Title: Manage Success (Nehemiah 07:1-7)
Contents
Manage your success (Nehemiah 7:1-7)
Despite the threat and obstruction of the enemy, Nehemiah completed the wall in fifty days. However, the threat of enemies does not stop there. In Nehemiah 13, Tobiah still threatens Nehemiah and causes trouble.
Tobiah is influencing and attacking Nehemiah from three directions. First, Tobiah, an Ammonite, is acting like a Jew by marrying the daughter of Shecaniah, a powerful leader in Judah. Second, Tobiah uses his position and power to do business with the wealthy of Judah and continues to expand his influence. Third, he attacks Nehemiah by blood by marrying his family to a Jewish nobleman. Nehemiah is vigilant despite completing the wall because of his enemies. He uses all his wisdom and ability to work so that the Israelites can be fully restored as God's people in the completed city.
Guard the door of your heart with the word
Today's story shows the process of Nehemiah's restoration of the people through a three-step operation.
The first step is to build a person. Chapter 7 verse 1.
After the city was built, the doors were put on, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were set up.
There is a saying 'greeting is everything'. There is nothing more important than building people up. The Chinese built the Great Wall to protect themselves from the peoples on the outskirts, but since then they have suffered at least four major invasions. It should be noted that it was not the Great Wall that collapsed each time, but the fact that the watchman guarding the Great Wall was bribed by the enemy. The safety and peace of the castle are not protected by the walls. It's what people keep. That is why Nehemiah is the first to choose a gatekeeper to guard the walls and gates. And I made them look out for people and placed a boundary so that only those who were supposed to enter could enter and exit the castle.
In this way, people also have a door they must protect. Families and communities also have doors to protect. You can live a happy life when you keep that door well. If we do not keep the gates that we should protect, thieves and wolves will come in and exploit and trample our lives.
Guys, what are you protecting the door of your heart with? Who do you keep the gatekeeper as? Rather than praying in the temple when Christians have to make important decisions, some go to a friend who can help them or even practice divination. The gatekeeper of such a person is a friend and a fortune teller.
David describes his gatekeeper this way in Psalm 119:11. “I have put Your word in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” The doorkeeper of the Christian's heart must be the Word.
In John 10, Jesus said, “I am the gate of the sheep” and said, “I am the gate; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus gave up the heavenly throne and took himself as the “gatekeeper” in order to give us the rich, true, and happy life that everyone aspires to. Beloved, may you today have the joy of reaffirming that the Lord is the gatekeeper of your heart.
Be a true worshiper
Nehemiah, who set the gatekeeper, then the singers and the Levites. This was an expression of his longing for not only the completion of the walls but also the restoration of true worship to God in the city.
Nehemiah knew the power of worship. A life without worship is like a life that has lost everything. We can enjoy true life only when we meet God in worship. The ancestors of the faith say that man's first purpose is to fear God and enjoy him forever.
It was also worship that God delivered the Israelites from Egypt and taught in the wilderness for forty years. The focus of the Ten Commandments is also worship. And the structure of the camp where the people of Israel reside is also God-centered and worship-centered. Among the camps of each tribe, the Most Holy of God and the tabernacle were built with the ark of the covenant. This emphasizes that worship should be the center of all Christian life. God taught us spiritual principles through the physical arrangement of the tent.
Beloved, God is looking for genuine worshipers in this age. The castle of life without God's presence must be protected by human strength. However, God protects the city where God is worshiped in spirit and in truth and there is God's presence. David, who experienced this truth deeply, confesses in Psalm 127:1: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps watch in vain.”
Everyone, live a life of worship. Worship is the Lord's power to bless your life.
Leaders who share success
Nehemiah also does not overlook the importance of realistically governing a city just as importantly as worship is. See verse 2.
I made my brother Hanani and Hananiah the ruler of the English kingdom to rule Jerusalem together.
Hanani, who was appointed by Nehemiah as an administrative officer, was his younger brother. Hanani was the one who brought the news of Jerusalem to Nehemiah while he was at the water palace in Persia. Nehemiah was appointed in charge not because Hanani was his younger brother, but because he loved the country and people and was a man of great loyalty.
