MAY 10 & 11 NEHEMIAH 11-13

Nehemiah 11-13

The issues of these final chapters of Nehemiah are…

• The resettlement of Judah. Chapter 11 outlines the plans for who resettles Jerusalem (vv. 3-24) and who resettles in the villages outside of Jerusalem (vv. 25-26). 70-120 years after the exile, I wonder how many things had changed.
• The re-commissioning of the Levites. With a rebuilt temple, newly protected by Nehemiah’s walls, temple worship could begin again in earnest.
• The dedication of the walls. My favorite feature of this incredible event is the split choir (Half of you go this way; half of you go that way!*). Nehemiah called them “Thanksgiving Choirs,” and they did indeed sing in opposite directions along the newly completed wall! (Nehemiah 12: 31, 38)
• The restoration of the Law. The book of Nehemiah concludes with a journal of his most difficult jobs: correcting the many abuses that obedience to the Law had suffered in the unsettling years of the exile. Among them were evicting a heathen who had set up house-keeping in the temple, restoring Sabbath observance, and—the most difficult of all—dealing the “mixed” marriages.

Nehemiah finishes with the words, “Remember me, O my God, for good!”

May God raise up more good and godly leaders like Nehemiah.

Your brother,

Pastor Gary

* Who said this in The Wizard of Oz?

MAY 9 NEHEMIAH 8-10

Nehemiah 8-10

The wall is completed; Nehemiah’s job is over, right? 

Wrong!

After the completion of a big project, there is bound to be a let-down. The work itself might have stirred up resentment and animosity. The completed project might become too important to the people. These and other issues face godly leaders. This simply means that the completion of the new church building or the burning of the mortgage is no time for a leader to sit back and do nothing. QUESTION: What did Nehemiah do? ANSWER:  He did what any godly leader would do:

• He shifted the people’s attention from the Wall to the Word! I love the scene in Nehemiah 8:1-8. All who could understand were gathered together for a reading of the Law. From early morning to midday, the people stood—in honor of God’s Word—and listened to a public reading of God’s word! Then they explained it!
• He led the people in a celebration. When the people were saddened (convicted) at the reading of God’s word, Nehemiah and the other leaders encouraged them to wipe away their tears and feast with joy. The Joy of the Lord is your strength, they told them, and “great rejoicing” followed at the feast!
• He led them in the celebration of the Feasts of Booths. We get the feeling that this was the first time this feast had been celebrated in a long time.
• He reminded the people of their story. Too often, we forget the well from which we sprung. Nehemiah 9 is really a prayer of confession. But, in the prayer, the leaders rehearse the history of God’s people.
• He led them in a time of confession. This reminded the people of their need, and brought them to the place where they were ready to make a fresh commitment to God.
• He led them in a time of Covenant renewal. This included a fresh commitment to the Covenant found in Deuteronomy: blessing for obedience, curses for disobedience, a re-commitment to the temple’s sacrificial system and worship.

A good leader doesn’t quit when the big project is completed!

Your brother,

Pastor Gary

 

MAY 8 NEHEMIAH 5-7

Nehemiah 5-7

Two features of Nehemiah worth noting:

It’s his journal. That alone makes it a fun read; the first person pronouns make me feel like I’m there, a part of the action. A good leader keeps careful records! And speaking of records, look at the lists of returning exiles in Nehemiah 7:5-73!


It’s a prayer journal. Nehemiah pauses every once in a while to shoot up a prayer to the Lord. I call these “arrow prayers;” quick and to the point! Two examples: Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for these people! (Nehemiah 5:19) But now, O God, strengthen my hands! (Nehemiah 6:9). A good leader prays at the drop of a hat!

At the beginning of our reading for today, we learn even more from Nehemiah about leadership:

A good and godly leader responds to injustice. The situation in Nehemiah 5 has to do with indebted Israelites being sold into slavery. God had made provisions for this in Deuteronomy, and Nehemiah holds them to it!

A godly leader is generous. At the end of Nehemiah 5, we read the specifics of Nehemiah’s selfless generosity with the people. Greed and servant leadership do not mix!

A good leader is not easily distracted. When the wicked Sanballat and Geshem call for a meeting, Nehemiah responds, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.” (Nehemiah 6:3). What stick-to-it-tive-ness! 

A good leader responds to false accusations. When these opponents accuse Nehemiah of strengthening Jerusalem for the purpose of rebellion, he denies it (Nehemiah 6:8) and prays!

A good leader sniffs out conspiracy. Nehemiah correctly discerns that Sanballat and Geshem are behind a request from another man to meet with Nehemiah in the temple.

A good leader finishes the job! In just 52 days, Nehemiah and the people finished the walls of Jerusalem and silenced their enemies! 

A good leader delegates. Nehemiah followed up the work by appointing leaders and guards to keep an eye on things.

Tomorrow, we will see how Nehemiah and Ezra lead the people in renewing their covenant with God!

Reading this stuff makes me want to be a better leader!

