PT-2 "The Separation Promise" (Neh. 13:4-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/13/2011 11:54:56 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus: PT-2 “The Separation Promise”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  Nehemiah 13:4-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “4 Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as supervisor of the storerooms of the Temple of our God and who was also a relative of Tobiah, 5 had converted a large storage room and placed it at Tobiah’s disposal. The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, the frankincense, various articles for the Temple, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil (which were prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers), as well as the offerings for the priests. 6 I was not in Jerusalem at that time, for I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign, though I later asked his permission to return. 7 When I arrived back in Jerusalem, I learned about Eliashib’s evil deed in providing Tobiah with a room in the courtyards of the Temple of God. 8 I became very upset and threw all of Tobiah’s belongings out of the room. 9 Then I demanded that the rooms be purified, and I brought back the articles for God’s Temple, the grain offerings, and the frankincense.”

This is the second sub-point from Dr. Wiersbe’s for the main point that is seen above.  He entitles this second sub-point “An enemy intruder,” and it covers the verses seen above.  It should be noted that this begins the part of Nehemiah that shows what happens when the leader leaves his job, as Nehemiah had been governor for twelve years (Neh. 5:14) and after that he returned to Babylon to report to the king and now he is back to serve a second term as governor and finds this mess that we will discuss in this SD.

As we learned in yesterday’s SD the fact that the Ammonites or the Moabites could not to be married to Jews, but they were not to go into the temple and now we find an Ammonite (Tobiah) actually living in a room in the temple.  Now I have to stop here to talk about something that is on my mind concerning this section.  When one goes to the book of Ruth we find that Ruth was a Moabite and she is also found in the bloodline of the Lord Jesus Christ, which surely shows the grace of God in action.  When I studied that book last summer I read about the law from the OT that spoke of not allowing an Ammonite or Moabite to worship at the temple for ten generations, (“"No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.”) (Deu. 23:3-4)  There were some commentators that said that it was already the tenth generation for Ruth and therefore she was allowed to go into the temple, and if she was allowed to go into the temple then I would think that others would be allowed to go into the temple, however in the case of Tobiah this should not have happened and the reason that it did was because he was actually married to one of the realities of Eliashib the high priest.  Again I look at Ruth being married to Boaz, Ruth being the Moabite and Boaz the Jew.  I will have to look into this further so that I can be satisfied that I understand it better, but one thing that I do know now is that the people that we are talking about in this section are not the “good guys.”

We must remember that these kind of thing can happen in the church today as perhaps one member of the church was instrumental in starting the church, yet further down the line perhaps his grand children are not strong believers or believers at all and if they have influence in the church it can cause trouble.  Eliashib’s relative was privileged in being born into the family of a high priest, yet through away his life by marrying Tobiah and causing grief for the entire nation.

All of this happened when Nehemiah was away.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “It doesn’t take long for the enemy to capture leadership, and too often the people will blindly follow their leaders in the path of compromise and disobedience.”

According to this passage for today’s SD it took little time for Nehemiah to correct this problem, by throwing Tobiah out of this room that was used to house some of the things that were to be sacrificed to the Lord, and to then purify the room so that it could again be used for its desired purpose.  This is the sign of good leadership, leadership that does not compromise.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The thing that I want to take away from this section is “no compromising.”  I do not want to be weak when it comes to the things of the Lord even if it causes me pain, and there are times when it will cause me pain.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      No compromise

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

9/13/2011 12:44:56 PM

Merry Christmas 2025

 

Merry Christmas to all!

12/25/2024 10:03 AM  As I was having a little trouble sleeping last night I was thinking about this SD that I was going to put onto my blog and also my FB story.  What I was thinking about was as one reads the story in the Bible about the birth of Jesus, perhaps they think that because of the reason that Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem that all of the inns were filled and so they had to find a farmer who had a barn and that is where Jesus was born.  I truly believe that the place where Jesus was born was certainly in the plan of God; for God was in control of all that His Son would be doing while on planet earth.  Why would not the Messiah who is later called “our Passover” and also we read the following in two places in the gospel of John “John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  Joh 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"  It was no accident of Jesus being born in Bethlehem as the OT says he would be born there and so why would not the “Lamb of God” who is our “Passover” be born in the cave where the Passover Lambs were born?  12/25/2020 10:49 AM

I, Jacob Howard, wrote Dr. Charlie Dyer, who is the speaker on the Land and the Book Radio, a question about Midgal-Eder, mentioned in Micah 4:8. This was Dr. Dyer’s response.

