Welcome to Expository Truths, where we exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with Dr. John Kyle, pastor of Faith Community Church in Vacaville. As Christians, we are called to know the truth and be able to proclaim it. We can know the truth when we know the word of God, which is precise, without error, powerful, and effective for both salvation and spiritual growth. Let’s join Pastor Kyle as he takes us verse by verse through the book of Nehemiah, an incredible book showing us how God sovereignly used the faithfulness of Nehemiah to lead the people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the midst of many mighty and powerful enemies.
SPEAKER 02 :
Please turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah 9, verses 13-17a. Nehemiah 9, 13 through 17. Now remember, God led Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the ruined walls of the city, which was an amazing task, but even more, God led Nehemiah to be the catalyst in bringing the people back to repent in faith in the living God. See, they were spiritually dry. They were living in compromise and in sin. They were far away from God. And God used Nehemiah to help the city to return to its former glory, and even better, to help the people to return to the Lord. Remember, after the wall was finished, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. They read from the law of God, the word of God, and then they wept and they rejoiced at the feast of the trumpets. And then two weeks later, when they celebrated the feast of tabernacles, they read from the law again. They worshiped and celebrated the Lord again. and there was great gladness from all the people. And then, just a couple of days after that amazing event, the people again gathered together to observe a national day of repentance, where they fasted, mourned, wore sackcloth, and put dust on their heads as they cried out to God to express their turning away from sin and to the Lord in heartfelt love and worship to Him. It was an amazing time. It was real. And God was certainly well pleased by what He was seeing. They then prayed. This prayer is a penitent prayer of confession that offers an amazing survey of Old Testament history. Up to this point, the prayer shows us some of the many reasons that we, the people of God, can praise Him. Why? Because He alone is God. Because He made everything including you. Because He chose Abraham. Because He saw His people’s affliction and He heard their cry. And because He led Israel out of Egypt. Today we learn a few more reasons why we, God’s people, can praise Him as we look at this prayer. First, He gave His people His law. Verses 13 and 14, let’s look. You came down also on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them precepts, statutes and laws by the hand of Moses, your servant. So think about this. I mean, this is all God, right? He chose them. He rescued them. He led them. He protected them. And then He gave them His law, which is an absolutely amazing gift. Remember what happened? Slavery for 400 years. God miraculously delivered them. Ten plagues, pillar of cloud and of fire, going through the middle of the Red Sea on dry ground. And then after that, they ended up at the base of a mountain, Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is where God gave his law to Moses to then give to the people. That event is found in Exodus chapter 19. And before it actually happened, the people had to consecrate themselves as directed by God. They had to wash their clothes. They had to abstain from sexual relations. And they also had to make sure that no man or beast touched the mountain, Mount Sinai, because if they did, they would die either by stoning or by arrows. So this was a very serious thing. See, this divine display on Mount Sinai communicated something that mere words couldn’t communicate. God is holy. God is to be taken very seriously. And holy God is unapproachable by sinful humanity. God is awesome and I am sinful and wretched. Yeah, that’s absolutely right. And that’s important to understand because to understand that God is holy and that you are sinful is to stand at the threshold of grace and salvation. And so God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the rest of His law in that amazing context. He came down. He spoke. He gave His law, which embodies the truth of God’s essence, statutes, precepts, and decrees, which then enabled them to discriminate between right and wrong, between what pleases God and what does not please God, which is vitally important for us to understand. That said, please note this. The law of God found in the Old Testament and everything that went along with that, it was an inferior system. That doesn’t mean it was bad, not at all. It was just inferior. See, the law, God’s law, found in the first five books of the Bible, is good. It’s very good, but it’s inferior in the sense that it was all pointing to something better. Now remember, God began His introduction to the law with the Ten Commandments, but the entire law encompasses 613 commandments as detailed in the rest of the books of the law, Genesis through Deuteronomy. For hundreds of years, the Israelites lived under the law, sometimes obeying it, but more often failing to follow God’s commands. Why was the law given? Well, in Galatians 3.19, Paul asks, what then was the purpose of the law here? it was added because of transgressions until the seed to whom the promise