King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2024
Chapters: Nehemiah Chapters 1-4
Message: One Body of Christ United
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today I thought about building blocks and how every saved, born again Christian is built upon each other, Christ of course being their foundation. We may have our ups and downs and take some falls, but just like any family, when push comes to shove we are there for each other. Well, that is unless we have some stubborn mules for family members who live off of bitterness and pride. Nevertheless, all of Christ’s people are in this together, when one block falls off it affects the rest of us, likewise, when one gets added, [1 Corinthians 12:12-13,26 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.]
The Book of Nehemiah is the sixteenth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains thirteen chapters. The author of the book is Nehemiah and it was written to the Jews. The timeline for these events is approximately 446 BC to 434 BC. The purpose of the book was to continue showing the history of Israel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem after their captivity was lifted. What we are to learn from the book is that there will always be opposition whenever we choose to serve God, but we can endure it by fearing God and trusting Him, [Nehemiah 6:16 And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.]
About ten years after the temple in Jerusalem had been rebuilt, and two years after Ezra’s visit, a man named Hanani, arrived in Persia and told Nehemiah of the dire conditions that still existed there. Nehemiah, felt great grief over this and mourned for days, then did the only thing that he could do at that point and that was to pray to God.
[Nehemiah 1:1-4 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,]
[The remnant that are left of the captivity there…in great affliction] This was approximately ninety years after the Jews had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, its wall and gates were in the same condition in which Nebuchadnezzar had left them. Now, we may not know why no one considered repairing the walls that were clearly necessary to be around the temple when they were rebuilding it, but they were up against a lot of opposition and perhaps that was the reason why. Nevertheless, Nehemiah, decides before making any decision to consult with God and reminds him of the promise He made.
[Nehemiah 1:8-11 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.]
[let now thine ear be attentive…who desire to fear thy name: and prosper,] Nehemiah, was careful to acknowledge that not all of the Jews would choose God and were content to live their lives in their sin, but those who did choose Him would be gathered together one day, [Matthew 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.]
[For I was the king’s cupbearer.] Being the kings cup bearer was a very important position and not just one in which they would serve drinks to the king and his guests, he was also a counselor to the king. Nehemiah, had made up his mind he was going to ask the king for leave of absence, but did not need to convince him very much as the king saw the look of despair on his face.
[Nehemiah 2:1-3 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?]
[why should not my countenance be sad,] We all need to be concerned for our nations, families, and our Christians like never before, even to the point that we might have to pray and fast as well. There is an evil taking place like we have never seen before, and I imagine that it is quickly becoming as it was in the days of Noah before God sent the flood, [Luke 12:37-39 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.]
Nehemiah, really did not have an answer to that question, so, he prayed about it, and that was when God had given him the burden of rebuilding the wall that separated Jerusalem from the world. He asks the king for permission to go to Jerusalem for a period of time.
[Nehemiah 2:5-8 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.]
[So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.] God, has given us an appointed time in which we are to reach the world with the Gospel, but here is the thing, we do not know when that time will actually be. This is why we need to not only be prepared for when that day could come, we also need to do whatever we can to help others prepare for that day as well, [1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.]
Nehemiah, arrived in Jerusalem and for three days all he did was look around at the conditions of the city and it grieved him even more. After he reveals who is was and spake to the people about his intentions, they were glad and wanted to help rebuild the wall. However, it did not take long before people showed up to oppose what they were doing. In fact, the ringleader of them all, Sanballat, had his heart set on stopping them when he read the letter from the king.
[Nehemiah 2:11-12,17-19 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?]
[So they strengthened their hands for this good work.] Building a wall around a city may seem like a small thing, but it was not, walls serve a purpose, they are what separate strangers and foreigners from those who have the right to be among those within the walls. The Jews were eager to help rebuild the wall, and this was not just a few people stepping up, even the priests were helping. One group at a time would build a portion of wall, beginning with the fish gate. This gate, being on the north-west side of Jerusalem, looked toward the sea, and overlooked the fish market, which is why it was called the fish gate.
[Nehemiah 3:1-3,5,9,12 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel. 2 And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri. 3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. 5 And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord. 9 And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. 12 And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.]
[their nobles put not their necks to the work] The nobles, the ones who were the upper class elites who thought that their salvation was enough, and would not lift a hand to rebuild the walls. They were not going to give up their time or face hardships and affliction just for God, or anyone else for that matter. That is sadly many Christians today, they will not lift one finger to help someone unless it benefits them, and this is exactly why so many women are taking on roles in the church. And do not think that God does not give credit where credit is deserved, Nehemiah, made sure to point out that some of the people helping in the repairs were women. In fact, we are to commend those who seem too feeble to work, for God certainly does, [1 Corinthians 12:24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:]
The ones who did help were willing to help, even if the task was not so great, and for the first time in centuries, every family played a part in helping to rebuild the walls. No one fought with each other or felt more superior over the other, they all worked together. Nehemiah, and his small group of people were determined to get the walls built around Jerusalem, but every where they turned they were faced with opposition, not only from the enemy, but those elite Jews too.
[Nehemiah 4:1-5 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. 4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: 5 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.]
[and turn their reproach upon their own head,] It really does no good for us to try to get back at our enemies, all we need to do is pray, and keep doing the work that we are called to do, and let God handle it, they will not only expose themselves they will also reap what they sow, [Galatians 6:7-9 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.]
Since we are human, it might be easy to say, “Let Go and Let God!”, but the execution is not always so easy. As much as we tell ourselves that faith trumps fear, that is not always the case, at least, for a little while. When the reconstruction began, everything was going great, that was until the corrupted leaders realized what was going on. Nehemiah, tried so hard to encourage the men, but things had gotten so bad that they had to stop building the wall in order to clean up the debris from the material. The men were scared, tired, and physically worn out.
[Nehemiah 4:8-9,11,13-14 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. 11 And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. 13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.]
[Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord,] We have the power to make a difference and turn things around, but if we do not come together and fight for each other then nothing will ever change. Finally. the work resumed, Nehemiah, formed a plan to keep working day and night. A group would work around the clock while another group would keep watch and fight off any opposition.
[Nehemiah 4:18-22 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. 19 And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. 20 In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. 21 So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. 22 Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.]
[So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears…till the stars appeared.] In other words, they took turns day and night to help in the repairs while others stood on guard so that the work would not get interrupted. We truly are in a battle, one that takes the entire body of Christ, while our preachers and teachers are preaching and teaching the Gospel, the rest of the are to be praying and encouraging them. We cannot win this battle on our own, but we can win it by coming together as the person who will be in midst of us to give us that power is Jesus Christ Himself.
[Ephesians 6:11-13,18 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Nehemiah 2:20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.]
Today’s Prayer: God, As one of Yours that has been called to serve You, I do not know why You see fit to use me because I know that I have let the opposition slow me down from time to time. Thankfully, You never gave up on me, and are always eager to use me to actually build walls that are fortified by You. Lord, give me Your strength to break through every opposition that Satan uses to try and stop me. Let me trust You in every decision I make and give me the confidence that I need to keep going in my faith, yet serving You faithfully. Help me to let go of any opposition that keeps me from serving You diligently, and give me Your mercy and grace, and the Holy Spirit power to break through them all. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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