 

Jacob,

 

Thank you for your e-mail, and thanks as well for your kind words! Denny and I both appreciate the privilege God has given us to serve Him in this way. You have encouraged us both!

 

As far as Midgal Eder is concerned, there is no universal identification of the site. But I do believe it was a real site. The best thing I’ve read on the subject is from Alfred Edersheim’s The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. (You can find his complete work online at Google Books.) I’ll include his quotation here, and then I’ll follow it with a few observations. (I’ll also highlight the key point he makes in the quote.)

 

But as we pass from the sacred gloom of the cave [i.e., he was just talking about the birth of Jesus in a cave] out into the night, its sky all aglow with starry brightness, its loneliness is peopled, and its silence made vocal from heaven. There is nothing now to conceal, but much to reveal, though the manner of it would seem strangely incongruous to Jewish thinking. And yet Jewish tradition may here prove both illustrative and helpful. That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem was a settled conviction. Equally so was the belief, that He was to be revealed from Midgal Eder, “the tower of the flock.” This Midgal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism, on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. The same Mishnaic passage also leads us to infer, that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before the Passover—that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly greatest. Thus, Jewish tradition in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from that Migdal Eder, where shepherds watched the Temple-flocks all the year round. Of the deep symbolic significance of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak.

 

—Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, pp. 186-87

 

If Edersheim is correct (and I believe he is), the location for Midgal Eder would be north of Bethlehem and near the old road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. (That road is the old “Hebron road” one drives on between Jerusalem and Bethlehem today!) I believe this puts the location somewhere between the Jewish kibbutz of Ramat Rachel and Bethlehem, probably just to the west of Har Homa. There used to be an actual sheepfold in this area where I would take our groups but, sadly, it has been covered over by the modern road that now goes to Har Homa.

 

A key point here: Edersheim indicates that Migdal Eder was an actual spot, but he is not saying it was a town or village. Rather, the name means “watchtower of the flock” which seems to identify it as a specific pasture area for sheep. And the sheep that grazed here were those specifically destined for Temple sacrifice. In that sense the shepherds keeping watch over the temple sacrifices were the ones to whom God announced the birth of the ultimate “sacrificial lamb.”

 

I’m attaching a screen shot from Google Earth that might be of help in identifying the location for Midgal Eder. Note that Ramat Rachel is at the top of the picture and Bethlehem is at the bottom. The road running along the left side of the picture is the old Hebron Road, and Homat Shemu’el/Har Homa is just to the right of center in the picture. Based on Edersheim’s description, I would place Migdal Eder almost in the center of the picture…north of Bethlehem, just to the west of Har Homa, and east of the road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Since the word means “tower of the flock” it is likely a high spot in this area where sheep would graze. The hills right around (or right at) Har Homa are probably the best possible location.

 

I hope this is helpful!

 

Charlie

 

 

 

PT-1 "The Separation Problem" Nehemiah 13:1-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/12/2011 8:19:50 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-1 “The Separation Problem

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Nehemiah 13:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God. 2 For they had not provided the Israelites with food and water in the wilderness. Instead, they hired Balaam to curse them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly.”

 

            In today’s SD we begin the last chapter in the book of Nehemiah, and the second to last chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Nehemiah “Be Determined.”  He entitles this chapter “Standing by Our Promises,” and as his usual practice goes he give a brief paragraph on what the chapter is going to be about.  He writes:  “If you compare this chapter with chapter 10, you will see that the people failed to keep several of the promises that they had made to the Lord.”

           

            At the beginning of this chapter Dr. Wiersbe gives a quote from the founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, “I want you young men always to bear in mind that it is the nature of a fire to go out; you must keep it stirred and fed and the ashes removed.”  This quote from William Booth has a lot to do with what this last chapter in the book of Nehemiah has to say for in this chapter we see that the exiles from Israel who had just made some wonderful promises to keep have in a short time forgot those promises and were in need of having their fires stirred up.  Paul wrote to Timothy these words, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”  Timothy was in danger of losing the gift that God had given to him because he was not using it and so Paul tells him to stir up that gift as one would stir up a fire that is about to go out.

