"Intrigue: "We Will Not Give Up" (Neh. 6:15-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/20/2011 9:03:13 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  Intrigue:  “We Will Not Give Up”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Nehemiah 6:15-19

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19 Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.”

 

            In today’s SD we will discuss the forth strategy that Satan used against Nehemiah, strategies that he still uses on believers today.

           

            We can see from the passages above that Satan never gives up even after the battle of building the walls were complete in only fifty-two days and it seemed that now the people of Jerusalem could take a break from the battle for they had won a great victory, but they all needed to follow the advice of what a saintly Scottish minister once said.  Andrew A. Bonar said “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.”  Elijah would agree with this statement for after he won a great victory in killing 400 prophets of Baal he ran for his life from Jezebel who said she would kill him.  I experienced the same thing, for after my 18 month son had successful open heart surgery on May 7, 1980, and after praying for many months about this we saw a perfect operation on him, but spiritually it was the worst summer of my life for Satan did not give up after this victory and I was like Elijah losing the battle after winning the war.  Nehemiah however was not like this for he continued to be on guard against the attacks that the evil one was using against him.

           

            John Ray wrote a book in 1670 entitled “English Proverbs” and in that book he penned these words “Blood is thicker than water,” and the meaning is obvious.  Humanly speaking, you have greater obligation to a relative than you do to a stranger.  This is what we see happening in the verses from today’s SD.  This is the answer to the question as to why these Jews from Judah were supporting Tobiah, but they were going, not only against Nehemiah, but against Nehemiah’s God as well.  I want to take a look at a few different Scriptures that will show this and why they were wrong. 

           

            Let us start in the beginning chapters of the Bible in order to show that Judah would be the special tribe to bring the Messiah into the world.  Genesis 49:10 “’The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.’”  The next verses that I want to look at show the family of Judah that the Messiah would be born into.  2Samuel 7 tells the story of David having a desire to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem, but because his hands were bloody from fighting so many wars the Lord told David that his son would build the temple, but that God would build a dynasty through David.  This dynasty would end with the birth of Jesus Christ.  2Samuel 7:11b “The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you.” 

           

            The devil has always been against the nation of Israel because they are God’s chosen people and it was through them that the Word of God was written and also the God of the Word came to earth as Messiah and Satan knew that this was going to happen and this is why he was trying to stop this from happening and this is one of the places in Scripture that we can see Satan’s work again trying to stop this from happening. 

           

            Now let us look at another Scripture that has to do with why these Jews were wrong in siding with Tobiah against Nehemiah and this time the words are from the Lord Jesus Christ “Matt. 10:37  "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.’”  I want to go back to the statement from the English proverb about blood being thicker than water and interject that when you think about this statement and remember that Jesus Christ shed His blood so that I would become a believer in Him then this statement is true.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Again I see the great leadership abilities of Nehemiah in his discernment, for he knew that he was in a battle and that he was being tempted and that there were people who were out to stop the work he was doing for it was a work of the Lord and that is always opposed.  Spiritual discernment is a quality that I surely need to sharpen for the glory of the Lord. 

           

            At this time I wish to quote from Dr. Wiersbe on what he writes at the end of this section, which is the end of this chapter and what he writes will help tie this chapter into the next chapter: “Nehemiah’s story began with ‘So I prayed’ (Neh. 2:4).  Then we read, ‘So I came to Jerusalem (V-11).’  ‘So they strengthened their hands for this good work’ is the next link in the chain (V-18), followed by ‘So built we the wall’ (4:6) and, ‘So we labored’ (V-21).

           

            “Now we reach the end of this part of the story; ‘So the wall was finished’ (6:15).  But this marks a new beginning, for now Nehemiah must protect what he has accomplished.  How he does this is the theme of the rest of the book.”  Stay tuned for how he does this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to pursue discernment for the glory of the Lord.

2.      Continue to pursue contentment for the glory of the Lord.

 

8/20/2011 10:08:39 AM         

"Threats 'We Will Protect You Life" (Neh. 6:10-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/19/2011 8:15:20 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  Threats:  “We Will Protect Your Life.”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Nehemiah 6:10-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “10 When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, "Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night." 11 But I said, "Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." 12 Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. 14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.”

