Bible Study: February 7, 2024

Okay, let me begin the Bible study tonight. I know there was a question that was raised last week that I wanted to address, and someone had asked about Zerubbabel, and where did Zerubbabel disappear to in Nehemiah? I didn't answer that question correctly, and part of the reason is because of maybe where this book of Nehemiah is placed in the Bible. But indeed, the Zerubbabel that we saw in Ezra, and the Zerubbabel that we will see again mentioned in Nehemiah 7, which we will get to next week. It's a long list in Nehemiah 7 of all the people who came over back to Jerusalem to rebuild that temple. It is the same Zerubbabel that we see in the prophecy of Haggai and in the book of Zechariah. All of it has to do with the building of the second temple, and all that occurred during the same time. Part of the reason that I was spacing exactly that it was Zerubbabel in the second temple, when I thought about it, is because of where these books Ezra and Nehemiah are placed. They're placed pretty close to the beginning of the Bible after the after the Kings and Chronicles. But really, if you were listening and having the books of the Old Testament in chronological order, they would appear after Isaiah. Remember, we talked about Cyrus in the book of Isaiah, and then here a few hundred years later Cyrus is on the scene, and he is sending people back to Jerusalem to build the temple. When you look at the chronological order, Ezra and Nehemiah would appear near the end of the Old Testament before Zechariah and Malachi, if you were looking at a chronological type thing. So keep that in mind as we read these books. Yes, we completed the book of Isaiah a few weeks back, but these are occurrences that are post-Isaiah, Isaiah's life and those prophecies that we looked at back then. So yes, when we see the name Zerubbabel in here, he was the governor, or he was the priest, or was he the governor? I'll look bad up too, but I think he was the governor during that time, and he is prominent to the book of Zechariah. Of course, God is also using him as a figure of someone to come in the latter days as well. That would continue that building. So with that in mind, let us look at chapter five.

If you remember from last week, we looked at the walls that were being repaired, the gates that had been burned that were being repaired. We went through pretty much an exhaustive list of the people that were repairing those gates. It'll map up on the screen so you can kind of see the walls around Jerusalem and how those walls surrounded that city. There were gates in and out of that city as God's way was to be practiced in that city of Jerusalem in which his temple sat. So we got into chapter four then and talked about the work that was going on there. And I think one of the key verses in the EMI4 in my mind as I think back over that, as they were building the wall, was the people had a mind to work. They wanted to get the job done that God had called them to do. It's the same attitude you and I have. As we go about our lives, to have a mind to work and a mind to get the work of God done. You will remember from chapter four that they had all these threats from the outside and there were people looking to attack them and the people that were working on the wall were pretty much defending themselves, continuing the work. And as I mentioned, they were holding a weapon in one hand as they continued to work with the other hand, but they weren't going to let distractions, threats, fear, or anything delay the work that God had called them to do. So we completed chapter four. We see the commitment of Nehemiah. We see the commitment of the people that were there. They see their dedication and the wall we'll see in this chapter is completed in a very short, you know, relatively short period of time as they repair with that commitment. Pardon? Yes, I have a comment about what we read last week about the men holding swords and weapons as they completed the wall, you know, to protect the people. So I think that's a good example. Even though we pray to God and we ask for His protection, He still expects us to do what we can to protect ourselves. And I'm not saying guns or knives or anything, but I'm just saying in general we need to do, we need to be active in not just sitting there and saying, I prayed to God so it's up to Him, and I'm not going to do anything else. You understand?

I understand. I understand perfectly. You're exactly right. That's what we have. We lock our doors at night and things like that. So yes, we have to take the precautions ourselves as well, as well as trust in God that He will watch over us. Okay, let's begin with chapter five then. So at the end of chapter four, you know, Nehemiah makes a statement that they basically were working day and night, is how he ends the chapter. And then in chapter five, we see that here's another thing that comes about in the building or the rebuilding of those walls, or the repair of them, and it's unexpected to Nehemiah to see this. And it's trouble from within. It's trouble from within the Jewish community there, where people are oppressing other Jews. So let's look at verse one here. It says, there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. So you have all these forces from the outside that are threatening the completion or the work on the wall. But now, now, you know, they're dedicated. And here's people from within that are saying, you know, we're being mistreated. And in quite a way, when we see look at verse two, where there were those who said, we, our sons and our daughters are many, therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live. So they're hungry. So they're there working on the wall. They have all this going on. A lot of activity in Jerusalem as the wall is being repaired. But then we have people who are going hungry there. And it's because of a famine, as we see here in verse three, it says there were also some who said, we've mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses that we might buy grain because of the famine. So we have a situation, you know, that happened in the lot in the ancient times when you had a king ruling over you. And remember, even though the Jews had been allowed to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and the gates, it is still a Persian kingdom. There is still a king over this area. The Jews are there. They are not in control of the land. The Persians are, and so they are subservient to the king. Now kings, as we know, they have the iron fist, right? They're going to do what they're going to do. And often it's how can they benefit from the problems of the people below them? I don't know that we'll take the time to turn back to 1 Samuel 8, but you might later on go back to 1 Samuel 8 where Israel decides that they want a physical king. And you'll remember, you know, God says, Samuel, they haven't rejected you when they said they want a physical king. They rejected me. And then in chapter 8 he talks about all the things that the kings will require of them. How they will have heavy taxation. They will be the slaves to the king or the servants to the king. They will do what he wants. And that lists all those things. So they're living in a monarchy here, and there's a mortgage or a famine in the land.

