3ABN Sabbath School Panel

Facing Opposition

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: SSP

Program Code: SSP190043A


00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness
00:09 the implanted Word,
00:11 which is able to save your souls.
00:13 And to be diligent to present yourself
00:16 approved to God,
00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth."
00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:25 Our study today is Ezra and Nehemiah.
00:32 Hello, friends.
00:33 Welcome to our 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:36 Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in
00:37 as we continue our trek through Ezra and Nehemiah,
00:41 also including our protege Daniel
00:44 in the picture because all three of them
00:46 contribute to the restoration,
00:48 rebuilding of the temple and the city and the economy
00:51 of the Jewish people in Jerusalem.
00:53 And so today, we're gonna talk about the topic
00:55 "Facing Opposition," lesson number 4.
00:58 If you'd like to find out how to get a copy,
01:00 do one of two things.
01:02 First, you can download
01:03 by going to ABSG.Adventist.org,
01:07 that's ABSG, Adult Bible Study Guide.adventist.org
01:13 or better yet,
01:14 go to a local Seventh-day Adventist Church
01:18 in your community, ask for a copy and join them
01:21 in a tremendous study.
01:22 This study is so vitally important
01:24 as it comes to understanding the Christ or the Antichrist,
01:29 whether or not there's room for a secret rapture or not,
01:32 Daniel 9 addresses that.
01:34 But today, we're gonna be talking about opposition,
01:37 when you are faced with opposition,
01:39 what do you do?
01:41 Before we go any further, we'll begin with prayer.
01:43 Jill, would you have prayer for us?
01:44 Sure.
01:45 Holy Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus
01:47 and we thank You for Your Word and the truth contained in it.
01:51 Would you open up our mind and our hearts
01:54 to receive what You have for us
01:56 just now in Jesus' name, amen.
01:59 Amen.
02:00 Our memory text is Ezra 5:5
02:03 and I'll read it in your hearing.
02:06 "But the eye of their God
02:08 was upon the elders of the Jews,
02:11 so that they could not make them cease
02:14 till a report could go to Darius,
02:18 then a written answer was returned
02:20 concerning this matter."
02:23 Now, we all know as we go into the topic,
02:26 that it's so important to understand
02:29 who's with us today and each contributor
02:32 to the lesson for this week.
02:33 So to my immediate left is my good friend, Mollie.
02:37 Mollie, you are enjoying retired life.
02:39 I am.
02:40 But I'm glad you took some time out to be here.
02:41 Good to have you with us today. Thank you.
02:43 Pastor Kenny. Yes.
02:45 Always good to have a man
02:46 of experience and passion on the panel.
02:47 Good to have you here today.
02:49 It's a blessing, thank you.
02:50 And Jill, the one with many hats,
02:52 our CFO or vice president,
02:55 and the one upon whom all, did I say CFO?
02:58 CFO, I'm thinking I better not be doing that job.
03:02 That's a good title that I'm glad you don't have,
03:04 but glad to have you here today.
03:06 Thank you, Pastor John, privileged to be here.
03:07 And Shelley, the lady with many hats.
03:10 And a lot of hair.
03:11 A lot of hair.
03:12 That's a good way to say it.
03:14 Always good to have good Bible students
03:15 that we can dive into the Word of God together.
03:18 Thank you for letting us smile at the very beginning
03:20 because this lesson is no smiling matter.
03:24 But we will see that the Lord we serve
03:26 is always ahead of pack.
03:27 That's right.
03:29 Now in Ezra, we talked about this before
03:30 in our Sabbath School panel.
03:32 We followed Ezra 1-5
03:34 and we have jumped around some in Nehemiah
03:36 and then we tapped our way into Daniel,
03:38 the 70 weeks, the 2300 days
03:40 but what we learned is that
03:42 when God calls His people to a work,
03:45 there's always opposition.
03:48 Now you'd find as we go to Sunday's lesson,
03:52 we will find that
03:54 there's a very important question asked,
03:57 and Ezra 4:1-5
03:59 is where the foundation comes in
04:01 and then we're gonna take an unpredictable turn
04:04 to the Book of 2 Kings and see why the question,
04:09 where the answer to the question is found.
04:11 I'll read quickly, Ezra 4:1-5,
04:15 "And in one of our prior lessons,
04:17 this was included,
04:18 so I may have fun with these names again.
04:20 Hasn't this been a name tongue twisting lesson?
04:22 Oh, yes.
04:24 I am so glad we don't use those kinds of names today,
04:27 but let's go with the verse 1.
04:28 "Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin
04:31 heard that the descendants of the captivity
04:33 were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel,
04:36 they came to Zerubbabel
04:38 and the heads of the Father's house
04:39 and said to them, 'Let us build with you
04:42 for we seek your God as you do
04:45 and we have sacrificed to him
04:47 since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria,
04:51 who brought us here but Zerubbabel and Jeshua,
04:56 and the rest of the heads of the father's house of Israel
04:58 said to them, 'You may do nothing with us
05:01 to build a house for our God,
05:03 but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel
05:07 as King Cyrus, the King of Persia
05:08 has commanded us,
05:10 then the people of the land
05:11 try to discourage the people of Judah.
05:14 They trouble them in building
05:16 and hired counselors against them
05:18 to frustrate their purpose
05:20 all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia,
05:24 even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.'"
05:27 So you'll notice that one thing you cannot allow
05:32 to cause you to prevent the work.
05:34 Anytime you're doing anything for the Lord,
05:36 you're going to get opposition.
05:37 Matter of fact, that's an indicator
05:39 that you're doing God's will.
05:41 If you're not doing God's will,
05:42 I've often said and I think Mollie may have...
05:44 You have Mollieism I think I heard this somewhere.
05:47 Well actually, recently, somebody said,
05:50 if you don't meet the devil head on,
05:52 you and he are going in the same direction.
05:54 Well, now.
05:55 That seemed like for a moment.
05:57 So when you're going in an opposite direction
05:59 to the enemy, you're gonna meet him head on
06:01 and that's what happened to the captives
06:02 that came back from their time in Babylon.
06:06 They met with opposition because they were going
06:09 in the opposite direction of the enemy.
06:11 So now the question was asked in the lesson.
06:14 It made the point on the surface
06:18 the request seemed like a kind neighborly thing to do,
06:23 so why turn down the help?
06:24 In one sense,
06:26 the answer is found in the text itself,
06:28 but now let's look the word adversaries is there,
06:31 that is indicator enough, indication enough.
06:35 Why would your adversary help you rebuild a temple?
06:41 Why would the devil help the people of God
06:44 do the Lord's work?
06:46 That's why the Bible says your adversary, the devil
06:48 walks about like a roaring lion.
06:50 So let's dive into 2 Kings
06:52 because here the question is answered,
06:55 why were the people called adversaries.
06:58 And what I'm finding out
07:00 is there's so many contributing books
07:02 to the picture of Ezra and Nehemiah.
07:04 So let's begin in 2 Kings 17:24,
07:08 and I made reference,
07:10 I'm gonna make six very important points.
07:13 All right, Jill. Yay!
