Day 43 of the 52 day journey with Nehemiah.............................Nehemiah 13:1-3 King James Version (KJV) 1 On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; 2 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.. You must Refresh yourselves with the Story of RUTH In todays Lesson... It Is Important that you recognize a little bit of (((HIS- Story...JESUS CHRIST)))).. ..Isnt it funny How when you separate yourselves from your Past how your Entourage gets smaller and smaller????? 13:1-3 This chapter is a sort of surprise ending to the book. To understand it, one must know that between chapters twelve and thirteen Nehemiah returned to Persia. 13:1-3 The first area of backsliding for the people was their relationship with foreigners. Even though 9:2 states that those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners, the people once again allowed foreigners into the congregation. Relationships between the Jewish people and the foreigners in the land had caused them to violate Gods command (1 Cor. 15:33). There are certain questions that always seem to arise from folks both inside and outside the church about matters of faith and belief. Questions about the existence of God are always popular with the youth. “Who made God?” The best answer that I have ever heard was given by a youth advisor who responded: “DuPont, they made everything else!” “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” is a query raised by young and old alike. I get variations on: “Am I a Christian if I don’t believe in the virgin birth?” all the time. IN preaching through the book of Nehemiah some may have noticed that ................Nehemiah 3............. is an account of how the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt, who did the rebuilding, and which family built which part. In fact that is basically how the entirety of the chapter is laid out. This family rebuilt the wall from here to here and beside them these people were there and so on and so forth. This is a good example of the repetition that is present in many Old Testament passages. Though this does not make for gripping and compelling reading it does show the attention that the Jews of this time had to detail and gives us some good lessons for our lives today. This passage teaches a lot about unity, teamwork, and encouragement. There are always questions about the Bible: “Why is the God of the Old Testament seem so violent?” You know what I am talking about, don’t you? As we raise our questions, I wonder what questions God would have for us? I wonder what questions the Bible raises for us to consider? The passages that we have read today carry on, I believe, a very lively and heated discussion- asking the question: “What kind of people are we going to be?” Remember, the Bible is a collection of books – it is a library of narratives, traditions, interpretations gathered over many years. The Biblical books as we have them reflect communities reinterpreting their past as they seek a faithful present identity. I don’t want to forget that this is a sermon not a lecture – but it is important for you to know that while the readings from Nehemiah and Ruth describe different historical moments in the life of Israel – Ruth is set in Israel before the monarchy begins. The final verses of the book point to King David. Nehemiah is set in Jerusalem after the Jews come home from exile. The city needs to be rebuilt and the community reformed. Are we Ruth people or Nehemiah people? There is no doubt that Jesus is going to go with his great-great, great, great, great (and add a few more great) grandmother – Jesus has foreign blood in him – he is of mixed race, a mongrel. We proclaim Christ “King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords.” It seems clear to me that we are going to be a people of Ruth rather than of Nehemiah............Now Take a Safety pin and POP your Chest cause I know its some folk who are Hot With me about that statement... (((I need for you to Read the History of RUTH for she was a MOABITE !!!!!!!!!!!!)))) ((((Now can I finish with the lesson???? Nehemiah 13:1 clearly speaks against the relationship with these people!!!!))))... So I caution to have you not Forget who GOD is!!!! HE is not a Man that HE should LIE nor shall HE confuse you.. HE has a lesson to be learned through NEHEMIAH 13 :1-3... Just journey further with me... Once the walls were up, God used Nehemiah and Ezra to lead the people in spiritual renewal. In chapter 10, the people signed a spiritual covenant, agreeing to obey God’s law as it applied both personally and to their corporate worship. The climax of the book is the dedication celebration in chapter 12, where the people “rejoiced because God had given them great joy” (12:43). It would have been nice if the book ended there: “And they all lived happily ever after.” But real life isnt like that. After 12 years as governor, Nehemiah had returned to Persia. We don’t know how long he was there, but during his absence, spiritual permissiveness and decline set in. The time references in chapter 13 are ambiguous (am·big·u·ous) amˈbiɡyo͞oəs/ adjective.........Meaning........... open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning. the question is rather ambiguous unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made. this whole society is morally ambiguous), so it is not clear whether the reforms of 13:1-3 took place on the day of the dedication of the wall, or at another time. But the reforms were short-lived. Spiritual compromise snuck in through the spiritual leadership. When Nehemiah returned, he found that permissiveness was rampant in the very areas the people had covenanted to stand against just a few years before! Some criticize Nehemiah for not being more tactful and polite, but when God’s people are being poisoned by permissiveness, politeness may not be best. If I saw you about to drink what I knew to be deadly poison, you wouldnt want me politely to smile and think to myself, “I wouldnt drink that, but I don’t want to impose my views on him. Each person has a right to his own opinions.” You’d want me to shout, “Wait! That will kill you!” And if need be, you’d want me forcibly to knock it from your hand. That’s what Nehemiah did. He didnt worry about being polite or about what people would think of him. I’m sure that he made many enemies by what he did here, but I’m also sure that he was God’s friend. Many no doubt grumbled about what an unloving, harsh man he was....It’s easy to see the faults of others but to be blind to our own permissiveness. I encourage you to begin with yourself. As you read God’s Word, ask yourself where you may have slipped into the ways of our godless culture. After you deal with yourself, I encourage husbands and fathers to give godly leadership and correction when needed to your families. When the other pastors and I warn of spiritual dangers, rather than getting angry and leaving the church, stop and prayerfully consider whether what we say is in line with God’s Word. Spiritual permissiveness is a perpetual problem. Like Nehemiah, we must detect it by God’s Word and strongly confront it if we want to hear our Lord’s “Well done!” when we stand before Him. BY Chapter Thirteen...The people had heard the Law read (Neh. 8:1-8) from Deuteronomy 23:3-6 that because the Ammonites and Moabites had refused them access (Num. 22:22-24) to their resources to cross to enter the Promised Land hundreds of years before, that none of them would be permitted in the assembly (Neh. 13:2; Ezra 8:29). (Unless of course, like Ruth the Moabitess, you choose to follow the Lord.) Deuteronomy 23:3-6: 3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation. 4 For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. 5 However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. 6 Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live............ Nehemiah found that resources were being used to benefit someone personally at the Temple, that resources were not being invested to honor the Lord. And benefits were being accrued even to Tobiah, an enemy of the very Temple in which he lived for free! Nehemiah did not hesitate. He did not seek an intermediate solution. He did not compromise. Nehemiah had a Kingdom mindset and was not going to compromise by allowing the personal benefit of an enemy of God’s people to continue. Reform the way the church spends money and reform the church. Do you know the story of the frog in the pot? If you put a frog into boiling water, he’ll try and jump straight out. But if you put him into nice cool water, and slowly bring it to the boil, the frog won’t realise until it’s too late. I don’t know why you would want to boil a frog. But the point is this – it’s often the slow changes in temperature, not the sudden ones, which slip by without us noticing. Your time set aside for God gets a little shorter each week. More commitments. More things to juggle. Family, work. Prayer time gets shorter and less frequent. What we see happen in Nehemiah 13 didn’t happen overnight – but it did happen! Step by step. The temple, the priests, the Sabbath, their marriages. ... The book of Nehemiah is not about failure. It teaches us about success. Real success. Eternal success. Failure is when we say to God “I don’t want to get up. Success is turning to God when we fall, and saying “Help me get up.” I wonder sometimes if we forget how to ask God for help to get up again? Isaiah 40:31 says: “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”................. ***********QUOTE************* There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks out the truth in order to pretend that no choice or values exist, who is willing to sit out the course of any battle, willing to cash in on the blood of the innocent or to crawl on his belly to the guilty, who dispenses justice by condemning both the robber and the robbed to jail, who solves conflicts by ordering the thinker and the fool to meet each other halfway. In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit. In that transfusion of blood which drains the good to feed the evil, the compromise is the transmitting rubber tube.” ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged *************END QUOTE************* ..What are the first steps for you? Have you taken a step down? Have you compromised your commitment? Pastor Joel Lewis
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 18:57:41 +0000
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