Participants:
Series Code: LGS
Program Code: LGS019411A
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00:01 Hello, I'm Mel Olsen, and this is Let God Speak.
00:03 Nehemiah has successfully rebuilt the wall 00:06 around Jerusalem 00:07 and introduced the people to the temple worship 00:09 ordained by God. 00:11 He returned to Babylon 00:12 and while he was away some things changed. 00:15 Today we'll explore those changes 00:17 and see how he handled the problems that had arisen. 00:46 On our panel today we have Nathan Tasker and Blair Lemke. 00:49 Welcome to the panel, gentlemen. 00:50 Good to be here. 00:51 That is good, and let's just commence with a prayer. 00:54 Heavenly Father, as we come and discuss Your Word today, 00:58 we open Your book, the Bible, 01:00 and we ask that You will guide and direct us, 01:03 that we will learn of the things 01:04 that You have written there for us to learn. 01:07 So bless us as we share together today 01:09 from Your Word we ask. 01:11 Amen. Amen. 01:14 So Ezra, the scribe and the priests 01:18 had read the Word of God to the people in Jerusalem, 01:22 they had responded, they had confessed their sins 01:26 and they even acknowledged God in these words, 01:29 and I'm gonna read it from Nehemiah 9:32, it said, 01:33 "Now therefore, our God, the great, 01:36 the mighty and awesome God, 01:39 who keeps the covenant and mercy." 01:41 So they really expressed what God was like to them, 01:45 so how do they follow up 01:47 this recognition of God, Nathan. 01:49 Well, I'm pleased to report 01:51 that we begin the story very well. 01:53 Yes. 01:54 If we have a look at Nehemiah 9:38, it says, 01:59 "And because of all this 02:01 we make a sure covenant, and write it, 02:04 our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it." 02:09 And in 10:28, it actually goes through 02:12 and explains that everybody went through 02:17 and made this commitment. 02:18 It was a group decision 02:19 that they were going to follow God. 02:21 Yeah, so all of them together, women, children, families? 02:24 Yeah, there's a little stairs as men, women, children, 02:29 everybody agreed. 02:30 Very powerful, isn't it? 02:32 Very powerful, so what did they actually sign up for? 02:36 If you just go on 10:29, it says here, 02:40 "These joined with their brethren, 02:43 their nobles, and entered into a curse," 02:46 or another way of saying it would be like a promise, 02:48 an oath, "to walk in God's Law, 02:51 which was given by Moses the servant of God, 02:54 and to observe 02:56 and to do all the commandments of the Lord our God, 02:58 and His ordinances and His statutes." 03:00 So it's actually referring back 03:02 to what Moses had already given the people 03:05 in previous generations, 03:07 they're now going back and reminding themselves 03:09 and signing up, we want to continue 03:11 in the footsteps of our ancestors that followed Moses. 03:13 Yes. 03:15 So Nehemiah is the governor and the spiritual leader, 03:19 had organized the temple services 03:21 in a way that he put leadership, 03:23 people into leadership positions. 03:25 And then he had to go back to the king 03:29 where he'd come from originally, 03:31 so what happened here? 03:34 And why did he leave? Why did he go? 03:36 Yeah, it was, the scripture gives an answer, 03:39 it was really based on an agreement 03:40 that he'd made with the king, 03:42 so in Nehemiah 2:5, 03:47 it says, "And I said to the king, 03:49 'If it pleases the king, 03:51 and your servant has found favor in your sight, 03:52 I ask that you send me to Judah, 03:54 to the city of my fathers' tombs, 03:56 that I may rebuild it." 03:57 And so Nehemiah had asked the king to be able to go, 04:02 and then when you have a look 04:03 across there in Nehemiah 13:6, 04:08 at the end of that chapter it says, 04:11 "For in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, 04:14 I had returned to the king. 04:16 Then after certain days 04:17 I obtained leave from the king." 04:19 And so, he'd really made the decision, 04:21 he's asked to have time to go, 04:23 and the king had said, "Yep, go ahead go." 04:25 And then, but then he had to head back 04:28 because he's made that agreement with the king 04:30 to go back at a set time. 04:32 So he's back with the king and then he says, 04:34 "I want to return." 