 

            One can surely see that the book of Nehemiah is about leadership for Nehemiah is seen as a great leader throughout this entire book.  How Nehemiah handles these threats and conflicts that came his way shows all who read this book how a good leader should handle these types of problems.

           

            The portion that I have highlighted from verse twelve is remarkable to me in that Nehemiah could perceive that this was a set up.  The question arises as to how did Nehemiah perceive that this was a set up and the answer is really very clear.  Let’s take a look at two different verses from the book of Deuteronomy to help understand the answer to this question:  “1 "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ’Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4  "You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 5  "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).”  20 ’But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “You may say in your heart, ’How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22  "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).”

           

            One of the characteristics of a good leader is that he will not run in the face of trouble and this is demonstrated by what the Lord Jesus said in John 10:12-13 “12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.”  Nehemiah had a great responsibility as governor of Judah and Jerusalem and he would not be intimidated by these false prophets, but just the same this had to weigh on him as this kinds of thing began to build.  His strength came from the Lord and we cans see the sixth of his telegraph prayers to the Lord in verse fourteen. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In order to have a good prayer life one must know the Word of God and Nehemiah did know the Word of God.  I have a desire to be able to perceive things like Nehemiah did and one of the ways that he could do this was his knowledge of the Word.  I have a desire to have a better and more accurate prayer life, one like Nehemiah and also Daniel and Ezra had for they are great examples for me to learn from.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Continue to learn contentment.

2.     Know more about the Word so my prayer life will get better.

 

8/19/2011 9:19:01 AM

"We'll Tell Everyone About You" (Nehemiah 6:5-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/18/2011 7:29:16 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Slander:   “We’ll Tell Everyone About You.”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                  Reference:  Nehemiah 6:5-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. 7 “You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ’A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together." 8 Then I sent a message to him saying, "Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind." 9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, "They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done." But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

 

            Sanballat and his cohorts were surely being used by the devil in order to stop the work on the walls and discredit Nehemiah in the process.  We must remember the importance of what Nehemiah was doing here, for he was making sure that the Jews would have a future, and this was of great importance for as Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4:22  "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.’”  Sanballat had his own reasons to stop the work and I would venture to say that it had to do with money and with power, and so Satan was just using him to help out in his plan.  The problem with the plans of Sanballat and the devil is that they were up against a man who had great character.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “If we take care of our character, we can trust God to take care of our reputation.”  When the well known Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan was a target of gossip or slander he would say, “It will blow over.  Meanwhile, I go quietly on with my work.”  When Nehemiah was accused of the false accusations he denied all of the charges and went on with the task at hand.  He also did another important thing and that was pray that God would strengthen his hands. 

           

            We see in this passage another example of how a believer who is a leader is to conduct himself, for Nehemiah was a great leader and he left a great example of how all leaders, especially Christian leaders should lead.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think of prayer from this lesson, and the importance of prayer even though the prayer in this section was very short it was very important to see.  Sometimes when I come up against some kind of trouble I do not pray about it because I know that the Lord knows about it and therefore there is no need for me to talk to Him about it.  This is surely wrong.  I think of the examples of Daniel, Ezra, and now Nehemiah from the prayers that they prayed to the Lord.  In the case of Daniel’s prayer of chapter nine he was praying things to the Lord that the Lord had already promised to do.  In the case of all three of these great men they all confessed the sin of the nation of Israel and included themselves in that confession to the Lord.  We all sin every day and so the need for confession is great and the example that these men set is very special indeed.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Remember the power of prayer and do like Paul writes “pray without ceasing.”

2.     Continue to learn to be content.

 

8/18/2011 8:12:41 AM  

 

           

"Compromise: We will Help You" (Neh. 6:1-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2011 7:44:29 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  “Compromise:  We will Help You”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Nehemiah 6:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono." But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.”

 

            In Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Nehemiah entitled “Be Determined,” he writes about spiritual leaders in the beginning of the sixth chapter.  He entitles this chapter “We Have Heard The Enemy, And He Is A Liar.”  As mentioned in earlier SD’s Warren Wiersbe gives a prelude of what the chapter will cover at the end of his introduction, and in this sixth chapter’s introduction he writes, “Satan used four strategies in attacking Nehemiah, strategies that he still uses against spiritual leaders today.”  In today’s SD we will look at the first strategy of Satan.

