What drives a community to rebuild from ruins with unwavering faith and dedication? Join us as we explore Nehemiah 11 and the monumental moment when a tenth of the population of Judah and Benjamin chose to resettle in the holy city of Jerusalem. We'll recount Nehemiah's inspiring journey, from his heart-wrenching distress over the city's broken walls to his courageous efforts in rallying the community for its reconstruction. Dive into the powerful stories of leaders, priests, Levites, and other key figures who demonstrated incredible commitment to revitalizing Jerusalem, showcasing the transformative power of collective action aligned with God's vision.
Beyond the historical narrative, we delve into the essence of true Christianity and the profound transformation that genuine salvation brings. Discover why simply attending church falls short compared to fully surrendering one's life to Christ, embracing a new identity through faith. We'll also discuss the importance of sincere prayer and commitment to God, reflecting on the promise of salvation through Jesus. Drawing encouragement from Nehemiah 8:10, this episode underscores that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and it’s never too late to experience a vibrant, renewed life in Christ. Tune in for an enriching conversation on faith, transformation, and divine strength.
What drives a community to rebuild from ruins with unwavering faith and dedication? Join us as we explore Nehemiah 11 and the monumental moment when a tenth of the population of Judah and Benjamin chose to resettle in the holy city of Jerusalem. We'll recount Nehemiah's inspiring journey, from his heart-wrenching distress over the city's broken walls to his courageous efforts in rallying the community for its reconstruction. Dive into the powerful stories of leaders, priests, Levites, and other key figures who demonstrated incredible commitment to revitalizing Jerusalem, showcasing the transformative power of collective action aligned with God's vision.
Beyond the historical narrative, we delve into the essence of true Christianity and the profound transformation that genuine salvation brings. Discover why simply attending church falls short compared to fully surrendering one's life to Christ, embracing a new identity through faith. We'll also discuss the importance of sincere prayer and commitment to God, reflecting on the promise of salvation through Jesus. Drawing encouragement from Nehemiah 8:10, this episode underscores that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and it’s never too late to experience a vibrant, renewed life in Christ. Tune in for an enriching conversation on faith, transformation, and divine strength.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, nehemiah, chapter 11. Today's title is Going All the Way. Going All the Way there's something that's going to happen today, in today's chapter. That isn't probably going to seem like a real big thing because our current culture is kind of used to this, but for these people it was huge and it really showed their willingness to go all the way and it's inspiring to what God can do in our lives as well. But before we get into that, as always, 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're commenting on both of those. We'd love to engage with you. It's awesome and it really makes my day when we get a chance to kind of go back and forth and learn from one another. Also, make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find, and there's just an amazing community of people that is growing all the time over there and it is just an honor to read those devotions every day, right? Well, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me the New Living Translation to Nehemiah, chapter 11. Remember the journey that they have been on in this book, that it started all the way back with Nehemiah in the court of the king, and he hears that the walls of Jerusalem are down, and so he prays and he takes personal responsibility, and then he travels and he casts a vision. And after he casts a vision, they roll up their sleeves and they get to work and they experience all this hardship and there's all these things that's going on and it's just back and forth and it's hard and there's just I mean, there's enemies from without, enemies from within. But then they finally have built it, and now Ezra has come, they've dedicated their lives to God. They've said, as a team, we're going to serve the Lord. But then, as we used to say back in the day, you got to put your money where your mouth is. In other words, talk is cheap. What are you going to do? And so what's going to happen in this chapter is these people. There's some who are already living in Jerusalem, but now there's a bunch more that's going to move into this area and we'll get through this. We're going to talk about what a big deal this is, but for them this is a really big deal. So let's read this together Nehemiah 11, verse 1, and let's look at what they're willing to do to go all the way with their commitment to God. Here we go, ready, verse 1.
