God of the seemingly insignificant
The New Exodus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsWhat is God doing now, today. God is building up His church through what appears to be seemingly insignificant things.
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Transcript
We now come to what is quiet possibly the most seemingly insignificant and irrelevant text in Nehemiah. The wall is finished, the Temple has was now open for worship.
The only thing left to do was to repopulate the city of Jerusalem. The people had been so busy about the business of completing the process that they had yet to have time to settle back into their everyday lives.
Populate the City
1 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
Apparently up to this point the only ones who inhabited Jerusalem were the leaders. Perhaps this was the headquarters during the building project.
The need was for one out of every ten to populate Jerusalem proper. Living in Jerusalem, the Holy City, might have seemed like a great privilege. However, if you have ever been to Jerusalem it is a relatively small area land wise. In ancient times the total land mass would have only encompassed around 37 acres, during Davids reign in consisted of around 25 acres.
Those in the surrounding country side would have had more land to cultivate and raise a family.
Possibly the greatest draw back to living in Jerusalem was the threat of attack, which was very real. From 445 CE to 70 CE the wall still stood. However some 375 years from the dedication and rejoicing we read about in Nehemiah the Romans reclaim Jerusalem destroying the Temple and leaving only a portion of the western wall remaining. This small portion of the original wall is known as the “Wailing Wall” to the Jews today, and is considered a sacred place.
Note: Notice that the people blessed all who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
They cast lots to see who would go to the city. Now, I know this was not a sarcastic blessing but, may have been a relief to some who did not want to face the headache and danger of living in Jerusalem.
Maybe they did not have enough to make the one out of ten ratio so some volunteered to go.
I do not know whether those who got the short straw took this on voluntarily or were there people whom the lot did not fall who volunteered anyway.
Either way, these people who willingly gave themselves to live in Jerusalem were putting God’s program over their individual desires.
The move to Jerusalem would have been less advantageous for them, so I suspect that they did this because of what Jerusalem was about. Jerusalem was about the kingdom of God.
Jerusalem was where God was at work in the world, as unimpressive and dangerous as it may have seemed.
Nehemiah 11–12
Falls into three parts: The first begins in Nehemiah 11:1 and goes all the way through 12:26. This is another un-glamorous aspect of what God is doing: all we find here is a list of names.
It’s not glitzy. It’s not exciting. Just a list of names of ordinary people who lived a long time ago. After we see the people, the priests, and the Levites in 11:1–12:26, in 12:27–43 they dedicate the wall. In the third part, 12:44–47, they make provision for the temple.
We have been reading about How....
The people rebuilt the wall.
The people re-established their identity.
The people re-read the Torah and established the festival of booths.
The people confessed their sins and rehearsed God’s mercy.
The people renewed their commitments by making covenants.
Now we see them repopulate the City and Celebrate the Wall
What is God doing in the world today?
What is God doing in the world today?
Today the definition of what it means to be a missionary or on mission has not been rightly understood as to what a missionary should be doing.
1. God uses Valiant People to build His Kingdom.
1. God uses Valiant People to build His Kingdom.
Valiant: possessing or showing courage or determination.
You have those who are going to live and care for the Holy City, whether by lot or by choice.
The people probably would not strike you as the valiant type of people. They were ordinary people with ordinary problems. They even possibly had apprehensions about going to live in the city of Jerusalem. (they knew the history of enemies seeking to gain a foothold in Israel)
I think it is interesting to note, that Jerusalem was the Holy City, the place God choice to put His name on. However, it was the one place that put people in the cross hairs of the world. It was a dangerous place to live.
Similar to those today who choose to take up the name of Jesus Christ and publically make it known that they are followers of Christ. This today, will also put you in the cross hairs of our society.
Jesus tells the church in his famous sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:14-15 that you are the light of the world, a city set on a hill, you do not take a light and cover it up or try to hide it from the world. You place it in the window of your house for the whole world to see.
We will see at the conclusion of our text today as they dedicated the temple they had worship that could be heard far outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Those who came back to help build the wall around Jerusalem definitely showed Grit.
What does it mean to have Grit? A person with true grit has passion and perseverance. Goals are set and followed through. A person who works really hard to follow through on commitments has true grit.
True Grit
2010 movie
Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn.
You must pay for everything in this world one way and another. There is nothing free except the Grace of God.
I would contend that one of the things the church is missing today is people with true grit. People willing to build the wall and stand guard against intruders.
Those who went to Jerusalem were people who willingly gave themselves to live in Jerusalem.