So in order to have food for their families, they own land. They have to mortgage the land. We need food. We need food. We need the money more than we need the land. So they would mortgage it to the king, and then the king would have that title to that land. Just like you and I have mortgages on our homes, if we fail to pay that, the bank owns the property. That's the way it was back in the olden days as well. The king would hold the title. And if you failed to pay on the mortgage, he owned the land. So kings over time accumulated a great part of their territory in ownership. You'll remember that example back at the time of Joseph in Egypt. When he became second in command, people would come. They would buy from the kings. And the king, Joseph, helped enrich the king by those things because they needed money, and they were willing to mortgage their lands. And this is what was happening to some of the Jews there. They were mortgaging their land just to have food, and they were hungry, and they were poor even as the temple was being built. And all this was happening around them. So in verse 4 it says, there were also those who said, we've borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. There was a heavy taxation there that they had to pay. You had no way out of it. And they had to borrow money. At a time of famine, things weren't going as well. Money was scarce. Have to feed, and yet you still have taxation. It wasn't that the king was just relaxing. It wasn't relaxing the taxation at all. You still owed him, and you needed money to pay. And so we find in verse 5 that they're even selling their children into slavery, as the Bible provides for. We'll see in a minute. Just so that they had the funds to continue paying their taxes and having food. In verse 5 it says, yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren. It's like our flesh, our children, our people, are like their flesh. We are selling our flesh, the people, the Jews. They're indicating here that they're selling their children into slavery to the Jews of all people. Not to the Persians here, but the Jews are doing this to each other. Our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children. And indeed, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards. So we'll go back here. In fact, let's go ahead and go back to Exodus 21 to see how this is happening. Because as people would get themselves into financial problems, they would be able, as the Bible indicates, to be able to sell themselves into slavery or sell their children into slavery for a while. That was where the Jubilee year and the year of release would come in down the road. It wouldn't be forever, and they were able to be redeemed. Let's look at Exodus 21. And verse 7, I believe in it. It's 21. Yeah, verse 7.

21-7. If a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.

So that's kind of indicating that this was something that was possible. They would sell their kids into slavery. They needed the money to do that. It was just a part of life. It's like kind of like our child. If we were having problems or sicknesses or whatever and things were really rough, they may go out even at a very young age, according to the law, and work in a restaurant or do whatever labor they needed to do in order to just bring money home for the family. So there were no retail stores back in those days, no fast food restaurants that people could work in, but other people needed workers and children could be, their services could be sold to others so that that could happen and there would be funds for the family. Not a pretty picture of what was going on there, and especially not a pretty picture since it was Jews doing this to other Jews. It wasn't the Jews, the Persians enacting and enforcing this upon people. Jews were taking others into slavery, and it's a little even worse than that when we get even further into that. You know, it's Nehemiah, when he's looking at all the work and all the things that he's there to do, the sacrifices that he's made, how they're all dedicated to building the wall. And there's this physical building of Jerusalem and the temple and repairing the walls, but there's also a spiritual component that we'll see when we get past chapter 7 here as well. That Nehemiah, when he sees what's going on, it says in verse 6 here that of Nehemiah 5 that he becomes angry. It's righteous angry because he's looking at this and he thinks, wow, are you kidding me? You guys are doing this to each other? Do you realize what we're doing? We're rebuilding not just the physical city of God, we're rebuilding Jerusalem, what God would have us be. Today, he would say, you look out for one another, you help one another, you see the needs of someone else, and you help. And Nehemiah doesn't see that happening among the people of Judah. There are people that are there who are looking to profit off of the misfortune of others. So in verse 6 it says, I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words.

As well he should. These were the people of God, and they were acting like they were not related at all, and they're looking to see how they can profit each other. You know, so many times in the Bible you will see the expression they were oppressing the poor. And if you remember back in Isaiah 58, when we were talking about fasting and the appropriate fast, and God said, you know, if you're fasting, that the yokes will be released off of you. That you will see your brother's need and take care of it. That you will no longer oppress the poor, the fatherless, or the widow. This is the oppressing of the poor that's going on here, right in the city of God that is being repaired. In verse 7, you know, Nehemiah rightfully so, angry when he sees what is going on here.

He says, after serious thought, and I'm sure there was serious thought and serious prayer and meditation and seeking God's will and what was going on here and what his response and what his outlook on what the people of Judah were doing to each other says, after serious thought, I rebuke the nobles and rulers. So those are the higher-ups, the ones who had money that were doing this. Oh, you need money? I'll lend it to you. Your daughter can come and be my slave for a while, or I'll mortgage your land, and if you can't pay for it, then it becomes mine.

All these things that were going on. After serious thought, Nehemiah says, I rebuked the nobles and rulers and said to them, each of you is exacting usury from his brother.

Now see, they were doing all these other things, and then when they were lending the money, they were charging interest on it. And who knows what rate of interest that it would be? It might have been an exorbitant rate. It was all about what can I get from these people, my brothers, in their time of financial distress or whatever. Now the Bible, you'll recall, specifically says, no usury is to be charged against a brother. So if you put your finger there in Nehemiah 5, we'll go back to Exodus again. This time, Exodus 22.

And verse 25, yeah, verse 25. Exodus 22, 25.

These are God's words. Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments are given, and then these statutes are all listed here in succeeding chapters of Exodus as to how God would have his people live. And implicit in there is the concern for each other and watching out for each other. There are times when people do need help, and if you have, you know, you offer to help. If you see a need, you provide that. If you have the resources, you provide those. God blesses some that others may be helped. You know, you can go back and look at 1 John 2, I believe it is, where it says it. It says specifically, if you see a brother that has a need, fill it. Fill it, you know, and do what you can to help them. But Exodus 22 and verse 25 here says, if you lend money to any of my people who are poor, this is certainly a situation sitting here in Nehemiah, if you lend money to any of my people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a money lender to him. You shall not charge him interest. And so, interest is the same as usury, same word there. Lend him the money. You know, he can pay it back. Just don't charge him interest. Don't look to make money off of his misfortune. Give him the money. Help him out, but don't charge interest. So, we have a direct violation of God's law occurring here in Nehemiah 5. And as Nehemiah sees this is going on, it anchors him. It kind of... Do you have a question, Bill? Something I wanted to say. That answered the question to me that has bothered me for a long time. Why did God never say anything bad about slavery? Well, now I understand because that slavery wouldn't be wrong, well, that were they were allowed. But the other guys, I suppose, where you were beating your, you know, and buying them, that's the answer. That's the answer, yes. It was there just to help someone out, and that slave could be redeemed, right? They could be bought back again as well. So, it was like just going to work. Yes. Yeah, it wasn't the slavery like the world today thinks of slavery. So, yeah. So, we have this usury situation here.

And so, Nehemiah, as he looks at it, he's, he rightly gets angry. He goes, and you can see what's happened to the people here. The walls have been broken down. There's a symbolism in here. Jerusalem, the walls have been broken down. The gates have been burned. They have been interacting with the people of the land, right? The Persians that are there. We have the Sanbellats, the Tobias of the world, and the people are there, and they kind of intermixed, we're going to see later on in Nehemiah. And they've allowed these other things to come into their lives and just become part of their culture, even though they are people of God, and they were to keep the world out and do things the way God said.