referred had come. What does that mean? Verse 24, the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. See, the law pointed out people’s sinfulness, proved their inability to keep their end of the covenant, made them prisoners in their guilt, and showed them their need of a Savior. In other words, all of it, pointed to christ who would fulfill it and who would complete it so the law of god is good and the law did its job well pointing out the sinfulness of mankind and condemning us all for it see the law showed people god’s standard and said keep it and that’s the problem right can we really keep the whole law of god who here doesn’t ever lie who here is holy Who here truly loves his neighbor as himself? Who here doesn’t ever covet anything? Who here loves God with his whole heart? You see the problem? The law sets the standard and it says keep it and we can’t keep it. It then says you’re a lawbreaker. You’re a sinner. You don’t meet God’s standard. You fall short. You are deserving of judgment. The law showed us that and that’s good and that’s necessary. The law did what it was supposed to do very well. Again, show people their sin. Point out how much they sin and how desperate they are for a Savior to rescue them from the wages of their sin, and then point them to put their faith in the Savior who is to come. You say, okay, John, how were people saved in the Old Testament? I know how they were saved in the Old Testament, by keeping the law of God. No, that is wrong. Galatians 3.11 says no one is justified before God by the law. The law was never intended to save anyone. You can’t be saved by being good because you’re not good, see? The law doesn’t save anyone, but it does point them to the one who can save them again, and that is very good. And so the people could praise God because God gave them His law, and now they truly know what wretched sinners they are, and they can therefore put their trust in the Savior to come to deliver them from all their sin. That’s very good. That’s a reason to praise God. Another great reason to bless God is because he fed them and gave them water. Verse 15. He gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought them water out of the rock for their thirst and told them to go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them. Here again we see the amazing goodness of God towards His people. They were hungry, so He fed them. They were thirsty, so He gave them water miraculously. Remember, during the 40 years between the time the Israelites left Egypt and entered into the Promised Land, they faced harsh conditions, including a scarcity of food. To alleviate that problem, God miraculously provided the Israelites with bread from heaven called manna. The manna appeared each morning. Think about that. And the Israelites were given specific instructions on gathering it. What was manna? Well, the Israelites asked the very same question. What is it? For they didn’t know what it was. Moses responded, it’s the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. He also gave them water out of a rock. It was at Meribah that the Israelites were extremely thirsty, and so they grumbled and quarreled with Moses about the lack of water. Exodus 17, 2. Think of them grumbling after seeing all the miracles that had just happened. Why did you bring us out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst? Moses then brought this problem to the Lord and the Lord enabled Moses to strike the rock so that the Israelites would have water and know, once again, that God was with them. Because of their grumblings and the testings of God, Moses called the place Meribah, which means quarreling, and Massah, which means testing. God did this for Israel more than once and clearly we see God’s great love and mercy towards his grumbling people. He fed them. And they’re grumbling. He gave them water. And they’re grumbling. He took care of them. And they’re grumbling. And that’s a good reason to praise him. Look at what God has done. Both of these things point us to Jesus, right? Jesus is the true bread of life. And Jesus is the true living water. And whoever comes to Him shall not hunger. And whoever believes in Him shall never thirst. And so, just as God provided manna to the Israelites to save them from starvation, so has He provided Jesus for the salvation of our souls. The literal manna temporarily saved the Israelites from physical death. The spiritual manna saves us from eternal death. And so, just as a people of Nehemiah’s day could praise God for feeding them and giving them water out of a rock in their past, how much more us today who have the bread of life. And how much more us today who have the living water. Jesus, our Savior, who fulfills our every true need. Come on, that’s a good reason to praise Him, don’t you think? That’s a good reason to praise Him. But look, look how the people in the wilderness responded. And I believe this is a part of their prayer so they could remember and not respond the same way. Verse 16, “…but they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed your commandments.” They refused to obey and they were not mindful of your wonders that you did among them. But they hardened their necks and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. How sinful is this? Especially after God has done so much for them. This is a part of the prayer from the people in Nehemiah’s day, and the purpose of saying this seems very