 

            In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians he describes what is actually going on in this sixth chapter of Nehemiah, for at first the enemies of Nehemiah began to try and defeat them by force and now they are trying to creep into their domain in order to defeat them from within. “13  For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15  Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds 2Cor. 11:13-15).” 

           

            Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem could not stop the walls from being built, so they decided to try and trick Nehemiah into meeting with them in order to do harm to him.  The village that they wanted to meet him in was half way between Jerusalem and Samaria, so in a sense they were saying to him “meet us half way.”  Nehemiah did not fall for this maneuver as he answered four of their letters in the same manner and that is he was doing a great work and did not have time to come down to meet them.

           

            Nehemiah had three convictions in answering them in the way that he did.  1. He realized that they were lying to him and wanted to kill him (V-2).  2. Nehemiah was convinced of the greatness of the work that he was doing for the glory of the Lord (V3). Nehemiah’s third conviction was actually given in chapter two and verse twenty, “20 So I answered them and said to them, "The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.’” “20 I shot back, "The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We’re his servants and we’re going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this—Jerusalem’s none of your business! (Message)’” 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his commentary on this section the following, “Nehemiah had both discernment and determination:  He refused to be influenced by their repeated offers (6:4; see 4:12).  If their offer was wrong the first time, it would be wrong the fourth time or the fiftieth time; and there was no reason for him to reconsider.  Decisions based only on opinions might be reconsidered, but decisions based on convictions must stand unless those convictions are changed.  Otherwise, decision becomes indecision; and the leader who ought to be a guidepost becomes a weather vane.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  If there is something that I can learn from this section it would be to have better shrewdness or discernment in making decisions for my life and the life of my family. 

 

 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Continue to learn contentment.

2.     Luke 16:1-8

 

 

8/17/2011 8:39:18 AM

"A Great Example" (Neh. 5:14-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2011 7:48:32 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  “A Great Example”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Neh. 5:14-19

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God. 16 I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me; and once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the governor’s food allowance, because the servitude was heavy on this people. 19 Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.”

 

            As I read these verses I see something refreshing in the way that Nehemiah, the governor handled his reign as compared to what is going on in our country and even in some of the churches of our country.  Nehemiah’s leadership was a great example of what leaders in every walk of life should be.  He had compassion, he did things in love, he feared the Lord, he worked with his people to complete the task at hand, he did not accept bribes, but he furnished food for many of his people every day, and did not take the money from the people to make up a food allowance.  The greatest thing perhaps that Nehemiah did was do all of these things was to please the Lord, and not to please men.

 

            I want now to move into a portion from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on how people in spiritual leadership should perform in their leadership role.  In this section of his commentary on this section of Scripture Dr. Wiersbe gives three points that are important lessons for those in Spiritual leadership.

           

            The first point is that spiritual leaders should expect problems to arise among their people.  If there are people there are usually problems and if the work for the Lord is going well you can expect attacks from the enemy causing people to have differences and not get along.

           

            The second point for spiritual leaders is that they should confront the problems courageously.  It has been written “There is no problem so great that you can’t ignore it,” and this is fine for a comic strip character but not a spiritual leader.  “Every problem that you ignore will only go underground, grow deeper roots, and bear bitter fruits.  Pray for God’s help and tackle the problem as soon as possible.”

            The last and probably the most important point for spiritual leaders is “See in every problem an opportunity for the Lord to work.  Solving problems in ministry is not an intellectual exercise but a spiritual experience.  If we depend on the wisdom of the world, we will get what the world can do; but if we depend on the wisdom of God, we will get what God can do.  All that we say and do must be motivated by love, controlled by truth, and done to the glory of God.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  First I do not consider myself as a spiritual leader in the sense of what a Pastor or other Elder or Deacons are.  With that said I believe that there are two important things that I can learn from this section.  Do not use the wisdom of the world to solve problems.  Trust the Lord to use the problems that I face as opportunities to bring glory to the Lord as I serve Him.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Continue to learn contentment. 

8/16/2011 8:15:51 AM

 

           

A Great Assembly (Nehemiah 5:6-13)

 

SPIRITIUAL DIARY FOR 8/15/2011 5:33:30 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                                  Focus:  A Great Assembly

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Nehemiah 5:6-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “6 Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words. 7 I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, "You are exacting usury, each from his brother!" Therefore, I held a great assembly against them. 8 I said to them, "We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?" Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 Again I said, "The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 “And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury. 11 “Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them." 12 Then they said, "We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say." So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. 13 I also shook out the front of my garment and said, "Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied." And all the assembly said, "Amen!" And they praised the LORD. Then the people did according to this promise.”