But over time, they forgot God's law. They kind of drifted away from it, got on with their lives. The same danger can happen to us, as God calls us, and we are within, you know, the walls of the temple. We have to, this is why he says, you know, build your wall. Make sure that wall is there. Don't let any gaps into it. Don't let any foreign ideas or pagan ideas or ideas from the world come in and pollute what your wall is supposed to be protecting you against.

You are supposed to be, you know, the people of God that practice his law, know his law, live his law, and become that. And this is not what had happened in Jerusalem here. And as Nehemiah sees this, it angers him. And just going to lead into, as I said later on in the book, we'll have a physical rebuilding of the wall and the gates, but a spiritual rebuilding that has to happen as well, because God is not interested in just the physical.

We do the physical, but he's really looking to see what's in our hearts and how we live our lives. So he calls the people together, and it says there in the last verse of chapter, verse 7 of Nehemiah 5, he says, so I called a great assembly against them. So he's gathering the people together. Who knows how many?

I looked in the commentaries. We don't know exactly what it means. Some say it was the beginning of some standard thing that the Jews had. But anyway, he called a great assembly because he's going to address this issue of what has gone on here and the wrongs that have been occurring in Jerusalem. He wants to get them back on the right track, obeying the things, obeying the things of God. And in verse 8 then of Nehemiah 5, says, I said to them, according to our ability, we redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. So what Nehemiah is saying is, you know what, as we came in here, some of the Jews have been sold to the foreigners, right, to the Persians, to the nations.

And we've gone about trying to redeem them back, to buy them back from the Persians, to release that. Some of the commentaries indicate that Nehemiah was even saying that I've been using some of my own money to redeem the Jews, so they are no longer in slavery to the Persians or whatever. We've been redeeming our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations, and he says, and so we're doing this, and at the same time you're going to enslave them?

Will you even sell your brethren? Is that what you're doing? You're doing the opposite, or should they be sold to us? You know, so as he points out, the complete contrast of what is going on here. We're trying to bring the Jews back, and you're enslaving them. You are setting an example. Setting an example is going to kind of indicate here in verse 9 to the world around you. You're doing the opposite of what God stands for. You're not being a witness of God's way of life. You're not showing how his way of life is. You're joining in and doing the very same thing to them that we're trying to undo as we bring the people back.

When Nehemiah brings us out to them and shows them their sin, what could they do? They were silenced and found nothing to say. They couldn't defend it. There's no defense against it. If we are doing something against God's law, and if we, you know, it may be something that we just don't even think about, but if someone brings it to our attention, there's a lesson there. Don't defend it. I mean, but just accept it and know it has to change. If it is God who says to do it, that's what we do.

We just keep going. If we're here to please him, and we really have the belief that Jesus Christ is returning, and he wants us to be his children and give us eternal life, we have to live that way of life. He's not going to accept someone into his kingdom that's living a contrary way of life.

So we, in those situations, needed to be in silence, repent, and then just do the things that God would have us do. Well, they didn't even try to, to their credit, they didn't even try to defend themselves. They knew, they knew that what they had been doing was wrong. And so verse 9, verse 9, Nehemiah says, what are you, what you are doing is not good. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God?

Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?

Don't you see the example you're setting to them? You're not showing, you're not bringing any glory to God, you're acting against him. It's similar to what Peter says back in 1 or 2 Peter when he says, you know, don't live your life in deference to God. Don't bring glory to him by how you live.

Don't bring dishonor to him by the way you live when you live and walk like them.

And I want to point out here, you know, what he says, shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God?

Again, the fear of God, it tells us back in Exodus 20, if we have a proper fear of God, it will help us to not sin. If we have the proper fear of God, if we love him, revere him, honor him as the Savior, as our Father, as our provider, as our future, as eternity, who has the power of life and death, who gives us his laws and way of life that we can be happy, that we can have joy, that we can do all the things that mankind wants to do, they just don't want to do with God's way and experience the things. It starts with the fear of the Lord.

You know, Isaiah 11, verse 2 and 3, where it talks about Jesus Christ. It says, The Spirit of the Lord is on him, and it lists the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of knowledge, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ had a fear of God. You and I always need to keep that at the foundation of our being. It will help prevent us. It'll help keep us from sin exactly as the children of Israel learned that they were standing at the base of Mount Sinai there in Exodus 20. Verse 10—let me check my notes here and make sure I'm not missing a verse I wanted to turn to. Nope. We'll continue on with the account here. Verse 10 says, I also—this is Nehemiah speaking—I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. So he says, I'm lending them money and grain. I'm giving them when they need it. So he says, stop this usury. Stop doing these things. And Nehemiah is indicating, I'm not—he doesn't specifically say it, but I'm not—I'm lending them. I'm not charging any interest for it. Hey, Xavier.

Hi, Brother Shaby. Reading this, came to mind is Romans chapter 2, where Paul, in a similar scenario, is taking the task as Jewish brethren, where he says, you boast in the law, but you're dissimilar in God through your transgression of the law. For through you, the name of God is being blasphemed among the nations, because they were doing things contrary to what you were saying. They were the appointed people, and they were behaving. And that's the same.

That's the phrase I was looking for. That's Roman in Romans 2. You're right. Romans 2 is where he is taking the task, the Jews, who thought they were so far above the Gentiles. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. Okay, so verse 10. Stop with this usury. And then he gives them kind of a command, if you will.

He says, restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil that you have charged them. Okay. There's been an error. There's been a sin in the land. This shouldn't have happened. Give it back to them.

Let's restore it. Let's get back into the brotherhood and what God's hints were. And as it says that the hundredth of the money, that's kind of a strange way to say that, but the commentary is when they kind of decide what that means is give them back the interest that you have charged as well. So give it back to that. Give it back and give them the interest back on that.

Let's restore things the way they were. This is how you undo the wrong that has been enacted upon these people. Pretty tall order. We have no idea how much, what the total of all this was, but it had to be pretty commonplace for the people to come to Nehemiah when they realized, you know, you may think these people are doing right, but they're not. And then you know, he says, let's give it all back to them.

But verse 12, they realize they need to do that. Again, the will of the people when it's brought to them and they see the error of their ways, keep silent. And when Nehemiah says, this is how we're going to resolve it, this is how we put things back the way it should be, a pretty, pretty tall order, given what their intent was, is they enacted these mortgages and took lands and charged all the interest.

