Today’s passage: Nehemiah 13

Helpful thoughts:

• This chapter is believed to be the final chapter written in the Old Testament chronologically.  The final book in the minor prophets (Malachi) was written in conjunction with the events of this chapter.
• This final chapter is really quite sad.  As soon as Nehemiah was away and back at his post with the king of Persia, the Jewish leaders and people began to tear things apart all over again.
  • The people were breaking the Sabbath.
  • The High Priests family was desecrating the temple, consorting with the enemy (Sanballat & Tobiah), and intermarrying with pagans.
    • In preparing a room for Tobiah in the temple, this would have included setting up pagan idols…in the temple.
  • The Jewish people’s children were speaking the languages of other nations (Meaning, in their marriages with the pagan peoples, they were being assimilated into the world and forfeiting their distinction as God’s chosen people).
• The Jewish people were never going to be able to keep the covenant.  They were and are sinners (Just like the rest of us).  Man cannot accomplish righteousness through our own efforts.  We need rescue.  We need a savior!

Questions to consider:

1. Why do you think, Nehemiah asked the Lord three times to remember him and his efforts for Jerusalem and these people?  If you were in charge of a large group of people who were supposed to be following God and they continually rebelled, how might you feel about your leadership?
2. While some might see the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as a time of triumph for the nation of Israel, what should we learn from them as it relates to the whole of Scripture?  How does the continual inability of Israel/Jerusalem to live righteously point forward to the need for the Messiah to be a suffering servant and once-and-for-all sacrifice?
3. How does the reality that man cannot achieve righteousness on our own point you to Jesus?  Both for your salvation and your sanctification?  How can it affect how you pray for others as well?  How does it change how we might measure fruitfulness in our life?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 12

Helpful thoughts:

• In today’s chapter we get a detailed list of the priests and Levites (Generations worth) who would serve after the return from exile…
• And the account of the celebration for the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem.
• David was said to have invented different instruments during his lifetime.  These could have been played on this occasion (Verse 36, Amos 6:5).

Questions to consider:

1. What was the expression of emotion common among the people during these festivities (Verse 43)?  Why does this verse say the people became this way?
2. What did the joy that God gave the people cause them to do?  When God puts joy in our hearts (Galatians 5:22), what does it give us desire to do and with whom?  Then, after we follow Christ together what does it give us (John 15:10-11)?
3. To whom was the thanksgiving and singing directed?  Were the Jews all patting themselves on the back?  Was Nehemiah trying to hold a party in his own honor?  Why was it right and good for the people to give praise to God alone?  How does this compare to our need to praise and thank God for our salvation in Christ?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 11

Helpful thoughts:

• With the city of Jerusalem rebuilt and the commitment of the people to serve the Lord faithfully, it’s time to resettle in the land.
• Ten percent of the people remained in Jerusalem to populate the capital city (The people tithed again!).  The remaining ninety percent reclaimed their ancestral lands and went “home.”
• We get a reminder in this chapter, what remains of Israel are the descendants of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi.  The name “Jew” is derived from the tribe of Judah.

Questions to consider:

1. Who was blessed in verse 2?  What did they do?  In what way were they loving their families and communities by volunteering themselves?
2. As exciting as it might have been to see their lands resettled, what did this new Judah or Israel look like compared to how it have been before?  What challenges and obstacles might they have experienced as they journeyed back “home” and started over where they’d left over over seventy years prior?
3. How is God’s grace and blessing put on display in this passage?  Where are these formerly exiled Jews now dwelling?  What are they going to be able to do which they haven’t for over seventy years?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 10

Helpful thoughts:

• The first 27 verses list the names of the leaders who signed the covenant which we just read in chapter 9.
• This covenant was signed by leadership but the whole of the people pledged to follow it.  The “curse and oath” formalized the commitment of all the nation to follow God’s law.
• Much of the second half of this chapter details the changes needed for the people to continue keeping the law.  With a reduction in population and tough economic conditions, there needed to be changes to ensure the people could obey the Lord.

Questions to consider:

1. Why would these displays of unity among the leadership and among the people be so critical in encouraging the Jews as they moved forward?  Does one person’s passion and commitment make a church healthy?
2. How does their tithing prove to be so important in continuing the worship for the people in Israel?  What are their tithes used to provide?  How did that provide for the spiritual health of the nation?  How can that be related and applied today to the church?
3. What does it look like to “Not neglect the house of our God” today?  Was this vow just about the building or was it more than that?  How can you purposefully contribute and serve for the good of God’s house? (1 Corinthians 3:5-17)

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 9

Helpful thoughts:

• As Israel continued in repentance, they assembled to read the Word of God for three hours and then confessed their sins and worshipped for another three hours.
• The majority of this chapter contains the public confession that would have been read to the assembly and prayed to God during that three hour period.  This was how the leaders of Israel led the people in repentance.
• The prayer recounts the steadfast faithfulness of God and the continual rebellion of His people.
  • In verses 32 and on, the request turns to the present, including the promise of a covenanted loyalty on the part of Israel.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way does verse 33 seem to summarize the whole prayer in this chapter?  What were the people acknowledging was true about God and about themselves?
2. With everything we know about the covenants that God had previously given to Israel, and the way Israel treated Jesus Christ once He came, how does this attempt at a covenant taste a little more bitter than sweet?
3. What are we to learn from the continual failings of mankind to keep their own covenants with God?  On whose working does our salvation rely (Ephesians 2:8-9)?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 8

Helpful thoughts:

• The command to read the law before the whole assembly of people was given in Deuteronomy 31:10-13.
  • This reading took about six hours (Verse 3).
• After the reading to the whole assembly, other teachers/leaders went and read the Word of God and “gave the sense” of what was written.  The people were hearing the preaching and teaching of God’s Word!
• As the people heard of all the ways the nation of Israel had disobeyed, how God had been merciful and gracious to them, and how they would seek to move forward in obedience to them, there was reason for mourning, then for gratitude, and then for rejoicing.