 

            The problem that is being spoken about was that the rich Jewish people were getting interest from their brother Jews, and taking their property and family because the poor people did not have any money to buy food, for there was a famine in the land at this time.  Nehemiah will address this problem in this section of Scripture.

 

            Anger (Nehemiah 5:6).  There are two questions that need to be asked in order to comment on verse five; the first question is it a sin to become angry?  The second question is how come Nehemiah did not know about this problem before?  The answer to the first question is no and yes.  Ephesians 4:26 has this to say about anger:  “26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger (ESV).”  There is such a thing as righteousness anger and there are examples of this in the Scriptures.  Moses was angry when he came down from the mountain after getting the Ten Commandments when he saw the children of Israel sinning and he threw the tablets at the people.  Jesus was angry at the Pharisees “5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored (Mark 3:5).”

           

            It is probably more common to see people get angry over things that have nothing to do with righteousness anger and this can surely be sinful and that is why the warning in the Ephesians passage is in the Scriptures.

            As for the answer to the second question Nehemiah was commissioned to come to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall and this is what he was concentrating on at this time, but the building of this was probably revealed a problem that was there and so being the good leader that he was he is dealing with this problem.

 

            Consultation (Nehemiah 5:7).  Verse six speaks of Nehemiah’s anger and verse seven shows how a good leader will resolve a problem.  Nehemiah had to think about this problem and pray about it in order to be able to act wisely about it.  He was angry but now he is dealing with that anger so he can deal with the problem, and part of the solution was to call a meeting with these rich people who were sinning against the Law of Moses, for the things that they were doing to the poorer people was against God’s Law.

 

            Rebuke (Nehemiah 5:7-11).  In Nehemiah’s rebuke against these people who were sinning he first appealed to their love by reminding them that these were their realities, fellow Jews, not Gentiles.  Nehemiah uses the word ‘brother’ four times in his rebuke to them.  (See Psalm 131:1) 

           

            His appeal was based solidly on the Word of God, for as we mentioned before it was against the Law of God found in the Law of Moses.  Perhaps these men were ignorant of the Law, but it could have been that they were more interested in making money.  It is not wrong to lend money, but it has to be done in the correct manner.  (See Matthew 25:27) 

           

            Nehemiah’s next appeal to them was that he reminded them of God redemptive purpose for Israel and this is found in verse eight.  God redeemed Israel from Egypt and recently had redeemed them from the Babylonian captivity.  Verse eight tells us that Nehemiah and also some of these rich people helped bring these Jews back to Jerusalem and the surrounding towns of Israel and now they were taking advantage of them by usury.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “What is freedom?  It is life governed by truth and motivated by love.  But the Jewish brokers were motivated by greed and ignoring the truth of God’s Word.  Their selfishness put both themselves and their creditors into bondage.”  (This story seems real familiar to me).

 

            The next appeal to them was that Nehemiah reminded them of Israel’s witness to their Gentile neighbors and this is seen in verse nine.  Let us look at two verses from the book of Isaiah:  “6 “I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations.”  (Isaiah 42:6)  “6 He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’”  (Isaiah 49:6)  These rich people were not setting a good example to their Gentile neighbors.

           

            Verse nine speaks of “fear of the Lord” and Dr. Wiersbe has this to say about that:  “The fear of our God is not the servile dread of a slave toward a master but the loving respect of a child toward a parent.  To fear the Lord means to seek to glorify God in everything we do.  It means listening to His Word, honoring it, and obeying it.”

           

            Oswald Chambers wrote:  “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

           

            Dr. Wiersbe goes on writing about the fear of the Lord:  “To walk in the fear of God, of course, means to walk by faith, trusting God to deal with your enemies and one day balance the accounts.  It means claiming Matthew 6:33 and having the right priorities in life.  ‘The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil’ (Proverbs 19: 23 NKJV).”

 

            Nehemiah’s fifth appeal to them was to his own personal practice and this can be seen in verse 10-11.

