Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God. And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”
“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
“You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
“You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
“But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
“Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
“You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
“You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
“Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
“But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
Nehemiah 9:1-37
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we look at the Old Testament, we see a glimpse of why God had to come to earth and walk among us in the person of Jesus. It was obvious that the Israelites weren’t willing or able to break what I often refer to as the Old Testament cycle.
What is the cycle? We see it perfectly highlighted in the ninth chapter of Nehemiah. Let me explain.
Let’s set the scene first. The Israelites had just finished observing the Festival of Tabernacles (also known as the Festival of Booths) during the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar (Tishri). As Chapter 9 opens, we read where it was the “twenty-fourth day of the same month” when the “Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads”, the symbolic gesture of repentance in Old Testament times. “They stood in their places”, and “confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors” as they “read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.”
Also with the Israelites were the Levites who were “standing on the stairs.” They included “Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani”. As the Israelites were crying out with “loud voices to the Lord their God”, the Levites were urging them to “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.” The Levites then began to deliver a prayer of confession and praise. It’s within this prayer that we see the Old Testament cycle first hand.
Note how the people of Israel were in God’s favor as the prayer begins. After praising God for His power and provision, the people recall how God looked over Abraham after He “found (Abraham’s) heart faithful”, making a “covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites” and keeping His promise because of His righteousness.
God continued to watch over His chosen people as He “saw the suffering” of the Israelites being held captive in Egypt, hearing “their cry at the Red Sea” and sending “signs and wonders against Pharaoh and against all his officials and all the people of his land.” Ultimately, God flashed His mighty power to save by dividing the sea before the Israelites “so that they passed through it on dry ground” and then drowned “their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.” Indeed God was with His people, leading them by day via a “pillar of cloud” and by night through a “pillar of fire” lighting the path He wished His people to take.
That path took the Israelites to Mount Sinai where God “came down” and “spoke to them from heaven”, giving them “regulations and laws that (were) just and right, and decrees and commands that (were) good.” The Lord also “made known to them” about the “holy Sabbath” and “gave them commands, decrees and laws through…Moses.” He additionally “gave them bread from heaven” to satisfy their hunger and “brought them water from (a) rock to quench their thirst. Indeed, God was with them, leading them toward the land He told them to “go…and take possession of.”
Yes, all was going so well for the people of Israel and their relationship with God. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way.
For scripture tells us the people of Israel who God had treated so well, chose to become “arrogant and stiff-necked”, freely violating the Lord’s commands. The people “refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles” God had “performed among them.” The people deserved serious judgment for their rebellious behavior but God is a God of grace and mercy. The Levites reminded the Israelites that God was “forgiving…gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
Because of this, the Lord didn’t “desert (the Israelites) even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.” No, God didn’t “abandon them in the wilderness” but rather guided them along their way…”by day” through a “pillar of cloud”…”by night” through a “pillar of fire…to shine on the way they were to take.” God also ensured the Israelites had provision in the wilderness, giving manna to eat and “water for their thirst.” Even when the disobedient Israelites, disobeyed God and refused to cross over to Canaan the first time, the Lord still showed mercy, passing judgment which involved 40 years in the wilderness during which He “sustained them” ensuring “they lacked nothing.”
God blessed His chosen people further as the following words from our scriptures relay:
“You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.”
Despite all the wrongs that the Israelites had committed against God, He took care of them. How did they reward His faithful care?
By being unfaithful to Him.
We read where the people of Israel chose to be “disobedient and rebelled against” God, turning “their backs on (His) law” and killing His prophets who He had sent to warn the people and exhort them to turn back to God. Additionally, they “committed awful blasphemies.”
The consequence for the Israelites was God delivering them “into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them.”
So what did Israel do? Once oppressed, “they cried out to” God and He again showed them compassion and sent deliverers to them who “rescued them from the hand of their enemies.”
Would the people finally learn to be obedient and not rebel against God’s will and commands?
No, because “as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in (God’s) sight.”
Again, judgment came and God “abandoned (the Israelites) to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them.”
Are you seeing the cycle yet? Because once in trouble, the Israelites “cried out…again” and once again, God “heard from heaven” and, with compassion, delivered them again. Scripture is spot on when it states that this happened “time after time.” That’s the essence of a cycle. It happens over and over and over again.
After another restoration, we read where God warned the Israelites to turn back to His law only for the Israelites to respond with arrogance and disobedience, sinning against God’s ordinances and refusing to listen to Him.
How many times more times would the people of Israel disrespect their Lord and get away with it?
You would think God would have gotten fed up but instead He remained patient for many years and continued to warn His people through the prophets.
And the people repaid His patience with a continued obstinance and refusal to follow His word and way. Again, there was judgment as God “gave them into the hands of (their) neighboring peoples” but that was also coupled with continued mercy and graciousness as the Lord “did not put an end to them or abandon them.”
Indeed, as the Levites would go onto confess:
“In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.”
God gave Israel everything and they chose to disrespect Him in return. And they did it over and over and over again.
Do you see the Old Testament Cycle now?
It went like this in four steps:
1. The people of Israel would choose to disobey God’s commands and enter into sin.
2. God would warn His people through chosen messengers (i.e. prophets).
3. The people would ignore the warning and so God would pass judgment on them.
4. The people would cry out to God in the midst of their punishment and God would restore them.
And then they would return to number 1 and it would start all over again.
