Nehemiah, Part 1

This weekend, many families will be getting together tomorrow for Father's Day. It's just a national holiday, but it is to honor the fathers amongst us.

It is appropriate to do so to honor your father and mother. This is a day when it's being done.

We all have the image of the father that a man would like to become. We also have it as a role model in the Bible.

Years ago, I saw a movie that greatly impressed me. It was called A Man for All Seasons. How many of you remember that movie? A few.

It was back in 1966, and of course I was not at that time that I saw it. I saw it in the 1970s.

But Paul Scofield portrayed the life of Thomas More. It garnered the Oscar for the best film in 1966, also the best director and the best actor.

Thomas More was one of Henry VIII's most trusted counselors.

In 1534, when King Henry passed the Succession Act, it required More to take an oath that repudiated the pope, that declared invalid the marriage between Henry and Catherine of Aragon, and acknowledged that the children of Henry and Anne Boleyn would be the legal heirs to the throne.

Thomas More refused to take the oath, and he was beheaded the following year.

But it was the strength of conscience and conviction that impressed me and inspired me to follow the Biblical truth to the end of my life.

That was a goal. I saw how this man stood up for his principles, whether right or wrong, his view, but the strength of conviction and of conscience made him be willing to lose his head over those convictions.

I'd like to discuss what has to be one of my favorite figures in the Bible. He's not that well known. It's not somebody like David or Paul.

But certainly this person in the Bible has impressed me and reminds me of this Thomas More, but with the Biblical principles in mind, not getting into this political world of Henry VIII and the pope and all of that period, that it was breaking up the church into Protestant and Catholics up to today. I'm not dealing with the political implications, but this is a person that is a good father figure, and he's actually a model for men and women of the faith.

Women can have the same faith because basically this person I'm going to speak about was a man of faith and a man of action. He did both. He put his faith in God, and then he proceeded to do his part, and he put his faith in action.

His name is Nehemiah. He is one of the great heroes of the faith. He actually was used by God to save the Old Testament covenant and the Old Testament people of God.

It is very interesting because God calls people from all walks of life, and this person was very unlikely to be this biblical hero because he had it all.

He had wealth. He had power. He had everything a man could have, and yet he was willing to sacrifice that for his people.

So like Moses in Egypt's courts, that he still was willing to suffer with his people.

Well, Nehemiah was this way, and Nehemiah wrote an autobiography about his life, and God inspired him to do so and to put it in the Bible as an example for all of us.

And these are models of our faith. And although he lived back over practically 2,400 years ago, you will see parallels between your life and his life, how he had to face.

And so we can use his example for our battles of the faith to maintain our loyalty to God as he did.

Let me give you the background of this book. Let's turn to Nehemiah in the Old Testament.

We're going to be covering this book today. Nehemiah is before the Psalms.

It's before Esther.

And you can imagine having a book about this man writing about how God intervened to save his people.

So this book of Nehemiah begins around 444 B.C.

Some 90 years after the first group of Jews returned to Jerusalem under a leader called Zerubbabel, who is mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai.

The temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel, but Jerusalem as a whole was still in ruins.

And then a second group arrived later, led by Ezra, described, but the walls that should have protected the inhabitants still lay in ruins.

In those days, a city without walls could offer its inhabitants no protection and was subject to frequent raids.

Few people would venture to live in such a vulnerable place.

As a result, Jerusalem at that time was more of a shrine than a city. Most of the people lived outside the gates. At least if they lived outside, they could protect themselves.

But a city without walls, in those days, was a complete victim to all the ravages around.

In fact, in Proverbs 25, verse 28, it says, "...like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control." And so this city did not have any type of protection.

And anybody could come in, little bands of brigands or robbers, there was no way to protect.

At night, you had no protection as well. And so we start in Nehemiah, verse 1, to see why Nehemiah got involved.

He wasn't living in Jerusalem. He was protected. He lived a very plush life.

It says in verse 1, "...the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hasheliah, it came to pass in the month of Chislev in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan, the citadel." This was the capital of the Persian Empire.

"...that Henani, one of my brethren, came with men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said to me, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach.

The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire." It was going downhill.

Ezra, described with a small couple thousand Jews, were there trying to fend off. It was like the Wild West. They didn't even have wagons to circle.

And so, notice the two words. They're in distress and reproach.

