean by it's sort of an entry right into Christianity. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:12.319 This is what's confessed in every baptism that I was a sinner and I'm dying to that under the water. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:14.559 And I'm rising in new life again. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.200 This is why I mean it's an kind of the entry key. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:22.720 It's the basic entrance to Christianity, is you recognizing you're a sinner and you being broken. 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.039 This, by the way, is one of the reasons that we are Baptistic and not infant Baptists. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:29.599 You're not born with this kind of mourning over sin. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.720 A baby may mourn over a lot of things, but his sin ain't one of them. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:48.640 And so if you're raised in a Christian home, you grew up in a Christian home, and you have to have an encounter where at some point in your life you realize, you are become aware that you are in actual fact a sinner against God. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:56.640 That's what Nehemiah has. 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.319 He has this experience right here. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:04.000 I'm not saying this is a conversion experience, I'm saying this is a painting of what real repentance looks like. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:05.839 And it begins with mourning. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:09.440 This lasted in verse 3 for days, and then in verse 4 for nights. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.680 And it goes on and on. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:16.240 Well, first, mourning. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:17.839 Second, remembering. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:24.160 Remembering, specifically remembering who God is, remembering who our sin is against. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:28.799 That's what I mean by remembering, remembering what kind of God we're dealing with. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:31.039 And we encounter this in verse 5. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:42.559 Nehemiah spends days mourning and weeping and then opens his mouth in verse 5 and says, Oh Yahweh, the right-away, first word out of his mouth is addressing God by his covenant name. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:44.000 O Yahweh, God of heaven. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:51.359 The exile may have been for decades, it may have been a century plus since the Israelites were back in the land with a functioning temple. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:55.920 But Nehemiah remembers God's covenant name and addresses him as such. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:27:05.680 Oh Yahweh, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:07.440 I mean, he's addressing God. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:10.480 God is not learning about his identity from Nehemiah. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:11.519 Do you understand that? 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:14.000 This is for Nehemiah's benefit. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:22.400 Nehemiah is reminding God of who God is, not because God has forgotten who he is, but because Nehemiah is reminding himself. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:28.720 God, you are holy, you are exalted, you keep your covenant. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:40.799 We'll look more to the covenant in a few minutes, but your steadfast love, which is another expression for covenant love, Hesed, this covenant love that is covenant-keeping and sacrificial. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:43.039 That's who God is. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:45.680 He's the great and awesome God of heaven. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:28:07.440 It says the phrase God of heaven is He's the God of the angels, He's the God of the sky, He's the God of the universe, not just the God of this earth, that would be massive enough to as it is, not just the God of Jerusalem or Israel or of Persia or of the earth, but the God of earth and of all of heaven, of all of the angels, of all created things, and he is great and awesome. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:14.079 He inspires awe in those who encounter with him, particularly through those who are in covenant relationship with him. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.920 Because God expresses to them his covenant steadfast love with those who love him. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:21.519 This is a reciprocal covenant. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:25.119 God sets his love on people and they love him back. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:32.240 And it expresses themselves in keeping God's commandments, it says at the end of verse 5. 00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:43.599 Let your ear be attentive, let your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night, he says, for the people of Israel, your servants. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:46.000 So this is what he does. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:49.200 Again, he's not teaching God about who God is. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:53.279 He's not reminding God, hey God, open up your ear, because that's not, that can't possibly be how prayer works. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:56.960 God listen to me, because if God's not listening, he's not going to hear you. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:58.000 You follow that? 00:28:58.079 --> 00:28:59.200 It's not a volume issue. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.440 God inclined your ear to me and God hears you. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:05.039