This is the Truth Network. Forever thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119, verse 89. I'm Stu Everson. Welcome to this special Wednesday in the Word Leader podcast, where we prepare and equip our leaders of this special Bible study outreach breakfast.
Every week to teach through the scriptures. Thirteen Dario locations. There's a men's group meeting and several of the Locations host the women on Thursday morning. Stay tuned. Be encouraged as we jump into this week's Wednesday in the Word.
In sales, they say. The deal isn't done till the ink has dried on the paper. And what they did in Nehemiah chapter 10. 11 All the way through the latter part of chapter 12 is they inked the deal. They did.
They said all the revival stuff, Sam Horn, that's going on here. We want this to be a reality in our lives, and we are going to sign our lives. We're going to sign it. Our names to the covenant so that we can show that we mean business. And they did mean business.
And that's where we find ourselves here in Nehemiah chapter 10.
Well, you know, as we've been, I'm switching phones here with you because a lot of my notes are right here. But as we've been talking about the book of Nehemiah, we've been actually saying to each other and really to our Bible study leaders. That this is way more than just a book. about a building project. You know, we typically go to Nehemiah when we have a big building project.
You know, Nehemiah, builder, organizer, motivator. Sacrificial leader, he mobilizes the people of God, he procures resources, he organizes people, he puts them on the wall, and then God does an amazing thing. 52 days later, as we saw, the wall is built. And we noted that in the first half of the book, God is rebuilding the city walls through this political leader, Nehemiah, who had a deep heart for God, a deep confidence in God, a deep trust in God. But he's also wanting to rebuild the people who are going to live inside of those walls.
There's no point to rebuilding the walls of a city just to fill it up with people whose lives have not really been changed by the God who's doing all of this for them. There's a huge amount of application to that if you think about it, right? I mean, the God who does miracles for us. You know, he provides a platform for a program like this. He opens and works in the heart of the owner of Darios and allows us to have the use of those facilities.
And all these people are coming and they're being hearing things, and God's doing all the mechanics behind it. But all of that is useless. If this information doesn't change the people who are showing up to those Bible studies or who are showing up to sit in the pews of that new building that we just took five years to build and we just dedicated last week or whatever. And so we are at a point in the book of Nehemiah. Where I actually think Nehemiah was going.
You know, we want to get to the first seven chapters because that's where the action is. But the real point of the book is here in chapter 9. We started with chapter 9, and we noted this great. prayer of confession that moved people to repentance. And literally, to stand corporately and even personally, and I love the way you said it, they ain't.
Um Their names on the deal, right? They didn't just talk the talk. They actually ink their names on the deal. And so, you know, if we think about this, you can take this massive amount of material and we need to divide it up for our people. Yes, we do, and we've got, and I'll just break it down.
You're going to break it down. I'm just giving the overview: 39 verses in chapter 10. We got 31 verses in chapter 11, a whole lot of names, a whole lot of information like that. 84 individuals mentioned, by the way, who are going to sign their names to this. Priests and Levites come up with the riverball.
Yes, sir.
So, chapter 11 has 31 verses, chapter 12. We're going to go through verse 26. You know, Dr. Horn.
something supernaturally happens. And you mentioned earlier To set this up, really, these chapters are an outgrowth of God's word being opened. In the ears of some, they heard the word for the first time. In centuries, honestly. The revival that broke out and the feast of booze.
They're like, hey, we're going to go back to observing this feast of gratitude to God for preserving us in the wilderness and this rich symbolism. And then chapter nine, a powerful chapter on confession of sin. Just corporate confession. And they just went for hours doing this. It was just something, no revivals ever happened in history without confession of sin.
Since Chapter ten They want to lock it in. They're like, we're going to go back to the Deuteronomy contract. Between us and God, saying we're going to do this.
So, how do you set these three? Massive chapters. Dr. Horn, how do our leaders get their arms around this and even begin to navigate the whole? whole process of you know, teaching teaching uh Nehemiah 10.
1 through, and you've got all your notes there, through 12, 26. Where do we start?
So I'm going to look at these real quick.
So the first of them would be in chapter 10, right? There are 27 verses here in chapter 10. Actually, there's more than that, but the first 27. Are where a good bit of the action takes place. And I've called that the sealing of the covenant.
You talk about inking the deal. This is where people are actually. Uh, putting their name on a document that they are presenting to the God of heaven. This is not like a treaty that you and I would make, or you know, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I've got this uh program, and we do on your radio stations. We had a little contract.