Verse 12, here we have a people who had a mind to work physically, and we see they have a mind to follow God when it's brought to their attention. So they said, we will restore it, and we will require nothing from them. We will do as you say. It's quite an attitude. That's a great attitude they had. And hopefully, when something's brought to me and something's brought to you that isn't right, we will have the same attitude. If that's the way God wanted it, and that's the way the Bible says to do things, and I'm not doing it, I start doing that.

And I start doing things the way God said, and restore, and make up however I can if there's something physical like they did here. So this is a picture of a great, great attitude here. Later on in Nehemiah, we're going to see the same will of the people as more sins are brought to their attention, and they willingly make the changes they need to make. It's kind of a precursor of what we're going to see later on near the end of the book of Nehemiah.

And so in verse 13, Nehemiah says, I shook out the fold of my garment and said, well, this is just kind of like a gesture like people had. It'd be like, you take something, you shake it off, whatever falls out, right? Whatever falls out. So I guess the commentary say this is just kind of one of those things they did back then. They would take their shirt, their toga, or whatever it was, shake it off, and say, well, whatever comes out of it, let's see what really falls out of what we just said here. So I shook out the fold of my garment, Nehemiah says, and said, so may God shake out each man from his house and from his property who doesn't perform this promise.

Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied. So, you know, if you've agreed to do these things here, you've done it before God made the promise, you should follow through. We're putting it in God's hands to whatever shakes out. What if you don't shake out what you said you would do, then may God shake you out. You could probably think of some examples in the Bible where people did things against God, and he did reveal that what comes to my mind is, you know, Achan in the land of the AI as Israel was beginning to enter into the Promised Land there.

There is nothing that isn't hidden that won't be revealed, you know, the New Testament says. So God has a way of shaking those things out that they may come to pull because God is interested that we're all doing things his way, and that individually and collectively we become the pure people he was looking for.

So, even thus, maybe he'd be shaken out and emptied, verse 13, and all the assembly said, Amen. They all agreed. They were all with one accord, and they praised the Lord, and the people did according to the promise. They did it. They followed through on it. Good for them. They did exactly what they should have done.

Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be—I wanted to look at something here.

Yeah, okay, moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor, Jeremiah says, in the land of Judah, from the 20th year until the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes, 12 years, he says, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor's provision. So, Nehemiah was a governor. As governor, just like governors today, there are things that the state and the people provide for you. They take a salary, they would have provisions, they would provide food for them, and the company that he was with is kind of like what we have today. We have officials who are paid well, they have expenses, they reimburse those expenses.

It is the people who do that, and as the governor, Nehemiah was entitled to that. That was the way it was for former governors, and he was entitled to those provisions. The people would give him, not individually, but you know, like a taxation, he would have the right to have a salary and have those provisions provided for him. We'll see what some of those provisions were here in a few seconds. He was there for 12 years. 12 years as governor. We see the work that he was doing as he was there, not only rebuilding the physical, but working with the people, watching over everything that was going on. So he says, but during that time, neither he nor his people ate the governor's provisions. They didn't take them. They were true public servants, if you will. Verse 15, it says, but the former governors, the ones who were before him, who were before me, they laid burdens on the people. Well, here's the heavy taxation again. We need this. We need all these things. We need all these expense accounts. We need all these things that have to be done, because, well, the other governors before me, they laid heavy burdens on the people. This is what we expect. We are the governor. We have rights to these things. They be laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine, besides 40 shekels of silver. So we can kind of see with the taxation that Nehemiah knew what was being placed on the people before. Provide my food. I want 40 shekels of silver as well. Yes, even their servants rule over the people. If you worked in the king's court, if you were in the governor's court, there were a lot of benefits that adored to you. So not unlike governments around the world today, where if you work for the government and that thing, there are a lot of benefits that are there that maybe the common man doesn't have. We all pay the taxes for them. No different than back in those days. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But Nehemiah says, I didn't do so because of the fear of God. I didn't want to take it. I didn't want to lay any burden on these people. I didn't want them serving me. I came to serve them. That's a very noble attitude that Nehemiah has there. He wasn't in it for the money. He didn't go back to become governor over Jerusalem. He went back because he had a will to serve God. I want to do his work. I want the wall to be repaired. I want the gates in place. And as we'll see, I want the people restored to a spiritual condition that is pleasing to God. That was what his mission was. Now, some of the commentaries suggest that Nehemiah might have been a very wealthy man. That when you served as a cup bearer to the king, it was such a trusted provision that they were well paid. If the king trusted you, you had a very good living. They suggest—and I have no idea if this is the case or not, or what Nehemiah is saying here—that in that case, he may have had enough funds that he could just fund himself. Again, I'm not in it for the money, and he was making a statement to the people. I'm not here for the money. I'm here to do the work of God. That's why I came. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm dedicating my time. Because he says here, I didn't do so. I didn't take what was rightfully mine because of the fear of God. Indeed, I also continued—verse 16—"I also continued work on this wall, and we did not buy any land." Again, he wasn't in it for his own gain.

As a governor, he could have mortgaged some lands. He could have just taken those. Or he could have bought land at bargain prices, maybe. But he didn't do any of that stuff. He wasn't in there for his own gain. All my servants were gathered there for the work. He and all his servants were there to do the will of God. And at my table, he says, were 150 Jews and rulers besides those who came to us from the nations around us. So it wasn't a small group of people that was working with one of the Amai. It wasn't just him and a couple people. There were a lot of people that were in that governor's cabinet, if you will, that were in his retinue, whether he was providing for, that they were doing the will of God—150 people. And here's, you know, in verse 18, they tied it still. This is the rations that were prepared to feed those people every day. That which was prepared daily was one ox and six-choice sheep, and fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this, so, you know, I don't know, offhand that doesn't look like a lot to feed 150 people, but according to commentaries, those provisions could feed up to 200 people a day. So I don't know, but I'm not a cook to know what all those things can mean. So we have all these provisions that are there, and D.M.I.A. says, and in spite of all this, in spite of this outlay, in spite of what the requirements were to provide for these people, I didn't demand the governor's provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people. They were already burying a heavy load. Remember, they were Persians. There was taxation that was going on in Persia. There was a famine that was going on. The work of Jerusalem was going on, and the Jews were poor people at that time, except for some of the nobles and rulers, as we were all about. Remember that work couldn't have gotten done by Nehemiah if King Artaxerxes hadn't sent all the materials with him. Same thing with Ezra. When the decree went out that the wall should be rebuilt, remember the king sent with Nehemiah all the provisions that he needed to get the job done. So he provided that for that. Again, God gave favor to the people at that time. It was his will that the temple would be rebuilt. So in verse 19, Nehemiah has recounted for us what his attitude was as he served the people, and he prays, Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people. May they just understand what I did for them. He was doing it for God because it was in God's interest. And Nehemiah had just a wonderful attitude about it all.

