When we come to our text in Nehemiah today, we find God doing just that. Notice Nehemiah more closely. Note first of all --

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1 Pastor Paul R. Bawden Nehemiah When God Moves Listening to the radio in the car the other day, I heard a woman being interviewed about the challenges of moving from one location to another. She had written a book on this subject and was talking about some of the adjustments that need to be made when relocating. Whether one moves across town, to another city, or to another state, some of the adjustments are the same, for one has to make new friends, find new places to shop, find a new physician, a new dentist, perhaps find a new church, all kinds of dynamics develop especially emotionally, as individuals become detached from one setting and become involved in another setting. It can be challenging for children and adults. One of the positive aspects of moving that we have found, is getting rid of a lot of stuff that you don t use or don t need. When we moved from Des Moines, Iowa to Madison, I had a big pile of stuff in the garage. I called a garbage pick up company, and the man came by with his truck and threw my pile into his truck and was off. My that was exciting. In fact, I m told that each year, over 40 million Americans move, and the average American will relocate eleven times in his or her life. I m wondering how much unneeded stuff is gotten rid of. As Americans are on the move, so the personal, eternal biblical God is on the move. His moving, of course, is different from ours, for He can be everywhere at one time, and since He is God, He can come to us wherever we are and in what ever situation we find ourselves. When we come to our text in Nehemiah today, we find God doing just that. Notice Nehemiah more closely. Note first of all -- I. The historical record set forth (Nehemiah 11-12) The historical record started back in chapter one when Nehemiah in Persia, heard of the spiritual and physical devastation of the people s lives and the walls and gates in his home city of Jerusalem. God then answered Nehemiah s prayer to change the situation in Jerusalem by having Nehemiah be the answer to his own prayer. Nehemiah was able to go to Jerusalem and lead the people in rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem. In 52 days the walls and gates of the city of Jerusalem were rebuilt. After that they asked to hear what the Word of God, the book of Moses, had to say. When the Word of God was read, they realized that they had not been pleasing the Lord with their lives. They confessed their sin, their disobedience to the Lord. A spiritual revival took place in their lives. They rededicated themselves to the Lord making a covenant with Him to let Him be first in their personal lives and in their families. They rededicated themselves to having marriages that pleased the Lord, and to use their time wisely and to return to the Lord a portion of the money He had given them for use in the temple. They were acknowledging that they were just stewards of what the Lord had given them. Now in chapter 11 of Nehemiah, since the walls and gates of the city are rebuilt, it was time to make sure that the city of Jerusalem was populated sufficiently in order to defend it and to transact the necessary business for running the city. For in Nehemiah 7:4 we find that the city was large and great; but that the people were few therein, and the houses were not built. Evidently, before the walls and gates of Jerusalem were rebuilt, Jerusalem was not a popular place to live. Perhaps in the capital, the cost of living was higher, there was a housing shortage, jobs may not have been plentiful, and personal safety could not be guaranteed. 1. Nehemiah 11:1 - Already the leaders lived there, but more people were needed in the city to make it the capital it should be. The goal was for Jerusalem to have one tenth of the community population. To do this lots were cast.