This is not an agreement. This is a covenant. This is a binding. Religious agreement that is made. And then in verses 28 through 39.
There's a list of the things they're committing to.
So, in the first half of the chapter, we find out who's doing the committing, and in the second half of the chapter, what exactly. has worked in their heart and what are they actually coming to And then in chapter 11, verses 1 through 36. There is Um the repopulation Of the city. You would think that the city would get repopulated, and then we would start talking about the religious stuff, but it's actually the opposite. Wow.
Because Nehemiah wants inside this city the people who have made deep commitments to God. Who's going to live in the city? Who's going to live in the city? We have a house.
Now let's make it a home. And who's going to be committed to be really a ground zero inside these re-fortified walls and these newly built? And reinforce gates. You know, at the end of the chapter, there are these villages outside the city. But where the focus is within these walls that God has reestablished, there are certain kinds of people that live there and they have made commitments to God.
And then you can take the chapter 12, the fourth thing, is the genealogical lists.
So now we're going to find out who the priests and who the Levites are. You know, it's intimidating when you look at a chapter or a section like this. And I know as a pastor, I'm always thinking. Man, how am I going to take this to everyday people who sit in the pew and they're not thinking about Nehemiah on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday? They're just trying to get through the day.
You know, their boss came in and the project got moved up. Or, hey, we had a deadline and you didn't meet it because your team, you know, the software and your. Or the computer system went down. And they've got all these issues going on. And they show up to church or they come to a Bible study and they're desperate for something that's going to help them that week.
And we got a genealogy list. Of Levites. How does this all happen? It's like, how in the world do you bring this to bear in the life of people? And so, you know, really, what I think is happening here, and this is not original to me, but what is happening to here.
Here is this, there are these big ideas that come out of these seemingly mundane, hard-to-grapple with details. Let me give you four of them, right? There is covenant fidelity. There is this. I have a relationship to God.
That there are expectations. I know what they are. And so as I go to work on Monday, what are my Covenant expectations of the God who saved me, right?
So there's one of them. There is this consistent. Desire to live a pure life in light of that covenant.
So, man. As I do my life in the walls of Jerusalem and as I go out into those villages, what does a pure life look like? What does it look like in my marriage? What does it look like with my relationships? You know, I got businessmen that are coming in and they want to sell on the Sabbath day.
And man, if I just open up my shop and let them buy, I could buy stuff from them and put them in my shop, I can make a ton of money. But I have an obligation to God about that day. What am I going to do? With this business opportunity.
Well, we could translate that. Into our daily lives. And so there is this covenant fidelity, there is this personal purity, then there's worship. Mm. All of this is done in the context of worship.
Why do we have a whole chapter with priests and Levites? Yeah, that's obviously. Those were people who didn't work in the marketplace, right? Those weren't the people who were in the governor's palace. The priests and the Levites.
We're in the temple, and in the heart of this wall, it butted up against the temple, it was the highest point in the rebuilt city. And the people who are given the greatest prominence in the chapter are the people who minister in that temple, so that the common everyday person who just made a commitment to the Lord. And his desiring to live a pure life can come in worship. Worship was not. What do I got to do on Sabbath day?
Worship was the whole central idea. Of the passage. And then there is this covenant identity. Who gets to worship? Who gets the ministry of these priests and the Levites?
And it's not everybody, it's the people who've entered into the covenant. And so that's really the framework in my mind. of what's happening here. a breakdown of the The different Areas, they're committing to some specific things. It makes me think about that.
Those who are of a conservative bent listening and watching. We'll think about the contract with America. Remember, Newt James got all the right folks to say, hey, we're going to do it. We're going to. We're going to not have debt.
We're going to open up trade. We're going to say no to big spending, whatever. And so they've written down these specific What's going to happen? Yes, and so it's an interesting point of committing the paper and they signed it. I remember our local congressman in North Carolina, there was a giant party at the country club, and they played the video of the contract with America.
And he said, I'm one of the signers of this. And so these folks are saying, hey, this is a contract with God. And it involves keeping the Sabbath, not just the seventh day. But also It involved the Keeping of that seventh year, which they had also violated. Remember the seventy years of captivity, right?
You know, the seven, you know, 10 years of punishment for every seventh year they've lost that. Yeah. God would make their punishment. you know, commensurate with the the time they violated those seven years. I may have got the math wrong on that, but And then Uh keeping the feasts.
