♪ theme music ♪
(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
an in-depth, interactive study
of the Word of God.
We are in the middle
of an amazing series of studies
on Ezra and Nehemiah,
today's topic, Backslidden People.
You say, "That sounds depressing,"
but actually it's good news
because God loves backslidden people,
and He wants to restore them
to a life-changing intimate relationship
with Himself, to experience
His immeasurable unfailing love like never before,
actually, to transform them, to transform us
into all that He ever intended us to be
and to use us to bless others.
It's going to be an amazing study,
and I'm excited because one of our team members, Jason,
is going to be teaching today, great topic.
And we're glad that you're with us.
In fact, we'd love to hear from you if you've started
your own in-depth, interactive study where you live,
because you can take
the same outline that we use,
same outline Jason will be using today,
and you can download it from our website.
Just go to hopetv.org; by the way,
you'll not only see Hope Sabbath School
but lots of other great programs there.
Download the app if you don't have it;
Hope Channel, go to your App Store or Google Play.
It's a free app, powerful;
it will be a great blessing to your life.
By the way, it's got a geo-locator on it;
it will come up in whatever language
is dominant for your territory - amazing!
You can study the Word of God with us there.
But download the outline,
start a study group of your own.
We will be excited to hear from you.
In fact, we're always happy
to hear from you,
our Hope Sabbath School members.
By the way, I'm glad you're here, too, team.
It's going to be a great study, isn't it?
Here's a note from Homer and his wife
in Colorado in the United States of America.
They said, "We've been watching
Hope Sabbath School ever since it came
on DirecTV channel 368.
We get a lot out of it,
and pray for each one of you on the team.
God bless you all."
Thanks, Homer and Jeannie,
writing from Colorado
in the United States.
You've been watching for awhile on DirecTV,
and we're glad you're part of our family.
Here's a note from a donor in Guyana.
Now, some of you have been to Guyana.
"Dear Christian friends, greetings
in the name of our precious Savior
and soon-coming King.
I am a beneficiary of what Hope Channel
is doing around the world.
In this regard, I would like
to partner with Hope Channel
to ensure that the gospel
reaches the ends of the world."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "Please receive an enclosed gift
of 1,000 dollars," from Guyana
to help with the ministry
of sharing the love of Jesus
with the world. Amen?
Thank you; we are
a donor-supported ministry,
and I know the blessing
will come back to you as you join the Lord
in His harvest work.
Swein writes from Zambia.
Swein says, "I wish to thank you
for the work you're doing
and how you present the Bible studies
on Hope Sabbath School.
You've really helped me learn
how to present the study to my class."
That's what Jason's going to do today.
We're going to model
what could be reproduced 10,000 times, right?
So, thank you, Swein;
we're glad you've got
a class there in Zambia.
"I've been teaching the Sabbath School since 2008,
and because of watching
Hope Sabbath School,
all the classes I'm teaching
have appreciated how I handle the study."
That's awesome; it can be multiplied.
"Thanks to Hope Sabbath School.
May God bless you as you continue
to labor in His vineyard."
Well, Swein, thanks for writing
to us from Zambia; God bless you.
Give our greetings
to your in-depth, interactive Bible study group.
Kofi writes from Ghana and said,
"I asked God to help me
take my Bible study seriously,
and I promised Him not to miss out
on any of the studies this year.
But I'm a student in high school,
I wouldn't get time to read,
and I was working at the house
when I was back from school.
I'm living with my brother and his family,
and we don't get to church early
to learn the Sabbath School.
We also don't study at the house,
but then I found Hope Sabbath School!"
(Team) Amen!
(Derek) "Hope Sabbath School
was the first channel
I saw and subscribed to.
I downloaded the full lesson
as audio on my phone."
By the way, our new app - you can do that.
You can also do an offline download,
and then you can watch the program
when you're offline somewhere
where you don't have a connection; it's awesome.
"And I listen to it when I wake up
in the morning and while I'm working or in the night.
I've not missed any of the studies
since I found Hope Sabbath School."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "I downloaded
your theme song on my phone
and use it as my alarm tone.
It touches my heart anytime I hear it.
I want to be a pastor one day..."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "...and visit Hope Sabbath School
and be one of the saints
who will defend God's Word
in the Last Days."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) Thank you, Kofi,
for writing to us from Ghana; what do you say?
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) God is raising up men and women,
young people around the world.
Joyce writes to us, last one, from Jamaica.
We have a lot of people in Jamaica
who watch Hope Sabbath...
Anyone with Jamaican roots here, Nicole?
Oh, Enkose, too, Jamaican roots.
"Hello, Hope Sabbath School family!"
(Team) Hello!
(Derek) This is Joyce
writing from Mandeville, "What a blessing
it's been for me to sit
and go through Hope Sabbath School guides with you all.
I've been watching for awhile,
and I've been truly blessed.
My daughter is now 11 years old,
and she's been listening
to the Scripture songs
from when she was a little girl.
She would run from wherever she was in the house,
come and sing the Scripture song with me
and then run back to what she was doing."
Get this, "As she got older,
she would sit and watch
the Bible study with me."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "What a blessing.
I've downloaded the study guides
for the very first time,
and I look forward to making copies and sharing them
with my Sabbath School class."
