A major celebration is planned. One that would far out rival the Queen’s Jubilee or the opening ceremony of the Olympics. This celebration is for the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem had gathered to sing to, worship, and praise God.
Despite their committment to God and glorious celebration to Him near the end of the book we find that many of the Israelites had reverted back to their old ways. They had allowed the pagan foreigners to inhabit space in the temple and influenced their marriages and families. We find children not even able to speak their native tongue. The language The Law was told in.
Nehemiah returns angry and furious at what has become of the city. He clears the city of the unholy practices and people and redirects the Jews back to following God’s law and the importance of passing on His word to the next generation.
Nehemiah, like in all the previous circumstances finds himself in prayer before, after, and during addressing the Jews. In fact the book of Nehemiah ends in prayer.
Discussion
The above concludes the last chapters of Nehemiah. This week we conclude our study of Nehemiah and Kelly Minter’s book Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break.
Reading about the dedication of the wall was one of my favorite parts of Nehemiah. I can’t help but to picture the people singing Newsboys’ song He reigns.
Mainly I picture this song because every time I hear it it seems to give me a glimpse of heaven. Jerusalem is also a foreshadowing of heaven. The wall was built to protect the city that protected the temple that was the dwelling place of God. Rebuilding the wall was indeed reason for a celebration.
Like the Jews, someday as Christians we will live in a city protected by walls, with gates that will be impenetrable in the new Jerusalem where God will dwell eternally.
Remember us with favor, O our God Nehemiah 13: 31.
Kelly Minter states, “Because of Jesus, we are assured He will.”- Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break
Today’s post is short because instead of taking up your time with words I would much rather you catch a glimpse of heaven. Watch the music video above. If you don’t have four minutes and some change to spare at least skip to minute 2:52. That is my favorite part of the song.
Thanks so much for joining me on this journey of studying Nehemiah! I have really enjoyed it. Many times been challenged and strengthened by God. The greatest take away for me from this entire study has been to let prayer be my first response. Bathe everything in prayer. The more I pray the more I find my heart braking for those around me.
What has been your greatest take away from this study? Do you have a particular song that to you is a glimpse of heaven? If so I would love to know what it is.
Want to catch up or start from the beginning? It’s never too late to join the study. Below are the links to the previous weeks or just check out the Transformed Deeper tab at the top of the page. I would love for you to join the study!
Even if you’re not following along in the Nehemiah study I encourage you to read this post. I am sharing what new plans are in store for me for the next couple of months.
The Story
The Israelites gathered together for a worship service. Unlike the comfortable seats, air conditioning, and wrap it up in an hour culture of our day they stood for the entire reading of the Law followed by corporate prayer… outside… the entire morning.
During this time together they remembered and praised God for what He had done through the Jews in the past and then made a covenant with God to “walk in God’s Law” (Nehemiah 10:29). They also promised God to give him the first fruits of everything that was theirs.
Above is a very concise summary of Nehemiah chapters 9-10 which we covered this week in Kelly Minter’s Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break study.
I’ve struggled with what to write for this week. What did God want me to take away from it. I feel like every week I just want say, “Let prayer be your first response“. And while that is true and something I have been reminding myself lately there is so much more to take away from this scripture.
I love it when I am able to look back at my life and see how God was working through bits and pieces here and there but at the same time weaving it all together. For instance one of my favorites in my life is how God provided work outside the home for me up until Noah arrived. As I was preparing to graduate college Michael Luke was still waiting to find out which physical therapy school he would be attending. This meant we had no clue which city for me to focus on for job applications or if we would even end up in the same city.
At first it looked bleak because I went to interview after interview all over the place; Memphis, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chicago. One trip to Chicago in the frigid Spring and I knew that place wasn’t for me. Anyway time moved on I still didn’t have an offer. Finally we found out ML was accepted to PT school at UAB in Birmingham. With a city nailed down I started focusing my applications on Birmingham. I interned close to home for the Summer and then out of the blue (according to God’s plan) found an architecture firm that was hiring… and wanted to interview me!
The interview went well and I really felt like “they were the ones” when I left. A few days later I got a call offering me a job. A job as in interior designer with an architecture firm that specialized in healthcare. Healthcare was where I felt like God had been leading me my last semester in college so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to try my hand at healthcare design.
The job wasn’t a piece cake. In fact it was harder than I could have ever imagined but I stuck with it and finally felt like I knew what I was doing. Isn’t that a good feeling to have. Anyway a little thing called the “Great Recession” hit. ML was still in school at this point so we didn’t know any different. Except for the fact that architecture firms were laying off people left and right and many just closed their doors completely. Being the only bread winner in the family at that time I tried not to stress and instead trust that God was in control and that He would provide.
And provide He did. Our firm survived the recession and never had to lay off anyone. I’ll admit there were days where we all just sat around wondering who would be the first let go because there was no work but we made it! That in itself is a praise!
Slowly work started to pick up again and everything returned to somewhat normal. We paid off ML’s student loans and started preparing for a little one. The news of my pregnancy was shocking to most at the office. Mainly because I had never shared that I didn’t plan to come back to work if we ever had children. That’s not exactly a good thing to advertise if you are ever in the middle of a recession. So I promised to work up until Noah was born and then in a sense put my career on hold until our children are older… or possibly never return.
Work until Noah was born was exactly what I did. Right until and past when my water broke. I left that day knowing it was my last. ML and I felt peace knowing this and have been very thankful that He provided me the opportunity to stay home and invest in our little girl.