Keeping the giving money toward temple worship. Make, hey, we're gonna prioritize, we're gonna give to the church.
Someone's gotta, you know, the. The temple Elements Aren't gonna Refill themselves and refuel themselves, right? The animals and all the problems. Yeah, all that's got to be taken care of. We've got to support the Levitical order.
You know, this is where Jesus came in and said, My house, you've made it a den of thieves, a den of brigands. You know, when he came in and rebuked, and a couple times, when he came and stormed into the house, and had the put the width together and all that, drove people out.
Well, This is the point of this because, as what happened, God's house had fallen into ill repute. Ezra and his team. You know, just after Zerubbabel had rebuilt this temple, now the walls and gates are built.
So now let's get the center of the world. The center of our world is God. And the tibble that Exalts, extols, and worships Almighty God. It's got to be right. And so that's all kind of, that's kind of, it's all broken down in this passage, you know, in these, in these, these long verses.
So let's break it down for our leaders. Yes. I think that'll really, really help us here and really kind of break it down in my mind this way. If you take the first. uh set of verses here if you go to chapter 10 and you take the first 27 verses, it looks like a list of names, right?
And it is. I mean, you start, but it starts this way: on the seal. What seal are we talking about?
Well, if you go back to chapter 9, verse 38. There is a firm covenant in writing. And the text says, on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.
Okay, so here's the deal. If I look at these names in the first 27 verses of chapter 10. The word that comes to mind is commitment. There is a formal commitment. There is like I'm taking a peg and I'm driving it in the ground.
and I am making a formal commitment to the God of heaven. Based on the conviction that has come into my heart as I sat and listened to the word in chapter 8. That convicted me, and then it brought joy to me. And now I've listened and participated corporately in this incredible prayer that Nehemiah prayed. And it's brought me to deeper penance and a commitment to change, and so.
at some point in our life when the Word of God really starts to do a work, there has to come a moment where we commit. Where we buy in, where we're all in, and we say to God, it doesn't matter where this takes me. It doesn't matter what this costs me. It doesn't matter how this unfolds for me. I am in.
I'm not here because I want to live in a nice walled city. I'm not here. Because I like Nehemiah, I'm here. Because you made a covenant with my fathers way back in the days of Moses. And your word has stirred in my life and in my heart.
And I want to go back and I want to personally commit to that. And Stu, we've all had to get there. I mean, you had to get there in your life, right? I mean, I had to get there. And there are just times in our life, even as Christian leaders and as dads and as husbands.
where we've got to make a recommitment to that. It's not like We don't, you know, it's not like we deny that the truth of those things, but something got in the way. You know, we lost the vision.
Something got. you know, and it just diverted us. And all of a sudden, We're sitting in a sermon. We're on the road somewhere listening to a radio preacher on True Talk. or we're in a Bible study and it's like God just grips us.
And you don't even know how to tell this to people. It's just there is this gripping of God, and you know, I've got to re-up. I'm not getting saved again. I'm not getting sanctified again. I am just stopping and I'm recommitting.
We do this in our marriages every year. We have anniversaries. What do we do what's the function of our wedding anniversary? is to remember It's to celebrate and rejoice, but it's also to reseal. You know, I'm thankful I married you, and I want you to know I'm still in.
I'm still glad. I'm still joyful. I'm so thankful, and I'm in. And I want to keep going, right?
Well, that's what's happening here.
So there is this idea of theological commitment. Then you get into verses 28 through 39, and to your point. Um now we're getting specific. It's like okay. God, what do you want me to do?
And the answer is, whatever the word says. Yeah. Nothing new under the sun. Nothing new. This is God's revelation.
They've been hearing it read now, you know, for many days, for many hours a day. Their hearts have been tenderized by it and convicted by it. And they've repented of not keeping it. And now. They are going in and they're As it were, Redoing or recommitting their vows before God and their pledge to heaven.
That's right. And here are the different areas. And, you know, I don't know, we want to break down each one.
Well, so you're an athlete. Yes, sir.
You love sports. And we're watching the World Cup right now, and there's all kinds of stuff going on. But I spent a lot of time up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and there's a little football team up in Green Bay. Oh, yeah. And they had a legendary coach.
Remember their legendary coach? His name was Vince Lombardy. Lombardi, yes. Right. And there's a story.
Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but there was a legend, there's a story that. After a particularly difficult season or a particularly difficult period of time. in uh in their in his career with them, he came in to the locker room and he had a football in his hand. And he looked at the whole team.