By the way, we found that the best way
to have an interactive study
is to give everyone a copy of this outline.
So just make a copy
and give it to everyone,
and they can follow along.
"We now all look forward
to the Bible study every week.
God bless you, Joyce."
Well, thanks for writing to us, Joyce; glad you're part
of our Hope Sabbath School family there in Jamaica,
and God's doing amazing things, isn't He?
(Team) Yes.
(Derek) And one of the things amazing
that God's doing in these Last Days,
He's calling people back
who have drifted away.
The Bible calls that backsliding,
slipping away, slipping away.
He wants to heals us
because of His immeasurable love,
call us back to Him.
That's what we're going to study about
right after we sing
our theme song from Psalm 25.
♪ music ♪
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Derek) You know, wouldn't it be
a wonderful miracle of God if someone
watches Hope Sabbath School today
who has slipped away,
and they hear the call of God
and the draw of God's love to come back?
Let's pray as we begin our study.
(Jason) Amen. Please bow your heads as I pray.
Our dear heavenly Father,
today, as we open Your Word, as we see
how, even when we've made mistakes,
whether individually or as a group,
we can still return to You.
Lord, help us to take lessons
from these ancient stories
and apply them to us here now, Lord.
Lord, send Your Spirit,
send Your power with us,
and most importantly, we pray all of this
in the holy name of Jesus,
our Cleanser, our Savior. Amen.
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Jason) Here in Ezra and Nehemiah
we have the story context,
the children of Israel
have kind of returned from exile,
and they've returned
even though they've made some mistakes,
and they're trying to get
the worship service going,
and they're trying to sort of reform
the process as they're going along.
Now, unfortunately, as we've seen in previous lessons,
there have been some difficulties,
and there have been some challenges.
And one of the words
that's kind of been used
to describe this process
is the word backsliding.
Now, backsliding is a word
that not everyone may be familiar with,
and so I just want to ask on the team here
if someone or even several people
can tell me what does
the word backsliding mean,
maybe as a definition
or what it looks like in action?
Someone here on the team, Gladys,
I see you kind of nodding your head, and you're smiling.
When you think of backsliding,
what comes to mind for you?
(Gladys) When you have
made a decision for Christ
and you somehow backtrack on that decision
and you start slipping away from Him
and creating some distance
between you and Christ.
(Jason) Slipping away,
made a decision, backtracking. Adison?
(Adison) Two words come to mind.
I think of creep and compromise.
(Jason) Creep and compromise,
so, kind of little by little,
and then compromise, making changes
that are not consistent with the decision
that you had made before.
All right, so we have
this idea of backsliding; now, let's look
at how the backsliding happened.
And so I'd like to ask Jonathan
if you could open for us.
We're in Nehemiah, chapter 10,
and I want you to read
verses 30 and 31 and then verse 39.
There are some promises that are made,
and I want us to look
at where the backsliding begins,
which is here with the promises.
So let's look at the start, and then let's
see what happens in the story.
(Jonathan) All right, I'll be reading
from the New International Version,
verses 30, 31 and 39:
(Jason) So, when we read that,
that sounds pretty positive, right?
We're going to do
all these very good things.
What are some of those things that were listed?
What are some of the promises, Evelyn, that you saw there?
(Evelyn) They promised that they
wouldn't marry into pagan cultures.
(Jason) They wouldn't marry into pagan cultures.
Yes, Stephanie, I see you smiling there.
(Stephanie) They would honor the Sabbath.
(Jason) They would honor the Sabbath. Yes, Adison.
(Adison) They would be faithful
in their tithes and offerings.
(Jason) They'd be faithful
in their tithes and offerings, all right. Gladys.
(Gladys) They will respect the seventh year,
which will be when the land
cannot be worked on,
and they had to forgive all debts.
They will respect that.
(Jason) All right, so we have
all these different activities,
and they sound very positive.
They're very good promises.
Now, I want to ask what are your thoughts
on these promises when you hear them
because they sound positive,
they sound beneficial.
Jonathan, you've got
a certain facial expression.
You've got some thoughts on this here.
(Jonathan) It reminds me
of when God comes down on Mount Sinai
and gives the Law,
and all the people are overwhelmed,
and they say, "Oh, all these things
that God says, we will do."
So I don't know if it's
quite the same spirit,
that maybe it sounds like, a bit,
but it sounds like it could be
a little bit of self-confidence,
maybe not recognition of just how prone
we are to go astray.
(Jason) So maybe some self-confidence.
Kenneth, and then I want to ask,
kind of push back a little bit
for the sake of discussion here
because these are legitimate issues,
and these are legitimate problems
that they've dealt with.
And so I want to hear from Kenneth,
and then I also want to hear,
what do we think about this tension
between dealing with legitimate issues
and responding to them
in the manner that glorifies God.
So, Kenneth, yes.
(Kenneth) I think from our previous study
where they made all the sacrifices to God,
you'd be convinced that, okay,
these people are really going to do it.
But with their track record,
just as Jonathan said,
we don't know whether they are
able to keep their side of the bargain
or if they are going to fall back
and off of what they are promising.
(Jason) So they don't know that they're able,
so what's the problem here?
Why are they not able? Nicole?
(Nicole) As Jonathan even said,
it starts with, "We, we, we, will... We will."