Questions to consider:

1. How does verse 8 stand as a model for preaching and teaching still today?  Whose words do we need to hear and read?  Where does the Spirit work to teach us truth and cause us to grow (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?
2. In what ways should conviction and repentance look the same today as it did for these returned exiles?  Why can we progress from grieving our sin, to having hearts of gratitude, to being filled with the joy of the Lord?  How has Christ provided this for us?
3. As a people with repentant hearts, what did they want to do the next day and for the rest of the week after having gone so long without the Word of God (Verses 13, 18)?  How can our knowledge of God and the gospel drive our desires to know His word more?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 7

Helpful thoughts:

• Nehemiah’s commands for when the city gates would be opened and closed, and the security that was to be posted was more strict than the typical practices of cities in that area in that time.  Jerusalem was open, but with precautions.
• Most of this chapter is a repeat of Ezra 2.  (Click the link for other info and questions)
• By the end of the chapter and the recounting of all the Jews who had come back to the region, the wall is built, the work is done, and the people were able to settle in their hometowns…but there will be a greater work to do in the following chapters.

Questions to consider:

1. Who does Nehemiah acknowledge as the driving force behind his actions in this book (Verse 5)?  Why is it right to praise the Lord when great things are accomplished?  Whom do we start to praise when we forget all that God has done?
2. Why was Hananiah chosen to lead the people along with Hanani (Verse 2)?  How does the right fear of God make a person grow in faithfulness?  How does that right fear help a person become a good leader?
3. What do you think needs to be “built up” in the hearts of the people now that the wall has been built? (Look ahead to the next chapter for clues?  Churches have buildings, but what did Christ mean when he promised to “build” His church?  How can we participate in that building project today?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 6

Helpful thoughts:

• Make no mistake, the letter read to Nehemiah in verses 6-7 is a threat.  It basically says, if you do not meet with us, we will accuse you of treason against the king of Persia.
  • Perhaps the most cutting of the lies is the idea that Nehemiah would have hired false prophets to lie about God’s will…that he should be king.  That accusation is worse than treason against any human king.
• Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s main method of undermining the work was to induce fear.
  • The final letter came to Nehemiah “open” (Verse 5) as a sign of disrespect and to signify that it’s contents were public knowledge.  They wanted Nehemiah to think “everyone” believed he was a traitor.
• After the wall’s completion the Gentiles outside begrudgingly realized God had given favor to the Jews while the Jewish nobles continued to undercut the work!
  • The pagans had a better perception of what was going on than some of the Jews.

Questions to consider:

1. Who was ultimately to receive the credit for the completion of this major project, over and above Nehemiah (Verse 16)?  How does the mention of the surrounding people (Even enemies) drive this point home even further?
2. Who were Sanballat and Tobiah trying to stop?  Who had they truly picked a fight with?  Was Nehemiah their biggest adversary?
3. How does the victory we already have guaranteed in Christ give us confidence to move ahead when we see opposition and lack of approval in this world?

Today’s passage:  Nehemiah 5

Helpful thoughts:

• The Jews were not only dealing with challenges from without, but also challenges and injustice from within during a difficult economic time.
• The Jewish nobles (Who had also refused to help with the building and allied themselves with Sanballat and Tobiah) took advantage of their people’s struggles.  Charging high interest for loans and taking their people’s land and even children as slaves when they couldn’t pay the debt back. (Leviticus 25:36-37)
• In contrast, Nehemiah did not take the same taxes from the people during his time as governor and helped feed 150 on a regular basis from his own resources.  As the leader of the people, he set the tone and set an example which he could then expect from others in leadership as well.

Questions to consider:

1. What kinds of desires began to prevail in the nobility that threatened to derail the building process?  Who were they fighting for and trying to benefit?
2. What does a desire to please self (Self-centeredness) do in any community of people?  How can it negatively impact the church?
3. How has Christ’s love set the tone for the church (1 John 4:19)?  How can you give of yourself for the benefit of others in our church and the your community today?

Today’s passage: Nehemiah 4

Helpful thoughts:

• In today’s chapter, we see the methods of the adversaries to slow down or stop the building process.
• When the people had a mind to work they guarded the builders and continued working on building the wall, not arguing and defending their decision to build it against those who mocked and threatened.
• Some might be tempted to apply this passage in a way that motivates them to push forward in spite of any criticism no matter what.  But, if the criticism is correct and founded upon truth, repentance is necessary.
  • Nehemiah and the Jews were doing the right thing.  Therefore it was right to reject these criticisms.
  • King Ahab (for example) was often very wrong.  It was wrong for him to reject the criticisms/rebukes of the prophets of the Lord.

Questions to consider:

1. Ultimately, who are we to fear and seek to please?  If the whole world disagrees with us but we are pleasing the Lord, what must we do?  If only one speaks the truth in loving rebuke and the rest of the whole world agrees with us, but the Word of God says we should repent, what must we do?
2. To whom did Nehemiah turn in the face of opposition and mockery?  He had the approval and authority of the Persian king against any army that Samaria could assemble, but who was truly watching over the people of God?  How can you be confident in walking and resting under the Lord’s will?
3. What would be some key components to the command in 1 Peter 3:15?  What would be the subject matter of that kind of conversation?  Were Sanballat and Tobiah interested in asking those kinds of questions?  When we are asked and when we do answer, how does the Word of God instruct us to proceed?