Nehemiah 12:27-13:31, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Psalm 35:1-16, Proverbs 21:17-18
Today is the 17th day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, as we come around the Global Campfire, find rest for our weary souls, find a place to just kick back and relax and allow the Scriptures to speak into our lives, as we take the next step forward together. In the Old Testament we have been reading through the book of Nehemiah and Nehemiah himself has given us plenty to consider, in terms of leadership. We’ve also gotten lots of lengthy and thorough lists of people who were involved, let’s remember what’s going on here. The exiles are returning from exile to rebuild Jerusalem and trying to sort out who’s who and who’s from where, this is an entire population that was deported and has come back, it’s like 70 years later. So, a lot has changed and we get the chronicling of who was involved in that. Today, we will conclude the book of Nehemiah and so, let’s dive in Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 27 through 13 verse 31 today.
Commentary:
Okay, so we concluded the book of Nehemiah today and we saw the wall that Nehemiah had dreamed about, and interceded about, and allowed to burn in his soul about, approach the king about like, the whole story. The wall is a real thing now, it’s not a dream anymore, and we saw the wall be dedicated with two groups of people, kind of moving opposite each other with praise and worship on the top of the wall and there two different camps, kinda going all the way around the perimeter of Jerusalem and that must’ve been a very, very satisfying day for Nehemiah because we watch the fact that, they were opposed in every conceivable way from intimidation, to threat, to politics, to inside jobs, like it was a struggle to build this wall. And then, Nehemiah returned to Babylon and went back to King Artaxerxes, later on, he was allowed to go back to Jerusalem. When he got back to Jerusalem, he found the people drifting again, drifting away. They had a grand time of worship and renewing the covenant and dedicating the wall, but by the time Nehemiah gets back, they’re falling away again, all kinds of things going on that are bothersome. For example, a man named Tobia, and we should recognize that name because he was one of the chief intimidator’s, coming against Nehemiah with all kinds of discouragement about the wall and threats. Tobia, has been allowed to have a private room for his own use, inside God’s temple, because a man named Eliashib was put in charge of the temple’s storerooms. And Eliashib and Tobia were related and so Tobia gets this room inside the temple, which was infuriating to Nehemiah and we watched everything get thrown out of that room and that room be being used as a storeroom, as it was intended in the first place. Then we also see that the Levites and the singers, people that were there to continually remind the exiles, the people, who they were, who God is, where they came from, they’re being neglected and so they don’t have resources to live on. So, they have to go back to farming and they have to go back to their…their family land so, that they can provide for their families, which meant that the temple service, the things that were supposed to remind the people continually, were negatively affected. And then, the Sabbath is not being paid attention to, which negatively affects everything and has infuriated Nehemiah again, to the point where he’s like kicking out the merchants, the foreign merchants, that are coming to do business in Jerusalem and lock in the gates. And people are still coming to try to sell their goods outside the walls on the Sabbath and Nehemiah runs them off like, this is not going to be profaned, you are not profaning the Sabbath. And then the people are also mixing with those around them, once again. So, very similar things that we saw in the book of Ezra, we’re seeing in the book of Nehemiah. People that were exiles, who should have known better and should have fully understood the story of how they lost their homeland in the first place, have been given permission to return to their homeland and worship God and they’re going right back to what they were doing that destroyed them in the first place. So, you can look at this story and go okay Nehemiah is…is a really good leader and shows us a number of systematic steps that we should check in on as…as we move through our lives and our leadership of things. But it would be easy enough to look at the end of the story and go, did any of that work though. So, you did everything right and nobody is on board, you have a wall around Jerusalem, it’s strong and tall but you have a weak people, who are stiff-necked and doing everything they can to continue to destroy themselves. Did it work? And that brings us to really a final look and a final lesson from a leadership perspective, from Nehemiah. Nehemiah would’ve been discouraged when he got back to Jerusalem and we watched in today’s reading alone, how many times he said, Lord, don’t forget what I did, remember me for good, remember…remember what happened here. Remember what I did, because he can see the direction that the people are going in and that’s a discouraging scene. But it also seems to contain a lesson for us as leaders, we can’t always influence people in any direction that they don’t want to go in. We can present the truth, but ultimately, we have to be responsible for ourselves and our own obedience, which is what we watched Nehemiah today, doing as he continually turns to God and says, don’t forget what happened here, remember me for good. But we can’t necessarily make everybody be on the same page, that is more in the realm of the Holy Spirit. What we can do, is obey God, obey God, obey God, and do it in front of everybody and allow it to be true and not just for appearances. We get to be true and a true witness in any situation, whether we feel like we’re winning or not. So, when we have given it our all, done everything that we can, and been obedient then we can remember Nehemiah and how Nehemiah turned to God and asked God, for him to remember.
