One For Israel

Dr. Erez Soref: Serving God is not a sprint; it's a marathon. You may have good leadership. You may have good political arrangements. But if the heart is not circumcised for the Lord, everything is going to collapse. I've come to the conclusion that the promised Jewish Messiah has already been here. Only Yeshua can set this world right.

I am Dr. Erez Soref. I was born and raised in the heart of Israel, but I never heard the gospel message until, on a journey abroad, my eyes were opened to the Jewish Messiah. From that point, my life has been dedicated to bringing this gospel back to my people Israel, equipping them to reach Israel and the world. Together, as Jews and Gentiles, we are one in Messiah, one for Israel.

We've been walking the walls with Nehemiah. We have followed Nehemiah's story: his burden to repair the walls of Jerusalem, rallying the people to complete the vision, restoring God's order for the city, and igniting a spiritual revival in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. As we come to the end of Nehemiah's story, we will see there is still much work to be done.

Just as there is much to be done in our day. How will we finish, and what will be our legacy? Today, we will examine legacy and discover how we can finish well as we walk the walls with Nehemiah. Twelve years after the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, Nehemiah was back in Persia. He was serving once again as the emperor's cupbearer.

He probably thought back on his time in Jerusalem, remembering the progress he made. As he was working a thousand miles away, perhaps his heart yearned for his precious city. So one day, he asked the Persian king for time off to travel to Jerusalem once again. Because of his great favor with the king, the request was granted, and Nehemiah went to visit the city he had worked so hard to restore.

But when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he was shocked by what he found. The spiritual leadership had failed in his absence, causing the rest of society to fall as well. Those left in charge did not take the steps to walk out their spiritual restoration, despite passionate vows and a covenant to walk right.

The leaders, and then the people, fell into compromise soon after Nehemiah left for Persia. What did this compromise look like? First, Nehemiah found that the people went back on their commitment to provide financially for the Levites. Because of this, many Levites were forced to find work on the farms instead. These were the ones who would minister in the temple and teach God's word.

Without them, the word wasn't being taught. The people stopped observing the Sabbath. The temple was in disarray. The people began to marry pagans, raising children without the knowledge of God or His word, pulling a whole generation away from the worship of the Lord. And as we'll see later, compromise among leadership allowed their enemy to stake a claim right in the holy temple.

Nehemiah must have been so frustrated. What happened? Didn't the people remember when they were convicted to tears? Didn't they remember their vows they made to God? As we read in Proverbs, without vision, the people perish. The word in Hebrew for "perish" is like the word for "scatter," like beads coming off a string.

Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint and scatter. The people of Jerusalem had looked up to Nehemiah. They followed his leadership because he had that personal connection with God. They experienced revival. But for many, inner transformation had not taken place in their own hearts.

And when Nehemiah was gone, their spiritual life dried up. Serving God is not a sprint; it's a marathon. We may experience revival or awakening, but the work begun in a revival is not sustained by powerful services or charismatic heroes. It's by people who are willing and empowered to run the race every day.

If the people don't continue the work of discipleship, if we're not walking in obedience, serving humbly, and seeking God, the revival fires will be just a flash in the pan. In Nehemiah's story, the restoration of Jerusalem started well but soon got off course. In our day, the vision must be to finish well.

The life of faith is a marathon. It takes discipline. It takes the sustaining power of God's Spirit to keep going strong to the end. Paul says: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." So what can we practically do to prepare for a marathon in our lives with God?

Not just doing well for a short time, but endure to the end and finish well. Here are a few things I've learned along my race. First, live by faith—not just at the starting line, but every step of the race. We were saved through faith, and we must continue the same way. Just as we couldn't save ourselves, we can't sustain ourselves either.

We need God's power to help us endure to the end, not our own strength. Second, cultivate an eternal perspective. A runner thinking only short-term will quickly fail. Keep your eyes on the prize, just as Yeshua did, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. When we lose sight of eternity, the pain of hitting the wall becomes unbearable, and we're tempted to quit.

Third, live in community with accountability. Marathon runners need teammates who encourage them when they hit the wall. This race isn't meant to be run in isolation. When we stumble, we need brothers and sisters to help us get back up and keep running. Fourth, develop inner self-control.

