Making Promises We Can't Keep

I hate New Year’s resolutions. It’s not like don’t make them. Oh, I’ve made hundreds. Lose weight. Exercise. Never forget to take out the trash or do the dishes. Read my Bible every morning. Pray consistently. Want to know what’s the common thread with all of them? I’ve failed at every stinkin’ one of them. Most of the time, I never got past the first week of the new year, much less February. I hate making promises that I can’t keep. That’s the situation the Jewish people face in Nehemiah 9:38-10:27. Their consistent disobedience has come face-to-face with God’s unfailing goodness (Neh 9:6-37). They are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Something must be done. Right here. Right now. So they make a covenant with God to change. While that’s not necessarily a bad idea, they’re making a promise they can’t keep. 

We begin with the little phrase “Because of all this” (v38). Just what “all this” is this? The people have just spent much almost half the day reading the Bible together, confessing their sin, and worshiping God (Neh 9:3). Nehemiah provides us with an amazing transcript of what went down that day (Neh 9:6-37). God’s chosen people praise Him for His overwhelming love, grace, and mercy to them in the face of their never-ending rebellion and rejection. This isn’t just a recent development either. The Hebrew people have a long history of shaking their fist at the God who loves them. So when we drill down on the words “because of all this” (v38), the answer is simple. It’s because of God’s stunning faithfulness. It’s because of our sickening unfaithfulness.

The people of God decide to draw a line in the sand. “We make a firm covenant in writing” (v38). For most of us, the only exposure we have with covenants is with homeowners association. It’s that ridiculously boring and complicated document that keeps us from painting our house hot pink or raising alpacas in our backyard. Back in the ancient Near East, covenants were all the rage. They are binding agreements between two parties. 

The Bible is full of covenants. That’s because God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. He made a promise with Abraham to not only his family but bless the entire world through his family (Gen 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-14). The so-called Abrahamic Covenant is unilateral. God initiates it and keeps it despite anything Abe does or doesn’t do. We see throughout Scripture that the LORD remains faithful to Abraham despite the fact that Abraham can be a total knucklehead. God made covenant with Moses and the Israelite people while they were camping at Mount Sinai (Ex 19-24). This is actually a conditional covenant. God’s blessings hinge on the obedience of the people. Yeah, this doesn’t go well. The LORD makes a spectacular covenant promise to King David that One of his descendants would eventually sit on the throne forever (2Sam 7:9-17). Jeremiah gets into the covenant game when God uses the prophet to announce that His New Covenant is on the way (Jer 31:31-34). This would be nothing like the one He made through Moses. We’ll get back to that amazing promise in just a bit.

Meanwhile back in Jerusalem, the leaders of the Israelites sign on the dotted line. “On the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests” (v38). You’ll find that list of covenant signers in Nehemiah 10:1-27. And guess who’s name is the first one we see. “Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah” (v1). It’s no surprise that as governor, Nehemiah leads the way by putting his John Hancock on this agreement. Leaders lead and that includes leading in repentance. He has certainly done it before. Back at the palace in Susa, Nehemiah humbly confessed not just his own sin but takes the rap for the rebellion and disobedience of the Jewish people and their ancestors (Neh 1:4-11). He does it again by putting is autograph at the top of the page. The governor doesn’t point fingers. He doesn’t blame. He leads. He repents. And He signs. 

The author then lists the rest of the Hebrew leadership team who sign this covenant of repentance and obedience. After Nehemiah’s signature, we find the names of 22 men and “these are the priests” (v1-8). The job of the priest is to represent God to the people and the people to God. In the Old Testament, they play a VERY important role in God’s relationship with His people. But Jesus changes everything (like we’ve never heard THAT before!). First of all, He takes the role as our ultimate eternal High Priest (Heb 4:14-16). And because who He is and what He’s done, every one of His followers is part of His “royal priesthood” (1Pet 2:9). Just below the 22 priestly signatures are the personally handwritten names of the Levites (v9). God has personally selected the members of the tribe of Levi to be on the worship team (Dt 18:1-5; Josh 13:33). Last but not least are “the chiefs of the people” (v14-27). These 44 fellas scribble their signatures and make their commitment to this covenant. It’s not feasible for everyone to sign so their leaders stand in for them. But one name seems to be missing. That would be Ezra. It would make sense that he would be one the covenant signers. But his name’s not here. Why? We have no idea. 

This new written commitment sure seems like a great idea. What in the wide world of sports could be wrong with a signed, sealed, and delivered deal to faithfully obey everything God says? On the surface, not a dad-gum thing. While it’s awesome anytime we have a burning desire to do everything God tells us, we also need to realize that we’ll all go down in flames at some point. We’re making a promise that we can’t keep. And that’s exactly what happens to this particular covenant. Thirteen years later, Nehemiah makes a return trip to Jerusalem to find God’s people have completely turned their backs on their promise (Neh 13:6-24). The covenant sure seemed like a great idea at the time, but it wasn’t any better than my New Year’s resolution to lose 15 pounds and read my Bible everyday for the next 12 months. It was simply a promise they couldn’t keep.

This is where Jesus and the New Covenant comes to our rescue. At the dinner party the night before His execution, Christ brings up the New Covenant that Jeremiah first mentioned more than 600 years before (Jer 31:31-34). “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood” (Lk 22:20). What the radical Rabbi/Carpenter tells His posse is that He’s going to do for us what they could never dream of doing for ourselves. He’s lived a life of complete obedience to His Father’s commands that we could never do. He died a death on the cross in our place for our sin that we should have died. He walked out of the graveyard and rose to new life that we don’t deserve. 

We constantly make promises that we can’t keep. Not Jesus. If He promises to do it, we can take it to the bank. Trusting in Christ means putting our faith in what He’s done for us. His obedient life. His substitutionary death. His resurrection life. We can’t do it. But what He promises, He does. That’s the New Covenant. Believing in Jesus isn’t not about a white-knuckle ride of begrudging obedience. Placing our faith in Him is trusting that He did for us what we could never do. It’s not about the strength of our faith but the Object of our faith. Like Nehemiah and the Jewish people, I consistently make promises I can’t keep. That’s exactly why I need Jesus (Heb 8:8-13). I have every intention of doing good things. But then again, remember what they say about the paving material used in building the road to Hell. It’s not about what I do. It’s about what He’s already done. 

Going into OT

Certain athletes are famous for what they’ve done in crunch time. Michael Jordan in basketball. David Ortiz on the baseball diamond. Tom Brady on the football field. Each of them built their legends in overtime. And If a game goes into OT, they are even more dangerous. These dudes may be clutch, but have you ever scene God when the game is on the line? He’s spectacular in OT. And by OT, I mean the Old Testament. Here in Nehemiah 9:7-37, we see God’s OT highlight reel. God’s people have just reviewed His top performances in the first books of the Bible (Neh 8:1-8, 13, 18; 9:3). A couple things standout. He’s unbelievably good. They are consistently bad. Yeah, God is especially awesome when going into OT.

Before the clocks runs out in regulation, let’s recap how we got here. The scene is Jerusalem in the year 445 BC. The governor is a man named Nehemiah. Over the past five months, he’s led the Jewish people in rebuilding the city walls that the Babylonian army knocked down 141 years before. You might be surprised to find out that late last year Nehemiah was working as a humble cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Persia (Neh 1:1, 11). Everything changed when God broke his heart with breaking news about the broken walls of Jerusalem (Neh 1:2-11). The LORD proves that He’s got His hands on the project by orchestrating the entire situation in order to make it happen (Neh 2:8, 18). That includes getting the pagan king to not only give him the extended time off and bankrolling the entire project (Neh 2:2-8). 

Once Nehemiah makes the 1,000 mile trip from Susa to Jerusalem, the situation is even worse than he realized. The walls were rubble and the gates charred (Neh 2:13-15). The city is basically a ghost town (Neh 7:4). Local thugs named Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem continually terrorize the rebuilding project (Neh 2:10, 19; 4:1-3, 7-8; 6:1-19). And if that’s not bad enough, God’s people are a total train wreck. They’re in debt up to their eyeballs to fellow Jews (Neh 5:1-5). To make matters even worse, they’ve disobeyed God’s direct command and hooked up with local pagan hotties (Neh 9:2).