We'll go on to chapter 6, but any questions or comments as we leave chapter 5?

Okay, let's move on. Hello? Yes, yeah, Bill. Yeah, a couple things. So do you think they paid a penalty?

A penalty? Yeah, you know, it's almost like stealing. I mean, wasn't there a penalty on stuff like that back in the day? Yeah, who would pay a penalty? I'm not sure what you're referring to. Maybe the people that were charging the usury or, you know. Oh, well, I mean, they, again, giving it all back as they did in those verses, that was quite the, you know, quite the statement on their part. They gave it all back, and then Nehemiah said to give them the hundredth back or give them the hundred, you know, the interest back, or whatever portion of that interest that might be. So that was kind of penalty. They had counted those things as their assets and whatever, and they were willing to just give it all up. That was at a cost to them.

Okay, so not like Susan Rice, who made 138 million, I think, while she was in office.

Nope, nope, yeah, but remember, those were the nobles and grooblers. Nehemiah and his group, they weren't there for the money, like many politicians are today. Yes, they weren't there for that. Hey, Ellen. Hi, just a brief comment. As you were busy reading back him verses five and six, a thought came across that there is parallels to our time now, and I was thinking about how they went back into slavery, and it's quite similar to us being called out of the church, and then when there was a big group or group, great number that went back into the ways that they'd come out of, it's like going back into slavery. Yeah, that's a very good point. And, you know, again, here you see what is going on. This is the same kind of stuff that can happen in the church today. People allow the world to come in again and become lax in their faith and not do the things they're supposed to do. So Nehemiah is there to restore the truth to them and to get them on fire for God's way of life again. We could have the same thing happen. In fact, Revelation 3 would indicate that time when people just kind of are relaxed and maybe allowing things to happen that are clearly against God's way. Okay, Jim, Jim, Peterson, did you have a comment? Yes, I just want to back up a little bit to Zerubbabel. Okay. I plowed through a lot of commentary and it can be really confusing and nobody can agree because Ezra, Nehemiah, chronology is pretty tough. But basically, Ezra was a priest. Right. He was not the governor. Right. That was Nehemiah. Yeah, and when you read Nehemiah, you see that he deals with the priestly replacement of the priesthood and a rebuilding of the temple. Nehemiah, on the other hand, was, like you said, a cupbearer, which he would have been a eunuch, and he was a commoner. He had no priestly duties, and so he was basically an appointed governor. Correct. So it was Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was appointed governor to Ezra's time. Yes. As I understand it. No, you are exactly correct. Ezra was the priest. We're going to see Ezra come back later on in Nehemiah, right, as the Bible and the Word of God come into play. Nehemiah, in fact, in chapter 6, we're going to see exactly what he said to the governor, and Nehemiah knows where his limits are. He can't interfere with the priestly duties in the temple, even though he's lured into that. And then in Zechariah, you have Zerubbabel, but then you have Joshua, who is the priest there. So yeah, you're exactly right. Okay, I see. Well, I'm wondering something. Yeah.

How do we know for sure that Nehemiah was a eunuch? Well, I don't know that we know that exactly, except that I think that was the standard thing, probably, Jim, that a cupbearer's were. I don't know. So I've heard that, but it doesn't specifically say Nehemiah as a eunuch, but he doesn't have a wife. So we can't say that for certainty.

Okay, Brandon, how are you doing tonight? I'm doing pretty good, Mr. Shabrie. How about yourself? Okay. Oh, yes. You know, I'll just kind of go back to when he brought these things to, when Nehemiah brought these things to their attention, and they did what they were supposed to do. I just find that so refreshing in general, because, and I just want to say this before I go into this. I'm not politically charged at all, so I'm not saying this with any malice toward any side or anything of that nature. But just for just quick example, like when President Trump made the statement about grabbing ladies in their private parts or whatever, and they sort of, you know, sort of the people who backed them, certain people that I talked to at the time, they were like, Oh, well, you know, people act like they don't say those things and all this kind of stuff. And I'm like, you know, regardless of whether or something, I personally, I don't know anybody who's ever said anything of that nature. But what about just a little bit of accountability to say, Hey, he shouldn't have said that I think he's the best guy for the job. But he shouldn't have said that. I'm not above forgiving anyone if they just own up to something. If he can say, Hey, I shouldn't have said that, that was a bad point, you know, I think I shouldn't have said or whatever. And that's the case with any of them. So I just, it's really good and nice to see when somebody can take some accountability for something and say, Hey, let's fix it. Let's fix it. And I just, you know, if they did that, like you said, all these things that they could take that a lot of them don't need to take, because they are well off, then we just be in such a better position. Yep. I totally agree with you. And it's kind of like a lost, I'm going to use the word art for that, a lost art of the world today, right? No one ever admits that they were wrong. They just refuse to ever admit it and whatever. And it's irritating and frustrating. And you just wish. And they could win so much respect if you would just admit it. I like the word refreshing that you say to because when you have to talk to someone, whether it's in business or in the church, and they just kind of admit it, it's kind of like, boy, that is refreshing. Okay, we're not here to down you, criticize you, condemn you, just bring it to your attention, because we're all here to become how God wants us to be. And we have to, you know, sometimes be reminded of that. So.

We're good. Okay. Hey, Becky.

Are you okay? Hi, I have just something, I have a study Bible here, and this is something it says that I thought is very fitting to Nehemiah's character and worth pointing out. It says, work as if everything depended on you, pray as if everything depended on God. Sometimes we tend to go through extremes and either work like crazy to achieve goals on our own, or sit back and wait for God to solve our problems.