04:36 And the king once again gives him permission 04:38 to go back again. 04:39 But he has to reinstate him as governor again as well 04:42 and so he gives him the permission, 04:44 but when he gets back, 04:45 Chapter 13 of Nehemiah tells a story 04:48 about what had happened while he was away. 04:51 So can you just reflect a little bit 04:52 on what happened there? 04:54 Yeah, it's actually quite an interesting history 04:56 when the Israelites were conquering Canaan so to speak. 05:01 They were overtaking or coming to take the land 05:04 that God had promised them 05:05 and two nations, the Ammonites and the Moabites 05:08 caused some real difficulties for them. 05:10 Betraying them, using, calling Balaam, 05:14 the prophet to work against them, 05:16 not allowing them to walk through their lands. 05:18 And so as a result of this, in Deuteronomy 23:3-6, 05:24 God had actually given commands for the Ammonites 05:27 and the Moabites not to have access into, 05:29 not for, God's people not to work with them 05:30 and not to give them access into the temple of God. 05:33 And so we actually see this picked up 05:35 in Nehemiah Chapter 13 05:36 which is the verse you've asked to read. 05:38 So Nehemiah 13:1-3, it says, 05:40 we find Nehemiah quoting this passage of scripture 05:42 from Deuteronomy, it says, 05:43 "On that day they read from the Book of Moses 05:45 in the hearing of the people, 05:46 and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite 05:50 should ever come into the assembly of God, 05:52 because they had not met with the children of Israel 05:53 with bread and water," they hadn't given hospitality, 05:56 "but they had hired Balaam against them to curse them. 06:00 However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 06:03 So it was, when they had heard the law, 06:04 that they separated all the mixed multitude 06:06 from Israel." 06:08 Yeah. 06:09 So there's enemies and supporters of Nehemiah 06:12 right there. 06:13 Nathan, can you put together three of these names 06:15 you've got Eliashib, Tobiah and Sanballat. 06:19 How do they fit into this picture? 06:21 I guess we could unpack them in a bit more detail 06:25 but these three people 06:26 were each influential in a certain way. 06:29 We have the high priest Eliashib 06:32 who was in charge not only of the practical operations 06:36 at the temple or the place of worship 06:38 but also, he was seen as a spiritual leader 06:41 for the people of God. 06:43 And he had working with him 06:44 two other gentlemen, Sanballat and Tobiah 06:48 who had been opposing Nehemiah and causing problems 06:52 and so although 06:53 they are supposedly allies of God's cause, 06:57 we find out they are actually not so friendly and helpful. 07:00 Okay, so there's some intrigue around these three then? 07:03 Can you unpack that a little bit more for us 07:05 someone as intrigued? 07:06 I'm sorry to say 07:08 that there is a bit of a dirty laundry 07:10 in this story and I'd encourage our readers, 07:12 or viewers to go and have a look, 07:14 but we seem to pick up here 07:16 that the grandson of the high priest 07:20 had married the daughter of Sanballat. 07:23 Sanballat, of course, is a governor 07:25 of the local territory of Samaria, 07:29 who had been antagonistic to the returning exiles, 07:32 and this marriage alliance doesn't seem to be very wise 07:37 or very favorable to God's people. 07:38 Even Sanballat himself, 07:40 his name means 'The Moon God has given life'. 07:44 And that name isn't just a accidental name like George. 07:48 This is a handpicked name 07:50 that this guy has adopted in adulthood 07:53 and there's now intermarriage between him 07:55 and the high priest of God's people. 07:57 So we've got some real problems and, of course, 07:59 Tobiah had been very happy to undermine 08:03 and to ridicule and to accuse to the Persians, 08:08 Nehemiah's work saying 08:10 that these people have been insubordinate. 08:12 So, big problems here. 08:13 So, you say there were alliances 08:15 that led to trouble, Blair. 08:17 How did Nehemiah handle this? 08:19 Yeah, well, it's written in scripture 08:22 here in Nehemiah 13:4-5, it says, 08:27 "Now before this, Eliashib the priest, 08:30 having authority over the storerooms of the house 08:32 of our God, was allied with Tobiah. 