From the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt on, the people of Israel followed this pattern. It’s little wonder that God had to finally come to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to try and teach us first hand as to how to live a godly life. The people weren’t getting it when He simply tried to speak through chosen leaders.
So how do we measure up today? How much are we like those Old Testament Israelites?
Maybe more like them than we would like to confess.
For how many times have we chosen to disobey God’s commands and consciously enter into sin? And how many times have we felt convicted through a written or spoken word of God or urged by the Holy Spirit to change direction, only to choose to not abandon our sin? And how many times did we end up finding ourselves in trouble as a result of our poor choice to select sin over obedience to God, getting to a point where we found ourselves crying out to Him for help? And how many times has He answered our cries by delivering us from our problem, only to be repaid by us returning later to a stubborn disobedience and sin toward His will and way?
Friends, we can learn a lot from this passage and through the study of the Israelites. As an old saying goes, if we don’t learn from the mistakes of the past, we’re doomed to repeat them. As we proceed into a new year, let’s do so with a renewed commitment to obedience, following the first hand example of God who walked with us as Jesus Christ. We’re blessed with the Gospels so we can recount how He lived so we can do likewise.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
GETTING BACK TO THE BASICS
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written.
So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
Nehemiah 8:13-18
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Israelites getting reestablished in Jerusalem was more than just a physical, tangible return. Yes, the temple needed rebuilt as well as the walls, gates and homes within the city but there was a need for something even greater…a need for spiritual rebirth as well and this often begins with a return to the basics. We see this evident in the lives of the Jerusalem Israelites as Nehemiah Chapter 8 comes to a close.
You’ll recall that Chapter 8 opens with the people asking for Ezra, identified as not only a teacher of the Law of Moses but a priest in the scriptures, to read to them from the Book of the Law of Moses (Nehemiah 8:1). This book contained what we know as the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The people displayed great reverence when receiving the word, bowing before God in worship with their faces to the ground (v6). They also expressed a great deal of emotion, weeping as they listened to the word of the Law (v9).
In the midst of the sorrow, Nehemiah urged the Israelites to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (v10). And the people did just that as they went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy…all because they understood the words that had been made known to them through the readings and teachings of Ezra and the Levites (v12).
As we read through the rest of the chapter, we find the Israelites getting back to basics and observing special festivals as directed by God’s word. In the case of the Jerusalem Israelites, they observed what was referred to as the Feast (or Festival) of Tabernacles (sometimes also called The Feast or Festival of Booths. The following scripture from Leviticus, highlights what was required under the Book of Law:
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.
(“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)
“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 23:33-43
Returning to their worship roots meant returning to the ways that the Israelite’s ancestors worshiped…and that was in accordance with God’s requirements. And that’s exactly what happened after “Ezra the teacher” continued to read the “words of the law” to “the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites” on the “second day of the month.”
Through their study, they “found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem.” It was written that they were to “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”…a requirement for the festival that commemorated God’s protection for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert for forty years following deliverance from the Egyptian captivity.
Showing a willingness to obey the scriptures, we read where “the whole company that had returned from exile” went out and “brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.” How significant was this event and the way it was carried out? Our passage tells us that the festival had not been celebrated like this, with the Israelites building temporary shelters and living in them, since “the days of Joshua”…which refers back to when the people of Israel first entered into the Promised Land.
As the chapter closes, we read where the Israelites “celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.” It’s also important to note that during the festival, the people of Israel experienced great joy. We can do likewise when we worship properly and within the expectations of God.
The Israelites found their way back to strong worship when they returned to the basics. Maybe you have found your spiritual life waning and in need of revival. You can start your way back to renewal today by shifting your focus back on the Lord in your life. The following words from the contemporary Christian trio, Phillips, Craig and Dean, echo this ideal:
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord for the thing I’ve made it
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
Maybe you need to come back to the heart of worship. Get back to the basics and make your life all about Jesus, worshiping Him fully in spirit and in truth, and you can find yourself there today.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written.
So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
Nehemiah 8:13-18
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Israelites getting reestablished in Jerusalem was more than just a physical, tangible return. Yes, the temple needed rebuilt as well as the walls, gates and homes within the city but there was a need for something even greater…a need for spiritual rebirth as well and this often begins with a return to the basics. We see this evident in the lives of the Jerusalem Israelites as Nehemiah Chapter 8 comes to a close.
You’ll recall that Chapter 8 opens with the people asking for Ezra, identified as not only a teacher of the Law of Moses but a priest in the scriptures, to read to them from the Book of the Law of Moses (Nehemiah 8:1). This book contained what we know as the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The people displayed great reverence when receiving the word, bowing before God in worship with their faces to the ground (v6). They also expressed a great deal of emotion, weeping as they listened to the word of the Law (v9).
In the midst of the sorrow, Nehemiah urged the Israelites to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (v10). And the people did just that as they went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy…all because they understood the words that had been made known to them through the readings and teachings of Ezra and the Levites (v12).
As we read through the rest of the chapter, we find the Israelites getting back to basics and observing special festivals as directed by God’s word. In the case of the Jerusalem Israelites, they observed what was referred to as the Feast (or Festival) of Tabernacles (sometimes also called The Feast or Festival of Booths. The following scripture from Leviticus, highlights what was required under the Book of Law:
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.
(“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)
“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 23:33-43
Returning to their worship roots meant returning to the ways that the Israelite’s ancestors worshiped…and that was in accordance with God’s requirements. And that’s exactly what happened after “Ezra the teacher” continued to read the “words of the law” to “the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites” on the “second day of the month.”