clear, to remember, to always remember how good God is, and to not respond like the people did way back at the time of the wilderness wanderings. Because how they responded is not good, and we do well to learn to not be like them. First look, they acted proudly, and that’s not good. The word used here for proudly literally means to boil, to seethe, and to become heated. And it speaks of their arrogant pride and rebellious attitude towards God. Think of that. Towards God. Look at the words that are used here to describe them. Proudly, hardened, refusing to obey, rebellion. That’s not good, especially when we in Christ are called to be humble, submissive to God, obedient, and eager to serve Him out of our love for Him. But they did the opposite. Don’t be like them. See, they thought that it was all about them. They thought that everything revolved around them, but it didn’t revolve around them. Their focus was supposed to be on God and on giving Him the glory, the honor, and the praise in their lives. But instead, they were only focused on themselves. And look, when things didn’t revolve around them and on all their likes and all their wishes and all their comforts, even though God rescued them, fed them, led them, cared for them, and so on, look, they rebelled. They disobeyed, they complained, they sinned, and so on. And that’s what pride does. God doesn’t like it because, guess what? It’s not all about you. It’s all about Him. And God’s children understand this. We gladly lift Him high. We lovingly submit to Him, knowing that when we do that, we get the greatest joy in return. See, pleasing Him is the thing that pleases us. It’s true. It’s true. That’s true, because we love Him. And we know that we were created to glorify and worship Him, the God over all, the God who created us, the God who forgives and saves undeserving sinners like us. But they were arrogant and prideful and full of self, and so they refused to obey. Think about that. I mean, again, just to remind you. Because this is so mind-boggling. Israel was in bondage in Egypt for 430 years. And dramatically, miraculously, amazingly, after 10 plagues, God freed the children of Israel. It was an amazing time. It was an incredible time. It was a miraculous time where God was clearly in their midst and where God was moving mightily. Pillar of cloud. Pillar of fire. Red sea parting. Manna from heaven. Quails flying. Water out of rocks. It was an incredible time. But what happened? The people in their arrogance, don’t be like them. They rebelled and they refused to obey the Lord. How does that happen? They got used to God. Can you imagine? They got used to God. Oh, the pillar of fire is so last week. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Red Sea parted, but what have you done for me lately, Lord? What? Now I’m sick of this manna. Lord, when are you going to give us something really good? Can you imagine? They got used to God. They focused on self. They grumbled and complained about everything. They complained against Moses. They complained against God. They worshipped a golden calf immediately when they had the opportunity to do so. They tested God. They refused to trust in God. They came back with a bad report about the promised land. On and on and on and on it went. Verses 16 and 17 say that they hardened their necks, which we will get to. And then it says that they didn’t heed the commandments of God and that they refused to obey. Refused. Wow. Not a good sign. Why? Because God’s children obey. Right? I mean, lovingly. Gladly. Because obedience is the proof of the reality of your saving faith in the Lord. Right? See, true saving faith results in loving obedience. As one said, faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. No, it results in loving obedience to God. Talking about aim, about direction, about the atmosphere of your life. Now, as a believer, a true believer loves God and hates sin. A true believer strives against sin. He fights sin. He battles sin. And he seeks to honor the Lord with his life. Look, Israel in the wilderness as a whole refused to obey. And that refusal to obey led them to not entering into the promised land. So here’s the thought for us today. Jesus suffered and died to save me. He gave me everything in life that matters. Everything. He showered me with undeserved grace when I deserved judgment. He continues to shower me with that grace every single day. He rescued me. He redeemed me. He delivered me. He liberated me from Satan’s power forever. And loving, glad, heartfelt, passionate, urgent obedience should be the result. How could it not be? So why then do I disobey so much? Because I’ve lost my focus. I’ve lost sight of what truly matters. I’ve gotten sidetracked away from Him, the lover of my soul, my greatest treasure. Please, don’t get sidetracked like the Israelites did in the wilderness. Or as verse 17 says, they were not mindful of His wonders that He did amongst them. See, they forgot. They took him for granted. They focused on self. They got sidetracked. That’s not good. Take heed to yourself. Yes, take heed to yourself. Don’t be arrogant and disobey like they did because the ramifications of that are very costly and even more, you love him. Why would any Christian act like that? See? Second, they harden their necks or they stiffen their necks. Another way to say it is that they harden their hearts. But here in this prayer, it says that they harden their necks two