Hananiah was also a ruler of English who was in charge of the northern fortress of the walls of Jerusalem. There is a reason why Nehemiah made Hananiah the general manager. The text says, “Hananiah was a man of great faithfulness, and the fear of God was superior in the crowd.” Nehemiah saw Hananiah guarding the small fortress, fearing God, and serving his people truthfully and without deceit. Nehemiah entrusted him with big things by making him a leader who was faithful in small things.
The Lord also said, “Good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in little things, I will entrust you with great things.” Beloved, we are dreaming of big things. But we must first be loyal to the little things.
Principle of watch
Nehemiah had the ability to discern and place qualified persons in the right places. Nehemiah was an acquaintance. He knew that he could not build a city well on his own. He was also a person who shared success. Who is the true leader and the true shepherd? Someone who knows how to share success. Having set up the right person in the right place, Nehemiah soon set up rules to protect the wall. This is verse 3.
It is customary to open the gates at sunrise and close them at sunset. But Nehemiah says, “Open the gates when the sun is rising in mid-heaven, and close the gates when the sun is about to set in mid-heaven.” In the end, he was instructed to keep the gates open only for a few hours when the sun was in the middle of the sky. Nehemiah is determined to have strict control over whoever passes through the gates.
General MacArthur once said, “A soldier who fails in an operation can be forgiven, but a soldier who fails to guard himself cannot be forgiven.” The same is true in the life of faith. More important than choosing to believe in God is keeping that faith. When we are spiritually awake and do not discern those who enter and leave our lives, we are thrown into the world and stained with the world. The Lord also says in Luke 21:34-36 and Ephesians 5:15,16 that a spiritually vigilant life is a wise life.
Nehemiah asked not only the watchman, but also the people to guard the wall together. He is commanded, “Each one must follow the order and guard the front of his house.” It was in mind that the wall would be safe only when all the people became watchmen and defend their respective territories.
We learn a lesson here. Our faith is not something our leaders protect. Even a good shepherd or a spiritual mentor is only a helper. We must not forget that we are the ultimate and final defender against Satan's temptations and attacks.
But in this last step, Nehemiah is worried. For what? This is verse 4.
For the city was vast, and the inhabitants were few, and the houses were not built.
There are three reasons why the city is huge but has no inhabitants. At that time, the captives from Babylon could not live in the city because Jerusalem had been destroyed, and they could not enter the city because it was the target of the enemy's attack. It was also because they were so focused on building the walls that they could not build houses. The lack of inhabitants in the city became a huge problem in restoring the city. For the full sovereignty and religious independence of the people of Israel, many people must live in the city. But Nehemiah could not solve it easily. How does Nehemiah deal with problems he cannot solve? See verse 5.
Because my God moved my heart to gather nobles, chieftains, and people to number them according to their genealogy, I got the genealogy of the first to return.
We can see that Nehemiah prayed with the words, “My God moved my heart.” He confesses that when he relied on God, he gave him wisdom.
James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” Like Nehemiah, we too can overcome many problems in life with the help of the Lord.
Now, Nehemiah, who found a solution by the inspiration of God, gets a list of the first returnees from Babylon. Nehemiah tries to place the people appropriately by taking a census. If you look at the list, you will find ten types of people. Leaders, slaves, and even beasts. What does this long list teach us?
The first is that people are important before God. The Lord remembers the people of God who were willing to take risks and move forward toward God's promise when they returned from Babylon to Israel. God wanted Israel to be restored. However, God did not use angels to accomplish that work. Those who love God, those who obey God, God has made history with them.
The Lord is calling us today to leave the Babylon of our personal lives and follow Him. God needs people who can devote their lives to righteous works without fear, hardship, or tribulation.
Second, God never forgets his people. Beloved, do not be anxious in the face of problems. Don't be afraid. How can God not fight with you? Rise up with God and move forward. Rise up in the name of God and proclaim His name. God will bless you.