Nehemiah
5:14-7:60
The three
charts at the end of this document might be helpful as you read today’s entry.
Nehemiah
5:14-19
We had not
been told this previously, but sometime during this year, Artaxerxes made
Nehemiah the governor of Judah, and he remained in this capacity for 12 years.
In a way, it was probably because of the threat of Sanballat, the governor of
Samaria, and his friends Tobiah and Geshem. Nehemiah was not only a trusted
Persian official, but he had true-blue Persians with him. The hi-jinks we'll
hear about in the next chapter took place within the first two months Nehemiah
was in Jerusalem. When word got back to Artaxerxes that the surrounding
governors were nuts, he must have installed Nehemiah as governor to bring
stability into the area.
As we have
seen in so many situations, when the Lord allows opposition, He is often
setting things up for His glory and for the progress of His plans.
Tomorrow
when you read chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, think of what Paul says there, and
compare it to what Nehemiah did here. It could be that Paul was inspired by the
selflessness of Nehemiah's leadership. In any case, this kind of maturity and
sacrifice seems to run in God's family of followers.
V. 19 In
this description and summary of Nehemiah's sacrifice and 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 was a human like all of us are human.
I'm sure he had his moments of rage and distress. But in all of it, before the
Lord, all he wanted was the fellowship and comfort of God.
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 very end, just as they were preparing
to set up the gates.
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. Gene Getz, in the Bible
Knowledge Commentary-OT, p. 685, points out that Nehemiah never confronted
the obvious motives of these men. By keeping things politically correct and
peaceful, they revealed their hate and intent. This would have been obvious to
the Persians who were with Nehemiah, and it would have been reported back to
the king.
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. Again, the Persians who
were with Nehemiah would only have reported the irrationality of the governor
of Samaria and the instability he brought into that region.
V. 9
Apparently all of this history was taken from Nehemiah's journal. It gives you
an idea of how closely Nehemiah lived with God every day.
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. Shemaiah was apparently confined to his house saying that God had
given him a prophetic vision. When Nehemiah went to visit him and heard the
message, he knew it was not from God. 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.
Even in
this exchange of letters and lobbying for influence, the messengers who
reported this would only have underscored for Artaxerxes how unstable the
region was. Art needed a good governor to look out for the interests of Persia.
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 1. 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-OT, pp. 687-688, 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 10. This discussion in chapter 8
will be illustrated in chapter 9 and will really be addressed and concluded in
chapter 10. Just as background for this chapter it is good to know that 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 there are
actually two issues that will be addressed in this discussion. First, there is
a need for control and compassion for the weak believers, and second, there is
great danger and self deception in being arrogant.
Vs. 1-3
This knowledge/logic is what Paul is
aiming at. The Corinthians had found freedom in the knowledge that knowing
Christ brought and some of them were flaunting that knowledge. But there is a
difference between being "knowledge" driven and "knowing
Christ" driven. The issue here is this proud knowledge that was resistant
to being considerate of those who were still young in faith or weak in this
area.
V. 3 is a
very challenging verse for me. Paul is already anticipating 1 Corinthians 13,
the chapter on love. Notice that this doesn't say one is known by love, but by
what God does through us as a result of loving Him. 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, you who have knowledge. In the OT
because of his devotion to (love for) God, Elijah was known as a "man of
God." That's the difference. Many people want to be known by what they
know. God wants us to be known by loving Him and Him allowing Himself to be
known through us. This may seem like a small thing, but for a disciple our
lives have to be about following and reflecting Jesus, and not about showing
everyone how much we know and what we think about the government or the topics
of the day.
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. Satan
was using this arrogance to trick them into something foolish.
Notice in
v. 6 how the Spirit details our relationship to the Father and to Jesus. This
is great stuff. The Father gave the command and the Son carried it out. There
is a lot to think about here.
Vs. 7-13
This portion is pretty straightforward. The question is: What does it mean 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 10, is that 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
and it would teach them to ignore their conscience. 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. (Philippians 1:18) 1 Corinthians 9:19 is
the measure of a disciple following Christ in the harvest, making disciples,
who make disciples.
Now,
chapter 9 will take an interesting turn. Paul had to treat many of these
“knowledgeable” people in Corinth as weaker believers and we'll see why.
Psalm
33:1-11
In the ESV
Bible someone wrote, “The Steadfast Love of the Lord,” as the heading for this
psalm. That is mentioned a couple of times in Psalm 33, once today and in the
second half tomorrow. But for me, what stands out in this portion 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.
Vs. 1-3
This is the call to worship and to be totally enthralled with the Lord. The
next verses will tell why.
Vs. 4-5
The two things highlighted here are the
Word of the Lord that produced His faithful works. Then there is the love of the Lord.
Vs. 6-7
This is the Word of God in creation. His power and wisdom in creation are
beyond anything we can imagine.
Vs. 8-11
The response to His Word should be respect and awe. But even when God's Word is
met with indifference or rebellion, His Word is still sovereign over mankind,
directing the progress of the plan of redemption.
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 http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/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 complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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. Send
comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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