2 2. Nehemiah 11:2 - In addition, it seems that others volunteered to live in Jerusalem. 3. Nehemiah 11:3-12:26 -After describing the process of repopulating the city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah gives a register of Jewish Citizens. +++Residents of Jerusalem (11:3-24). Those who already lived there. *11:3-9 - rulers *11: priests *11: Levites *11: Porters or gatekeepers, and Nethinims (Temple Servants) *11: Certain officials appointed by the king of Persia. ++Residents outside the city (11:25-36). With the Jerusalem residents listed, the villages settled by the Jews outside the capital were then named. Settlements were listed in the south, the hill country, in the mountains near Jerusalem on the north and west, and in the coastal plain on the west. In these areas lived the tribe of Judah (25-30) and Benjamin (31-36). Not all could live in the city of Jerusalem, but all were a part of God s family of God s people. ++Priests and Levites of Zerubbabel s return (12:1-9). The heads and families of priests and Levites who came to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel nearly 100 years previously (536 B.C.) are listed here. Why? For the purpose to remember what God did in that day in restoring the temple worship, that God was number one in their midst. ++Postexilic high priests (12:10-11) - That is those who served after the return from the exile in Babylon. ++Priests and Levites after Zerubbabel and Joshua (12:12-26). Here Nehemiah completes the register by including priests and Levites under succeeding high priests. Head of priestly houses are given in verses 12-21, and heads of Levitical families in verses Nehemiah 12: The dedication of the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem. ++ The assembling of the Levites and musicians (12:27-29). This is an amazing section of God s Word. It was a day of celebration, a day of gladness. A day of singing accompanied with musical instruments. Note cymbals, harps, and lyres. People gathered from the surrounding areas at Jerusalem for the praise festival of thanking God for His involvement in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. ++Rites of purification (12:30). Before the dedication, there had to be a time of purification. The priests and Levites purified themselves, probably by fasting, washing their clothes, and bringing sacrifices (Numbers 8:21). The people were purified which meant washing themselves and their clothes (Numbers 19:12, 19), and the gates walls were purified by sprinkling blood on it (cf. II Chronicles 29:20-24) in the time Hezekiah blood was used to purify the Temple. All this was necessary because of man s defilement. ++The Procession to the Dedication Service (12:31-40). ++The people and leaders were divided into two companies (12:31-40). This all took place near the Valley Gate at the southwest corner of the city. Ezra was leading one group, and Nehemiah the other group. Note: that each group had a choir (31, 38a) a civic official leading half of the lay leaders (32, 38, 40), seven priests (33-34, 41), and eight Levites (35-36a, 42). ++One group (31b) went counterclockwise on top of the walls, (evidently Ezra s group, as Nehemiah had done in first looking over the city (2:13-15). The other company, followed by Nehemiah (38) went clockwise, half on top of the walls. Both groups met in the court of the temple where the dedication service would take place. ++As the two groups walked along, they probably sang in praise to God, accompanied by instrumental music. As they praised the Lord, they must have been thinking about how God had protected them during the rebuilding of the walls, and had given them the strength to finish the task in 52 days. ++The Actual Dedication Service (12:40-43). ++They praised the Lord for who He was and what He had done and sacrifices were made to the Lord.

3 (12:40-43). What a service of praise. Music was a vital part of their worship service. ++There was such great rejoicing because of the joy God had given them that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar!! Think of that!! 5. Nehemiah 12: The work of the Temple was organized and supported. Once the walls were dedicated to the Lord, the people made certain that those who served the temple, the priests, Levites, singers, and porters, were cared for. And the people supported the temple as the law of Moses indicated. It was like in the days of Zerubbabel some 100 years earlier. There was a great spiritual revival and quickening in the people s lives. God was alive and well in the people s lives. That s the historical record given to us by Nehemiah who was in Jerusalem around B.C. Here we are in A. D some 2400 years later. We are not involved in the city of Jerusalem with broken down walls and gates. We have not been involved in rebuilding physical walls and gates in the city of Jerusalem. We have more than the 5 books, the Book of Moses, which they used in Nehemiah s day in our Bible. In fact, we have 66 books in our Bible. We have the completed Word of God. We do not bring animals to this building for a sacrifice to be made to God. Jesus Christ has come and fulfilled the law of God in His life, paid the penalty our breaking God s law in His death, and then conquered the grave bodily to tell us that His forgiveness and eternal life are available to us. We need to acknowledge that we have sinned against God, and ask Christ into our lives to be our Savior. When we make that decision for Jesus Christ, He comes into our lives giving us His eternal life and the privilege to start a whole new life with Him, of purpose, fulfillment, and hope. And the Bible we have before us becomes our spiritual food, our direction, our strength, our encouragement, our promise, and our hope. In fact, the things in the Old Testament although a historical record, are written, as Paul says in Romans 15:4, for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The Scripture, then, speaks to our spirits to bring renewed help for our lives regardless of when it was written for it is the eternal Word of God. That being true, what do we find in these two chapters for our lives today? II. The teaching for us today in Nehemiah ) God is always working on our behalf- whether we see it or not. It is obvious in Nehemiah chapters 1-10 that God is working in the situation and lives of the people of Israel. In Chapter 11, things are happening in the repopulating of the city, but is God mentioned there? Not directly. But God is moving behind the scenes through the life of Nehemiah to accomplish His purposes. And as God works, He is a God of order. He doesn t do things haphazardly, or in disarray. He has His plan and He works it out after the counsel of His will for our good and His glory. God is always working. In fact as someone has said that when we pray God is always doing something. We may not see all the results right now, but when we pray God works. Our Lord understood this while on earth. In John 5:17 He taught that My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working. Then Christ added in John 5:19 that Truly the son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. This is the first principle of the Experiencing God study. God is always at work Yes, God is always at work, sometimes visibly and sometimes behind the scenes. But you can count on it that God is always working. The Brooklyn Tabernacle has some lively music that ministers to one s spirit, at least to mine, and I know many others. They sing, God is working, God is working all the time.

