Nehemiah – Pot of Manna

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 13 Day 1

Monday: What Happens Without Leadership?

Text: 6 But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission 7 and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God.

Teach: As promised, Nehemiah returned to Babylon. While he was gone the people lost sight of the promises they had made. Nehemiah was mostly likely gone for ten to twelve years. That’s a long time to be without leadership.

Take: When I read of the behavior of the people, their spiritual amnesia, I wasn’t surprised. It reminded me of when Moses went up to the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God. He was only gone forty days, a little over a month, and look what happened: the people created their own god to worship made from gold. The hymn writer put it well, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.” (Come Thou Fount)

Task: Godly leaders hold us accountable. We may not always like it, but we need it. Today let’s pray for those whose responsibility is to keep us on track spiritually.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 7

Sunday: Put It In Writing

Text: 38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” (Neh. 9:38)

Teach: Our God is a god of covenant. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are 321 references to covenants contained in the Old and New Testaments. Covenants follow a standard pattern: first whoever initiates the covenant lists who he is and what he has done; then the obligations/expectations between the parties are identified; and finally the positive and negative results of keeping or breaking the covenant are defined.

Take: For many years my husband was in business for himself. At times it was construction and then in restaurant work. One of the hardest lessons for him to learn was to get things in writing. Creating a contract seemed to smack of distrust, but actually ended up providing the means for clarity and accountability. Both parties knew what was expected and could perform to their best.

Task: What covenants do you have with others and with God? How are you accountable? Journaling is one way to keep track of those things. I know I tend to forget things and writing things down helps me stay on track. Oh look, we’re back at remembering.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9, Day 6

Saturday: Never Abandoned

Text: 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Neh. 9:31)

Teach: Occasionally, I will ask a gathering of believers to share a Bible promise. Inevitably, someone will mention Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” This is what God told Jacob. It’s also what Jesus told his followers: “be sure of this, I am with you always, even to the end” (Matthew 28:20).

Take: Psalm 139 is one of my favorites. I remember when I discovered it. I was in high school and our teacher had us read the poem, “The Hound of Heaven.” The author, Francis Thompson, is described as a tortured soul, one who battled addictions. But he, like David, and the rest of us, realized that God is a relentless pursuer. But he is also gracious and merciful. No matter what we’ve done, how arrogant or disobedient we are, he will never abandon us.

Task: Make time to read Psalm 139, or the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) and thank God for his gracious mercy. He will never leave you. Ever.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 5

Friday: Do We Learn From History?

Text: 16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. (Neh. 9:16-17a)

Teach: Reading through Nehemiah 9:16-30 we find the ups and downs of God’s people. Their experience is summed up pretty well in our text for today. What was the root of their up and down relationship? Arrogance, disobedience, and lack of remembering. They forgot how they got to where they were. They began to think they could handle things all on their own. And as a result the walked in disobedience.

Take: Remember. So often we live as spiritual amnesiacs. Some of Jesus’ final words to his followers came at the Last Supper: this do in remembrance of me. Don’t forget. Daily Bible reading isn’t merely an exercise to cross off our “to do” list. It’s the process by which we keep on remembering.

Task: What miracles has God performed in your life? Take time to remember, and give thanks.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 4

Thursday: No One Like Our God

Text: 6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (Neh. 1:6)

Teach: When Moses gave the people God’s commandments, he began by telling them to acknowledge that there were no other gods before the LORD. He is the creator, the one who breathed life into everything. As a young teen I learned this truth. We would sing a chorus that said, “There is enough of God in nature, His power is clearly shown. A man has no excuse for wondering. God and heaven are known (see Romans 1:20).”

Take: When I sit out under a clear sky and see the multitude of stars above, I can’t help but think of God speaking to Abraham or David penning Psalm 8. And I want to break into a chorus or two of “How Great Thou Art.”

This verse in Nehemiah speaks to me of perspective: how great God is and how small, or insignificant, I am. And yet he loves me. He loves us. It really is amazing.

