Nehemiah - The Great Reset Lesson 2: “Ready with a Plan”
Nehemiah - The Great Reset
Lesson 2: “Ready with a Plan”
Opening
Recap:
2 Chronicles 36:15-23 NKJV
15 And the Lord God of their fathers
sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and
sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on
His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the
messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets,
until the wrath of the Lord arose
against His people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore He brought
against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with
the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man
or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his
hand. 18 And all the articles from the house of
God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and
of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 Then
they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its
palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And those
who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became
servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to
fulfill the word of the Lord by
the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As
long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
22 Now in
the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing,
saying,
23 Thus says Cyrus king of
Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me.
And He has commanded me to build Him a [a]house at
Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His
people? May the Lord his
God be with him, and let him go up!
Facts to
the beginning of the writing of Nehemiah:
Mind-set of the Jews: Jeremiah’s prophecies are now coming to pass:
Jeremiah 25:11 NKJV
11 And this whole land shall
be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall
serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jeremiah 29:10 NKJV
10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you
and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this
place.
Along with Jeremiah chapters 30-33.
· Time Frame: The Temple in
Jerusalem had been destroyed in (595 B.C.).
· Judah goes into Babylonion
captivity around 595 B.C.
· Cyrus allowed for
captives to return (539-530 B.C.) Roughly 56 to 65 yrs from Captivity.
· Rebuilding of the Temple
begins (536 B.C.)
·
Completion of the Temple (516 B.C.) Begins what is known as 2nd
Temple Judaism.
· They are stopped by King
Artaxerxes to rebuild the city and the walls, recorded in Ezra 4:11-16
· Nehemiah picks up around 444 B.C.
This book of
Nehemiah is likely the journal of Nehemiah as his business and prayer journal
log of major events and people that he needed to keep record of, in this story. So that’s the lens narrative of the whole
book.
Nehemiah
1:1-4 NKJV
1 The words of Nehemiah
the son of Hachaliah.
It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth
year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, 2 that Hanani
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. 3 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.”
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.
Chislev- Late
winter in Israel, beginning of Spring in Persia.
Escaped- Jews
that were allowed to travel back home to Israel.
The wall of
Jerusalem-
Ezra 4:18-24 NKJV
18 The letter which you sent
to us has been clearly read before me. 19 And [a]I gave
the command, and a search has been made, and it was found that this city in
former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been
fostered in it. 20 There have also been mighty
kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the region beyond
the River; and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. 21 Now [b]give the
command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the
command is given by me.
22 Take heed now that you do
not fail to do this. Why should damage increase to the hurt of the kings?
23 Now when the copy of King
Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe,
and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and
by force of arms made them cease. 24 Thus the work
of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was
discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
So Nehemiah 1:3-4 finds us at a point in history which 151
years have passed since the destruction of the city and Temple by the
Babylonians.
Things to consider:
·
Didn’t Nehemiah already know of what happened?
·
Was this really new information for him?
·
Why emotion and distress?
·
How would you react to news 151 years old?
o US had 32
states and Oregan was becoming the 33rd
o Suez Canal
in N. Africa was being dug out.
o Big Ben
in London had just started construction
o Oil was
found in USA soil for the first time.
o Billy
the kid was born
o Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated.
Nehemiah’s prayer:
Nehemiah
1:5-11 NKJV
5 And I said: “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, 6 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. 7 We have acted very corruptly
against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the
ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, I pray, the word that You
commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you [c]are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the
nations; 9 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.’ 10 Now these are Your
servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by
Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I pray,
please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the
prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this
day, I pray, and grant
him mercy in the sight of this man.”
For I was the king’s cupbearer.
Things to learn from his Prayer:
keep Your covenant-
Praying in accordance to God law
for the children of
Israel Your servants & confess the sins of the children of
Israel which we have sinned against You: Taking responsibility to the
issues that have caused the problem.
Taking on the heart of a true leader
Both my father’s
house and I have sinned.- Connecting with the culture and the circumstance of the
people
Versus 8-10:
Reminding God of his promises that have been declared and that we believe and
hold true
let Your servant
prosper this day & grant
him mercy in the sight of this man.- The petition and request.
For I was the king’s cupbearer- This is
the reality of what is at stake.
Nehemiah 2:1-3 NKJV
2 And it came to pass in the month of
Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before
him, that I took the wine
and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore
the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not
sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”
So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the
king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad,
when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste,
and its gates are burned with fire?”
Nehemiah’s responsibilities:
·
Taste the wine in case of a assignation attempt.
·
The presence of the King should always be joyful. You were never to look sad. Being close to the King, would mean that you
were trusted and it was considered a privilege.
·
You were not allowed to be sad, in the presence of the
King. You could be killed for such an
act.
Nehemiah
2:4-5 NKJV
4 Then the king said to me,
“What do you request?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 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
fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
·
Kings don’t have time to waste. He cuts to the point.
·
Your prayers should be done with Confidence that it was
heard, and that it has the power to change the situation. Remember, it was asking for the King to reverse
his law he stated in Ezra 4:18-24 to stop the rebuilding of the City and the
walls. Such a request could have been
considered treason.
o Treason:
the offense of attempting by overt acts to
overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or
to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family
Nehemiah
2:6-10 NKJV
6 Then the
king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you
return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
·
In this position, he not only needed to have prayed, but if he
didn’t have a plan, the opportunity would have been waisted.
7 Furthermore I said to the
king, “If it pleases the king,
let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond [a]the River, that they must
permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, 8 and a letter
to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make
beams for the gates of the [b]citadel which pertains to
the [c]temple, for the city
wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to
me according to the good hand of my God upon me.
·
Not only did Nehemiah have a plan, he had a goal to broken down already
that was detailed, for thought, and logically made sense to the King. In others words, it was pre-thought and
spoken with confidence. Faith in God, Confidence
in himself and thoughtful in his presentation.
9 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. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite [d]official heard of
it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the
well-being of the children of Israel.
·
When you move forward in faith with God and His word, you better
get used too push back. If you are
surprised with push back from the enemy you will never see the Greatness of God
in your life. God will always give you the
victory, but you have to believe you can take it.
2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV
14 Now
thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and
through us [a]diffuses the fragrance of
His knowledge in every place.
Matthew 24:13 NKJV
13 But he who endures to the
end shall be saved.
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