Through their study, they “found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem.” It was written that they were to “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”…a requirement for the festival that commemorated God’s protection for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert for forty years following deliverance from the Egyptian captivity.
Showing a willingness to obey the scriptures, we read where “the whole company that had returned from exile” went out and “brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.” How significant was this event and the way it was carried out? Our passage tells us that the festival had not been celebrated like this, with the Israelites building temporary shelters and living in them, since “the days of Joshua”…which refers back to when the people of Israel first entered into the Promised Land.
As the chapter closes, we read where the Israelites “celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.” It’s also important to note that during the festival, the people of Israel experienced great joy. We can do likewise when we worship properly and within the expectations of God.
The Israelites found their way back to strong worship when they returned to the basics. Maybe you have found your spiritual life waning and in need of revival. You can start your way back to renewal today by shifting your focus back on the Lord in your life. The following words from the contemporary Christian trio, Phillips, Craig and Dean, echo this ideal:
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord for the thing I’ve made it
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
Maybe you need to come back to the heart of worship. Get back to the basics and make your life all about Jesus, worshiping Him fully in spirit and in truth, and you can find yourself there today.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
THE HEART OF WORSHIP
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.
So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”
Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
Ezra 7:73b, 8:1-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
What does the true spirit of worship look like? I believe we get a glimpse of this as we look at Nehemiah, Chapter 8.
The chapter begins in Tisri, the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. We read where the “Israelites had settled in their towns” before gathering “together as one in the square before the Water Gate.”
Why did they gather? The congregation of Israelites wished to hear the word of God.
As we gather together in church on Sundays with our brothers and sisters who came from where they have settled in, do we come together with the same sense of anticipation…eager to hear the word of God?
I think you’ll agree that we should be. For an excitement to experience God’s word is one of the essential components at the heart of worship.
There was no better one to deliver the word of God, and in particular God’s law, than Ezra, who you’ll remember returned from exile in Babylon to do just that…teach God’s law to the Israelites. And so we read where the gathered worshippers (which included “men and women and all who were able to understand”) asked for “Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.” Ezra did as they requested and while standing on a “high wooden platform built for the occasion”, he “brought the Law before the assembly”, reading it “from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence (of)…all the people (who) listened attentively to the Book of the Law.”
How long have you spent in worship on any one Sunday? I doubt that many of us stood from the break of day through noon, listening attentively to God’s word as the gathered Israelites did. Hopefully, if the opportunity presented itself we would do as they did, our deep hunger for God’s word transcending any other demands we might have on a day of worship.
For we are not only expected by God to be excited and eager to hear His word but we should be willing to spend as much time as possible in learning from it, longing to be fed by His wisdom and guidance more than anything else the world might present as an alternative. A heart for worship is just that…worship where the heart is fully invested, no matter how long that worship might be. We definitely see this portrayed in the actions of the people of Israel.
So how did the people respond to Ezra’s teaching? Our scriptures tell us that as Ezra “opened the book” of the Law of Moses, the people “all stood up” which led to Ezra, the worship leader, to praise “the Lord, the great God”. In response to Ezra’s praise, “all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen! Amen!’” before bowing down and worshiping “the Lord with their faces to the ground.”
Do you sense the atmosphere of complete reverence for God in the Israelite’s Jerusalem worship?
As the book of the Law of Moses was opened, the people stood in respect to receive God’s Holy Word. Ezra, the worship leader, displayed praise unto the Giver of the holy Word he was about to read. And the people, in a display of full humbleness before the God of all, bowed down to worship the Lord with their faces to the ground.
We typically don’t see this sense of worship in our churches today, I’m afraid. We too often sit in the pews almost like we sit at home before the television. And unfortunately, maybe we’re more invested in the television than we are in receiving the holy Word of God in worship. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s obvious that the heart of Israel was fully invested in worshiping the God who had provided so much for them. He was their treasure and so it was easy to bow before Him in humble and dedicated worship. The heart of worship for them began with their own hearts turned to God in humble submission. God still expects us to do so today.
Ezra wasn’t the only teacher on the first day of the seventh month. For we read where the people were also taught by “the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah” who “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.”
God lifted up teachers to explain the Word of God to others. He did so in the days of Nehemiah and He still does so today. I feel blessed to have answered that calling from God for nearly 20 years now. To understand the Lord and His expectations for us in life, we need His Word but we also need those He has blessed with the gift of interpretation and instruction. Another element at the heart of worship is an understanding of God’s Word and how it applies to the way we live as we seek to carry out God’s will.
Well, after receiving the instruction from the Word of God, scripture tells us that many of the people of Israel became emotional, mourning and weeping. Perhaps the tears were brought on by conviction, a sorrow from knowing that they had not kept God’s law and had allowed sin to creep into their lives. Maybe the tears were tears of joy as the people reflected on what God has done for them and their ancestors.
Either way, we see where “Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing” urged the people to not be in remorse saying, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” Instead, Nehemiah exhorted the people to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” And with that, “all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”
When we come to worship, with an excitement and dedication toward receiving the teaching from the Word of God, we can expect that in the midst of our worship and our coming to understanding, we will often sense remorse from conviction or tears of happiness as we are reminded of how good the Lord has been to us and others. But as we experience these emotions, we should leave worship with a culminating sense of joy…because as Nehemiah shared with the people of Israel, “the joy of the Lord is (our) strength.” No matter what we go through in or outside of worship, we should always remember this…that the joy of the Lord is always our strength.