4 God is working all the time on our behalf, for He never leaves nor forsakes us. Remember that in your personal life, God is at work. Remember that in your family life. God is at work. Let s remember that in our church family. God is at work. Yes, we want to reach out to the community with Christ. We desire to have a building to meet in. God is at work. We must be faithful and pray each day, and watch for opportunities to reach out with His love. God is always at work. Keep your eyes open. Don t miss when He shows up in your life. Perhaps you re praying for something right now. Don t give up. God is at work. He is never in a hurry, but He is always on time. You can count on it. Yes, even in our world, God is still working. He is still on the throne. I know it s easy to become negative as we see events take place in our country and around the world. I have to come back to the reality that God is in the process of working out His plan. He is still King of kings and Lord of lords. As we watch the news, we shouldn t become disheartened, we should take courage, because God is working out His plan in spite of the disobedience and rebellion of the human heart, and Satan s deception being advanced in our culture. As God works continually, secondly, 2) God is fully aware of our needs. Was God aware of the people of Jerusalem having lives that were spiritually bankrupt? Was God aware of the walls of Jerusalem being broken down? Of course, He did. Did God know that the city of Jerusalem needed to repopulated in our text today. Of course He did. God knew what needed to done, and He nudged Nehemiah to get the job done. It s easy for us to forget that God is aware of what we are experiencing. When bad things happen to us, we think that God has left, or perhaps God doesn t care. It s easy to become bitter, to blame God, as Nehemiah could have done when He heard about the people and city of Jerusalem. And in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah could have given up when opposition came in different ways. There is nothing in our lives that God is not aware of. He sees the sparrow fall. He knows the number of the hairs on our head. He knows about our headaches and heartaches. He continually reminds us that nothing can separate us from His love. Yes, He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for us. Talk about meeting our greatest need. Our need for forgiveness and eternal life. When we rebelled against Him, He continued to love us and provide us life that never ends. We should never get over the price God paid for our salvation. His one and only Son laid down His life for us who deserved condemnation, but he won for us salvation, life without end. God is working. God is fully aware of our needs. Thirdly, 3) God comes to meet our needs spiritually and materially. In Nehemiah, people s lives had strayed from God. They were doing their own thing living apart from God. They weren t listening to the Lord. They weren t serving Him. God brought Nehemiah on the scene to use him and Ezra to change all this. How did God do this? In Nehemiah, the Lord used the rebuilding of the walls and gates, the material, to remind the people that He was Lord and able to meet all their needs. As they saw the hand of God on the rebuilding project, it caused them to want to read the Word of God. As the Word of God was read to them, a spiritual revival took place in the lives the people. They confessed their sin, and recommitted

5 themselves to serve God individually, in their family, and to put God first in their time and with their money. Don t miss what is happening here. God can use His involvement in the physical/material world to enter into the lives of people spiritually. In fact, if you look at the life of Christ, you ll find Him doing this again and again. John 4:7ff. Take the woman at the well. Did He confront her with her spiritual need first of all. Not at all. John tells us that Jesus just asked her for a drink of water, which led to this woman who had five husbands, coming to experience the eternal water that only Jesus Christ can give to the thirsty spirit, the thirsty person. John 6. In the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus used that amazing miracle to cause people to recognize their need to having Him as the Bread of Life who had come down from the Father. The one who ate of Him spiritually by faith would never hunger and never thirst (John 6:35). John 9. Jesus healed the man born blind. This caused quite a stir among the religious leaders. Eventually, Jesus heard that the Pharisees had rejected him, (John 9:34-38), so He found man He had healed, and asked him, Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered and said, And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him? Jesus said to him, You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you. And the healed blind man said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him, that is Christ. God takes the physical the He created and