Distress means they're under great pressure and great anxiety.

And reproach is they are being humiliated. They have no protection. People ride roughshod over them.

Now, there are a lot of people that don't care too much what happens to the church.

They're living a fine life. They have been blessed.

And many times, they know the church is under duress, it's under stress, and under reproach.

And from what we know, Nehemiah had never gone to Jerusalem.

He had been raised in the courts of King Artaxerxes I.

King Artaxerxes was the Persian king that basically ruled the Persian Empire and was the son of Xerxes, the famous monarch who fought the Greeks, some of these movies, the 300, that the Spartans who fought, that was under Xerxes, and this was his son who had taken over.

And so, this was the richest empire the world had ever seen. It was the most extensive.

And you know what? The Persians had been humbled by the Babylonians.

And so, when they took over, and Cyrus the Great, that is mentioned in the Bible as God raising up to defeat the Babylonians, Cyrus was a very different ruler, and he allowed people to go back to their nations that had been captured by the Babylonians, including the Jewish people.

And it was a much more humane empire than others.

And so, you see Jews that were high functionaries and officials in that period of time.

And Nehemiah was one of them. And here the brethren were in Jerusalem, distressed, and so we also go through periods.

Are we thinking about God's work, about the situation that he is carrying out, or are we more concerned about our own well-being?

God wants us to do well, but not to forget what his work down here on earth is all about.

And so what did Nehemiah do? Did he say, well, sorry, guys, nice to hear from you, my cousins, and please greet all of these family members I have over there, and I wish them well, and I'll pray for them.

Is that what he did? No, he didn't.

It says in verse 4, So it was when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Here was a man who had not just been brought up in the biblical faith. It was something very dear to him. He knew God's work at that time was not doing well.

He says, And I said, I pray, and this is his prayer, I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, you who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments, please let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel, your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you, both my father's house and I have sinned. So you see, he wasn't just talking and blaming others. He said, I'm part of the problem. I have sinned and look at what the work has become.

And so it touched him in his heart.

He says in verse 7, and this is something that even today in modern psychology, if you want to be diplomatic with others, don't say you, say we. Include the person speaking.

He said, well, the Jews are doing this wrong with Israelites. He said we. He's accepting guilt, too. Now we are all human. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So this is important, the principle. Verse 7, he says, we have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments of statutes, nor the ordinances which you commanded your servant Moses. So he was pointing out what the problem was, the lack of proper obedience to God and his commandments.

He says, remember, I pray the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.

So this is the principle that we can always repent and go back, and God will receive us. He will forgive us, but there's a condition. We go back to keeping his commandments. We keep doing our part.

This is why Nehemiah was a man of God. He had the right balance. He knew that God is merciful, but he's not going to accomplish what he expects from us. Going on, he says, And so he starts saying, God, I place myself in your hands, and we desire to fear your name. We want to do things right. So again, this is one of those, here I am, servants, where God has a need. And the person says, here I am, Lord. And this is what Nehemiah did. He didn't know what he could do. Now, he modestly says, I was the king's cup-bearer. And this is where a little bit of archeological background is very helpful, because in one of those ancient ruins in the area of Persia and Assyria, they found a tablet that had the salaries of the top officials in the Assyrian kingdom. And the Assyrians had been the governments before that time, but they were pretty equivalent. And guess what? The fourth highest salary in the Assyrian kingdom was the cup-bearer, because he had to be an intimate companion of the king. He was the one that made sure that nobody poisoned the king's wine. And many times, he was the confident. He was the one that the king would talk with, and he could trust him with his life. And so here you have the fourth highest official from the equivalency of the Persian and Assyrian empire. He was the cup-bearer. Now, what is it that we can learn? First is the desire to do right. When you can do something about it, the desire. A lot of people just cross their arms and do nothing. Remember that English statement. The only thing for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing. And so Nehemiah wasn't just talking about a faith without works, but a faith with works. A faith in action. So we see in chapter 2, it says, The sorrow of heart. So I became dreadfully afraid because a cup-bearer couldn't sound anxious. Was something wrong with a wine? Was there a conspiracy going on? You're supposed to be very cheerful. You're supposed to get the king cheered up. And here, he had been fasting, preparing for this moment, but he had to show the king something was not right in Nehemiah's life. And so he became dreadfully afraid because the king would have said, Get rid of this guy. Something's going on. Because their assassinations were very common. And you suspected of everybody. And I said to the king, May the king live forever? I'm not involved in any type of conspiracy. I'm backing you up to the hilt. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies waste and its gates are burned with fire?