The fact is, we need to work hard and entrust our plans to God to find the balance between relying on God's supernatural promises, power, and provision, while at the same time using all of our energy and skills to accomplish our goal, just like Nehemiah. Very good. I thought that fit very well with what you were saying about him not taking from them. And he was there to work, he did what he needed, but God provided, and he knew that God went for 12 years. So I think it really speaks to his faith. Yep, he's had a great, had a mind to work.

That was the reason he was there, right? And God would like to see that attitude in all of us, just do the work. And he'll always provide what we need. We don't have to worry about it. He'll provide what is needed. We just need to be committed to what he wants us to do. So, okay, good comments. Okay, let's proceed with, we got a little late start, so we have a little bit of time here before we have our hour up.

So let's look at chapter 6 and see how far we get in here. Now we have these internal problems in chapter 5 that had to be dealt with. They could have interfered with the work of the wall there and the thing, but you can see the walls, the physical walls, as they're being rebuilt. Some of the spiritual walls and the gaps in those are beginning to be restored as well. That will continue as we go through the book of Nehemiah. As we begin in chapter 6, we go back to some of the external factors, as the detractors from the work of God will always be there to see how they can get you off track or even worse, as we will see in the case of Nehemiah.

Now you remember back a few chapters ago, we were introduced to sand ballad in Tobiah. They were very friendly at first, but they were trying to lure Nehemiah away. They became a little more angry when they saw the work progressing. That's where they ended up having to defend themselves or keep one eye on what's going on out here while they did the work as well.

And it gets stepped up a notch here in chapter 6, as they really do not want to see those walls repaired or the gates repaired. So chapter 6 verse 1, it says, it happened when sand ballad, Tobiah, Geshim the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no breaks left in it.

As they watched this happening in pretty quick order, that I had rebuilt the wall and there were no cracks left in it. Although at that time I had not hung the doors and the gates, that sand ballad in Geshim sent to me saying, calm let's meet together among the villages and the plain of Ono. Now Ono was something like 20 miles away. So it's like, you know what, Nehemiah? Let's just get away from it all.

Let's go out to this little town of Ono and let's have a conversation. Well, again, Nehemiah had a mind to work. He was there to do the temple, not the temple, to do the walls and gates, and he was very astute at what people were trying to do. And of course, God would let him discern what was going on.

So he makes the comment, they thought to do me harm. So now we've progressed from just threats and whatever, but they wanted to get him away. They wanted to get him away from the people. They wanted to get him away from the wall, take him out 20-25 miles away to do him harm. Like if we can't stop this, then we may just need to kill.

We may just need to kill Nehemiah. We need to stop him somehow. So I sent messengers to them saying, I'm doing a great work so that I can't come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? What do you possibly have for me that I should stop what I'm doing to waste my time?

Well, maybe that's not the right way to go and talk to you. My job is here. I need to finish the job that I came to start. And meeting with you 20 miles away is just interfering with the progress of the work. It's a delay we don't need to have. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? But they sent me this message four times. Like they weren't going to give up. Come on, Nehemiah. Come down to Ono with us. They just keep asking, you know, thinking the persistence will pay off, but Nehemiah doesn't buy it. So they sent this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner. Always the same answer. No, I'm not going to stop doing what I'm doing here. We need to get this work done.

So they step it up a notch. They use another common ploy of people when they don't get their way, and they want to stop something. They do what Sanballat does here in verses 5, 6, and 7. And so Sanballat sent his servant to me, as before, the fifth time with an open letter in his hand. This time I'm going to write you. You're not paying any attention. We haven't been able to lure you away. This is what was written in the letter. It is reported among the nations, and Gesham says, my friend the Arab, it is reported among the nations, and Gesham says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel. Therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. See, that's what your real mission is here. I'm going to ascribe your motive, Nehemiah. You want to be king. You're rebuilding the wall. You're doing all these things, saying all these naval things, because you want to be king. You just want to glorify yourself.

We don't see that at all in Nehemiah. None of what Nehemiah has ever been about.

You have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you with Jerusalem, saying, there's a king in Judah. You've even got all this set up that at some point it's just going to be announced. Nehemiah is our king. You can see what Nehemiah, how he must have felt when he heard these accusations that come against him. There's a king in Judah. Now, these matters were reported to the king, so come therefore and let us consult together. There are people who will impute false motives. We see it all the time. They want this for this. You see it as you watch the news. You probably experience in the places that you work. It's something that's designed. It happens everywhere to stop the progress and to make the person think and take the time to defend themselves, saying, no, that isn't what I'm about at all. Nehemiah was there simply to do the work of God. He makes it very clear in these chapters that that's what he's there to do. But, hey, we're going to tell the king, this is really what you're up to. The king, who knows what he will do? So here's a little threat. Come here and talk to us. Come on, come on and meet us down in Ono.

So Nehemiah responds. I said to him, saying, no, such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart. Well, people will often say things that they would intend to do. If they were in that situation, what would they be doing? They would be looking to enrich themselves. They would be thinking, if I was building that wall, I'd want to be king over that city. So then they'll accuse someone else of exactly what their intent is. We see that in the world around us. If you listen closely to a variety of news sources and then look between the lines and see what is really going on and really where the intents and the trends are leading.

So Nehemiah responds and says, he has to address the situation. No, that isn't what I'm about at all. You're just inventing these things. You're just making these things up. There's no one who has heard me say that. There's no indication of my actions that this is what I was doing.

So then he says, verse 9, he saw through it, for they were all trying to make us afraid, saying, their hands will be weakened in the work and it will not be done. Uh-oh, now we got to deal with this. Is that really what people are thinking? What are they going to do? Will the king come down? Will he make us stop? And so they're playing on their minds.

Is this going to be something that will make us stop doing what God has given us to do? And so Nehemiah says, well, don't let that happen. You know, this is something that's out of my hands.

You will control it, God. Therefore, oh God, strengthen my hands. Give us the strength to go on. Let us just continue the work and set aside these false rumors, these false accusations that are coming out about this, and let's just go get the work done that you want done. So you can kind of see the situations that Nehemiah has been in.

The physical threats, now the mental games that are being on, all the things that are there as the people in that land who weren't the Jews do not want God's way there. You know, as we, there are lessons in us for us as we are doing God's work. And as we see distractions come, and we may see threats come, and we know that there will be more physical threats come, and there may be threats on lives, and there may be threats of going to jail, or implications that, ah, this is what you're doing, this is what you're doing, we're going to tell someone this or that, or whatever.