Task: We will have God’s perspective when we are aware of our position in relation to him. Psalm 8 tells us that God’s majesty fills the earth, but that he made us to care for his creation. There is trust and relationship implied throughout his Word. Pray through Psalm 8.

LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 3

Wednesday: What Is Worship?

Text: 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God. (Neh. 1:3)

Teach: You’ve probably heard the saying, “Confession is good for the soul.” Many attribute this to a Scottish proverb, but note that it should read, “Open confession is good for the soul. There is a sense of accountability implied in that openness. The people who listened to the Word were in this together, so there was personal as well as corporate confession taking place.

Take: As you can probably imagine, Jesus had something to say about confession: Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32). Paul speaks to the emphatic nature of confession to the Romans: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

And just what is confession? The best explanation I heard was many years ago when I was a counselor at church camp. The speaker was explaining what it meant to confess to a group of teenagers. He told them confessing was telling God everything he knew about them was true. What I like about that is it works for our confession for our salvation and for the sins we commit after.

Task: Take time today to confess. What do you need to acknowledge that God already knows about you?

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 2

Tuesday: Come Apart

Text: 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. (Neh. 1:2)

Teach: Separated. Chosen. Picked. That’s what God’s people are. Peter declares it this way: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). In the original language, to be holy is to be set apart for special use.

Take: Jesus in one of his final recorded prayers (see John 17) speaks to how his followers will be in this world, but not of it. Paul expounds on this when he urges the Roman believers: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2a). We’re in this world, but the way are needs to reflect whose we are. Separate doesn’t always mean far away. We need to be sure the world can see the difference in us.

Task: Inventory time. As you pray today, ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind the ways you are different, and perhaps where you have compromised. Are you ready to separate yourself?

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 9 Day 1

Monday: Feasting Turns to Fasting

Text: On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. (Neh. 1:1)

Teach: Fasting isn’t an easy topic to address with people, primarily because we don’t like to go without. But fasting also presupposes the awareness of need or sin, something isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Here in Nehemiah, the people had been listening to and convicted by God’s plan and purpose as lined out in the Law.

Take: Jesus speaks about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount: 16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:16-18). Did you catch the implication? He isn’t commanding fast, he’s not even suggesting it, he’s assuming we will.

Task: Can you think of time when you don’t have or know of a spiritual need? Me either. Pray with me today and ask that God would enlighten us on when and how we should fast.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 8 Day 2

Tuesday:

Text: 2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.

Teach: Ezra was most likely reading the Torah, which contains the five books of Moses. This would be the basics of Jewish religion and civil law. The focus was probably on Deuteronomy. Why would this be important? The people realized that God enabled them to complete an impossible task. What else does this God have to say, and say to me, to us? Ezra gave them a solid foundation to understand the relationship God wanted and wants to have with his people.

Take: The day the people came together would be the equivalent of our New Year’s Day. A day of celebration and fresh beginnings. Chances are you’re not reading this on New Year’s Day, but it can be a day of fresh beginnings. No matter what kind of Bible reading plan you may have abandoned in the past, you can begin fresh today. And that doesn’t just apply to Bible reading, but any and all spiritual habits and disciplines.

Task: Find an app or a site on the internet, there are plenty to choose from. Or just start reading. Proverbs has 31 chapters. Read the chapter that corresponds with the numeric day of the month. Start reading a gospel. Start reading and keep going. And if you are a regular reader: may you be blessed and your tribe increase!

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 8 Day 7

Sunday:

Text: 18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

Teach: Ezra read and the people listened. And they celebrated.

Take: Consistency. Repetition. The experts say it takes repeating a behavior for twenty-one days to create a habit. New habits are much easier to break than old ones. I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately, as I try to establish a healthier lifestyle. It’s much easier to be lazy and to eat poorly. But my physical body craves health and wholeness as much as my spirit craves the holiness.

Task: Are there healthy and holy habits you want to establish in your life. God desires those things for you, too. Jesus claims he came that we would have live and life abundant. Paul teaches that God is in the business of making all things new. Let’s pray for a greater spirit of obedience and consistency.