Now, this is, you know, there's professional players, and he holds up the ball and he says, gentlemen. This is a football. And what he meant by that was We have to go back. to the basics. It doesn't matter how good you are.
It doesn't matter how long you've been playing the game. You got to go back to the foundations. You got to go back and make sure you are doing and executing the fundamentals of the game well. That's, in my mind, what's happening here. You know, when we recommit to God and we're like, okay, I'm ready for my new assignment.
Sometimes God looks at us and says, Well, here's the first thing we got to go. We got to go back to the Word of God, to the very basic foundational things. And we need to make sure. You're executing those things well.
So, what were those basics for these people?
Well, for example, in verse 29, they. They make a solemn vow that they are going to walk according to God's law. Look at verse 29. Let's start with verse 28. The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the peoples of the land, those were the sandballots and the tobiases, right?
All those people who separated themselves. and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding.
Now they have that from reading the word under Ezra. All right, so now they join with their brothers, their nobles, and they enter into a curse and an oath, To walk in God's law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord. and his rules and his statutes all right so here's the first thing that's got to happen When I re-up and I ink my name on that deal, I got to come to God and say, God, I am all in. I'm going to go to your word and I'm going to recommit to do whatever it says.
Okay. Right, I'm going to do whatever it says. And you can see that. All right.
Now it's going to get really specific. One of the very first things that God calls to their attention is their intermarriage. With pagan idolaters. They had allowed their daughters and they had allowed their sons. For material gain or for whatever social standing they thought they could get.
Uh into families that Did not know the Lord and that were idolaters.
Now, that sounds like, well, you can't tell your kids. Who to date? You know, because it's our Western culture. But remember how marriage happened. They arranged marriages then, didn't they?
They arranged marriages. These were not two young people sneaking off and falling in love and coming back and going, Dad, we just love each other so much. We just want to get married. These were two heads of families coming together and making a strategic marriage for financial opportunity or social standing. And so the fathers were at fault.
Yeah. Right?
So that's the context. And really, this is nothing foreign. If you want to look for a New Testament example, 2 Corinthians 6, where Paul says, don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
So it's not necessarily the ethnicity. You know, what do we have? We have Boaz marrying Ruth. She was a Moabitis. She was a Gentile.
Correct. But the fact is, it's the heart. You want to marry someone that has a love for the true God who will hold to covenant with God. Correct. And so it's very important.
So here's the deal.
So here are these two dads. And they realize we've got big religious differences. You guys worship a God we don't think is worth following. He couldn't even keep your city safe and his temple's in ruins. We worship the gods of creation, right?
We worship the gods of nature, we worship Baal and Ashtaroth. And uh but you want you want our kids to marry so we can have this economic success. And so, as an Israelite, if that was what I was up to, I was not going to be really hostile to your gods. Because I just made an arrangement for my daughter to marry your son, or your son to marry my daughter. Right?
And so here was this great mingling of families in direct opposition to God's word. And this is what got him in trouble in the first place. Exactly. Look at Solomon as exhibit A, you know, nine. And and all of that, that brought in all their idolatry, all their gods, and really Bankrupted them spiritually because of all the assimilation.
And you think of modern day, how do we? Often have these yokes with unbelievers in business, in marriage, and other things. Where there's just incompatibility.
So, this is a fundamental call. And there's a bunch more. I don't want to linger too long.
Well, let's just really quickly Sabbath day observance, right? We talked about, hey, this is a really good opportunity if we keep open on the Sabbath day. And God had been very, very clear about that. You made a really good point as you pointed us back to Leviticus a moment ago about the importance of the Sabbath day. That's in verse 31.
Verse 30, we will not give our daughters to the people of the lands or take their daughters for our sons. Verse 31, if the people of the land bring in goods or grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy. Because it is a holy day, right? And then you talked about really the Sabbath year. Notice what it goes on to say: we will forgo the crops of the seventh year and the extraction of your debt.
That was a massive commitment. It's like, we're not going to plant on this seven year.
Well, what are you going to eat? We're going to trust God. We're going to forgive people's debts that they owe us on the Sabbath day. That was a massive, massive commitment. And the Sabbath is the one commandment of the ten that's not carried over, enforced, modeled, whatnot in the New Testament.