After all, that’s why we worship the Lord isn’t it? We do so out of the pure joy of knowing Him, of serving Him, of being blessed by Him.
Do you live your life each day in the truest heart of worship for God…a worship that is based on a deep, heartfelt joy for the Lord and all He is to you?
If so, then you are already living with a heart that is centered on the heart of worship.
If not, why not truly let the joy of the Lord be your strength? For in the midst of life’s circumstances, we can only live in the spirit of rejoicing by way of the Lord’s strength…a strength by which we can do all things (Philippians 4:13).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.
So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”
Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
Ezra 7:73b, 8:1-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
What does the true spirit of worship look like? I believe we get a glimpse of this as we look at Nehemiah, Chapter 8.
The chapter begins in Tisri, the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. We read where the “Israelites had settled in their towns” before gathering “together as one in the square before the Water Gate.”
Why did they gather? The congregation of Israelites wished to hear the word of God.
As we gather together in church on Sundays with our brothers and sisters who came from where they have settled in, do we come together with the same sense of anticipation…eager to hear the word of God?
I think you’ll agree that we should be. For an excitement to experience God’s word is one of the essential components at the heart of worship.
There was no better one to deliver the word of God, and in particular God’s law, than Ezra, who you’ll remember returned from exile in Babylon to do just that…teach God’s law to the Israelites. And so we read where the gathered worshippers (which included “men and women and all who were able to understand”) asked for “Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.” Ezra did as they requested and while standing on a “high wooden platform built for the occasion”, he “brought the Law before the assembly”, reading it “from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence (of)…all the people (who) listened attentively to the Book of the Law.”
How long have you spent in worship on any one Sunday? I doubt that many of us stood from the break of day through noon, listening attentively to God’s word as the gathered Israelites did. Hopefully, if the opportunity presented itself we would do as they did, our deep hunger for God’s word transcending any other demands we might have on a day of worship.
For we are not only expected by God to be excited and eager to hear His word but we should be willing to spend as much time as possible in learning from it, longing to be fed by His wisdom and guidance more than anything else the world might present as an alternative. A heart for worship is just that…worship where the heart is fully invested, no matter how long that worship might be. We definitely see this portrayed in the actions of the people of Israel.
So how did the people respond to Ezra’s teaching? Our scriptures tell us that as Ezra “opened the book” of the Law of Moses, the people “all stood up” which led to Ezra, the worship leader, to praise “the Lord, the great God”. In response to Ezra’s praise, “all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen! Amen!’” before bowing down and worshiping “the Lord with their faces to the ground.”
Do you sense the atmosphere of complete reverence for God in the Israelite’s Jerusalem worship?
As the book of the Law of Moses was opened, the people stood in respect to receive God’s Holy Word. Ezra, the worship leader, displayed praise unto the Giver of the holy Word he was about to read. And the people, in a display of full humbleness before the God of all, bowed down to worship the Lord with their faces to the ground.
We typically don’t see this sense of worship in our churches today, I’m afraid. We too often sit in the pews almost like we sit at home before the television. And unfortunately, maybe we’re more invested in the television than we are in receiving the holy Word of God in worship. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s obvious that the heart of Israel was fully invested in worshiping the God who had provided so much for them. He was their treasure and so it was easy to bow before Him in humble and dedicated worship. The heart of worship for them began with their own hearts turned to God in humble submission. God still expects us to do so today.
Ezra wasn’t the only teacher on the first day of the seventh month. For we read where the people were also taught by “the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah” who “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.”
God lifted up teachers to explain the Word of God to others. He did so in the days of Nehemiah and He still does so today. I feel blessed to have answered that calling from God for nearly 20 years now. To understand the Lord and His expectations for us in life, we need His Word but we also need those He has blessed with the gift of interpretation and instruction. Another element at the heart of worship is an understanding of God’s Word and how it applies to the way we live as we seek to carry out God’s will.
Well, after receiving the instruction from the Word of God, scripture tells us that many of the people of Israel became emotional, mourning and weeping. Perhaps the tears were brought on by conviction, a sorrow from knowing that they had not kept God’s law and had allowed sin to creep into their lives. Maybe the tears were tears of joy as the people reflected on what God has done for them and their ancestors.
Either way, we see where “Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing” urged the people to not be in remorse saying, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” Instead, Nehemiah exhorted the people to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” And with that, “all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”
When we come to worship, with an excitement and dedication toward receiving the teaching from the Word of God, we can expect that in the midst of our worship and our coming to understanding, we will often sense remorse from conviction or tears of happiness as we are reminded of how good the Lord has been to us and others. But as we experience these emotions, we should leave worship with a culminating sense of joy…because as Nehemiah shared with the people of Israel, “the joy of the Lord is (our) strength.” No matter what we go through in or outside of worship, we should always remember this…that the joy of the Lord is always our strength.
After all, that’s why we worship the Lord isn’t it? We do so out of the pure joy of knowing Him, of serving Him, of being blessed by Him.
Do you live your life each day in the truest heart of worship for God…a worship that is based on a deep, heartfelt joy for the Lord and all He is to you?
If so, then you are already living with a heart that is centered on the heart of worship.
