Nehemiah: The book of
Nehemiah
The book of Nehemiah
is a picture of the church of the last days and also a picture of our
race to the finishing line. The course that lays ahead of us is full
of pitfalls and traps and it takes knowing the Wisdom of God to SEE and
AVOID these traps. Why can’t God just totally reveal to me the ENTIRE
COURSE in an instant? The reason is threefold; God desires to “cause to
see” only those that are truly seeking Him in all the wonders of His
Person. Secondly, God knows that the outcome of complete and instant
revelation would produce a spiritual pride that would cause us to act like
the enemy, where we would become spiritually proud. Secondly, we must have
the character of Love and Humility in our “seeing” so that our
ministry to others will be edifying in that same Love and Humility.
Lastly, If God were to totally reveal the race that lies ahead of you –
it would cause you to be overwhelmed and faint. Imagine seeing the length
of the course, the many afflictions, and all those traps and pitfalls. Add
to that all the discipline, ministry, and labors you are destined to
perform – It would be too much for us. Therefore God’s WAY is to
REVEAL AS WE WALK! This is a “way” that causes us to cling to Jesus,
to cling to “His feet” as “our feet”
are walking ahead. There will always be enough light on our path for
the NEXT STEP. As you read this book there will be truths from heaven
that you will not see because your walk has not taken you to that place
yet. As you walk then you will see more clearly unto the day of Jesus.
God called Nehemiah to
leave his service in the Persian king’s courts - to go to Jerusalem. He
was sent to rebuild its walls, which had been destroyed when Babylon
attacked Judah and led them into captivity. Nehemiah became the governor
of a very important building project that revealed God’s plan in Christ
and in His body. Nehemiah is seen, as a “type” of Jesus Who is the
Governor that controls our helm. Nehemiah was a governor just like
Zerubbabel, who ruled before him. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem with the
“King’s letters” even as Jesus declared that He came on the
authority of Him Who sent Him – His Father. Nehemiah was equipped
with all the materials to complete the job just like Jesus was anointed
and equipped by the Spirit to complete the job before Him. Observe very
carefully the responses and activities of Nehemiah. God wants us to see a
MODEL of how He wants to respond - through us. Nehemiah is a “type”
representing Jesus and we must see that Jesus the Hope of glory in us
wants to manifest in these adversities.
Neh
2:10
When Sanballat the Horonite, and
Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly
that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
When one comes with
the intention of building the walls, he will immediately acquire enemies.
Let us observe Nehemiah’s enemies for a moment. Nehemiah’s enemies are
represented throughout the entire book under the names of two leaders,
Sanballat and Tobiah. History records Sanballat as the governor of
Samaria. Samaria in the time of Nehemiah were a mixed race of Israelites
and Assyrian, they were mixed in their religion as well. Their religious
beliefs in Nehemiah’s day taught that only the first five books of the
scriptures were from God and REJECTED the rest of God’s word. There are
Samaritans to this day in Israel and they still believe the same thing.
There will always be the “religious” like the Samaritans that receive
only part of God’s Word and they will OPPOSE anyone that builds with the
rest of the scriptures. Spiritual Samaritans today are those who are MIXED
– they are a well of fresh and salt water – this ought to not be says
James. Surely we are mixed as well as these Samaritans but
the difference is - we are in the process of becoming UNMIXED!
Tobiah was the
governor of Ammon – an enemy outside of Israel. Tobiah represents an
enemy that comes from the world system. The world will also oppose your
building of the walls. Now what we see here is a collaboration of “the
religious” and “the world” to oppose God’s builders. This is a
demonic union that we see in its maturity in the book of Revelation
concerning the people of the earth and the great harlot. Even today we can
observe Christians that use the secular media to oppose other Christians
– this is the same exact spirit that is seen in Sanballat and Tobiah. Count
on this, when you seek the welfare of others in Christ, you will have
these evil governors opposing you.
Arise
and Let Us Build
The first activity of
Nehemiah upon his arrival was to assess the damage to the present walls.