I don’t know about you, but if I were in Nehemiah’s sandals I probably would have packed up my camel and headed back to Persia. But he knew this was not about him but God. The LORD laid this on his heart (Neh 2:13). The governor is a man of continual prayer (Neh 1:4-11; 2:4; 4:4-5, 9; 6:9, 14). Day after day, Nehemiah reminds the people of their situation may be awful but their God is awesome (4:14, 20; 5:9, 15; 6:16). Despite incredible distraction, the governor made one thing clear, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down” (Neh 6:3). But this was about more than a construction project. God is also rebuilding the broken and rebellious hearts of His people. He uses Nehemiah’s sidekick Ezra to do just that. The Big E just happens to be the best Bible teacher on the planet (Ez 7:6, 10). He repeatedly reads from the first five books of the Old Testament to remind folks of just how incredibly good their God is (Neh 8:1-18; 9:3).

It’s at this point that Ezra leads God’s people in praising the LORD for all He’s done. They start back at the very beginning of OT with His Creation of the entire universe (Neh 9:6). Then they walk through the pages of what seminary folks like to call the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. They praise Him for blessing Abraham and his descendants (v7-8). They praise Him coming to the rescue of His people in Egypt (v9-12). They praise Him for giving them rules to live by (v13-14). They praise Him for giving them food, drink, and clothing for 40 years (v15, 20-21). They praise Him for handing them a huge chunk of prime real estate called the Promised Land (v22-24). If you’re a grammar nerd like me, check out the action verbs Nehemiah uses to describe all that God has done…

“You have made” (v6)

“You preserve” (v6)

“the God who chose…and brought” (v7)

“You found…and made…to give” (v8)

“You have kept” (v8)

“You saw…and heard” (v9)

“(You) performed…You knew” (v10)

“You divided…You cast” (v11)

“You led” (v12)

“You came down…and spoke…and gave” (v13)

“You made known…and commanded” (v14)

“You gave…and brought…You told…You had sworn” (v15)

“You performed” (v17)

“You are…ready to forgive…abounding in love…did not forsake” (v17)

“(You) did not forsake…lead” (v18)

“You gave…and gave” (v20)

“You sustained…they lacked nothing” (v21)

“You gave…and allotted” (v22)

“You multiplied…and You brought…You had told” (v23)

“You subdued…and gave” (v24)

“(You) warned” (v26)
“You gave…You heard…You gave…saved them” (v27)

“You abandoned…You heard…You delivered” (v28)

“You warned…turn them back” (v29)

“You bore…and warned them…You gave” (v30)

“You did not make an end of them or forsake them” (v31)

“God who keeps covenant” (v32)

“You have been righteous…You have dealt faithfully” (v33)  

“You gave” (v34)

“You gave…You set before them” (v35)

“You gave” (v36)

“You have set” (v37)

Wow! God has been VERY busy working for the good of His people all throughout history!! And what verb shows up consistently here in OT? That would be “give” or “gave.” If you’re counting, that would be one dozen times in 30 verses. Our gracious God is a Giver. Over and over and over, He gives. His blessing. His love. His Son. His salvation. Don’t make the mistake of thinking there’s an Old Testament God of wrath and law and a New Testament God of love and grace. He’s the same God in both. Don’t miss the fact that His grace flows like a fire hydrant in the OT.

Well surely God’s people are up to something in response to His goodness. Oh, they’re up to something alright. 

“They and our fathers acted presumptuously” (v16)

“(They) stiffened their necks and did not obey” (v16)

“They refused to obey and were not mindful” (v17)

“They stiffened their neck and appointed a leader” (v17)

“They made for themselves a golden calf” (v18)

“(They) committed great blasphemies” (v18)

“They were disobedient and rebelled” (v26)

“(They) cast Your law behind their back” (v26)

“(They) killed Your prophets” (v26)

“They committed great blasphemies” (v26)

“They did evil again” (v28)

“They acted presumptuously and did not obey” (v29)

“(They) sinned…and they turned a stubborn shoulder” (v29)  

“(They) stiffened their neck and would not obey” (v29)

“They would not give ear” (v30)

“We have acted wickedly” (v33)

“(We) have not kept Your law or paid attention” (v34)

“They did not serve You or turn from their wicked works” (v35)

As they praise God for His incredible goodness, their history of sin becomes glaringly obvious. Despite our repeated rebellion and ingratitude, the LORD never, ever stops loving us. His grace is NOT dependent on our performance. Will life go better when we obey and do what He says? Absolutely! But there’s nothing we can do to earn His love. 

God shines in crunch time. When we turn our backs on Him and are completely unlovable, He’s at His best. When the going gets tough, our Savior gets going. He shines when the game’s on the line. If you think He’s great in the New Testament, check out the front of your Bible. He’s awesome in OT. 

The Greatest Star in the Greatest Story

“You are the LORD, You alone. You made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships You” (v6).

You see them every time you’re in the checkout line at the grocery story. Magazine covers filled with the beautiful people and the biggest stars in Hollywood. Who’s up for an Oscar. Who’s had plastic surgery. Who’s sleeping with whom. Who’s hot and who’s not. They call them stars but their more like meteors. They burn white hot for a while but it won’t be long that they’ll move from the cover to the two-page “whatever happened to” section of the magazine. These celebrities are more like the flavor of the month. But here in Nehemiah 9:6, we see a Star who’s fame never fades. A Star who’s been grabbing headlines for as long as anyone can remember. A Star who shines most brightly in the biggest blockbuster of all-time. It’s the one and only God, the Greatest Star of the Greatest Story!

Surprisingly we find our Star taking a role in what amounts to a tiny little indie film called “Nehemiah.” You may remember Him from His incredible performances in Creation, the Great Flood, and the Exodus. But here we see God starring in what many critics see an art house flick. The scene is Jerusalem. It’s been a location in many of God’s greatest hits. But those days are long gone. The once glorious city on a hill is nearly abandoned. God is quietly turning things around. He’s bringing His people home. He’s provided the resources to rebuild the city’s walls. He’s using men like Nehemiah and Ezra to remind wayward worshipers that He’s not just bringing them back to the Promised Land but back into relationship with Him as their ever-faithful and ever-loving God.

God has just reminded His chosen people of His amazing career. A scribe named Ezra has read to them from the original script called the Book of the Law of Moses (Neh 8:1-8,13-18; 9:3). This is what many scholars call the Pentateuch, the book in five parts. It’s Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Forget Star Wars or the Dark Knight. This is without a doubt the greatest franchise in history. And God is the Star in every episode. He’s there before anything else. He creates. He gives. He loves. He forgives. He rescues. Over and over and over. That’s what makes God the Greatest Star of the Greatest Story.

There are other repetitive characters in this long-running franchise. Humans. That includes you and me. The ones He created in His image. But despite His faithful and active love, they continually turn their backs on Him. And they’re up to their old tricks once again. Despite God orchestrating their return home and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, they’ve hopped in the sack with local pagan hotties in blatant disobedience of His warning not to do so. After Ezra reminds them of His greatest, His goodness, and His love, they break up with their unbelieving squeezes and agree with God about their sin (Neh 9:2). 

They begin this citywide assembly with their praise of their one and only God. “You are the LORD, You alone” (v6). They shine the spotlight on the only One who deserves the applause. He’s “the LORD,” which is how most translations of the Bible present the Hebrew word YHWH or Yahweh. It’s His personal name and the authors of Scripture use it more than any other name for God. It appears 5321 times and pops up in every OT book except Ecclesiastes and Esther. It’s the name that appears above the credits. Every. Single. Time. 