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The leaders of the people were living in Jerusalem, the holy city. A tenth of the people from their other towns were Judah and Benjamin were chosen by sacred lot to live there too, while the rest stayed where they were and the people commended everyone who volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem. Here is a list of the names of the provincial officials who came to live in Jerusalem. Most of the people priests, levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon's servants continued to live in their own homes in the various towns of Judah, but some of the people from Judah and Benjamin resettled in Jerusalem From the tribe of Judah Athaniah, son of Uzziah and the son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shepetiah, son of Mahalalel, from the family of Perez.
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Also, masiah, son of Baruch, son of Kolhazael, son of Haziah, son of Adiah, son of Jehoriab, son of Zechariah, the son of Shelah. There were 468 descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem, all outstanding men from the tribe of Benjamin Saul, son of Meshulam, son of Joad, son of Padaiah, son of Keloah, son of Mashiach, son of Ethel, son of Jeshiah. After him was Gabi and Shalia, and there were a total of 928 relatives. Their chief officer was Joel, son of Zichri, who was assisted by Judah, son of Hashaniah, second in command over the city. From the priest, there was Jedidiah, son of Jehorab, jachin and Sariah, son of Hachani, and Meshulam, son of Zadok. Also Also Adiah, son of Jehoram, son of Peliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashur, son of Makaja, along with 242 of his associates who were heads of their families. Also Amasiah, son of Azrael, son of Asai, son of Meshulamoth, son of Emer, and 128 of his outstanding associates and the chief officer of Zebediel, son of Hagadolim.
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From the Levites, shemaiah, son of Hashum, son of Hakim, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunai. Also Shabbatai, son of Jezebel, who were in charge of the work outside the temple of God. Also Mataniah, son of Micah, son of Zebedee, a descendant of Asaph, who led in thanksgiving and prayer. Also Bakbukai, son of Mataniah's assistant, abdi, son of Meshu, son of Galal, son of Jethunun, and in all there were 284 Levites in the holy city, from gatekeepers Akub, taumun and 172 of their associates who guarded the gates, the other priests, levites and the rest of the israelites lived wherever their family inheritance was located in any of the towns of judah. The temple servants, however, whose leaders were zihah and zipha, all lived on the hill of ophel. The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzi, son of Benai, son of Hesh-Benaiah, son of Mataniah, son of Micah, a descendant of Asaph, whose family served as singers at God's temple. Their daily responsibilities were carried out according to the terms of a royal command. Pethaniah, son of Majabel and descendant of Zariah, son of Judah, was the royal advisor in all matters of public administration.
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As for the surrounding villages and the open fields, some of the people in Judah lived in Kiriath, arba and its settlements, dibbon with its settlements, and Jezabazil in its villages. That was hard. They also lived in Jeshua, moldah and Beth-Pelet, hazarshua and Beersheba with its settlements, ziklag and Mekunah and its settlements. They also lived in Rimon, zohar, zermuth, zorah and Adullam with the surrounding villages. They also lived in Lachish and its nearby fields and Azkah with its surrounding villages. So the people of Judah were living all the way from Beersheba in the south to the valley of Hinnom. Some of the people of Benjamin lived at Geba, mikmash, aja and Bethel in its settlements. They also lived in Anathoth Nob Anahiah Hazor, ramah Gittim, hadid Zebom Nabaleth, lod Ono, words and a lot of people.
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But I want you to miss the point here, and here's the thing Nowadays, a lot of people move around. As a matter of fact, I read a statistic one time and I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was like a majority of people that live in the United States will not spend their entire life where they're born, that at some point they are going to move 100 miles or more away. Now they may move back again, but they're going to be mobile at some point in their life. Well, because of that and we live in a very mobile society in the United States and I'm aware of other people living in other parts of the world you may not better relate to that In the United States, people are very mobile, move around a whole lot. As a matter of fact, there's some people who, because of just the nature of their job, they only live in one place for two to three years and then they move again. And so the idea of these people moving from wherever they are and moving to the city of Jerusalem, you're just like okay, well, and you know, but imagine that where you live was a place that your, your parents had told you about, your grandparents had told you about, cause you've been 70 years, you've been in captivity, and they were talking about when, whenever we get to go back home, we get to go back to this place. We're going to be back there and we're going to live there and our children's children's children will live there. And it was just the idea of just having a heritage in a place and they finally get a chance to move back. And now they need to make a decision. They need to. They have to figure out how they're going to take care of the things of God, the temple of God. And there are some of these people who say you know what? I have been waiting all my life to get back to my family's land, but you know what I'm willing to do. I'm willing to go all in for the things of God, so much so I'm willing to move. And now what they're going to do is is they're going to move, and now that new spot is going to be with their children and their children's children, and they're they're just all that legacy is going to be. This is going to be their place. So that's what I'm saying when I say it's a big deal that they were willing to completely uproot their legacies and move to a new place.
