Nehemiah, Part 2

Two weeks ago I had the chance to cover half of the book of Nehemiah, and he certainly is one of the great personages in the Old Testament. God inspired him to write this autobiography, and God inspired it to be part of the Bible. As I have titled, A Message, Nehemiah, A Man for All Seasons. And certainly what he went through is an example of faith, of courage, of patience, and perseverance through so many trials, which is very similar to what we go through in life.

And so he's there to inspire us, to comfort us. And those times when you feel down, you feel, what can I do? And God gave us one of the answers through this book of Nehemiah. It certainly is one that I have learned to love, to appreciate. God willing, I'm so looking forward to meeting Nehemiah in person in God's Kingdom one day. And hopefully to work with that team that God is setting up. There are so many wonderful examples of men and women of the faith.

You also have people like Deborah who showed great courage, administrative skills. So when men were lacking, God could call someone to be there in that leadership position. Although she was never part of the ministry, she didn't preach, but she was a leader that was one of the judges, one of those civil leaders in Israel. So I would like to cover the rest of the book of Nehemiah and just go through these wonderful chapters which have so many spiritual lessons for us all. Now, just to give you a little background again, Nehemiah was a man of great experience.

He was an administrator. He was one of the top people in the Persian Empire back in the 400s before Christ. And as a cupbearer, I wanted to read to you a little bit about what the Wikipedia, which has ended up being the default encyclopedia now because they keep updating it. So it never really goes out of date. And although it's not 100% accurate, it is a good source.

It says about a cupbearer. It was an office of high rank in royal courts whose duty it was to serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues, a person must be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold this position. He must guard against poison in the king's cup and was sometimes required to swallow some of the wine before serving it. His confidential relations with the king often gave him a position of great influence. The position of cupbearer is greatly valued and given to only a select few throughout history. Qualifications for the job were not held lightly but of high esteem, valued for their beauty and even more for their modesty, industriousness, and courage.

This officer is first mentioned in Genesis 41 where the Hebrew word elsewhere, translated cupbearer, is rendered butler. Now we all have read in Genesis 41 where it talks about the Pharaoh's butler, but actually that is not an accurate translation. It's actually the term cupbearer as many of the modern translations have it.

It says, where the Hebrew word elsewhere, translated cupbearer, is rendered butler. The phrase chief of butlers, Genesis 42, accords with the fact that there were often a number of such officials under one as chief. And after the period of the Old Testament, it says, well, in the post-exilic, which means the period after they returned from Babylon to Israel, Nehemiah rose to the high-ranking palace position of cupbearer to king Artaxerxes, the sixth king of the Medio-Persian Empire.

The position placed his life on the line every day, yet gave Nehemiah authority and high pay and was held in high esteem. So it's pretty accurate that this was a man of many skills and ability. He was aware of many things and threats to the king's life. He was able to size people up.

It was a job that many times you didn't last that long. You could, if you made some mistakes, the king could fire you, and many times firing means beheading, just like it happened there with the king's butler and the baker that they ended up in jail, at least. So now we enter the scene after Nehemiah had gone back to the area of Israel, of Judah in particular, and his job was to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem to make it safe and habitable.

We think about the U.S. today and we say, well, we don't have walls around Anaheim or Orange County, and why did they build the walls? Well, it's very simple. You know what we have? We have walls, but they're military outposts, and they are missile defense systems. So we have these electronic walls. We have missile systems all lined up in California and central part of the country and the eastern part. Then we've got submarines with missile systems.

And then we have planes with atomic bombs and we have warships. So, boy, we've got all of these protections. You think that was only for their days? I tell you, we have so many electronic and all systems, defense systems. So in that day, the defense system was walls. And Jerusalem did not have it, so thieves could come in. Any type of soldiers would come in and raid the place. And also the water supply system could not be protected unless you had walls. So in the midst of rebuilding these walls, the last time we left Nehemiah with a financial and social crisis.

So let's turn to Nehemiah chapter 5. Nehemiah chapter 5 starting in verse 6. Nehemiah chapter 5 verse 6. Some of the rich Jews were exploiting their poor brethren. Verse 6, he says, And I became very angry when I heard their outcry. And these words, after serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers and said to them, Each of you is exacting usury, which is excess interest, and they shouldn't even have any type of interest from his brother. So I called a 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. We had to pay to redeem these that had been sold. They were slaves. And we had to pay to bring them to the area of Jerusalem. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? So you are enslaving them again, or should they be sold to us?

