April 14, 2002

Problem Solving: How God Led Nehemiah

Nehemiah 1-6

Today I want to talk about problems. I think everybody has some kind of problems. Is there anybody in here today that doesn't have problems? The Bible is very practical when it comes to dealing with problems. The Old Testament book of Nehemiah is a great example of problems and how to deal with them, learning from it will be helpful for our church body here.

Background: the time is 444 years before Christ. Because of their sin, God has allowed the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar to capture Israel and carry most of the Jews off to Babylon, modern Iraq. The Babylonians were then conquered by the Medes and Persians, and God moves upon the heart of the Persian king Cyrus to let the Jews go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Seven years have gone by, the temple is rebuilt, but there are problems, things are going wrong. However, God is about to use another Persian king in the city of Babylon, and a minor Jewish official in his court named Nehemiah to get things sorted out.

If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn to Nehemiah 1:1 "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
:3 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.
:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven."
Something has happened, the walls have been torn down, the people are afflicted, the city is a disaster. What did Nehemiah do? He fasted and prayed. What does it mean to fast and pray? Prayer is when we ask God to meet our need. Fasting is when we get serious enough about believing God to answer our need that we start to get really serious about our prayers.

How often have you asked God for something, but you had so little faith in His ability or willingness to answer you, that you prayed, you asked, and then just went on about your day? You prayed, but you didn't expect much? So you prayed; and then just went on about your business.

Fasting. Going without food. Why did Nehemiah fast? To try and blackmail God? To try and force God's hand, is that how it works? "If you don't bless me, I'll go on a hunger strike!" No, it is to remind us that we have a God who hears prayer, and when we start to take our prayers to Him seriously, then maybe He will start to take our prayers seriously. It's as simple as that. If we aren't serious enough about what we ask for, or expect God to answer, that we aren't willing to put even our appetites on the line, why should God take us seriously? Something to think about.

Chapter 2, verse 1: "And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
:2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,"

Nehemiah was the king's wine taster. In a culture where people might try to poison the king, being the wine taster was an interesting job. You spent a lot of time around the king. And in that culture, appearing before the king in a sad mood could cost you your head. That's why he was afraid. And said -
Verse 3: "And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
:4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
:5 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."

Prevailing prayer opened up the door. God provided an answer from the king. We don't know for sure how long Nehemiah fasted and prayed, but there were some long term prayers with fasting, then a short, one second, instant prayer, and God opened the door and handed him the check book.

Notice that when it came down to the answer to prayer, things were not without risk. If the king decided Nehemiah was out of line, he would be toast and he knew it. Nehemiah had the faith to pray, and then God gave him the faith and the courage to seize the answer to prayer at the right time. That ought to teach us something. We pray, God answers. According to His will. But sometimes God will require that we go or do or stick our neck out or whatever, to actually get things done. Sometimes, God will drop the answer into our lap. But not always. Sometimes when God answers your prayer, the answer will be there, ready for you, but you will need to reach out in faith and take it. And sometimes, like in Nehemiah's case, it can be a big, scary, reach.

Anyway, the king gives Nehemiah official permission and letters to the local governors around Jerusalem to give him anything he needs to get the job done. Wow. Sounds really good doesn't it? All set, right? Wrong. When Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem, he goes out by night and privately takes a survey of the whole city to find out for himself just how bad things are. And they really are as bad as he has heard.

So then he goes to the nobles and the leaders in Jerusalem, and notice what he says, chapter 2 and verse 17: "Then said I 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.
:18 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."

Nehemiah shares with the leaders his vision and his testimony. He told them how God had answered his prayer and what the King had done. He told them how the King had provided the resources for the work. He gave God the credit and the glory for what had happened. He could have taken the credit himself, but he didn't.

Notice also that he didn't blame anybody else for the problem. None of what had happened to Jerusalem was his fault, but notice how graciously he included himself in the situation; "You see the problem that we are in...let us build...so that we are no longer a reproach." Gracious words. Christians need to be more gracious to each other. Within our own church, between other churches of like minded believers. All of us mess up in many ways, all of us are unprofitable servants to our Lord, it does no good to point fingers at somebody else. Let's just get in there and fix it.

Don't play the blame game, the enemy will do that without our help, and there are plenty of enemies around, Nehemiah had his share just like we do, verse 19: "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?
:20 Then answered I 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."

Sanballat was the governor of Samaria, and a Moabite. Tobiah was an Ammonite, also a foreigner, and Geshem the Arabian was from south of Israel, possibly modern Saudi Arabia. None of these people were Jews, God's covenant people, and they had no business being there and trying to run things. They were opportunists, wheeler dealers, politicians.