The nameYahweh isn’t random. It has VERY significant meaning. It basically translates as “I Am” or “I Am What I Am” or “I Will Be Who I Will Be.” God uses His personal name when He introduces Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Ex 3). When the Big Mo asks the Voice from the flaming shrub for some ID, God replies, “I Am Who I Am (Heb. Yahweh)” (Ex 3:14). He goes on to connect the dots with all of Jewish ancestors as “the LORD (Heb. Yahweh), the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex 3:15). He reassures Moses that He won’t be changing His name any time soon. “This is My name forever” (Ex 3:15). God won’t be pulling any stunts like Prince. This has always been His name. This will always be His name. 

Yahweh is never changes. Ever. He tells the prophet Malachi His people can always count on the fact that “I the LORD (Heb. Yahweh) do not change” (Mal 3:6). Ever. Jesus’ kid brother James wrote about “the Father of lights with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). And here’s the crazy thing. Jesus Himself goes out of His way to say that He and the Great I Am are one and the very same God. He tells religious leaders, “Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8:58). Bad grammar. GREAT theology! But then again, since He always IS, He’s ALWAYS in the present tense. The author of Hebrews drops some serious knowledge about the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter when he writes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). This means Yahweh and Jesus are the same God. Christ is THE Hero of the Bible. And God is the Greatest Hero of the Greatest Story.

The people make it clear that there’s never been anyone or anything like God, before or since. “You are the LORD, You alone” (v6). You’ll hear folks comparing actors from one generation to another. Stuff like Tom Hanks is the new Jimmy Stewart. You can’t do that with God. He’s unique. One of a kind. Never before. Never since. But there’s just one little problem. We continually fall for counterfeits, phonies, and idols. That’s why God put worshiping Him alone as the first thing on His Top Ten list. “I am the LORD your God…You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex 20:2, 3). We get ourselves in a world of hurt when we kick Him out of His rightful place of worship in our lives. There’s only one God and God is the only One.

Now that we understand just who the real Star is, let’s go back to the beginning of the story. “You made heave, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them” (v6). Interestingly, some Hebrew scholars translate Yahweh to mean “I Cause to Be” or “I Create.” God is not only the Headliner but the Creator. Think the ultimate Executive Producer/Writer/Director. Tyler Perry’s got nothing on the LORD. Let’s quickly review the list of God’s creation, shall we? He made “heaven (v6)”  Check. The Bible’s pretty clear that  God made the heavens (Gen 2:1; Dt 10:14). But even that can’t hold Him (1Ki 8:27). Hitting second on the batting order of Creation are “the heaven of heavens” (v6). Think the universe. The whole shebang. He’s also the Creator of “all their host” (v6). We’re talking galaxies, solar systems, stars, planets, and moons. Wherever Matthew McConaughey and the crew travel in “Interstellar” has a “Handcrafted by God” label on it. Next up is “the earth and all that is on it” (v6). The third rock from the sun gets special shout out because this seemingly insignificant planet has a special place inYahweh’s heart. Take a look around. If you see it, God made it. And we’re not just talking about the dry parts. He created “the seas all and all that is in them” (v6). He also rolled up His supernatural sleeves to get His hands wet making the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams, including all the critters swimming in them. I’m not sure if you’re keeping score, but that’s everything. In the universe. 

Yahweh didn’t just handcraft His masterpiece of Creation and move on to something else. There are some folks who see God as the great Clockmaker in the sky. He made the universe like a clock and then walked away. They don’t think He’s involved anymore. But here in Nehemiah, God’s people aren’t buying it. “You preserve all of them” (v6). They don’t want you and me to miss the fact that the LORD is every bit as involved today as He was on Day One of Creation. He’s involved because He cares. He’s involved because He loves. The Greatest Star of the Greatest Story is not some overpaid prima donna waiting in the trailer for His closeup.

The amazing thing about God is that He’s inviting us to be part of His great story. All throughout the Bible, we see Him asking one broken, flawed person after another to join Him on the set. Noah. Abraham. Moses. David. Peter. Paul. Our man Nehemiah is a classic example. He wasn’t exactly on anybody’s casting short list. Remember, he was working as a wine steward for a pagan king in Persia. But God put a burden on Nehemiah’s heart that something had to change in Jerusalem (Neh 1:1-11). The LORD invited this humble cupbearer to play a part in His eternal story of rescue and redemption. Just because the Bible is complete, that doesn’t mean God’s story is over. He’s still asking people to be a part. He’s inviting you. He’s inviting me. He’s asking us to join the Greatest Star in the Greatest Story.

Riding the Crazy Cycle

The court system calls them repeat offenders and habitual felons. These are those folks that simply can’t stay out of trouble, can’t stay out of court, and can’t stay out of jail. For some, the entrance of the prison is a revolving door. In and out. Over and over and over again. Here in Nehemiah 9:1-3, the people of Israel come face to face with the fact that they’re repeat offenders. They realize that rebellion against God is a family tradition. Their parents disobeyed. Their grandparents disobeyed. Their great grandparents disobeyed. The cycle is always the same. Sin then exposure then confession then worship. Once more, God’s people take a ride on the crazy cycle. 

Let’s take a step back and get a little better view of what’s going on. It’s early fall in Jerusalem. The Hebrew calendar tells us it’s Tishri 24, 445 BC (early October for us Gentiles). A little less than a month ago, the people wrapped up the huge project of rebuilding the city walls in just 52 days (Neh 6:15). Shortly after that, lead teaching pastor Ezra drops a six-hour sermon on the entire Hebrew crew by reading the first five books of the Bible (Neh 8:1-8). Once God’s Law diagnoses their sin, God’s gracious Gospel brings healing and joy (Neh 8:10-12). The result is an epic weeklong cookout/campout called the Feast of Booths that includes even more study of Scripture (Neh 8:13-18). 

We pick up the story two weeks later. In the wake of the seven-day feast, the people are back together again, this time not to eat. “The people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads” (v1). Let’s all be on the same page about what’s happening here. This isn’t some sort of diet after stuffing your gut for a week. It’s a lot more than simply wearing that itchy sweater your grandmother gave you. Don’t confuse this with the need to lather-rinse-repeat. Fasting, sackcloth, and dust are all outward expressions of incredible mourning. They’ve just gone old school by reading the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Now they’re going old school in their physical response of confession. They realize they’ve sinned just like their ancestors so they’re expressing their repentance like their ancestors.

They’ve continued the long held family tradition of disobedience by hooking up with pagan hotties. “And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners” (v2). The author is not simply describing how this is just a Jewish only meeting. He’s telling us how they put an end to any and all serious relationships with people who don’t worship Yahweh. It never ends well each time a worshiper of God gets intimately involved with an unbeliever. So God protects us from ourselves by putting rules in place for our own protection (Ex 34:12-16; Dt 7:3-4). It just about destroyed Abraham’s marriage to Sarah (Gen 21:9-12). Despite being the wisest cat on the planet, Solomon did the dumbest thing when he built a harem of unbelieving beauties despite the LORD’s specific order. It cost the king his entire kingdom (1Ki 11:1-8). Ezra had to deal with this garbage while his buddy Nehemiah was still pouring Merlot at the palace in Susa (Ez 9-10). Here we go again. And the sad part is the governor is going to have to deal with this again later (Neh 13:23-27). God’s people go for another spin on the crazy cycle.

The LORD is certainly NOT against interracial marriage. There are all sorts of examples of that in the pages of Scripture. He’s opposed to any serious relationship between His people and folks who reject Him. This is about maintaining the spiritual integrity of God’s people. And this doesn’t mean we should lock ourselves in some sort of bomb shelter for Jesus so the mean old sinners can’t get at us. Jesus says that we’re “not of the world” (Jn 17:16) but that He’s sending us into the world as His messengers (Jn 17:18). We need to be very careful not to be squeezed into the world’s ways while allowing God to change us from the inside out (Rom 12:2). Christ has sent us in the world to win the world. 