We keep doing the work. It is God's work, and we keep going forward in what He says, and don't let don't let others stop us from doing it, or prevent what we're doing. And pray the same prayer, you know, go God, strengthen my hands, continue to give us the direction that you want, let us do the work that you want us to do. So verse 10.

Let me see how far we can get here. We'll just do another few verses. I don't want to wear you out here tonight. Verse 10. Afterward, I came to the house. Well, yeah, now this is, this is, you know, kind of a spy or a secret informer here we're getting into in chapter 10.

So that didn't work. You know, San Valet wasn't going to forward to the king, something that, you know, was a false accusation because it could get him in trouble if he had been found guilty of doing that. So in verse 10, another way to get Nehemiah to prevent what he's doing, and to sin, you know, as it says in verse 13.

He says, afterward, I came to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Mehedabil, who was a secret informer. So here we have the intrigue again. Got something going on. If I find a secret, I tell someone else, I have my own little spin on it. Let us meet together in the house of God. This gets to what Jim Peterson was saying earlier. Let us meet together in the house of God within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. Oh, here's a, here's a bigger threat. They're coming to kill you. Indeed, at night, they will come to kill you. So Nehemiah, tell you what, get into the temple, go into closed doors there, and hide yourself there, because someone is coming to kill you.

Well, indeed, I'm sure they wanted Nehemiah dead, but if Nehemiah was going to do that, he was going to violate a principle of God, because it wasn't for him to go into the temple. It was for the priests to do. Nehemiah was the governor, not a priest. Now we can go back and see that. Let me find a verse here that I write in my Bible. Chapter 6. Okay. For a night, they will come to kill you. Apparently, I didn't write down a verse.

It's specifically... Okay, let's go on here then, and I'll come back to it and give it to you next week. If I don't see it on my notes here, my eyes don't fall on it. And I said, verse 11, Should such a man as I flee, should I run away and show that I don't have faith in God?

Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. Again, it was forbidden for him to go into the temple, because he was not the priest. The inner places were for the priests. You will remember in the verse I'm thinking of, when we were talking about... When we have the book of Isaiah, one of the kings that Isaiah served under was Uzziah.

And you remember Uzziah started off as a very faithful man, but as time came on, he became very full of himself, thought that he kind of like was over all, and he did go into the temple to offer sacrifices against what God's directives were, and then he broke out in leprosy that was never ever healed.

God means what he's saying. The king didn't go in, and Nehemiah, the governor, knew he shouldn't be in there. Even though he was being threatened, you know, go on, go into the temple, save yourself, they're coming to kill you. So I won't go in, because he knew it was the command of God. I'm not going to go. I'm not going to do what I know is clearly forbidden. He understood and knew the word of God. Verse 12, then I perceive that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

So here you have someone from within who's conspiring with someone from out. Come on, just work with us. Get Nehemiah to stop. Make him sin. Let's do something to stop this wall from being built. Stop the work, however it is. And someone from the inside was conspiring against him. You know, a very sad fact of life, but that's kind of life. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin.

Oh, there it is written. I wrote it in my Bible. Numbers 18, Numbers 18 verses 3 and 7 says that it was unlawful for a non-priest to enter the temple.

So I should, for this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and sin so that they might have cause for an evil report. They might reproach me. Ahaha! You know what? Look what Nehemiah did. He went into the temple. Shouldn't he be killed? Because that was the punishment prescribed in Nehemiah 18 if someone went into the temple that wasn't a priest. My God, verse 14, Nehemiah says, My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballot according to these their works.

And the prophetess Noah died, so we had many people involved in this little plot to get Nehemiah to sin, to sin there, to kind of trip him up, to accuse him, to get him to stop what he was doing.

My God, remember Tobiah and Savalot according to these their works. And the prophetess Noah died, and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. And so, verse 15, the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elel in 52 days, considering all the work that was going on there, considering everything that had to be done. As we saw on that map last week, 52 days is an amazing, amazing amount of time, amazingly small amount of time for everything to be done.

Now, Elel, just to preview what we'll talk about next week a little bit, Elel is the sixth month of God's calendar. So we're just a week away from the first day of the seventh month, which is the Feast of Trumpets. So the wall is completed before the fall holy days begin. And so what we'll talk about next week is how the people, when they read the book of the law, how they observe God's holy days. So, well, if you'll bear with me just a two more, let's just finish this chapter here. It's, it finishes up this account here. It says, it happened when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes.

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't stop the work of God. It got done. It got done. So they were disheartened because they knew, as it says, they perceived, this work was done by our God. It was His will. Nehemiah was following His direction, and it was going to get done. And they knew that. And so it was disheartening because they thought they could fight against God, and they could prevent God's will from happening. We can never prevent God's will from happening. We need to participate with God, that His will is done. Like I guess we should all be praying, every single day, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.

Verse 17, also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tabbiah. We see the intrigue we're here. We see the Jews interspersing or interacting with Tabbiah and Salballah. We see these relationships between the world and the church. And it's not a good thing, what's being here. But Nehemiah is just showing how the people were at that time. They had become too intertwined with the world. There was a lot of work. Now that the wall was done, there was a lot of work to bring the people back into the spiritual condition that God would have them and us in today's age be.

Those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tabbiah. Remember, he was an enemy trying to lure Nehemiah and stop the temple from being built. Many letters to Tabbiah and the letters of Tabbiah came to them. Many in Judah were pledged to him. Here we have one of the things as we get into the last chapters of Nehemiah, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah, the son of Arah. His son, Jehonahan, had married the daughter of Meshulim, the son of Barakiah. So we have this intermarrying that had gone on between the men of Judah and the daughters of the Persian kingdom. Nehemiah was going to have to address this because it had created quite a problem in Judah. We'll get to that later on in the book, but we see kind of where we're headed here. We see this and what it's done to the people as there was even this process against Nehemiah. Also, they reported, "'Who's good deeds before me?' And they reported my words to him. Tabbiah sent letters to frighten me." So we have people... this is what he said. This is what they said. Kind of the human thing that is all around us. That is all around us, and it was happening back in those days as well. So that's the end of chapter 6. Next week we'll hit chapter 7. You might look at chapter 7. We're not going to read every word in chapter 7. It is a listing of all the people that were brought back to Jerusalem. You might just look through that, and if there's any names in there you want to talk about, I may pick out a few in there as well. So we'll probably get through chapter 7 and 8 next week, and maybe chapter 9 as well. Let me pause there, and let me pause there, and if anyone's got questions, comments on anything at all, the floor is yours.