Are you going to start bartering them? Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. They were so embarrassed. 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, our enemies?

In other words, shouldn't you be applying Biblical principles? He's saying the fear of God is that you fear keeping God's laws more than you fear what men will do to you. They were not fearing God. They were exploiting. They were taking advantage of their poor brethren. And he says, verse 11, 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.

So they said, We will restore it. He goes down and he says, Then I called the priest and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. So he didn't just take their word for it. He had to make an oath. And then I shook out the fold of my garment, which is kind of like the pockets where you put money and things, 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. So he used a graphic. He just pulled all his pockets and just pulled them out. And he says, God does this to you. Leave you empty and cursed if you don't follow through.

And all the assembly said, Amen, which means so be it. And praise the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise. And this grave crisis was solved. And this basically set up a system which would last for centuries. You do not see the Jews exploiting the Jews as they had before. So some of these reforms that Nehemiah established with his example and his strength of character, the people continued.

They had other problems that came up, but in Christ's day this wasn't a problem. Continuing on in verse 14, it says, Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be the governor in the land of Judah from the twentieth year until this thirty-second year. So it tells us here he was about twelve years of King Artaxerxes. Twelve years. Neither I nor my brothers ate the governor's provision. So all basically his salary and the food that was provided, I wouldn't say his salary as much as just all the staples and all the food that he had.

Part of his salary as such, he didn't use it for himself. The situation was so dire. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so.

Why? Because of the fear of God. He wasn't doing it for his own benefit or thinking that he was going to take advantage of the people. He did it because he put the fear of God first in his life. You put the fear of God in your life first, you're going to make better decisions. You're going to put God first, and God is going to be able to bless you. Then he says, Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not.

Verse 16, Indeed, I also continued to work on this wall. So he wasn't just sitting there. He also put his hands to the work. And we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work. So he had all his servants working away. He set the example. The great task of Nehemiah was to build a wall so Jerusalem could be populated and protected so that it would prosper.

And by the time the Messiah would come, Jerusalem was going to be an active and prosperous city where the Messiah could preach and fulfill his role. So he continues on. He says, And at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. So he basically opened his home. And that's a lot of people to have over. That'd be more than all the people here.

This was something he did. Out of the goodness of his heart, nobody obligated him. He was a very wealthy governor, but he didn't use it for himself. He used it for the welfare of his people. Then he goes on to mention the food. He said, Now that which was prepared daily was one ox and six-choice sheep. Plenty of meat.

And the also fowl were prepared for me. Notice there wasn't any unclean food here.

And once every ten days, an abundance of all kinds of wine. So yes, they had wine.

That was a good antiseptic to avoid many bacterial or infections or parasitic infections.

He says, Yet in spite of this, I did not demand the governor's provisions.

He didn't tax the people because the bondage was heavy on these people.

He saw they just barely could get by with what they provided for themselves. And here's his prayer afterwards. He says, Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people. In other words, God be merciful to me.

He was talking about his judgment, his standing before God. He wanted to have a merciful judgment.

So he just said, Remember me, Father, for what I have done for good, according to all that I have done for this people. He was focused on God, on serving God. And there were always people that were not in agreement with him. They plotted against him, even with all he did.

We'll see that there in the midst, some of his friends were plotting to assassinate him.

So he had opposition not only on the outside, he had them inside, as we will see.

And who wouldn't want to have somebody like a Nehemiah? And yet, there are people, they're not happy. They want something else. They want someone else. They want another system going on. And so we see this in chapter 6. This is the next crisis. It says, Now it happened when Sambalat, Tobiah, Gesham, the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, that there were no breaks left in it. Though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates. So it wasn't a fully closed, but there weren't any gaps. People could not go through any of the gaps in the walls. So the whole thing was built, just now the gates needed to be placed. That Sambalat and Gesham sent to me saying, Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me harm. So this was the outside threat. They wanted to appear friendly. Well, now that things are going well, we are your neighbors, and let's just have a nice neighborly meeting together. And what did they want to do? Get Nehemiah out of the protection of the walls and assassinate him. So he had to have the discernment to see what was going on. And verse 3, So I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? So he was diplomatic. He knew this was a plot that was being set up. He knew their background. They had already done some mean things. But at the same time, he didn't accuse him of it. He just said, I'm too busy. We're finishing this up. It's very important that I supervise hands-on type of leadership, and I can't go and meet with you. And so they didn't give up, but they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner. It didn't matter.