This is what the overall purpose of this book is all about – to
see God’s plan concerning your present walls and the walls of others in
Christ. You see the CURRENT condition of the walls and you devise a
BUILDING PLAN, but more accurately, you obtain what God has
already devised for you.
God created order in
the rebuilding of the walls. Nehemiah allotted to every man a portion of
the wall to build upon. “Arise and let us build” is the cry of
Nehemiah and it is we who must heed this sound today. I am responsible for
my portion of the wall that God allotted me and you are responsible for
your portion of the wall. One plants and one waters is what we are taught
in 1Corinthians chapter 3; one man is responsible to lay a foundation in
the lives of others and another is called to build upon that foundation.
Desire not another man’s portion; desire not any building activity that
has not been allotted to you. Hear God’s voice in this matter, we MUST
LABOR TOGETHER in UNITY. God will not use exclusively any one person or
ministry; God will not use just part of the five-fold
ministry – He uses apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers. God does not use JUST the five-fold ministry but includes all of
us, for we all are assigned a part.
The walls of our city
need rebuilding. Walls represent that which keeps the enemy out of the
city. A defenseless wall, a broken down wall represents an area of our
life where we are vulnerable to the enemy. This is a place where we have
yet to fortify; it is a place of sin, a place of immaturity, a place we
have not overcome and a place of self-will. For example, if you can become
depressed, your walls are not fortified yet, if you can lose your joy then
the walls surrounding your inner man are too weak.
Neh
2:17
Then I said to them, "You
see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates
burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may
no longer be a reproach." (NAS)
The church of the Lord
Jesus Christ as a whole has been a reproach with her walls in a shambles.
God's voice from His prophets say “Let us arise and build” for God
shall raise up His city in the last days that will no longer be a
reproach, they shall be a true reflection of the One Whom they serve. We
talked earlier about the forerunners being the office of apostles and
prophets, this is an example of what they do when they run ahead. They
simply see the present walls and gain a vision of the walls God wants to
build, then they proclaim to others – ARISE AND LET US BUILD. They do
not stop there, they teach you how to build, and they
encourage you as you build, and they also will correct your
improper building.
Neh
2:18-20
And I told them how the hand of
my God had been favorable to me, and also about the king's words which he
had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So
they put their hands to the good {work.} But when Sanballat the Horonite,
and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard {it,} they
mocked us and despised us and said, "What is this thing you are
doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" So I answered them and
said to them, "The God of heaven will give us success;
therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion,
right, or memorial in Jerusalem." (NAS)
The enemy says, “How
dare you build”, “Do you really think you can minister to others”.
We are a mocked people as soon as we make the decision to build. “How
dare you rebel against the world system!” the enemy constantly shouts to
us. What is the response that pleases God? “Our God in heaven will
“GIVE US SUCCESS” in our labor”. Nehemiah and all of Jerusalem just continued
to start this monumental project.
The
Attacks
As much building had been
accomplished the attack of the enemy grew more intense.
Neh
4:1-2
When Sanballat heard that we were
rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He
ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of
Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they
restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a
day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--
burned as they are?" (NIV)
Sanballat who
represented “a form of godliness but denying the power thereof” heard
of Israel’s rebuilding labors, he became angry. No doubt we can see this
very easily today in some theological circles. When one starts building
with gold, silver and precious stone then you can EXPECT an attack from
“scriptural learned” men who have no learning about God’s plans
about building. This is NORMAL and is the rule, not the exception.
Sanballat continues his blasphemies; he starts by calling us weak. Satan
will qui
ckly resort to name calling for the purpose of getting you to
believe it; he also uses name-calling to gather together a following
against you. Satan will tell you that your condition is hopeless, how
could you possibly restore these walls as damaged as they are? Satan will
magnify the damage and diminish the work that has already been performed.
“How can you ever become a worshipper? ”, “you cannot enter into
God’s chambers” – Satan will spin off lie after lie such as these
till he can wear you down to accept one of them. Satan says “You cannot
make it to the finishing line”, “maturity is for another” and
finally “your burnt up stone is BEYOND GOD’S ABILITY TO RESTORE”.