Then the king said to me, What do you request? And what did he do? Did he just blurt out? No. He silently prayed to God. He said, Guide me with the words. So he sent one of those arrow prayers, just real fast.

Sometimes when we're under a situation that's very stressful, we just have to say a silent prayer. Please, God, guide me. Guide my words.

And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs, that I may rebuild it. Then the king said to me, The queen also sitting beside him. How long will your journey be, and when will you return?

So what happened here? Did Nehemiah just all of a sudden say, Oh, I have no idea how long it's going to take. That would have displeased the king. You didn't waste the king's time. This was the opportunity that God had opened for him. He had planned and prepared. He knew exactly what the petition was.

So when you go before a person of importance, whether in school, whether in your job, whether you're talking to your parents, somebody in authority, make sure you've done your homework, and not just have a whimsical request with no preparation.

So notice what he said. So it pleased the king to send me, and I sent him a time. Furthermore, I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the river, talking about the Euphrates, between Persia and Israel, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah.

So, hey, I need some letters of recommendation and protection. I'm going to go through wild territory. The king's letter was the passport to safety and protection. Nobody touched the Persian king. You didn't want all that army coming and just wiping you out.

So I'm going to need letters. And then he says, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest there in Jerusalem, that he must give me temper to make beans for the gates of the citadel, which is the city, which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.

Boy, he had done his homework. He even knew the person he had to get the permission from. So, just very quickly, he had all the permission requests signed, and he was ready to go. Because at that time, kings were very whimsical. An hour later, the king might have forgotten the whole thing.

He might have just been involved in some other party or having a good time. So he had to get in all of his requests.

And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. He knew who was opening the doors.

But he did his homework, his faith with works. He didn't just say, well, God, please do it all. And get the king to have the letters, which I have no idea what it's about. Well, you do your homework, and then God will do his part.

Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. So he sent a small garrison to protect them. When Sanbalat, the Horanite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite, official, heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. Satan always has opposition. And so God opens a door, and Satan is planting his little attack, his ambush.

Satan already had a couple of adversaries. So the lesson is, don't think everything is going to be fine, because God opens doors. There are going to be tests. There are going to be adversaries. Anytime you do something for God, his work, his church, his family, you're going to have some opposition.

The world is not going to congratulate you. And so, verse 11, so he came to Jerusalem and was there three days. He didn't say anything to everybody, hey, I'm here, I'm this great cup-bearer, hey, I'm going to build the walls. Why? Because his adversaries would have known right away. They would have cut it off. No, he came, looked over the area, spent three days just mulling over what needed to be done. He was a man of vision. He was a planner, and he had a shut mouth. This need to know basis is a very important principle. Who needs to know this information? There are people out there that are always trying to find information that really doesn't pertain that much, and it's not a need to know basis. And sometimes it can get to the opposition, it can get to the adversaries, it can cause a lot of problems.

So he says, verse 12, Then I arose in the night, this is a good time when nobody's watching him, I and a few men with me, I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, nor was there any animal with me except the one on which I rode. And I went out by night through the valley gate to the serpent well, and the refuge gate, this is where they threw out all the trash, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and its gates which were burned with fire. Now this had happened about 150 years before.

This was back when the Babylonians came with Nebuchadnezzar, and destroyed the temple, and took the Jews' captives. That's a long time. And he just saw the ruins, the beautiful temple that Solomon had built. It was all on the ground and the walls. He says, verse 14, Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. There was so much rubble.

You couldn't even get through that. So I went up in the night by the valley and viewed the wall. Then I turned back and entered by the valley gate, and so returned. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. So sometimes you have to plan ahead and prepare everything before you do it.

Instead of saying something that is just a hopeful wish, that has no planning or preparation, and then you become embarrassed, that it doesn't get done. It wasn't well planned. So he waited. He wanted to get everything ready before announcing anything. This happens in our own lives.

