Building the Great Wall

Untitled Document

Building the Great Wall

Text: Nehemiah 1-8

Introduction

            Have you ever faced a huge task that you thought that it is almost impossible to finish? Probably almost all of us, have already faced our own great walls. Even if you are still a young kid, a student, a professional, or old, in your life you have experienced building a great wall. A huge task that needs focus, that needs time, that needs help. The sermon for today is about building a great wall. We will be answering the questions, how did Nehemiah started the wall? How did he do it? And how did he finish it?

            The story happened during the exile at the time of King Artaxerxes.

Principles in Building the Great Walls

1. See the Need (1:3-4)

Jerusalem at this time had a war and was defeated resulting in their exile. There were people however that were left in Jerusalem with the walls of the city toppled down.  At this time, city walls are symbols of strength against invasions and raids. But the walls of Jerusalem are down and all the remaining inhabitants of the city are in great danger and humiliation.

Nehemiah being one of the exiles was appointed to be the cup bearer of the king. We can see in the story that his brother told him about the news in Jerusalem. And immediately he saw the need. This need did not remain in his ears. He took actions in order to build the walls of Jerusalem.

There are lots of people who are so blinded from the need. Don’t you know that Christian evangelism is declining so fast that soon if this will continue, we will be seeing a world who does not know Christ? There is a need for all of us to go out. But the question is, are we seeing that need?

Too bad there are many Christians in our churches nowadays who have delegated this task to their pastor alone and neglecting the command of the Lord to go out to all nations. Instead of going out to share the gospel to other people, they tend to stay inside the church, listen to the sermon every Sunday and go home.

I am not saying that listening to the sermons every Sunday is bad. What is bad is neglecting to go out and share the gospel to unbelievers. Sometimes, Christians are very proud to share that they have met someone along the road and they have shared the goodness of the Lord. However, the one that they shared with was also a Christian. That’s not bad at all. What kind of reward however would you get if you are sharing the gospel to another Christian?

Again, I am not saying it is wrong because those people probably need your encouragement in one way or another. But are we satisfied of sharing the gospel to our fellow Christians? How about the non-believers? Who will reach them?

Let say here in Ormoc City we have about 500,000 of population. About 3,000 in all churches are now Christians. Brothers and sisters, we still have 497,000 people to reach out and your pastor can not do it all alone. In that 497,000 people is where your crown lies and not to the other 3,000 Christian people. Now tell me, is there a need for you to go out or there is none. I hope none of us here is blind.     

2. Start with a Clean Heart (1:5:11)

Nehemiah after seeing the need immediately wept, mourned and fasted before the Lord for several days.  We can see here that Nehemiah humbled himself before the Lord, recognizing the fact that the whole nation of Israel sinned against the Lord. We must understand that starting a project with a clean heart especially to Israelites is very important since they were a covenant people. The book of Deuteronomy speaks about this matter. When they obey the Lord, they will be blessed, but if they disobey they will be cursed.

The bad news is, they disobeyed the Lord that is why they were handed to the Babylonian empire, to their exile. This is why Nehemiah recognized that mistake of his people and repented to the Lord. This is how important it is to follow the Lord. Remember the book of Judges? It is full of stories where the Israelites turn their backs against the Lord and the Lord hand them over to their enemies and then they repent. And that has been a cycle of their life in the book of Judges.

This is the same in our time. If we are right in the eyes of the Lord, the Lord honors our concerns and recognizes it because he loves us. But if we are far from him, then there is a big possibility that we will never achieve to build this huge wall.

Maybe you are asking, “But pastor, why is it that there are lots of unbelievers who were successful while there are Christians who were not?” Try to look at their life. Are they really satisfied and contented to what kind of life they have? Is it not possible that it is the enemy who gave them much wealth? Or let say it is our Lord who gave them that wealth, what is it then to us? Do we really deserve to question God of his ways? We are so disobedient and we still have the guts of questioning God.