They were putting God’s program over their individual desires.
The move to Jerusalem would have been less advantageous for them, so I suspect that they did this because of what Jerusalem was about. Jerusalem was about the kingdom of God. Jerusalem was where God was at work in the world, as unimpressive and dangerous as it may have seemed.
We have fewer people going into the ministry than at any other time in the life of the Church.
According to the NCS reports, among lead pastors of all congregations, the median age increased from 49 years to 57 years between 1998 and 2018-19.
Faith Communities Today (FACT), another national survey, found the same median age of 57 in their 2020 study. 1 in 7 pastors today is under the age of 40.
We are missing people willing to go the less traveled road to there Jerusalem. They are opting for playing it safe in the country side.
Those who chose to move into Jerusalem were willing to rise above the rubble and trust in God and His plan for His city.
They were perusing God’s Kingdom and the worship of God in His City.
We must remember that this is the very place where the New Jerusalem will be descending out of heaven to establish the eternal kingdom.
“The People Blessed those who chose to go to the difficult place of Jerusalem.”
Who would you bless today if you looked around for a group of people who are willing to do something that is less advantageous.
I bet you think that I am going to talk about supporting our missionaries who are in difficult places. While that would not be a bad idea.
What if I asked whom we should bless at our local church for doing what no one else wants to do?
I know whom we would bless: we would bless the people who willingly offer to work in the nursery. We would bless the people who willingly offer to care for the children on Sunday mornings.
We would bless the people who do the behind-the-scenes work to make worship services happen, whether that means arriving early to print the bulletin or preparing the Lord’s Supper or cleaning up after worship.
These people are doing the seemingly un-glamorous things. They are putting aside their wants and desires to ensure the ministry is successful.
(Story of Young Soldier realizing that someone gets communion ready each week)
The people in Nehemiah are being Christlike even though they do not have such and example to follow.
*Valiant People do the Christlike Thing.
*Valiant People do the Christlike Thing.
Christlikeness
Jesus is the supreme example of One who left all that was advantageous to Himself and went to a place that was not pleasant for Him, that was not exciting for Him, and that held no pleasure for Him: He got crucified. To follow Jesus is to follow Him in laying down our lives for the benefit of others as He did for us.
Note: This is what is so great about being a part of the local church. We get to see Christlikeness on full display every week. And if all you are getting is on Sunday morning then you are just getting a taste of what is happening all week long.
THE LIST OF NAMES
11:3-24 - Names are given of those who lived in Jerusalem.
11:25-36 - Those who lived outside Jerusalem.
12: 1-26 - The Levites and the Priests.
11:6 “Valiant Men.”
11:8 “Men of Valor.”
11:14 “Mighty Men of Valor.”
You want to be valiant? Live for God.
Live for the truth of the Scriptures. Lay your life down for these things. That’s heroism. That’s courage. To live for what matters most, even if it costs your life.
Look at Nehemiah 11:17
17 and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise, who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.
The Asaph Connection
Asaph is a name that is superscript to several Psalms. This shows out what these seemingly ordinary lists of people are all about. This brings legitimacy to their return to the Holy City.
Their legitimacy is established by their genealogy and is continued with those who God redeemed from Egypt. These are the valiant people who belong in Israel.
These Lists are outright pictures of our worship.
How does God intend to accomplish His purposes?
How does God intend to accomplish His purposes?
27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.
Celebrate with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing.
PURIFICATION RITUAL
We are not fully sure what these purification rituals encompassed. They probably involved a sacrifice for cleansing, and some sort of ceremonial washing.
Notice how they purified the people as well as the gates and wall: they purified themselves and their city. They set themselves apart to be pure for the worship of God.
NOTE: Notice in 12:31 Nehemiah took the leaders up on top of the wall. The perfect vantage point to see all that their labor produced. (remember when the taunting was ensuing it was said in their mocking, “if a fox climbed up what they are building it would break it to pieces.” They did not know who this little upstart from Persia was all about, they thought it would lead to nothing)
Now, I would like to encourage you to reject any idea that there is any work the Lord has called you to that is too meaningful or too small.
There will be a day when what this dedication of the wall points to will be fulfilled.
The people of God will be brought up onto the wall, so to speak, and they will see a new Jerusalem radiant with the glory of what has been accomplished by faith, by the power of the Spirit. We will worship God on that day.
Nehemiah is building the Joy of the nation of Israel that is going to reach a crescendo for the Lord.