He wasn't about to fall into this trap. Nehemiah had many pitfalls, many traps that were set. Now from his court days, he had to know who came in and talked nice to the king, but who wanted the king poisoned or a plot. So he had to have discernment going on. It says, then Sembalant sent his servant to me as before the fifth time with an open letter in his hand. Well, now he wasn't so friendly. It wasn't just peace talks and, hey, let's see how we can cooperate together. So this was a threat now. And it was written, 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. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying there is a king in Judah. Now these matters will be reported to the king, talking about the king of Persia. So come therefore and let us consult together. In other words, they tried to say, hey, this could be a problem for you. Let's get together and see how we can help you to avoid these rumors. But again, they were wrongly intended. They were setting another trap. Verse 8, then Nehemiah sent to him, saying, No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart. For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying their hands will be weakened and the work and it will not be done. So all of these rumors were being spread by them. And so Nehemiah didn't worry. He knew the truth. The king in Persia knew him very well that he wasn't that type of a man and that he'd been loyal and faithful. And so sometimes these rumors swirl because they were trying to destroy his reputation. And he just had to say that they are untrue and there's no basis for it, no evidence. Don't let yourself get emotionally involved in something that has no real basis to it.

And then he says, he prays to God, Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Because these were not insignificant individuals. These were some of the powerful people around them in Samaria and other places. And they were threatening to ruin his reputation and to have maybe the Persians come and invade them. So of course he prayed to God, strengthen me, help me remain strong.

That's who we go to. That's who strengthens us.

Goes on to say, afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Mehtabu, who was a secret informer. Now if you go a little further, this was the son of one of the powerful priests that were there in Jerusalem. The son of one of these men of Aaron. And the son was a priest because he was part of the Levitical system. Now you think Nehemiah could trust him? I mean, he had an important function, this person, Shemaiah, and he was able to go and visit him because he trusted him.

But he found out this man had sold himself to the adversaries. He had been bought off.

So sometimes a person can be bought off by influence, by money, by all kinds of things, privileges, roles that they dangle out. Hey, if we get rid of Nehemiah, you're going to be up there. You're going to be the next one to lead the people. Well, Shemaiah became a secret informer, which some people call a double agent, where he apparently is working for you, but he's actually working for the other side.

And he said, let us meet together in the house of God within the temple. In other words, let's go into the priestly area. Let's go inside the temple and let us close the doors of the temple for they are coming to kill you. Indeed, at night they will come to kill you. So this person was trying to apparently be helpful. He said, I'm very concerned, Nehemiah, because I've heard this plot against you and I want to back you. So the safest place is to go inside the temple area, to go inside the temple itself. This is talking about that area, the holy area that only priests could enter. And he said, this is going to protect you. And Nehemiah said, should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life?

I will not go in. So he said, nope, this sounds awfully fishy because what you're saying, Shemaiah, is for me to go, I'm not a priest, to go in with you and violate what is mentioned there in Numbers 18.7, which Numbers 18.7 says that no man can enter that area except the sons of Aaron, those that serve as priests. Verse 12 says, Then I perceive that God had not sent him at all. So this man said, look, I'm a priest and I received this prophecy and that you're going to be attacked. Now he found out it was a ruse, it was a false plot against him, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sambalot had hired him. They had paid him off.

So sometimes you really don't know who your friends, true friends are. Sometimes they will act one way in front of you and they will act a different way behind your back.

This is what happened to Nehemiah. Verse 13, For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way in sin, see, by entering the temple so that they might have cause for an evil report that they might reproach me. He said, well, Nehemiah is supposed to be keeping all of these laws, but look at him, he's violating, he entered the temple. So this again shows how many traps Nehemiah had to avoid to do God's work. When you're involved in serving God, you're going to find all kinds of different plots and things that happen. And that goes with the territory. That's part of following God's ways. So you need to have a true heart. And so he prays, My God, remember, Tabiah and Simballot, according to these their works, and the prophetess, Noediah. So there was even a woman that was involved in this plot. And the rest of the prophets, so there were others that were religious leaders right there in Jerusalem who would have made me afraid. So he wasn't having a fun time of it, but he kept his cool, he kept doing the work, he didn't pay attention, and he didn't fall for these types of traps.

