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CHURCH LETTER
" They replied, `Let us start rebuilding',
so they began this good work "
This Letter began its life as part of a longer study on the 13 famines recorded in Scripture, the number `13' of course implies apostacy or rebellion against God's governmental order (as seen in the number `12'). However, this would have meant a very long Letter, and so we decided to break it into 13 shorter Letters, this Letter concerning the 10th famine. The title for this particular Letter comes from Nehemiah, which seems appropriate for much of what lies ahead in our time for in both secular and religious life there is great stress and change. There is therefore a great need for the Lord to bring forth and appoint His `Nehemiahs' for our times, for the `broken walls' which must be restored have within them the `living stones' of His Temple in this Age.
But we return to Nehemiah himself. He was `one of the princes' who later signed the `Solemn Covenant along with princes, Levites and priests', as recorded in Nehemiah chapter 10 - and from Daniel we learn that he was `one of the children of Israel and of the king's sons and of the princes' who were taken captive to Babylon. None less than a prince of royal blood could be cupbearer to the Great King Artaxerxes - the king Astyages of Esther, the mother of Cyrus! We know that his name has a meaning of `someone appointed by', and in this case he was appointed by God for the purpose of rebuilding the city walls of Jerusalem which had long been in ruins. The Book of Nehemiah opens with `the words of Nehemiah', which are a chronological recording of his words as he records the outworking of his authorised appointment, for it was knowing from whom came his appointment that enabled him to complete his work, no matter what opposition, indifference and obstacles that beset him. Such a spiritual determination will always accompany the `Nehemiahs' who follow on, those called to `rebuild the ancient walls'!
We know from his opening words that `it came to pass in the month of Chislev', the ninth month of the religious year (the meaning of the number `9' being `the end of judgement'), when Nehemiah was called to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But we also know that this `ninth month' occurs around late November or early December, one of the darkest times of the natural year and the lowest point in the cycle of seasons, for in the darkest time there always comes the hour of despair and spiritual attack on the minds and emotions of those called by God for His purposes. It has been said that `strength comes in the struggle', and for Nehemiah - as for those Nehemiahs who follow on - his strength came from the knowledge of Him who had called and appointed him into a long sustained time of total trust in the LORD who would equip him for his work - God's strength was sufficient for the struggle!
Four months later `in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine was before him, and I took the wine and gave it to the king'. The month of Nisan, the first month of the Israelites' religious year, was the month where on the fifteenth day the Feast of Passover was held, the first of the three great Pilgrim Feasts of Israel when all the men were called to Jerusalem to celebrate the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Here, in God's timing, Nehemiah was appointed to rebuild and restore the walls of Jerusalem - a mighty deliverance indeed! Was there an awareness in him of the path he was about to start out on? Yes, he was a prince of Judah, but now he was also a slave and subservient to the Great King, and yet his distress concerning the Holy City of Jerusalem overcame any fear. And so armed not only with the king's letter of authority but also with his full authority to obtain all that was required for the rebuilding Nehemiah set out.
So often we are more concerned with the dark spiritual powers who will oppose God's work, instead of trusting that those whom God appoints and raises up for a season He will also provide for and equip. `The king granted me (all I required) according to the good hand of my God upon me . . . and so I came to Jerusalem'. Quietly by night Nehemiah considered the great work that he was appointed to undertake, and only after that did he consort with `the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the rulers and the rest' to tell them of the great undertaking that was given to them: (Nehemiah 2:18 and 3:1)
" They replied, `Let us start rebuilding'. So they began the good work . . . .
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt
the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up the doors of it . . . "
The account of the detailed work of the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem continues in chapter 3 - all the people responded and worked together in harmony in this great work. First came the building of the Gates with their doors, bolts and bars in place. It was through the Gates that provision and wealth came into the city, but they were also the weakest points and must be made secure with bolts and bars in place. Only then could the walls be restored and then work on the Temple begin. There is a clear message here for all who have `ears to hear', and it is pertinent for both the secular and spiritual concerns in our present time, for indeed both have broken `gates and walls' that urgently need restoring.
`When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the walls, he became angry and greatly incensed' (4:1). Whenever the Lord begins to move amongst His people it will stir up hostility, and once it is seen that the work entails not only the `Gates of Scripture alone' being restored, hostility will increase. But when the understanding follows that the Gates and the walls are but a precursor to rebuilding the Temple, hostility will turn into outright war! In chapter 4 we see that first came the mockery. It led to prayer: `Hear us, O God, for we are despised'. That prayer led to, `So we rebuilt the walls till all the walls were joined together'. In turn that led to a conspiracy amongst the enemy `to come together and fight against Jerusalem'. Again this led to prayer: `Nevertheless we made our prayer to God and set a watch against them'. The opposition did not stop for, `the strength of the bearers of burdens is weakening, and there is so much rubbish'. Seeing this despondency the opposition increased as the enemy sought to infiltrate and spread alarm within the people as fear gripped them. Then Nehemiah, knowing that this Great Work was of God, set up his defences and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: `Do not be afraid of them. Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers'.