           

            Nehemiah was lending money to them and not charging interest so he was not a person leads by saying do what I say not what I do, he led by example.  Speaking of the “hundredth part” in verse eleven he was speaking about the interest they were charging.  (This may have been as much as 12% per year).  Nehemiah now tells these brokers to restore the property and money to those whom they had taken advantage.  This appeal to them demonstrated that Nehemiah surely feared the Lord and not these men.

 

            Nehemiah’s last appeal to them was to remind them of the judgment of the Lord and this can be seen in verses 12-13.  At this assembly these men promised Nehemiah that they would give back what the owed to these poor people and they had to make a vow to the Lord to do this.  A vow to the Lord is a serious matter (Ecc. 5:4-5).

 

            The meeting ended with Nehemiah shaking out the folds of his robe and this symbolized what God would do with the money lenders if they did not fulfill their vow.

           

            Next the congregation responded with an “Amen.”  This was the Jewish way of giving their solemn assent to what had been said and done at that assembly (see Nehemiah 8:6 and also Deuteronomy 27:14 and following).

           

            The last and maybe the most important thing they did next was to praise the Lord.  This was to show their appreciation of what Nehemiah had accomplished through his fear of the Lord and prayer.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Fearing the Lord in proper manner so that I need not fear anyone or anything else is what has spoken to my hear today from this section of Scripture.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.     Fear the Lord.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

8/15/2011 6:57:26 AM  

A Great Cry (Nehemiah 5:1-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2011 7:24:27 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  “A Great Cry”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  Neh. 5:1-5

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, "We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live." 3 There were others who said, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine." 4 Also there were those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 “Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.’”

 

            Today’s SD begins a new chapter in the book of Nehemiah and a new chapter in Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Nehemiah “Be Determined.”  He entitles this chapter “Stop! Thief!”  This chapter   deals with the enemy attacking on the inside or from within, for in the previous chapter the enemy’s attacks came from the outside and were not successful so he reverts to the inside.  What tactics will the enemy use when attacking on the inside?  Well in this chapter we will see that he is using selfishness.  Dr. Wiersbe writes in his introduction to chapter five:  “If he (the enemy) can get us thinking only about ourselves and what we want, then he will win the victory before we realize that he is even at work.

 

 Selfishness means putting myself at the center of everything and insisting on getting what I want when I want it.  It means exploiting others so I can be happy and taking advantage of them just so I can have my own way.  It is not only wanting my own way but expecting everybody else to want my way too.  Why are selfish people so miserable?  I think Thomas Merton said it best:  ‘To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.’

 

This chapter reveals to us the depts of sin in the human heart and how each of us must learn to love our neighbors as ourselves.  This moving drama has three acts.”  This first act is the subject of today’s SD.

 

There are four different people groups that are involved in this short section.  The first group were people who did not own any land and because of the famine needed food.  These are seen in verse two.

 

The next group was those who had land but had to mortgage it in order to buy food and these can be seen in verse three.

 

The next group was people who owned land but complained about high taxes that were imposed on them from the king of Persia and they too had to borrow money to pay their taxes and get food on the table.  In those days one did not get much for the taxes they had to pay.   This group can be seen in verse four.

 

The last group were probably the worst of the lot for they were the rich who were taking advantage of the poor, and in doing this they were breaking the Law of Moses by lending them money and charging them interest or taking their sons and their daughters from them making them servants, and this also went against the Law of Moses. These people were greedy, as sin that was evident before the Babylonian captivity as written by some of the prophets like Isaiah (56:9-12); Jeremiah 22:13-19; Amos 2:6-7; 5:11-12.  The Lord has special concern of the poor people and will punish those who take advantage of them.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When one looks at sinfulness one can usually see selfishness if one is honest with one’s self.  I have mentioned many times that my goal in this life is to be content, at least the major goal that I have.  Paul writes about contentment in Philippians and he wrote this letter while in prison and it would seem that if one had contentment while in prison that it would be real.  When you look at contentment and trying to learn contentment then selfishness cannot be a part of it.  Circumstances cannot be something that should make you discontent either.  Paul writes these words to the Philippians:  “10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  Paul was joyful that the Philippian believers were going to be credited for giving him their love offering than he was in getting it.  What a godly man he was.

 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Learn to be contentment.

 

8/14/2011 8:13:14 AM