One For Israel

Guest (Male): Worship precedes warfare.

Guest (Male): We need to be filled with our God-given purpose.

Guest (Male): Our role as musicians is bringing healing to this nation.

Guest (Male): You have to expand your boundaries of what worship is.

Guest (Male): Don't be afraid. Do not shrink back in unbelief. Victory is on the other side.

Dr. Erez Soref: 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.

Jerusalem is now the most populated city in Israel. With such a high demand to live here, the city is bursting at its seams. But in Nehemiah's day, even after the walls were constructed for peace and security, there were still very few people living within its gates.

This was unacceptable. Nehemiah had prepared the structure, the wall. He had led Israel to a great victory under the banner of the Lord. The people had experienced an awakening. Their hearts were tender to the Word once again. But now, this city needed to be filled with people who could give witness to God's greatness day after day.

Even though Israel had experienced great victories, Nehemiah needed to fill the city so the victory would last. Only then could their victories turn into true celebration. As we walk the walls with Nehemiah, we will see his steps of preparation for celebration.

Yeshua gave a teaching about a man being released from demonic bondage. He said that after a while, the unclean spirit would come back. It would find its home swept clean, in order, and empty. The demon would then find seven spirits more wicked than himself. They would inhabit the man, and his state would be worse than before.

One thing we can learn from this is that we as humans need to be filled: filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the love found in a Messiah-centered community, filled with our God-given purpose. But the scenario Yeshua described is also the same danger Nehemiah faced with Jerusalem.

The people had repelled the enemy and built up the walls. The city was swept clean and put in godly order, but it was largely empty. Unless there were a thriving people living inside who followed God's Word and lived to glorify Him, their victory would have been short-lived.

So Nehemiah became intentional and strategic. He needed to take people from the surrounding towns in Israel and relocate them inside Jerusalem to dwell. He was already prepared. A few chapters earlier, Nehemiah had made all the families register so he would have an accurate record.

Now, he went through the record and cast lots, selecting one of every ten families to live inside the city. In ancient Israel, the will of God was sometimes determined by casting lots. These lots would be a sovereign indicator of God's will. Proverbs 16:33 says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord."

Today, we live in the age where the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that the Spirit searches out the mind of God and reveals His thoughts to us. God gives His people knowledge and wisdom by the Spirit without needing to cast lots or inquire of a priest.

But how often do we try and figure things out on our own? We should follow Nehemiah's example—not in casting lots, but in leaning on God's wisdom. When we lack wisdom, we can ask God, who gives generously without finding fault. God revealed His will to Nehemiah and the people, and they leaned into His sovereign wisdom.

One out of every ten Israelite families was chosen by lot to relocate to Jerusalem. It was a tithe of the people who were chosen by God to be dedicated to Him, to live in the Holy City and prepare the way for the future coming Messiah. It was a preparation for celebration.

There is a stigma of Jerusalem today being a city of conflict. Imagine how they might have felt in Nehemiah's day. Israel had no advanced army. The land was occupied by a foreign empire, and enemies surrounding them could break out at any time.

But astoundingly, the families that were chosen to dwell in Jerusalem did not see it as a dangerous duty, but as a privilege. So great was their desire to celebrate God's goodness in God's city that the joy overcame fear. The joy of the Lord had once again become their strength.

Just like the people of Jerusalem, we can make the choice to offer our lives to God willingly. When we do this, when we agree with whatever He asks of us, He renews us. He transforms us, and we begin to see more clearly the will and plan of God and just how good it is. Our "yes" gives us a reason to celebrate.

Today, we are witnessing a spiritual awakening in Israel unlike anything we've ever seen. Hearts are being opened, lives are being transformed, and the Good News of Yeshua is spreading throughout Israel. Today, we have over 700,000 Israelis subscribed to our Hebrew Gospel channel, making our channel that proclaims Yeshua one of the top YouTube channels in all of Israel.

God is opening hearts, but for this ministry to succeed, we need to be supported by prayer—your prayer. That's why we've created a free prayer guide to help you stand with Israel in this vital moment. This 31-day prayer guide will equip you to pray for Israel's peace, salvation, and restoration.

God is doing amazing things in Israel. Join us in prayer and be part of this awakening. Scan the QR code now to request your free prayer guide. Together, we can make an eternal impact. Call now and join us in prayer for Israel.

Nehemiah sought God's wisdom on how to repopulate the rebuilt city of Jerusalem. He cast lots and selected one out of every ten to inhabit the city. Nehemiah 11 and 12 lists the names of those who were chosen to live in Jerusalem. And though this list can seem very long, those families made up a very important remnant, a remnant that would eventually prepare the way for the Messiah.

