Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:

The year is 445 B.C. 1000 years after Moses 400 years before Christ

The years of history the book covers are 445-431 B.C.

Back in the land after 70 years of exile. But the walls are broken down. The people are in trouble and living in disgrace.

When in exile, settled down to life in a foreign country. Some became prominent in the government. Nehemiah is one of those who had risen to a place of prominence.

2-3 milli Jews deported. Only about 97,000 returned to the land. (4%)

15 years earlier – Rebuilt their worship center and spiritual renewal

Ezra 4:6-23 they’d tried to rebuild the walls earlier but failed.

Nehemiah learned of the conditions in Jerusalem that led him to request permission to return to Judah (2:5). He arrived in Jerusalem in 444 B.C. and within 52 days had completed the rebuilding of the city walls (6:15). He will serve as Judah’s governor for 12 years.

The message of this book.

Nehemiah proves that seemingly impossible things are possible through prayer and hard work when people determine to trust and obey God, and when they put His interests first.

Gordon McDonald, Rebuilding Your Broken World.

He writes: “In one of the darkest hours of my broken-world condition, I found myself one day in the front row of a Dallas church where I had been asked to give a talk. I had made a long-term commitment to be there, but had it not been for my hosts’ hard work of preparation, I would have tried to cancel my participation. Frankly, I was in no mood to speak to anyone. But I felt constrained not to cancel, and so there I was.

When the service began, a group of young men and women took places at the front of the congregation and began to lead with instruments and voices in a chain of songs and hymns: some contemporary, others centuries old. As we moved freely from melody to melody, I became aware of a transformation in my inner world. I was being strangely lifted by the music and its content of thankfulness and celebration. If my heart had been heavy, the hearts of others about me were apparently light because, together, we seemed to rise in spirit, the music acting much like the thermal air currents that lift an eagle or a hawk high above the earth.

I not only felt myself rising out of the darkness of my spirit, but I felt as if I were being bathed, washed clean. And as the gloom melted away, a quiet joy and a sense of cleansing swept in and took its place. I felt free to express my turbulent emotions with tears. The congregation’s praise was a therapy of the spirit: indescribable in its power. It was a day I shall never forget. No one in that sanctuary knew how high they had lifted one troubled man far above his broken-world anguish. Were there others there that day feeling as I did? Perhaps they would have affirmed as I did: God was there.”

That is the difference that a recognition of God makes in recovering from anguish and ruin. With that I would like to turn to Nehemiah’s diary, the memoirs of a man who was used of God to lead a whole city to recovery:

I. Broken Walls, 1:1-3

In Shushan the citadel: Nehemiah lived in Shushan, the capital city of the Persians, and he lived in the citadel – that is, the fortified palace of the Persians. Nehemiah is someone important, living in the palace of the king of Persia.

I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem: Nehemiah’s body was in Persia but his heart and his interest were in Jerusalem – 800 miles away.

Had important things to think about than a distant city he had never been to, and a people he had mostly never met. Yet, because his heart was for the things of God, his heart was not on himself, but on others.

Psalm 137:5-6: If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.

If Jerusalem was special to God, then it was also special to Nehemiah. Luke 15 – If the lost are important to God they ought to be important to us.

The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire:

The people were called survivors

They were in great distress and reproach,

The walls were broken down and the city gates are burned

A city without walls was a city open and vulnerable to its enemies. They had no defense, no protection at all.

An unwalled city was always a backwater town, with nothing valuable in it. A sense of living in nowhere or smallsville.

Those living in an unwalled city lived in constant stress and tension; they never knew when they might be attacked and brutalized.

Every man lived in fear for his wife and children. The temple could be rebuilt, but never made beautiful, because anything valuable would be taken easily.

No wonder the people lived in constant distress, in constant disgrace (reproach), living only as survivors.

If we take Jerusalem as a symbol of our own lives, there are many people, perhaps many right here this morning, who fit this description.