Athletes exercise self-control in all things for a temporary crown. How much more should we discipline ourselves for the eternal? Fruit of the Spirit doesn't grow overnight, but we can take steps today toward building spiritual discipline. Finally, be prepared to pay the price.

The life of a marathon runner doesn't look like that of someone content to sit on the sidelines. Our lives as dedicated servants of God will look different. There's a cost, but it's worth it. No marathon runner regrets his training when he crosses the finish line. This is what Nehemiah understood.

Building the walls was the sprint. But maintaining what was built, keeping the vision alive when the excitement faded—that would require a marathon mindset. Nehemiah was back in Persia, serving the king when he received permission to visit Jerusalem again. So twelve years after he had led the rebuilding, Nehemiah came back to the holy city.

But he was soon heartbroken. On his first arrival, he found the walls of the city completely destroyed. This time, he found the spiritual life of the city in ruin. Compromise infected Jerusalem's leadership. It was so bad that they had even begun to align with one of Israel's most outspoken enemies, Tobiah the Ammonite, the one who had opposed Nehemiah during the rebuilding.

Nehemiah writes: "Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes prescribed for the Levites."

Was this priest insane? Tobiah was Israel's enemy, and he had invited him right into God's temple. The priest cleared out the room with offerings devoted to support the Levites, and he accommodated a pagan who had fought against them at every step. Nehemiah says: "I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields."

The Levites no longer had the financial support needed so they could teach God's word. How could the priest of God allow all this to happen? Even worse, it soon came to light that this priest Eliashib had made another wicked alliance. He had married off his grandson to the daughter of Israel's other enemy, Sanballat.

This made Nehemiah furious. He went in and threw all of Tobiah's things out of the temple. He gave orders to purify the rooms and put the holy things back where they belonged. He rebuked the city officials for neglecting their support to the Levites, which they had promised and God commanded.

He began to install new leadership in Jerusalem, leaders who would be faithful to God and His house. Nehemiah enforced the keeping of the Sabbath once again. He even locked out the merchants from the city who came to sell their goods on Saturday. Also, he severely rebuked those who had taken foreign wives against their vow to God.

He banished the grandson of the priest Eliashib, who had married the daughter of Sanballat. These actions did not win Nehemiah any popularity contests. Standing up for what's right and bringing correction rarely does. But as much as revival can look like excitement and celebration, revival can also look like a consuming fire—putting God's house into order and cleaning out hidden compromise from our inner rooms.

I think of Yeshua going into that same temple centuries later and clearing out the merchants, or times when the apostles rebuked those who caused harm to the churches. We are called to stand up for what's right—not obnoxious, mean-spirited, and hateful, but full of compassion, led by God's Spirit, desiring for all to come into repentance and be reconciled to their purpose in God.

Jeff: When I was about ten or eleven years old, living in Chicago, my father's parents—I was very close to them—they looked like two characters from the movie *Fiddler on the Roof*. And I would hang out at their house a lot, especially when my grandma was making a good bowl of kreplach soup.

I said to my grandpa, "Grandpa, I see that you have received some letters from your cousins in Romania. Would you someday like to go back and hang out with your cousins?" And he said, "No." I said, "Grandpa, why?" He said, "Pogrom."

The farmers who claimed to be Christians in a city called Barlad, Romania, came looking for Jewish people to do them harm. And my grandpa and his sister and mother had to hide in the wine cellar. It was the '70s; it was the John Travolta era. I was invited to go on the spring trip for the University of Illinois baseball team.

It was very early on that I was called in to pitch in relief. After our game, my roommate asked me if I would go with him to hear Billy Graham speak that night. "I'll take a rain check. Jewish kids from Chicago don't do this kind of thing." My senior year, my friend again told me a famous lady was going to come speak.

I said, "I'll tell you what. You tell me what this person has to say. I'll take a rain check." He said a lady named Corrie ten Boom and her family were hiding Jewish people in the walls of their home. They actually got caught by the Nazis, and her whole family died—not only because of their Christian faith, but because of their love for Israel and the Jewish people.

