Nehemiah 1

We don't know much about Nehemiah besides what is revealed to us in the book baring his name. Chronologically, it is believed by most that Nehemiah came to Jerusalem sometimes after Ezra, but before the prophetic ministry of Malachi. In any case, there are some valuable lessons on prayer and leadership found within this great book.

In chapter 1, a Jew from Jerusalem visits Susa where Nehemiah was living. Naturally, Nehemiah asks for a report on the storied city of his people, but the news isn't good. The wall around the city is broken and burned. The remainder of the chapter contains Nehemiah's prayerful reaction to this news. From it (and the book in general) we learn some important features of healthy prayer.

Healthy Prayer is...
1. Spontaneous (Nehemiah prays a lot, sometimes in the middle of conversations!)
2. Out of the heart (v. 4 shows that his prayers came from a genuine heart of concern)
3. Based on God's character (v. 5 shows why he's going to 'God,' only God can answer)
4. Repetitive (v. 6 emphasizes the importance of not giving up in prayer)
5. Humility (v. 7 Nehemiah doesn't use a 'me vs. them' approach, he identifies with the problem)
6. Scriptural (v. 8-9 He quotes Scriptures which align him with God's will)
7. For God's glory (v. 10 shows his ultimate goal to be glory for God's name)
8. Volunteerism (v. 11 demonstrates that he made himself available to be part of the answer)

Much like Esther, Nehemiah was in a position of influence and who knows but that he was there for a time such as this.

Acts 15:36-16:40

Acts 15:36-16:40

Ministry Teams (15:36-16:5)
1. Follow-up on First-contact is a very important ministry
2. Quitting carries consequences
John-Mark quit the 1st Journey (Acts 13:13)
Barnabas wanted to give John-Mark a 2nd Chance
Paul didn’t think it was wise to bring John-Mark
The team divided into two teams b/c of this
~TEAM A: Barnabas & John-Mark to Cyprus
~TEAM B: Paul & Silas through Syria & Cilicia
3. Eyes must be kept open for new ministry members

Stops on the 2nd Missionary Journey (16:6-15)
1. Churches of Syria (15:40)
2. Churches of Cilicia (15:40)
3. Churches of Lycaonian (16:1)
4. Churches of Phrygia (16:6)
5. Churches of Galatia (16:6)
6. Churches of Macedonia (16:12)
* How & why were they kept from Asia & Bithynia? (16:6-7)
* Why do you think God directed them to Macedonia? (16:9-10)
* Why do you think we’re told about Lydia’s conversion? (16:14)

Prison Ministry (16:16-40)
1. Paul & Silas were thrown in prison for casting a spirit out of a slave girl
2. Paul & Silas were praying and singing hymns when set free via earthquake
3. Paul & Silas saved the jailer’s life and baptized he and his family
4. Paul & Silas were Roman Citizens and had been jailed illegally
5. Paul & Silas remained in the city and encouraged the church

Ezra 9-10

The end of the book of Ezra deals with a specific issue that Ezra dealt with
The former exiles, including the leaders, had married pagan wives
This information causes Ezra great grief, even to the point of pulling out his own hair
(It's interesting that when Nehemiah faces this issue, he pulls out the offenders hair! 13:23-27)
Ezra's grief provokes grief among others who 'tremble at the words of God (Isaiah 66:2)
The rest of chapter 9 consists of Ezra's prayer during this time

Ezra's prayer
~Ezra uses the phrase 'our sin'...Israel has sinned, and he is part of Israel
~Ezra's prayer highlights our sin (6-7), God's grace (8-9), our sin (10-12) and God's grace (13-15)
~The 'wall' in verse 9 is probably metaphorical, though later Nehemiah would build a literal wall
~Ezra recognizes that Israel has already been punished for its wickedness
~Ezra wonders if God has any grace left for undeserving Israel

While chapter 9 dealt with the issue on a spiritual level
Chapter 10 deals with the issue on the physical plain
Once again, it begins with Ezra's grief over the situation
Once again, he is joined in his cries by fellow Israelites

Shecaniah's Plan
~Shecaniah comes up with a plan, hoping that there is hope yet for Israel to find grace
~Shecaniah suggests that the Israelites send these women & children away
~Shecaniah encourages Ezra to lead this course of action
~Ezra agrees and gathers Israel together (a practically mandatory meeting 10:8)
~The meeting was held in the coldest & rainiest month in Jerusalem
~The attenders agreed that this severe action was necessary
~The attenders suggested that individual divorce cases not be dealt with hurriedly
~There were at least 4 who disagreed with the plan
~The motives of the dissenters could have been good (anti-divorce) or bad (desire to keep pagan wives)
~In any case, it took 3 months to deal with all the individual cases
~It is quite possible that some of the pagan wives were willing to convert & no divorce was necessary
~In the end, over 100 divorces were issued among the Priests, Levites & Israelites

Thus ends 'Ezra,' though Ezra himself lives on through the book of Nehemiah

Second Look @ Second Coming

Some seem to focus on end-times prophecy too much (newspaper theology)
Others don't seem to focus on it at all (too confusing)

To show how confusing it can be...
1) Premillennialism
2) Postmillennialism
3) Amillennialism
4) Panmillennialism

Very different views, but they all agree that Jesus is coming back!

