Sun.’s Devo - Nehemiah’s Determination

Read: Nehemiah 5:14-7:73a; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13;Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 21:8-10 Nehemiah had been the governor of Judah for 12 years and during those years he had not taken a food allowance from the government although it was his right to do it. The governor before him had and it had put heavy taxing on the people. Nehemiah paid the cost of his administration out of his own pocket. *** Nehemiah devoted himself to building the wall and received no salary. He asked the Lord to bless him. When Sanballat realized the wall was being completed, he asked to meet with Nehemiah in the plains of Ono which were about 30 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Nehemiah saw through the trap and refused to meet four times. The fifth time, Sanballat sent an open letter from Sanballat. Usually letters were sent very ceremonially sealed in an ornate bag denoting honor. The open letter means that it was not sent in a bag and was meant to show disrespect to Nehemiah. The letter accused them of building the wall so Nehemiah could be crowned king and they could rebel against Artexerxes. Sanballat wanted to meet and talk about his rumor. *** Nehemiah reponded that it was all lies and ignored the request. He continued building with even more determination. He later went to visit Shemaiah who had been a close friend of Nehemiah and was the son of one of the priest. He claimed to have prophetic gifts and had a word for Nehemiah. He told Nehemiah that they needed to hide out in the Temple because his enemies were coming to kill him that night. Nehemiah saw through his lies and chose to trust God who was able to protect and save him. It ended up that Shemaiah had been hired by Sanballat to get him to sin. Once again Nehemiah appealed to God in heaven to try his case. *** The wall was finished the 25th day of Elul, 52 days after they had began the work. Even their enemies could see that God had helped them prosper in their work. Many of the elite of Judah had been on the side of Tobiah’s because of his status in life. They were a thorn to Nehemiah the whole time. *** When everything on the wall was finished and all the guards in place, Nehemiah felt his job was complete. He put his bother Hanani and Hananiah the responsibility of governing the people and keeping the peace. At that time Jerusalem was large but the people had not rebuilt houses there. God gave Nehemiah the idea to call together all the nobles and leaders of the city for registration. He found the original list of those who had come to Jerusalem the first time. He was able to correct some people who were acting as priests but were not found in the registry to be of priest origin. They would have been the RINO’s of their day. *** In the early churches, the challenge was to meld two different cultures into one group who could love and serve together. The Jews who became believers were used to strict laws in religion while the Gentiles came from very loose morals. The clash was what Paul was addressing. He was asking both sides to honor the convictions of the others and not live in a way to harm another’s conscience. It boiled down to putting others ahead of their own desires. *** Lord, may we be sensitive to others in this regard and not use our freedom to cause another to stumble. May we be determined like Nehemiah to finish the work you have called us to do.