Verse 15, so the wall was finished on the 25th day of Eloh, which is one of the months of the biblical calendar, in 52 days, less than two months. And this was done.

Verse 16, and it happened when all our enemies heard of it. I mean, now the gates had been placed, now the walls were protected. When the enemies heard it, and all the nations around us saw these things, they had all kinds of spies, messengers that let them know that Jerusalem is now protected.

It's like today, unfortunately, it's part of what we live that, well, there's all kinds of missile systems. And so the enemies are, think twice before attacking. Continuing on, it says, they were very disheartened in their own eyes, for they perceived that this work was done by our God. This had been a miracle. God had energized the people in such a way that it came from God.

He strengthened the people, just like He did in the 40 years that Israel walked the desert. He said that, you know, your sandals didn't wear out, that you continued with vigor. Well, here there was an extraordinary intervention that all of this was done. Verse 17, and in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah were pledged to him because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah, the son of Ere, and his son Jeho Hanon had married the daughter of Meshulim, the son of Beraiach. These were important nobles. And so here, Tobiah, one of the leaders of the conspiracy against Nehemiah, there were some people that really didn't want Jerusalem to be that way. There's always going to be some people that are going to benefit from the disgrace of others. And so maybe when Jerusalem was, was, you know, without the walls, and there were some people that were nobles, and they were getting their cut from their enemies, and also they had privileges. And so now, oh, we've got to give up these privileges, and now Nehemiah is in charge, and now it's going to be a whole system, and guess what? We're going to lose our privileges. We're not going to have the influence we had before.

So it just shows how many different, you know, cobwebs are out there, and all of these things, networks of things that go on behind the scene, influencing things. Verse 19, it says, also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him.

Tobias sent letters to frighten me. And so here again, threatening, and he had backing at that time. Tobias was one of the leaders that was against Nehemiah.

Then it was when the wall was built, and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed. So now he started setting up the spiritual foundation of Jerusalem. First he had to deal with the physical wall and the foundations, but now he was building, he focused on the spiritual development of the people inside.

He says that I gave charge of Jerusalem to my brother, Henaniah, and Henaniah, the leader of the citadel. For he was a faithful man, and feared God more than many. So sometimes you put people in charge, not because they've got the most skills or abilities, but because they are faithful and feared God more than many. They weren't man pleasers. They really did their job before God.

And the Amaya could trust them inside Jerusalem and outside, inside the church, and in their homes.

They were the same people, inside and out.

Verse 3, And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be open until the sun is hot, and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house. So he said, Look, we've got to keep our vigil up. We've got to make sure that we don't give the enemies any opportunity. So he set up watchmen, guards. He didn't just rest on his laurels, relaxed, just let everything go to pieces. Verse 4, Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt. So yes, the walls were built, but inside just shambles, ruins, very few people. Then my God put into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return and found written in it. These are the people from the province. And we have a whole chapter showing those people that came from the area of Babylon back. Why is it important to write all of this down? Because it shows this is history. This isn't myth. You don't write about people and their genealogies. If you're writing a myth, these are real people. And so He put them down so then He could do the next thing. So first of all, He got a list of all those people were there. In verse 73 it says, so the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the nethinim, and all Israel dwelled in their cities. And it mentioned here there were about 42,360 besides their male and female servants.

And then the seventh month came and the children of Israel were in their cities. This was all not in Jerusalem but in other areas. Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the water gate. And they told Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. That was the Feast of Trumpets. That is the next feast that we are going to be keeping.

And just about less than three months away that we're going to be keeping this. And so they started obeying God like they hadn't before and they all gathered. Verse 2, so Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on this first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front from morning until midday. He read but he didn't just say, okay, let's start in Genesis and start reading and just going on. He explained as it mentions here, verse 7, also Yeshua and all of these men and the Levites helped the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place so they read distinctly from the book in the law of God and they gave sense and helped them to understand the reading. Now it's true that at that time many people didn't know Hebrew or Aramaic had become the main language at that time but it also has to do with giving that sense. That's one of the primary things that we come here at in Sabbath services to do, to understand the scriptures.

It's not here just entertainment, something nice and fun and no, this is to understand God's Word.