07:14 Six very important points
07:16 and I'm gonna break them down quickly
07:17 as we go through these 17 verses,
07:20 starting with verse 17 of 2 Kings and believe me,
07:24 pray for all these names.
07:27 Then the king of Assyria, verse 17.
07:29 Verse 24.
07:31 Yeah, Verse 24, 17:24, thank you.
07:35 "Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon,
07:39 Cuthah, Ava, Hamath and from Sepharvaim
07:44 and placed them in the cities of Samaria
07:46 instead of the children of Israel
07:48 and they took possession of Samaria
07:51 and dwelt in the cities.
07:53 Now, the first point
07:54 I want to make is the foreign nations
07:56 that claim to want to help Israel rebuild.
08:00 The foreign nations took the cities
08:02 that belong to Israel and establish themselves
08:06 where God intended that Israel should live.
08:09 So they're coming to say, we want to help you,
08:11 but we're gonna live where God wants you to live.
08:14 They possess Israel cities.
08:16 Secondly, let's go to verse 25.
08:19 "And it was so at the beginning of their dwelling there,
08:22 that they did not fear the Lord, notice,
08:24 they want to help but they don't fear the Lord.
08:26 Therefore, the Lord sent lions among them,
08:29 which killed some of them.
08:30 So they spoke to the king of Assyria saying,
08:33 'The nations whom you have removed
08:36 and placed in the cities of Samaria
08:38 do not know the rituals of the God of the land.
08:41 Therefore, he sent lions among them
08:43 and indeed they are killing them,
08:47 because they do not know
08:48 the rituals of the God of the land.'"
08:51 Now, this is, this point is very shortened to the point,
08:55 the Lord was angry with the foreign nations
08:57 and raised up judgment against them.
09:00 You know, what I like about this point, panel, is this.
09:02 We don't have to fight our battles.
09:04 Yes.
09:05 The Lord fight our battles for us
09:07 and we don't have to be concerned
09:09 and this is something that's very,
09:10 this is not human, by the way
09:12 because it's human nature to defend ourselves.
09:14 Yes.
09:15 Especially when you hear people say things about you.
09:18 Has 3ABN ever been attacked in rumors?
09:22 Absolutely.
09:23 That's another topic for another day,
09:25 but if we spend the time and the money,
09:28 trying to defend ourselves,
09:29 we don't give the Lord the time to defend us.
09:32 It's good.
09:33 And so what's happening here is the Lord sent lions
09:35 to remedy what the Israelites could never remedy.
09:38 Let's go to the next one, verse 27.
09:41 "Then the king of Assyria commanded saying,
09:43 "Send there one of the priest whom you brought from there,
09:46 let him go and dwell there and let him teach them,
09:49 the rituals of the God of the land.
09:51 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away
09:53 from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel,
09:55 and taught them how they should fear the Lord."
09:58 Now, this is amazing,
09:59 "The foreign nations asked
10:00 for the priests of the Lord to teach them
10:02 but even after they learn the way of the Lord,
10:04 the foreign nations still continued
10:06 in their own way."
10:07 So the priests taught them,
10:09 but they still continued in their own way.
10:11 Here's the evidence, verse 29,
10:13 "However, the nations continued to make gods of its own
10:17 and put them in the shrines of the high places
10:19 which the Samaritans had made.
10:21 Every nation in the cities where they dwelled,"
10:25 the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth,
10:27 the men of Cuth, it talks about all the nations
10:29 and it says in verse 31,
10:31 and the Avites and the Nibhaz and Tartak
10:34 and all those nations,
10:35 let's go down the Gods of Sepharvaim,
10:37 verse 32, "So they fear the Lord
10:40 and from every class they appointed for themselves,
10:43 priest of the high places who sacrifice for them
10:47 and the shrines of the high places."
10:49 So you notice what's happening,
10:50 all the nations are mentioned but what they doing?
10:53 They're sacrificing in the high places
10:55 and the high places were established
10:57 to keep the Israelites from sacrificing in Jerusalem.
11:01 All the practices of the foreign gods
11:03 and I put a point here,
11:04 it's so vitally important
11:06 that we learn the lesson from Israel.
11:08 When someone comes along that says,
11:10 I want to help,
11:11 but their practices indicate otherwise,
11:14 don't create an alliance.
11:15 Amen.
11:17 Don't create an alliance.
11:18 Let's go to the next one, verse 33.
11:19 Let's see if I can get in here,
11:22 "They fear the Lord yet serve their own gods
11:25 according to the rituals of the nations
11:26 from among whom they were carried away.
11:29 To this day they continue practicing the former rituals.
11:32 They do not fear the Lord
11:34 nor do they follow their statutes
11:36 or their ordinances or the laws of the commandment
11:38 which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob,
11:41 whom he named Israel,
11:43 with whom the Lord had made a covenant in charge of them,
11:45 saying, 'You shall not fear of the gods
11:48 nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice.'"
11:51 And the next point is,
11:52 "Regardless of what other nations
11:54 or rebellious leaders say,
11:56 they will honor their god over the true God."
11:59 That's what you're continuing to see,
12:01 no matter what they say,
12:02 they're still honoring their God.
12:04 The sixth point, I'm going down to verse 40 now.
12:08 Am I jumping past 36?
12:10 Let's go to verse 40, in the interest of time,
12:13 "However, they did not obey,
12:15 but they follow their former rituals.
12:18 So these nations fear the Lord yet serve their carved images.
12:21 Also, their children and their children's children
12:24 have continued doing as their fathers did,
12:27 even to this day."
12:29 And here's the point, no matter the situation,
12:31 other religious leaders have a greater dedication
12:35 to their way of worship
12:37 and to the gods that they serve.
12:38 So here's the point of clarification
12:40 in the point of unity,
12:41 the danger here is found in Luke 4:8,
12:44 here's where the council comes from.
12:47 What are we told,
12:48 what the Lord Jesus Himself say?
12:50 Here's the council that we must follow.
12:53 When others try to
12:54 and I'm gonna use the word convince us
12:59 or seduce us into a unity that leads us away
13:03 from allegiance to the true God.
13:05 Luke 4:8, "And Jesus answered and said to them, to him,
13:11 'Get behind me, Satan, for it is written,
13:14 you shall worship the Lord your God,'
13:16 and what else?
13:17 'In him only you shall serve."'
13:20 Whenever the choice is between unity
13:22 with opposition for those who do not serve the true God,
13:26 always make a decision to serve God
13:28 with our whole heart.
13:30 Amen.
13:32 Mollie.
13:33 I want to, you know,
13:34 what I'm looking at is prophets encourage
13:37 and that is Ezra 5:1,
13:41 but I want to read.
13:44 Go back up to Ezra 4:23,
13:47 I'm gonna read 23 and 24.
13:50 "Now when the copy
13:51 of King Artaxerxes' letter was read."
13:54 Now, what was this letter?
13:57 This letter was where those surrounding nations
14:01 that so opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem,
14:06 the walls in the temple,
14:08 and those were the ones that you were talking about,
14:10 it first came and said, 'Hey, let us rebuild with you.'