Satan attacks through others and he attacks in your thought processes; it
is life and death – resist these attacks because their end is death.
Satan’s ONLY power against you is – you believing him.
Neh
4:3
Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at
his side, said, "What they are building-- if even a fox climbed up on
it, he would break down their wall of stones!" (NIV)
To make matters worse,
the world jumps in and attacks with words as well. “Surely whatever you
do build will not matter, it will never be fruit that remains”. “I see
you are delivered but it will never last”. The enemy knows that it will
last but he also knows that if he can get you to accept the lie then by
your doubt the walls will fall.
Neh
4:4-5
Hear, O our God; for we are
despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a
prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity, and let not
their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to
anger before the builders.
Nehemiah’s response
to the words was prayer. It is possible that this prayer does not need to
be prayed by us for in the “Day of the Lord” at the “battle of
Armageddon” in Megiddo Valley “in Samaria” the enemy will
become a prey. On that day God’s anger shall be revealed in its
fullness. Jesus calls this location a place where “the vultures gather
at the dead body”.
Neh
4:6-8
So we rebuilt the wall till all
of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod
heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the
gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted
together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against
it. (NIV)
Praise God, they did
not stop, they were half way there, and they worked with all their heart.
Now the gaps were being closed - and that brought the anger of the enemy.
Satan will attack you to a degree, but it is when he sees unity that he
goes ballistic. When you come into unity with your brethren, the plots of
Satan come forth in full force. Satan will use doctrinal differences to
separate, he will use personality differences to separate, he will put a
wedge between you and your fellow believer anyway he can. Unity causes a
walking in agreement and it is to those that walk in agreement that we
hear Jesus say “your request is granted”, it is those walking in love,
forbearing one another and esteeming the other as more important then
himself – “I am in their midst”! The gaps are closing as we build
together. As we said before, unity does not come because we all get along,
it comes as we grow up in Christ and labor together to build according to
the blueprint. If you come into just one relationship in your church where
you forbear their faults, where you edify and admonish with compassion,
where you are loyal to them no matter what the cost and where you lay down
your very life for them - that is where Satan will attempt to "Arise
and tear down”.
Neh
4:9
But we prayed to our God and
posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. (NIV)
Nehemiah responds to
the threat with prayer and warfare. We will not endeavor into all the
weapons of our warfare because there are many edifying teachings
concerning our part in standing in warfare. What we should observe is this
–Nehemiah again responds towards God and in His Wisdom.
Neh
4:10
Meanwhile, the people in Judah
said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so
much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall." (NIV)
There are attacks from
outside the walls and there are problems that occur within
the walls as well. As you will see it appears that the “building of
walls” is problem after problem, you put out one fire and another one
pops up. I feel like this often, if you can also identify then we can
assuredly learn from Nehemiah’s responses.
Neh
4:11-12
Also our enemies said,
"Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and
will kill them and put an end to the work." Then the Jews who lived
near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they
will attack us." (NIV)
Satan roams as a roaring lion seeking to devour, seeking to
kill. The people of God get weak and you can see the lion crouch down to
spring upon his prey. Nehemiah now faces an internal problem and now a
very dangerous attack from the enemy. The word of God is meant to sober
you as to the seriousness of this project we have undertaken. It is not a
project that you can say, “well I will try to build”, or “I will see
if it works out”. IT IS LIFE AND DEATH!
Neh
4:13-17
Therefore I stationed some of the
people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting
them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked
things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest
of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is
great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your
daughters, your wives and your homes." When our enemies heard that we
were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned
to the wall, each to his own work. From that day on, half of my men did
the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows
and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of
Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their
work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, (NIV)
There is a Wisdom that
comes from heaven that frustrates the plans of the enemy - every time.