To know how to apply it. What is God's will in our lives? Do we fear God and want to apply His commandments and laws? That's why we're here. There are plenty of other places if you are not interested in listening to God's laws and how they are applied in our lives and the examples that God gives us of men and women who did the same thing. So continuing on, it says in verse 9, And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest, inscribed, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. But you know, this wasn't weeping of joy. They wept because they felt terrible. We should have been doing this from the start. We were not keeping these things. This is terrible. Look at all the things that we had ignored and were not applying. That's why we're in the shape that we're in, spiritually speaking. And then he says, verse 10, Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, which means the beef that is soft and tender, doesn't mean eating the fat, which means the portion of the fat of the animal. But it's talking about the soft, tender meat. Drink the sweet. Talking about the wine and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, to those that can't afford many things. Don't forget the needy brethren around you. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Rejoice. We have a wonderful God. He's looking for the person he can bless. He doesn't want to curse people. People are the ones that cause the curses upon themselves. Verse 11, So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grief. That's why we rejoice in the holy days. There are days of joy and gladness, of fellowship, and as the Feast of Tabernacle is nearing, which is the great feast of the in-gathering, which represents all the in-gathering and all the harvests of the year. So you can give God praise and thanks, and it's a wonderful time to rejoice.

Verse 12, And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions, and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them. So as you keep God's ways, you keep God's feasts, you receive more understanding. They understood. They started changing their hearts, softening those hardened hearts of the world. And now on the second day, the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people with the priests and Levites were gathered to Ezra, describing in order to understand the words of the law. So the following day, it says, And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month. And talking about the Feast of Tabernacles. And this was just about two weeks afterwards, the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 16, Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house. They lived in the city. So they built little booths so they could go in temporarily, symbolic of temporary dwelling places that they would have. And it says in verse 17, So the whole assembly for those who had returned from the captivity, made booths and sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. Probably, talking here, since the time of Joshua, people had not been as observant of these feasts as they were at this time. Everybody participated. Because we know David was a righteous king. They had feasts during that time. But it's talking about how great it is. And there was very great gladness. Isn't that what has happened in your life?

When you started keeping these feasts and started understanding God's word, and started fellowshiping with the brethren, there's a great gladness. There's great enthusiasm. Boy, you just want to learn more. You want to do this more and apply it, because you're seeing how your life is improving and bettering as a result.

Verse 18, Also, day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. And so we see during those seven days of the feast that he read, just like we have services every day during those seven days of the feast. That's why it's important to be at that place. That's not the time to be at work. That's not the time to do other things.

That's the time to immerse yourself with God's word during this time of the year.

And that's what we are doing during these feasts.

And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day, there was a sacred assembly, which is the last great day, according to the prescribed manner.

So we keep it. The eighth day is a separate feast, but it is united to the seven. So it's all eight days of being together. The eighth day is a holy day as well.

And so we start changing our lives and adapting our lives to these feast days. So what happened? Chapter 9. Now on this, the fourth day of this month, 24th day after the feast, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. What's the result of getting so much biblical instruction, of having understanding, of having righteous men guiding them, inspiring them?

Boy, they said, I need a fast. You know what? My life has been going the wrong way.

I need to straighten myself out. But you only do that when you are immersed in God's Word and in His way of life, and you're keeping these feasts. There's no way around it. You have to experience it. There's no way I can describe to you what a feast is, because it's such a personal experience of being immersed in God's Word and how it purifies and it focuses your mind on spiritual things. So he goes on, he says, verse 2, Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and iniquities of the fathers. So it was a spiritual revival. It was a time when people wanted to do things now. We're not going to give up the Sabbath and God's feasts, and they learned so much about God's ways, they saw themselves in that spiritual mirror, which is God's way. And you know what? They felt pretty rotten, and they were willing to change their lives. And so it says, verse 3, And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for one fourth of the day, and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. And then the Levites came together and encouraged them. You can read the prayer that is said here that is so inspiring. You can see they were filled with God's Spirit. And then let's go to verse 38 of chapter 9. He says, Here we are, God, we're going to commit ourselves to you.

He says, And because of all this we make a sure covenant and write it. Our leaders are Levites, and our priests seal it. And now those who place their seal on the document were who? First, Nehemiah. We have in the Declaration of Independence what is called John Hancock.