If not, why not truly let the joy of the Lord be your strength? For in the midst of life’s circumstances, we can only live in the spirit of rejoicing by way of the Lord’s strength…a strength by which we can do all things (Philippians 4:13).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Monday, January 2, 2012
LISTENING TO WHAT GOD PUTS IN YOUR HEART
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shekaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do. I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah):
The list of the men of Israel:
the descendants of Parosh 2,172, of Shephatiah 372, of Arah 652, of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,818, of Elam 1,254, of Zattu 845, of Zakkai 760, of Binnui 648, of Bebai 628, of Azgad 2,322, of Adonikam 667, of Bigvai 2,067, of Adin 655, of Ater (through Hezekiah) 98, of Hashum 328, of Bezai 324, of Hariph 112, of Gibeon 95, the men of Bethlehem and Netophah 188, of Anathoth 128, of Beth Azmaveth 42, of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth 743, of Ramah and Geba 621, of Mikmash 122, of Bethel and Ai 123, of the other Nebo 52, of the other Elam 1,254, of Harim 320, of Jericho 345, of Lod, Hadid and Ono 721, of Senaah 3,930
The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) 973, of Immer 1,052, of Pashhur 1,247, of Harim 1,017
The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel through the line of Hodaviah) 74
The musicians: the descendants of Asaph 148
The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai 138
The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, Keros, Sia, Padon, Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Meunim, Nephusim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah and Hatipha
The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida, Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon
The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon 392
The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel: the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 642
And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
The whole company numbered 42,360, besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 245 male and female singers. There were 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests. Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver and 67 garments for priests.
The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns.
Nehemiah 6:17-19, 7:1-73a
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In his heart to select men of integrity
In his heart to account for the people of Jerusalem.
As Chapter 6 closes, Nehemiah’s faithful attachment to God and His provision and protection bore fruit. For the enemies of Israel surrounding Jerusalem found themselves afraid and out of confidence after they realized the labors of the Israelites invested in rebuilding the walls and gates protecting the holy city were “done with the help of God.” (v16). And although Tobiah continued to try and intimidate Nehemiah through the letters he sent back and forth to Judah’s nobles, they had no impact on Nehemiah’s leadership.
As Chapter 7 opens, we read where the “wall had been rebuilt” around Jerusalem and the doors had been set in place. Additionally, Nehemiah had appointed the “gatekeepers,…musicians and…Levites.
He also made one major assignment, placing his brother Hanani “in charge of Jerusalem” along with “Hananiah the commander of the citadel.” Scripture tells us that Hanani wasn’t selected because he was a family member of Nehemiah but rather “because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do.” To the leadership and people of Jerusalem, Nehemiah, the governor of Judah (see 5:14), issued the following orders:
“The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
Now fortified by the newly rebuilt walls and gates, scripture tells us Jerusalem was “large and spacious” with “few people in it” mostly because “the houses had not yet been rebuilt.” We get a sense that Nehemiah didn’t have a good account of how many Israelites he had back in the holy city because we read where God put “it into (Nehemiah’s) heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families.” The remainder of Chapter 7 details the accounting and the “genealogical record of those who had been the first to return”, a document found by Nehemiah.
We could get bogged down in the numbers and names of who was in Jerusalem but I think God is speaking to us in this passage about the importance of listening for His guidance and then acting on it when we receive it. We can learn a lot from Nehemiah regarding what God expects from us as we seek to serve Him daily.
God had placed it on Nehemiah’s heart to perform a registration of families and Nehemiah responded in obedience, doing exactly what God wanted. We have to think that it was God who led Nehemiah to appoint his brother as the leader of Jerusalem, a man of integrity (an extremely important trait for any leader in God’s eyes) and a man who feared God. What better man to lead God’s holy city than a man who respected and revered the One who deemed the city holy.
Yes, God had placed many things in Nehemiah’s heart and Nehemiah’s obedience had led the people of Israel out of the ashes of ruin and into a holy renaissance.
As we enter into the new year, we can all expect that God is ready to place many things in our hearts as well as He seeks to guide and lead us toward His will for us. How will we respond to what He places on our hearts? Will we, like Nehemiah, react in full obedience and then watch as the rewards of that obedience are played out on God’s grand stage of life? Or will we place our own selfish desires ahead of God’s, doing what we want to do and ignoring His call?
Ask yourself what God would want us to do. I believe you will find every time that He wants us to listen to what He puts in our heart. Let’s commit to do just that in the days and years ahead.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shekaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do. I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah):
The list of the men of Israel:
the descendants of Parosh 2,172, of Shephatiah 372, of Arah 652, of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,818, of Elam 1,254, of Zattu 845, of Zakkai 760, of Binnui 648, of Bebai 628, of Azgad 2,322, of Adonikam 667, of Bigvai 2,067, of Adin 655, of Ater (through Hezekiah) 98, of Hashum 328, of Bezai 324, of Hariph 112, of Gibeon 95, the men of Bethlehem and Netophah 188, of Anathoth 128, of Beth Azmaveth 42, of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth 743, of Ramah and Geba 621, of Mikmash 122, of Bethel and Ai 123, of the other Nebo 52, of the other Elam 1,254, of Harim 320, of Jericho 345, of Lod, Hadid and Ono 721, of Senaah 3,930
The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) 973, of Immer 1,052, of Pashhur 1,247, of Harim 1,017
The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel through the line of Hodaviah) 74
The musicians: the descendants of Asaph 148
The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai 138
The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, Keros, Sia, Padon, Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Meunim, Nephusim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah and Hatipha
The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida, Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon
The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon 392
The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel: the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 642
And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
The whole company numbered 42,360, besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 245 male and female singers. There were 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests. Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver and 67 garments for priests.