God’s message to us is to obtain His Wisdom, hear God’s instructions
in these situations then DO NOT FEAR. We must be a people that can “work
with one hand” and “hold a weapon with the other hand”. Some of us
have no problem encouraging a brother but sometimes you have to war for
your brother, sometimes you have to admonish in love. Some of us have
no problem with simply praying for someone but sometimes you have to war
against all the demonic principalities that they have invited into their
life. Finally we learn that the “lowest points” of the wall are
those in the faith that have yet to have strengthened their walls. Many
times in the church we criticize them saying “look at my walls, what is
your problem, why do you have such shabby walls?” What God requires, is
for us to defend their walls even as we help them build up their
section. In ministry you sometimes can observe a competition where
everyone builds their ministry, but God is causing His mature ministers to
defend the walls of other ministries. Therefore observe God’s response
to the attack – UNITY.
Neh
5:1-3
Now the men and their wives
raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying,
"We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat
and stay alive, we must get grain." Others were saying, "We are
mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the
famine." (NIV)
We will continue point
by point through the book of Nehemiah to show you the relentlessness of
how Satan devises to thwart the purposes of God. Nehemiah now faces
another internal problem that caused him to turn his attention away from
the walls of Jerusalem and to the burdens of the poor. Nehemiah was angry
because the leaders were fleecing the sheep of Israel. Nehemiah reversed
the poverty of the poor and restored their finances. What God did for the
poor in Nehemiah’s day, He will do for us today. Nehemiah had the rich
give from their abundance and the result is much like what we saw in Acts
with the Jerusalem church – “ALL THINGS WERE COMMON”. God is doing a
shaking in these last days where we shall see those with wealth shall lose
it if they do not give out of their abundance to their fellow laborers.
Distributing
Wealth
Neh
5:13
I also shook out the folds of my
robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and
possessions every man who does not keep this promise.
(The promise to make sure the poor would no longer be poor) So
may such a man be shaken out and emptied!" At this the whole
assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did
as they had promised. (NIV)
Why would God redirect
Nehemiah’s attention away from the walls and to such a natural problem
as providing for the poor? Because greed and a lack of providing for the
poor in the church, will cause separation in God’s plan of unity. If
those who adhered to the prosperity message and received financial
blessing had provided for the poor in the Church, so that they no longer
stayed poor, then it could have bore fruit. Instead Nehemiah’s promise
was not kept by most of the rich in the Church. Blessed are those that did
heed Nehemiah’s promise.
Neh
5:15-16
But the earlier governors--
those preceding me-- placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty
shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their
assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I
did not act like that. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall.
All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
(NIV)
Leaders should always
observe Nehemiah’s example. If a leader is called to oversee a work then
they must refrain from lording it over the people, they must not place
heavy burdens of any kind upon God’s people; instead they should be
DEVOTED to do the work of the ministry.
Neh
6:1-2
When word came to Sanballat,
Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the
wall and not a gap was left in it-- though up to that time I had not set
the doors in the gates-- Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: "Come,
let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono."
But they were scheming to harm me; (NIV)
The enemy plots again
to thwart God’s plan. The walls are finished, the gaps are closed, and
all we have left is to set the doors. If the enemy cannot get into your
camp, he will try to get you into his camp. GIVE NO PLACE TO
THE DEVIL. Invitations will go out to meet with the enemy but the motives
are a scheme to harm you. Do not enter into the camp of the enemy, do not
be a friend of the world. The word “Ono” means “vigorous”. The
enemy’s meeting place is a place where the enemy is strong and a place
where you are weak.
Neh
6:3
so I sent messengers to them with
this reply: "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.
Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" (NIV)
As a mature people we
must PERCEIVE what the enemy is doing. If you get busy with the labors of
God - you will be too busy to accept the devil’s invitations. Sometimes
the church comes to a place where they want to be entertained instead of
laboring for God. Entertainment can be a place of the strength of the
enemy and can cause your weakness; instead we should become involved in
God’s GREAT PROJECT!
Wearing
Out the Saints
Neh
6:4-7
Four times they sent me the same
message, and each time I gave them the same answer. Then, the fifth time,
Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was
an unsealed letter in which was written: "It is reported among the
nations-- and Geshem says it is true-- that you and the Jews are plotting
to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to
these reports you are about to become their king and have even appointed
prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: 'There is a
king in Judah!' Now this report will get back to the king; so come,
let us confer together." (NIV)
FIVE TIMES the enemy
sends the same message to wear Nehemiah down. Wearing us down is a device
of Satan to stop completion. Just reading these accounts can cause us to
be weary, we say, “here we go again”. But do not drop, God will prove
over and over that He is faithful to uncover the schemes of the enemy.