           

            There are three sub-points under this first main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary that I want to address this morning and I will try and address the other two in the next SD.  This first sub-point is entitled “The mixed multitude” and it covers the verses seen above.

 

            The story of how the Ammonites and the Moabites came about is in the very first chapter of the Bible, and it is a very sad story indeed for their beginning was the result of two incestuous relationships with Abraham’s nephew Lot and Lot’s two daughters.  The results of these two unions were the nations of the Ammonites and the Moabites, and they were great trouble for Israel throughout their existence in the OT.

           

            As far as Balaam is concerned his tactics are still going on today in the church.  He was one who was being paid to curse Israel while Israel was wondering in the desert but God turned his curses into blessings.  After that Balaam encouraged the Moabites to invite some of the Israelites to some of their pagan religious feasts, which involved immorality and idolatry that can be seen in the book of Numbers and chapters 22-24.  The result of the Israelites going to this religious feast was immorality and so there were 24,000 people who were in the camp of Israel who died.

             

             Next I want to quote several people to show that this problem that Israel experienced is still alive in today’s church and it is written about in the NT in Jude 1:11 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”  “The old Youth for Christ slogan is still true:  In ministry, we must be ‘geared to the times and anchored to the Rock.’  Oswald Chambers in his book ‘The Servant As His Lord’ writes ‘Today the world has taken so many things out of the church, and the church has taken so many things out of the world, that it is difficult to know where you are.’”  “Vance Havner writes ‘Today the world has so infiltrated the church that we are more beset by traitors within than by foes without.  Satan is not fighting churches—he is joining them.’”   

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is good to be reminded of the sin of Balaam so that I can be on the lookout in my life to make sure that I am not getting to close to the world.  A believer is to be in the world and not of the world and that is a difficult thing to do in this day and age that we live in.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Remember that I am to be in the world but not of the world.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

9/12/2011 9:45:09 AM

We Must Give Our Gifts to God (Neh. 12:44-47)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2011 7:56 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  We Must Give our Gifts to God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                            Reference:  Nehemiah 12:44-47

 

            Message of the verses:  “44 On that day men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the offerings, the first part of the harvest, and the tithes. They were responsible to collect from the fields outside the towns the portions required by the Law for the priests and Levites. For all the people of Judah took joy in the priests and Levites and their work. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as commanded by David and his son Solomon, and so did the singers and the gatekeepers. 46 The custom of having choir directors to lead the choirs in hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God began long ago in the days of David and Asaph. 47 So now, in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel brought a daily supply of food for the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Levites. The Levites, in turn, gave a portion of what they received to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.”

 

            This section is about giving, and God has much to say about giving in His Word.  As this celebration continued to unfold this was the last thing that the children of Israel would do and it was an important thing to do.  In the Law of the Lord the children of Israel were instructed on how they were to give to the work of the Lord, and now since they had the temple rebuilt they needed to make sure that these laws were followed so that the work of the Lord through the temple worship could continue.  As seen in verse 44 the people were pleased with the work that the priest and the Levites were doing and so that made it easier for them to give their tithes to support them in their work for the Lord.  Again we see both David and Solomon’s names in the section that is being looked at, for they had set up many things that contributed to the work of the Lord through the temple worship and the people were eager to follow their instructions. 

           

            When one looks at verse 44 in the context of the church today it also makes sense that people will give to the work of the Lord when they are pleased with the leaders in their local church.  Paul says in 2 Cor. 9:7 that believers are to give to the Lord “not grudgingly or of necessity” but joyfully and with a happy heart.  J. Hudson Taylor used to say, “When God’s work is done in God’s way for God’s glory, it will not lack God’s support.”  I have been in churches where there was not any way that I could support what they were doing, for the services were weak, and it was difficult to learn from what they offered. 

           

            As I have thought about giving to the Lord, and I have done a lot of think about this subject, I have come to the conclusion that it is really a great privilege for me to give to the work of the Lord, and the reason that I think in this way is because God does not need what I have to offer to Him, but God does accept my gift if given in a proper way.  The Bible teaches that God owns everything, for after all He created everything, and believers are stewards of what the Lord has entrusted them with and therefore I, as a believer am to give to the cause of Christ out of what God has blessed me with, but realizing that God owns it all.  I once was talking to a man at my place of work and he began to brag to me that he owned his house, for after all he had bought and paid for it. The man was probably in his early sixty’s and I said to him that I did not believe that he owned it, to which he disagreed, so I told him that who would have possession of “his” house a hundred years from now.  I doubt that this made much impression to him, but I felt that it was a small way of talking to him about the Lord.

