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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
Nehemiah 01: I'm Your Huckleberry
What if your role in life is no accident but a divine placement meant to create significant change? In our latest episode titled "I'm Your Huckleberry," we explore Nehemiah, chapter one, and the compelling story of how a non-priestly official in the Persian kingdom overcame immense challenges. We'll take you back to the days after the Israelites returned from 70 years of Babylonian and Persian captivity, highlighting how Ezra chronicled Israel's history and the monumental task of rebuilding the temple. Discover the immense opposition Nehemiah faced from local inhabitants and how his story underscores that joy is more than a feeling—it's a resilient state of the heart.
We also unpack the greater theme of divine purpose and responsibility in our lives today. Just as Nehemiah's role as the cupbearer to the king was no coincidence, we discuss how our roles in parenting, work, and community are opportunities for impactful change. Reflect on how your current position might be divinely orchestrated for something greater. We finish with a heartfelt prayer inspired by Nehemiah 8:10, reminding us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, giving us the courage to act on these divine opportunities. Join us for an inspiring journey through history and into the heart of our everyday lives.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, nehemiah, chapter one, and today's title is I'm your Huckleberry. I don't know if you have a clue what that means, but we're going to get to it in just a moment and, as always, we're going to cover kind of the background of Nehemiah. Then we're going to jump into chapter one. But before we do that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you are leaving us comments and reviews. We really love it and it helps us to learn and to grow and kind of get better as we go. And, as always, make sure you're joining us at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. Then we'll dig, then we'll find and I'm looking forward to seeing what we get out of Nehemiah together, as you have your Bibles. I want to open up with me to Nehemiah, chapter one. I want to give you the background and then I'll explain the title and then we'll get into it a little bit.
Speaker 1:Well, as we were right before, we did 1 Timothy, we read Ezra and kind of see the kind of, as time is passing, you have 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles were really chronicling the nation of Israel all the way from the first king, king Saul, to the last king, and the fall of both Israel and Judah. Specifically, 1 and 2 Chronicles was likely written by Ezra, who is the priest and scribe and really one of the most unsung heroes in the Old Testament, and he was writing about the nation of Israel because, as the people were coming back after 70 years of captivity in Babylon and Persia, they're coming back and they're wondering what claim do we have to this land? How are we going to be able to stay here? What's all this going to look like? And so Ezra wrote about. You know, this is how we got into a mess. This is why we spent 70 years in captivity, but God has us back again.
Speaker 1:Well then, ezra, the book of Ezra is the story about how the nation of Israel started coming back to the promised land, and they had one goal, and it was to keep the main thing, the main thing, and that was to build the temple of God. And we saw throughout the 10 chapters of Ezra that it was no easy thing to build the temple of God, but they did it and it was amazing. It was awesome. Well, now you've got the next thing that happened, and that is that the temple is built but they've still got enemies all around them. There's all kinds of people who do not want to see the nation of Israel leave. There were people that stayed in the land while everybody else had to leave and now they feel like this land belongs to them and there's a big problem and that that friction that happens actually goes all the way into the time of Jesus. When you see John four and there's the woman at the well and she's kind of going back and forth with Jesus about Samaritans and about the people of Israel, it is still a squabble with the people who never left the 70 years of captivity they stayed in Israel and those who did leave they were still kind of doing all of those things. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why the Israelites hated the Samaritans was because during the time of Nehemiah, they were some of the ones who fought against what Nehemiah was trying to do. So it's this long time thing that happened.
Speaker 1:But there's a focus and the overall theme is is that, even when things are going wrong. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and we're going to talk about throughout Nehemiah what the joy of the Lord is. Joy is not a feeling, as much as it is a position of our heart. It is a decision that we make, that our contentment in God, our position in God, is our strength. We're going to go through that as we go. But the author of Nehemiah was either Nehemiah writing it out himself or Nehemiah dictating what happened to Ezra Nehemiah writing it out himself or Nehemiah dictating what happened to Ezra. So we're not exactly sure, but you're going to hear a lot of first person as Nehemiah is telling about what happened. We just don't know if he actually wrote it out himself or if he was dictating it to Ezra and Ezra wrote it down.
Speaker 1:Kind of the big idea of Nehemiah is that Nehemiah is not a priest. You know, in Ezra you can kind of understand a lot of what's going on, because Ezra was a priest and so he's helping rebuild the temple. Well, nehemiah is not a priest at all, he's an official in the kingdom of Persia. But God uses a non-ministry person, if that makes sense, to make a difference and it gives all of us this wonderful hope that God didn't reserve ministry for the ministers. We all have an opportunity to make a difference.
Speaker 1:And then, finally, before we get into it today, that is that we can see it as a sequel to Ezra and these people, ezra and Nehemiah, were both alive at the same time and it was written around 444 BC. Now, at about 400 BC, we have 400 years of silence before the New Testament. Now there's a lot going on and we're actually going to have an episode when we get to the end of the Old Testament, where we're going to give you a lot of what happened between 400 and the birth of Jesus. There's a lot going on On the world stage. You have Persia that is taken over by the Greeks, and the Greeks are taken over by the Romans, and about that time is when Jesus is born Very purposeful, when Jesus was born. But as you see, this was written right at the end of the writing of the Old Testament. It was during this time that a lot of those minor prophets lived and they're prophesying and they're doing all these different things, and it was in this environment that this book was written. And so we're going to get into Nehemiah, chapter one, and see what's going on.