He was the one that wrote the big words, you know, his name. And in Boston when we were there, one of the places that they show you in the landmark is a cemetery in the middle of the city of Boston. And they say, and there is John Hancock who signed that. And of course, he knew that he was going to be strung up if this failed. He was the first one by the British if the revolution failed. But, you know, he showed that example. And here in Nehemiah, he didn't put it down at the last. He put it first. I'm the first one to commit before God. I'm not going to ask anybody to do what I don't do myself. And so they all signed it. And it says, verse 28, now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the nethanim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding. See, they were moved by God's Word. They had knowledge. They knew what they should do, what God expected of them. And these joined with a brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, verse 30, and we would not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons.

If the people of the peoples of the land brought wares on any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath. So there wasn't going to be any street fairs.

There wasn't going to be any commerce on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we would forego the seventh year produce and the exacting of every debt. So they were willing to put God's economic laws into action. Verse chapter 11, now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem, the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem. The holy city and the nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities. So they took a tenth of all the people, and whoever had the lot fall, they sold their goods, whatever they did, they left their homes in their cities, and they went to live in Jerusalem. See, people, they were energized. God was with them.

If God is for you, who can be against you was their attitude.

And so they moved into Jerusalem, although at great sacrifice.

Chapter 12 and verse 27, now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites in all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgiving and singing, with symbols and string instruments. And so they gathered together and rejoiced because the people were coming spiritually at one. And what is incredible is from this time on, a little over 400 years before the time of Christ, that that covenant that they signed with, you know, with God and committed themselves, they never quit keeping the Sabbath until our time. The Jews from that time of 400 BC through the time of Christ, they kept the Sabbath and the feast days up until today. They don't know exactly why they do it, but it's been one generation after another committing themselves that way.

And then in chapter 13, it says, on that day they read from the book of Moses and the hearing of the people, and it was found, written, that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, God turned the curse into a blessing. So it was that they heard the law, when they heard the law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

Verse 4, now before this, Eliyahuashib, the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah. So here we have a very powerful priest with one of the enemies.

Allied.

And in verse 6, it says, but during all this, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I had returned to the king. And so what happened? Well, when the cats away, the mice will play. And all these people started again mixing with the enemies of God. And so he had to obtain leave from the king. Verse 7, and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliyahuashib had done for Tobiah in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me bitterly. Therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. Verse 10, and I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. So I contended with the rulers. They quit tithing. And then verse 12, then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouses. And then he says, verse 14, Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for its servants. He's saying, Please remember, I'm doing this for you. Please be merciful. Please remember in your judgment, have mercy on me. And then verse 15, In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses.

That's hard work. That takes a lot of work to be out there stepping on all those grapes and crushing them on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves. So people were out there bringing the harvest in and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. So he said, This is not the day to be out here selling and buying these provisions. And then men of Tyre, these were Phoenicians, they were Pagans.

Dweld there also who brought in fish. They actually had a fish market and all kinds of other goods. So they were there putting their wares on the Sabbath day selling fish and all kinds of goods. So certainly this was a kind of a fair, street fair, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. And then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, What evil thing is this that you do by which you profane the Sabbath day?

And then he told them that this was the cause for all the punishment. Verse 19, So it was at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates. So he had guards. Their servants actually doing this on the Sabbath, but they had the authority to protect the people from working on that day. And he posted servants so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wear, so they were used to coming in. People didn't have refrigerators. So a lot of people, they were used to buying day-to-day things. And on the Sabbath was the same situation. They lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. They thought, well, they'll open the gates up. And then they found out in the Amiah, they meant business.

Verse 21, then I warned them and said to them, why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time on, they came no more on the Sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the Sabbath. So the ministry is in charge of taking care of things. And those under their charge are there for the Sabbath to be a day of rest and a delight.

And then he says, remember me, oh my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy. Please remember what I have done, not boasting, but saying, please, God, be merciful when I come before you. That's all we can do, is do our best. And God is going to honor that and He will reward one day what was not given in this life. The appreciation or whatever it is. Now God, He's going to square all the accounts one day. And then He separated the people, the Jews who had married women. And He mentioned here how He separated them, the pagans, from the people of Israel. So that's why it's so important to marry within the faith if at all possible you avoid these problems that we're going through. So Nehemiah was a man for all seasons. What a wonderful example. I have him as one of my role models. I don't come up to him, but he's there as an example and an inspiration. He was truly a man of faith in action and a man for all seasons.

God willing, one day we will work hand in hand in the kingdom with such a person of faith and action.

Such as Nehemiah.