14:14 And when the answer was no, you can't rebuild,
14:17 they started discouraging
14:19 and then they asked for a letter
14:22 from the king of Persia
14:24 to discontinue the building and with this,
14:27 they ascribed all of these shortcomings
14:33 of the nation of Israel to the king.
14:35 And it says, now,
14:36 when the copy of King's letter was read,
14:41 and that though while King Artaxerxes...
14:44 Am I saying it right?
14:45 Artaxerxes was read what he had done
14:48 was he had listened to these naysayers,
14:51 and he had written a letter
14:53 and what did that letter say to the children of Israel?
14:57 It said, "You've got to quit rebuilding."
14:59 First, they were rebuilding,
15:02 and then they had to quit rebuilding.
15:04 So this is where I pick up.
15:06 I'm picking up
15:08 with the encouragement from prophets.
15:12 Now the time frame that I'm looking at
15:14 is several years after the rebuilding began.
15:18 When the children of Israel first returned from Judah,
15:21 when that first 50,000, they call the remnant,
15:26 the reason they call it the remnant,
15:27 it sounds like 50,000.
15:29 Boy, that's a lot of people.
15:30 But the scripture clearly says
15:32 that hundreds of thousands didn't return.
15:35 So that's why it was just a remnant,
15:38 the others chose to stay in Babylon
15:41 or chose to stay in the nation
15:44 where they were comfortable,
15:46 but God always has a remnant.
15:48 Now we can praise God for this.
15:49 So this remnant returns and when they first returned,
15:53 what was the purpose of their returning?
15:56 To rebuild.
15:57 To rebuild, they were to rebuild.
16:00 And so they were so excited when they first returned,
16:04 there was this great optimism.
16:07 They were rejoicing and excited
16:09 and said about the opportunity to rebuild the temple
16:14 and the city walls of Jerusalem.
16:16 However, this is what we're picking up today
16:20 many years later.
16:22 So what was the reason that they discontinued.
16:26 We can say, well, they got a letter
16:28 from the king of Persia saying you've got to stop,
16:32 but they, there was more to it than just that.
16:35 They were so discouraged.
16:37 When you're discouraged,
16:40 it's like somebody reaches right on the inside of you
16:44 and pulls your courage out.
16:46 Now when you're encouraged on the other hand, that's...
16:50 Do you like to be around a discourager?
16:52 You walk away feeling, but an encourager,
16:55 an encourager takes courage, Pastor Lomacang
16:59 and puts it on the inside of you.
17:01 So we're gonna look at the discouragement,
17:04 but we're also going to look at the encouragement.
17:07 God never leaves us where we are.
17:10 He always has a way for us
17:12 to come up and out of our situation.
17:14 So when you are discouraged,
17:17 it's like somebody has reached in the inside of you
17:20 and taken your courage out.
17:22 Discouragement leads to even worse things.
17:26 Apathy, pessimism, it effects you in every area,
17:32 mentally, physically,
17:34 emotionally, and spiritually.
17:37 These people had returned.
17:40 Now look at what they had returned.
17:42 These were like pioneers.
17:44 They had come 900 miles, it took them how many months?
17:48 Four months.
17:49 So they were like pioneers.
17:51 They had returned to a city that had been decimated.
17:57 The land itself was desolate.
17:59 They had crop failures.
18:01 The work was extremely hard,
18:04 and they were constantly being threatened
18:06 by their enemies and they lived in fear.
18:09 How would you like to be in that situation?
18:12 Now, these enemies that surrounded them
18:16 that they were in fear of had written the letter,
18:19 King Artaxerxes read the letter,
18:22 listened to the letter, and sent a letter.
18:25 He said to stop the rebuilding.
18:28 They were already discouraged,
18:30 they were already living in fear for their own safety.
18:34 Now the king demanded,
18:36 they stop restoring the temple and the city walls.
18:40 And this is what they do.
18:42 They just found it easier
18:44 to stop rebuilding than to fight,
18:47 and that was a byproduct of just being discouraged,
18:53 and tired, and fearful.
18:56 Discouragement and pessimism had led to spiritual lethargy
19:01 and it was just easier to neglect the things of God.
19:06 So the rebuilding of the temple had come to a halt.
19:10 It was at this setting that God needed to intervene, thank God.
19:14 Amen.
19:16 He called his prophets Haggai and Zachariah
19:19 to bring a message to the people of Judah
19:22 and to bring that good word,
19:24 encouragement to complete the work on the temple.
19:29 Remember, discouragement takes our courage out of us,
19:32 takes our strength out of us,
19:35 but here are these men bringing encouragement
19:38 and that's gonna put courage and strength on the inside.
19:41 So let me read to you Ezra 5:1-2,
19:44 "Then the prophets, Haggai and Zachariah."
19:47 Now both of these men have been captives in Babylon
19:50 and had returned to Judah.
19:52 "The son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews
19:54 who were in Judah and Jerusalem,
19:56 in the name of the God of Israel,
19:58 who was over them."
20:01 And we find in Haggai, the first chapter,
20:05 what this message was to the people.
20:07 I'm gonna read Haggai 1:4, he asked a question,
20:11 "Is it time for you yourself to dwell
20:13 in your paneled houses,
20:15 and this temple to lie in ruins?"
20:17 So what he was saying is,
20:18 hey, what you are doing
20:20 is you are rebuilding your own house,
20:22 but you're leaving the house of God in ruins.
20:26 And verse 5, "Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:
20:31 Consider your ways!"
20:33 Has God ever said that to you, Pastor Kenny?
20:35 Oh, would that get your attention if He did?
20:38 Consider your ways.
20:40 Zachariah 5:5,
20:42 "The people in their discouragement in fear
20:45 had discontinued caring for the things of God
20:49 and had been carrying on for their own things."
20:52 Verse 9 tells,
20:53 "He tells them that the reason
20:56 for their lack and need
20:58 is because of my house that is in ruins
21:03 and while every one of you runs to his own house."
21:06 So the prophet comes and drops a plumb-line
21:11 and he tells you strengthen the wall.
21:13 And so what he was saying was, you have a plan,
21:17 you need to get back into alignment
21:20 with what God has called you to do
21:22 which is to rebuild that temple and rebuild that wall.
21:25 Get about your business,
21:27 get back up on that wall and get busy, okay.
21:30 The message God sent through His prophet
21:33 had immediate results.
21:35 Look at verse 2,
21:37 "So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua
21:40 the son of Jozadak,"
21:43 oh these words, these names.
21:45 They did something, they rose up
21:48 and began to build a house of God.
21:50 Now, don't you just like that?
21:51 They rose up.
21:53 What was the condition they had been in?
21:55 They were down, they were discouraged,
21:58 but when the encouragement came from the prophet of the Lord,
22:03 it infused like bellows.
22:06 It infused courage into them and they rose up
22:09 and they got back to the business
22:12 that they were called to do
22:14 to build the house of God, which is in Jerusalem.
22:17 And this is something I like so good,
22:19 I underlined it in my Bible.
22:21 It says, "And the prophets of God
22:24 were with them helping them."
22:26 Amen.