Yes, Mr. Shavey. Yes, hey Raymond. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'm just thinking like the troubles that Mr. Armstrong had in building the work. There were people repeatedly, tried to stop him, and not only that, I think about how many years was his work active?

Was it 52 in total? I don't know. Well, you know what? 1938, yeah, you're right. 1934 was something. I think he was being called in 19 years, 52 years, because he died in 1986. Yeah. Okay, all right. You know, it's reminiscent of what Paul said in Acts 20. I think it's around verses 28 to 30 there, where he warns the elders as he's there in Ephesus. You know, there will be wolves that come from outside, and there will be those who will rise up among you, who will try to gather followings after themselves and disrupt the work of God. Happened back in Old Testament times, happened back in Paul's time, happens yet today. So, Betsy? Hi, thank you so much.

I can't help but see the parallels with what Nehemiah went through compared to today, the manipulation of the leader, and how he was so persistent and loyal and dedicated. I can only wonder how God's going to use him in the kingdom. He is going to be one of those leaders that really works with people, because he's already experienced the evils that are out there.

Even though Satan will be removed, he knows human nature like he should. Absolutely. He'll be a great teacher, and God knows he is absolutely loyal to him, right? Same thing he's looking for in us, so to be loyal to him. Do we know if Nehemiah had the Holy Spirit residing in him or not?

It never specifically tells us that, but given...

Let me leave it at that. I don't want to make the judgment on that. Certainly what he's done, it indicates here that God led him to discern what was going on. Where do we just read that here? I perceive that God is not sensitive at all. God certainly was working with him and giving him those things, and the way Nehemiah served in that way, we can't say for sure, but it sure appears to be.

Brother Shaby, when we were reading, God gave the people the heart to accept that that rebuke was pleasant oil. It's the absolute opposite of what happened in Jeremiah.

It was in Jeremiah 34 when they had had slaves, and they made a covenant, went through all the ritual or the ceremony, and then not too long later it says they forced them back again to being slaves in Jeremiah 34. So God definitely graciously gave him the heart.

Yes, it's a tremendous example, and it's not frequently you see that example in the Bible, right? Just the opposite. People continue to reject God.

Okay. I got a comment there. Yes, Mr. Peterson. Just in regards to the comments about the parallels between them and us, I would say that there is definitely a parallel where Israel always had a two-tiered system of governance where there was a temple and that operation and the civil governance. That made Israel and Jerusalem in particular, a light unto the Gentile, which was the work that they were supposed to do. So when we come into our day and age, when I came into the church, it was on fire. And I came because of that, because that element was missing in the church that I was in. My mom and dad restrict on us with the commandments and stuff, so I wasn't without that. But when I came to the church of God for a specific reason, because of something they didn't have and was very pertinent, and it was the work. And the church had a common goal, it had a common enemy, and it had a common understanding. And that work was in my ears right away. It said, and here is a plain truth about today's world news and the prophecies of a world tomorrow. And it breaks my heart that it kind of collapsed. And it breaks my heart also that we have a Presbyterian by the name of Tucker Carlson guy who is picking that up.

I hear what you're saying. The work of God needs the energy and the zeal, and God is going to give us that. You know, there's been a lot going on in the work and the last, and I know that God wants to restore that zeal in all of us. You know, last week I was in Dallas and I gave a sermon on a sense of urgency. A sense of urgency and understanding the times that we're in is key to that sense of zeal and getting the work done. We have to kind of realize that and know that God is going to get it done. If it's not us, he says he'll raise rocks up to do it, right? So we better be about his work, we better be focused, and we better go out and do what he has to do that he wants us to do.

Yeah, toward that end, we've begun a few new things in the work. We mentioned these messages to the world that are coming out once a week now that are 10 to 15 minutes long, that are specific, that are talking about the Bible and tying either comments in the news or news items directly to the Bible so people can see those directly. So I agree with you. Everyone should be pray that God gives us all the energy and the zeal to get his work done. So I think your point is good, well taken. Mr. Shavey. Yes, sir. The 20-minute things that you're doing, where do you post those? They, I guess the media department has been posting them on YouTube.

on youtube.com slash beyondtodaytv. And I think on the UCG sermon's YouTube site as well, is what I was told this morning. So hey, Reggie. Hey, Mr. Shavey. How are you? How was your trip back from Dallas? It was good. It was good. Another wonderful meeting. I mean, we've got some wonderful pastors down in that region. It was great to meet everyone there. It's Sabbath last week was great. I keep saying that one of the very nice things is to be able to go out and meet the people of God. He has called wonderful people. So it's good.

I was talking to Craig Scott today, he called me, and Samaya and Josiah Coe.

Oh, yeah. They're in the Raleigh area. He said if you needed any information on them, get your information. You can't talk to them if you want to. Okay, dope. We will. We have just been overwhelmed, but I've got his name and their names, and we're going to get to it eventually. Right now, we're just in the midst of everything else we're going on. We've got the budgeting going on. We have international interviews going on and some other things as well. So I know it won't be this week, but as we talk about me and Mark, next week we may be giving him a call to see what's going on there as well in his area. Okay. Okay. Hey, Sherry.

I just was going to ask if anybody, when you were down in Dallas, did any of the brethren there say what's going on? Like if they've had any, anybody's had problems or anything?

Um, problems down in Texas area with all the stuff going on with the border stuff. Oh, no, actually, Dallas. No, they know what's going on, but Dallas. Yeah, it's a little further south. There were some pastors down there from the southern part that were talking about it and had the security that they've had to kind of maybe even increase in their local church area where they live further south just to, you know, just to make sure, just to make sure. But that was the extent of it. No, no one, they didn't have any personal examples of any problems with that. So.

Okay, good. Thank you.

Okay, anything else, anyone?

Well, very good. Thank you all for being here tonight. It's a pleasure always to be with you. It's one of the highlights of my week, the Sabbath being the other one. The other days are good, too, but those are the two highlights. So, um, we will be in Cincinnati this week, so we'll look forward to seeing you in Cincinnati. Love you, honey. If you're not there, we will look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, okay? Thank you. Bye.

Laramie, you're welcome. Have a good evening.

Goodnight.