times. Hard or stiff necked is a common biblical expression for stubbornness. The imagery is that of an animal that struggles against having a yoke placed on its neck. It speaks of a rebellious, cruel, or unfeeling attitude. To harden one’s neck is to refuse to listen or to understand what someone is saying, and to do that to God and to His clear word is a very serious thing. How does that hardness happen? Sin. Sin has a hardening effect on us. And unrepentant sin, harbored sin, hidden sin, always makes us hard to God and to His truth in our lives. Sin like what? Well, any old sin will do the trick. Because any old sin left unrepentant of will fester inside of your heart, and it will spread. But the sin of pride is a big one, as we see here, where we put ourselves ahead of God and of His desires. I don’t want things your way, God. I want things my way. That’s what they did in the wilderness, and it was a great sin, and it led them away. How can you tell if your neck is getting stiff or if your heart is growing hard? Here’s a few distinct behavioral patterns. Negativism, grumbling, quarreling, disobedience, and bitterness. Beware. Might that be you today? Don’t harden your necks. See, Satan’s very good at sidetracking us and planting his hardening seeds of sin in How many sad times have I seen good Christians go down this very road? They were doing so well, and they ended up angry, bitter, sidetracked, and disillusioned. See, they weren’t watching and praying. They weren’t laser-focused on Christ and on the cross and what He did there and what that means. Pride and sin came in and settled in the corner of their heart and soon the hardening effect of sin took place and the result was devastating. What a waste. What a tragedy. But it can happen and it can even happen to you if you’re not on guard, if you’re not careful. So please, guard your heart, pray much, lower self, and exalt Christ and others, let things go, trust God implicitly, and take heed to the hardening effects of sin. Look what they did in their pride, disobedience, and hardness. Look, they rebelled. And in their rebellion, they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. We don’t want you guys anymore. We want someone else. The word for rebel literally means to embitter alongside, to exasperate, and to provoke to anger. And that’s what the children of Israel did to God with their behavior and with their ungodly attitudes. That rebellion was seen in many ways. Read Exodus through Deuteronomy. But it’s very clear. Very clear when the 12 spies were sent in to survey the promised land. The 10 unbelieving spies returned and said, it’s a good land, but there are giants in the land and the cities are walled up to heaven. We’re not able to go up against them. Even though we’re the people of God and we’re eating manna and quail and we’re a pillar of fire and all these miracles are taking place. We’re not able to do it. We’re not able to do it. They’re stronger than we are. Look, no attention was given to the testimony of the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb. The land is excellent, good land. Rebel not against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land. The Lord is with us. Fear them not. But they did fear them, and they refused to trust the Lord, and they rebelled. The response, all the congregation said to stone them with stones. They said, let us select another leader and let’s go back to Egypt. What? Let’s go back to slavery. Can you imagine? So they turned on God’s leaders. And in reality, they’re turning on God. Don’t be like, what’s the call? Yeah, to do the opposite. Do the opposite of them. Be humble. Be humble. Stay focused. Be diligent in the Lord and on the things that truly matter. So, away with pride. Away with sinful pride and disobedience and rebellion and hard-heartedness and on with humble and loving diligence in the faith. Away with half-hearted Christianity. Mediocre Christianity. Those who are all talk and no action. Those who think that it’s all about them. Those who aren’t compelled by love. Away with that. There’s no room for that. Nor is there any time for that. Instead, be diligent. Be alert. Be focused. Be committed. Be single-minded. Be passionate. Be eager. Be ready to give our all to Him. And why shouldn’t we be ready? Lord, help us to remember all the reasons that we have to praise and glorify God in our lives. The God who created us. The God who rescued us. The God who chose us. The God who saved us. The God who sustains us. The God who cares for us. The God who ensures our safe arrival home. Lord, help us to always stay focused on Him. To lift Him high. To love Him. to pursue Him, to honor Him, to obey Him, and to be diligent for His glory, unlike the children in the wilderness. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last. Therefore, as Thomas Watson said, gird up the loins of your mind and press on towards the mark, cheered by the prospect of the end of the race. Soon we will be home. The end is near. Soon we will be home. Honor God until that time.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thanks for joining us for today’s exposition from the Book of Nehemiah on Expository Truths with Dr. John Kyle. We’ll be right back. Join for services at Faith Community Church Sundays at 9 and 1045 a.m. 192 Bella Vista Road, Suite A. To learn more, visit vacavillefaith.org or call 707-451-2026. That’s 707-451-2026. Or visit vacavillefaith.org.