For example, among the list is one of the priests, Abijah. Perhaps you don't recognize his name, but his line would eventually lead to the priest Zechariah, and his son, John the Baptist, was the prophet that prepared the way for Yeshua. So God was preparing, even in the time of Nehemiah.

Also among this list of Jerusalem's inhabitants were entire families of musicians. These were Levites who primarily played instruments and sang. They saw their talent as more than just a hobby or a marketable skill. For them, their excellence in music was a means to worship and celebrate the goodness of God.

Eran Tsur-Niake: My name is Eran Tsur-Niake. I'm from Jerusalem. I'm an artist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. One particular instrument that I really like playing is the Persian tar. I'm not Persian. I'm partly from an Eastern Jewish family and Ashkenazi Jewish family, so I had both worlds of the Ashkenazi tunes and the Mizrahi tunes. But actually, I grew up listening mainly to rock music and Western music.

In the book of Nehemiah, we read about this beautiful moment of the people of Israel going back to their land, rejoicing, giving thanks, singing songs with cymbals, with harps and lyres. We can imagine that it's not only one type of song or type of music genre. There were different genres.

The expression of the text shows you that you have to go beyond what you understand as a musician. You have to expand your boundaries as a musician, as a composer. But I think what actually brought me to discover ancient music or Middle Eastern music was trying to find my identity in God.

I started realizing that all these music genres that I grew up listening to, they didn't express enough. They expressed some feelings, but there were a lot of nuances that I couldn't find there. But suddenly, I found someone walking in Jerusalem and he was playing the Persian tar. So I asked him, I said, "Can you give me just a few notes just to listen to it?" and I was just falling in love with the sound of this instrument because it had such a beautiful resonance and scales that I couldn't find in the guitar or the piano or any other Western instrument.

That's a Persian tar. It's made out of mulberry wood. This white stuff on the neck of the instrument is made out of camel bone. So, it's a very organic instrument. Once I played it, something inside of me started to stir, started to move. And I was like, "It's echoing something I feel inside. It's echoing some kind of a deeper process that I'm going through."

We often dismiss performance as something more artificial. We think performance is something that only involves the mind. But it's actually a meeting point of your mind and your soul. We read in the Bible about the Levites and the priests. We had once a year the High Priest enter the most holy place, the Holy of Holies. This moment is filled with awe; it is filled with excitement because it's only repeated once a year.

But this is also a performance. He had to fulfill his role as a High Priest entering the Holy of Holies. And I think, as someone that writes worship songs or songs that are rooted in the biblical Hebrew text, showing professionalism is part of your place as someone that leads others into a better state of mind.

You want to lead your audience into what we call the presence of God. Part of leading others into this presence is putting your ego aside. You're not in the middle. You're not the center. It's not about you, how you look, or how you sound.

Imagine you had to bring back all the Levites from different regions and convince them that it's worth coming and playing again music for God after the tragedy that our people went through. They lost everything, and now you had to reassemble your hope, reassemble your vision for the country, for the land, for the temple, for Jerusalem, and reimagine it again, believing that it's worth singing in Jerusalem.

We have to come together in order to see this space transformed. It is a beautiful example of how music can function as part of a healing process. We had one event, actually a couple of concerts on campus, of the Persian Ensemble with the most leading masters of Persian music. The ensemble was Israelis and Iranians. While we are having anti-Semitic marches on campus, we can't see music, but we can feel it.

Therefore, I think our role as musicians is being part of this healing process, bringing healing to this region, to this nation. So be part of it. I want to challenge you: go and pick up an instrument not from your culture, go study a language not of your native tongue.

And why am I saying that? Because Jerusalem is a mixture of so many sounds, cultures, everything happening at once. If you want to come and experience Jerusalem, come with an open-minded approach that you're part of a process of expanding your understanding of worship, because worship must be a dynamic process. We step out of your comfort zone as a songwriter and worshiper and pick up an instrument or start listening to other types of worship music from the different regions of the world.

Dr. Erez Soref: Nehemiah depended on God's wisdom to strategically repopulate the city of Jerusalem. He cast lots and selected one out of every ten to inhabit the city. Nehemiah 11 and 12 lists the names of those who were chosen to live in Jerusalem. And though this list can seem very long, those families made up a very important remnant—a remnant that would eventually prepare the way for the Messiah.

For example, among the list is one of the priests, Abijah. Perhaps you don't recognize his name, but his line would eventually lead to the priest Zechariah, and his son, John the Baptist, was the prophet that prepared the way for Yeshua. So God was preparing, even in the time of Nehemiah.

Also among this list of Jerusalem's inhabitants were entire families of musicians. These were Levites who primarily played instruments and sang. They saw their talent as more than just a hobby or a marketable skill. For them, their excellence in music was a means to worship and celebrate the goodness of God.