08:34 And he prepared for him a large room, 08:36 where he previously had stored the grain offerings, 08:37 the frankincense, the articles, 08:40 the tithes of grain, and the new oil, 08:42 which he commanded to be given to the Levites." 08:44 And so Eliashib had prepared a room for Tobiah, 08:47 this Ammonite, which was strictly forbidden. 08:51 It was against the law 08:52 that we just read about previously, 08:54 and so verse, if we pick it up here in verse 7-9, 08:59 we actually find 09:00 that he kind of addresses the problem front, head on. 09:02 And so in verse 7, it says, 09:04 "I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil 09:06 that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, 09:09 in preparing a room for him 09:10 in the courts of the house of God." 09:12 This grieved him. 09:13 Verse 8, he says as much, it says, 09:15 "And it grieved me bitterly, 09:16 therefore I threw 09:18 all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. 09:20 Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms, 09:22 and I brought back into them 09:24 the articles of the house of God, 09:25 with the grain offerings 09:26 and the frankincense and these things." 09:29 And so the enemies of Nehemiah 09:31 had sort to try to overtake his, 09:34 the rulership of the area and Nehemiah's posture 09:37 was to directly confront the problem 09:40 and to bring back reforms, so to speak. 09:42 I guess when I was younger, 09:44 I saw this as a little bit inhospitable, 09:47 why would it be appropriate to kick somebody out. 09:51 Some "poor, innocent person" 09:52 that needed some sort of shelter, 09:54 you know, maybe a homeless person." 09:55 But if we really look into the story, 09:58 Tobiah is not a poor, innocent, homeless person, 10:01 he is specifically being planted, 10:04 he is planting himself in the place 10:07 that is supposed to be God's house 10:09 so that he can directly undermine the work of God. 10:12 That's right, and, Blair, you read the words, 10:15 "and it grieved me bitterly." 10:16 Yeah. 10:18 They're pretty emotive words, they're strong words. 10:19 That's right. 10:20 Why do you think there was such a strong 10:22 emotive feeling about that? 10:23 Well, I mean as we read previously, 10:24 it was a direct violation to the clear commandments 10:27 that God had given His people. 10:28 And so, as Nehemiah is someone 10:30 who was concerned 10:32 with living faithfully to God's commandments, 10:34 this was something that grieved him. 10:35 And we actually see this posture 10:38 is not dissimilar to the posture 10:39 that Jesus takes as well. 10:42 In the Book of John, and in John 2, 10:44 I want to just share with you briefly a passage here, 10:47 I'm in verses 15 and more, so we'll read verse 17 here, 10:50 it says, this is Jesus speaking about His zeal 10:54 for the house of God, it says, 10:55 "When He had made a whip of cords, 10:58 He drove them out of the temple, 10:59 with the sheep and the oxen, 11:01 and He poured out the changers' money 11:02 and overturned the tables." 11:03 And look at verse 17 here, it says, 11:05 "Then His disciples remembered that it was written, 11:08 'Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.'" 11:11 And as you see those similar, that similar theme there, 11:13 zeal for the house of God. 11:14 Nehemiah had this zeal for the house of God 11:17 and he wanted to see it conducted in a way 11:20 that was honorable to God 11:21 and in accordance with His commandments. 11:23 Yeah, that zeal for the house of God 11:25 was actually a Messianic prophecy, wasn't it? 11:27 That's correct. 11:28 And they look back at that, yes, yes. 11:30 So soon after signing the covenant to follow God, 11:33 Israel was slipping back into its old practices. 11:36 Nathan, is there a warning here for us? 11:41 I'm really sorry to say that it seems like 11:44 we have a history of not remembering our past. 11:48 Isaiah 1:3 has a particular warning for us. 11:53 I'm gonna read here from the NCV, it says, 11:59 "An ox knows its master 12:02 and a donkey knows where its master feeds it, 12:06 but the people of Israel do not know me, 12:10 my people do not understand." 