The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns.
Nehemiah 6:17-19, 7:1-73a
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In his heart to select men of integrity
In his heart to account for the people of Jerusalem.
As Chapter 6 closes, Nehemiah’s faithful attachment to God and His provision and protection bore fruit. For the enemies of Israel surrounding Jerusalem found themselves afraid and out of confidence after they realized the labors of the Israelites invested in rebuilding the walls and gates protecting the holy city were “done with the help of God.” (v16). And although Tobiah continued to try and intimidate Nehemiah through the letters he sent back and forth to Judah’s nobles, they had no impact on Nehemiah’s leadership.
As Chapter 7 opens, we read where the “wall had been rebuilt” around Jerusalem and the doors had been set in place. Additionally, Nehemiah had appointed the “gatekeepers,…musicians and…Levites.
He also made one major assignment, placing his brother Hanani “in charge of Jerusalem” along with “Hananiah the commander of the citadel.” Scripture tells us that Hanani wasn’t selected because he was a family member of Nehemiah but rather “because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do.” To the leadership and people of Jerusalem, Nehemiah, the governor of Judah (see 5:14), issued the following orders:
“The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
Now fortified by the newly rebuilt walls and gates, scripture tells us Jerusalem was “large and spacious” with “few people in it” mostly because “the houses had not yet been rebuilt.” We get a sense that Nehemiah didn’t have a good account of how many Israelites he had back in the holy city because we read where God put “it into (Nehemiah’s) heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families.” The remainder of Chapter 7 details the accounting and the “genealogical record of those who had been the first to return”, a document found by Nehemiah.
We could get bogged down in the numbers and names of who was in Jerusalem but I think God is speaking to us in this passage about the importance of listening for His guidance and then acting on it when we receive it. We can learn a lot from Nehemiah regarding what God expects from us as we seek to serve Him daily.
God had placed it on Nehemiah’s heart to perform a registration of families and Nehemiah responded in obedience, doing exactly what God wanted. We have to think that it was God who led Nehemiah to appoint his brother as the leader of Jerusalem, a man of integrity (an extremely important trait for any leader in God’s eyes) and a man who feared God. What better man to lead God’s holy city than a man who respected and revered the One who deemed the city holy.
Yes, God had placed many things in Nehemiah’s heart and Nehemiah’s obedience had led the people of Israel out of the ashes of ruin and into a holy renaissance.
As we enter into the new year, we can all expect that God is ready to place many things in our hearts as well as He seeks to guide and lead us toward His will for us. How will we respond to what He places on our hearts? Will we, like Nehemiah, react in full obedience and then watch as the rewards of that obedience are played out on God’s grand stage of life? Or will we place our own selfish desires ahead of God’s, doing what we want to do and ignoring His call?
Ask yourself what God would want us to do. I believe you will find every time that He wants us to listen to what He puts in our heart. Let’s commit to do just that in the days and years ahead.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Sunday, January 1, 2012
WHAT CAN BE NEW IN THE NEW YEAR?
OK…the clock has struck midnight…the ball has dropped in Times Square…the chorus of “Happy New Year” chants have been sounded…the noise makers have been blown…the bubbly (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) has been tasted. And as we awake to the dawn of the first day of this year, we are left with many questions, one of which being…”What can be new in this new year?”
We may have thought about this already. Many people do, you know. They see the new year as a chance to get a fresh start…to manage their money better and get out of debt…to lose weight and take better care of their bodies…to do strive to make a difference in some way. Yes…many resolutions will be made…and many resolutions will go by the way side before the first month of the new year is over. For as much as resolutions are a part of New Year’s holiday tradition, failing to meet those resolutions are just as much a part of the tradition once the year begins.
Don’t we yearn for resolutions that will stick…resolutions that will persevere and carry us day after day after day to a place where we feel better about ourselves, our purpose and the world we live in. What would you say if I told you that God has a plan for us to be new in the new year and remain new throughout? Would you be interested?
If so, here is God’s word for you for the new year…a word that will focus on what can be new for you if you’re just willing to open your heart and mind to His Spirit and wisdom.
1. You will first need a new heart and spirit.
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 18:31
If you’re truly going to start out the new year fresh and ready for renewal, you first need to leave the past behind. Last year is gone and although you may be dealing with matters that carried over, those are ongoing issues that God will help you with in the new year, possibly in new ways.
What you don’t need to carry over is guilt, worry, anxiety, or stress from what happened before. If you’ve done wrong, genuinely repent and accept God’s forgiveness for you. Confess your wrongs and then turn away from them with a new heart and new Spirit…a new heart and new Spirit that can only come from the Lord...a new heart and a new Spirit that places the Lord and His will first in everything…a new heart and Spirit that is committed to serve the Lord full time, just as He serves us.
Friends, you’ll never get off of this first point unless you move forward with a new heart and new Spirit. Everything else comes as a result of it.
So pray this prayer with me right now:
Lord Jesus, I am leaving everything in my past behind right now…all my hurt, all my pain, all my sins I have committed. I am leaving them behind so I can be free to run into Your arms, for I long for the love, wisdom and safety that only You can bring. I turn all that I am over to you and lay all my present burdens at Your feet, asking you into my heart and praying you will make it new. And as I open my heart wide for You to enter in, I also ask that you fill me with Your Holy Spirit…fill me to overflow Lord so that all I am is what You are. For I yearn to be new in this new year Lord Jesus and surrender my life so You can make it so. For it’s in Your Holy and Precious Name I pray. Amen.