           

            The celebration is now over for the children of Israel, and one must wonder if it would last, and of course the answer is, no it will not last, and we will see about this in chapter thirteen of the book of Nehemiah. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for verse 44 for from this verse I have come to realize that my actions were correct when I chose not to give to certain ministries.  My very favorite places to give to the Lord are to the missionaries that leave everything and go to places that they have been called to go.  One of those works is in the country of Bangladesh where a former Pastor of mine used to go and teach in a Bible School.  I have gotten to know the man who leads that Bible Study and have come to love and support the work that he is doing there.  He can do more work with very little funds than anyone that I have ever met.  One can build a small church building there for about $12,000, and that would include the land.  Christianity is really growing under the ministry that God has given to this man and it is a great privilege to support his ministry for this reason, for people are coming to know the Lord, and are growing in their new found faith.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Trust that the Lord will guide me in my giving for the cause of Christ.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

3.      Trust the Lord to see me through this illness that I am going through.

 

9/11/2011 8:37:54 AM

 

 

 

"We Must Give Our Praise to God" (Neh. 12:27-42)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/10/2011 12:23:43 PM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  “We Must Give Our Praise to God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                            Reference:  Nehemiah 12:27-42

 

            Message of the verses:  “27 For the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem, the Levites throughout the land were asked to come to Jerusalem to assist in the ceremonies. They were to take part in the joyous occasion with their songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 The singers were brought together from the region around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites. 29 They also came from Beth-gilgal and the rural areas near Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built their own settlements around Jerusalem. 30 The priests and Levites first purified themselves; then they purified the people, the gates, and the wall. 31 I led the leaders of Judah to the top of the wall and organized two large choirs to give thanks. One of the choirs proceeded southward along the top of the wall to the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. 35  Then came some priests who played trumpets, including Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, a descendant of Asaph. 36 And Zechariah’s colleagues were Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They used the musical instruments prescribed by David, the man of God. Ezra the scribe led this procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they went straight up the steps on the ascent of the city wall toward the City of David. They passed the house of David and then proceeded to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second choir giving thanks went northward around the other way to meet them. I followed them, together with the other half of the people, along the top of the wall past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 then past the Ephraim Gate to the Old City Gate, past the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel, and on to the Tower of the Hundred. Then we continued on to the Sheep Gate and stopped at the Guard Gate. 40 The two choirs that were giving thanks then proceeded to the Temple of God, where they took their places. So did I, together with the group of leaders who were with me. 41 We went together with the trumpet-playing priests-Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah- 42 and the singers-Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. They played and sang loudly under the direction of Jezrahiah the choir director.”

 

            In yesterday’s SD we learned that in this chapter from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Nehemiah that there were three sacrifices described in this eleventh and twelfth chapters of Nehemiah that were to be followed by the church today.  Here is a verse from Hebrews:  “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15). 

            In this section we will see the people dedicate the wall that they had just completed.  In chapter 8-10 we saw that first of all the people were dedicated and now the work that they had accomplished, and this is the correct order, for why dedicate something that the people had done without them being dedicated?

            This dedication service began with two groups of people on the walls of Jerusalem that had just been completed and it looks like one went one way and the other the other way and then they meet at the Temple of the Lord.  This seemed proper for after all it was the good hand of the Lord who gave the people the ability and the incentive to build these was that were not being dedicated.  The people as they marched around the walls were given praise and glory to the Lord for His goodness to them and they were also giving a witness to a watching world.  After all at the beginning of his book we learned that one of the enemies had said that even if a fox would walk on this wall it would fall down and now the Gentiles could see that that statement was not true.

           

            As these Jews were marching around the newly built wall they were in a sense saying that we have all worked on these walls but they belonged to the Lord and not to the people who built them.  This is important to remember that if we take part in a church building project with money or work it all belongs to the Lord and not to those who worked or gave to the project.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that it is important to believers today that are a part of a church building plan, when it is over they should not lose their focus, but use it as a spring board to continue to work for the Lord.  He then goes on to give the most important reason for this service.  “It was the expression of joyful praise that came from the choirs and the people.”