There's not a, "Lord, help us to...,"
"Lord, lead us to where we need to go."
It's all, "We're going to do something,"
And so I think when we believe that our own strength
can take us through,
we fail, just really simple, we fail.
(Jason) So is it fair to say
that maybe backsliding can begin
with good intentions about good activities
but from a heart...? Yes, Derek.
(Derek) A story from the New Testament,
Jason, flashed into my mind.
"Even if everybody else denies you,
I wont," that's Peter, you know.
And he's got good intentions,
but he's in a very dangerous place.
And you don't even have to turn
the page in my Bible,
and he's saying, "I don't even know who He is."
So I think...the Lord has said,
"You're at risk," and he says, "No,
even if everyone else does it, I won't."
I think that the challenge here
is that all of us are
capable of backsliding,
and we have to say, "God,
I need You to hold me close to You,"
you know, "My commitment
is just this, that I'm not going
to resist You at all."
(Jason) Amen. Now, there are
some principles that Jesus referenced.
I think of Matthew 22.
Stephanie, I'd actually like you
to read that for us
because I think referencing
what Jesus has said
and going to the Gospels
might be helpful to get our minds
focused on how we can
avoid backsliding ourselves.
So, Stephanie, if you could read for us
Matthew, chapter 22, verses 37 through 39.
What are some principles here,
so that we can avoid going down this path?
(Stephanie) And I'll be reading
from the King James Version:
(Jason) All right, so we see here
we've got these two, kind of, focuses,
loving God, loving our neighbor.
So, what do you see here, Gladys?
(Gladys) The focus is God first.
The more that we focus on God,
everything else, like we said
in previous studies,
it would look different.
So our focus must be God.
And then when we focus with God,
we can help other people around us.
(Jason) All right. Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I was just going to say
that loving God
and being faithful to God
is something that is placed beyond our reach.
It is a gift of God itself.
It is not something that we have.
Therefore, we have to ask Him for faithfulness,
ask Him for the capacity
to make us capable of loving Him.
(Jason) Travis.
(Travis) I would just like to say,
it's listed in here, "Love God
with all your heart, all your soul
and all your mind."
That's the prerequisite
to loving our neighbor as ourselves.
It's the prerequisite to living a holy life
and keeping the promises of God.
If we have that connection,
it's only then that we are capable.
(Jason) Now, let's...Oh, Derek, you wanted to share something...
(Derek) I was just thinking, Jesus says
everything else hangs on that.
So, you know, if I'm just,
"My focus is I want to be
so connected with God
that I love Him with all my heart,
and let His love flow
through me to everyone,"
I think that God would say,
"Everything else is going to be okay,"
when you've got those two clear commandments,
Jesus says "the two great commandments."
(Jason) Amen. Jonathan.
(Jonathan) Sometimes we get tired very quickly
of trying to be faithful,
of trying to love, either partners, brothers and on.
This is because we try it by ourselves,
and we should always ask God to help us.
We aren't always able to love.
(Jason) And now let's get into the story,
and I'm going to ask Gladys
if you could read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verses 4 and 5.
We're going to see
a specific situation that happens,
and we're going to see some problems
that gives some evidence of backsliding.
And let's kind of look at what's going on
and what's happening here in the story.
(Gladys) I'm reading
from the New International Version,
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verses 4 and 5:
(Jason) Now, does anything stand out to you,
anything kind of startling,
when you read this? Jonathan?
(Jonathan) If you look back earlier,
Tobiah is kind of this foreigner.
He's like an Ammonite, I guess, a ruler,
and he was against the Jews,
against them rebuilding the temple,
against, I think, rebuilding the wall.
And now he's related to this priest,
and because of that...
How he's related is a curious question.
And now he has a spot in the temple,
I'm like, "Uh, what?"
(Jason) There are some big problems going on here.
Backsliding has taken
a whole new level almost. Yes, Kenneth.
(Kenneth) For me, the irony is
there is reform, the temple is cleansed,
and then you give another place
for this same people
for which you established a reform.
So it's like, "You didn't do
what you started initially.
You just went back to zero."
(Jason) Travis.
(Travis) Well, it says that they
were allied together,
and it's quite possible,
and it's been suggested,
that their children were intermarried,
so already breaking some of the promises
that had been made.
And so they have, you know,
"Well, my daughter, your son,
I guess we're all family now."
And all of a sudden...
It astounds me that all of a sudden
it directly affects the temple
and the storehouse right away, so quickly.
(Jason) And Travis alluded to that, where is Tobiah?
Is he just kind of hanging out, outside the walls,
kind of watching things? Yes, Stephanie.
(Stephanie) They've actually moved God's furniture
and brought his furniture in.
And we know from chapter 6
that Tobiah and Sanballat were enemies,
so the idea of them
completely replacing God's...for enemies,
it just baffles my mind.
(Jason) So Travis alluded to it,
but what do you think is going on here?
Why is this all happening
behind the scenes? Yes, Derek.
(Derek) I was thinking of a man
who drifted away from God.
And I just remembered His words
as we're reading this.
He said, "I did things
I never thought I would do."
One step led to another.
If you had told this individual, Eliashib,
that he would move
God's things out of the way
and put a hostile Ammonite official
in the house of God,
he would have said,
"Absolutely impossible."