22:28 And the prophets didn't come in and say,
22:29 look at us, aren't we important?
22:31 No, they put their hand to the plow.
22:33 In this case, to the nail and hammer
22:36 or whatever they used
22:37 to rebuild walls and temples in that day.
22:40 The prophets got right down to business
22:42 and dealt with them.
22:43 God had sent the remnant back to Judah
22:46 to rebuild His house and the city
22:48 and God had a plan and His blank plan
22:51 had been disrupted by fear and discouragement
22:54 so God stepped in.
22:56 God didn't abandon His people.
22:58 And the word of encouragement to every one of us today,
23:01 if you're discouraged, God will never abandon you.
23:04 There will always be...
23:07 He will always make a way in the wilderness.
23:09 He will always bring encouragement to you
23:12 and you know, Pastor Lomacang said something,
23:16 a few lessons ago, and it was this.
23:19 Its inspiration will get you going,
23:24 but dedication will keep you going.
23:26 So be inspired today, but be dedicated
23:29 and keep going for God.
23:30 Amen.
23:32 Amen, thank you so much, Mollie, that was amazing.
23:33 Prophets encourage, that's right.
23:35 That was Monday's lesson.
23:37 And I like to encourage you, don't go away,
23:39 we'll be right back in just a moment.
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24:18 Welcome back to our Sabbath School study.
24:20 We're gonna continue with Tuesday's lesson
24:22 by Pastor Kenny Shelton entitled "Work Stoppage."
24:26 Yeah, to me this is very important part of it
24:28 and we've covered some of it
24:30 but I want to look,
24:31 you mentioned while ago, a letter
24:34 and I think we'll examine that letter a little bit
24:36 to see what the complaints,
24:37 you know, really were all about.
24:39 We've hit some of them so on and so forth, but to me,
24:42 it's how far people will go
24:44 if they don't want to see something move forward.
24:47 If what they'll do, what they'll make up,
24:50 how they balloon it up, how they even come,
24:52 sometime they even tell some lies.
24:54 So here this is definitely the one of the work stop.
24:58 So let's examine that letter little more.
24:59 So to me, it's a powerful lesson
25:01 and when God calls us to do something,
25:04 Pastor John has missed probably everyone here,
25:06 there will be opposition.
25:07 I mean, that's, I don't know if you can say it enough
25:10 that there will be opposition if you stand up
25:14 for what is truth and what is right.
25:16 In fact, it will come sometime from your own family,
25:19 which is very hurtful.
25:21 Sometimes it will come from church members.
25:23 Sometimes it will come from just neighbors
25:25 or whatever it might be,
25:27 but the opposition will come in some form or fashion
25:30 to try to discourage you,
25:32 to try to discourage me to make us go back.
25:35 I think everybody's done this here
25:36 to make us go back and go over.
25:39 Did God really impressed my mind to do this?
25:43 I don't know if anybody's ever been there.
25:44 I've been there a lot of times.
25:46 God really do because you've got other people, you know,
25:49 the places that simply say, well, I don't think
25:51 this is what you ought to be doing right now.
25:54 So we have to just look and really examine,
25:56 you know, did we hear it wrong?
25:58 You know, did we hear it wrong?
26:00 Did we get the wrong message
26:01 and now you know, doubt comes in
26:04 and then when doubt comes in, the enemy comes in.
26:07 You mentioned, we get discouraged with it
26:09 and we kind of wonder what we should really do,
26:11 you know, work stoppage.
26:13 And I can only think of one individual
26:15 who likes the work or the cause of Christ to stop,
26:19 would that be the enemy?
26:20 There's only one that wants to stop the work of God.
26:23 That's all there is to it.
26:24 So let's look at some of the enemy did
26:26 to stop this work in Jerusalem in Ezra Chapter 4,
26:29 we're gonna look several different times
26:30 in lessons and verses 6-24.
26:34 So there's several things here we'll look at quickly.
26:36 Number one is they said, they hired counselors,
26:39 we've been through part of that,
26:40 they hired counselors, so they...
26:42 Now, remember they hired.
26:44 They were so bent on getting this stopped.
26:47 They did not want that wall to be rebuilt,
26:49 they didn't want the city to be rebuilt.
26:50 They didn't want the wall.
26:52 They didn't want anything there with the Jews.
26:54 So they went out and they hired the best.
26:57 I like to think about, you know,
26:58 you get yourself in trouble, what do you do?
27:00 Sometimes you go out and you hire a lawyer.
27:02 You don't get any lawyer.
27:04 Some of those might,
27:05 but you gotta look at the best and usually you have to pay.
27:09 You pay dear for that.
27:11 They went out and they hired.
27:12 So I figured they hired those who had a little information
27:15 what had gone on in the past
27:17 and what was going on right then and there
27:19 so they could make a good case because they had to be stopped.
27:22 I think they had one shot.
27:24 We're gonna give it one shot, we're gonna go into it,
27:26 we're gonna make stop this right here now.
27:27 If we don't stop it now, we may not get to stop it.
27:30 I'm hearing talk like that even today
27:32 about lot of things going on in the world.
27:34 We've got a shot. We've got to stop this.
27:35 We got to stop that.
27:37 And a lot of extremes
27:38 we're gonna to it seems like to,
27:40 make sure we stop something we don't want to see.
27:42 So they hired the counselors.
27:44 Counselors are as you will know they are what?
27:46 They are advisors,
27:47 they are people that come together,
27:49 they want to guide you.
27:50 And evidently these counselors advise them to
27:53 as you mentioned I think here write a letter
27:56 and write it to the king.
27:59 If I want to write a letter,
28:01 I think I'd like for it to go to where it needs to go.
28:03 So there's not going through a bunch of hands
28:05 that doesn't need to go through.
28:06 There's lot of times lot of our talk
28:07 and all the stuff that we do
28:09 is where it doesn't need to be.
28:11 We need to go right to where we want to change take place
28:13 that we make that letter
28:14 and we send it to where it needs to go
28:16 and they said,
28:17 we're gonna stop those Jews from working
28:19 if that's the last thing we do.
28:21 Even though God told him to do it,
28:24 they said they won't stop.
28:25 First they wrote to,
28:26 I think they wrote to the Darius first.
28:28 I think they wrote him a letter,
28:29 I think in Ezra Chapter 5 and 6,
28:31 you can glean that from there.
28:33 They even wrote to King Xerxes and then later Artaxerxes.
28:37 So they were doing everything.
28:39 Let's get the right guy.
28:40 Let's write the right letter.
28:42 Let's get it in the right hands,
28:44 and what was the reason?
28:46 Why were they convinced,
28:47 we're gonna convince the people,
28:48 we're gonna convince the king, it's best if they stopped.
28:51 And so, here's what they did.
28:53 One of the first argument was,
28:55 they said before, the city is bad.
28:58 The city is bad.
28:59 You notice the city was bad and it was rebellious.
29:02 And that's, basically I think they look at this
29:04 and see if you can see this is true.
29:07 You can go back,
29:08 I want to thank you go back to the courthouse.
29:10 You go back to the courthouse, and you go back to the records
29:13 and they basically said, "Go there and get the records.