2. You need to fully embrace His new mercies.
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
When we fully surrender our heart to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, something amazing happens. For not only are we new but we see everything through His eyes, including a deeper appreciation for who He was and what He did for us.
As we do this, we are fully sensitized to the fact God could have wiped all of us off the face of creation because of our sinfulness, but instead He decided to give His only Son as a living sacrifice for us all. Why? Because of His great love for us. In our place, He instead gave up His His perfect, unblemished Lamb…His Son Jesus…who was nailed to the cross where we all should have been…and His shed blood became the sin atonement for us all.
So our waking every day…with our new heart and new Spirit…should bring us into a daily routine of thanksgiving and praise…thanksgiving and praise because God has once again blessed us with another opportunity to experience the awesome wonder of life…life we don’t deserve and yet we are granted...all because of the price paid by Jesus on the cross.
But how have we done in showing God how grateful we are for the great sacrifice He made for us…a sacrifice that cost Him His Son? Frankly, we haven’t done too well because given a choice between righteousness and sinfulness, too often we have chosen the latter…and I often wonder how God feels when we do. Sad? Angry? I would say both. And since He has infinite power, he certainly could choose to vent His wrath on us. But He doesn’t. Why? Because He loves us as a parent loves a child…only He is the perfect Parent…our Heavenly Father. And so, although we frustrate Him, He still loves us…and His compassions never fail. They are truly new every morning as we awake and breathe in His grace…a grace that is amazing…a grace that brings us into each new day.
Indeed, great is God’s faithfulness. Great is His mercy, grace and love. And with a new heart and new Spirit, we’re ready to fully appreciate both each and every day we’re given, embracing His mercies and moving forward in an attitude of service and thanks to Jesus…an attitude reflected in the chorus of this classic hymn:
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin hath left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
3. You can sing a new song.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Psalm 40:3
Something exciting happens when we surrender ourselves and get a new heart and Spirit from the Lord…a new heart and Spirit that allows us to fully appreciate the sacrifices that were made for us and the mercies we receive every day.
We want to tell others about it.
And they’ll be asking because if you truly surrender yourself to the Lord, you will be different. Everything about you will change and it will be most evident in your life attitude. For you will see everything in a confident and positive way…emboldened by a faith and trust in the Lord who through which all things are possible. The Lord will put a new song in your mouth and those words when sung out will comprise a hymn of praise to Him…a hymn of praise that will touch everyone around you. And lest you think, “…but I’m definitely not a singer” understand that God’s word here is not only telling us that the Lord places new music in our mouths but new words as well…as in singing the praises of someone.
When someone does something great, don’t you want to tell others about it?
Well, who does greater things for us every day than the Lord?
And if we truly have a new heart and Spirit…if we truly have allowed ourselves to fully appreciate the sacrifice that Jesus made and the mercies that come to us every morning as a result of God’s love…then we will want to do nothing but sing the praises of our Lord to everyone we see…and those songs of praise will come because the Lord has placed them in our mouths.
4. We can be born or reborn into a living hope.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 3:3-5
As we accept a new heart and new Spirit from the Lord…as we then realize and revere the great cost paid by Jesus for us on the cross and how this came as a result of the Father’s mercy, grace and love which we experience new every morning…and as we then go forth to sing the Lord’s praises to all we see, we find ourselves born or reborn into a living hope…a living hope through Christ Jesus that keeps us buoyed up in joy and peace…free from anything that would encumber us and fully ready to go forth and carry out God’s will for us each day.
In this birth or rebirth, we also realize how richly blessed we are. For we discover that through Jesus’ resurrection, we have gained a chance to also join Him in an everlasting life when this earthly life ends. In other words, through Jesus Christ death is not the end but just the awesome, miraculous beginning of a life free from everything that afflicts us in the here and now…an eternal inheritance that no one or nothing can take from us after we receive it because it is kept in heaven for us…a gift, the greatest gift ever, yet to be received.
Friends, the new year will only be business as usual if we choose for it to be that way. I don’t know about you but I would rather have exciting over boring…exhilarating over dull…fresh over routine. The good news is that through the Lord, we can have everything new this year…and it starts with that first step.
Are you ready to receive a new heart and new Spirit today and begin a walk with Christ that will last forever?
He’s patiently waiting to receive you in love and make all things new.
We may have thought about this already. Many people do, you know. They see the new year as a chance to get a fresh start…to manage their money better and get out of debt…to lose weight and take better care of their bodies…to do strive to make a difference in some way. Yes…many resolutions will be made…and many resolutions will go by the way side before the first month of the new year is over. For as much as resolutions are a part of New Year’s holiday tradition, failing to meet those resolutions are just as much a part of the tradition once the year begins.
Don’t we yearn for resolutions that will stick…resolutions that will persevere and carry us day after day after day to a place where we feel better about ourselves, our purpose and the world we live in. What would you say if I told you that God has a plan for us to be new in the new year and remain new throughout? Would you be interested?
If so, here is God’s word for you for the new year…a word that will focus on what can be new for you if you’re just willing to open your heart and mind to His Spirit and wisdom.
1. You will first need a new heart and spirit.
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 18:31
If you’re truly going to start out the new year fresh and ready for renewal, you first need to leave the past behind. Last year is gone and although you may be dealing with matters that carried over, those are ongoing issues that God will help you with in the new year, possibly in new ways.