Let us stop questioning God of his ways, instead, let us follow what he commanded and let see how he works in our lives. God’s blessings are beyond words to explain for our eyes only extend to a very limited view.

3. Submit to the authority (2:1-9)

We can see here that Nehemiah still submitted to the authority of the land. He asked permission to King Artaxerxes about his plan and asked for a permit for the project. We can see here of how he humbled down before the authority and followed the law of his new nation. He did not rebel against his new king.

In our own time, sometimes we do this but most of the time, we do not. There are lots of people who faced a huge task and still did not submit themselves to the authority. Let say, someone who wants to build his house. In building a house, we must get a building permit, pay the tax if there is any, go to DENR if we are going to cut some trees, and etc. There are lots of people however, who tried to short cut the process, especially the payment of taxes.

This passage teaches us to submit to the authorities. What will be the possible things that will happen if we do not submit to the authorities? We might get caught and will have to pay more.

Our present government may not be that good. But still, they deserve to be honored and be respected as the rulers of the land. Rebellion can bring destruction. Not obeying the law can bring troubles against us. And this is not the will of our Lord for us as his children.

4. Start the Project (3)

This chapter talks about how they started the project of building the great wall. We can see here that after getting the necessary permits, they started the project immediately. I put in here this as a principle because in contrast to what is happening in our churches, we have seen the need and asked for the Lord’s guidance in doing such things, yet never started the project.

The thing is, we have to start the project. We will not accomplish anything if the project remains a project. This is why we have to be aware of this because we may be wasting lots of time already and accomplish nothing.

What would you feel if you have an accomplished project? Some of you may be frustrated and keeps on saying, “if only”. The problem with many people sometimes is that they keep on saying “if only”. But why not stand up and start the project anyway for nothing will happen unless we do something. If we really want to achieve more, then I think we better start doing something. Our plans should not remain a plan but will become an action.

5. Split the Work (3)

I used the word split to maintain the pattern. The most appropriate words however are “divide” or “delegate” the project.  Chapter 3 talks about the division of labor concerning the project. Almost all of them helped one another to finish the task that was given by Nehemiah.

There are things that we can learn about the division of labor in a certain project. First, we will learn and improve and use our God given skills, talents, and gifts. If you will be reading the whole chapter 3, you will see there that they were distributed in accordance to what they can do. And they became responsible in their part of the project.

Secondly, it makes the work easier and faster to finish. The walls of Jerusalem have different parts and there were people who were assigned to each part.  And because of this strategy, I believe that it will be was easier for them to finish the project for they only have to concentrate to what they can do. Let’s try to imagine them if there were hundreds of people who where gathering stones and none of them are mason, what do you think can they accomplish?

Not only that it was easier for them to finish the walls of Jerusalem, it was also faster because of their division of labor and almost all of them participated in this venture. In Nehemiah 6:15 it says that they finished the wall in 52 days. Imagine what they are doing in such a short time. They constructed the walls of Jerusalem all around the city within 52 days. In our time, even the construction of a 3 km road would take years of construction and all these because of corruption. But here, a wall that is estimatedly at least 1 meter thick and 3-4 meters high, and in my estimate at least a kilometer long within 52 days.

6. Stay on Tract (4 and 6)

Many were happy when they started re-building the walls of Jerusalem, but not all. The surrounding countries of Jerusalem were not that happy. They see Jerusalem as a threat to them. And the re-strengthening of the walls of Jerusalem would never be an advantage to them.

We can see here a typical problem when God is telling us something to do. We will be facing both external problems and internal problems. The external problem in the story is the threat of other nations. They are threatening Nehemiah along with the Israelites if they continue to proceed with the rebuilding of the walls.

Nehemiah was charge of creating conspiracy against the king. Sanballat sent a messenger to Nehemiah with the accusation. But Nehemiah did not stop believing that he is doing right thing and he is not starting a conspiracy against the king and after all he asked for the permission of the king and submitted to his authority. Instead, he answered back to the messengers that he is not rebelling against the king (Nehemiah 6:5-8). Nehemiah along with the Israelites continued in the rebuilding of the walls.