29:15 Look at the records, you will see that they were bad
29:18 and they were rebellious.
29:19 And they're gonna cause the king
29:21 a lot of problems."
29:23 Well, the last thing the king wanted to hear was what?
29:24 There's gonna be some problems.
29:26 Who wants any problems?
29:28 Number two it says, we're doing this
29:30 because we don't want to see you the king dishonored.
29:35 You know how much power that kind of gives
29:37 if the king sitting there he is all puffed up anyway,
29:39 bless his heart.
29:40 Probably thinks he's more than what he should be.
29:43 You know, sometimes we sit in a position
29:44 and somebody comes to you, they're using psychology.
29:47 They're coming right at you and say,
29:48 "Now, this is the last thing
29:50 we want to see is you to get hurt."
29:51 Well, right quick, you're starting to sympathize,
29:53 oh, well, oh, yeah, well, I'm glad you feel that way.
29:55 That's what they said.
29:57 We don't want you to be dishonored.
29:58 So I mean, they were really write it out
30:00 to where it be almost when you read this letter,
30:02 you be a tear jerker.
30:04 Some of you didn't, it take a while.
30:06 Now the third part it says,
30:08 you notice this, this right here,
30:09 and I'm not sure which one maybe, it was Pastor John,
30:12 one of us in here mentioned before,
30:14 and it comes out in this lesson here.
30:17 And they said, and by the way, if we don't stop this,
30:21 there's no one gonna pay any tolls.
30:24 Basically, no one's gonna pay any taxes,
30:25 no custom, no tribute, no anything to you king.
30:28 Right.
30:30 You're gonna end up short with the money,
30:32 your treasure is gonna be way down.
30:34 You can't do what you want to do.
30:36 You can't go out and fix the roads
30:39 and fix the water lines and sewers.
30:41 You know what I'm talking about.
30:42 You can't do what all you've been doing before
30:44 because the money won't be there.
30:46 Money talks as loud as anything or more than anything
30:49 in this world even today.
30:51 So with the threat of that out there,
30:52 oh, the king said,
30:53 "Now wait a minute here now, we need the king,
30:55 I kind of like the life I'm living."
30:58 I kind of like to be doing what we're doing here.
30:59 I mean does that run through your mind there
31:01 just a little bit?
31:03 And so they said, but we gonna get lot less money
31:05 is gonna be coming in.
31:06 So and then they said number four,
31:09 they're only building, the Jews are only building
31:11 because so they can gain independence.
31:15 Think about, only so they can gain independence
31:17 so that they, you know,
31:19 and this will cause the king more problems
31:21 and we say he can shake a stick at.
31:23 The king right quick got a little bit like oh my,
31:26 so what did he believe?
31:28 If you had a letter like this,
31:29 you had some high important people that signed it,
31:31 you had the support of the neighbors all around.
31:35 You have to look at that
31:36 and the king just looked at that,
31:37 as his advisors, his counselors,
31:39 men in authority looked at that
31:40 and he believed those accusations.
31:42 That's what they were.
31:43 They were lies, they were accusations,
31:46 we see it happening, taking place nowadays.
31:48 There's no doubt about it,
31:49 but sometimes people read something
31:51 and they believe it is the gospel
31:53 when it is a lie, you know, just down and out lie.
31:56 So they said, well, you know, the king said,
31:57 well, if this be the case, and it look like it is,
32:00 we got enough witnesses here, we're gonna stop the work,
32:02 I'm gonna stop the Jews from working on it.
32:04 And someone mentioned even then a prior lesson there,
32:07 what did they do?
32:08 Weren't going to say I want you to stop, he said,
32:10 we're gonna bring in the troops,
32:11 we're gonna bring in the big boys,
32:13 we're gonna bring them in,
32:14 we're gonna make sure that work stops,
32:16 because I don't want to go in anymore.
32:18 So there was opposition.
32:20 So when that happened, what happened to the people?
32:24 The people became, you were talking about,
32:25 they became discouraged.
32:27 Man, there's troops would say, now they,
32:29 well, they've got their guns and got this,
32:31 well, they had their weapons
32:32 and whatever they had right there,
32:34 and they were gonna make sure
32:35 and I think they went far enough,
32:37 whatever it took to stop that work.
32:39 If it meant killing somebody, they go that far with it.
32:41 Say we're definitely going to stop this right here.
32:44 And so the all sudden today that people use the excuse,
32:47 well, we're afraid.
32:49 Well, man, if I go out there
32:50 and start building on the wall right now,
32:52 I've got five kids.
32:53 You know, who's gonna feed my kids
32:56 and Sister Mollie said, "Well, Kenny go on home,
32:57 you got five kids.
32:59 You know, we've done,
33:00 it's like legitimate but God said go.
33:03 God said to build,
33:05 and so God is gonna take a responsibility
33:07 is He not to make sure this comes to completion,
33:11 and sometime we run from ghost
33:14 as it were, if you know what I mean,
33:15 something doesn't really, really exist.
33:18 And when we're doing God's will,
33:19 I'm telling you right now, God's gonna step to the plate.
33:21 God's gonna do something good.
33:23 God's gonna hit the home run as it were.
33:24 He's gonna dry the runs in, the game is gonna be won
33:28 because God said so
33:29 not because the king said, don't do it,
33:31 not because there was a petition,
33:32 not because there was decree,
33:34 not because of the soldiers,
33:35 not because of anything that went on right there.
33:38 I mean this, we're trying this to happen.
33:40 The people between a rock and a hard place we call it.
33:44 If you were those folks that were in that position,
33:45 what would you do?
33:47 Would you go back to work the next day,
33:48 knowing that something's going to happen to you
33:50 or could happen to you?
33:51 The king said stop,
33:53 the army says that we stop whatever it might be,
33:55 it will cost you your life if you don't so interesting.
33:59 The time is coming.
34:00 Remember, the time is coming again.
34:02 Hopefully with this lesson study,
34:04 this lesson we're gonna be
34:05 studying, praying, working right now
34:07 where our minds will be made up to when these things
34:10 come across against the laws of God
34:12 and the laws of mankind that you and I,
34:15 by the grace of God
34:16 will make the right choice, right decision.
34:18 We don't have to go to counselors,
34:20 we don't have to go to anyone else.
34:21 We go to the Word of God,
34:23 we go on our knees, we ask for what God
34:24 and says give us the wisdom that we need
34:26 to make the right choice
34:27 and the right decision that time is coming
34:30 just around the corner.
34:31 Amen.
34:33 Thank you so much, Pastor Kenny.
34:34 Anytime, God wants His work to go forward,
34:38 Satan comes with opposition.
34:41 That is right. But God is stronger.
34:43 And I love to see that.
34:45 You all were talking about Zerubbabel and Ezra
34:48 and I'm jumping over with my day
34:50 on Wednesday to Nehemiah.
34:52 So let's turn over a book to Nehemiah Chapter 4,
34:55 but the concept is the same.
34:58 We see opposition to the work of God.
35:01 We see the darts and the attacks
35:03 as it were that Satan throws in,
35:06 and then we see what God does
35:08 on behalf of His people.