Prayer:
And so, Father, we thank You for this example, and this way of looking at things, because so often we have the idea that if we obey you and do everything right, then everything is gonna work out great and everybody’s gonna follow and it’s gonna be perfect. When we are no less stiff-necked than our ancient brothers and sisters that we read of in the Scriptures. In fact, we can be a lot more hardheaded and a lot more stiff-necked and a lot more rebellious, it seems. So, leading and influencing for good can sometimes be lonely and a place of misunderstanding. Thankfully that has not been left out of the Scriptures and we have examples like Nehemiah to give us a posture of heart. Sometimes, when we find ourselves being discouraged that we’re either not leading well, or finding the taunting voices, or the intimidation, we can feel like we’re failing when we’re doing what you said to do, which means that we have placed an outcome and an expectation on our obedience. And when our expectations aren’t met, then we find ourselves disappointed. We can look into the story of Nehemiah and find, he faced every kind of obstacle and completed the task and still, had to battle with discouraging things and he turned to You, as he did the entire way. That You might remember that he was faithful. So, may we be faithful in what You’ve tasked us with. And may You remember this, for our good as we set aside and surrender our expectations. We pray this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Good evening DAB family, this is Smiling Up to Jesus in New York. I wanted to take a moment to pray for our sister, Allissa, who called in from Colorado. Wow, congratulations Allissa. Just announced that you are pregnant and it’s sounds like you’ve been going through so much. You said you were experiencing kidney failure, you’re on dialysis and I just want to lift you up in prayer, right now. Lord, we are so thankful for Allissa and all that You are doing through her. We can just tell from her call that she is so full of faith, Lord. She is after Your own heart, Lord. And we are just so inspired. Lord, we pray for miraculous healing for her, for her kidneys, Lord. And we pray for her beautiful baby, who’s growing. We pray for the baby’s health and strength and wellness, Lord. And we trust you Lord, and we’re so grateful for all Your doing in her lift. And we know, that everything that You’re doing is for her good and for our good and your good, because You are such a good God. And we thank You, in Jesus precious name. Amen. God Bless everyone.
I pray Lord, this is Prisoner of Life. I have so much struggle going on, it’s overwhelming. I need people to pray for me that I get strong, I get sturdy. Being out here in the free world is very dangerous. I get pulled in to situations of life and I have to concentrate on myself. I ask the good Lord to help me every day because I’m easily influenced by things I shouldn’t be. So, I ask, that you guys pray for me cause prayer is a strong tool that we have and I know that. So, this is Prisoner of Life from Arizona. Please, keep me in your prayer so I can continue this journey doing it on the inside was easy. But out here, it’s a struggle. Life, on life’s terms. Boy, I’m 63 years old but I’m still dealing with that. Who would have known. Keep me in your prayers, please. That’s all I ask, nothing more.
Good morning DAB family, God bless you. This is Bridget from New York City and I just wanted to pray for the young man from Brooklyn. I’m sorry I don’t remember your name. But I do remember your prayer request and you keep on coming back to me. I’m originally from New York so, I get it. And I just want to lift you up. So, Father God, I just thank You for this young man that has started listening to the DAB and that has started to, to understand his need, my God. Father, we cannot do anything in this world without You God. I’m reminded of how often we go backwards, and we seek things according to our strength, according to our mindset, according to our mentality and how many times we feel let down by You because we’re leaning on our own strength. My God, I just, I pray that this young man, Father, would begin too truly lean on You. That, he himself, would pray Father, over this depression, in the name of Jesus, my God, that he himself, would know that You did not create him as a depressed person, Father God. That, he himself, would know God, that You have given him the gift and the tools and the mindset, to be able to be able to get work, to be able to do and function the way that You desire, God. So, I pray that he will get to know You deeply. That he would get to know Your desires for him, Your plans for him, God. That he would be so in love with You Lord, and so into Your word, my God, that he would see God and that he would respond, Lord, and that he would return with an answer on what You’ve done. In Jesus name.
Hi, Daily Audio Bible family, this is Renzo in Florida and I just want to pray for DABer by the name of Michael. Father God, in Portugal, Father God. I pray for his sister’s situation, I pray for Michelle, Lord God, I pray that she’s completely freed from her drug addiction, Lord God. Let her to be completely, trust and anchored in Your Lord God. God, change her life. Let her just, get away from this addiction, Lord God, that is enticing her and wrapping her up in sin, Lord God. I just pray that she is completely healed and redeemed and if she’s not already born again, Father God, I just pray that You just change her life, Lord God. In Jesus name, Amen. And I just want to ask You DABers, if you guys could just pray for me. I feel like there’s sometimes when I hear a direction in my everyday life or I hear somebody like, tell me a direction of something I need to do. I feel like I freeze up and then I don’t do it right. Or like, if I’m told to do something, it’s like I freeze up and then somebody has to show me how to do it. And then, then I do it right. I don’t know what’s going on but I just, I would just ask for prayers that I could just stop being like anxious about that type of stuff. Or just like, anxious about my future or what God has for me cause it’s all in God’s hands and that just what I have to remember. But yeah, if you guys could just pray for me on that, about that. Thank you, guys. Love you guys, Jesus loves you too. Bye.
Hello, from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio, it’s Daniel Johnson Jr. It’s just after 6 o’clock on Monday, August 15th. I am out for a walk this morning on this path that I’ve walked many times before over the years, while listening to the Daily Audio Bible. And my heart is just stirred right now. I reached back out, maybe about a couple weeks ago, and said that I am on the verge of losing my job. I fit so well with the culture but I’m just not able to get the level of, you know, to meet the metrics that I’ve been given to produce. And it looks like, well, I’ve been given until the end of this month to make that happen. And I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to do it. While, there is some of that doubt and of course, God can do all things. I’m also not sure if I want to do it. Just I’ve been feeling very burnt out from all of the work that I’ve been doing. And so, at the same time as trying hard to produce, I’m also looking for my next job. And so, I ask your prayers in that regard. Because here comes another time of transition, another plot twist. And I am ready for it, as much as I can be. I’m trying to get myself ready for it. But at the same time, I just know that most importantly, among all of the basic needs that I have, the most important one is Jesus, cause, I can do all things through Him, who gives me strength. So, from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio, this is Daniel Johnson Jr. God bless you, make it a great day