Message: Not the Ending We Expected

Speaker: Greg Holder

Service Date: May 30, 2021 Plain Print Version

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. Nehemiah 12:27

This is the kind of ending we like; and they lived happily ever after. All of the loose ends seem to be tied up. But the story of Nehemiah doesn't end there. 

 Nehemiah 13:6-7 tells us that "sometime later" Nehemiah goes back Jerusalem to check on how things were going. He find that the people have drifted from worshipping the one true God. They were not observing the Sabbath, they had stopped giving to God's work, they participated in the practices of the dark religions around them. 

I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah's household goods out of the room. I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.  Nehemiah 13:8-9

Nehemiah is serious about restoring the people to true worship and ridding them of those who were leading them astray.

Read Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus had the same passion later when he sees what is happening to the poor inside the temple complex and the way others are profiting and he turns over the tables and clean house. In both cases, this is passion for what is God's way and heartache over what is happening. 

So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and fort he firstfruits.

Remember me with favor, my God. Nehemiah 13:30-31

The people had blown it. But Nehemiah knew that God was not finished with them. There was still hope. God was still for them and with them. The last of the Old Testament ends with asking for God's blessing. 

Reflect

How did the people of Israel move so far from the one true God in their hearts, in their practices and in their commitment? How have you seen this played out in your own life? One day you realized that you have moved from your commitment and possibly from your community? What has been helpful in moving your heart and practices back towards Jesus and community? God is not done with you or your story. In what areas do you need hope as you move forward and put some things right?

Do

Check out the Explorations Class. This is a great place to get your questions answered or get your heart realigned to God's truth.

Go Deeper

How does Nehemiah's story point to hope and point to the coming Messiah?