Remember how Tobiah had mocked Nehemiah and the workers in chapter 3? He had said that if a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall. But now, the wall was so wide that Nehemiah had to form not one but two processions of singers to surround it for the dedication. It was huge.

If Israel had listened to the mockers at the start, there would be no celebration at the end. Doubt always shouts louder, but hope, even if it's quieter, endures. And when we choose to follow hope, the day comes when its song rises above every other sound, and celebration drowns out the noise of doubt forever.

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 a brick and build with God.

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The day had come for Nehemiah and the city of Jerusalem to celebrate all that God had done. As Solomon said, there is a time for everything. Sometimes there is a time for work, a time to fight, a time to repent, a time to put in order. But there is also an appropriate time to celebrate, to take joy and recognize what God has done.

Nehemiah writes that the people of Jerusalem organized two great choirs. Nehemiah himself headed one procession, and Ezra led the other. They went in opposite directions and surrounded the entire city wall with their march of thanksgiving. As they marched around the wall, maybe they reflected on the stories of their ancestors: of Moses and the children of Israel as they marched out of Egypt, of Joshua and the army marching around the walls of Jericho, of David and his army marching to conquer Jerusalem years ago.

Then maybe they would think of their own stories: the victory God had given in their lifetimes. They may have remembered where Nehemiah first examined the wall, where he saw beyond what was and saw God's prophetic vision. As the people went around, each one may have seen the portion of wall they had personally built.

They would remember the initial excitement they had felt for the vision, the discouragement, and the setbacks from the opposition. And as they marched, they would realize, just like their forefathers, it was God that gave the victory. Think of your own history with God, what He's done for you, for your family. Maybe you're in the middle of the battle right now. Don't be afraid. Do not shrink back in unbelief. Victory is on the other side. And when we overcome, we realize that it was only Him.

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up."

Eran Tsur-Niake (Singing): Oh daughters of Zion

Oh Abraham's sons

Hear the words of your father

Hear his promise of love

I will make you a blessing

Count the stars if you can

You will be a great nation

I will give you this land

(Refrain in Hebrew)

Hashivet kulkhem

Hashivet kulkhem yeladai

Lo tiyu shuv levad

Nodedim avudim bamitbar

There is nothing on earth that could take you away

Once I gather you under my wings

I will bring you all back home again

(Verse in Hebrew)

I will send you a savior

I will finish my work

(Refrain in Hebrew)

Green pastures are waiting in Zion once more

(Refrain in English/Hebrew)

Hashivet kulkhem

Hashivet kulkhem yeladai

You will no longer roam

Lost and alone in the night

There is nothing on earth that could take you away

Once I gather you under my wings

Hashivet khem habaita

Amitpalel al shalom

Nabit lamrom shehashemesh tizrach be'otzma

Every prophet and priest

And king in the city will look on the one they pierced

Shehabechi yimal besimcha

But don't fear, oh my daughters

Oh sons of Abraham

Mayim hayim yishtofu

Et raglei yeladai

Though your sins were like scarlet

They'll be whiter than snow

(Refrain in English/Hebrew)

I will bring you back home

I will bring you back home, oh my children

Lo tiyu shuv levad

Nodedim avudim bamitbar

There is nothing on earth that could take you away

Once I gather you under my wings

Hashivet khem habaita

I will bring you all back home

Yeladai

Adonai Eloheinu

Adonai Echad

Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad

Dr. Erez Soref: There was a great celebration. The people had formed two choirs and marched around Jerusalem. After they circled the city, they met in front of the Temple at the Gate of Mercy. There they entered the Temple courts together. As they remembered the wonders of God and reflected on what He had done, the choirs exploded in worship.

Nehemiah writes, "They offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, and the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away." The joy of Jerusalem was heard for miles, like a roar from a stadium. It made their enemies tremble. God was working on behalf of His people. His blessing was on them. So the people recognized, understood, and rejoiced.

Now, you need to realize that the circumstances of the Israelites had not actually changed that much. They were still a small minority under the rule of the Persians. There were still troubles from their enemies, as we'll see next time. Yet, God Himself caused His people to rejoice once again with great joy.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It comes from within, regardless of our circumstances. I want to read you a beautiful song from the Prophet Habakkuk: "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster with stringed instruments."

In Hebrew, the word for choirmaster is from the root word "netzach", which is connected to the idea of victory, "nitzachon". It was anointed worshipers that would often lead Israelite warriors into battle. Worship precedes warfare. When we find ourselves in trouble and cannot see our way out, we can join Habakkuk in singing songs of praise in the dark.

We can trust that God will overcome our enemies, that He will ultimately lead us out in victory. Our battle is preparation for celebration. But next time, we'll see that the celebration is not the end. The race is not over when you pull ahead of the other runners, but when you cross the finish line. Next time, we'll see the importance of finishing well as we conclude our series, Walking the Walls with Nehemiah.