uses it to get people s attention so that they can understand their spiritual need and accept Him as Savior. What an example for us. That s why deeds of kindness are so important. I heard the story of a older gentlemen who would have nothing to do with God. People from a certain church kept bringing him goodies to eat. Eventually, their love for him caused him to realize His need for the Savior. That s why we need to do deeds of kindness or random deeds of kindness. We trust to do some of that yet this summer with our youth. Perhaps handing out cold bottles of water to those on a bike trail or in a heavy traffic area. Who of those around you needs to experience some kindness. Lives of people need to be opened up to God s love. People don t care until they know we care. Fourthly, 4) Our response to God meeting our needs can only be one of faith and praise. (1) Involves faith. Obviously, the people in our text in Nehemiah s day responded to the Lord in faith. They realized that their acceptance before God could not be accomplished on their own. True repentance of sin, caused them to turn from their sin, and respond to the Lord as their Savior. **Accepting Christ for our salvation. How we need to realize that our good works are as filthy garments before the Lord, because they are tainted with our sin. None of us can gain acceptance before God and what we do, for our good deeds can never outweigh out bad works. That s why Christ has come. To satisfy the righteous demands of the Holy God, by fulfilling the law of God in His life and paying our penalty for breaking that law in His death, for the wages of sin is death. Then He rose from the dead bodily demonstrating that forgiveness and eternal life are available to everyone who asks Him to be their Savior. For grace are you saved, through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

6 I trust that you know what it means to accept Jesus as your personal Savior. If you don t, I encourage you to read John 3 in your Bible, or talk to me after the service, or call me this week. Christ wants to be your personal Savior. **Walking by faith as a believer in Jesus Christ. But there is also the exercise of faith after one accepts Jesus Christ as one s personal Savior. Paul tells the Corinthians in his second letter to for we walk by faith, not by sight (II Corinthians 5:8). This means a daily decision to take God at His word and act upon it. It means through faith in the Lord, the believer will seek to make the adjustments in his or her life that the Word of God indicates as the believer reads it. This is what happened to the people in Nehemiah s day. Once they realized what the Word of God said, they confessed their sin to the Lord, and made the adjustments in their lives to follow the Lord wholeheartedly in their personal lives, their families, and in their daily stewardship of giving God His best with their time and money. It is not just believing that God is working, and He has come to you and me in providing us forgiveness and eternal life, it is by faith being willing to make the adjustments in ones life to join Him where He is working. In fact as I was looking Nehemiah in conjunction with the first part of Nehemiah, its obvious that these people experienced God many years before the Experiencing God series was even thought of let alone written. For listen to the seven principles of the Experiencing God Study. (1)God is always at work around you. (2)God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. (3)God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. (4)God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, his purposes, and His ways. (5)God s invitation for you is to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. (6) You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. (7)You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you. And did you notice all the different people that were involved in populating the city of Jerusalem? The leaders of the city, the people with their different gifts and abilities, the priests, the gate keepers, the temple servants, and other officials. Everyone one was needed in order for the program of God to go forward. God s principle has not changed. In His church today, God brings different people together with different talents and spiritual gifts to accomplish building His local church through those people. In fact, one pastor has suggested that God gives to each church the gifted people who can be used to cause that church to grow and increase for His glory. May none of us be pew warmers, but actively seeking to minister to others about us, and to build up the body of Christ. If one is not able to minister in some area of service, one can certainly have a prayer ministry. That will keep one busy on a daily basis. But response to God meeting our needs not only includes faith, it also includes praise. (2) It involves praise. The response of praise to God in chapter 12 of Nehemiah is phenomenal. There were two choirs with instruments. Perhaps it was an antiphonal choir as it marched around on top of the walls. What a