The Jewish people rise to their feet and “confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers” (v2). They’ve simply fallen back into the same old destructive pattern as their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. They don’t just confess of their own disobedience but on behalf of their entire family line. It’s the same thing that Nehemiah did back in Persia (Neh 1:4-11). A spiritual leader understands that he or she is part of a community. We live together. We love together. We sin together. We confess together. It’s being heartbroken for the impact of everyone’s rebellion and going to God on their behalf. The “the iniquities of their fathers” (v2) goes back centuries. They’ve read and heard all about it with their recent focus on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Those books are loaded with examples of their ancestors peddling hard on the crazy cycle. And that’s the focus of their following prayer (Neh 9:6-37). You see, sin is a family tradition

Once again, God’s Law exposes sin like luminal exposes blood at a crime scene. “And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of a day” (v3). They were already standing and stay on their feet. They hear of God’s zero tolerance policy on sin and their long history of doing it anyway. You could say that they take a stand against their own disobedience. They stand under conviction of God’s truth. And they do it for three hours! The author makes some sort of direct mention of the reading or studying the Book of the Law six times (Neh 8:1, 3, 8, 13, 18; 9:3). God’s Word reveals sin. It always precedes confession. And confession always precedes worship. 

Instead of the crazy cycle, let’s take a ride on the confession cycle. That’s what God’s people do that day in Jerusalem. “For another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God” (v3). They confess their sin. What does that mean? Confession is agreeing with God about what we’ve done. It’s not just feeling bad because we’ve been busted. It’s saying out loud what we’ve done wrong. As much as I try to avoid that like Ebola, actually telling a trusted friend about my failure to meet God’s standard is incredibly powerful. Once I bring my sin into the light, it loses almost all of it’s power. A huge part of riding the confession cycle is repentance. We’ve turned away from Jesus to do whatever we want. God has given us the gift of repentance. We do a 180 from our sin and back to Christ. It’s the heartfelt admission that He’s SO much better than the counterfeit we’ve fallen for. 

And then they “worshiped the LORD their God” (v3). It was time to thank the One who showers us with His mercy and undeserved goodness time after time after time. Despite being repeat offenders, welcomes us back. That’s reason to celebrate! That’s reason to party! But here’s the deal. His people are going to hop back on the crazy cycle again soon. And we will too. It’s just the way of life on this side of eternity. But God always graciously offers us another ride on the confession cycle. 

Let's Get This Party Started

You may not think of Jesus’ followers as being party animals. If so, you may be hanging around with the wrong Christians. God has loaded the pages of Scripture with parties, shindigs, cookouts, and throw-downs. Don’t get me wrong. There is a VERY serious side to our walk with the Lord. We are supposed to carry our cross. God invented work but He also invented the day off! Don’t be a party pooper. Here in Nehemiah 8:13-18, the Jewish people who’ve returned to the Promised Land from captivity realize that they’ve been missing out. Ezra’s review of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy opens the Hebrews’ eyes to the fact that they haven’t been partying like He has commanded. After the top teachers meet with Ezra for a quick Bible study, they decide to get this party started!

It’s second day of Tishri, the day after Ezra’s legendary six-hour sermon and survey of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The very next day, “the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law” (v13). This is a smaller group of those responsible for teaching others. What a great reminder that even teachers need to be lifelong learners. As followers of Jesus, we must have a hunger to grow. These seasoned Bible teachers went knocking on the preacher’s door to dive deeper into what he had taught the massive crowd the day before. God has blessed them with the “go to” guy when it comes to Scripture (Ez 7:6, 10). Even the pagan King Artaxerxes recognized his mad skills and backed the Big E’s return to the Promised Land as the lead teaching pastor (Ez 7:25-26). These dudes weren’t missing out on the chance to learn from one of the top Bible teachers on the planet.

As they dig into God’s Word, they suddenly realize it’s just about time to party. “And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month” (v14). One look at the calendar tells them that this celebration is right around the corner. It’s the seventh month of Tishri, which falls roughly on the last half of September and the first half of October. There’s no doubt they heard about this particular feast during Ezra’s preaching marathon the day before (Neh 8:1-5). They want to know more about what is called the Feast of Booths (Lev 23:33-44; Num 29:12-38; Dt 16:13-17). It’s one of three annual nationwide parties God puts on the Hebrew social calendar. The other two are the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks. When God tells you to party, that’s one command you don’t want to break!

Just what is this Feast of Booths? Well, it’s actually a week of camping in temporary shelters made from tree limbs and palm fronds. God schedules this annual reminder for the Jewish people as a practical demonstration of how their forefathers lived after He brought them out of Egypt. The reason for seven-day cookout is to recognize God’s amazing goodness and blessing. “Because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful” (Dt 16:15). Okay, I admit it. Camping isn’t for everybody. But who’s not up for a weeklong celebration of God’s overwhelming grace and goodness?

As a result of their study with Ezra, these teachers put out the word around the land of Judah that the Feast of Booths is about to go down (v15). Folks start making all the preps for the party, gathering branches, limbs, and fronds to throw together their huts for the campout (v16). They build them everywhere. On the roof. In the courtyard. In front of the temple. In the city squares. Every single person who has returned from captivity to the Promised Land is setting up camp (v17). Picture the biggest Boy Scout jamboree you’ve ever seen. Think a massive music festival like Bonnaroo. Yeah, we’re talking a HUGE party!

This festival is epic. It’s historic. No, seriously. It’s one for the record books. “For from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was great rejoicing” (v17). It doesn’t mean they haven’t celebrated the Feast of Booths since Joshua led the Israelites 800 years ago. The Bible is clear that it has happened at least a handful of times (1Ki 8:2; 2Chr 7:8-10; Ez 3:4). But it’s been since those days that they did it with such overwhelming joy. The reason for their over-the-top jubilation is obvious. The original Booth Feast was a celebration of how God had brought His people out of 400 years of slavery in Egypt. These folks have just returned after 70-plus years under the boot of Babylon and Persia. You don’t have to be rocket surgeon to make the connection. Yeah, this year’s feast is one we’ll remember for a long, long time.

There’s one other thing that makes the the Feast of Booths of 445 BC unlike any other. “And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the Law of God” (v18). Ezra the scribe teaches the Bible everyday. That’s above and beyond what the LORD has required for this annual hootenanny. I think it’s safe to say that these folks are so excited in hearing about God’s incredible goodness that they simply couldn’t stop! They wanted more and more. 

God is still all about throwing parties. Jesus made the point of describing the heavenly wingding each time a lost person places their trust in Him (Lk 15:7). And He’s inviting all of His followers to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:6-9). This is blast is going to be the ultimate after-party. Tony Campolo is right on target in his book “The Kingdom of God Is a Party.” There are certainly times of quiet reflection, seriousness, and mourning in our relationship with Jesus. But our walk with Jesus should be filled with incredible joy. Christ is inviting us to His party. Let’s get this party started!

The Good News about the Bad News

“I’ve got bad news and I’ve got bad news. What do you want to hear first?” I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has asked me that. I don’t know about you, but I ALWAYS want to hear the good news first. But Nehemiah 8:9-12 reminds me once again that it’s better to break the bad news first. There’s a method to the madness. It’s only when we realize just how bad the bad news that we realize just how good the Good News is. 

As a result, a very strange thing happened one day in Jerusalem. What begins as a funeral turns into a party. Let me explain. God’s Law absolutely crushes God’s people. It exposes their sin. It makes it painfully clear that they can never save themselves through obedience. The bar of perfection and holiness is way too high. The result is death and separation from God. Think of the most painful funeral you’ve ever attended. And then realize that it’s yours! I told you this is bad news. This is exactly where God’s Gospel comes to our rescue. That’s when we realize that God does for us what we could never do for ourselves. He saves us when we could never save ourselves. What was our funeral is now a party! You see, it’s only when we realize just how bad the bad news that we realize just how good the Good News is. 

Let’s crank up the Hot Tub Machine for Jerusalem in Tishri 1, 445 BC. God’s chosen people are steadily coming home to the Promised Land after an extended period of captivity in places like Babylon and Persia. We arrive at a citywide Bible study. People pack the square to hear Ezra read from the first five books of the Bible (Neh 8:1-8). He’s one of the greatest Bible teachers anyone has ever heard (Ez 7:6, 10). The dude reads Scripture for nearly six hours! The huge crowd breaks up into smaller groups to discuss what they’ve heard and what they should do about it. It’s not long before tears begin to flow. 

