title again
Content Title: Again
Bible: Neh 13:4-9
Around 430-40 B.C., a man named Nehemiah appears and builds the destroyed walls of Jerusalem. And all the people gathered in the square in front of the floodgates and experienced a great revival together with the priest Ezra. Through this, the Israelites will enjoy unprecedented spiritual revival, moral recovery, and political stability. After completing the great history, Governor Nehemiah returns to Persia of the Medes. The people of Israel, who had enjoyed a peaceful life for about 10 years, neglected their worship and had a lot of worldly values that polluted the temple. When Nehemiah heard the news that the city of the old text had collapsed, he ran and rebuilt the city. Now, when the hearts of the people collapse, when their thoughts, spirits, and values collapse, when the community collapses, he runs with a broken heart. The story of today's text is about the event that causes the wind of religious reform.
First, you have to get rid of the dirty stuff.
“I was very grieved and threw all Tobiah’s belongings out of the room” (verse 8). Nehemiah threw all Tobiah’s belongings outside. I don't know how powerful this was. Nehemiah could not open his eyes and see that God's temple had been defiled by God's wrath and jealousy. The saints must throw away all things that are not pleasing to God. Everything that hides the glory of God must be cut off. This is the first step to purification. If we are not renewed day by day, we will inevitably become corrupted. We must clean up our corrupt things.
Second: We must establish a new faith.
“Order to purify the room” (verse 9a). When Nehemiah heard the news that the faith and spirit of the people of Israel were falling apart, he ran to the temple in Jerusalem. In the center of the temple there was a holy place where the tithes brought by the people and the gates were kept. This place has been kept clean and is being used as a residence by Tobiya. Tobiah symbolizes the evil devil who is hindering reform and revival in the cast. Angry Nehemiah! He threw the items in the room out the window. And the room was kept clean and tidy. And I started paying tithing.
Third: We must restore our first faith.
“The vessels of the house of God and the grain offerings and the incense were brought back into it” (verse 9). This closet should contain the holy offerings to God. There must be food to be given to the Levites and priests. But there were no sacrifices to God and no food for the ministers in the temple. As a result, the Levites had left the temple to farm and farmed for a living. Accordingly, Nehemiah refilled the closet with holy sacrifices and supplies needed by the ministers, according to his original purpose. How could the people of Israel be freed from decay and be renewed? How was it possible to rebuild the faith and spirit of the crumbling people? When reform is restored from the most fundamental, the smallest, the church can be renewed.