7 sight it must have been. Then, when they got to the temple the praise festival really began, for now it was united praise to God for who He was and all He done for them. The rejoicing and praise was so loud that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. Wiersbe calls this the shout heard round the world. He asks, Why did Ezra and Nehemiah organize this kind of a dedication service? Why not just meet in the temple area, let the Levites sing and offer sacrifices to the Lord, and send everybody home? He gives four reasons why. (1) It was the walls and gates that were being dedicated. It was only right that the people see and touch them. (2) The people were bearing witness to the watching world that God had done the work, and he alone should be glorified. The enemy said that the walls were so weak that a fox wouldn t be able to stand on them. Now the people were marching on them. What a testimony to the unbelieving Gentiles of the power of the living God. They also had the opportunity to see the walls they had worked on and to be reminded that they had done this together. No one individual was responsible. They did the work as a team. Nobody owned the part he or she worked on. The wall belonged to God. The story is told the church who had put up a building, and a Sunday School class sued the church when they were asked to vacate their classroom and move somewhere else in the building. The building belongs to God. The walls belonged to God. (3) It was a symbolic act by which they stepped out by faith to claim God s blessing. In that day to walk on a piece of property meant to claim it as one s own. God said to Joshua, Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you (Joshua 1:3). The joyful march around the wall was their way of saying, We claim from our God all that He has for us, just as our forebearers claimed this land by faith! (4)The most important aspect about this celebration was not the walk around the walls, but the expression of joyful praise that came from the choirs and the people. Notice that their praise was with gladness and thanksgiving (12:27, 46), with rejoicing (43-44), with joy (43), and loudly (43) heard from afar. It was not a time for muted, meditative worship. They pulled out all the stops and praised God at the top of their voices with instrumental music. It was a great praise festival. All were involved, The musicians, choirs, men, women and children (43). Whole families were involved. David of old was the one responsible for arranging the singers for the temple and written and arranged many of the songs for the temple worship many years before. It would have been a moving and exhilarating experience to have been there. I have been in certain concerts where the music and singing have been tremendous. I m sure you have been too. When God works in one s life so that His word brings about a change in direction and the accomplish of His work, one can only praise the Lord, for He alone gets the glory. In fact, a Spirit controlled life will always be filled with praise and thanksgiving to God. One can t be grumpy if one has the attitude of praise and thanks to the true and living God. That s why it is good to just have a praise service once in awhile to remind ourselves that He totally receives the praise and honor. Yes, God is moving in our world, in our personal lives, in our family lives, in our church life, where we work, and in our communities. How do I know? He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He is always with us. He knows our sitting down and our rising up. Read Psalm 139. None of us can flee from God s presence. And why would we want to? Our responsibility is to recognize that He is there with us. That s what Christ did. Just read again the Gospel records. Follow the life of Christ. Christ said that He came to do the will of the Father. What

8 was that? In Mark 10:45 He said that He came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Christ then had two basic areas in His life where He joined His Father where He was working. First, He came to provide forgiveness and eternal life for the world through His death and bodily resurrection. He came to win salvation for all of us, particularly those of us who accept Him as personal Savior. But, secondly. Christ came to serve His heavenly Father by serving people. That account of His service is given to us by the Gospel writers. He kept Himself aware of those around Him and those who came to Him. He ministered to their needs. But it all started with Christ s personal life. Why did the Father approve of His Son, the Lord Jesus, during His ministry by saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He approved of Him so Christ would know that He had accepted Him and was behind Him in His ministry. Why did Christ spend time in prayer in the early morning with His heavenly Father? He knew that He needed fellowship with