Nehemiah, Ezra, and the rest of the small group leaders go out of their way to tell the people that this is no time to cry. “And Nehemiah, who was governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep’” (v9). They tell the people today is a day to celebrate God. He’s circled this day on the calendar to party. Twice in those first five books, the LORD tells His people about an annual shindig one the first day of the seventh month called the Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:23-25; Num 29:1-6). And wouldn’t you know it, that’s today! Not once, not twice, but three times Nehemiah and the other leaders that “this day is holy” and not to mourn, weep, and grieve (v9, 10, 11).

But no matter what they hear from the platform, the huge crowd cries. “For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law” (v9). Instead of cheers, there are tears. That’s what the Law does. It crushes us. It destroys us. God’s Law sets His holy standard so high that we can never, ever meet it. We would have better odds lacing up our Air Jordans and trying to jump from Earth to the moon. Yeah, good luck with that. Just in case you need a reminder of just how you and I stack up against God’s Law, let’s take a quick look back at some of the lowlights of the Pentateuch. The Creator gives Adam and Eve access to the goodness of the entire garden but tells them to stay away from one tree for their own protection. Ever seen the meme “you had one job”? It started in Eden. Yeah, their disobedience was the epic fail of epic fails. Over in Exodus, God gives Moses His Top Ten. If you fool yourself into believing you’ve nailed those, you need to check Jesus’ little ditty called the Sermon on the Mount. Then there’s that feel good book called Leviticus where God goes into meticulous detail about His sacrificial worship system. Most of us can’t even read through Leviticus much less do what it says. And in case we’re not crushed by now, there’s Deuteronomy. God uses Moses to drop the hammer of His Law one more time to make sure we get it through our thick skulls that obedience is impossible. 

God’s Law causes us to cry because it’s impossible to obey. That’s exactly the point. Think of the law like a medical diagnostic tool. An MRI. A CT scan. An x-ray. If you want to know exactly what’s wrong, you put on one of those breezy medical gowns and get climb inside. Doctors use this amazing technology to figure out what’s going on inside you. God uses the law to reveal the cancer of sin in each one of us. But there’s one problem. As great as these diagnostic marvels are, they can’t heal. No matter how many times we climb into the MRI machine, it can never heal me. It only reveals what’s wrong. God’s Law reveals my sin. The prognosis is terminal. The bad news is bad. REALLY bad.

Nehemiah tells the people that while the prognosis is fatal, there is indeed a miracle cure available to each and everyone there. “Then he said, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (v10). The governor announces that this is no funeral but a party. Stop crying. Start eating. Stop mourning. Start drinking. And make every effort to take the party to those who didn’t have anything to bring. Get your eyes out of the mirror and stop obsessing over your sin. It’s time to get your eyes on the goodness of our gracious God and party! 

With the bad news still ringing in their ears, the people undoubtedly hear the Good News. While God’s Law is the diagnostic tool, God’s Gospel is the therapy. He does for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves. God sets the impossible standard. He exposes our sin. But He doesn’t leave us there. He meets that impossible standard for us. That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote to his buddies in Rome about how God is both the “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26). The Son of God came on His amazing rescue mission to do everything we couldn’t. He lived the perfect life that we failed to live. He died the death for our sin that we should have died. He rose to glorious new life that we don’t deserve. In the middle of His incredible Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the crowd that His mission isn’t to toss God’s standard in the trash but to be obedient to it on our behalf. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). We experience the healing of the Gospel when we place our trust in what Jesus has done what we couldn’t do. 

The people of Jerusalem back in 445 BC didn’t know all the specifics about the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth that we do. That’s why they call it “BC,” as in “Before Christ.” But the Old Testament is full of promises of One who is to come. That promise starts just after the Fall (Gen 3:15) and is a consistent theme throughout. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites explain that Messiah is coming to heal. He’s coming to restore. He’s coming to save. He’s coming to dry their tears. 

The bad news is REALLY bad. But the Good News is SPECTACULARLY good!

Apply as Directed

A few years ago, my neighbor invited me to come over and see her new computer. She is an older lady who had never taken the leap into deep end of the technological pool. She was absolutely stoked about her purchase. When I arrived, I expected to see her shiny new machine set up and ready to go. That’s when she pointed to a stack of boxes over in the corner. “There it is! That’s my new computer!” My neighbor owned a new computer. There was only one problem. She still hadn’t ever turned it on. Before she could ever get any use out of her new PC, she needed somebody to set it up and teach her how to use it. 

In many ways, that’s the scene in Nehemiah 7:73-8:8. The people have God’s Word but don’t know what to do with it. They plead with one of the top Bible teachers on the planet to teach them God’s truth and tell them what to do with it. Like my neighbor’s computer, Scripture won’t do them any good unless they know what to do with it. They need instructions. They need directions. They need understanding. They need somebody to take the time and tell them how to apply what God says. God’s Word comes alive when we apply as directed.

We pick up the action just as Nehemiah finishes going over the roster of Jews who returned to the Promised Land from Persia under Zerubbabel 93 years ago (Neh 7:6-73). God inspires the governor get everybody together for a roll call by family (Neh 7:5). It’s now safe to hold this massive meeting because the city walls are complete (Neh 6:15). The author puts a time stamp on this get-together and tells us it’s the first day of the “seventh month” (v73, 2). That’s Tishri. It falls on the last half of September and first half of October. It’s the year 445 BC. And we’re less than a week after wrapping up the huge wall project (Neh 6:15). But just because they’re safer than they’ve been in a long time, the people desperately want to know what to do.

The Hebrew people plead with Ezra the scribe to do what he does best: “bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD commanded Israel” (v1). This is Ezra’s first appearance in the pages of Nehemiah. He led the second expedition from Persia to the Promised Land back in 458 BC (Ez 7:1-6). As a scribe, Ezra had mad skills when it comes to God’s Word (Ez 7:6). Because God has a tight grip on him, “Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach His statues and rules in Israel” (Ez 7:10). By all indications, this is the first time he’s had the privilege to teach Scripture to what amounts to a stadium-sized crowd. It’s one of the biggest reasons the Big E back in the Promised Land. And 44 years later, he finally gets his chance.

The crowd makes the request that Ezra teach from “the Book of the Law of Moses” (v1). We’re talking the Pentateuch which is the first five books of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He’s going to go back to the beginning and remind everyone of who God is and His special relationship with His chosen people. Talk about jumping into the deep end of the pool! Several hundred years later, Jesus tells folks that when Moses wrote those five books, “he wrote of Me” (Jn 5:46). Christ says that the Book of the Law is all about the Messiah, the awesome Good News of the One who’s coming to the rescue. You might not think of Jesus being the focus of Ezra’s teaching, but it’s true.

Ezra unrolls the scroll and teaches God’s Word “before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard” (v2). This is an “all skate.” Not just the guys. Not just the ladies. The big point is that people “could understand what they heard” (v2). We see the Hebrew word biyn, which means to discern, perceive, consider with full attention, or give heed to. This term shows up six times in just 11 verses. It describes so much more than collecting data or memorizing facts. The BIG idea of this passage is understanding Scripture so that you can do what it says. It’s knowing what to do with what you’ve learned. It’s putting what you’ve learned into practice. It’s applying as directed.

This isn’t your typical one-hour-and-done suburban American church service. No 20-minute sermon with three points and a poem. “And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early in the morning until midday” (v3). We’re talking from dawn until lunch. That certainly makes sense with Ezra teaching the story of God from the first five books and then making sure everyone knows how to apply this truth to their lives. You may be wondering if folks were on their feet the entire time. Great question. We’ll see later in the passage how they broke up into small groups to discuss the sermon (v8). It doesn’t take much imagination to see Ezra reading sections of Scripture with people standing and then stopping so they could sit and discuss what that might look like in their own lives. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of standing. Hope you’re wearing your comfy sandals.

