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AUGUST 13
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 Tobiah'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 (Phil. 1:18). First
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 twice 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.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, 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 (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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