Let's put this in modern terms: In our local church, everyone is invited to come in and hear the gospel. But obviously not everyone that comes in through the church door is a church member, or is even currently eligible to become a church member. Question: Why is that? What is the primary requirement for becoming a member of any local Christian church? You have to be a Christian. You have to be a professing believer in Jesus Christ, and the church is responsible for determining if you know what that means, and also for deciding - is you is, or is you ain't. Some people think they are Christians when they are not.

What happens when the church starts to get people in it -members- that are not Christians? What happens when the local church begins to take people into membership that are not believers? You are going to have trouble. Trouble from God, because the Bible always describes the church as composed only of believers. Period. The Bible knows nothing about a church composed of both believers and unbelievers. And God does not bless that which is contrary to His Word and His will.

If you incorporate unbelievers into the church, you will also have trouble from them, because they cannot understand or go along with what God's people want. That is what the Bible calls an unequal yoke. When you put two animals into a harness, if they don't pull the same, how will you plow a straight line? You can't. That's an unequal yoke.

When Moses led the nation of Israel came out their slavery in Egypt, there came with them a large group of people called a mixed multitude. These were people who were not Israelites, but they wanted to go with God's people, enjoy God's blessing, and be part of the action. Read about them in the book of Exodus and see how much trouble they caused, and then apply that lesson to the church, or a marriage, because the principle is exactly the same. Different goals, different strengths, different directions. Going around in circles. An unequal yoke always causes problems. Here in this case, we have Nehemiah and the Israelites trying to build according to God's will, and their biggest problem is right in their midst, people who don't know God.

Notice there in verse 20 that these three enemies falsely accuse the Israelites of rebelling against the king. Sometimes when you try and faithfully serve the Lord today, you will still be accused of all sorts of things, even being a cult, because false accusation is still one of the enemy's weapons. Along with the false accusation, there was ridicule. A few weeks ago, we in this church were accused of being a hippie commune. Now some of us are old hippies, but that really was ridiculous. Just like Nehemiah and those workers back then were ridiculed, chapter 4 and verse 1: "But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
:2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?"

Let me just take a moment here and explain what they are talking about: limestone, when it is heated really hot, loses all it's strength. If you build a big fire up against a limestone wall, it changes the structural characteristics of it, and it becomes about as strong as sugar cubes.

:3 "Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall."
Slander, verbal abuse, gossip, ridicule, you name it. How did Nehemiah respond to all this? He took it before the Lord, verse 4:
"Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
:5 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
:6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work."

Nobody got discouraged. When unbelievers harass God's people, it is because they are mad at God. Take it to God, and let Him deal with it. And then get busy. Let your attitude improve, because it's not your problem. It is between them and God, and God is big enough to take care of Himself.

So guess what happened then? Things got worse. Verse 7:
"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
:8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
:9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them."

They prayed, and they watched. That is important. There is a good principle for Christian living here: pray as if it all depends on God, act as if it all depends on you. God does not bless the lazy. Pray. Pray hard. And then get your rear in gear. Get to work.

Meanwhile, things are getting more difficult, notice what kind of threats and problems they had to overcome next, verse 10:
"And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
:11 And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
:12 And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you." Three different kinds of problems; how do they apply to us?

First, verse 10, they got fatigued because of having to work around all the rubbish that was in their way. Big piles of stone from the walls that were broken down, and if it was burned limestone, it was useless, but it was still heavy. Maybe there was even just plain old trash, who knows? Fatiguing. Discouraging.

Is that anything like your life, your situation? What kind of rubbish do you have in your life that gets in your way of getting anything done for God? Is it the rubbish of bad habits? Maybe it's the rubbish of a life that is so disorganized and cluttered that there is no time for God? Maybe an old burned up and broken down lifestyle that is no good, it just stumbles you up?

Is it the rubbish of things that steal away all your time, so that there is no time for God? Would you like to do something for God, build something for God, but first you need to clean up all the rubbish of your old life? Well guess what? The sooner you get started cleaning, the sooner you'll get things sorted out. The sooner you start getting the rubbish out of your life, the sooner it will be gone. The sooner you can do things for God without falling on your face, tripping over old rubbish. Brethern and sistern, there is work to be done, and the time is short; get rid of the rubbish.

The second problem, verse 11, was their enemies planned to appear in their midst without warning, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. Do you have any dubious relationships that threaten you? Are you running with a crowd that has no interest in the things of God, and if you keep hanging with them, it is going to kill your Christian testimony?

