To live a radical life for God we need a radical change. Today's Christians don't have a respect for the Word of God nor a reverence
for the presence of God. Today's church is lukewarm and decaying.
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. Nehemiah 8:1-4
It's 445 BC and Nehemiah is taking the children of Israel into Jerusalem. Artaxerxes is the king at this time and this is the time frame that we're looking at. Even though the children of Israel were now going back into Jerusalem there are some things that had changed about Jerusalem. The city that they once remembered isn't there anymore. The city walls and the houses that they once had were all destroyed by war. It had all been taken down, and now when they are going back into their city they desperately want God to remind them of how things used to be. They wanted vision from God on how things are going to be and they were pleading this before the Lord.
To get a little context we can look back at chapter 7 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed, then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. Then I said to them, "Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, let them shut and bolt the doors. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house." Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy. Nehemiah 7:1-5
Here's what's happening. The children of Israel are there and they've been waiting for the wall of the city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Here in chapter 7 the wall's done, they were just hanging the doors now. The reason for the wall being built up, as we will see later wasn't to close them up into sin but just the opposite; it was to close them off to sin.
Notice in the passage above, there were very few people and very few things nor activities within the walls. At this point we need to ask ourselves, if people were to appear inside the walls of my life what would it look like? Would it look like what we see here, empty? Would it look like there's nothing really going on? We can look great spiritually on the outside, just as the wall around Jerusalem did. When we look inside the wall of our life, there is nothing spiritually happening at all. They had forsaken the Lord, they had forgotten about God. When it came to the functionality of life, the inner chamber of their city is the place where they had forgotten God and He was now left out. Maybe that's you. Maybe the Lord is speaking to you today, you look like you have everything around you and it looks like everything is safeguarded, but on the inside there is nothing spiritual.
The remainder of chapter 7 goes into a list of names. 49,942 names to be exact. It doesn't include the livestock or anything else, just the people that are there. The fifth verse of chapter 7 is insightful. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy. The walls had been built and the LORD put it on Nehemiah's heart to gather His people. Why is this insightful? God knows something about His people, when they gather together as one man to seek God for one goal, one purpose; God knows that great things can happen.
Church isn't something for us to check off on some list as something we did on Sunday. It's coming into those doors and telling God that you are coming with expectancy. We know that there are going to be other believers there gathering together and we should expect God to do something amazing there that day and I'm not talking in a Pentecostal way. God gathers people together because He knows that when His church is gathered together great things can happen. In chapter 8 we see the radical things, this empty wall all of the sudden becomes this revived city and it starts in the hearts of the people.
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. Imagine, nearly 50,000 people gathered as one because they had a united heart, a united focus, there was essentially one man standing in that city. Their hearts were locked together. Their minds were fixed upon whatever it was that God was about to speak to them. Ask yourselves, is this the church today? Is this YOU today?
Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. Ezra was not only a priest, but also a scribe which is very insightful. A priest was noted for, in that day, having a life and living a life that is devoted to God. They would set their life apart and devote it entirely to God. A scribe had a different function, a scribe's roll was to take the Torah and write them down word for word. Not only did Ezra have a life that was devoted to God but he also had a life of reverence towards the Word of God. You couldn't be a scribe and not have a respect for God's Word. A scribe would bathe and then put on their robes, they would clean up and get a fresh pen and then begin to scribe the Word of God and every time they came across that word that no one ever wanted to pronounce (Yahweh), every time they came upon the name of God they would take the pen and put it down, they would bathe and put on a new set of clothing, get a new pen and they would approach God's name totally clean. Every time they came across the name of God they would go through this cleansing.
That was just approaching the name of God. When we are gathered together where two or more are present, God is there with you. How many times do you walk through the doors of your church and say "I don't care about my life, I don't care how much sin is in my life, I don't care. I'm just going to go to church. I'm going to listen to what they have to say and then I'm going to walk out and I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing." What it shows you is this. It shows that you don't have any reverence or any respect for the very presence of God.
A man that has a reverence for God's Word, a respect God's word, it seems as though it always leads to a person who has a life that is devoted to the Lord as well. They go hand in hand. This was Ezra, is this you? Do you have a reverence for God's Word? Do you respect the presence of God? We need to be on our knees asking God to forgive us, to challenge us and to change us radically. We try to do it of ourselves, but that will fail. Only through God can we have the strength needed to live radically for Him.