I thought it was the ending too, but it’s not. You know how God is. He sees the bigger picture and comes up with things we would never dream. Like for instance, the opportunity for me to work part time from home as an interior design consultant. I mean who would have thought? Not me. I especially never would have dreamed that I would get a call out of nowhere one day offering me this job. Besides a few meetings here and there it won’t interrupt my schedule with Noah. I will be able to do everything for the most part during her naps and at night time. I’m a little nervous about diving back into the healthcare world but I really have a passion for it and trust that God will provide. I’m amazed at everything He has done and would have never dreamed this is what He had in store for me. And if it doesn’t work out this initial project will only last around five months and then things can go back to normal.
This is just one example of God’s work and provision in my life. There are many others but I am always amazed at this one and continue to praise Him for it.
Looking back at the past is exactly what the Israelites did with their prayer. They hit every high point and low point of their history and praised God for his continued leadership and mercy despite all their faults.
My story isn’t without faults. There were plenty of days when I felt helpless and frantic and instead of turning to God in prayer I quickly mailed out resumes to whoever and whatever… hoping for an interview. I stressed more times than I should have during the recession. Job or no job God would have been in control. Despite all my many failures and faults along the way God continues to show His mercy and continues to unfold His plans for me.
Discussion
Do you ever take time to look back at your life and see God at work through it?
Looking back is it easier to see how He has weaved everything together?
Have you taken time lately to “confess” your praise to God? To confess how great and marvelous He is.
Want to catch up or start from the beginning? It’s never too late to join the study. Below are the links to the previous weeks or just check out the Transformed Deeper tab at the top of the page. I would love for you to join the study!
The wall was completed and the gates were installed and the Jews were guarding their city.
There was still one thing lacking though… people. Jerusalem was a large city with lots of land and few people living inside the city walls. Nehemiah found the genealogical records and decided to invite all the Jews back to live in Jerusalem… provided they had the papers to prove their Jewish heritage. Many chose to uproot their families, jobs, and culture and return. After gathering all the people together Ezra read aloud (one morning) the first five books of the Bible (The Law). As Ezra read the people praised God and began to weep because they realized that they had not been obeying the laws. The Levites jumped to action though and began to explain the law to the Jews and followed up with them to make sure they understood it. The Levites also commanded them not to weep but to instead be filled with joy because of the bondage God had brought them out of.
Trucking along in the Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break series this is a summary of Nehemiah chapters 7-8.
This week God really brought to life the similarities between Jerusalem and me.
God dwelled in Jerusalem
God dwells in us (Christians)
The city had to be rebuilt to bring him glory
Our bodies must be rebuilt to bring him glory
Only Jews could reside within the city to preserve their heritage and beliefs
As important as it is to minister to the lost and hurting It is vitally important as Christians that we surround ourselves with other Christians (spouse, friends, family, etc.)
I’m the nerdy type that likes to see comparisons like this. More often than not it ends up being a humbling experience for me as God reveals how glorious and perfect He is to me and how much I fall short of Him. As Christians CHRIST DWELLS IN US. I think I could just repeat that over and over and let that become a worship service in itself. As that becomes my focus, my own selfish dreams and desires start to diminish and my thoughts begin to align with His. I think this in essence sums up the purpose of Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break.
How can our heart not break if it aligns up with Gods?
God revealed to the Jews through the reading of the Law their disobedience to Him. This broke their hearts because they had such an intense and restored love for God. The Jews remembered God’s deliverance of their ancestors from slavery in Egypt and found joy because the LORD was their God.
As Christians under the New Covenant we remember God’s deliverance of us from our sins and find joy knowing the LORD is our God.
“If you’ve lost your joy over God’s amazing grace in your life, maybe you’ve lost the remembrance of your past captivity and His remarkable deliverance of you.” – Kelly Minter in Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break
Do you ever lose or forget your joy? I’m not talking about, “I am so excited that I lost five pounds” joy or…”Yay, we get off work early today” joy. I’m talking about the fact that God cannot look at any of us because of our sins. His holiness can not be in our sinful presence but because Christ died for us and took on the wrath that was due us as believers in His resurrection we can stand boldly in the presence of God. That is joy!
But sometimes I forget that. I forget how much God loves me. I forget that Christ died for my sins… all my shortcomings from today, tomorrow, and yesterday. But what joy it is to know that God has delivered me from sin! Lately, I have been working to memorize scripture. Not just because it is important for me to be able to recall Bible verses but because I want to be able to work it into my conversations with Noah as she gets older and parent her through scripture. Being able to recall even small bits of scripture is a great reminder of who God is ahow to love Him.
Do everything for the glory of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10:31
The heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1
Other times I find it helpful to listen to Christian music as I get ready in the mornings. Normally my thoughts are swirling a mile a minute so it’s great to have something to calm and focus them on.
The Jews found this same joy as they remembered their ancestors deliverance from slavery. No wonder they chose to sing praises to God and weep because of their disobedience. Through the breaking of Nehemiah’s heart God had also broken all the Jew’s hearts and restored their love for Him!
Memory Verse
Nehemiah 9:5b
Blessed be your glorious name and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
Want to catch up or start from the beginning? It’s never too late to join the study. Below are the links to the previous weeks or just check out the Transformed Deeper tab at the top of the page. I would love for you to join the study!