Your brother,
Pastor Gary

MAY 7 NEHEMIAH 3-4

Nehemiah 3-4

All good and godly leaders build teamwork.

This may be the first step in diffusing opposition. If God’s people can work together with one spirit and one mind, they can do just about anything. In Nehemiah’s case, the “anything” was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The teamwork required for such a task is not built in a vacuum; it requires organization. 

Good leadership is not afraid of organization.  

(Anyone who knows me knows that “organization” is not my strong suit. But I have learned to strive for it. Many years ago, a godly district superintendent of mine said, “Being organized is one way to show love to your people.” What might disorganization say?)  In any case, Nehemiah was organized. Just read through Nehemiah 3 with a eye to the beautiful, organized symmetry of the rebuilding effort; each family had its own section of the wall to work on. To read the chapter is to take a trip around the city!

A good and godly leader helps his people face opposition.

We’d already been introduced to the “opponents” in Nehemiah 2:19, when Sanballat and Geshem jeered and despised the Israelites for what they intended to do. Here in Nehemiah 4, the opposition gets serious: Questions, mockery, threats and subversion. What does Nehemiah do? What does anyone do when leading a beleaguered people in doing the Lord’s work?

• He prays (Nehemiah 4:4-5)
• He sets a guard (Nehemiah 4:9, 13, 15-20) He accompanied prayer with action. This makes me think of the old World War 1 song: “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!”
• He encourages the people (Nehemiah 4:14-15).
• And he works all the harder (Nehemiah 4:21-23).  

Will the wall ever be finished?

Tomorrow, we shall see!

Pastor Gary

 

MAY 6 NEHEMIAH 1 & 2

Nehemiah 1-2

All good and godly leadership begins with a need, and a burning passion to meet that need.

Nehemiah found his passion when his brother returned from Jerusalem with a report on the dire condition of Jerusalem: The wall…is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire. (Nehemiah 1:3) 

This news broke Nehemiah’s heart. What could he do, but pray. And pray he did. He wept, mourned, fasted and prayed for days on end, until a God-inspired plan of action had formed in his mind. The summary of his prayer vigil is the prayer found in Nehemiah 1:5-11. In this magnificent prayer, we find another leadership trait. Though separated from Jerusalem and its returnees…

Nehemiah identified with their sin. Notice how many times Nehemiah says, “we,” instead of “they” in this prayer. He himself had not personally participated in their sin, yet he identifies with it. A good and godly leader identifies with people’s needs.

Yet, leadership does not end here; a good leader forms a plan. We see evidence of Nehemiah’s plan in the closing words of his prayer: “Give success to Your servant today, and grant him favor in the sight of this man.” “What man?” we ask. And in the last line of chapter 1, we see: “I was a cupbearer to the king.” Nehemiah had formulated a plan to enter his master’s presence and seek permission to lead a mission trip back to Jerusalem to help rebuild the ruined walls of the City of David.

All through Nehemiah 2:1-8, when he approaches the king with this request, we see evidence of his planning: He had a specific request, a time-frame, and a sense of what materials would be needed. The king grants his petition, and off he goes!

Before we finish chapter 2, we learn: a good and godly leader helps the people to see the need. First, Nehemiah makes a surreptitious inspection of the ruined walls to make himself personally acquainted with the need. Then he speaks to the people. Again, look at the “we” language he uses: “You see the trouble we are in…” and “Let us rise up and build.” 

But, already, we see the obstacle that, sooner or later, faces all leaders: OPPOSITION.


Tomorrow, we see what Nehemiah does with that!
Pastor Gary

MAY 5 EZRA 9-10

Ezra 9-10

Ezra ends with tough words about intermarriage. In former days, these chapters and the passages Ezra quotes, such as Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (In Ezra 9:12), were used to support bans on interracial marriage. But though it could be said that the ancient Jews were of a different race than the nations around them, the issue wasn’t race, but rather faith.

We have already seen people of different races who have been grafted into God’s people, in spite of race, and because of faith. Ruth was the best example, a Moabite woman, who intermarried with a Jewish man. Her faith not only allowed for a first intermarriage, but a second, as well, when Boaz noticed, redeemed and married her. 

The issue in Ezra 9-10 was faith issue. He was appalled at the extent of these intermarriages and said to the people of Judah, “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives…” (Ezra 10:2-3) These are tough words, to be sure, but faith words, not race words. The returning exiles needed to steer clear of the influences of the godless nations surrounding them. 

As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” An “unequal” yoke, I’m told, was a yoke worn by two oxen of different ages. The younger, weaker, less-experienced ox would have the smaller side, while the older, stronger more-experienced ox took the larger. The younger ox would learn from and be led by the elder. To be “unequally yoked” with an unbeliever is to put yourself in the smaller yoke-side to be led about and taught by an unbeliever. It wasn’t a good idea in Ezra’s day, nor was it in Paul’s day, nor in ours.

Tomorrow, we begin Nehemiah together. Some call it the best treatise on leadership in the Scriptures!
Pastor Gary