Are you that type of person that just is always having this wishful thinking and big plans, but they don't come to fruition because you didn't plan ahead, you didn't prepare, you didn't actually get the thing going, and then it ends up just not being realized, not being accomplished. And then people start doubting about how competent you are, how you carry things out or not. Well, Nehemiah, of course, had lived right there with the king, where they had this huge empire, and a lot of things had to be going on, and how it had to be planned. And if the king didn't get a good plan, he didn't regard that person.

That person didn't get a second chance. You had to cross your T's and dot your I's, get everything in place. This is important in your life to do. Before you commit to something, plan, do your homework, set it up, and then announce it when you know it's going to be a reality.

It's better not to say something than to say something that isn't going to come true, become true. Going on, verse 17, then I said to them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire? Come! And you! Is that what he said? Come and you build a wall. No, he says us. You see, he was a man who was a hands-on type of a leader.

He was involved. Let us come and build the wall of Jerusalem that we no longer be a reproach, an embarrassment. And I told them of the hand of my God, so now he encouraged them. He says, God is with us. God is opening the doors, the good, the hand of my God, which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. A king worried about building a city that wasn't even Persian. That was incredible. That was unheard of.

Then they set their hands to this good work. He inspired, because he planned ahead. But there's opposition. Satan is not going to rest. But when Sambalat, the Hormite, Tabiah, the Ammonite official, and Gesham, the Arab, heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us and said, what is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king? You're going to build this city? And it's not even a Persian city? So I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven himself will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will rise and build, but you have no heritage or rite or memorial in Jerusalem.

Of course, some of these were part of the Babylonians who had mixed with Jews and became part of the Samaritan groups that were half pagans and half toward God. But you're going to see, if you're going to ever do something for God and a good work, there's going to be opposition. Satan is not going to go away. And so in chapter 3, it says, Then Eliyashib, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priests, and built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the tower of the hundred and consecrated it, then as far as the tower of Hanana.

Next to Eliyashib, the men of Jericho built. Next to them, Zachar, the son of Imri, built. This is a fantastic strategy that Nehemiah used. This was a stroke of genius. What he did was, he said, look, each one of you is going to be responsible for a section. I'm not going to have just everybody try to build, but this is going to be the wall, that your name is going to be consecrated.

Once it's done, you will proudly tell your children, we built this part. This is what you and everybody, your mother and everybody was involved. They took ownership of it. If you want to be a good leader, give people ownership of their different tasks. Don't just absorb it all under you. Give them. Here we have in the church all kinds of people involved in responsibilities. I look around and we have people that their job is to pick up somebody that is not able to come.

Like we have here a wolf gang, and he picks up Wade every day. That is his wall. That is his responsibility. Before God, that's what God has placed him to do to serve. And we have everybody. I can go here.

We have Ray Roberts. His wall is what this stage is here. He does his part here serving. That is his wall before God in Roy and Ann Tower. He has the local part of the council. They are there. Ann is there. She is in charge of that wall of the finances, which we are so thankful. The local finances, believe me, that every cent is taken into account. Everything is calculated so that God's work will prosper.

We have Jean Updeograph. She has several walls. I don't know how many walls she has, but she has a whole bunch of walls. That is going to be her dedication. You see, we all have a part in it. And Jeffrey is there. He is doing the ushering. That is his wall. Everybody is involved.

This whole chapter 3, it mentions all of these people. Notice in verse 8, next to him, Oziel, the son of Harhiah, one of the goldsmiths made repairs. This guy, he wasn't a construction man. He was a goldsmith. But you know, he knew how to repair certain things.

Even women had a part here. There are some women that had a wall dedicated just because the father just had daughters. And it mentions those daughters as well. So you can read that section. I don't have time to go through that. But it talks about the women. See if anybody can see what verse that is.

What? 12? It says, next to him was Shalom, the son of Halohish, leader of half the district of Jerusalem. He and his daughters made repairs. Women were lifting blocks. They probably built them a lot better than the men. Just like the women were much better at soldering in World War II than men. And they were proud. That was their section of the wall. And you know what? Nehemiah had a section as well. He didn't just sit around and watch others do their work. He was there also building along with others.

Let me see where he mentions his part as well.

Oh, well, chapter... let's see. It's there, too. But chapter 4. Let's go to chapter 4. Because here now comes more opposition. Okay, the wall's being built. Everybody has a friendly competition. Well, we're going to build that section faster than you are. And people really took ownership. When you give the person the responsibility and also the credit for what they do, they really prosper.