Then famine comes and the grumbling and complaints begin: (5:1-5)
" Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying . . . . `In order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain'. Others were saying, `We are mortgaging our fields . . . . to get grain during the famine'. Still others were saying, `We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax . . . . Although we are the same flesh and blood . . . . we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery'. "
Legitimate concerns require a firm legitimate response - which came very quickly from Nehemiah: (verse 9)
" What you are doing is not right. Should you not walk in the fear of our
God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? "
It led to repentance amongst those who were responsible, and together they returned to their God-appointed work. The famine was dealt with following repentance and action:
" `We will give it back,' they (the nobles and the priests) said. `And we
will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say'. "
Nehemiah's words and his personal generous example dealt with the sin amongst the leaders and opened the way for the work to continue in spite of continued opposition, for we read in chapter 6 `So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days'. This `twenty-fifth day of Elul' is an Akkadian word brought back from Babylon and was really the sixth month of the Israelites' religious year, which has no position in the Feast days of Israel, and so, as with all religious people who need continuous ritual, they set it apart as preparation for the Levitical seventh month. This resulted in a wave of 42,360 fellow Jews under Zerubbabel returning from captivity to the newly-restored Jerusalem.
For such a short Letter we have written much Scripture, for it still speaks to today's concern with our own `walls of salvation'. Scripture is there as examples for all `times', and the Book of Nehemiah surely speaks into our `today'. God's appointed work for today's `Nehemiahs' could well see `42,360 fellow Jews' brought to the safety of our `restored Jerusalem'. With repentance between the people they moved into a closer reconcilliation with the LORD `as all Israel dwelt in their cities': (7:73)
" When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.
And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street that was
before the Water Gate . . . . "
The Water Gate was the gate through which the Nethinim carried the wood and water to the Temple for the sacrificial work the priests conducted on behalf of all Israel, for all, as one people, had their part to play in this reconcilliation, even the lowly Nethinim. They were proselytes descended from the earlier Gibeonites. They had been appointed drawers of wood and water in the time of Joshua and were now included in the Great Work. And there before the Water Gate `Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation . . . upon the first day of the seventh month'. As they listened understanding came: This first day, the Feast of Trumpets was a day for the people to rest and prepare themselves for the Day of Atonement ten days later. First came the rest and preparation, a quietness before restoration with the LORD through repentance. Then would come the glorious fifteenth day, the Feast of Tabernacles, when the LORD would dwell amongst His people: (8:18)
" And they kept the Feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a
solemn assembly, according to the manner. "
Yet this glorious and joyful time in the restoration of the Feasts of Israel had revealed to the people something deeper that needed to be put right through repentance and action two days following the Feast of Tabernacles: (9:1)
" On the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were
assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them. "
First would come the understanding that they were the distinct, chosen people of God, set apart for His purpose. This led them to separate themselves from all foreigners in their midst and a great communal confession of past sin began. It continued with a communal reading from the Book of the Law for three hours, followed by a further three hours of praise and worship. Then the Levites said: (9:5)
" Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever. `Blessed be Thy
glorious Name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou,
even Thou, are LORD alone . . . '. "
This outpouring of praise and worship through understanding of the Book of the Law was preparation for the final act: (9:38)
" And because of all this we make a sure Covenant, and write it, and our
princes, Levites and priests seal onto it. "
The first of those who signed and sealed it was Nehemiah himself. We can imagine his joy at seeing all that had been appointed by God was now being brought to completion. Out of this Solemn Covenant came the Great Synagogue with its 120 members representative of the five divisions of Israel - the Chief Priests, the Chief Levites, the Chiefs of the people represetative of the cities, and the Doctors of the Law. Their work was to uphold the laws within Israel, to keep its people separate, to keep the Sabbath and the sacrificial year, to pay annually the Temple tithe and supply wood for all it rituals, to provide for the priests and to collect and preserve the sacred Scriptures. All outworked by this Solemn Oath, the Great Synagogue would later become the Sanhedrin, the supreme governing body of Israel which would finally become the Body that rejected the Kingdom offered to them and crucifying their King!