His heavenly Father, and that He wanted to use Him in His ministry. Why did He talk about the Father s love for Him and His love for His Heavenly Father. He was assured of God s love for Him as He served Him. He knew that His The Heavenly Father was working in His life, and He wanted to keep sensitive to that working. If you know Christ as your Savior, God is moving in your personal life, but the key is to let Him, as you interact with Him through His Word and prayer. Obedience is the key as it was in the life of Christ. God is moving in your family life. But again you have to be obedient to Him, continue to pray, and minister to those in your family. Serving one s family is serving the Lord. Honoring those in your family, is honoring the Lord. God is moving in our church life. God is stirring us up to be people of faith, to people who sacrifice our monies to launch a building program. God is moving in our midst to look around us, and pray for our neighborhoods, and be open to His leading in making friends with those who need Christ s love. Are there those who I could invite to a study of the gospel of John in my home? God continually challenges us. Of course, it will not necessarily be easy. Was it easy rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Of course not. But the key is not to lose our focus, our goal, our desire to build a church worship center, and to reach out to the community with the love of Jesus Christ. God is moving where you work. How? By you being there, and being an example of Christ to those who you work with, and praying for those in your work place, asking God to give you opportunities to show the love of Christ. God is moving wherever you and I are. We just need to realize that and buy up the opportunities that God gives us, to say a way, touch a life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ told His disciples in Acts 1:8, and us as well, that the Holy Spirit would come, and they would be witnesses of Him. What is a witness? The word witness means to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something. I can share certain things that have happened in my life, because I have seen them, but can also give testimony to the fact that I have been a part of those experiences. I almost drowned as a young boy once by falling a deep hole near the Wolf River when it overflowed its banks in the Spring time in Shiocton, Wisconsin, when my family lived there. I am a witness of that experience.

9 The writers Gospels tell us of Christ and their experience with Him because they are witnesses to who Christ was and what He did. They are trustworthy witness of Christ s life and work. So you and I who accept Christ and know Him as our personal Savior, we have the privilege and responsibility to be give evidence of Christ living in our lives. We are to be witnesses of Christ at work, on the move, in our lives. It may be by life. It may be by word. Whatever, at all times, our lives should give witness of Christ living in us. It may not always be sharing Christ s love with them in telling them about His great love for them. It may just being honest in our dealings. This past week, a special couple who we have been friends with for a number of years visited us for a couple of days. We took them out for breakfast yesterday, Saturday morning. As I went to pay the check, I looked at it, and noticed that the waitress had only charged us for two meals rather than for four meals. What a deal. No, something is not right here. I talked to the cashier, the manager came, give the check back to the waitress and we got the check corrected. The manager thanked me, and said at the end of the day, the tally would have been off. And I mentioned, that someone would have to pay. He thanked me, and put his hand on my shoulder, and said, God bless, and walked off. I paid the check and we left. A witness for Christ? Yes, God was moving through me. I was joining God where He was working. We have all been praying for Frank Barnard in Meriter Hospital. Praise the Lord for his wonderful improvement. Although Frank has had a challenging illness, and will take some time for him to return to normal health and activity, he has not forgotten that he has the privilege to be a witness for his Lord. And I noticed the Gideon New Testaments that he has with him there to give to someone as the right occasion arises. Is God moving in Frank s life? Is Frank being a witness. Definitely. And we talked about how God uses us in whatever circumstance we may find ourselves. Our God is on the move. Is your personal life, family life, church life, life at work, or in the neighborhood seem stagnant, or lifeless? Try obeying the Lord were He puts you. Seize the day. Seize the opportunities. Step out by faith. You ll be surprised at what the Lord will do in and through you to His glory. If you are already doing this, give praise to Him that you can represent Him where He puts you personally, at home, at church, in your work, and in your neighborhood.