Something inside of me said, "Whatever the real deal is, this must be it." And so, when I was getting ready to pitch in my last game against Michigan State, my friend Neal, after going for a run in the morning, comes into our apartment and blows my mind. Neal was Jewish.

He said, "Sigs, I need to tell you something. After I read the Hebrew Scriptures and a careful examination of what it said, I've come to the conclusion the Messiah has already come." I said, "Neal, are you out of your mind?" I said, "You believe in Jesus?" And I said, "Neal, you're not Jewish anymore."

He said, "No, I'm a completed Jew, Jeff." He said, "Jeff, if you read it for yourself, I believe you'll come to the same conclusions." What a dilemma. If God really had a son, I'm going to have to see in my book, not their book. I held that Tanakh up to heaven, and I prayed a prayer to God.

I said, "God, can I have a burning bush experience like Moses?" One of the things that happened was I came to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 31 through 34: "Behold the days come, says the Lord, when I will enact a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah."

And I'm thinking, "Oh my God, this new covenant, this new agreement, is for Jewish people." There's something to what my friend Neal said. New Covenant, New Testament. My mind was blown. I just fell on my knees in front of my bed as I was reading these verses, and I just prayed a simple prayer.

I said, "Dear God, please enter my heart and please forgive me for the sins of my life." I said, "Lord, I'm new at this. I don't know exactly how to do this." But I said, "I've longed for that personal relationship, and I realize that Yeshua Hamashiach is my burning bush experience."

I said, "Dad, after a careful examination of the Hebrew Scriptures, I've come to the conclusion that the promised Jewish Messiah has already been here." He said, "Son, you are a traitor to your people. You are no longer my son. What you have done, in my eyes, is worse than Adolf Hitler."

Now, this went on for twenty-six years until a day came when my younger brother decided to go to church, and he gave his life to Yeshua. He said, "Could you do me a favor? Could you tell Dad the decision I made?" Now, in a twenty-six-year timeframe, my dad and I began to have a better relationship.

And when I called my dad, I said, "Dad, I need to tell you something. After a careful examination of the Hebrew Scriptures, my younger brother has also made the same decision that I made many years ago." My dad then began to cry. I received the shock of my life.

It was only the second time in my life I ever heard him cry. The first time was when he hung the phone up on me when he told me I wasn't his son anymore. And he began not only to cry, but he began to speak in the Hebrew language: "*Hineni* God, *Hineni*. Here I am, here I am.

What would you have me to do?" I said, "Dad, do you want to give your life to Yeshua?" He said, "Yes, I do." For the last two and a half years of his life, we were like best friends, and then the day came where my dad just went to heaven. On that day when I announced to my father that I gave my life to Yeshua and he said, "You're not my son anymore," my life was turned upside down.

But you see, God had a plan. And on that day it may have seemed bleak, but the Lord saw the future.

Dr. Erez Soref: While Nehemiah was making his serious reforms, he called out to God several times: "Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services." Nehemiah was not trying to please men, but God. Even when it's unpopular, remember that whatever God calls us to do, our aim is only to please Him.

If you want to go deeper in Nehemiah's story, we're offering a free 31-day devotional as a companion to this book. Visit the link below to download the free devotional. And don't forget to get the new book, *Walking the Walls with Nehemiah*. It goes deeper into these powerful lessons of restoration, prayer, and perseverance.

Order our new book, *Walking the Walls with Nehemiah*, and discover how you can pick up bricks and build with God. The book of Nehemiah ends with his visit back to Jerusalem twelve years after the spiritual revival. When he found the state of Jerusalem in compromise, he didn't just throw up his hands in hopelessness.

He worked to restore God's order to His holy city. The reforms he made were sometimes severe, but Nehemiah was serious about God's vision for Jerusalem. He wasn't looking for his day of glory; he was building something that would last for God's glory. He wanted to push Jerusalem to finish well in the eyes of God.

Nehemiah's real legacy wasn't the walls, but preparing the ground for Messiah. His last prayers always said, "Remember me, O God." He wanted God's approval. As the people of Jerusalem had proven, human memory is short, but God's memory is eternal. I'm sitting down with my friend Dr. Menno Kalisher, a pastor and teacher at our Bible college, to talk about a difficult subject.