But you get intermarriage
between children and children;
you get different things happening,
like with Solomon.
And I'm hearing this man's testimony to me,
that when you start slipping,
you will end up doing things
you never thought you would do.
That's what happened here.
(Jason) So I just want to ask,
and feel free, no one has to,
but has anyone experienced this
in their own life?
Have you ever, you know, been in a way,
you thought, you know,
you started out strong,
you made some good promises to God,
but then, little by little,
maybe you started slipping.
And the next thing you know,
Tobiah was hanging out in your room.
Someone is laughing; is anyone
comfortable enough to share
maybe where they had been
in that situation? Nicole?
(Nicole) I've shared this before,
but I was baptized when I was 9 years old into this church,
and so I was gung-ho.
I was a Pathfinder; I did everything
at the church that I was supposed to do.
I got to college and thought, "Wow,
the world is so much bigger
than the church that I left."
And I found myself
slowly but gently compromising
and doing things that I never thought
I would do, in college.
And it took the death of my mom
for me to realize that if I didn't
change my ways sooner than later,
I would not be able to see her again.
And so, literally, at her funeral,
I was like, "Wow, I really messed this thing up,"
and God just slowly reeled me back in.
But, yeah, it's a real thing out there; it's a real thing.
(Jason) Now you said at the end there,
"God slowly reeled you back in,"
so the unfailing...Yes, some good news,
the unfailing, immeasurable love of God reeling you in,
Even when you've backslidden,
God can still be there.
Now, let's look further in the story,
and I'd like to ask Evelyn
if you could read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verses 6 and 7,
because, after all, this is
the book of Nehemiah,
and so, what's Nehemiah doing during this time?
Why is he allowing
all these bad things to happen?
Why isn't he there to stop them? Yes, Evelyn.
(Evelyn) I will be reading
from the New Living Translation:
(Jason) All right, so, what did
those verses tell us?
What is the situation
going on there, Jason?
(Jason) Nehemiah, he wasn't there.
(Jason) He wasn't there.
So, why isn't he there?
Did he just decide
he needed to go on a long trip?
He just, you know, needed to take care
of his own personal affairs in Babylon?
Or are there other things going on? Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) Hadn't he originally
asked leave of the king?
And so now he's invested himself
here in Jerusalem,
but he technically needs to go back.
And so it seems like he goes back,
and after talking to the king,
like, everybody realizes that he
should probably stay in Jerusalem,
but he has to go back, at least.
(Jason) Nicole.
(Nicole) Maybe, I don't remember the story,
but didn't he promise
when he left the king
that he would return
when he finished his duties?
So he was only keeping his word
in terms of returning back home,
which is something that we all
need to learn to do, is keep our word.
(Jason) So, he's keeping his word. Yes, Gladys.
(Gladys) He's the cupbearer.
So, like Nicole said, he gave his word.
The king asked him before he left,
"When are you going to return?"
So he had to fulfill his word.
(Jason) So he's fulfilling his word,
he's back there in Babylon,
and then during this time,
all these problems begin to emerge.
So, it's possible...Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I just want to say
that I want to highlight the importance
of the presence of a godly leader,
the importance of the presence of a godly leader.
And also the fact that we,
even without man's supervision,
should be faithful to God,
remain faithful to God.
Sometimes it happens
that if there is a faithful pastor,
then the church remains faithful.
If there is a pastor
that compromises with the world,
then the church compromises.
So we should individually be faithful.
(Derek) What I like about Nehemiah,
because they're absolutely right,
he kept his word to go back, but his heart
was still there in Jerusalem.
It was much more comfortable
for him to stay with the king,
but he's basically keeping his word,
but his plan is, as soon as possible,
he'll be able to go back.
I think what's more important
is how he responds when he gets back,
which means that he's not
just kind of washed his hands,
"Okay, I'm done with that assignment."
His heart is really committed
to what God wants to happen
there in Jerusalem.
(Jason) And on that note, Adison,
let's read what happens when he gets back
because we've seen in verse 7
he came to Jerusalem; he sees this.
But now he's got a certain response,
and so, if you could read for us, Adison,
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verses 8 and 9,
let's see, what is Nehemiah's response
now that he has returned
and sees the situation.
(Adison) And I'm reading
from the King James Version:
(Jason) All right. So, there are
quite a few different activities that happen here,
but I want us to kind of look at them
in order if you can.
What's the first thing he does?
Does he jump right in,
and, you know, attack Tobiah?
Is his first response one of attack,
or what is the first thing it says
right in the very beginning
that he does, Stephanie?
(Stephanie) It grieved him. He was in pain...
(Derek) He's mourning.
(Stephanie) ...because of it, yes.
(Jason) So there is some personal reflection,
there is some kind of emotional response.
There is a sort of, you could almost say,
even an individual focus
before he goes out and does any kind of attack. Yes, Travis.
(Travis) I would like to just say
that it probably didn't take him
too long to make that decision
because he was a God-fearing man,
and he knew...I mean, he was there
when they made the promises and pledges.
He knew this wasn't supposed to be.
So, while I think he was grieved,
it didn't take him long
to say, "This doesn't belong."
(Jason) Yes, Kenneth.