In the New Testament. But the principle of Sabbath is critical, it's huge. And I think Charlie Kirk, his final book, wasn't really so much about politics or conservatism, it was about the Sabbath. Taking a day a week for God and for yourself, and you know, turning your phone off. And so there's a very, very important principle there.
One pastor said. He said, would you rather have Seven days of business without God. Or six days of business with God. And have a day off, you know, a day of rest, a day of dedication. Right, right, correct.
You know, and so I think that's something that we. We don't prioritize church attendance like we should. We don't prioritize having a day of worship, a day of rest, a day of family worship like we should.
So there's a good. There's a good summons here for the people.
So that's actually a really good tie into the next thing because if you start looking at verse 32. And you go all the way to the end of the chapter. Look how much space there is. That's a lot. And it's all about their obligation to support.
and participate In the house of God, yes, right now, think about this. In the Old Testament times, when you were writing scripture, you didn't have bold font. You didn't have yellow highlighters. You know, if you look at my Bible, I got all this stuff highlighted. And so it jumps off the page at me, right?
Or if you are wanting to send the communication out and you really want the important thing, you might bowl the font.
So, how did the Old Testament writers? Make sure you caught the importance of something. They expanded the space they gave it to. Right, now notice. We started in verse 28, and we got down to verse 32, and we had.
That the people were going to obligate themselves. You're not marrying pagan people. We're going to do the Sabbath day. I mean, all of that is in about this much space. But look at the amount of space that's given to the obligation.
of supporting and participating in the worship of God at His temple.
So where's the importance of the chapter? Right there. Right there. Right. And we would miss that if we didn't understand how the Old Testament writers frame things.
So Nehemiah is wanting you to know something that everybody who's going to live in these walls. The temple and the worship of God is not minor. If that's just your Sabbath day gig, that's all you want it to be, you don't live inside these walls. The people who are going to live in these walls are people who understand the importance and the centrality of God and his worship. And everything we're doing, our marriages, the way we arrange them, our business, the way we conduct it.
the way we do our fields, the way we forgive each other. The way we handle the relationships we have, all of that is in view of the fact that we worship a God. who has a temple. And our worship for God isn't just going to that temple and singing praises to Him. and making prayers to him, it's taking the work of our hands.
and using it to support That work. And so think about the application to that. Why do I work so hard? Why did God give me favor in my boss's eyes and I got a big $5,000 bonus this year? Why did I get a raise?
Why did he get a $4 raise this year? And the answer is because I wanted a vote.
Now, I just man, you know, I really wanted to get. A Lamborghini and the Lord knew that, and he gave me this raise. No, the Lord didn't give you that for that.
Now, there's no problem having nice things, there's no problem buying a new house or buying a new car. But understand the reason that you're on this planet. The reason that you have the financial well-being the Lord's blessing with is not primarily so you can have things. It's so you can support the work of the God whose gospel saves you. That's it.
So let's just get real practical here. You didn't ask me to do this, but think about your own programming. How much of it is listener supporting? Right?
And so if the people who are listening and being benefited by this would take even a fraction. Of what God increases them and say, you know, Lord, what truth. What the Truth Network is doing is so important. What these Bible studies are so important. Lord, how much of this would you want me to give to support that?
How much of this could I give extra to my church? That's what was going on here. These people didn't get there because Nehemiah beat them on the head. Nehemiah didn't come to them with a big theological club and say, I'm pounding on you because the temple needs more money. This came out of a deeper penance, right?
The word of God had worked in their hearts. They looked at their lives and they came to this place.
Well, that's why we got to love our pastors. That's why we've got to support them. We've got to pray for them. That's why we've got to support. You may not like your church's program for growth, building, expansion, but you're there, you're benefiting.
And our church had a building program not too long ago, and some folks were against it. And they came to me and said, Stu, what do you think? I said, you know what? Maybe it's not the perfect ideal. X's and O's.
But for Pete's sake, I've grown in Christ up in this church. This church has shepherded me, mentored me, discipled me, taken me through a lot of seasons. I'm dropping off my snotty-nosed kids in that nursery every week, and these people are serving faithfully. I'm going to be supportive, I'm going to be. I'm going to get on board.
And I want to be a unifier, not a divider. Dr. Horn, the last little verse, we got to jump into 11. We haven't even gotten to 12, so we got to choo-choo through these things here. We will not neglect the house of the Lord.
Incredible. What a great statement. The last verse, verse 39: we will not neglect the house of our God. And so people may want to. Mint's words, they might say, well, this is Old Testament or the New Testament church.