Is it a friend or relative that is opposed to the things of God, and you know that eventually it is going to have to be either them or God? That's a tough one. You have my sympathy. Make the right decision.
Maybe it is someone that appears to be a believer, someone that talks like they are a brother or sister in Christ, but they are not, they are a deceiver, and the day is coming when you will get hurt bad. Be careful. Be cautious of enemies that appear in your midst without warning.

How about verse 12? The Jews that dwelt close by the enemy were real quick to tell the workers over and over again about how bad they were going to get beat. How their enemies were going to cause them to fail. How nice. So encouraging... The church seems to always have it's share of worldly, unspiritual Christians that say "This is never going to work, that person will never get saved, something bad is going to happen, God will never answer that prayer, it's just going to be terrible," yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you spend your time hanging around unspiritual, worldly people, people who don't know God, people who don't have faith in God, people who don't have a clue about who God is or what He does, what will that do for your faith? What will it do for your attitude? How will it affect your thinking? It is very easy and natural to get into the habit of thinking like the people you hang around with. It is very easy to get in the habit of acting like the people you hang around with.

There was a problem with Jews who lived close to the enemy, their focus was not on God and what He wanted, but instead it was on the enemy, and how bad they were. If you live like those Jews who lived close to the enemy, you too will end up having no faith in God or His promises, and you too will be one of those whose main contribution to the work will be demoralizing the workers.

Verse 13: "Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
:14 And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
:15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work."

There was no attack. The enemy backed down. The work went forward. What made them back down? Because each family stayed together, and the members of the family were together, guarding, defending each other, watching out for each other.

Don't be casual about the spiritual welfare of your family. Spiritual warfare starts at home. If the enemy can get in a good attack within the family, all his other battles become much easier. When the family is spiritually strong, and the members of the family are spiritually protective of each other, by prayer, by being patient with each other, by watching out for each other, the enemy has a much harder job of it.

Does that mean everything's OK? No, that means the enemy will get meaner. Sneakier. More subtle. I'm going to skip over some of the minor problems, and go right to the kidnaping and murder, chapter 6, verse 1:
"Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
:2 That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
:3 And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"

Since nothing else was working, the enemies tried to get Nehemiah to meet with them in a village 20 miles north of Jerusalem. What did they have in mind? A murder plot? Kidnaping? Who knows? It wasn't for Krispy Kremes & coffee... But I like Nehemiah's answer. He doesn't accuse them of a plot, he just tells them; "I don't have time to fool with you. What I am doing is more important than stopping to deal with you people, I don't have time for you."

Is there someone that you have been planning to witness to, but meanwhile, things keep coming up to where you just don't seem to have the time? Is there a letter that you have been meaning to write to someone and encourage them, but some stupid thing keeps coming up and stealing all your time?
Is there something that might destroy your Christian testimony, kidnap your good name or your reputation, ruin your family? And this -whatever it is keeps calling to you: "Come down here to this village, and talk to me."

Whatever it is, you need to tell it: "I don't have time to fool with you. I have a risen Lord to serve, a family to tend to, unsaved friends to witness to, I have a Christian life to lead, and an awesome God to serve, and I don't have time to fool with you. And I'm not going down to any village any where and talk to you about any thing. GO AWAY!"

Why do we dialog with sin? Why do we dialog with the enemy? The enemy will compromise as much as necessary just to get you to sin even a little bit. Because if the enemy can get you to sin even a little bit, you have lost what should have been a victory. You have victory within your grasp every day, all day long. All you have to do is stay close to Jesus and step over and step around sin.

It's kind of like walking through a mine field. The goal is not to get through it with only messing up a little bit. But that's what the enemy wants. The enemy wants you to compromise. He doesn't want you to step on all the mines in the mine field, he only wants you to step on just one. Do you really want to compromise with that kind of enemy? Walk where Jesus walks, step where Jesus steps, follow Him closely. Don't compromise. That is safe. Nothing else is. You don't have time to go and talk to the enemy. You are doing a great work. Tell him - No. Go away.

Then the enemies of Nehemiah got even more treacherous, verse 4: "Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner." Just because you tell them to go away, doesn't mean they will...
:5 "Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;" Meaning he was going to make it public knowledge...
:6 "Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
:7 And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.
:8 Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
:9 For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands."

A plot has been started publicly accusing Nehemiah and those with him of treason. And it is a two part plot. The enemy makes an attack, and then offers Nehemiah what would seem to be a Godly way of escape, he sends Nehemiah a false prophet, to trap him into sinning against God, verse 10:
"Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee."
This false prophet offers to let Nehemiah take refuge in the temple for safety. But Nehemiah recognizes what is happening, verse 11:
"And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
:12 And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
:13 Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
:14 My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear."