35:09 So we're looking at Nehemiah 4:1-23,
35:13 really the whole chapter.
35:15 We see the opposition begin.
35:17 Now remember, Nehemiah had come back,
35:19 he had said, "Let us rise up and build."
35:21 He had done the, secret walkabout of the city
35:25 to see what had taken place, that's in Nehemiah Chapter 2.
35:29 All the leaders, and the nobles,
35:30 and the priests, and the people
35:32 were off a mind to work and they said
35:34 yes, with God on our side, we can do this.
35:36 Now we see 4:1-3.
35:41 Now, I want you to notice as we read this,
35:43 the first opposition, the first attack is emotional.
35:48 It's not physical.
35:49 The first attack is emotional.
35:52 Nehemiah 4:1-3,
35:53 "But it so happened when Sanballat,"
35:56 remember he was the governor of Samaria to the north.
35:58 "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall,
36:01 that he was furious and very indignant,
36:06 and mocked the Jews."
36:07 We see anger, we see ridicule and scorn.
36:11 "And he spoke before his brethren
36:13 and the army of Samaria, and said,
36:14 'What are these feeble Jews doing?
36:17 Will they fortify themselves?
36:18 Will they offer sacrifices?
36:20 Will they complete it in a day?
36:22 Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish,
36:25 stones that are burned?'
36:27 Now Tobiah the Ammonite," remember he was from the east,
36:30 "was beside him, and he said,
36:32 'Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it,
36:36 he will break down their stone wall.'"
36:38 What's he doing?
36:40 He's making fun of them, right?
36:41 He's making fun of them.
36:42 The first attack is emotional,
36:44 anger, ridicule, and scorn to try to get them to stop.
36:49 Have you ever stopped the work of God
36:51 because someone was angry with you?
36:53 Because you were afraid
36:55 of someone's anger or someone's scorn
36:59 or someone's ridicule against you,
37:02 or the work or the ministry that God is calling you to do.
37:07 You know what the human response is, Pastor Kenny?
37:10 Human response might be anger in return, right?
37:13 They dish it to me, maybe I'm gonna dish it back.
37:16 Or the human response, Shelley, could be,
37:18 I'm gonna argue or I'm gonna cower in fear.
37:22 And I'm gonna stop the work and I'm gonna quit, right?
37:25 I'm afraid. I don't like that ridicule.
37:27 I don't like the anger. I'm just going to stop.
37:30 Let's look at Nehemiah's response.
37:33 His response is really twofold, prayer and work.
37:38 And we'll look at that.
37:39 Prayer is in Nehemiah 4:4-5, the next two verses.
37:43 Nehemiah prayed, and he said,
37:45 Here, O our God, for we are despised,
37:49 turn the reproach on their own heads
37:51 and give them as plunder to a land of captivity."
37:55 Now, it's interesting to me how he prays, he didn't pray,
37:59 oh, God, would you work redemptively
38:02 in so and so's life, right?
38:04 He said, turn out their reproach
38:06 on their own heads,
38:08 and give them as plunder to the land of captivity.
38:10 This is a strong prayer.
38:12 Do not cover their iniquity,
38:14 do not let their sin be blotted out from before You,
38:17 for they have provoked You to anger before the builders."
38:21 This is a prayer for God to work
38:23 on behalf of His people.
38:25 It's a prayer that God would execute judgment,
38:28 not you, but God can execute judgment.
38:31 It's a prayer for God
38:32 to vindicate His name and His people.
38:35 In that culture
38:37 a war between the city and the people
38:38 was always understood as a conflict
38:40 between the deities of the involved groups.
38:44 So in other words, this challenge
38:45 from Sanballat and Tobiah
38:48 was not just a challenge to Nehemiah.
38:50 It wasn't just a challenge to the builders of the wall.
38:53 It was a challenge
38:54 to the God of Jerusalem, Jehovah God,
38:58 Creator God and because of that,
39:00 I think Nehemiah prayed in the way that he did,
39:04 that God would rise up and vindicate his name,
39:07 but Nehemiah just didn't pray, he worked.
39:09 The next verse, Nehemiah 4:6, "So we built the wall,"
39:13 you notice that, he didn't just say
39:15 we're having a prayer meeting and prayer meetings are good.
39:17 He didn't say, okay, we're gonna do this.
39:19 And now we're gonna stop
39:20 and we're gonna wait for God to work.
39:22 It says, "We built the wall,
39:23 and the entire wall was joined together
39:25 up to half its height,
39:27 for the people had a mind to work."
39:28 So they're already halfway done.
39:31 And the opposition accelerates,
39:34 not just emotional attacks, we get some physical attacks.
39:38 And this is even maybe a threat of military involvement.
39:41 Look at the next two verses, 7 and 8.
39:44 "Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah,
39:46 the Arabs, the Ammonites, the Ashdodites
39:49 heard that the walls of Jerusalem
39:51 were being restored
39:52 and the gaps were beginning to be closed,
39:54 they became very angry," there's the anger again,
39:58 "and all of them conspired together
40:00 to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion."
40:06 Sometimes attacks are emotional,
40:08 sometimes they are physical, sometimes they are spiritual.
40:12 And the human response
40:13 as always is give up in discouragement, Mollie.
40:17 I'm afraid, depression, I want to quit.
40:21 Let's see what Nehemiah's response is to this.
40:24 I call this Nehemiah's accelerated response
40:27 'cause it's not just two fold.
40:28 It's not just prayer and work.
40:30 There's four responses that I see
40:32 and how Nehemiah responds.
40:34 The first is prayer
40:35 'cause prayer is always our first line of defense.
40:39 Nehemiah 4:9, the first half of the verse,
40:41 "Nevertheless we made our prayer to God."
40:44 So prayer is always the first line of defense.
40:47 Second, they didn't just work.
40:49 This is called active guard duty.
40:52 They got the militia involved.
40:54 The second half of Nehemiah 4:9,
40:57 "And because of them, we set a watch
40:59 against them day and night."
41:03 Jump down to Nehemiah 4:16,
41:06 "So it was, from that time on,
41:07 that half of my servants worked at construction,
41:10 while the other half held the spears,
41:12 the shields, the bows, and wore armor,
41:14 and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah."
41:17 So what's taking place here?
41:18 Half the men are working at construction.
41:20 The other half of the men are on guard duty.
41:23 They're equipped, they are armed,
41:26 they are ready for battle.
41:29 Half of them are on the lookout for battle.
41:32 So the first response of Nehemiah is prayer.
41:34 The second is active guard duty prepared for battle.
41:38 The third is vigilant work.
41:41 Now this is not just work
41:43 that we talked about the first response,
41:44 this work is a little more increased.
41:47 Remember, we just said half of them carried weapons,
41:49 they were on guard duty.
41:50 The other half worked,
41:52 but what about the ones who were working?
41:54 Verses 17 and 18, those who built on the wall.
41:57 "These are the construction workers
41:58 and those who carry burdens loaded themselves
42:01 so that with one hand they worked at construction
42:03 and with the other they held a weapon."