Here's the fundamental issue. We Must, we will not neglect to worship. How God directs us to worship. It's not my call. It's his call.
Yeah, correct.
So, if this is the house of God he has me in, then I need to support it financially, prayerfully. I need to be in a place that preaches God's word, that holds to the word of God, and God's put His standard out. And this was true of them coming back. It's like a new season, they're turning over a new leaf. This is a beautiful thing in a new city.
But jump into 11. All right, so 11 is very simple. Um, you know, there's a lot here, but let's look at it this way: let's look at submission to the providential will of God, okay?
Okay, because. Man, this is awesome. Man, I'm in the heart of it. There's a city now, there's walls, there's committed people, there's a temple that's functioning. I want to be Very close to where the theological action is, but God had a different plan, He wanted Theologically renewed people to live.
In places where there weren't theologically renewed people, so that. They could Impact them with their lives.
So, how does he do that?
Well, he casts lots. Look at verse chapter 11.
Now, the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. and the rest of the people cast lots. Why? To bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine out of the ten remained in the other towns. And the people blessed all the men who offered to live in Jerusalem.
All right, so what you have now is this sense that. God is going to make decisions about where he is going to place his people.
Some of you are going to live in the city. Most of you are going to live in the villages outside the city so that you can maintain this new commitment, this renewed passion for God in those cities.
Well, think about this. How many times in our life do we want to go where it's comfortable? Man, where everything's exact, and God says, the majority of you, I want you out there. I want you in the cities. I want you in the villages of the land because I want to repopulate the land with people who have made this kind of a covenant with me.
Well, that's going to be a sacrifice for people, right? I'm going to have to continue living around people who aren't. I'm passionate about the Lord like I am.
Well Isn't that, you know, sometimes people say, well, Pastor Sam or Stu, you know what I really want? I want to quit my job because it's really hard and I want to go work for a Christian organization where it's going to be like just so awesome and you know, God's blessing. And you're like, well, if God's calling you to do that, you should. But Boy, I sure hope he's not calling everybody because What is going to happen if we abandon all of the workplaces where pagans? run things just because it's hard.
Who's going to live redemptively in their midst? I had a friend who kept telling me, I got to sell my business so I can go into ministry. And I started to get deeper into what his business was. This guy had influence over thousands of people in his business. I said, You have a ministry right there.
Yeah. You know, that God can use you. And of course, if God leads you to do that, you do it. But there's a verse in Proverbs about the lot cast is in the hand of the Lord. I can probably mispronounce that.
But so those people listening and people that are teaching through this don't want to chase rabbits here. But this isn't calling us to go on a gambling bench. This isn't God endorsing a trip, you know, you're going to Vegas and blowing your wad on gambling and lots and all that. But God Ordains sometimes a means like lots in this case. As he did in the case of Jonah, as he did in the case of the disciples picking that 12th disciple to come into where Judah was.
And he'll also endure and ordain the ends of that. Like his hand was in this, and this was just a way that in the Old Testament, many times this was used. And the Lord used it and blessed it. But this isn't telling us to go gamble, and this isn't sanctioning of the lottery and whatnot. But I don't want to linger there.
We keep going, Pastor. We got to get through it.
So we'll finish up here because we're finishing in verse 26 of chapter 12. Remember, we said the first part of chapter 10 was reconstituted commitment to God. Yes. And then in the next part of chapter 10, it was personal obedience to the specific mandates of God. We're going back to the basics.
We're going to really make sure we're living obediently to the word that we just committed ourselves to. In chapter 11, we talked about the submission to the provident placement of God in our life. And now, what we're going to find in chapter 12 is there is this historical connection to the past. In other words, we're not doing something new here. And so, what you find in chapter 12, these are the priests, verse 1, and the Levites who came up with Rubbabo, the son of Sheotel, and Joshua.
And there's a list of these names. And in chapter 8, in the first part, it's priests, and in the second part, it's Levites.
Now, in verse 12. Here's what it says. In the days of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was king prior to the captivity.
So these new people that we're reading about are being connected to their ancestors back in the days of Jehoiakim. Notice in verse 22: In the days of Eliasheb, Joidah, Johannan, and Jeduah, the Levites were recorded as heads of the father's house, so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. We're going all the way back to Daniel's day, right? And so, what's happening here in verse 23 is: for the sons of Levi, their heads of the father's house were written in the book of Chronicles.