It's when only one person takes the credit and everybody else is doing all the tough work. That's where people get discouraged. Chapter 4, verse 1, it says, But it so happened when Sambalot heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant and mocked the Jews.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, the Samaritans, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from heaps of rubbish? Stones that are burned? In other words, they're all cracked? Useless?

Now, Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall. Oh, those walls, they're built on these flimsy rocks and why, even a little fox that weighs maybe two pounds, if it puts weight on that wall, it's all going to come tumbling down. They were ridiculing. And so sometimes God's work is ridiculed, and God's church is ridiculed as well.

But it is God's work, and he uses humble and dedicated people. And so what did Nehemiah say? Verse 4, he prayed, and then he acted. Here, O our God, says in verse 4, for we are despised. Turn the reproach on their own heads and give them as plunder to a land of captivity. God, you take care of them. Do not cover their iniquity and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they have provoked you to anger before the builders. So we built the wall. So they didn't just say, O God, please do it for us. Send angels to put the blocks in place. No. They had to do it. And the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Boy, once they got the competition going, nobody could stop them. No. You know what? These actions are recorded thousands of years later. They left a memorial of their work and their dedication, just like we are leaving a memorial before God for our work and dedication. One day that will be known, especially in the kingdom of God. Continuing on, it says, Now it happened when Sambalat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashtudites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Boy, a big threat! There was going to be an army to knock down what had been built. What did Nehemiah do? He prayed, and he acted. Nevertheless, we made our prayer to our God, and because of them, we set a watch against them day and night. So he didn't say, well, God, just put your angels, protect me. No, they put guards. He did his part. He was not negligent. He was not lazy. He was not a coward. He had men to watch them. Then Judah said, the strength of the laborers is falling, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build a wall. So there's always some that will come, oh, woe is us, and we can't do this, and people are losing their strength, and they're getting discouraged. What does a leader do? And our adversaries said, they will neither know nor see anything till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease. So all of this was in Nehemiah's mind, the stress. So it was when the Jews who dwelt near them came that they told us ten times, from whatever place you turn, they will be upon us. They were going to have preemptive attacks. Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall at the openings, and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. So yet everybody participated, probably even little kids, to protect. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. So we know this is the Old Testament times when the Israelites did not have God's Spirit, it wasn't the New Covenant that you're not supposed to fight in the war, but at that time they still had the protection of God's people. And we have to protect God's people, not with arms, but with our example, with our courage, with our actions. He goes on to say, And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. In other words, they never found an opening to attack them. Nehemiah had prepared, planned ahead of time, and so they never had an opportunity to attack them.

So it was from that time on that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor, and the leaders were behind all of the house of Judah. So again, he just was always outsmarting them. This was a mandate plan. And as the saying goes, if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail. And so he had this shift, and those out on the hills would always say, well, they're always protected. There's always somebody there. And so he outsmarted the opposition. And he says, those who built on the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at the construction, and with the other held a weapon. So even the men working were ready to go into action. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. So just somebody was going to sound the alarm so they were never going to be caught napping. Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, the work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear, the sound of the trumpet rallied to us there. Our God will fight for us, and that's the way God operated. He was backing them. So we labored into work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared, until night time. At the same time I also said to the people, Let each man and his servants stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night, and a working party by day. So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing. So he was there, day and night, giving them an example, inspiring them to go forward. He knew it was up to him to set the example, to do the hardest work. Chapter 5.

And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. For there were those who said, We are sons, and our daughters are many. Therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live. There were also some who said, We have mortgaged our lands, and vineyards, and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine. So on top of all the other problems, there was a drought in the land. And the poor people had to hawk their houses and animals in order to buy food. So they came to Nehemiah and saying, We're becoming impoverished. There were also those who said, We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. This was the tribute, this was the income tax. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children, as our children. And indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. If you didn't pay, they got your children, and then they took them as slaves to work for the person who had the money. 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 here was a social crisis going on because of the poor. What did Nehemiah do? He said, I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. He felt their pain, he felt their oppression. After serious thought, so he planned, I rebuked the nobles and rulers and said to them, Each of you is exacting usury, which is excess interest from his brother. So I called the great assembly against them. And I said to them, According to our ability, we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us? Then they were silenced, they were embarrassed, and found nothing to say. Then I said, What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations or enemies? I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Again, his example, he was taking out of his own pocket, giving it to the poor so they could have grain. He said, Please, let us stop this usury. They are restored 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. So they said, We will restore them. They were so embarrassed that here their leader, the governor, was lending money while they were taking it upon themselves to enslave the Jewish brethren. He said, We will restore it, and we will require nothing from them. We will do as you say. Now, did he say, Oh, great! Problem solved. No, he didn't. Let's put it into writing. Let's have something here where it's going to be vouched for. It's going to be concrete. Then I called the priests and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. Just like President Reagan once said about dealing with the Russians. He said, Trust, but verify. He wanted to verify that oath was going to be carried out. Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, So may God shake out each man from his house and from his property, who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praise the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise. And so you see, he was a hands-on man.