This huge crowd can see and hear the speaker because he’s on a stage constructed for this event. “Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for this purpose” (v4). Here’s where we get the church tradition of a pulpit. It was big enough to hold 14 people (check out the list of the other 13 dudes here in v4). These men are probably priests who stand with the Big E as a clear demonstration of their support. Because he was visible to the audience, everybody could see Ezra when he opens up God’s Word (v5). We see another church tradition. The preacher opens up his Bible in front of God and everybody. Not a command, but certainly not a bad thing to do. Once Ezra starts reading “all the people stood” (v5). And here’s yet one more tradition in many churches. Folks rise to their feet as the pastor reads from Scripture. Again, not a command but certainly not a bad idea. It’s an acknowledgement that God is present in His Word. 

As part of his teaching, “Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God” (v6). He makes sure that the focus is God, not the preacher and not the people. The Bible is about God, not us. Are we part of His story? Absolutely. But only because we’re the ones who wrecked His perfect creation, rebelled against His kingdom, and are the ones He’s coming to rescue. Ezra thanks God for His goodness, His grace, and His mercy. When he does, “all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’” (v6). Yup, here’s another tradition in many churches (especially if you grew up Southern Baptist like me). When the preacher drops some particularly convicting truth, folks shout, “Amen!” This is the Hebrew term ‘amen. It means truly or so be it. Throughout the OT, it’s used as an expression of agreement with what’s just been said. It’s like saying, “You got that right!” Or “You’re darn tootin’!” Or even “You ain’t frontin’!” Earlier when Nehemiah put a stop to the rampant loan sharking and payday lending in the Promised Land, the people shouted, “Amen!” (Neh 5:13). That makes sense since they are hearing Scripture inspired by the “God of truth (Heb ‘amen)” (Is 65:16). Jesus goes out of His way to describe Himself as “the Truth” (Jn 14:6). Can I get an amen?

An amazing thing happens at this point. Folks are “lifting their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground” (v6). They have a physical response to the internal impact of God’s truth on their lives. This massive audience doesn’t just stand their like statues. They are certainly not the Frozen Chosen like some of the churches I’ve been a part of. Raising our hands is a quite biblical form of worship (Dt 32:40; Ps 63:4; 119:48; 134:2; 141:2; Lam 3:41; Lk 24:50; 1Tim 2:8). It’s not limited to our more charismatic friends. Get your hands in the air like your really do care! The people in the crowd fall on their faces as an act of worship to God. Once again, we see this all throughout Scripture (Gen 17:17; Lev 9:24; Dan 10:9; Mt 17:6; Acts 9:4; Rev 1:17; 5:8). It’s the most obvious physical act of submission to God’s authority and holiness. It’s reminiscent of that day when King Jehoshaphat led God’s people is a massive expression of worship. “Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD” (2Chr 20:18). When it comes to worship, let’s get physical. Hands up. Faces down. 

At some point, the huge crowd breaks up into smaller groups for explanation and application. “The Levites helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God clearly and they gave the sense, so the people understood the reading” (v7-8). One o the Levites’ roles is serve as small group leaders and teachers (Dt 33:8-10; 2Chr 17:8-9; 35:3). They explain the deeper meaning of the passages. They put what the people have heard into perspective. They go out of their way to do everything in their power to make sure people understand God’s Word. What we see here in Nehemiah may well be the first message-based small group discussions in history. They know that simply hearing the Bible without knowing what to do with what you’ve heard is a total waste of time. Do you have folks who explain Scripture to you? Do you sit down with other folks at your church to talk about the message and how to apply it? 

God's truth is most powerful when we know how to apply as directed.

Cut and Paste

I don’t know about you, but there are parts of the Bible that I simply blow past. In particular, those long lists of loaded with seemingly random numbers and weird names. Nehemiah 7:5-73 just happens to be one of those. And if that’s not crazy enough, the author appears to have simply cut and pasted from a roster Ezra lists in the book that bears his name (another passage that I would probably rather zoom past). But I need to pump my breaks and take a closer look at what Scripture has to say. I need to remember that God has inspired everything in the Bible (2Tim 3:16-17). That includes stuff I think are filler and irrelevant. So why in the wide word of sports has God gone out of His supernatural way to include this roster in the Bible not once, but twice? It’s a great reminder that there’s a much bigger story being told. A story about a Hero who’s coming to the rescue. A story that includes Nehemiah. A story that includes you and me.

Let’s back up a bit first. The place is Jerusalem. The year is 445 BC. The walls of city are back up 150 or so years after the Babylonians knocked them down. For the first time in a very long time, things are looking up for God’s people. And you won’t believe who God has handpicked to lead this amazing recovery. A cupbearer from the court of the Persian king. Yeah, that’s right, the LORD is using a royal wine steward named Nehemiah to oversee one of the greatest comeback stories in the ancient Near East. The people have made incredible progress, but they’re still not out of the woods. Local enemies led by Sanballat are actively trying to sabotage what’s being done. A new leadership team for Jerusalem is in place. Nehemiah has the city on red alert. And while the walls may be up but Jerusalem remains mostly a ghost town. 

If Nehemiah is wondering what to do next, God taps the governor on the shoulder. “Then my God put it into my heart” (v5). Nehemiah constantly acknowledges God’s active role in the restoration of Jerusalem and the rescue of His people. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the LORD has both hands on everything (Neh 2:8, 18). Even the enemies of Jews clearly understand that “this work had been accomplished with the help of our God” (Neh 6:16). Clearly God is not done and still intimately involved with the project. The LORD gives the governor the inspiration for what to do next. One of the big points of the entire Bible is that our God is a Giver! He’s constantly giving us what we don’t deserve. He consistently places us under the endless waterfall of His grace. Remember, we don’t deserve it. We’ve done nothing to earn His goodness. As a matter of fact, we’re rebels against His kingdom (Rom 5:8). If we deserve anything, it’s punishment. But He gives. And He gives. And He gives. Tullian Tchividjian calls grace God’s descending, one-way love. He gave Adam and Eve and entire garden to enjoy with only one exception. He is a Giver who consistently shares His love. He gives His Son. His Son gives us His life. He gives us His Holy Spirit. He gives us spiritual gifts. Yeah, God is a Giver. And here He gives Nehemiah the inspiration on what to do next.

The LORD motivates Governor Nehemiah “to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy” (v5). He desperately needs to know who’s in Judah before he takes his next step. The brand new city walls aren’t worth a lick if not properly manned. And the city isn’t really a city if people don’t live there. Maybe you’re really into genealogy and family history. If so, you probably find this stuff absolutely fascinating. The writers of the Bible sure do. The pages of Scripture regularly list genealogical charts. So much of ancient life depends on family lineage and inheritance. You have to prove you are a legit member of the family. Genealogies are a VERY big deal. But the most important family trees in God’s Word are for God’s Son. Matthew traces Jesus’ family back through his adoptive father Joseph (Mt 1:2-16). Dr. Luke connects the dots on Christ’s mother Mary’s side (Lk 3:23-38). And the crazy thing is that God adopts us into His family through His Son (Eph 1:5). A genealogies is a lot more interesting when your name is in it. 

God inspires Nehemiah to check the roster according to family lines and then provides the written resource he needs to do the job. “And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first” (v5). The governor blows the dust off the very roster that Ezra put together back at the base camp in Babylon before Zerubbabel’s initial expedition left for the Promised Land. Ninety-three years ago in 538 BC, God orchestrates the liberation of His people from captivity. The LORD inspires a pagan Persian king by the name of Cyrus to not only send a lot of his Jewish workforce back to their homeland but to write the check for it as well (Ez 1:1-4). Before hitting the road for Judah, Zerubbabel writes down a record of everybody making the trip. He organizes this roster by family. It’s this genealogical list “of those who came up at first” (v5) that Nehemiah finds so incredibly useful when gathering the citizens of Judah under his watch. 