Speaker 1:And we titled it, remember I'm your Huckleberry. Now, where does that come from? Well, there was a movie. Some consider it to be one of the greatest Westerns ever made. I don't know about that, but there was this movie where there was a guy named Doc Holliday and Doc Holliday had this phrase in this movie called I'm your huckleberry, and what it meant in the movie was there was a moment where there was this big bully who was coming out and he was threatening everybody and he was challenging everybody. That somebody needed to step up and fight him, you know. And nobody wanted to do it. And Doc Holliday stepped out and he said I'm your huckleberry. In other words, I'll do it, I'll take it, I'll take responsibility for you. I'm your huckleberry. In other words, I'll do it, I'll take it, I'll take responsibility for you, I'm not afraid, I'll step up. And the thing is is this particular bully was one of the most fearsome gunfighters in the time, according to the movie. But that didn't make a difference. Someone had to stand up and do something and Doc Holliday was just brave enough to do. It Doesn't mean there wasn't a risk, but he was brave enough to do it.
Speaker 1:And one of the things I think we're gonna see that is just all throughout Nehemiah is Nehemiah is constantly facing something bigger than him, something that he has no business trying to do, but all along the way he's taking responsibility. He's saying I'll do it, I'll step it, I'll step up, I'll make it happen, and a lot of ways. When he doesn't have to, he could just stay where he is. But this calling of God to do something for God continues to compel him. His love for God, his love for God's people, continue to compel him, and we're going to see that throughout Nehemiah. So let's start with Nehemiah, chapter one, verse one. It says this these are the memoirs of Nehemiah, son of Hekela.
Speaker 1:In late autumn, in the month of Kezlev, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes reign, I was at the fortress of Susa, hanayon. Hanayon. I, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some of the other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned from their captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. They said things are not going well for those who returned to the providence of Judah. They are actually in great trouble and distress. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire.
Speaker 1:When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted and I prayed to the God of heaven. And then I said O Lord, god of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer. Look down and see me praying night and day for your people, israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned. We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. Please remember what you told your servant Moses If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then, even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored. The people you have rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. Oh Lord, please hear my prayer. Listen to the prayers of those who have delighted in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me, put it into his heart, to be kind to me, because in those days I was the king's cupbearer. So, wow, notice this moment.
Speaker 1:Nehemiah is not a minister, he's not a priest, he's not a Levite. He works in the court of the king, and a cupbearer was a really important position. He was a confid court of the king, and a cub bearer was a really important position. He was a confidant of the king Also, as the cub bearer, his job was to put his life on the line for the king all the time, because he would bring the king his drink, and so the king trusted this person, because this person was taking care of the king and whatever this person gave the king was trustworthy, and so it was a position of very much honor. And so it was almost like, in some kind of ways in the court, a type of bodyguard, because this guy was very in charge of making sure that the king was taken care of, and so this would have been someone who'd been very close to the king, but also someone seen as indispensable, and this position would have been wonderful, like just stay where you are and you've got luxury, You're in the king's court, you get to hear all the inside information, you're part of things and you're almost like an advisor to the king. This is a great position.
Speaker 1:But when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem which was a symbol not just of protecting the nation, but symbol not just of protecting the nation, but also a symbol of honor, a symbol of pride, in a good way, of a nation when the walls were broken down, it was embarrassing. It was a sign of God not taking care of his people. And so when he saw this, he realized that's not my God. This is horrible. It broke his heart. But instead of putting it on somebody else, he said I'll take responsibility. Or, as our title says, I'm your huckleberry. Someone's got to do something. It might as well be me. Well, what does this mean for us, as we are going to walk through the book of Nehemiah together? Well, first of all, I'm just going to go ahead and just level with you.
Speaker 1:Nehemiah is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament because it is an amazing story of what? Just a normal guy. It is an amazing story of what just a normal guy, you know, someone who was just minding his business, you know, got his job. But as he listens to a need that is there. He says I'll go, I will go, I will take the responsibility. Someone's got to do it. It might as well be me. I take responsibility and then you watch what God does. And that's encouraging to me because we have an opportunity to take responsibility for whatever is going on around us and that may look so different for so many people.
Speaker 1:For some people, taking responsibility is if you're a husband or a father, you take the glad responsibility for your family. You know what I am going to take responsibility to make sure that my family follows the Lord. Maybe, wherever you you work, you're the only Christian that's there and instead of going, someone should do something. You say you know what I'm going to take responsibility, maybe as someone who's an empty nester and you see other people who are empty nesters you know what I'm going to take responsibility and I'm going to encourage them. I don't know what it is. Maybe you're a teacher. I'm going to take responsibility. But it is no longer passing off responsibility to anybody else, but instead saying I got next, I'm the huckleberry, I will stand up and I will make a difference.
Speaker 1:And you know what I think there's a reason why God puts things on our minds, why God puts people in certain places. I don't think it was an accident that God put Nehemiah as the cupbearer to the king so that when the people came back with this story, this update, he was in a position where he had the audience of the king and he could do this. Therefore, I think there's a reason why you are parenting those kids, there's a reason why you're in that job, there's a reason why you're at that school. There's a reason because you have an opportunity to take responsibility, to be a difference maker. And so let's be a difference maker.
Speaker 1:Let's pray God. Thank you so much for the book of Nehemiah. Thank you for the journey you took him on and how you're going to take us on the same journey of just understanding that you have given us the opportunity to take responsibility for what's around us. I pray you'll give us strength and courage to not only notice what's around, but then say I'll do it, I'll step up. In Jesus' name. We pray amen, amen. Nehemiah 8, verse 10 says this don't be dejected or sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Nehemiah chapter.