42:05 So we're talking here you have half of them engaged
42:08 and ready for battle,
42:10 the other half are doing construction,
42:12 one side of them one hand,
42:14 and the other hand, they got their sword
42:15 and they are ready.
42:16 They did long hours.
42:18 Verse 21, "We labored in the work
42:19 and half of the men held the spears
42:21 from daybreak until the stars appeared."
42:25 That's a long day.
42:26 We're talking from the moment the sun comes up.
42:28 We were just in Russia recently and in the summer,
42:31 the sun came up at 3:30 in the morning,
42:33 okay, so I didn't know about them.
42:35 But if the sun comes up that early,
42:36 and you're working all day
42:38 till the stars come out, long hours,
42:41 and they actually slept in their clothes.
42:43 Verse 23, " Neither I, my brethren, my servants,
42:46 nor the men of the guard
42:47 who followed me took off our clothes,
42:49 except that everyone took them off for washing."
42:51 So in other words,
42:52 they even slept in their clothes
42:54 because they are ready.
42:56 The fourth point, the final one,
42:58 Nehemiah encouraged his people in God,
43:02 encouragement for the people in God.
43:05 And in that he took a two pronged approach.
43:07 He said, do not be afraid.
43:11 Nehemiah 4:14, "And I looked,
43:13 and arose and said to the nobles, the leaders,
43:15 and the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them.
43:18 Remember the Lord, great and awesome,
43:21 and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters,
43:23 your wives, and your houses.'"
43:25 That key phrase, do not be afraid
43:28 appears at the start of every great moment
43:30 in salvation history.
43:31 Moses, when the Egyptians were coming against them.
43:34 Exodus 1,4 he said, "Do not be afraid.
43:37 Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."
43:40 Moses again at the end of his life
43:41 when he passed the baton over to Joshua.
43:44 He said, "Do not be afraid and don't fear them."
43:48 Joshua and Caleb when taking over Canaan.
43:50 "Do not fear them,"
43:52 the Lord speaking to Joshua when he's taking over,
43:55 "Be strong and of good courage.
43:56 Do not be afraid."
43:58 David when he passed the throne to Solomon, "Do not be afraid."
44:02 And the second thing he said to the people was
44:05 our God will fight for us.
44:08 Nehemiah 4:20,
44:09 "Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
44:11 rally to us there.
44:13 Our God will fight for us."
44:15 Are you in a battle?
44:17 Are you wrestling with opposition right now?
44:20 Know that the Lord will fight for you,
44:24 that our God, your God will fight for you
44:28 and you do not have to be afraid.
44:30 Amen. Amen.
44:32 Good lesson, Jill.
44:34 Well, here we've got Nehemiah
44:36 who has finished the building of the wall in 52 days
44:40 and, of course, you know, he was the king's cupbearer
44:44 and he had received the letter to allow this.
44:47 But what happens is,
44:50 I am gonna look at Chapter 6 and they finished the wall
44:55 but the gates have not been hung yet
44:59 and his adversaries are so frustrated,
45:02 they cannot launch a full out
45:05 military assault against Nehemiah,
45:09 because the Jews have the protection
45:11 of the Persian king.
45:12 So the walls been rebuilt and now they want
45:16 to prevent the gates from going up
45:18 and so what they're kind of thinking is
45:20 if they can deceive Nehemiah,
45:23 lure him into a trap, get rid of the leader,
45:26 maybe they can stop the work.
45:28 So let's look at Nehemiah 6:1,
45:31 "It happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab,
45:35 and the rest of our enemies
45:37 heard that I had rebuilt the wall,
45:39 and that there were no breaks left in it
45:41 although at that time
45:42 I had not hung the doors in the gates,
45:45 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me,
45:48 saying and let's back up,
45:52 these were the mockers that you were talking about.
45:55 And they are now renewing these attacks
46:00 and they say, 'Come let us meet together
46:04 among the villages in the plain of Ono,"
46:06 that's the enemy territory.
46:09 "But they thought to do me harm."
46:12 He recognized their true intent.
46:15 "So I sent messengers to them saying,
46:18 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.
46:23 Why should the work cease
46:26 while I leave it and go down to you?'"
46:29 You know, it's interesting.
46:31 Herein Nehemiah had been the cupbearer,
46:34 which we discussed in an earlier lesson
46:37 was a high political position.
46:39 I mean, some cupbearers were the chief administrators
46:43 of the king's kingdom.
46:46 And here he'd had this high political position.
46:50 Now he's been building this little wall,
46:53 around this little city.
46:55 And that's the great work.
46:57 You know, think about that for a minute.
47:00 Nehemiah considered the work of God as being great.
47:05 He realized that it was the honor of God's name
47:11 that was at stake in Jerusalem.
47:13 And that's what we've got to remember.
47:15 So verse 4, he said,
47:17 "They sent me this message four times,"
47:20 trying to get him to come to the plain of Ono,
47:23 "I answered them in the same manner.
47:24 Then Sanballat sent his servant
47:26 to me as before, the fifth time,
47:28 with an open letter in his hand."
47:32 Now, an open letter usually meant,
47:37 I mean, most letter official letters
47:39 were typically rolled up, they were sealed,
47:42 they were private,
47:44 but an open letter suggests information
47:47 for public knowledge.
47:49 So it comes with this open letter
47:52 trying to blackmail Nehemiah
47:55 because this letter is a source of intimidation to Nehemiah
48:01 accusing him of treason
48:05 against King Artaxerxes.
48:08 And that's the same accusation that got Artaxerxes
48:13 to stop the work before, remember?
48:16 So he says, verse 6,
48:19 "In it was written:
48:20 It is reported among the nations,
48:22 and Geshem says,
48:24 that you and the Jews plan to rebel."
48:27 Was there a plan for rebellion?
48:28 No, this is just a false accusation.
48:31 He said, "Therefore, according to these rumors,
48:34 you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king."
48:41 Now, this is kind of amazing because you think about it,
48:45 Artaxerxes had allowed Nehemiah to go
48:49 because he had this relationship of trust,
48:53 but he was expecting Nehemiah to return, right?
48:57 So now they're saying falsely accusing,
49:00 "Hey, you want to be king."
49:02 And this is something that this,
49:06 this report could have intimidated Nehemiah
49:12 because that's a serious allegation,
49:14 if that hadn't gotten back to the king,
49:16 it could have started a war.
49:18 So, and it says in verse 7,
49:22 "You have also appointed prophets
49:24 to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying,
49:27 'There is a king in Judah!'"
49:30 All of this are lies, right?
49:32 "Now these matters will be reported to the king.
49:35 So come, therefore, and let us consult together.
49:40 You know what?
49:42 When people come against you with horrible accusations
49:46 and you know they're lies,
49:48 boy, you just want to show up
49:50 and set him straight sometimes, don't you?
49:56 It hurts, but for Nehemiah
49:58 this could have been life threatening
50:00 because the king could,
50:01 if this went to the king, you know,
50:03 and it's being read in front of everyone so,
50:06 but he's not intimidated.