12:12 That's pretty strong, isn't it? 12:14 I don't understand them. 12:15 That's a God who's very sad 12:16 because His own loved ones are not recognizing Him, 12:22 their God. 12:23 In John Chapter 17, we have another passage here, 12:27 this is John 17:3, Jesus words here in red, 12:32 it says, "This is eternal life, 12:35 that they may know You, the only true God, 12:38 and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." 12:42 It's seems like if we don't have 12:44 this personal relationship with God, 12:46 if we don't connect with Him on a daily basis, 12:49 we could be liable to be like that ox or donkey, 12:53 that doesn't even know who's caring for it. 12:56 That's right. Yes, yes. 12:57 So Nehemiah soon discovers there are things in the temple 13:00 weren't going as well as they should as well. 13:02 So what steps were taken here, Nathan, 13:05 to fix up some problems that had arisen? 13:09 Let's have a look 13:10 at Nehemiah 13:10-11, 13:17 and this is what it says, 13:18 "I also realized 13:20 that the portions for the Levites 13:21 had not been given to them, 13:24 for each of the Levites and the singers 13:26 who did the work had gone back to his field. 13:29 So I contended with the rulers and said, 13:32 'Why is the house of God forsaken?' 13:34 And I gathered them together and sat them in their place.'" 13:38 So in this context 13:39 what's happening is normally the people 13:42 that are working at the temple 13:43 were supposed to be supported by their work 13:46 and by the people that they were serving, 13:48 and in this case 13:50 these spiritual leaders had been abandoned 13:53 and so they had no choice, 13:54 but to go themselves back to common work in their field 13:58 to put food on their own table. 14:00 So supported meaning what? 14:03 With foods, with the income, with the offerings. 14:08 It'll be financial as well as the actual offerings themselves 14:13 which was sacrificed and in certain cases divided up 14:16 and eaten by the Levites. 14:18 Okay. 14:20 So what was the result 14:21 after Nehemiah had set the rulers in their place. 14:23 He's gotten into them, hadn't he? 14:25 Yes. Yes, he's pretty direct. 14:26 Yes, yes. 14:27 Well, let's read on in verse 12 and 13, it says, 14:29 "And then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain 14:32 and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. 14:35 And I appointed as treasurers 14:36 over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest 14:39 and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah, 14:42 and next to them Hanan the son of Zaccur, 14:45 and the son of Mattaniah, 14:46 for they were considered faithful, 14:48 and their task was to distribute 14:50 to their brethren." 14:51 And so what Nehemiah does is he rights the wrongs, 14:54 he reinstates this financial system 14:56 and begins to return a faithful tithe. 15:00 Again, returning to the commandments 15:02 that God had given His people. 15:04 Okay, so returning a faithful tithe 15:06 seemed to be something 15:07 that was really important to Nehemiah. 15:10 So what is it about that, that you felt so strongly, 15:15 you know, he did? 15:17 Yeah, he's, I mean, 15:18 we see this again and again with Nehemiah. 15:20 He's concerned with returning to God's commandments. 15:23 He's concerned with returning to the way 15:25 that God has asked us to live our lives. 15:27 And so we see here in Leviticus 27:30, 15:32 we read, 15:34 "And all the tithe of the land, 15:35 whether of the seed of the land 15:36 or the fruit of the tree is the Lord's." 15:38 It is holy to the Lord. 15:39 So we find here a commandment to return a tithe, 15:43 and that this tithe is holy to God. 15:45 And then we see in verse 44, these, sorry, 15:48 verse 34 of the same chapter, 15:49 "These are the commandments which the Lord commanded 15:52 Moses to the children of Israel on Mount Sinai." 15:55 And so it's very clear 15:56 that God has given a commandment to tithe 15:58 that Nehemiah is wanting to return to that. 16:00 We also see Numbers, Numbers 18:21, we read, 16:05 "Behold, I've given the children of Levi 16:07 all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance 16:10 in return for the work which they perform 16:11 the work of the tabernacle of meeting." 