On the other hand, the internal problem in the story is between the nobles or the rich people and the poor. Some of the rich people took advantage over the poor people that is why many of the poor have difficulties in following Nehemiah for there is such a heavy burden upon them caused by the rich. The rich lend the poor a sum of money and in exchange demand a burden.

We can see here in chapter 5, that they resolved the matter by calling for an assembly and rebuked the nobles of Jerusalem. The nobles on the other hand accepted the rebuke and returned what belongs to the poor.

7. Support the Need (5)

as we said earlier, Nehemiah called for an assembly in order to resolve their problem of oppression. The nobles honored the words of Nehemiah and submitted to what Nehemiah command to restore what the nobles have taken away from the poor.

In addition to this, Nehemiah is suppose to have the “governor’s provision”. It is due for him as the governor of the land. In contrast, he did take advantage of the “governor’s provision” since he know that it will come from taxing the poverty stricken people of the land. He used his own personal wealth that he brought from Babylon (5:14-16). And he supported 150 men with abundant provision who ruled with him including their families.

Here we can see that Nehemiah did not impose taxes to his poverty stricken people. He did not add a burden to the people of the land, instead he did what he could to help the people and ease their burden. How about us as people of the Lord? Sometimes in work, we are the boss. But how do we treat those people who were under us? Do we add to their burdens or do we help them? In the story, we can see generous leaders, that instead they’re the one getting, they chose to be the one giving, and especially that Nehemiah saw that his people are in great need.

  

8.Satisfy the Project (7:4-5)

Probably you are thinking what I mean by “satisfy the project”. This simply means, they used the main purpose of the project. The wall of Jerusalem is intended for the protection of the city. During this time the city of Jerusalem had only a few citizens since many of them were exiled to Babylon along with Nehemiah. Chapter 7:4-5 says that the city was large and spacious and many of the houses were not rebuilt. This means that they have to fill in the city. What they did is to have the people register as citizens.

In our context we have a project. Let say building. It is important that we have to satisfy our project. This means we have to answer why do we need our own building and how are we going to use it? Will it be really necessary? And these are the things that we can see in the story of Nehemiah.

They rebuild the wall in order to protect the city. And there is no city unless there are no citizens inside it. To satisfy the project, they fill the city with people. They stick with the purpose of the project.

9. Show your Gratefulness (8)

In chapter 8 of the book of Nehemiah, the Israelites after they have rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem celebrated its success. Ezra read the Law of the Lord and the people listen to it as if they were listening to a sermon. Right after that, Nehemiah being the governor of Jerusalem that time along with Ezra the priest and other Levites, said to all the people. “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 10Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

This passage show that in return of the accomplishment of the great project, they made the establishment of the wall holy that there will be no weeping that day. Instead, they are to enjoy the food and drinks. And in chapter 9, they also had a time for their repentance to the Lord. This means that they humbled themselves and accepted that they have sinned against the Lord.

Conclusion

            We are facing huge projects ahead of us, Church Planting and the Lot and Building. These challenges are not easy to do. But it is my prayer that this lesson will be a good example for us as we work on these projects.  

The Four Fold Pledge Of Ruth

Untitled Document

Title: The 4 Fold Pledge of Ruth

Text: Ruth 1:16-19

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

                                                                                                                                Ruth 1:16-17

Introduction

                There was a man named Elimelech who lived in Judah during the time of Judges. During this time, there was a great famine in Judah to which Elimelech along with his wife was forced to migrate and live in the land of Moab. They have two sons named Mahlon and Kilion.

                Mahlon and Kilion married Moabites women named Ruth and Orpah (respectively). It so happened that Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died. Not so long has passed, both Mahlon and Kilion also died. Here we can see now that there are three are now three widows; Naomi, Ruth and Orpah.