At this point in the book of Nehemiah, we run into what amounts to a cut-and-paste from Ezra 2:1-70. With only a few discrepancies, these two passages are almost identical. It must be a big deal if God makes the point of including this list not once, but twice. You might be wondering why there are differences, small that they are, between them. I know it certainly left me scratching my head. Here are a couple of thoughts from folks a whole lot smarter than me. First of it could be mistakes in copying from one ancient manuscript to another. It wouldn’t be the first or only time. But the most likely idea is that Zerubbabel compiled the list in Ezra BEFORE leaving for the Promised Land and Nehemiah is reading one put together AFTER they got there. That could explain why Ezra’s list totals 29,818 people and Nehemiah’s roster has 31,089 folks on it. 

So why is this genealogical register such a big deal to the governor? This is going to be important data that Nehemiah will use this info as an important part of the process of repopulating Jerusalem (Neh 11:1-2). Remember, the city is all but deserted (Neh 7:4). He’ll need to know who’s available to move back in when the time comes. This roster also allows Nehemiah and the people to make a strong connection with all those God first brought from captivity almost 100 years ago. It’s a reminder of what He’s done and still doing. It’s a powerful spiritual scrapbook which tells everyone where they’ve been and where they are now. 

This Hebrew headcount reminds Nehemiah and the people that they are part of a bigger story. God’s story. The Bible isn’t about us. It’s about God. It’s His story. Are those made in His image, we’re part of it. But we’re not the heroes. There are some interesting characters throughout Scripture. Folks like Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and Esther. Even Peter, Paul, and Mary (not the folksingers!). God invites them into His story and uses them to do some amazing things. But they aren’t heroes. Far from it. They need a Hero. And that Hero of the story is Jesus. Christ Himself makes the audacious claim that the entire Bible is about Him (Jn 5:39). He has the gall to say Moses was writing about Him when the Mighty Mo wrote the first five books of the Bible (Jn 5:46). The resurrected Rabbi delivered the most incredible overview of the Old Testament to a couple of unsuspecting followers walking back to Emmaus. “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted them in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Lk 24:27). It’s one story and Jesus is the Hero of the story.

If the entire OT is about Jesus, that includes the roster in Nehemiah 7:6-73. God has invited the governor and those people listed to be part of His story. Just as that story didn’t end after the Old Testament, it kept on going after the Apostle John wrapped up writing Revelation. No, there won’t be any new books of the Bible. But God’s story continues. It continued with Zerubbabel. It continued with Nehemiah. It continues to this very day. Jesus graciously includes you and me to be part of the story of the greatest rescue story the universe will ever see. 

This passage is SO much more than a boring cut-and-paste. It’s part of His story.

Taking One Game at a Time

“We take it one game at a time.” It’s one of the classic pieces of folks call “coach speak.” It’s the way leaders in sports remind their players how they can’t play more than one opponent at a time. You can’t mope around after your last loss. You can’t keep celebrating your last victory. You need to move on and move forward. Here in Nehemiah 7:1-4, we see the governor moving forward after completing the massive project of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days. Immediately after they lay the last stone and hang the last gate, Nehemiah finds out some of the most influential families are still playing footsie with the enemy, Tobiah the Ammonite (Neh 6:17). Come to find out, this outlaw is one of their in-laws (Neh 6:18). The walls may be up but the city is still in great danger. Nehemiah keeps Jerusalem at DEFCON 1. He maintains a Homeland Security Threat Level Red. He does this not because of his lack of faith but because it is so deep. Because he trusts God, he takes the next step. He moves forward. Nehemiah’s a man who puts his deep faith into quick action.

Once again, the governor reminds us that the city’s defenses are back in a position the people haven’t seen for 140 years. “The wall had been built and I had set up the doors” (v2). God has used Nehemiah and the people to pull off the miraculous reconstruction project in just 52 days (Neh 6:15)! For you Trekkies out there, this is when Spock reassures Captain Kirk that the shields are back up on the Starship Enterprise. The people of Jerusalem are in a position to defend themselves once again. But this involves so much more than simply sitting behind the brand new walls and kicking back with a cold one. Nehemiah appoints “the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites” (v1). Gatekeepers. That makes sense. But what do they have to do with the singers and Levites? How is the security detail related to the worship team? As they sing on Sesame Street, “One of these things is not like the others.” Flip back over to the roster Ezra lists and you’ll see they are part of the same department (Ez 2:40-42). This is actually a typical grouping of personnel. Keeping the city and God’s people safe are a big part of reestablishing worship of God in His temple.

Okay, the walls are up. The doors are in place. The guards and worship team are ready to go. Nehemiah’s next step is handpicking two men who will essentially act as the new co-mayors of the newly walled city. “I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem” (v2). Just last year, Nehemiah’s brother first brought him the news about the Jerusalem crisis (Neh 1:2). We see that his bro has made the trip back from Susa to play a major role in the city’s renewal. Nehemiah names Hananiah as his brother’s partner. Hananiah has proved he’s a legit leader as “the governor of the castle” (v2). This is the fortress right around the corner from the temple. As the governor of Judah (Neh 5:14), As a humble servant leader, Nehemiah knows he can’t do it all himself. He shares the load of leadership by passing off the critical role of watching over the newly-walled Jerusalem to Hanani and Hananiah.

While the governor knows his brother is the real deal, he goes out of his way to describe just what a quality leader Hananiah is. “He was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many” (v2). In describing his dependability, Nehemiah drops the Hebrew term ‘emeth. It means firm, stable, reliable, true, and sure. He’s a lot like similar the dudes Nehemiah places in positions of responsibility for the storehouse “for they were considered reliable” (Neh 13:13). But it also lets us know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hananiah swims in the deep end of the pool when it comes to his faith in God. Nehemiah doubles down on that idea when he writes that Hananiah’s a “God-fearing man” (v2). That does NOT mean that he’s cowering in fear that God will zap him with a lightning bolt the next time he messes up. It’s the Bible’s way of painting the portrait of a worshiper. Hananiah loves and worships the LORD more than he’s concerned about pleasing people. We’ve already seen the fear of Yahweh play a big part in Nehemiah’s leadership. When the governor puts a stop to the mortgage, he encourages folks “to walk in the fear of God” (Neh 5:9). And he opens up his home and invites 150 people over for dinner every night “because of the fear of God” (Neh 5:15).

Hananiah’s reliability on the job and faith in God are in contrast to the nobles of Judah who were passing notes back and forth with Tobiah, one of the key thugs trying to bully God’s people (Neh 6:17). Hanani and Hananiah could be replacing the the rulers listed in back in chapter 3. “Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem” (Neh 3:9) and “Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem” (Neh 3:12). With the walls and gates in place, the situation in the city has changed. Nehemiah may well see the need for a new season of leadership and a new kind of leader. Rephaniah and Shallum have apparently been faithful leaders during a very difficult time. They hand over the stewardship of the city to the team of Hanani and Hananiah. It’s a reminder that our role or position may not be for a lifetime. It may simply be for season. Since God gives it to us, He has every right to reassign it. As Andy Stanley says, “Leadership is stewardship.”

Meanwhile, Nehemiah gives his new co-mayors specific instructions in guarding the city and using the walls and gates to their greatest advantage. First of all, “let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot” (v3). The threat level is incredibly high. Just because the walls are up doesn’t mean danger has disappeared. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and the rest of Jewish enemies are still out there. Just because the walls are up, don’t let your guard down. Normally the gates are opened at sunrise. Nehemiah wants them to take a little extra caution. Let’s wait just a little bit longer. Let’s wait until a little later in the day. Let’s wait until everybody is up and at ’em. Let’s avoid a sneak attack at sunrise. Secondly, he tells the co-mayors to “appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (v3). Those people living in the city will be the most committed to protecting it. The citizens of Jerusalem have skin in the game. Their families, homes, and businesses are on the line. 

The author then gives us an overview of the situation inside the newly built walls of Jerusalem. “The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt” (v4). This is a very big city with a very small population. There are a handful of folks living there but it’s basically still a ghost town. Most of the Jewish people who have returned to the Promised Land under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah are living in the suburbs and surrounding towns. One reason is that there are few places to live. The rebuilding of the wall took priority over reconstructing homes within the city. The focus of all the resources was on rebuilding the barrier. That’s going to change soon. But for right now, Jerusalem is all but deserted. 

