In the past month I have been reading and studying the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, and I would like to share some points with you all today.
First of all, I want to give you a background of the history for you to understand the time of Nehemiah.
The Nation of Israel started with twelve tribes, sons of Jacob arriving in the promise land after 40 years in the desert. The most important kings of Israel were David and his son Salomon. During their kingdom life in Israel and Jerusalem was glorious. They worship God in their temple, they were prosperous people.
But over the years Israel disobeyed God and as a result the city of Jerusalem was besieged by the Babylonians, it was destroyed, the temple and wall were burned down and the people were taken as captives to Babylon.
So, after 70 years of captivity, the Jews were allowed to return. A process of restoration started, because everything was in ruins. There was no temple to worship God, the city had few people living in it and there was no protection at all. Then very slowly, they rebuilt their life in the promised land. When they arrived the first thing, they restored was the altar of sacrifice and after a few years a second group came, led by Ezra the priest, and then the whole temple was rebuilt, you can read the full story in the book of Ezra. This temple is actually the same one from Jesus’ time, it was only expanded by King Herod.
And then after a few more years, around 445 AC. Nehemiah comes as governor and God uses him to do a wonderful work. In 52 days, they rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Because he understood that to live in a city with no wall, was a disgrace. Nehemiah 2:3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
Actually, the wall you see nowadays in Jerusalem are not the wall the Nehemiah restored. That one was destroyed and the one you see nowadays was built in 1535 (fifteen thirty-five) BC
That was just of an overview of Jerusalem’s story.
I would like to focus on the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah.
Now you must be wondering, what has this story got to do with me? The Old Testament stories are shadows of spiritual truth for our lives that can help us to understand ourselves.
Title of this message is: Restoring the walls of your life.
Nehemiah express very well, in his prayer for Jerusalem, that it is the city that God has chosen to live in Ne 1:9. “but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ Nehemiah 1:9 NIV
And we as born-again Christians are the temple and dwelling place of God’s Spirit.
When we are born again, our spirit is recreated and becomes the sanctuary of God on earth, where His Spirit dwells and where a communion and communication with God is established ( 2Cor 6:16) 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16
We become children of God (John 1:12), heirs and co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:16,17). We become God’s dwelling place, living sanctuary, carrying the living word, in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Can you see how interesting it is? Just as the altar and the temple were the first things to be restored when the people returned from the Babylonian captivity, so it is in our lives when we repent of our sins, the first thing that God restores is our spirit.
We are spiritual but we also have a soul which is the seat of our wills, emotions and thoughts, and also we have our body. We are three-dimensional. The spirit is aware of God; the soul is aware of itself; the body is aware of the matter. So, with our spirit we touch the spiritual realm, with our soul the intellectual and emotional realm and our power of choice; and with our body we touch the physical, material realm. The work of salvation must achieve these three areas.
Some Christians born again , come to church , but their soul and emotions are totally destroyed.
We need to understand one thing, the new birth occurs as an instantaneous miracle but the restoration of our soul is a process, there are no miracles. Yes, there is a wonderful job, together with the Holy Spirit. The very word “restoration” or “edification” says that there is a work, an effort. It is a process and we have the help of the Comforter (Jo 14.16).
Until now we saw that we are God’s chosen place for him to dwell.
We were called to manifest His glory. But we are not perfect and we need help, the same as Jerusalem was destroyed and It needed help.
God sent Nehemiah’s and guess what does his name mean? The one whom Jehovah comforts. And the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the comforter, who identifies with our needs and is willing to lead us in the work of restoring the walls of our personality.
In the first chapter he receives news that the walls of Jerusalem are broken and the gates burned down, meaning the city has no protection. (Nehemiah 1:3) They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” Nehemiah 1:3
He is moved by compassion and starts to pray because he doesn’t accept the current situation. When he prays (Nehemiah 1:9) he remembers the words of God himself: “the place which I have chosen to make my name dwell there”.
Here we see why Jerusalem is so important: it was chosen by God. And in this same way, you too are very important to the Holy Spirit, who is our “Nehemiah”. It was through the work of the Spirit that you came to know Christ and became a child of God.
The main purpose of the Holy Spirit is to make you the manifestation of the Glory of God on this earth, just as Nehemiah understood that a city with broken walls could not manifest the glory of God, so it is the same with our life when our character is damaged and our emotions unbalanced.
All areas of our lives must reflect the reality of God’s presence within us. Jerusalem’s temple was restored and daily sacrifices taking place. On normal days they had sacrifices in the morning and at the end of the day. People went to the temple to pray and worship God every day. But the walls were broken and they also needed to be restored.
At that time, a city with no wall was an easy target for enemies to enter, without walls they had to work hard to protect the city.