16:14 And so this tithe was specifically to be used 16:16 for the Levites to support them, 16:19 to allow them to perform this work 16:21 that they previously were having to rely on, 16:24 you know, support themselves through while trying this, 16:26 he's restoring faithfulness to God's commands. 16:29 Absolutely. 16:30 I'm just thinking that context too, 16:32 obviously God has everything at His command. 16:36 And He doesn't really depend upon humans 16:38 to finance His system, 16:40 and even the Levites themselves. 16:42 I mean, God, God has ways of taking care of them. 16:44 But I wonder if in this system 16:48 where people were no longer returning tithe to God, 16:51 they were making it difficult for God to reveal to them 16:55 that He was actually taking care of them 16:56 as a nation, as a group. 16:58 And perhaps that is why 16:59 they were so liable to get distracted, 17:02 because they weren't able to realize 17:04 and see that God was the one 17:06 that was caring for them as a nation. 17:08 That's right. 17:09 So, we know tithe was instituted. 17:12 We have records, biblical records of it, 17:14 perhaps we don't have time to go back to those now. 17:17 So we'll just move on to the next question here. 17:20 And I want to read something from Malachi about tithe. 17:24 And it's in Malachi 3:10, 17:27 probably the best known text on tithing, 17:29 that there is, says, 17:31 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, 17:33 that there may be food in my house, 17:35 and try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, 17:39 if I will not open for you the windows of heaven 17:42 and pour you out such a blessing 17:45 that there will not be room enough to receive it." 17:48 And so there's a promise 17:49 that goes with this particular challenge 17:52 of tithe playing here. 17:54 Nathan, what do you think about the payment of tithe, 17:59 and maybe words associated with a payment of tithe? 18:03 I guess we can use different phrases 18:07 in regards to tithe, 18:08 maybe we can pay tithes as if we're paying a bill. 18:13 Or we can return tithes, 18:15 as if it belongs to somebody else. 18:18 Or we could talk about, what's another word to... 18:22 You can bring the tithes in Like bringing it forward, 18:26 as if it's something 18:27 which is personal and voluntary. 18:30 And I suppose, from God's perspective, 18:34 I'm pretty sure He prefers our hearts 18:36 and our attitude 18:37 more than He depends upon our generosity. 18:40 So, as we're kind of thinking about this, 18:43 I wonder if we could be asking ourselves, 18:45 what is the attitude of my heart? 18:48 Why am I contemplating 18:50 entering into a relationship with God 18:52 with my time and my possessions? 18:53 What can I do that connects me to my Creator? 18:58 Yes. 19:00 And it becomes an act of your voluntary giving, doesn't it? 19:04 And I choose to give to God and give back to God 19:07 and this is true. 19:08 So Nehemiah comes back as we've been talking, 19:11 that there are more parts of the covenant 19:13 that are broken, 19:14 so what else did he find? 19:16 Yeah, it seems that in addition to the tithing, 19:19 in addition to some of these other, 19:20 I guess backsliding, 19:23 Nehemiah finds an issue with the Sabbath. 19:26 And so let's have a look here in Nehemiah 10:31. 19:31 And in Nehemiah 10:31, it says this, 19:33 "If the people of the land bought, 19:35 brought wares of any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, 19:37 we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath 19:39 or on a holy day, 19:41 and we would forego the seventh years produce 19:43 and the exacting of every debt." 19:45 And then across in verse, Chapter 13 in, 19:49 Nehemiah Chapter 13, verses... 19:55 Seventeen? Let's have a look here. 19:57 Seventeen? Yup 17. 19:59 And it says, "Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, 20:03 and said to them, 20:04 what evil thing is this that you do 20:06 by which you profane the Sabbath day?" 20:09 Did, not your father's do thus 20:11 and, you know, brought disaster upon them. 20:14 And so we see this concept of Sabbath 20:17 breaking taking place. 