Nehemiah receives a letter and in the letter comes another attack –
FALSE ACCUSATION. False accusation is the newest attack on Nehemiah via
this letter. False accusations can come from any source, sometimes from
the ones closest to you. It is painful to be falsely accused of something
and in Nehemiah’s case it was an accusation that hit him where it hurt
the most. The very king that Nehemiah sought to serve, will now think him
to be a rebel. It was a lie but if the king believes the lie then it will
become devastating for Nehemiah. This accusation is designed to produce
one thing – FEAR! The enemy figured it would weaken their hands so that
they could not complete the walls. Nehemiah again responded in prayer –
“God strengthen my hand”. The response again confounded the enemy. In
the book of Ezra we see the temple of God being rebuilt by the governor
Zerubbabel, The high priest Jeshua, and the two prophets Hagai and
Zechariah. The enemy sent false accusations against them in the same
manner to the king but it backfired on the enemy. Not only did Zerubbabel
not have to stop building the temple but also the king gave out of the
treasury and PAID IN FULL the cost of the temple building project. God can
turn around that false accusation for you as you build His temple.
Neh
6:10-13
One day I went to the house of
Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his
home. He said, "Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple,
and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you-- by
night they are coming to kill you." But I said, "Should a man
like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his
life? I will not go!" I realized that God had not sent him, but
that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired
him. He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a
sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.
(NIV)
This attack was meant
to get Nehemiah to RUN! We have to rise up and tell the enemy “I WILL
NOT GO!” I will not be in fear, I will not quit the activity you have
called me to, and I will not give in to the sin of running from God’s
building project. We must perceive the enemy as Nehemiah did - stand
up, do not be reactionary to his devices. If you give in to the
persuading of the enemy then he will discredit you.
Neh
6:15-16
So the wall was completed on the
twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about
this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their
self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with
the help of our God. (NIV)
There will be a day my
friend when the wall that surrounds the present day Jerusalem (the church)
will be completed and the entire world shall lose their self-confidence,
they shall fear and see God’s hand in us. Does that mean that these
relentless attacks are finally over with? No, they still sent letters of
intimidation, but the response was always the response of Jesus Christ the
Anointed One. The “intended destruction” of the enemy never
accomplished anything for the Jerusalem that was governed by Nehemiah;
likewise we shall avoid every pitfall that Satan devises against us if we
allow Jesus to govern our lives. There are those in the church that will
refuse to be like Nehemiah’s Jerusalem, they will instead become a
Jerusalem that is “trample upon”.
Rev
11:2
But exclude the Outer Court;
do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will
trample on the holy city for 42 months. (NIV)
Perhaps this end time
scripture relates to a people who are to trample God’s holy city, but
those who get trampled are believers that are
not yielded to Jesus as the Governor of their entire life. No doubt you
will be trampled if you are attacked like Nehemiah was attacked and
respond in the natural instead of the spiritual.
The book of Nehemiah
ends with a great gathering together in unity at which time they are
numbered. At the end of our age there shall also be a great gathering
together and we shall be numbered in the Lamb’s book of Life. – Praise
God! The people of Nehemiah’s Jerusalem gathered together as ONE MAN in
the Feast of Tabernacles to hear and perform the Word of the Lord. There
was great rejoicing and Jerusalem was no longer a reproach. Then
we will have a church without spot or wrinkle that is filled with glory
and walking in Love to a measure that has not been seen since the days of
the early church apostles. It is that day that the scriptures shall be
fulfilled concerning us.
Hab
2:20
But the LORD is in his holy
temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Rev
16:17
And the seventh angel poured out
his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of
heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
It shall be done. The
culmination of all things shall be done. Jesus said on the cross "It
is finished" and in Revelation He will say, "It is done".