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. Nehemiah 8:1-4
It's 445 BC and Nehemiah is taking the children of Israel into Jerusalem. Artaxerxes is the king at this time and this is the time frame that we're looking at. Even though the children of Israel were now going back into Jerusalem there are some things that had changed about Jerusalem. The city that they once remembered isn't there anymore. The city walls and the houses that they once had were all destroyed by war. It had all been taken down, and now when they are going back into their city they desperately want God to remind them of how things used to be. They wanted vision from God on how things are going to be and they were pleading this before the Lord.
To get a little context we can look back at chapter 7 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed, then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. Then I said to them, "Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, let them shut and bolt the doors. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house." Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy. Nehemiah 7:1-5
Here's what's happening. The children of Israel are there and they've been waiting for the wall of the city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Here in chapter 7 the wall's done, they were just hanging the doors now. The reason for the wall being built up, as we will see later wasn't to close them up into sin but just the opposite; it was to close them off to sin.
Notice in the passage above, there were very few people and very few things nor activities within the walls. At this point we need to ask ourselves, if people were to appear inside the walls of my life what would it look like? Would it look like what we see here, empty? Would it look like there's nothing really going on? We can look great spiritually on the outside, just as the wall around Jerusalem did. When we look inside the wall of our life, there is nothing spiritually happening at all. They had forsaken the Lord, they had forgotten about God. When it came to the functionality of life, the inner chamber of their city is the place where they had forgotten God and He was now left out. Maybe that's you. Maybe the Lord is speaking to you today, you look like you have everything around you and it looks like everything is safeguarded, but on the inside there is nothing spiritual.
The remainder of chapter 7 goes into a list of names. 49,942 names to be exact. It doesn't include the livestock or anything else, just the people that are there. The fifth verse of chapter 7 is insightful. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy. The walls had been built and the LORD put it on Nehemiah's heart to gather His people. Why is this insightful? God knows something about His people, when they gather together as one man to seek God for one goal, one purpose; God knows that great things can happen.
Church isn't something for us to check off on some list as something we did on Sunday. It's coming into those doors and telling God that you are coming with expectancy. We know that there are going to be other believers there gathering together and we should expect God to do something amazing there that day and I'm not talking in a Pentecostal way. God gathers people together because He knows that when His church is gathered together great things can happen. In chapter 8 we see the radical things, this empty wall all of the sudden becomes this revived city and it starts in the hearts of the people.
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. Imagine, nearly 50,000 people gathered as one because they had a united heart, a united focus, there was essentially one man standing in that city. Their hearts were locked together. Their minds were fixed upon whatever it was that God was about to speak to them. Ask yourselves, is this the church today? Is this YOU today?
Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. Ezra was not only a priest, but also a scribe which is very insightful. A priest was noted for, in that day, having a life and living a life that is devoted to God. They would set their life apart and devote it entirely to God. A scribe had a different function, a scribe's roll was to take the Torah and write them down word for word. Not only did Ezra have a life that was devoted to God but he also had a life of reverence towards the Word of God. You couldn't be a scribe and not have a respect for God's Word. A scribe would bathe and then put on their robes, they would clean up and get a fresh pen and then begin to scribe the Word of God and every time they came across that word that no one ever wanted to pronounce (Yahweh), every time they came upon the name of God they would take the pen and put it down, they would bathe and put on a new set of clothing, get a new pen and they would approach God's name totally clean. Every time they came across the name of God they would go through this cleansing.
That was just approaching the name of God. When we are gathered together where two or more are present, God is there with you. How many times do you walk through the doors of your church and say "I don't care about my life, I don't care how much sin is in my life, I don't care. I'm just going to go to church. I'm going to listen to what they have to say and then I'm going to walk out and I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing." What it shows you is this. It shows that you don't have any reverence or any respect for the very presence of God.
A man that has a reverence for God's Word, a respect God's word, it seems as though it always leads to a person who has a life that is devoted to the Lord as well. They go hand in hand. This was Ezra, is this you? Do you have a reverence for God's Word? Do you respect the presence of God? We need to be on our knees asking God to forgive us, to challenge us and to change us radically. We try to do it of ourselves, but that will fail. Only through God can we have the strength needed to live radically for Him.