In Nehemiah story we see people of God serving him at the temple but not willing to rebuilt the wall. And this can happen in our days we think that to walk with God is just go to church, pray and read the Bible. It is much more. It’s a life style, of good witness, wherever you go. At school, at work and at home.
Proverbs 25:28 says, “As a city broken down, without walls, so is a man who has no self-control.” Proverbs 25:28
We as children of God cannot be broken, destroyed, explosive, aggressive, impatient, idolatrous, without self-control. (Gal 5:19-21) “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
Did you know that Satan attacks happen in our soul and body ? Satan cannot touch our spirit. These attacks happen when he finds cracks in our soul.
What are these cracks? They are traumas, complexes, wounds, habits, philosophies, a series of things that have nothing to do with God’s standards for His children’s lives.
And if you have cracks in your soul, you are not able to grow spiritually. Because our soul and spirit are interconnected.
Our friend Nehemiah, after much praying and fasting he manages in a miraculous way to be sent to Jerusalem by the king as Governor, as in that time he was the king’s cupbearer. And when he gets there, he is able to see the real situation – (Neh 2:13) 13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Nehemiah 2:13
So he calls the people to the work of restoration – “Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” Nehemiah 2:17
Note that Nehemiah does not do the work alone. He invites the people to action: “Let us rebuild”. In the same way, the Holy Spirit who knows us and also knows the Father’s will speak to us about the situation of our soul and invite us to action.
We will have to actively participate, following His Instructions and strategies. In order for things to change in our lives we need to learn to listen to His voice because if we do not walk in obedience, we will continue on with unstructured souls and open to the enemy’s invasion and oppression.
There are two traps we can fall into. One is to falsely believe the Spirit will do everything for us while we wait with our arms folded. The other mistake is to run after others, asking for prayers for our problem without doing anything about them, thinking that the solution to our problems depends only on people’s prayers.
The reality is: God does His part, our brothers help us in prayer, but still we have to do our part so that the work is complete.
The Spirit is speaking: “Come, let us rebuild the wall”. He goes with us and that makes all the difference.
For example, suppose you have been fighting pornography, you have been very tempted in that area. Then you start praying about it because you understand it’s a crack on your wall.
You’ve even talked to your leader and asked for advice and prayer. And he told you to avoid temptations. But then you see a video on WhatsApp or a movie that has sex scenes, and what do you do? You watch it… but what should your attitude be?
The Bible says flee, resist. Delete it, leave the group.
Understand that the action of God through the Holy Spirit is to convince you of sin, prayers are a very important support, but you have to act, you have to have an attitude, then you will be set free. You must discipline yourself and build healthy habits.
The bible says,
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5
“Reject every kind of evil” 1 Thessalonians 5:22 NIV
Maybe you have issues at home with your spouse. You have been arguing. You’re waiting for God to do something and you’ve even asked for prayers at the cell meeting.
But when a disagreement starts up, you don’t hold your tongue, you answer back, you don’t know how to say sorry. This gap on the wall will only be closed with new attitudes.
” Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29 NIV
“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” 25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” Ephesians 5:22, 25 NIV
Remember – you build our own wall. (Rom 12:2) 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. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
When we renew our mind, our way of thinking and reacting to our emotions is changed , we are transformed and our lives bring glory to God.
In the work of restoring of our lives, we rely on the help of the Holy Spirit, who will always guide and direct us. We also have our brothers at the church who will be with you in this battle. But we need to remember that the choices, the decisions, must be ours to take.
We are the ones who decide if we are going to speak the truth in love, to forgive, to be patient, to control our anger and do not sin, to get up early to pray, to find time to read the Bible, to eat broccoli instead of potatoes, go for a walk.
In everything, our God directs us and places the desire in our hearts to please and glorify him. You may get spiritual support from your brothers and leaders, but you are the one who needs to act.
Stop blaming people or Satan if you are not growing. Take your responsibility and work with the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion:
Your spirit was regenerated by the work of the cross, by the sacrifice of Jesus, but your soul is in a process of restoration.
You are an active participant in this work, because you are the one who decides whether to act, obey according to what God spoke to you by the Holy Spirit through the word and also through the body of Christ. For this work to be complete you can count on the family of God, they will help you to carry your loads, but there will be resistance from your flesh and also from Satan.
We are all in the process of restoration and we have the help of the most wonderful person. The Holy Spirit. May each of you cooperate in this work by walking in obedience, choosing to please the Lord, renewing your mind and identifying the lies we fall into.
I will continue this word in 2 weeks. For the next preaching we will learn how to overcome the enemy attack. Please read Nehemiah chapter 1 to 4.