You look back on your life this New Year’s Day and you see there are places where the walls have been broken down. There is no longer any ability left to resist destructive attacks. You have fallen victim to sinful habits that you now find difficult, if not impossible, to break. That is the kind of ruin that is described here:

God is going to use Nehemiah to do more than rebuild a wall

This book is the story of the restoring of a people from ruin and despair to a new walk with God. Jerusalem is not only an historic city the center of the life of the nation of Israel

It is also a symbolic city. It pictures is the place where God desires to dwell. This was the place where God would dwell among his people.

Jerusalem therefore, throughout the Old and New Testaments, has pictured the place where God seeks to dwell. However, it is only a picture — it is not the actual place where God dwells for, according to the New Testament, man is to be the dwelling place of God. God seeks to dwell in the human spirit. “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Colossians 1:27). This is God’s provision and desire for man.

Jerusalem in ruins is a picture of a life that has lost its defenses against attack and lies open to repeated hurt and misery. All around us are those who are exposed to the hurt and misery of people whose walls have been broken down.

There may be some who feel unable to stop wrongful sexual practices. You have gone along with the ways of the world. You know they are wrong. But you have difficulty stopping them. You may be indulging in ___________. (Story about two chocolate cakes)

You may be addicted to drugs. You may be hooked on tobacco or alcohol. Perhaps you have a bitter spirit. You can be an addict of a critical attitude that complains about everything as much as you can be an addict to drugs. It is so habitual that you find yourself having difficulty stopping it. Perhaps your drift began innocently. You had no intention of the walls in your life being broken down. All you know is that now you feel defenseless and unable to resist attack. Your defenses are gone. The walls of your city are broken down.

Jerusalem in ruins is a vivid picture of their danger and despair. The book of Nehemiah depicts the way of recovery from breakdown and ruin to a condition of peace, security, restored order, and usefulness.

Your gates may be burned.

Gates are ways in and out. They are the way by which other people get to know you as you really are. Perhaps your gates have been burned. Scarred and shamed so that either no one has access to you or everyone does.

The most widespread secular illusion of our day is that we do not need God to do what we want to do. We think we can function without him. We can so easily live the same way. I find in my own life tendencies to depend upon myself to do certain things and to ignore the need for God in this process.

The book of Nehemiah is designed to teach us that only with God’s help can we actually change and recover from the damage and ruin of the past. That is the central lesson of this book.

II. A Broken Heart

So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

I sat down and wept: He didn’t just feel bad for Jerusalem and its people; right away, there was no strength in his legs (I sat down), and he began to weep and to mourn.

Mourned for many days: God was going to use Nehemiah to do something about this situation. But first, God did something in Nehemiah.

Broken hearted!

Deeply concerned about the purposes of God. He is willing to face the facts, to weep over them, and tell God about them. That is always the place to begin. There is nothing superficial about this.. What is needed is an honest facing of the ruin, whatever it may be, and, without blaming or attempting to involve somebody else, tell it all to God. By yourself, alone, face the facts. Take all the time you want and pour it out before God. Weep, if you feel like it. Tell him all the hurt, the fear, and the pain. That is always the place to start, according to Scripture. A broken spirit and a contrite heart God always welcomes.

Principle: The great work of God began with God doing a great work in Nehemiah

God prepared Nehemiah for this by putting him in an important position in Persia. He had a heart that broke over their needy state.

Leaders must prepare themselves for difficult work. And that preparation is first of all in the heart. The task won’t be easy.

“There is no winning without a fight!

there is no opportunity without opposition;

there is no victory without vigilance.

For when ever the people of God say, ‘Let us arise and build,’ Satan says, ‘Let me arise and oppose.’” Allan Redpath

Adventurer Steve Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history with an emergency landing Saturday, flying 26,389 miles in about 76 hours but stopping early because of mechanical problems.

The Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer piloted by Steve Fossett flies over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2004. Fossett took off from the Kennedy Space Center landing facility shortly before 7:30 AM EST attempting to break the airplane flight distance record.