                So Naomi talked to her daughters in law and said to them that she’s allowing them to go and move on with their life so that they can still remarry later if they find someone who’s willing to marry them since they were still young. She instructed them to return to their homes and gave her blessings to them. Orpah decided to leave Naomi but Ruth instead of leaving gave her promise to Naomi.

                Today, we will be talking about the 4 pledges of Ruth. We will be talking about that promises and how these promises applies to us.

The 4 Fold Pledge of Ruth

1. Pledge of Loyalty – “Don’t urge me to leave you or turn my back from you.”

This statement is in a negative form which means if rephrased: “I will not leave you or turn my back on you.” Now, take note here that Ruth is making her pledge of loyalty to Naomi, her mother-in-law. They are not related to each other for Ruth is a Moabite woman and Naomi is an Israelite. But because of the love of Ruth to Naomi, we can see here that she’s willing to give that loyalty to Naomi.

In our time, sometimes there are people who hate their mother-in-laws. Actually they don’t call it “mother-in-law” but “monster-in-law”. Ruth however is a different woman and probably Naomi is a good mother-in-law. We can see here that Ruth and Naomi have now a love of a parent-child.

2. Pledge of Obedience – “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.”

Now we can see here that Ruth did not only pledge to give her loyalty to Naomi, she is now giving her pledge of obedience. Following Ruth where ever she go. Obedience and Following have some differences. Here in the passage however, what I see here is that it can be interchangeably exchanged with each other since Ruth is giving pledge to Naomi.

It is like a servant giving pledge to his king to follow him where ever he goes. Giving such a promise also involves obedience and not just following. And this is the same to what the story is telling us. Ruth gave her pledge to follow Naomi which also involves obedience. In fact if we will continue reading the book of Ruth, we will see there that it is Naomi who instructs Ruth on what to do including her meeting Boaz.

3. Pledge of Acceptance – “Your people will be my people.”

Ruth now is giving a pledge of acceptance to Naomi. Again, Ruth is a Moabite. She has a different culture compare to Naomi. She grew up in a different land and has a different God. Here in the passage however, we can see a picture that Ruth is willing to adopt for herself whatever Naomi has to offer. Ruth is willing leave behind everything even her own gods and go and worship the one true God.

In our context, there are lots of couples giving a pledge to each other but not this kind of pledge. That is why we can see couples who have lots of conflicts because of this matter. One cannot accept the other one because of his or her parents, culture, and even backgrounds. Again, the only link between Ruth and Naomi is that they were in-laws.

4. Pledge of Commitment –“Where you die, I will die”

This part is the conclusion of this pledge where Ruth is giving her life to these pledges to Naomi. She did not only promised to be loyal, to follow Naomi, and accept everything Naomi has, but also to enforce this with a promise of commitment; to die where ever Naomi dies.

Ruth even added: “May the Lord deal with me be it ever so severely” which definitely means sealing these pledges with an oath. Giving an oath is very important because it is also like giving a promise to the Lord and that asking God to punish her if ever she fails to do what she has promised. This means that these pledges are not only a promise but an oath.

Going back in our time, there are lots of people who gives promises to each other but surely they cannot give this kind of oath because many of them are afraid to fail or if not, they are really not committed to do whatever it takes.

Conclusion and Application

                                The story is very clear to us that Naomi and Ruth have this one of a kind relationship between in-laws. The main thing here is, if it is possible to give this one of a kind commitment between humans, therefore, it is possible to give this one of a kind commitment to God.

                                The Bible is very clear in teaching us that we have to give our commitment to our Lord. But the question is; how far are we willing to go? Our story today is the commitment that our Lord wants us to give to him, for this kind of commitment really involves life. And this is what our Lord is seeking. 

How about you, are you willing to give this kind of Pledge to our Lord? If not, then think again, are we really pleasing Him with a half hearted heart?