Today, as we are about ready to honor the fathers tomorrow, this is what God is seeking. People of conviction who have a tender conscience for the poor, who are there to do God's work as God has provided them the means to do so. In whatever way, God has called you to help build this wall, this work of God that is taking place today. We're not building a physical wall in Jerusalem. That was their work. That's what needed to be done. So the Messiah would one day come back to that temple. So there would be a nation that would continue. We are doing God's work in the 21st century. I see Marilyn there. Her wall is what she does early. It comes in the Sabbath. She looks around in the bathroom. She checks things out. She makes sure that all the hymnals are there. That's her wall. That's her glory before God. We all have something to do. And we are people that like to give responsibilities. There are all kinds that you can always ask for and help in doing this work of God. So I'd like to end this section because I'd like to go back and finish the book of Nehemiah after the marriage seminar.

But I'd like to read from James 2, verse 14 on. You can read with me. I'm going to read it in the Good News Bible. It's a different view of it. We've all heard about faith and works. But it's very interesting how this is translated in the Good News Bible. James 2, verse 14, it says, My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it?

Can that faith save you? Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. What good is there in you you're saying to them, God bless you, keep warm and eat well, if you don't give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith. If it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. We have all kinds of needs. We have people that can't make it to services. We have people that are pretty impoverished. And we can do to help, just like we do to help the brethren in Mexico.

And we have funds that we take down there, in a place in Tabasco. And again, I don't want to belabor the point, but just about in Latin America, probably 50% of the people living in those countries are poor. And we have people in Tabasco where the unemployment is 50%. And so we do what we can't. And the thing is that as God blesses us, He expects us to do our part, to share, to help. That doesn't mean to just blindly give. There are people that can take advantage in the wrong way.

You have to be careful of that, because it says that we should discern. We shouldn't give backing to something that is incorrect. So let's continue. It says here, So it is with faith. If it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. But someone will say, One person has faith, another has actions. My answer is, show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.

Just like you saw in Nehemiah, faith in action. You fool. Do you want to be shown? No. He says, Do you believe that there is only one God? There are a lot of people that have all of these theological constructs about God. I know all about God, what I should name him, and how he is. There is a huge amount of information about him. And yet, James says, Do you believe that there is only one God? Good. The demons also believe and tremble with fear. You fool. Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless?

How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions. Then he offered his son Isaac on the altar. Can't you see his faith and his actions work together? His faith was made perfect through his actions, through his obedience. And carrying out God's will until God stopped him. And the Amiah is a great example of faith in action. Or faith in action. This is what we teach.

Faith based on following God, trusting in Him, doing our part, and expecting God to do His. By faith, we walk, not by sight. And as we prepare for all kinds of eventualities, we have to walk by faith. Every time we go to these places in South America, we don't know what doors God opens.

We don't know what are His plans. But we have to be there. We have to plan as best as we can for the future. We can't just be waiting on things to happen on their own. And so that's the way we've been able to have, from 400 brethren in Latin America, we have 500 now. I know it's a small group, but it has been blessed. God is multiplying the work. It takes hard work. It takes a lot of planning and effort and prayer. But that is part of the wall that is being built.

So, brethren, to conclude, in Hebrews 11, verse 39, again, I'm going to read it from the Good News Bible so you can have a comparison of the verses. It says, So Nehemiah is waiting, that first resurrection, but that's still ahead, as God prepares more and more people to be there along with Nehemiah. His was truly a life of faith in action, a faith with works, and a man for all seasons.