Last Sunday we spoke of the church at Ephesus, which had a problem with false prophets coming in and corrupting the people, teaching false doctrines, teaching the people to sin. Nehemiah was not a member of the priesthood, so it was contrary to Mosaic law for someone such as he was, someone who was not a priest, to go into that part of the temple. Yet here is this priest, this prophet suggesting that Nehemiah ought to hide and take refuge there. It's a setup. A trap.

When you get in a crack, when things get tough, God will not rescue you by having you act contrary to His Word. God will not suggest to you that you should go against His Word in order to solve your problems. Once a month I have lunch with a pastor friend of mine, we talk and share prayer requests. He tells me that the one thing that blows his mind more than any other, is people who know they are going against the Word of God, they know that they are doing something contrary to scripture, but they say: "God has given me a real peace about this." Horsefeathers. Beloved, that is not peace, that is a seared conscience that no longer feels any pain, or hears God speaking.

God is not giving that person peace, unless it is the peace of His disapproving silence. God is quietly letting them braid together enough rope to hang themselves with, because that is what it will take for them to learn the lesson. It doesn't matter what the false prophet says, what does God's Word say? It doesn't matter who the false prophet is, what does God's Word say?

If I tell you something, and it doesn't sound right, go look it up. I am not infallible, and neither is anyone else in this assembly. Don't blindly accept what I tell you, or what David Collins tells you, or what Steve tells you or what Bill tells you, go to the Bible, and read it for yourself. If you disagree with me, come talk to me. If you disagree with them, go talk to them. God is not yet done teaching any of us. Always compare teaching with scripture, and compare scripture with scripture. These are the last days, and false teaching is as common as dirt.

Let's finish, verse 15: "So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
:16 And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God."

God wants to do a work in you, and in me, and in this church. He gives us some guidelines and suggestions to work with. This is not the only way, but it is very practical and very instructional.

Pray. Pray seriously. If God leads you to fast, then He wants you to really get serious about your prayer life. Expect great things.

How is God answering your prayer? Look for an opportunity for action. Does it seem like the door is shut in the direction you are trying to go? Does it seem like the door is open, and you can go right ahead on? How will you know? Reach out and see if the door is open or shut. Push on it and see what happens. Pray for wisdom. If the door seems to be truly shut, don't try and boot it open. Don't throw yourself against it, or try and knock it down. If God has closed it, leave it alone. If it truly seems to be open, then step out and try to walk through it. Pray, step out, and see what happens.

Be gracious to other believers. God may be using you as one small part of a big picture. Be humble. Be ready to serve.

Expect opposition. Just because God has set an open door before you, doesn't mean that there won't be trouble after you go through it. And if you go through an open door and run into trouble, that doesn't mean you are out of the will of God. Think about the apostle Paul, who said: "A great door, and effectual, is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."

Don't be unequally yoked. Either in the Lord's work, or in marriage, or any other thing you are trying to do for the Lord. It is impossible for a believer and an unbeliever to see eye to eye on spiritual things. Period.

Don't be discouraged by slander, gossip, or false reports. Expect them. Ignore them when you can. Don't get down in the mud with the pigs. The pigs will enjoy it a lot more than you will.

Protect your family. Guard your reputation. Guard the honor and reputation of your church family. They are depending on you.

Be careful around both unbelievers and carnal believers, immature or backslidden Christians. It is possible that you can be a blessing to them. It is also possible that they can drag you down to their level. Be helpful, do as much good as you can. But be careful.

Don't compromise spiritually with the enemy. Don't go alone into their territory on their terms, it is probably not going to turn out well if you do. Be aware when there are situations that you can not do any good, and you stand to lose a great deal. If there is some situation where you feel you just have to go and do something on the enemy's terms, ask a couple of spiritually mature brothers or sisters to go along with you. And if they refuse to go with you after hearing what you have in mind, then you probably don't need to be going there either.

Finally, never expect God to bless you contrary to His Word. If His Word is plain about something, either yes or no, and someone, or something, or your own imagination says "you need to do it anyway," that is a lying prophet, a lying spirit, and you need to back up and start over.

This has been a very brief treatment of a very broad subject, I probably had enough material here to make a half a dozen sermons out of, maybe some other time.

What is your need today? Where are you at today? I expect that all of us have some area in our life that at least some part of this message applies to. May God use it for your blessing. Let's pray.