50:07 Look at verse 8, "Then I sent to him, saying,
50:11 'No such things as you say are being done,
50:16 but you invent them in your own heart.'
50:19 For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying,
50:23 'Their hands will be weakened in the work,
50:26 and it will not be done.'"
50:28 And then break out into this prayer.
50:31 "Now therefore, O Gods, strengthen my hands."
50:36 So I love it.
50:39 Nehemiah is unflappable even among,
50:43 you know these serious allegations
50:45 don't faze him, he trusts in God
50:48 and it increases his efforts.
50:50 So verse 10,
50:52 "Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah
50:57 the son of Delaiah,
51:00 and all those people, who was a secret informer;
51:04 and he said, 'Let us meet together
51:06 in the house of God, within the temple,
51:07 and let us close the doors of the temple,
51:10 for they are coming to kill you Nehemiah,
51:13 indeed, at night they will come to kill you.'"
51:17 So one of you said earlier, I think it was you, Kenny.
51:21 You were talking about the attacks
51:23 can come from within.
51:24 Well, see, these guys were unsuccessful
51:27 at the attacks from the outside.
51:30 So they planted a traitor inside.
51:34 Now they are attacking from the inside
51:37 and Shemaiah was a false prophet.
51:42 He urged Nehemiah flee into the temple
51:45 to save himself from the assassination
51:47 and shame himself up in the holy place.
51:50 Well, John, what would have happened
51:51 if you have done that?
51:52 It would have raised questions
51:54 about his reverence for God, his courage.
51:56 I mean, in fact, it was against Jewish law.
52:00 So, Shemaiah, I can't...
52:04 How do you say that?
52:05 Shemaiah, whatever.
52:09 This is what I didn't know this before.
52:12 He was the son of a priest.
52:14 The priest had been an intimate friend to Nehemiah.
52:20 So this is his friend's son
52:23 who is trying to get him to do this,
52:26 but Nehemiah sees through this religious ruse
52:30 that was intended to intimidate and discredit him.
52:34 And he says in verse 11, "Should such a man as I flee?
52:39 Who is there such as I who would go into the temple
52:44 to save his life?
52:45 I will not go in!"
52:46 See only the priest can lawfully enter the temple
52:50 and he could have been executed for this action.
52:53 I love this little quote
52:55 from the Sabbath School panel, a quarter.
52:57 He says, "When God set up the sanctuary services,
53:01 he instituted the priesthood
53:03 in order to keep the sanctuary holy and special
53:07 in the minds of the people.
53:09 He allowed only the priests to perform the duties
53:12 inside the temple."
53:13 Now get this.
53:15 "On our own, we have a hard time
53:17 seeing the holiness of God.
53:20 Therefore, God made provision to help the Israelites
53:23 come in to the presence of God with reverence."
53:29 Well, we need that lesson nowadays.
53:31 Nehemiah knew that temple courts
53:35 were for everyone but not the inner rooms.
53:39 So verse 12,
53:40 this is the conclusion of the matter.
53:43 Nehemiah says, "Then I perceived
53:46 that God had not sent him at all,
53:51 but that he pronounced this prophecy against me
53:54 because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
53:57 For this reason he was hired,
53:59 that I should be afraid and act that way and sin,
54:03 so that they might have cause for an evil report,
54:08 that they might reproach me."
54:11 Wow.
54:12 This is a powerful lesson.
54:14 It is.
54:15 I mean, it is kind of,
54:16 we thought, oh man, Nehemiah and Ezra,
54:20 what could we gain from them but we are getting a lot,
54:22 and we are just getting started,
54:25 just ending lesson number four.
54:27 So I'm gonna give each of our panelists
54:28 an opportunity to summarize what you may have not said yet.
54:32 Mollie, I'll begin with you.
54:34 Well, I talked about being encourager,
54:36 the difference, you know, if you're discouraged,
54:39 how God will always bring you courage.
54:41 And He usually does that
54:43 through His Word number one now,
54:45 but also through people.
54:47 So I would just like for each of us
54:50 to make a decision today
54:52 that I'm gonna be an encourager.
54:54 If you see those around you that are down, help them out.
54:59 Bring the word of encouragement to them,
55:00 even if it's a scripture from the Word of God,
55:03 let people know that if God before you,
55:07 who can be against you.
55:08 Amen. Pastor Kenny.
55:10 Well, I thought about,
55:11 you know, any time we need help,
55:13 we can be praying for it, keep your eyes open,
55:16 because the enemy also will send help.
55:19 And it's not the kind of help that you might want.
55:21 But God will give you spiritual insight,
55:24 to be able to see what they're up to.
55:27 You know, I've experienced it personally,
55:29 I'm sure each one here has too.
55:31 So just to keep our eyes open.
55:32 The Holy Spirit will impress us what we need to say,
55:35 what we need to do to get the work done
55:36 that He's commissioned us to do.
55:39 As long as we make the throne of grace,
55:41 you know, our constant dependence.
55:43 Amen.
55:45 All it's gonna be well between us and God.
55:46 Amen. Amen.
55:47 Here's a quote from Patriarchs and Prophets,
55:50 page 644 that I wanted to read
55:52 and ran out of time before, I read it now.
55:54 "The opposition and discouragement
55:56 that the builders in Nehemiah's day
55:58 met from open enemies and pretended friends,
56:02 is typical of the experience
56:04 that those today will have who work for God.
56:07 Christians are tried not only by the anger,
56:10 contempt and cruelty of enemies,
56:13 but by the indolence, inconsistency,
56:16 lukewarmness, and treachery of devout friends and helpers.
56:21 So praise the Lord.
56:22 Even if you feel like you are being tried and attack,
56:25 the Lord is on your side.
56:27 Amen.
56:28 My lesson was doing a great work and you know,
56:32 one thing I want to say not,
56:34 sometimes Satan will try
56:38 to keep us busy,
56:41 B-U-S-Y is bondage under Satan's yoke,
56:45 too busy to do the will of God.
56:48 And Nehemiah recognized that his work
56:52 in following God's directing was more important
56:57 than what he had done before.
56:58 But more than that,
57:00 I just want to say this
57:01 sometimes Satan will get us busy
57:03 doing good work,
57:05 and we miss the greater work,
57:08 the Martha and the Mary syndrome
57:10 sit at Jesus' feet.
57:12 That's the greater work. Amen.
57:13 In Isaiah 59:18-19
57:16 powerful counsel in these times,
57:18 "According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
57:22 fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies,
57:26 the coastlands He will fully repay.
57:29 When the enemy comes in like a flood,
57:32 the Spirit of the Lord
57:34 will lift up a standard against him."
57:37 Remember that, the Lord is in charge of His work.
57:40 And remember these things,
57:41 all progress takes place outside of the comfort zone.
57:46 And finally, do not allow
57:48 the fear of opposition to be greater
57:50 than the excitement of dedication.
57:53 Our next lesson is gonna be
57:55 violating the spirit of the law,
57:56 lesson number five.
57:58 Thank you for joining us on this episode of lesson four.
58:01 And may the Lord bless you as you stand firm
58:04 in the face of opposition.


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Revised 2024-01-09