The book of Nehemiah ends with his zealous outrage at the unequally yoked marriages taking place in Israel. Is this racism, elitism, or is there something deeper at play? Why the outrage, and how does this speak to us today? Let's join Pastor Menno and dive deeper. Menno, Shalom, and thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat with me.

Dr. Menno Kalisher: It's a joy, anytime.

Dr. Erez Soref: We want to talk about the last chapter of the book of Nehemiah, which really stands in contrast to the rest of the book. The book is so inspirational, and in the last chapter, Nehemiah comes back and he finds that in a lot of ways, life in Jerusalem went back to where they were. Especially that the Israelites were marrying foreign women from other nations with other faiths—not faith in the God of Israel. And Nehemiah gets super upset. The question seems to be, why? Why is he so upset? Why is he so worked up?

Dr. Menno Kalisher: The reason I do believe he is so upset is that one of the ingredients of building a solid house—house on the rock, we know it from Matthew chapter seven—is spiritual purity. You may have good leadership. You may have good political arrangements. But if the heart is not circumcised for the Lord, everything is going to collapse.

Everything will be superficial. In another word, you have people that they are maybe very religious, but empty of God. And you cannot build a house like that. So the moment he saw them intermarried with idol-worshipper women, he realized that God is not in the center.

We can see in the book of Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses three and four, the idea was that the moment you are married to an idol-worshipper people, they will cause you to go astray from the laws of God.

Dr. Erez Soref: Do you want me to read it?

Dr. Menno Kalisher: Please, that would be great.

Dr. Erez Soref: "You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods."

Dr. Menno Kalisher: The issue is only spiritual. We can take some examples. We know Rahab in the book of Joshua. She was not a Jewish girl. She noticed what God has done to the people of Israel, and she followed this living God. And God adopted her into the tribe of Judah.

And you know what? The Messiah Jesus came from her as well; she is part of the genealogy. We have another girl, Ruth from Moab. And all the names of the nation that basically the Bible said "Do not marry them." And she is the one who says, "Your God is my God."

And she was adopted into the tribe as well, also Judah in that sense, and the Messiah came from her as well. That's the bottom line: God was not in the center. Go back to Solomon, King Solomon. So he thought politically, according to that time, "If I'll marry the girls or the daughters of the neighboring countries, nations, we will have good relationship and my kingdom will be secured."

We know the end of it: they drifted his heart from the Lord, the kingdom was divided, and his testimony was corrupted.

Dr. Erez Soref: So the issue, even in the Mosaic covenant, was not about ethnicity or anything of that nature, but it was a spiritual thing. So God says those that are under the covenant that have faith are not to marry those that are not in the covenant, that do not have faith.

However, the examples you gave showed that Rahab and Ruth—that even though they were not biologically part of the nation of Israel, but they had faith, and so they were adopted and then the marriage was legitimate.

Dr. Menno Kalisher: Absolutely. They were not direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they were direct descendants of the blessing of God.

Dr. Erez Soref: Menno, thank you so much. It's such an important discussion, and I think such a pertinent issue for so many people. And like we see in the book of Nehemiah, building a wall around the nation is very much like building a house before the Lord.

And so this is very applicable. And for you, our viewers, we want to pray for you that God will give you a lot of grace, wisdom, and patience, and that you and your families, your children, your grandchildren will build the house on the rock of the Messiah, Jesus.

The book of Nehemiah ends very suddenly, like there's something missing. Despite Nehemiah's best efforts, Israel needed a Savior, a King, the Messiah. Nehemiah had built the walls; Messiah would come to build a people of God. Nehemiah had cleaned out a temple; Yeshua cleanses our hearts.

Today, we are in a time like the days of Nehemiah. We're in a time of building, empowered by His Spirit to prepare the way for the coming King. We believers, Jew and Gentile, want to finish well. Yet we long for Messiah's return. Only Yeshua can set this world right.

When He returns, this city will stand proud again, glorious. And as John saw in Revelation: "The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there." Until that day, we wait as watchmen on the wall until God makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.