On the cross it was done in the spirit. From the Temple in Heaven it is
accomplished in His body - His Temple! And the parts of the body shall be
gathered together into the head; the living stones shall be gathered
together into the headstone; the fruit shall be gathered together, the
wheat shall be gathered together for the Bride is ready and is joined to
her bridegroom forevermore.
Num
10:7
To gather the assembly, blow
the trumpets, but not with the same signal. (NIV)
Ø
It will be a trumpet with
a different yet certain sound.
Hosea
1:11
Then shall the children of Judah
and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves
one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the
day of Jezreel.
It will be a gathering
of saved natural Israel and saved natural Gentiles; both of which
comprises what God is setting forth - SPIRITUAL ISRAEL! A Jerusalem that
cannot be naturally observed.
1
Cor 15:52-54
In a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Eph
1:10
That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him
Matt
24:31
And he shall send his angels with
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There will be two
gatherings; one of the wicked, and at the last trump there will be a
gathering of the righteous; those of us in Christ shall forever be with
the Lord.
Ezra’s
Great Project
Ezra
3:1
And when the seventh month
was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people
gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
At the beginning of
the 7th month is the start of the feast of Tabernacles. It was
a three-week special event. The first week is the week of trumpets, the
second week, on the 10th day is called the Day of Atonement.
The third week is called the week of tabernacles or booths. How this feast
ends is important. It ends with the solemn assembly – a day of perfect
unity. It is symbolic of the culmination of God’s plan for His church
– It is the day of the appearing of Jesus to gather us together unto
Him. Our walls shall be fully built individually and corporately, our
temple shall be built, and our maturity shall be complete in all things.
We have run the race faithfully and made it to the finishing line, we have
made it to point “B”, and we have walked a life that Jesus prayed for.
The church has
experienced the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Pentecost in their
daily lives and to some degree the feast we speak of here – the Feast of
Tabernacles. A book written by Kevin J. Conner called “The Feasts of
Israel” is probably the best detailed teaching on the subject and
therefore we will not try to duplicate his effort. What we wish to point
out is that the month of Tabernacles starts with a gathering together and
ends with a gathering together. It starts with Ezra’s gathering together
at the start of the temple building project and ends with Nehemiah’s
gathering together at the end of the “wall completion”. Ezra assembled
on the first day of the month called “trumpets” and Nehemiah ended
with the Solemn Assembly. In the church we assemble together to build
the temple and the walls, and we end with an assembly together to rest.
Leaven
in the Camp
Ezra
4:1-2
Now when the enemies of
Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a
temple to the LORD God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads
of fathers' {households,} and said to them, "Let us build with you,
for we, like you, seek your God; (NAS)
This is a familiar
story, as we saw in Nehemiah’s building project, as soon as you start
building - then comes the enemy. Here we see a different strategy of the
enemy, the enemy actually desires to labor WITH US. Why would the enemy
want to build with us? To sow discord internally! The enemy knows that a
little leaven will spoil the whole lump of dough, therefore God will now
have to purge out the leaven. We have allowed those who said
they sought God, to build with us. God must purge them out of our
fellowships, and God will have to purge out the heresy they taught. I have
seen it myself where those that have posed as believers had entered into
our love feasts (as Jude calls it).
Jude
1:12
These men are those who are hidden
reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear,
caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds;
autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; (NAS)
I have seen among
Spirit-filled, full gospel churches - those that were child molesters,
habitual homosexuals, and pornographers, etc., etc. These are ones with
UNCLEAN spirits that are there for one purpose - to defile the bride. They
are hidden reefs; they are there to cause us to run aground. I counseled
one pastor who deceived himself into thinking that a homosexual in his
church was a “bruised reed” instead of a “hidden reef”. The pastor
felt like his attitude was compassionate and he found scripture that would
agree with him (Matt 12:20 – about Jesus not breaking the bruised reed).
