August 13, Reading Notes

Nehemiah 5:14-7:60

Nehemiah 5:14-19

I'll bet it made S, T & G mad when Artaxerxes made Nehemiah the governor of Judah. In this description of his service to the Lord and to the nation, notice the mentions of God and how this love for God made him so sacrificial and generous.

Nehemiah 6

Vs. 1-14 These are the traps that the rats set for Nehemiah. The wording is kind of ironic, isn't it. Since the wall took 52 days to build, and since there was violence threatened when they were halfway through the building, all of these three attempts must have come toward the end.

Vs. 1-4 The old, "Let's get you away from Jerusalem and kill you" trap. Notice that they never offered to meet in Jerusalem.

Vs. 5-9 The old, "You're really trying to take over" ploy. The people were united around Nehemiah and knew this couldn't be true. Nehemiah's trust in God for all that had happened wasn't about to be shaken.

Vs. 10-14 The old, "You think you can violate God's law and order" trick. This one was a little more subtle because Shemaiah was someone Nehemiah apparently trusted. Tobias had men on the inside. Obviously we've seen Uzziah and others violate God's order. A godly man didn't go where he wasn't supposed to go, even if he was the king or governor. This was supposed to create disunity between Nehemiah and Ezra and the priests and Levites. Remember, Ezra was a main leader and the priests and Levites were heavily involved in the work on the wall.

Vs. 15-19 Doing this in 52 days was a miracle of unity and God's favor. Now we see how deep Tobias's influence in Jerusalem was. This is sort of a last desperate measure to show Nehemiah who is really in control.

Nehemiah 7:1-60

Vs. 1-4 The threats only made Nehemiah more determined to make Jerusalem secure.

V. 2 This is literally Nehemiah's brother. We met him in chapter one. He was a lover of God and someone Nehemiah could trust.

Vs. 5-60 At this point very few people lived in the city. Nehemiah was now going to "stock" the city with true, blue Jews. That's why the genealogy, basically Ezra's list, is given here.

There are some differences here between Ezra's list and Nehemiah's list, but thankfully for us the scholars have "duked it out" regarding these and there are good explanations. If you're interested, the Bible Knowledge Commentary gives some short, sufficient answers.

Having the Jews themselves occupy Jerusalem would be one of Nehemiah's final steps in making Jerusalem secure. The final step would be the uniting of the people in following God.

1 Corinthians 8

Paul has already raised several issues that he will revisit in this letter. He will bring some of these things together in chapter ten. This discussion in chapter eight will be laid to rest for a chapter and then really be addressed and concluded in chapter ten.

Vs. 1-3 This knowledge / logic is what Paul is aiming at. Much of the meat sold in the markets had been offered in sacrifice to pagan gods. If you knew that these gods really didn’t exist, why would it be wrong to eat this meat? Paul will eventually say that it is OK to eat that meat, but the issue here is this proud knowledge.

V. 3 is a very challenging verse for me. Paul is already anticipating 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen, the chapter on love. Notice that this doesn't say one is known by love. I think the idea here is that it isn't knowledge that makes us known or gives us status, it is loving God. If we love God, He, working in us, makes us known by showing Himself to others through us. In a few verses Paul will use the phrase "man of knowledge." In the OT because of his devotion to (love for) God, Elijah was known as a "man of God." That's the difference.

Vs. 4-6 This is all good and true theology, but when Paul gets to chapter 10, he will put a very dark twist to this line of reasoning the Corinthians were using.

Notice in verse 6 how the Spirit details our relationship to the Father and to Jesus. This is great stuff.

Vs. 7-13 This portion is pretty straightforward. The question is what it means to destroy another Christian. How does wounding their conscience when they are weak destroy them? Paul uses many of these same words in Romans 14. This would be worth discussing in your groups.

One reminder here, when we get to chapter ten, it is obvious that this liberty was being used publicly and with arrogance toward the weak.

Working in the harvest we have this fine line. The Pharisees among us judge and take away our liberty. Paul speaks against these all the time. Yet, there are some who have no freedom in certain areas because of their past life. If they walked into a theater or drank a beer it would be a total violation of their faith that might take them weeks or months to recover from. (Think of what would happen to your walk and testimony if you fell into adultery. This is the same for a weak person walking into a movie. It is devastating.) We need to speak against the Pharisee, but we need to support and strengthen (not convince) the weak. Sometimes the issues of both of these groups will be the same thing. The focus however is following Christ in the harvest. When Paul was helpless and unable to alter the thinking of groups who were acting out of wrong motives, he said, "Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice." 1 Corinthians 9:19 is the measure of a disciple following Christ in the harvest, making disciples who make disciples.

Psalm 33:1-11

In the ESV someone wrote, “The Steadfast Love of the Lord” as a subtitle for this psalm.  That is mentioned a couple of times in this psalm, once today and in the second half tomorrow. But for me, in this portion what stands out is “the word of the Lord,” and “For he spoke and it came to be.” To me, it is interesting that David understood that all that was made came by the word and command of God, from nothing.

Proverbs 21:8-10

I think the message is that the guilty, the quarrelsome and the wicked are consistent in their crookedness, quarreling and selfishness. The pure person is someone whose heart is unburdened by unconfessed sin, who is not quarrelsome and who desires what is best for his neighbor.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.