(Kenneth) Also, I can sense from the fact
that it says it grieved him bitterly.
He wasn't just grieving about it;
somehow he was praying about it
and asking God what to do.
(Jason) Jonathan?
(Jonathan) It just makes me wonder
how many other people saw this
and maybe were disturbed by it
but didn't stand up and say,
"No, this is not right," and, "Let me
talk to others...," and, yeah.
(Jason) Yes, Jason.
(Jason) As we were reading this,
it dawned on me that this was a foreshadow
of what Jesus did in the temple, you know,
dealing with the "den of thieves."
Just that it is in that context of that grieving,
just wasn't abruptly being angry for no reason.
I mean, he literally saw
this ungodliness taking place,
and he acted upon that
because the Spirit of God was in him,
and he expressed it in such a way.
(Jason) So he expressed it in such a way.
How did he express it?
What does Nehemiah actually do, Evelyn?
(Evelyn) It seems that his first concern
is to make sure the temple is cleansed.
So, he's like, "Okay, we need
to get Tobiah's things out of here
and clean this place up."
(Jason) Get these things out
and clean this place up. Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) And I'm just thinking,
I like to think and imagine.
To make reformation, it takes boldness.
It takes courage, a sanctified courage.
So he had to go against people's desires
and things like that...
And also, when there is a radical problem,
we also should take radical actions.
(Derek) Yeah, it definitely,
like Jason said, this is like Jesus.
When they saw Jesus cleanse the temple,
it says they remembered,
"Zeal for Your house has eaten me up."
I mean, I think Travis is right,
I don't think it took him
a whole lot of time.
He was bitterly grieving over it,
and he said, "These things
are going out of here."
It almost seems a little later,
I mean, some of his actions,
like he's a little bit wild.
And yet, as was said, you know,
why didn't anybody else do anything?
I mean, this is the pagan official
who was opposed to the things of God
throughout the whole story,
living in the temple!
Nehemiah's willing to take
whatever consequences will come.
(Jason) Now, in verse 9,
what is the last portion
that he does there at the end?
We see that he grieves, he takes action
and kicks Tobiah's stuff out,
he cleanses, and then what else does he do? Yes, Kenneth.
(Kenneth) He brought back all the articles of God.
(Jason) He brought them back.
He begins the process of restoration.
And in a way, if you think about it,
this, kind of, is also...You can see this
in one's personal spiritual life.
First of all...Nicole's referenced her story before,
there is grieving, then there's an action.
You have to get rid of certain things.
(Nicole) Friends.
(Jason) Friends in her case, yes.
There's cleansing, and then little
by little...Yes, Gladys.
(Gladys) Restoration.
(Jason) Restoration, you have
to put back in. Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I was thinking
if maybe there might have been something like...
They'd just built this temple,
and they had some of the furniture returned,
but they didn't have maybe all...
It wasn't, maybe, as fancy as...
So, maybe it was simple, and, you know,
maybe, "That room could be
better used," or something,
and it makes me think, like, sometimes
the temptation in life
is to take other things
that seem like they're
better than the simplicity
of God's Word and His ways.
Like, God's Word and His ways
aren't quite as fancy,
aren't quite as well dressed as everything else,
so it's tempting to put it
in our little rooms
rather than to trust
in maybe the simple things
and let God make them beautiful.
(Jason) That's a very good point.
And so let's also look
at another problem that happened.
Malaina, if you could read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verse 10,
we're finding out additional problems that take place
in this process of backsliding.
(Malaina) I'll be reading
from the New King James Version:
(Jason) So, why is this
a problem, Nicole - what's going on?
Who cares about the Levites
and in the field and all of that?
What's going on here?
(Nicole) Remember, we read about the promise,
that they were not going
to neglect the house of God.
And there was a whole, kind of, campaign
to make sure that they had
the right people come back
to make sure the temple
was operating properly.
And then they've neglected the priests.
So now, who's doing the spiritual guidance
for this whole community?
No one, so they're all losing their focus
because there's no one there to provide
any spiritual leadership for them.
(Jason) They're losing their focus. Yes, Gladys.
(Gladys) We also have to remember
that the Levites lived
out of what was brought to the temple.
They didn't have a field of their own.
They didn't have an inheritance, per se.
So, what they had was
what the people gave.
So if they didn't give anything,
they had to go and do something else
to make sure that their families would not starve.
(Jason) Yes, Kenneth.
(Kenneth) And I feel like the people
also reacted to the poor leadership
of the priests' leadership,
and that is why they refused,
instead of doing something about it,
So their response was to cause
other innocent people to suffer
because of one man's decision
to bring the enemy into the house of God.
(Jason) And this is
kind of the pattern of backsliding.
Step by step, the leaders, the people,
eventually it becomes this process that we recognize,
whether it happens on the individual level
like Nicole referenced,
or whether it happens
with the whole community as we've seen here.
So now Nehemiah, we saw
what he did with Tobiah,
but apparently he has to do something
a little more with the community.
And so I'd like to ask Travis
if you could read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13,
verses 11 through 13.
Let's see what else does Nehemiah do.
How does he address this situation?
(Travis) And I'll be reading
from the New King James Version:
(Jason) All right, so, there are
some things that go on here.