20:18 Working on the Sabbath and trading on the Sabbath day, 20:21 commerce and things of the sort. 20:23 It was a concern to Nehemiah. 20:24 Yes. 20:25 Did he ever remind them of the past? 20:28 What happens when you break the Sabbath? 20:31 All right. 20:32 I mean, the verse we just read there, 20:34 verse 17, it says, "I contend with the nobles of Judea," 20:37 and so we see that he met the issue again, 20:40 in classic Nehemiah style, he met the issue head on, 20:43 and he dealt with it as swiftly and as gracefully as he could. 20:49 And he reminded them of the failures of the past 20:52 as we just read there. 20:53 You know, in the past, we've made these mistakes, 20:54 let's return to faithfulness to God and to His Word. 20:57 All right. 20:58 So besides a straight talker, Nehemiah is a man of action. 21:03 What other actions did he take, I mean he's verbal, 21:05 but what else did he do there? 21:07 I guess if I'm looking at the following verses, 21:11 this is Nehemiah 13:19, 20, 21, and 22. 21:16 In addition to having a discussion 21:19 about the philosophy 21:22 or the ideology of the Sabbath keeping, 21:24 it seems like he also made some, 21:27 took some practical steps to talk to those 21:29 who take care of the gates, to talk to the traders, 21:31 to talk to the people and say, 21:33 You know what, we have decided intellectually, 21:36 but let's put some practical things in place as well, 21:39 to ensure that we as a people can be honorable. 21:42 If one or two of us feel a bit tempted 21:44 and want to take a shortcut somewhere. 21:46 Let's support each other in solidarity 21:49 and take these steps 21:51 so that we can corporately as a community 21:54 focus on God's rather than ourselves 21:56 and our financial interest on the Sabbath. 21:58 Yes. 21:59 So what did Nehemiah actually do, physically, 22:02 there on the Sabbath, or a bit before the Sabbath, 22:05 in fact, closing gates? 22:07 You're talking about verse 19, 22:08 yeah, they're having the gates closed before dark, 22:11 that's verse 19, 22:12 posting some of his own servants 22:14 so that no burdens be brought in. 22:16 Verse 20, the merchants 22:18 and the sellers of all kinds of wares 22:21 lodged outside Jerusalem. 22:23 The encouragement, because I'm sure, 22:25 trader could have been coming in from afar saying, 22:27 well, hey, I come from a long way. 22:29 It's Friday night, when Sabbath's finished, 22:31 you know, sell a little bit, I'll move on. 22:33 He's saying, no, you guys you're your journey, 22:34 get here before sunset Friday. 22:36 Otherwise we'll see you Sunday. 22:38 That's right, yeah, yes, 22:40 he even threaten those outside the gates. 22:42 Don't come, don't come from outside. 22:44 Don't bring temptation into my house. 22:47 So, the Sabbath was really important. 22:50 So what does sanctifying the Sabbath 22:52 actually mean here you think? 22:55 Okay, so, the word sanctify might be a bit of a funny word 22:59 now to speak today, 23:00 but something that is sanctified 23:03 is something that is special, unique, set apart, 23:06 like a wedding dress, for example. 23:08 It's the kind of dress 23:09 that is reserved for a special occasion, 23:11 I wouldn't expect someone 23:13 to do an oil change in a wedding dress, 23:14 I mean, you physically could, 23:16 but it's really not the kind of dress 23:18 that is well suited to that. 23:20 So the Sabbath is something which is a little bit special, 23:23 very special, set apart for a very specific purpose. 23:27 And people think, well, it doesn't really matter 23:29 if I change the oil in my wedding dress, 23:31 no one's going to know. 23:33 But even if you do a really good job 23:34 and what are you telling everybody about your wedding? 23:36 You know, what do you tell everybody about that, 23:38 the significance of that particular symbol 23:40 of your relationship 23:42 and the Sabbath is a symbol of our relationship with God, 23:45 reminding us of His creative power 23:47 and His redeeming power. 23:48 It's interesting, I think that's really the rationale 23:51 behind verse 15 there, 23:53 which we were trying to read earlier on, 23:55 where it talks about, in those days, 23:57 I saw the people of Judah 23:59 trading winepresses on the Sabbath, 24:00 bringing sheaves. 