JESUS IS COMING BACK

How do I know? The Bible tells me so
Why should I trust the Bible? The power of prophecy

1. Promise to Abraham and 400 years in Egypt
2. Babylonian Captivity for 70 years (Jer. 25)
3. Cyrus foretold by name in Isaiah 45
4. Nebuchadnezzar's dream of 4 kingdoms
5. Messianic Prophecies (490 years, Bethlehem, Out of Egypt, virgin birth, etc)
6. AD70 predicted by Jesus

So I trust the Bible when it says Jesus is coming back (Acts 1:11, Hebrews 9:28)
So I live with hope, with a fear of God, and with a sense of urgency

WE DON'T KNOW WHEN

Jesus said no one knows
But thousands have tried anyways :(

1. Hilary in the 4th century (Hilarius)
2. Joachim of Fiore (1260, 1290, 1335)
3. Martin Luther (no later than 1600)
4. Bishop Usher predicts 2000 in 1650 England
5. American Revolution (stamp act, king george, usa)
6. William Miller (1844, 100,000 people, great disappointment)
7. 7th Day adventists, Branch Davidians, Jehovah's Witnesses
8. Hal Lyndsay (1981 & the Late Great Planet Earth)
9. Lester Sumrall ('I predict 1985'...'I predict 2000')
10. Edgar Whisenant (88 reasons for 88, "only if the Bible is in error am I wrong")

So stop date setting, stop pinning the tail on the antichrist, stop worrying about the mark of the beast

IN THE MEANTIME...

Most of the NT is about the meantime
Jesus is coming back, we don't know when
All our mistaken guesses make Jesus look bad
But the Bible explains why Jesus is waiting

2 Peter 3:3-9
1. He wants more quantity in the church (no one to perish)
2. He wants more quality in the church (holy and mature) Ephesians 4:11-13

Instead of reading the newspaper to see when God will rescue us from this mess
We should read our Bibles to see how we can help clean up the mess
And we should read our cultures to see how we can win people to Christ
We have a lot of work to do (hymn: Living for Jesus)

Acts 15:1-35

Acts 15:1-35

Position #1: Gentiles need to follow Law of Moses (15:1-5)
1. Jewish believers had a rich history with the Law of Moses
2. Some Jewish believers were very passionate about the Law
3. Some Jewish believers thought the Law was still the Law

Position #2: Gentiles need not follow Law of Moses (15:6-12)
1. Gentile believers had little history with the Law of Moses
2. Some Jewish believers were not very passionate about the Law
3. Some Jewish believers thought grace was now the Law

Decision: (15:13-35)
1. James, apparently, was responsible to make the final judgment
2. James referenced Simon’s vision & Scripture to support #2
3. James referenced 4 areas of abstinence in compromise to #1

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.


It is interesting to note that Paul, later (1 Corinthians 10), further elaborated on the 'compromises' with position #1. It seems that these compromises were solely for the purpose of not offending Jewish-Christians. The ceremonial 'compromises' (as opposed to the 'moral' requirement of sexual immorality) were not moral requirements for believers in Christ.

Ezra 7-8

Finally, in Ezra 7, Ezra himself comes into the picture as a leader of a 2nd return from exile
~Ezra's return takes place about 80 years after that of Zerubbabel
~Ezra's return takes place about 60 years after chapter 6
~Ezra's return takes place about 15 years after the story of Esther

Ezra (background)
~ He was a priest by descent (Aaronic)
~ He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses
~ He was in the favor of the King of Persia
~ He led a return to Jerusalem, bringing many others with him
~ After 4 months of travel, the group arrived

4 Themes emerge throughout in the events of their journey
These themes show some important aspects of a successful journey

1. A successful journey must have committed participants
Ezra was committed to His God and the Scriptures. He was committed to traveling to Jerusalem. Many other committed Jews returned with him (priests, levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants). In chapter 8 we are told the detail that, originally, no Levites showed up for the return trip. Ezra shows the importance of having committed participants by refusing to leave with people to fulfill that important role.

2. A successful journey requires great faith in God to sovereignly govern the situation
It was by God's hand that the Persian King favored Ezra. Ezra, in fact, was lavished with the good favor of the King. Not only did he allow the Israelites to return to Jerusalem, he resourced them for the trip! He provided them with silver, gold & offerings and even commanded them to buy what was necessary to restore the sacrificial system. Further, he made it that the temple workers would not be taxed. In another act of faith, Ezra refused the aid of Persian soldiers for the journey. He had been claiming God as his protector throughout his time in Babylon and was no willing to demonstrate that faith to the King.

3. A successful journey requires accountability (in this case, financial)
Ezra was very careful to count and document all the resources given before the trip began and to do the same when the journey was completed. This demonstrated 2 things. First, it demonstrated that none of those journeying were benefiting personally from the offerings. Second, it demonstrated that God had indeed protected them on their dangerous trip across the middle east.

4. A successful journey requires prayer & worship
At the beginning of the journey, Ezra declared a fast during which the people petitioned God for protection. Upon the completion of the journey the people made sacrifices to God. Thus, the journey was surrounded by prayer and worship to the God of Israel.