And, first of all, before we get into specifics,
I just kind of want to ask,
what is Nehemiah's
sort of general impression and feeling here?
Does he kind of enter soft and gentle,
and with this colloquial "Kumbaya" kind of expression?
We're all laughing because...
Nicole, yes, how does Nehemiah handle this?
(Nicole) He's like, "What have you done?"
Literally he's like, "What have you done to God's temple?"
And he comes in, and he says, righteously he says,
"We've got to fix this; we've got to make this right
because we are representing God here on Earth.
So he comes in with righteous indignation, we call it,
and says, "No, you can't do this."
(Jason) "No, you can't do this."
And it's interesting, the New King James,
the version I have,
it says he "contended with them."
And so...Yes, Derek.
(Derek) Someone said to me, one time,
"Be more concerned about what God thinks
than what people think."
And it's clear to him
that this needs to be addressed.
And there probably are some people
whispering in the background
saying, "Who does he think he is?"
But he's not preoccupied
with what they think or say
but what God has told him to do,
and he addresses it courageously.
(Jason) Now, I want to ask,
this idea of contending,
because the word contending
means to argue, debate, fight.
And we kind of have this idea
sometimes in the church
that good Christians, they don't contend.
They're just nice, peaceful, and all of that.
So I'd like to ask some people on the team,
what would you say to someone
who says, "Good Christians don't contend,
don't fight, don't cause problems"?
Kenneth, you kind of have
a questionable expression there?
(Kenneth) I would say,
even when we are contending
we do it in the Spirit of Christ.
(Derek, Team) Yes.
(Kenneth) We don't do it like the way the world would do it.
We do it thinking that, yes,
we may not understand everything,
but there are some core things
that we can all understand.
For instance, we all love
to seek the souls of men
into the Kingdom of Heaven.
That one we can't negotiate
because that is what God gave us.
But as to the carpets
of the church or the pews,
we can have some different preferences,
but in all, we should treat
each other with love
so that it doesn't go
beyond what we are supposed to do.
(Jason) Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I was thinking of a quote from an author that I appreciate
that says, "When Christ spoke
His words of condemnation,
He spoke them with tears in His voice."
And I think that before you say some things,
you have to make sure that you're
coming with the same heart of compassion
and making sure it's coming from the right place
because there are so many things
in our hearts that are
not necessarily the right grounding
as a starting point.
(Jason) Travis.
(Travis) We related this
to the cleansing of the temple
when Jesus chased out the money changers
and nobody stopped Him
because they recognized His authority.
I think there was a certain recognition
of Nehemiah's authority here
because it doesn't say
that people got in his way
and tried to stop him.
He set them in their place.
He appointed people here;
he appointed people there,
and he got everything
pointed back in the right direction.
So he came with a recognized authority.
(Derek) That's such an important point,
and the love of God
in our hearts is so important.
John the Baptist confronted evil, too,
but it says some people even wondered
if he was the Christ.
I mean, he was so reflecting
the love of God and the character of God.
And I think there are some people
who love to come in
and just criticize everyone,
and they think that's
their mission in life,
when our mission is actually to reflect
the immeasurable, unfailing love of God,
which may mean, in love,
with tears in our eyes,
confronting a person who's
doing something destructive.
But they're not going to have any question
about our motive or where our heart is.
By God's grace, we've earned that, what, "right"?
That's what Jesus earned,
John the Baptist earned.
Nehemiah had earned the right,
by the way he lived,
to confront that evil.
(Jason) Now, one way that you can also see
whether your contending
is from a spirit of God
is the reaction, the effect that happens.
And so, what do we see here?
What is the effect
of Nehemiah's sort of battle with the leaders?
What ends up coming out of this? Yes, Gladys.
(Gladys) It seems that everything
began to be back in place.
You know, the Levites returned,
the tithes were brought back.
So everything started to go
in the way that God intended it to go.
(Jason) And what happens here?
There's some kind
of organizational reference that's made,
some kind of situations.
So, Travis, tell me,
what goes on here in this situation?
How does the organizational process take place?
(Travis) Well, first off, the Levites
had nothing to live on.
So, when they were sent back,
and the temple service is set back up,
then he begins to set things back in place,
the sacrificial services and that,
and then establishes the Sabbath
with the congregation.
(Derek) And then, I think
what you're looking for,
in verse 13, he sets up treasurers.
He says, "Let's get this organized,"
because who knows, whether, in addition
to Tobiah living in the temple,
they weren't siphoning off some things
that were coming in.
"So, let's have godly people
who will monitor this,
so that the people that are
supposed to get these offerings and gifts
actually receive them."
(Jason) Jonathan, and then we'll have to move to the prayer.
(Jonathan) It just struck me how a lot of the things
that were backsliding
were actually organizational procedure.
I mean, it was given by God
and was having real effects,
but it was like they weren't doing this.
And so it makes me think
that organizational procedure
can be important, and grounded well is important.
(Jason) So God is a God of order,
and organization can be part of His plan.
All right, and so I'd like to ask Jason
if you could read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verse 14.
Nehemiah, it's actually recorded,
that he has a little bit of a prayer here.
So read the prayer, and then I want
to hear some thoughts on that.
(Jason) My pleasure, and I'm reading
from the New King James Version,
and the Bible says:
(Jason) All right, so, what are
your thoughts, Gladys, on that prayer?
