Read: Nehemiah 5:14-7:60; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 21:8-10
When Nehemiah was appointed to be the governor of Jerusalem he didn’t tax the people for a food allowance for his government. He provided for his own food and that of his 150 servants because he feared the Lord.
Amazingly Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem and their group are still around as the adversaries of God’s work. They heard that the wall was finished and all they had to do was to set the gates in. They sent a message to Nehemiah wanting to meet with them at Hakkephirim on the plain of Ono which was in the territory of Benjamin. Nehemiah sensed they were up to no good and declined the invite four times. On the fifth invitation Sanballat sent his servant with an open letter in his hand. An open letter means that instead of being rolled up and placed in a bag, it was just handed to him as a sign of disrespect. In it they wrote that they heard reports that one they had their wall built they would rebel against the king and proclaim Nehemiah their king. The accused Nehemiah of having his prophets prophesy that their is a king in Judah. They were going to tell the king, so Nehemiah should meet with them to discuss this.
Nehemiah saw this as a way to get them distracted from their task of finishing the wall so he prayed that God would give him the strength to finish the wall.
One of the prophets named Noadiah who was house bound, invited Nehemiah to his house to give him a “word from the Lord.” He told Nehemiah that Sanballat and Tobiah were planning to kill him and he should hide out in the temple and live there to escape them. Nehemiah saw this as a deceptive devise to get him to fear Sanballat and Tobiah and sin against God. He realized that they had hired Noadiah to say these things to him to get him to be afraid and sin. He prayed that God would remember what Noadiah, Tobiah and Sanballat did against him and against God.
The wall was finished in 52 days which even their enemies recognized as an act of God. The doors and gates were all set and gatekeepers, singers and Levites had been appointed to open and close the door at the set times. Guards were set to guard the city but no houses had been built in the city yet.
God put it in Nehemiah’s heart to find the book of genealogies and see which families came from the city of Jerusalem.
In Corinthians, Paul starts out to talk about food offered to idols but instead explained that knowledge puffs up the person who has it, but love causes the person who has love to build up others. The person who thinks he is knowledgeable doesn’t know everything, but the person who loves is known by God which is so much better.
Paul goes back to explaining eating food offered to idols and says that they know that idols have no power or life and that there is only one God. But not everyone knows this and they worship all these false idols. He is trying to let them see that their worship of these idols doesn’t change the food - it is still the same. So they are free to eat it. But, if they are with others whose conscience is weak and they have a problem with eating the food offered to idols, then they should not eat it. It all goes back to his first statement about knowledge verses love. The person who is free to eat it shouldn’t flaunt his knowledge, but because he loves the person who has a problem with eating the food offered to idols, he should not eat it in his presence to honor his convictions. To wound their conscience is to sin against Christ.
Lord, may we let love guide our actions and may we honor other’s convictions. May we be strong like Nehemiah who stood in the face of opposition to do what God put in his heart to do. May we build our walls around the temple in our heart that we don’t let sin and pride break through to make us unholy.
No comments:
Post a Comment