But to return to Scripture and Nehemiah, where we find in chapter 11: (v 1)
" The rulers of the people dwelt in Jerusalem; the rest of the people also
cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine
parts to dwell in other cities. "
However apostacy soon began to appear - and that very early on! Such is the fickleness of man's solemn promises, for it was only some twelve years from the completion of the rebuilding of the walls, from that day when `they (the Levites) read the Book of the Law of Moses in the presence of the people . . . that the Ammonites and Moabites should not come into the congregation of the LORD for ever'. This would lead to another separation of the people from the foreigners. Furthermore, during this time when Nehemiah had returned for a purpose to Babylon the high priest Eliashib allowed and provided a room for Tobiah, `a chamber in the courts of the House of God' - this together with those responsible for the oversight of Jerusalem allowing the Sabbath to be broken by merchants entering to sell their wares! All this would lead to a purifying and re-dedication of the walls and the sacred vessels of the Temple, together with a separation of the people of God: `Then I cleansed them from all strangers . . . Remember me, O my God, for good'.
We have set out here but a brief outline of the Book of Nehemiah, for this Letter is not intended to be a commentary as there are far more learned commentaries available than we could write. Neither are we concerned with generalities, for our intention is more specific and more urgent! The setting of Nehemiah is this one man's distress over the news that `the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its Gates burnt', and also his desire to be of service in the restoration of them:
" And when I heard these things, I sat down and wept for some days.
I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven. "
Nehemiah was in captivity and was now in Shushan, the winter citadel of the Persian kings, where he had been for twelve years after being brought there from Babylon. There he heard very specific news concerning Jerusalem. It is well known among the readers of our Letters that we write of a `Probation Period' of fourty years for the western Church, which began in 1967, thereby stating specifically that `the Church' is now in `captivity' and awaiting the Lord's appointment of His modern-day `Nehemiahs' to come forth to restore `the walls and gates' of the Lord's called-out people and to bring them through those re-built walls and gates into the safety of His Presence in His Temple.
In our brief outline of Nehemiah we saw that the work began and finished at `the Sheep Gate'. This was the gate through which the sheep set apart for sacrifice would enter. First they would pass under the shepherd's staff to ensure that only those which were his entered through that gate - there was a separation of the sheep for only those which were marked as belonging to that shepherd could enter the holy city. Within the narrative of Nehemiah we see that after the walls and gates had been restored there followed a Solemn Oath, a separation of the people and the putting away of foreign wives. A reading of Nehemiah shows that his earnest desire together with all the people was to build and continue to build, and only with the completion of The Great Work were they called to consider the work and separate themselves to the LORD. All the people, princes, nobles, priests and governers joined together in that Great Work under the authority of God's appointed man. First came the LORD's call, followed by the appointment of a man who understood that first the gates and walls of the city had to be restored, beginning and finishing at the Sheep Gate - repentance and sacrifice were at the heart of Nehemiah's work.
It is of no value to pray continuously for a revival that never comes. Prayer through the Holy Spirit should be for a bringing forth of the Lord's `Nehemiahs' who will begin to rebuild the ` gates and walls' of Scriptural doctrine and the belief of the imminency of the Lord's Coming - those who are working, waiting and longing for its completion. The western institutional established Churches are tearing themselves apart in trying to reconcile the world's values with spiritual purity. `Re-branding our profile' will not last for other `brands' are re-marketed also! Assimilating into and `loving the people' is of no value for it leaves them with no eternal hope! Neither will (as some say) renewing every area of British life succeed, unless first the `gates and walls' of the Church are re-built. Becoming the `moral arm' of the State will fail as spiritual life is channelled into secular work. The `gates and walls' of the community of God's people need to be re-built/restored, beginning and ending at `the Sheep Gate' - as Nehemiah so clearly understood. Only then could Ezra begin his work of laying the foundation of the Temple, which began on the seventh month, the Feast of Tabernacles - God in their midst!
This full understanding came through the reading and re-reading the Book of the Law to the assembled people: (8:17)
" And all the congregation of them that had come out of captivity made booths,
and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua son of Nun unto that
day the children of Israel had not done so. "
Where did it start in Nehemiah's time? It began with one man, an apostle appointed by God, who was in deep distress over the state of Jerusalem, knowing it to be the dwelling place of God. From the appointment of God's `Nehemiahs' will flow prophets, who understand God's ways and warn and correct; evangelists, to bring the sheep in through the Sheep Gate; teachers, to instruct and teach the whole Word of God, and shepherds, who have the true heart of God to care for the sheep so that the gates and walls of God's people are restored and made sure: (Ephesians 4:12-16)
" To prepare God's people for works of service, so that the Body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of doctrine and the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole Body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. "
All that we see in today's confused Church life surely points not to a revival in order to return to the old ways which brought a `famine of the Word', but to rebuilding and restoration of the gates and walls, starting at the Sheep Gate, to prepare for His coming to His Temple.
" And they replied, `Come, let us start re-building'. "
Selah
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