I see you had some kind of expression there.
(Gladys) He wants to make sure
that he's faithful to God's house,
and that was one of the things
that he established before.
He wanted God's house to be a priority
in the lives of his people
and just be restored...
He said, "Please remember me because I did this."
(Jason) Kenneth.
(Kenneth) To summarize, I see
that as a prayer of dedication of these leaders
so that in a way, God
will also remember them,
while he's crying out to God,
and they will also hear the prayer
that God wants them to do something,
and they shouldn't allow this good deed
that they are trying to do
in the house of God to go away.
So it's a prayer, it's a charge,
and it's also a dedication.
(Jason) Travis.
(Travis) I would like to suggest
that this prayer isn't even about him
asking for a blessing at all on himself
but rather on the temple service
and the things, the restoration,
because, "Lord, I've been faithful to You;
answer my prayer that this
will continue," you know,
"that the things I've set in place,
that they will work."
(Derek) So I'm reading four times
in his letter that he says, "Remember me,"
three times in chapter 13,
"Remember me, O my God,
concerning this also,"
"Remember me, O my God, for good."
And I'm a little uncomfortable with it.
I am, and that just tells me again
that God uses imperfect people.
You know, it's like telling
the king of Persia, "Remember me
when you're doing the distributions."
I'd like to read it all
as totally wonderful,
and write a careful description
of why this is what Jesus would have said.
But I, kind of, you know,
"Chalk this up, Lord, remember me,"
So, I may be wrong, but I do know
from reading the Scripture,
Peter is a great example,
that God called an imperfect person
to help lead His church.
(Jason) That's true.
(Derek) And Nehemiah, I would dare say,
was not perfect either,
and I'm just wondering why three times
in one chapter he's saying,
"Remember me, God."
(Jason) We definitely know he was imperfect.
One thing, though, that he did well
was restore, and with some of the reforms.
And so I'd like to ask Stephanie,
if you could read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13, verses 15 and 16.
We have more problems,
more backsliding that's gone on.
And so let's see what this backsliding is now, here.
(Stephanie) And I'll be reading
from the King James Version:
(Jason) So what's going on here, Gladys?
(Gladys) Yes, the same thing
that they promised before,
that they will keep the Sabbath,
that they would not buy on the Sabbath.
That's the same thing
that they were doing.
People were actually pressing the wine,
and they were bringing loaves
and selling them in Jerusalem, in the holy city.
(Jason) On Sabbath. Yes, Kenneth.
(Kenneth) I'm beginning to see
that perhaps because they've been in captivity,
after they came back,
they needed a lot of instruction
to be in accordance with God.
And probably something that I
would have suggested for Nehemiah to do
was to read the law,
the book of the law, to them,
so that they would know the ways of God.
Because now it's like, from one thing,
they do this, and then he takes action.
But probably if there had been some time
for him to instruct them
just like some of the kings did.
After they found the book of the law,
they instructed the people,
then the people started following the reforms.
But now it's like they do this,
then they go overboard.
And then he responds to it.
So that's what I'm sensing
from the Scripture reading.
(Jason) Well, if we know
one thing about Nehemiah,
he is going to respond.
And he is going to...
(Derek) Do something.
(Jason) Do something.
So, Kenneth, can you read for us
Nehemiah, chapter 13,
verses 17 through 22,
and let's see here,
how does Nehemiah deal with this issue.
(Kenneth) I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
Nehemiah 13:17-22:
(Jason) All right, there is a lot there. Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) So maybe we should have people
outside the church making sure
everyone's keeping the law
and Sabbath just right?
Shutting the door if they...I don't know.
It brings up lots of questions.
It's like, "Okay, what is the principle,
and what are the right ways?"
(Jason) It brings up lots of questions.
Stephanie, what are your thoughts
as you read this and as you
see the situation unfolding?
(Stephanie) I was just thinking,
if I had been one of those people
that was at the door on Sabbath,
and he talked to me like that,
I wouldn't have come back either,
just being honest about it.
But I think, like Jonathan's saying,
there is a balance, right?
But apparently he needed
to make a very clear reform
to let them know, "This is not acceptable."
And actually in Nehemiah,
earlier in Nehemiah,
Ezra did speak to them from the law,
and they did understand
the Word of God, so...
(Jason) Derek.
(Derek) I'm so thankful that Jesus came,
because, even though there's
this strict enforcement,
which they've obviously slipped away
from remembering the Sabbath
and not doing their will
or their work on His holy day,
the Sabbath was meant to be a blessing
not just a time to not do things.
And so you see Jesus coming,
and He's not saying, "If you do that,
I'm going to lay hands on you."
That's what Nehemiah said, right?
Jesus is saying, "Folks,
you need to understand,
the Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.
By the way, it's good
to do good on the Sabbath."
So He's restoring the beauty,
and I'm just so glad He came.
And, again, I know that God used Nehemiah,
and we do need to guard
what we do on the Sabbath.
But we also need to say,
"Okay, that's what we shouldn't do.
What should we do?"
And the answer is,
we focus on our relationship
with God who loves us
and has set aside this special time.
So Jesus really comes,
I guess you would say, as a radical...
(Stephanie) Reformer.