Because the pastor never learned to perceive by the Spirit he subjected
his congregation to be led by a praise & worship leader that was
unbeknownst to them – a practicing homosexual that believed that God
approved of homosexuality. After I pressed them about Jude 1:12 they
removed him though the people in the congregation were never told. Simply
put, hidden reefs will shipwreck our faith. I am not saying that we are
not to invite the homosexual to our love feast, but that means they are
not hidden and you are trying to get the Gospel of salvation to them. If
we do not have discernment in these last days, people in our midst shall
be victims as a result. And do not be deceived in the matter of salvation,
one cannot be born-again and be practicing that which is an abomination to
God as the Apostle John wrote in his letter 1John. This should have been
clearly taught to us.
Ezra
4:3
But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the
rest of the heads of fathers' {households} of Israel said to them, "You
have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we
ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel. (NAS)
God’s forerunners,
God’s foundation will DISCERN those who have nothing “in common”.
Zerubbabel is the governor of this Jerusalem and we see his response is
much like Nehemiah’s response – one that reflects God’s way instead
of the way of man. We must discern those who have "nothing in
common" from those who are "in common" and build together -
His House.
Ezra
4:4
Then the people of the land
discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,
(NAS)
Temporarily we see
defeat. In ministering to others there will be temporary setbacks. The
enemy will try to discourage and cause fear. And at times we may see
success on the devil’s side instead of on our side. If you see a
setback, know that it shall be temporary, God will give us courage out of
this discouragement.
To make matters worse
for Zerubbabel, a letter was sent to the king containing false
accusations; it resulted in the God’s project coming to a complete halt.
Ezra
5:1-2
When the prophets, Haggai the
prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in
Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them,
then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose
and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the
prophets of God were with them supporting them. (NAS)
God’s prophets will
cause the building project that has stopped, to continue again. Of course
the enemy sent accusation to the king to have the work cease but the
response of the king was “"Leave this work on the house of God
alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild
this house of God on its site.” God gives us favor with the kings of
the land when what we are building is truly of the Lord. After the
work of the temple was finished we see Ezra coming to the scene; he
represents to us what is the result of a completed temple.
A
Finished Temple
Ezra
7:10
For Ezra had set his heart to
study the law of the LORD, and to practice {it,} and to teach {His}
statutes and ordinances in Israel. (NAS)
When we become a
mature nation of priests, we will follow the example of Ezra. Ezra was a
priest and a scribe; he represents God’s desire to have an undefiled
temple. Ezra became a law to the people of Israel and he ridded the land
from abominations that were occurring. This is a type of the
“Day of Atonement”!
Ezra
9:2-4
"For they have taken some of
their daughters {as wives} for themselves and for their sons, so that the
holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed,
the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this
unfaithfulness." And when I heard about this matter, I tore my
garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my
beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words
of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles
gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening
offering. (NAS)
Temple defiling must
cease in our midst. We must become a people that have an extreme hatred
for sin; we must be appalled at its appearance. We must not be
intermingled with the peoples of this land; we are a people with a
different citizenship. We must not think as the world does, we must not
take in the views of this world. For instance, the world views politics a
certain way and when we have saturated ourselves with their views we
resemble the world instead of the Government of God. We join with an idea
here and an idea there that represents the world system instead of God’s
system. Because of this we are influenced by the world’s media and
entertainment, we have considered that which is important, that which God
considers unimportant. Because we fellowship with that which does not
serve Jesus Christ in total abandonment, we consider certain things as
unimportant that God says is the most important. WE HAVE BECOME
INTERMINGLED! In seeing this intermingling in our own life, does it bring
a trembling? Proverbs teaches that the beginning of knowledge and wisdom -
“fears God”. Hate that which is evil those who love God.
Ps
97:10
Let those who love the LORD
hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers
them from the hand of the wicked. (NIV)
The book of Ezra ends
with the people of God having put away their foreign wives and their
children. Surely it hurt, it was pain for them, but they chose to love and
stay pure before their God. Make the tough choices in your life. Surely it
will hurt but afterwards comes God’s good pleasure. Today is your valley
of decision; today is the day of choices – WE MUST CHOOSE LIFE TODAY!
Deut
30:19-20
19
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore
choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
"that you may love the LORD
your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him,
for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in
the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, to give them." (NKJ)
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