So What's happening is This is not some new Departure. What's all of this is going on, and it's coming back to this: there is a God of heaven who never changes. Wow. He has a word that never changes, his worship doesn't change. His word and its obligation and its blessing doesn't change.
The covenant. doesn't get rewritten every four years. This is stable. This is deep. This is rooted.
And it may be new in the days of Nehemiah. It may be reestablished. but it is deeply rooted. And here's the thing, Stu. Our faith.
that we have to live out in 2026. is going to look different. than it looked when Paul was walking around in the first century. but the foundation and the content. and the ministry approach.
And the philosophy hasn't changed. The obligations haven't changed. God didn't change his mind about loving us. God didn't change his mind about the gospel, right? He didn't decide, you know, it's been 2,000 years, Stu, and we haven't done it yet.
So I think I need to up the bar. We're going to have to put a little bit of works in there. And so let's, you know, as of today, we're adding a work requirement. That isn't how it works. These things are immutable.
It's a theological word which means unchanging. They don't change. you know, how we dress might change. What our cities look like might change. You know, we're using cell phones and technology that changes.
But the fundamental realities of the gospel, the fundamental realities of our relationship to God, the fundamental realities of our obligations to God don't change. And when you never have.
Well, when you see so many names. That's the That's the hands and the feet. of God doing his work. He's always worked through his people. And in this case, the people of Israel.
This miraculous revival happened through them, through these people. We are the New Testament church. God's working through his people, his body. How is your body connected? And how how are you?
Using your gift for his glory in his city. in his church. To bring others to him. And so it's all, you know, so there's a powerful statement of the significance of each people. We talk about rolling the credits, you know, chapter seven, all these names of people.
Chapter three, all these people.
Well, we have even more people in chapters 10, 11, and 12. But everyone plays a significant role in. I think that we're recording this leading up to Father's Day. There are some godly spiritual fathers here. That said, not on my watch.
You beat me to the punch. You know what? What in the world here? We're in person, by the way. We're doing this on video.
So we'll make this a YouTube video. We're also doing this for audio for our many leaders and other folks that are leading Wednesday in the Word at Dario. And women's in the word on Thursday. Also, pastors that listen, that this will help you through, if this will help you navigate through Nehemiah. I hope it's a blessing to you.
Yeah, Dr. Ord. Just speak to that. Th these godly patriarchal Figures. This wasn't male toxicity.
No. This was male transformation. That's right. And as go the dads, as go the fathers, so go the culture.
Well, and I here's maybe the way to end our broadcast because I know you're on a time crunch. Um What I pick up here, you were talking about the dads. That so faithfully raised their families and they do it under opposition, and they're constantly struggling, and they don't have enough resources, and all the things are going on in their lives. and you can feel really alone. I mean, you can feel really alone.
And you're sitting there in your home, and you came back, you know, and your pastor's been preaching through this or that, or you've been listening to us, and you go home, and nothing is working. Your kids aren't listening, your wife's still frustrated because she feels like you're too busy, and no matter what you try and how hard you pray, you just feel alone. And I know I feel that way at times. I'm sure you feel that way at times, where it's like. You know, Lord, I'm working hard.
I know you've called me to this. I don't want to come down from this wall. I'm supposed to put the bricks here. I'm serving these people. I'm sacrificing things that are rightly mine.
Because I want this project to go forward. I want this radio ministry to work. I want these Bible studies. I'm passionate about this. But sometimes you just feel alone.
And there's a passage like this that God puts his hand down, he goes, Stu? You have a long line of people. that you're connected to. Let me give you an example of this. And then I'll pray.
The Apostle Paul, when he said goodbye to the Ephesian elders for the last time. He said to them, I want you to remember what I did when I was in your midst. I went house by house teaching you the word of God. That's 2020 something years ago now.
Well, okay. What are you doing with this radio broadcast? You're going in essence through modern technology car by car. House by house. Yeah, sure.
Dario by Dario. And you're doing what Paul did. Yeah. you're teaching the word of god and god says to you stoop I don't care how hard it gets. I don't care.
How difficult it gets for you? You're connected to Paul. You're doing you're in a long line of people like Paul and I'm making you a promise. What I did for Paul, I'm going to do for you. Right?
That's what's going on here. And I'm using you as an example, but it could be a pastor. It could be one of our Bible study leaders who's like, he's on the point of writing you an email going, Stu, I just can't do this another year. I just, I am so tired. I am so busy, it's not working out, I'm ready to quit.