(Derek) Reformer, yeah,
and a restorer of what God really intended.
(Jason) And you quoted there,
Mark 2:27 and 28, about the Sabbath
being made for man,
giving us some practical principles
to help us understand
the purpose of the Sabbath.
Even if men, well intentioned or otherwise,
Nehemiah may have had a little bit,
not quite fully divine,
you could say in some ways, understanding. Yes, Jonathan,
(Jonathan) I guess I feel like I'm torn,
because on one hand I'm like,
"Man, that's really tough."
But is it fair, do we go too far,
if we look at somebody and say,
"Oh, because their actions
seem too strong for us,
that they're not Christlike,
or they're not following God.
I mean, it was Christ who gave...
We had it on here, like,
someone would stone this person
if they cooked over a fire.
So Christ Himself gave to Moses
some very strong things,
including on the Sabbath.
So it seems like there is a place
for strong boundary-making.
Now, should we be
very cautious about that,
and I think on both sides
there's caution that should be made about judging.
(Jason) Travis, you want to try to help us?
(Travis) I think we're being a little hard on Nehemiah; I do.
He's not the Sanhedrin
or the Jewish leaders
in Jesus' day, condemning everybody.
The Jews understood very clearly
in Deuteronomy the Sabbath commandment,
"Keep the Sabbath because I am
the Lord your God who brought you
out of the land of Egypt," out of bondage.
It was a memorial that God
has freed us from slavery.
And He was just now doing
the exact same thing again,
bringing them out of Babylon, out of bondage.
And I think he's just, like, pleading,
like, "This is a memorial for us
to remember that God
has just redeemed us.
He took us out of Babylon.
He's restored the temple.
He's restored Jerusalem."
Like, "Please!" you know?
This is how I picture it.
(Jason) Nicole.
(Nicole) I'm not going to be mean to Nehemiah.
What I do want to say, though,
is that we can fall in the same trap
of believing that we are doing
what's best for what we see around us
and not really being led by the Spirit.
So I just want us to be cautious,
that we are seeking the Lord
whenever we want to talk
about what someone's doing
that we don't think is right
because that's where it comes
from a spirit of love.
And whether or not this came
from a spirit of love I don't know because I wasn't there.
Reading the words, it seems kind of harsh.
But if it comes from a spirit of love,
and God is leading him in this direction,
then we have nothing to say about what did or did not happen (just my two cents).
(Jason) And we just have to trust that God is working.
And whether He's working
through Nehemiah's imperfections
or Nehemiah's strong zeal,
guided by the Holy Spirit,
either way, God is still working;
God is still moving.
I want to look very quickly
at one little story
from the life of Jesus.
Jonathan, if you could read for us
Mark, chapter 3, verses 1 through 6,
I just want to look real quickly here
at this little story
and how it may give us some lessons
for the way to deal with the Sabbath
and how Jesus dealt with the Sabbath.
Mark, chapter 3, verses 1 through 6.
(Jonathan) All right, I will be reading
from the New International Version:
(Jason) Very quickly, what are some principles we see here
about how Jesus dealt
with the issue of the Sabbath? Yes, Kenneth.
(Kenneth) The first principle
is that He makes sure He places
how God wants man to relate
to each other and to Him
on the Sabbath day.
(Jason) Yes, Stephanie.
(Stephanie) He did good on the Sabbath.
(Jason) Do good on the Sabbath. Jason.
(Jason) It's about life, preserving life, rather than killing.
(Jason) About preserving life rather than killing.
(Derek) I just think that Jesus knew
that they would react
in a very hostile way.
But the truth about the character of God,
that the Sabbath was a time
of healing and blessing,
was more important
than the hostility of His enemies.
He just had to tell the truth about God.
(Jason) Amen. And I want to challenge you.
Maybe you've made some choices in life,
maybe you've backslidden
as we've referenced here.
Whether it's in keeping Sabbath
or giving tithe and offerings,
whatever you've done,
I want to challenge you
that, maybe as you read through the story,
ask the Holy Spirit to guide you
and ask Him to show you
how you can return to God's love.
We've read here about His
unfailing, immeasurable love,
and just let God change you
and return you, restore you,
back to how He created us to be.
(Derek) Thanks so much.
Well, we've all been challenged.
You know, the truth of the matter is,
it's easy to look at other people,
but we've all slipped away in some ways.
But instead of seeing God chasing after us,
to see Him reaching out in love
to draw us to Himself,
that is a picture that can change your heart.
Let's pray; our Father in Heaven,
thank You so much for the truth revealed
in the life of Jesus.
Sometimes we see truth
in the Old Testament,
but we don't see a full revelation of Your character.
I'm so thankful that Jesus came
to be the full revelation of Your character.
Jesus said, "If you've seen Me,
you've seen the Father."
And, Lord God, wherever we've slipped away,
as Jason has said, may we hear
Your loving call to come back
into a life-transforming relationship with You.
We thank You that You're
longing and waiting,
and we thank You that You will welcome us.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) If you've been blessed today
as we've studied the Word of God,
we'd love to hear from you.
Write to us at sshope@hopetv.org.
We're all on a journey, aren't we?
And it's a journey towards a God who loves us
with an immeasurable and unfailing love.
Go out and share that good news
with those around you.
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