42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
2. God uses Joyful People to Build His Kingdom
2. God uses Joyful People to Build His Kingdom
What Brings you the Greatest Joy?
God is accomplishing His purpose through those who take their Joy in the seemingly ordinary and difficult roles in life.
Remember in Nehemiah 8:10 in the throws of their bitter grief over how they had sinned against God Nehemiah reminded them not to be grieved for, “the joy of the Lord is their Strength.”
Joy: Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. One of the fruits of the spirit. Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian. Also: Joyful; Joyous; Rejoice.
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
It was the great joy of our our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to leave his place at the right hand of the Father and take up the cross of Calvary to die for you and me.
George Mueller would not preach until his heart was happy in the grace of God; Ian Ruybroeck would not write while his feelings were low, but would retire to a quiet place and wait on God till he felt the spirit of inspiration. It is well-known that the elevated spirits of a group of Moravians convinced John Wesley of the reality of their religion, and helped to bring him a short time later to a state of true conversion.The Christian owes it to the world to be supernaturally joyful.
—A. W. Tozer
What Brings God the Greatest Joy?
God rejoices in the well-being and faithfulness of his covenant people, and in the repentance and conversion of sinners. He brings joy to his people, who rejoice in his presence and faithfulness.
*Joyful people reverberate God’s Joy to the watching world.
*Joyful people reverberate God’s Joy to the watching world.
Note: Notice that their great joy was heard far away. When is the last time you were in a worship service that was so loud that you could hear it echo and reverberate to the neighboring communities.
The last time I was in Haiti I was asked to preach at a church that was high up on the mountain side in the province of Giebere, before I every started up the mountain from the valley below I could hear the sound of the worship reverberating to the valley below. The worship came from the bottom of the souls of their feet and came out from the top of their heads.
There is no sweeter sound in our Saviors ears then to hear the worship of His people in joyful reverberation. However, the sad fact is some Sundays it’s all we can do to open our mouth and utter a sound. There is nowhere in scripture that we hear of God’s people being reserved in their joyful praise of Him.
David’s undignified Response
In 2 Samuel 6 we have recorded David bringing the ark of the covenant back into Jerusalem. The Philistines had first captured the ark. They brought it then to Gath, and Ashdod, and Ekron, when David was initially bringing the ark back to Jerusalem it started to fall and Uzzah reaches out to steady it and is struck dead by God. David for fear takes the ark to Obed-edom where it sets for three months.
Finally David brings the ark back into Jerusalem and the tent set up for its resting place.
We read here that David danced before the Lord with all his might in nothing but the ephod worn by the priests.
When Saul’s daughter Michal looked down and saw David she was filled with contempt at David.
And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”
21 And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince[b] over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your[c] eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.”
I wonder if this is how we look by the world as we worship before our Lord. Or does the onlooking world say they do not look as if they have any joy or are any different than the rest of the world.
When is the last time you have had this face down joy that caused you to dance before the Lord and leave little care what people think or say.
CLOSING
When Spurgeon was riding home one evening after a heavy day’s work and feeling very wearied and depressed, the verse—”My grace is sufficient for thee” came to him.
He immediately compared himself to a little fish in the Thames, apprehensive lest, drinking so many pints of water in the river each day, it might drink the Thames dry, and hearing Father Thames say to it, “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.”
Then he thought of a little mouse in the granaries of Joseph in Egypt, afraid lest it might—by daily consumption of the corn it needed—exhaust the supplies and starve to death; when Joseph came along and, sensing its fear, said, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.”
Or again, he thought of himself as a man climbing some high mountain to reach its lofty summit, and dreading lest he might exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere, when the Creator Himself said, “Breathe away, O man, and fill thy lungs ever; my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.”
“Then,” he told his congregation, “for the first time in my life, I experienced what Abraham felt when he fell upon his face and laughed.” Joyful experience.
However, contrary to many modern scholars, Abraham’s response to the Lord does not display total disbelief in the covenant promise. He falls on his face, a posture that ought to be considered a picture of submission, trust, and worship.
Once again Abraham shows us that real confidence in God does not rule out times when His awesome promises are hard for us to receive (see Luke 1:5–25, 57–66).
Despite Abraham’s trepidation, the Lord’s will for his family is most certainly guaranteed. Ironically, in laughing at the incredible nature of God’s promise, the patriarch indirectly confirms the Creator’s pledge.
The Hebrew for “and laughed” (vayitzhak, Gen. 17:17) contains the name of the promised son “Isaac” (yitzhak, v. 21). God’s word may seem incredible, but it is absolutely sure.