How many pastors Are ready to hit send on their resignation email to their deacons on Monday. And they're just burned out. How many wives are like, I can't go another, I can't go another week here? Or how many kids are like, I can't go another, I can't go another, I can't go on another mission trip. I can't go on it, I just don't.
And God says, now wait a minute. You're in a long line of people. My people have been doing this since Darius the Mede. My people have been doing this. From Darius to Dario.
Yeah. That's a good one. My people have been doing this since the days of Joachim. My people have been doing this since Paul's day. And you know, there's something that happens in our hearts when we realize.
We are anchored into something big that God has been doing for 2,000 years. and the God who supported Nehemiah. and the word that worked in these people's hearts. and the spirit that brought this conviction and this renewed commitment. Are the same.
They haven't changed. God hasn't changed, the word hasn't changed. The spirit hasn't changed. We're the ones that change. Like, you know, we're going to die and somebody else is going to do this.
And that's our hope. And so I want to pray for you, brother, if I can. Pray us out here. I want to make sure we don't neglect. arguably one of the most important points.
confirming what you said about God is the covenant-keeping God. He is the promise keeper. Yes. We can start a group called Promise Keepers. But sometimes we break those promises.
These guys that signed this, this ink, that inked this deal. Maybe they didn't all, you know. By Malachi's time, they're getting rebuked against it. It gets rough. But isn't it beautiful?
That that God, you know, that verse in chapter. Nine, which says, You are faithful. We have done wickedly, yet you have been faithful. But, Dr. Horn.
Our covenant keeping God. sent his son. Amen. To rebuild the walls and gates of our life, and he signed. a contract in his blood.
And he signed a contract of Absolution. and emancipation from slavery for us with the words Tetelestai. It is finished. And we can look to him. Because like Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 2.
We're unfaithful, we're up and down, and we get weird, but you know what? Jesus is there. And he is that covenant keeping. He's the sign of the covenant. He's the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
Amen. So all of this. And he's the one that brings us to the Father.
So all of this has its fulfillment. In Christ, looking back, they were looking forward to that fulfillment, knowing how are we going to do all this stuff? How are we going to keep all these Sabbaths? How are we going to give all this money? How are we going to do all this right and be faithful?
and keep our families right.
Well There's coming a one. Who will turn the hearts of flesh, hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. And he came. And we're looking back on what Jesus did. The gospel is not what I'm doing for him and how many contracts I can keep with him and how many recommitments and how many stakes I can drive in the ground that says, okay, from this day forward, I'm going to follow you.
And then the next day I yell at my wife, you know, in a tangent of sin. No, the gospel is about not what I do for him. It's what he's done for me. And I'm anchored in that in my identity, in the fire of my soul. And that's the power of the Holy Spirit.
And by the way, talk about contracts and sealing. It says twice in Ephesians we're sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.
So, and that's because of what Jesus Christ has done. And hallelujah.
So good. What a savior.
So good. Well, let me pray here. You know, it's interesting on the basis of what God has done for us, and only on the basis of what God has done for us. We can do things for the Lord. We can actually do what these people did.
We can say to the Lord, I just want to recommit, Lord, to obey you and to please you and to serve you with all of my strength, with all of my life. And for all of my days. And so let's pray that, Lord, thank you that we have spent these moments together. In this immense amount of verses, Lord, this has been just an intimidating passage, and yet you've helped us to identify key ideas. And I pray that those simple ideas The idea, Lord, of covenant obligation.
We want to recommit ourselves to you. The idea, Lord, of specific obedience. to you in in very tangible ways that lord we would go to your word and find out the basics of our life before you and convene again a heart for your worship, a heart for your work, and that we would live in the light of that. And then providential, joyful submission to the direction of our lives, whether we get to live inside the walls or. We're those people that you put out.
in those hard places.
So Lord, give us Give us grace and then remind us and encourage us and strengthen us. With the reality that we are connected to something that is deeply rooted in your sovereign plan that you've been carrying out for thousands of years and you've been supporting. Lord, I thank you for each of our dads as we celebrate Father's Day. We want to be the kind of dads. That know how to love well and know how to teach well and know how to guide well and know how to serve well.
And Lord, we have a great example in you. and we're thankful for your ministry as our Father. And we thank you that we can call you, Father, through your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Dr.
Horn, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube. Facebook and all social media, including Inste Graham, and be encouraged, stay in the word, read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and Meditate on God's Word.
Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30, verse 5.