           

            We must remember that it was King David who had earlier organized the priests and the Levites and written much of the music that was used at this service.  He had also devised the musical instruments that were used in this dedication service, instruments that were used to praise the Lord.  It also David who had captured the city of Jerusalem some 500 years earlier and then God made the city of Jerusalem the place where His temple was to be built.

           

            We see in this section that it was not just the Levites and Priests and the musicians who were praising the Lord but the people too were praising the Lord.  (Neh. 12:43)  We also see in verse 43 that the voices of the people were heard afar off.  This was the shout of joy.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that this section of Scripture brings up a point that I am still trying to understand in a better way, and that is styles of worship.  Because of travel to different parts of the world, and believe me it has been somewhat limited, I have seen different styles of worship and what I mean is mostly singing and praising the Lord.  I was at a church where people took off their shoes and sang in the isles for three times longer that the Word was preached.  This is just an example but it is there to make a point, and that point is that I want to be in a church that I feel comfortable in so that I can praise the Lord.  I suppose that this is one of the questions that I still have and will continue to seek answers for it.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Begin how to effectively praise the Lord.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

3.     Trust the Lord as I go through some type of illness at this time.

 

9/10/2011 1:12:02 PM

"We Must Give Ourselves to God" (Neh. 11:1-12:26)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/9/2011 7:13:21 AM

 

 

 

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  “We Must Give Ourselves to God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                         Reference:  Nehemiah 11:1-12:26

           

            Message of the verses:  Today’s SD begins two new chapters from the book of Nehemiah and the eleventh chapter from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Nehemiah, “Be Determined.”  I have mentioned that I have been using Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” books to aid me in my study of God’s Word.  He entitles this eleventh chapter “The Shout Heard ‘Round the World,” and it covers the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Nehemiah.  As on most of the chapters that he writes we find a clue as to what the chapter will be about and here is the clue from this chapter:  “Nehemiah calls on the people to present three sacrifices to the Lord for the sake of their city, sacrifices that God still calls His people to give for the sake of the church He is building in this world.”  The first sacrifice will be the subject of today’s SD.

           

            I have mentioned in an earlier SD that it is believed that Ezra is the author of Nehemiah, and also the author of the book that bears his name.  It is also believed that Ezra penned both first and second Chronicles.  There is a common thread in all four of these books, a thread that comes up in today’s lesson, and that is a list of names.  We find lists of names in all four of the above mentioned books and there is a good reason for them to be included in these books, for all are post exile books.  After the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC many of the people were sent to Babylon and thus their heritage could be lost if it were not for the efforts of Ezra, Nehemiah and a host of the Minor Prophets who wrote during this time.  It was very important for Israel to remember why she was called by God and that is why there are so many of those lists of people that are found in these four books of the Bible.  God had called the nation of Israel to record His Words in what is called the Bible, and He also called Israel to bring the Messiah into the world and on these list we will find some of the names that are in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ which are listed in the books of Matthew and Luke from the New Testament.

 

            It was very important to have people to move into the city of Jerusalem after the walls and the gates were rebuilt, for after all, the city would be much safer since these repairs were already done.  There was a need for the people to protect the city and also there was a need to have people there to work in the temple in order to continue the worship of the Lord in the manner it was done at that time.

           

            Jerusalem was the city that God had chosen to be part of the temple worship.  God had promised that He would chose a city to dwell in and that city was Jerusalem. 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes that he believes that these people who were to live in Jerusalem were not unlike who Paul was writing about in Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The men women and children who helped to populate the city of Jerusalem were serving God, their nation, and future generations by their step of faith.” 

           

            We talked about the tithe (10%) in an earlier SD and now we see that Nehemiah had to draft a tithe of people to live in Jerusalem, for many did not want to live there, which made it necessary to draft people to live in Jerusalem.  

           

            The list of names that is found in this section was those who would live in Jerusalem, a very important list of names indeed.  In listing these names we can see the appreciation of Nehemiah for their sacrifice.  Nehemiah puts these names into categories in order to make more sense of the listings.  Judah and Benjamin were the two tribes that composed the southern kingdom after the split that took place after Solomon died.  Then we see the Levites and then we see other lists of names including those who would work at the temple. 

           

            When we look at the Body of Christ today we see people with different gifts and different skills that make the church operate in a way that will bring glory to the Lord.  It takes many people to make the church run in an efficient way. 