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Can I tell you, a lot of times, whenever we give our lives to Christ, it doesn't feel that way, but it should. I've heard people that talk about how they gave their life to Christ and really their life just never changed. They were just like, okay, well, I've got all this stuff going on in my life. Now I've got this God Christian thing too. Can I tell you, that's not what Christianity is, christianity is. I was one way. That's not what Christianity is, christianity is. I was one way, but now I am completely going to identify myself with a whole different way. Everything about my life, my legacy, everything that I am is now different, because Jesus has saved me and there's something about that no-transcript that's amazing about that.
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I've talked to people who were in church for a while. They'd walk away from their relationship with God and if I can get to that place, sometimes I'll say, hey, do you mind if I ask what happened? And there's a thousand different ways they'll say it, but the basic idea is they never really gave everything they had over to God. They were just in a church service and they heard a compelling message and felt the thing and they were like you know, I don't want to feel this thing anymore. So I'll pray that prayer that guy said. Or they went through a really difficult season and they want God to bail them out of a difficult season. So they'll pray that prayer that guy said so they can get out of that difficult season. Right, and, and that's okay that that they um have that story. But that story breaks my heart because that's not what salvation is.
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Salvation is not a prayer. Salvation is a complete change. It's a worldview change where we receive the fact that I am a sinner going to hell. Someone's got to pay for my sin, so I'm going to turn my life over to Jesus so he can pay for my sin. Now I identify as a Christ follower. I give him everything and now my life is defined by who he says. I am A complete going all the way with God, and when we do that, it changes our legacy forever and it changes it for the better. Now the problem is is it takes a long time for the outside to match up on the inside with what God's doing in our life. But that's what salvation is and that's what's so beautiful about it is that God takes us from wherever we're from and he brings us into his city, into his courts, into his place, and he starts to make us new from the inside out. That's the beauty of salvation.
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I want to ask you this question have you done that with your life? Have you turned over your life completely to the Lord, holding nothing back, saying Jesus, I declare that you are not just my Savior, but you are my Lord, and I'm going to uproot my heart and I'm going to give it to you and I want you to be the Lord of my life. If you have not done that, I want to encourage you today to take a moment and just to make that declaration. God's Word says if we will confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus other words, the Lord is Jesus you know what I'm saying? Like he is Lord of my life. Confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved. In other words, we believe that what Jesus did on the cross can wash away our sins and we declare he is king of our life. That's what salvation is. And Jesus says himself. He said the only way I can tell you about it is it's like being born all over again. It's literally uprooting yourself and now you're something new. You're brand new and if you will make that commitment today and go all the way, there's something brand new waiting for you. It's one thing to know about the love of God and another to experience him for yourself, and you can do that today.
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Let's pray together right now.
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God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're not interested in where we've been. You're interested in where you want to take us. But, god, I pray you will put on everyone's heart right now the reality that it is not a prayer we pray, it is a decision in our heart. Now that decision needs to come out as a prayer where we confess our sins to you and we declare you as our Lord and we ask you to wash away our sin, but to realize that it's not just those words, but it's the commitment. It is uprooting ourself from our sin and giving ourself to you. But your word promises that if we will put our trust in you, you wash away all of our sin and give us eternal life. We celebrate that today in Jesus' name, amen, and what God's word says in Nehemiah 8, verse 10, don't be dejected or sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength Today is salvation is yours If you go all the way with him. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Nehemiah, chapter 12.