24:01 They were doing all kinds of burdens, 24:03 carrying burdens and I warned them 24:05 not to sell provisions on this day. 24:07 I think that really, 24:09 coming back to that is the rationale 24:10 for why this, 24:12 why Nehemiah saw a need to change, 24:14 there needs to be something different, 24:15 something set apart, 24:17 as, you know, as we've been drawing out here 24:19 that really brings us into a posture 24:21 of holy observance. 24:24 Now, it bring out too who's benefiting here, 24:26 because the people that are carrying the burdens 24:29 are the servants, 24:30 the guys making the money are the managers, 24:33 the managers want to break the Sabbath 24:35 to make their servants work, 24:36 but the servant according to the Bible gets a rest. 24:39 So God says to the manager, give your servant a rest, 24:43 manager says, I don't want to. 24:44 God says, hey, 24:46 it's in contractual writing here, 24:48 give the servant a rest. 24:50 So this is a protection for those 24:51 that have been taken advantage of by their managers. 24:53 Even the animals needed a rest. 24:54 Yes. 24:56 The animals did as well. 24:57 Okay. 24:58 So we know Jesus worshiped on the Sabbath. 25:00 It was His custom to do that, to go into the synagogue. 25:03 So He also came under a lot of scrutiny 25:07 for His observance of the Sabbath. 25:09 Did He lay down some principles for us 25:12 that we can take notice of in the Sabbath worship? 25:15 Yeah, Jesus really made some major shifts with the way 25:18 that the religious rules of His time 25:20 were dealing with the Sabbath and treating the Sabbath. 25:23 We see in Mark 2:27-28, 25:25 that Jesus talks about the Sabbath 25:27 being made for mankind and not man for the Sabbath. 25:30 So we're kind of creating a redefinition there 25:32 of what the purpose of the Sabbath is... 25:34 So that's to benefit man. 25:35 Correct. That's right. 25:37 Yeah, it's not a burden, it's a benefit. 25:39 It's a blessing, as with all of God's commandments. 25:42 We see also in Mark 3:4, 25:44 Jesus does says 25:46 that it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 25:47 He's communicating the value of acts of compassion, 25:52 acts of love, on the Sabbath. 25:54 Even when we come to John Chapter 15, 25:57 we see, sorry, Luke Chapter 13. 25:59 In Luke Chapter 13 26:01 we see the story of the woman infirmity. 26:03 And Jesus talks about it being lawful 26:05 to relieve suffering on the Sabbath day. 26:08 So something, I guess redefinitions 26:11 of how we approach the Sabbath there. 26:13 Yes. Yeah. 26:14 Yeah, that was, even the word bondage there, 26:16 free her from bondage. 26:18 So she was released there, wasn't she? 26:20 So Nehemiah took his problems to God in prayer. 26:23 That's pretty powerful. 26:24 So why do you think he asked God to remember him? 26:27 Yeah, we see that in Nehemiah 13:14, 26:30 he says, Remember me, 26:31 and we see this crop up three other times 26:33 in verse 22, and verse 31. 26:36 And I think Nehemiah is trying to call the attention of God 26:39 back on to the fact that he had come previously 26:42 and had been trying to reform 26:44 and bring everyone back to the commandments of God. 26:47 And he wasn't necessarily responsible for the things 26:49 that had happened as a result 26:50 of these other rulers that had gone, 26:52 but he was just trying to draw God's attention 26:54 back to the efforts to return to faithfulness. 26:56 Yeah, so there was tithing, there was Sabbath. 26:59 There were some of these things that God wanted to happen. 27:03 Nehemiah brought them back to their attention, 27:06 drew them closer to the ideal 27:08 that He had set out for them in the first place. 27:11 So I think that's probably, our time is just about gone. 27:15 And so Nehemiah was able to lead his people 27:17 back to worshiping as God had directed. 27:20 All were blessed by obeying God 27:22 and worshiping Him on His Sabbath. 27:24 We too are blessed as we worship God 27:26 who is our Creator and our Lord. 27:28 Thank you for joining us on Let God Speak. 27:31 You can view all past programs 27:33 and the teachers' notes on our website, 27:35 3abnaustralia.org.au, 27:38 and you can email us 27:40 on lgs@3abnaustralia.org.au. 27:44 God bless. |
Revised 2020-03-02