What you don’t need to carry over is guilt, worry, anxiety, or stress from what happened before. If you’ve done wrong, genuinely repent and accept God’s forgiveness for you. Confess your wrongs and then turn away from them with a new heart and new Spirit…a new heart and new Spirit that can only come from the Lord...a new heart and a new Spirit that places the Lord and His will first in everything…a new heart and Spirit that is committed to serve the Lord full time, just as He serves us.
Friends, you’ll never get off of this first point unless you move forward with a new heart and new Spirit. Everything else comes as a result of it.
So pray this prayer with me right now:
Lord Jesus, I am leaving everything in my past behind right now…all my hurt, all my pain, all my sins I have committed. I am leaving them behind so I can be free to run into Your arms, for I long for the love, wisdom and safety that only You can bring. I turn all that I am over to you and lay all my present burdens at Your feet, asking you into my heart and praying you will make it new. And as I open my heart wide for You to enter in, I also ask that you fill me with Your Holy Spirit…fill me to overflow Lord so that all I am is what You are. For I yearn to be new in this new year Lord Jesus and surrender my life so You can make it so. For it’s in Your Holy and Precious Name I pray. Amen.
2. You need to fully embrace His new mercies.
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
When we fully surrender our heart to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, something amazing happens. For not only are we new but we see everything through His eyes, including a deeper appreciation for who He was and what He did for us.
As we do this, we are fully sensitized to the fact God could have wiped all of us off the face of creation because of our sinfulness, but instead He decided to give His only Son as a living sacrifice for us all. Why? Because of His great love for us. In our place, He instead gave up His His perfect, unblemished Lamb…His Son Jesus…who was nailed to the cross where we all should have been…and His shed blood became the sin atonement for us all.
So our waking every day…with our new heart and new Spirit…should bring us into a daily routine of thanksgiving and praise…thanksgiving and praise because God has once again blessed us with another opportunity to experience the awesome wonder of life…life we don’t deserve and yet we are granted...all because of the price paid by Jesus on the cross.
But how have we done in showing God how grateful we are for the great sacrifice He made for us…a sacrifice that cost Him His Son? Frankly, we haven’t done too well because given a choice between righteousness and sinfulness, too often we have chosen the latter…and I often wonder how God feels when we do. Sad? Angry? I would say both. And since He has infinite power, he certainly could choose to vent His wrath on us. But He doesn’t. Why? Because He loves us as a parent loves a child…only He is the perfect Parent…our Heavenly Father. And so, although we frustrate Him, He still loves us…and His compassions never fail. They are truly new every morning as we awake and breathe in His grace…a grace that is amazing…a grace that brings us into each new day.
Indeed, great is God’s faithfulness. Great is His mercy, grace and love. And with a new heart and new Spirit, we’re ready to fully appreciate both each and every day we’re given, embracing His mercies and moving forward in an attitude of service and thanks to Jesus…an attitude reflected in the chorus of this classic hymn:
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin hath left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
3. You can sing a new song.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Psalm 40:3
Something exciting happens when we surrender ourselves and get a new heart and Spirit from the Lord…a new heart and Spirit that allows us to fully appreciate the sacrifices that were made for us and the mercies we receive every day.
We want to tell others about it.
And they’ll be asking because if you truly surrender yourself to the Lord, you will be different. Everything about you will change and it will be most evident in your life attitude. For you will see everything in a confident and positive way…emboldened by a faith and trust in the Lord who through which all things are possible. The Lord will put a new song in your mouth and those words when sung out will comprise a hymn of praise to Him…a hymn of praise that will touch everyone around you. And lest you think, “…but I’m definitely not a singer” understand that God’s word here is not only telling us that the Lord places new music in our mouths but new words as well…as in singing the praises of someone.
When someone does something great, don’t you want to tell others about it?
Well, who does greater things for us every day than the Lord?
And if we truly have a new heart and Spirit…if we truly have allowed ourselves to fully appreciate the sacrifice that Jesus made and the mercies that come to us every morning as a result of God’s love…then we will want to do nothing but sing the praises of our Lord to everyone we see…and those songs of praise will come because the Lord has placed them in our mouths.
4. We can be born or reborn into a living hope.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 3:3-5
As we accept a new heart and new Spirit from the Lord…as we then realize and revere the great cost paid by Jesus for us on the cross and how this came as a result of the Father’s mercy, grace and love which we experience new every morning…and as we then go forth to sing the Lord’s praises to all we see, we find ourselves born or reborn into a living hope…a living hope through Christ Jesus that keeps us buoyed up in joy and peace…free from anything that would encumber us and fully ready to go forth and carry out God’s will for us each day.
In this birth or rebirth, we also realize how richly blessed we are. For we discover that through Jesus’ resurrection, we have gained a chance to also join Him in an everlasting life when this earthly life ends. In other words, through Jesus Christ death is not the end but just the awesome, miraculous beginning of a life free from everything that afflicts us in the here and now…an eternal inheritance that no one or nothing can take from us after we receive it because it is kept in heaven for us…a gift, the greatest gift ever, yet to be received.
Friends, the new year will only be business as usual if we choose for it to be that way. I don’t know about you but I would rather have exciting over boring…exhilarating over dull…fresh over routine. The good news is that through the Lord, we can have everything new this year…and it starts with that first step.
Are you ready to receive a new heart and new Spirit today and begin a walk with Christ that will last forever?
He’s patiently waiting to receive you in love and make all things new.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)