During takeoff Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center, his plane leaked fuel and he nearly ran out of runway. “I had to pull up with all my might” to get the plane in the air before the end of the airstrip.

Severe turbulence over India “almost broke the plane apart,” he said, forcing him to strap on a parachute for fear of having to eject.

Instead, his flight team altered his projected route. They had him cross Florida, where he began his journey Wednesday, and take a southerly path on the flight’s last leg to take advantage of better winds.

The plane’s ventilation system also malfunctioned midway through the trip, causing temperatures in the 7-foot cockpit to rise to as much as 130 degrees. Fossett was forced to drink a large part of his water supply earlier than planned because of the heat, his flight team said.

“He burst two tires on landing and the Global Flyer had to be dragged off the runway,”

Let me add to Redpath: There are no rewards without risks!

Leaders must have a big vision, and Nehemiah had one. “Through me, God is going to correct a problem that’s been around a hundred and fifty years. Through me, God is going to do something that completely failed before.”

We must have a vision, a goal, that is God-sized. Does it matter? Does it really matter.

But more than having a big vision of the work to be done we need a big vision of the One who will do that work.

I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven: Nehemiah’s reaction went beyond an immediate emotion. Many times a concern will come over us in a flush, and then quickly pass. But if it is from the Lord it will abide and grow and the burden will remain until the problem that prompted the burden is solved.

Notice what Nehemiah did not do: he did not complain, whine, or “see who could fix this problem.” He did not seek to blame or shame. He immediately did what he knew he could do – pray, and intensely seek God in this situation.

III. Our Awesome God – Nehemiah’s Prayer

First, he recognized the awesomeness of God:
“Oh LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.” (Nehemiah 1:5b-6a NIV)

A window into Nehemiah’s relationship and walk with God.

He had confidence in God and he never wavered from that confidence

Nehemiah 4:14 “And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.””

Nehemiah 9:32 ““Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.” ESV

Exodus 15:11 ““Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” ESV

Deuteronomy 7:21 “You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.” ESV

Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” ESV

Psalm 68:35 “Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!” ESV

Daniel 9:4 “I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,” ESV

The walls of Jerusalem have been broken down for 150 years.

The people are in trouble living under stress w/ a sense of shame.

Hesed – loving-kindness or the loyal love of God.

Psalm 63:3 “your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” ESV Without God’s loving kindness life is not worth living.

Parched lips do not sing but a life that is full of God’s love does.

“I’m feeling very unhappy, and I really can’t even tell you what the reason is. All I know is that I need to be loved.” God does this.

Second, he repented of all personal and corporate sins:
“I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” (Nehemiah 1:6b-7 NIV)

an honest facing of his own guilt. absence of self-righteousness. He does not say, “Lord, I am thinking of those terrible sinners back there in Jerusalem. Be gracious to them because they have fallen into wrong actions.” He puts himself into this picture, saying, “I have contributed to this problem. There are things that I did or did not do that have made this ruin possible. I confess before you, Lord, the sins of myself and my father’s house.” There is no attempt to excuse or to blame others for this. It is a simple acknowledgment of wrong.

Any degree of self-justification will cancel out recovery. If you try to excuse yourself for what is wrong in your life, you block your own recovery. Just admit it, declare it. This first step in God’s way of the process of recovery

Third, Nehemiah reminded God of his gracious promises:
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

Nehemiah reminds himself that God is a God of forgiveness, a God of restoration, a God of great power. When the heart is right, God can change all the external circumstances of a situation and make it entirely different.

Fourth, Nehemiah requested specific help to begin this process:
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name [There were others praying with him]. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:10-11a NIV)

Nehemiah had a place to start.

No matter what the ruin of any life may be there is always a place to start. Draw a line…apologize…go straighten something out. You need to stop some practice that is wrong. You need to open yourself up to counsel. You need to seek advice. You need to get some guidance. There is always a first step. That is where you must begin.