Nehemiah took his leadership one game at a time. It’s not like he didn’t celebrate the completion of the wall project. But the governor of Judah knew that would all get flushed down the toilet if he didn’t take the next steps to protect the city. Jerusalem needed new leadership. The city needed a security detail. The people needed to remain on high alert. The walls are up but they couldn’t let down. Godly leaders keep their eyes on the next objective. They take it one game at a time.

Playing Footsie

It’s a familiar scene at the end of many movies and shows. Just when you think the hero has won the day and the people celebrate, the camera reveals something that you didn’t expect. You suddenly realize that evil is still active. The enemy isn’t dead. The story isn’t over. The fight will continue. That’s exactly what’s happening in Jerusalem (Neh 6:17-19). Nehemiah has just led the Jewish people in a miraculous civil engineering project to rebuild the broken walls of the city in just 52 days (Neh 6:15). As the crews hang the final massive gate into position, crowd goes wild! With their newfound protection, the enemies aren’t so cocky anymore. As a matter of fact, the bad guys know without a shadow of a doubt that God is behind the whole deal (Neh 6:16). But look over there. Check out those guys over on the edge of the party. What are they up to? Are they exchanging envelopes? The camera zooms in and film freezes. That letter is addressed to Tobiah! Just when you think the wall is up and the fight is over, Nehemiah knows the enemy still has something up his sleeve. Tobiah’s tentacles run deeply throughout the Jewish people. Certain families are passing notes back and forth with him like kids in study hall. It never ends well when you play footsie with the enemy.

The walls of Jerusalem have been a pile of bricks for almost 150 years since the day Nebuchadnezzar’s army crushed the city and hauled most of the people off to Babylon as slaves. But over the years, the people who remained were easy targets for local bullies. Surrounding kings no doubt put the squeeze on those left behind. When Nehemiah leads the people in rebuilding the walls, there’s a lot more damage left to clean up than just the city’s protective barrier. And it rears its ugly head once the project is complete. “Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them” (v17). Don’t forget who Tobiah is. He’s known as “Tobiah the Ammonite” (Neh 2:10). As the leader of the Ammonites, he’s an enemy of God’s people. He’s boys with that snake Sanballat the Horonite. These two have joined forces with another knucklehead named Geshem the Arab to do everything they can to sabotage the Jerusalem wall project and keep the Jewish people under their control. Yeah, so Tobiah is NOT one of the good guys.

So why is this thug exchanging letters with Hebrew muckety-mucks? Let’s be sure of what they are NOT doing. They’re not pen pals. They’re not exchanging Christmas cards. They’re not trading recipes. They’re not playing Words with Friends. Nehemiah lets us in on the fact that Tobiah is telling them exactly what to do. Tobiah’s got them running a PR campaign on his behalf, telling the governor that the leader of the Ammonites is really good guy. He shouldn’t believe what he reads in the papers. And if that’s not enough, they’re reporting back to Tobiah what’s going on inside Jerusalem. Like the puppet master, he’s pulling their strings and watching them dance.  

So what’s the deal? Why would the upper crust of Jewish society be playing footsie with a shady character like Tobiah? “For many in Judah were bound by oath to him” (v18). We’re not exactly sure what he’s holding over their heads, but he clearly has leverage. Think about that for a second. One of the Jewish people’s greatest enemies has a firm grip on some of their most influential families. That’s not good. Not good at all. Remember those lazy nobles from Tekoa who failed to lift a finger during the wall project (Neh 3:8). They could well be among those under Tobiah’s influence. We’ll see that the Ammonite leader is going to use these nobles as a strong lobby for his cause and to gain important intel from the inside.

While we don’t know exactly what he’s holding over their heads, Tobiah’s leverage comes from marrying into a couple of key families. It’s all “because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehonanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berecaiah as his wife” (v18). The Ammonite ruler’s wife is none other than a lady from one of the Jewish families who returned with Ezra (Ez 2:5). But as they say in the Ginsu knife commercial, but wait there’s more. Tobiah’s boy Jehonanan has also hooked up with one of God’s chosen people, Meshullam’s daughter. This same guy named Meshullam busted his tail during the rebuilding of the wall (Neh 3:4, 30). What he’s worked so hard to build, his daughter may be used in knocking down. A little later we’re going to discover that the High Priest Eliashib is also related to Tobiah somehow (Neh 13:4). Yeah, this thug’s tentacles run deep inside the walls of Jerusalem.

So why should Nehemiah get his undies in a bundle over a couple of marriages? This does NOT mean that God opposes interracial marriage. The Bible is full of cross-cultural couples like Joseph and Aseneth, Moses and Zipporah, Esther and Ahasuerus, as well as Boaz and Ruth. However, it’s a clear and blatant violation of God’s law to walk down the aisle with somebody who doesn’t share your trust in the LORD (Ex 34:16; Dt 7:3). Five hundred years later, the Apostle Paul warns his friends Corinth “not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2Cor 6:14). The LORD gave us these commandments to protect us from ourselves. He knows that conflicting beliefs for a husband and wife become a wedge that not only drives them apart and easily leads a spouse away from their relationship with God. It was this very sin that brought down King Solomon (1Ki 11:1-8). As a matter of fact, one of the idols that Solomon started worshiping through one of his 700 wives and 300 concubines (think about THAT for just a moment!) was the Ammonite god called Molech. Half a century later, an Ammonite named Tobiah is still a cancer on God’s people.

It’s not a stretch to believe Tobiah’s problem with Nehemiah and the Jewish people goes back a few years to Ezra’s leadership in Jerusalem. The Big E absolutely dropped the hammer on religious intermarriage (Ez 9-10). The Hebrew people were hopping in the sack with local hotties. It had a incredibly corrosive effect on Ezra’s efforts to restore the city and the people back to being God’s glorious city on a hill. In his commentary on Nehemiah, Matthew Henry sums up the situation: “A sinful love leads to a sinful league.” We soon discover these marriages have little to do with love and everything to do with espionage. Tobiah uses these compromised Jewish families to his advantage. “Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him” (v19). They never say anything negative about Tobiah to the governor. If that’s not bad enough, they're also tipping him off on inside info. It’s insider trading. These aren’t marriages but moles. In case you’re wondering, you don’t go out of your way to say God’s enemy is playing for God’s team. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Is 5:20) When you play footsie with the enemy, it’s not going to end well.

This Ammonite thug had a single purpose in passing notes to these key Jewish families. “And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid” (v19). He’s doing everything he can to terrorize and intimidate Nehemiah. We see the Hebrew word yare’, which means to fear, terrify, dread, or stand in awe. Don’t miss the fact that the author uses this same word three other times in this chapter alone. During the wall project, the enemies of Jerusalem “all wanted to frighten (Heb. yare’) us” (Neh 6:9). Nehemiah sniffs out Tobiah and Sanballat’s plot to grease the palm of a so-called prophet “that I should be afraid (Heb. yare’)” (Neh 6:13). The governor prays to God for strength to stand against his enemies and the prophets they’ve hired “who wanted to make me afraid (Heb. yare’)” (Neh 6:14). Using his inside info, Tobiah twists Nehemiah’s own words to threaten and bully him.

Did Tobiah’s plan work? Did Nehemiah freak out? Did he begin to question what he was doing? Did he doubt that God had given him this vision in the first place? Possibly. I would even go as far as to say it was probable. The passage doesn’t tell us what the wine-steward-turned-governor does about the secret correspondence with Tobiah. Maybe he uses it to his advantage and starts leaking info that will damage the Ammonite’s plans. But my guess is that he does what he’s done throughout the book. He remembers what God has shown him. He prays for strength and direction. He trusts in God and His provision. He knows what God starts, He finishes.  There’s just one little problem with Tobiah’s scheme. God. And through God’s strength and guidance, Nehemiah cuts off Tobiah’s tentacles and enjoys calamari.