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that many of the names that are listed in the one plus chapters of Nehemiah are unknown names trying to do the will of the Lord in their lives, and that is what I desire to accomplish in my life.  Yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to listen to a young married lady who had a great burden upon her heart.  I told her that I cared for her and would pray for that burden to be lifted from her, and in that way my prayer is that she will come to know the Lord as her Lord and savior.  There is one list that I am blessed to be on that and that is the list of the Lamb’s book of life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Continue to be ready for those “divine appointments.”

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

9/9/2011 8:47:44 AM

PTs 2-4 "Their Support for the House of God" (Neh. 10:34-39)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/8/2011 9:01:40 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                     Focus: Parts 2-4 “Their Support for the House of God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference: Nehemiah 10:34-39

 

            Message of the verses:  “34  Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law; 35 and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually, 36 and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. 38 The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39  For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; there are the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

 

            As mentioned in the last SD (9-8-2011) there are four sub-points in this last main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary (“Be Determined”), from the tenth chapter.  I covered the first sub-point yesterday and will attempt to cover the last three in today’s SD. 

           

            The second sup-point is entitled “The wood offerings” and covers Nehemiah 10:34 which is written above.

           

            Leviticus 6:12-13 state “12 ’The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it. 13 ’Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.”  These two verses explain that the fire on the brazen altar was to be kept burning constantly, and so the exiles were now setting up a system in order to keep the fire burning.  The Lord did not tell how to set up the people so that this job would be taken care of this job specifically only that it had to be done and that is what these leaders were doing, setting it up so that it could be done.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “That such a humble thing as wood was important to God’s service and could be sanctified for His glory is an encouragement to me.”  I can understand that statement, and when you put that statement in the context of the NT Church, where each member is a part of the body, and each member has a specific gift in order to make sure that the body runs efficiently then when you read in Paul’s writings that not all of the parts of the body seem to be important for the body to work, yet all are necessary even in the OT economy of bring wood to keep the fire burning.

 

            The next sub-point covers verses 35-37a, and is entitled “The firstfruits.” In the teaching of the OT Law the Jews were taught to give God the first and the best of their crops and also their flocks and herds.  This started when the Lord killed the first born son’s of Egypt, which was the last of the plagues and the one that finally changed the mind of Pharaoh to let Israel go, however the first born of Israel was not killed so from that time on the Lord wanted the first fruits from the nation of Israel.  Proverbs 3:9 states “Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your produce.”

           

            It is not stated in Scripture how much of the firstfruits of their harvest that should be brought to the Lord, but they were not to use any of the crops until the firstfruit was brought to the Lord in an offering.  As far as the first born son they had to be sanctified by a sacrifice because that child did belong to the Lord. 

 

            The next and last sub-point is entitled “The Tithes” and the verses that go along with this are Nehemiah 10:37b-39.  The word tithe actually means a tenth, and the Jews were to bring a tenth of their produce to the Lord in order to support the Levites so that they could do their work for the Lord.  When the Levites received this tithe they would tithe off of the tithe and give it to the priests and this can be seen in Numbers 18:25-32.  Now of the 90% of what was left by the Jews they were to also to tithe off that and bring it to the annual feasts (Deu. 26:1-11). These two tithes would add up to one third, and this takes faith in order to do this.

           

            I have mentioned in an earlier SD that there is no mention of how much is to be given in the economy of the NT, yet there are some guidelines that the Apostle speaks of in his writings to the Corinthians in 2Cor. chapters 8-9. Let’s look at 1 Cor. 16:1-3 “1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2  On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come. 3 When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem.”  I think that the key phrase in this section is “as he may prosper.”  This gives NT believers a guideline of what we will call proportionate giving, the more you prosper the more that you give.

           

            Here are two quotes, one from Sir Winston Churchill and one from the Lord Jesus, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”  “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).  Nehemiah 10:39 says “We will not forsake the house of our God.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at these three sub-points I see that my attitude has to be right in doing what I do for the service of the Lord, for if my attitude is not right then there is little benefit in me doing things for the Lord.  For instance I am to give cheerfully my tithes and offerings to the Lord and not give reluctantly as if I really want to hold on to them but I know that the right things to do are to give them.  When I look at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and see that He gave of His all in order that I may be a child of God then my attitude should be of the same as His was when He gave of His all.  

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Seek to have a good attitude in all that I do, especially what I do for the cause of Christ.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

9/8/2011 10:09:15 AM