All They That Had Separated Themselves From The People Of The Lands Unto The Law Of God, And Having Understanding - Part 2233

Interestingly, this day, I was drawn to the prophet Nehemiah's writings this day. Like apostle Paul, Nehemiah had a compassion for his people, and was willing to pray and fast and weep before the Lord God for their freedom from captivity. For those who don't know, Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer, so it meant he had the king's ear, and his concerns heard. The stage is set in the first chapter, wherein we learn that Nehemiah asked Hanani (one of his brethren) and certain men of Judah about the remnant Jews that had escaped captivity. Nehemiah also asked about the wall of Jerusalem that was broken down.

And they said unto me, "The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." (Nehemiah 1:3)

Imagine how Nehemiah's heart must have been stirred, knowing that the situation concerning the remnant was not good. That those who left captivity remained in great affliction and reproach.

Obviously, all this mattered to Nehemiah, even though he himself physically lived in the palace of the king of Persia and enjoyed all the inherent benefits. Still, it is critical to note that although Nehemiah lived far from this remnant people, he believed so much in the things of God, that he poured out his heart, weeping and mourning certain days, and fasting before the God of heaven over them. In other words, his focus was not on his own self-interests but on a people in great affliction and reproach.

Another point worth noting is that Nehemiah did not pray to other gods for a resolution but to the One and Only God of heaven. Why? Because Nehemiah knew that only the God of heaven could change the circumstances of the remnant Jews living in an unwalled community. So what does Nehemiah do?

As the scripture saith, when he heard the words of his brethren, he sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, saying, "I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keeps covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments: let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hear the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray before Thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel Thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against Thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned." (Nehemiah 1:4-6)

Nehemiah continues beseeching the Lord God, saying, "We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which Thou commanded Thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the Word that Thou commanded Thy servant Moses, saying, "If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: but if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My Name there.

Now these are Thy servants and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant, and to the prayer of Thy servants, who desire to fear Thy Name: and prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer." (Nehemiah 1:1-11)

Again, Nehemiah understood that when we turn to the Lord God of heaven AND fear His Name, the Lord God will have mercy, and gather us from thence, and bring us unto the place that He has chosen to set "My Name" there. As well, Nehemiah understood that the task of rebuilding could not be done by man alone. The rebuilding had to be a God orchestrated agenda. To this end, Nehemiah prayed, and fasted and beseeched the Lord God for His direction and guidance. Indeed, Nehemiah put himself in the place of the remnant -- standing in the gap if you will with the remnant -- and we see this when he says "we have sinned against Thee."

Another observation? Nehemiah cited scripture in his prayer -- the promises of God to the Israelites found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 30. I would also add the prophet Hosea's words in Hosea 4:6 -- "My people perish for lack of knowledge" -- and similarly, Psalm 81:10, wherein God opens the storehouses for those who rely totally on Him.

Therefore, there had to be a turning point, that required someone with a heart of compassion to pray in earnest for the remnant people of God. In this situation, Nehemiah not only had the heart but prayed continually for a period of four months. For clarity, let me interject Psalm 81 (in its entirety) so that those who are new believers reading this can understand how often the Lord God of heaven protected the Israelites, even when these worshipped another God.

The psalmist David writes, "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This He ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.

I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots; thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. Hear, O My people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto Me; there shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

But My people would not hearken to My voice; and Israel would none of Me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto Him:but their time should have endured for ever." (Psalm 81:1-15)

In the case of Nehemiah, the Lord God accompanied him. The Lord God also saw that the King was pleased to give Nehemiah letters so that he could obtain timber to rebuild the walls, and safety as he travelled.

And I said unto the king, "If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it." And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) "For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Moreover I said unto the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.

"And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me." (Nehemiah 2:5-9)

At this point, Nehemiah had told no man what God had placed in his heart concerning Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:12) It was only after Nehemiah had surveyed the broken walls and destitution that Nehemiah told the others of God's plan.

Then said Nehemiah unto them, "Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach." Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, "Let us rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?" Then answered Nehemiah them, and said unto them, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem." (Nehemiah 2: 17-20)

In the days to come, there was much opposition, and a determination that the walls would not be built. Still, the walls and gates to Jerusalem were built in 52 days. This timeframe, in and of itself is miraculous. And during this time, there was great gladness -- "for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10) Of course, much more happened along the way, including a genealogy made of those who had come up and out of captivity.

We return to the text again in the ninth chapter of Nehemiah:

"Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be Thy glorious Name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou, even Thou, art LORD alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preserves them all; and the host of heaven worships Thee.

Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham; and found his heart faithful before Thee, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed Thy words; for Thou art righteous: and didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red sea; and shewed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for Thou knew that they dealt proudly against them.

So didst Thou get Thee a name, as it is this day. And Thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors Thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover, Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. Thou came down also upon mount Sinai, and spake with them from heaven, and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and made known unto them Thy holy sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: and gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess the land which Thou hadst sworn to give them.

But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to Thy commandments, and refused to obey, neither were mindful of Thy wonders that Thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook them not.

Thou gavest also Thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Moreover, Thou gave them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

Their children also multipliedst Thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which Thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and Thou subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in Thy great goodness.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore, Thou delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto Thee, Thou heard them from heaven; and according to Thy manifold mercies Thou gave them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, "This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; yet Thou in thy manifold mercies forsook them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before Thee: therefore left Thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, Thou heard them from heaven; and many times didst Thou deliver them according to Thy mercies; and testified against them, that Thou might bring them again unto Thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest Thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless for Thy great mercies' sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before Thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit, Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly.

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept Thy law, nor hearkened unto Thy commandments and Thy testimonies, wherewith Thou didst testify against them. For they have not served Thee in their kingdom, and in Thy great goodness that Thou gave them, and in the large and fat land which Thou gave before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that Thou gave unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: and it yields much increase unto the kings whom Thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it." (Nehemiah 9:1-38)

Sadly, there is always a but -- those who refuse to hearken to the Lord thy God -- in spite of His great goodness that He continues to give us. Neither will these turn from their wicked works so that the Lord God could bless them.

Nevertheless, Nehemiah is a prime example of someone who loved his people, and was willing to stand in the gap for them in prayer and fasting to the Lord. But as we observe, Nehemiah also put legs to his prayers, putting into action the Lord's desire. Yes, there was a time commitment involved. And yes, he had to take time away from his day to day duties in the palace.

For those that had separated themselves, Nehemiah also ensured these not only had knowledge of the Lord, but His understanding too. So much here to absorb, and take-aways too many to cite. Still, I hope that this Old Testament prophet provided some instruction, having revealed his willing heart to flow through to others the goodness and mercy of the Lord.

For me? I intend to mediate on these scriptures, asking the Lord our God to establish my steps (like Nehemiah) when it comes to standing in the gap for our own country/brethren. For most certainly, in this ever darkening world, the Light that shines in our heart -- the Great I AM -- the Way, the Truth and the Life is needed now more than ever.

In this current New Testament dispensation of grace, His Name is JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins. And His ear still listens to the heart cries of those believers who focus on Him. Be blessed this day. Stand in the offering plate.