Study the Word

Guest (Male): Pastor Thom Keller has some good advice about warning signs. Unless and when the Holy Spirit says you need to stop doing that, take that seriously.

Pastor Thom Keller: Because he will not yell and scream and beat you up. It will always be a still small voice. When you hear that, take that seriously. When the Holy Spirit says to start doing something, he won't scream at you. Take that seriously.

Guest (Male): Listen, history is replete with stories of disasters that could have been averted if people simply would have taken the warning signs seriously that they'd been given. You know folks, the older I get, the more I catch myself saying after the fact, "I should have seen that. I should have taken that sign seriously. I should have heard what they said that one day and acted on that." Learn that lesson. Nehemiah did.

As construction on the wall of Jerusalem progressed, the anger and threats of its enemies grew. Instead of shrugging off the warning signs, Nehemiah took action. He placed armed guards at weak points and encouraged the people to remember the Lord, who is great and glorious. This is Study the Word.

Our Bible teacher is Pastor Thom Keller. So as Christians, what do we do when the Holy Spirit reveals a warning sign to us? James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Here's Pastor Thom in Nehemiah chapter four.

Pastor Thom Keller: So glad you're here. We are in the book of Nehemiah chapter four. If you're new to Calvary, the background of the story is Nehemiah is a young man, second in command to the king only really. He's a cupbearer in Persia, but a high position. He has a prompting, a leading of the Lord to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall around the city, the temple that had been built years earlier. So he goes to Jerusalem to do that very thing.

It now comes under a threat from his enemies. In verse 12, the Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, they will come from all directions and attack us. And so they're discouraged because the enemy is coming on like a flood. Now back in verse 10, it says that the people of Judah began to complain.

Now, you could pass over that quickly, but that would have been especially discouraging because Judah was known by the other tribes to be the strongest and bravest of all 12 tribes. Remember the lion of Judah? David comes from that lineage. Jesus will come from that tribe. So it would have been especially discouraging for the other 11 tribes to hear them complaining.

And then in verse 13, we are provided with a very practical lesson for our lives. Verse 12 and 13, "The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again they will come from all directions and attack us. So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed area. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows."

It's interesting. The King James says that they told us 10 times. 10 different times they came and said, "They're going to swoop down and destroy you." And note that Nehemiah and the people took these warnings seriously. Folks, there's a lesson for us. When someone threatens suicide, take it seriously. When someone threatens to hurt or kill his wife, take that seriously.

When a student threatens to kill other students, take that seriously. If your wife says you need counseling, husbands, take that seriously. When your boss says you better start coming to work on time, take that seriously. And listen, when the Holy Spirit says you need to stop doing that, take that seriously. Because he will not yell and scream and beat you up. It will always be a still small voice.

When you hear that, take that seriously. When the Holy Spirit says to start doing something, he won't scream at you. Take that seriously. Listen, history is replete with stories of disasters that could have been averted if people simply would have taken the warning signs seriously that they'd been given. You know folks, the older I get, the more I catch myself saying after the fact, "I should have seen that. I should have taken that sign seriously. I should have heard what they said that one day and acted on that." Learn that lesson. Nehemiah did.

Nehemiah 4:14 says, "Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, 'Don't be afraid of the enemy. Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.'" Once Nehemiah assesses the situation and determines a plan, he calls together and communicates with both the leaders and the rank and file and the workers.

He communicates with everyone. Forbes magazine says that the top two complaints by employees of their organization are this, in this order: number one, senior management operates in a silo and doesn't collaborate effectively; and second, poor communications. Leadership doesn't effectively communicate information, priorities, expectations, or changes within the rest of the organization on a timely manner or at all.

And so, fathers, husbands, children, communicate. Managers, supervisors, communicate. We learn much from Nehemiah in this chapter as we will see him continually communicating with his team because without communication, if you think about it, there is no team. There is no team.

And it's interesting in verse 14, Nehemiah says this: "And as I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.'" He says fight for your brothers, sons, daughters, wives, and your homes.

I looked up the word "homes" and it means literally house, the physical house. Here Nehemiah reminds those working on the wall that the very lives of their loved ones hang in the balance on finishing this wall. And note that Nehemiah says nothing here about fighting for the Lord. It's interesting. We would expect this just by reason almost of rote, and yet the motives here are not less sacred.

Because fighting for your family, fighting for your marriage, fighting for your children is ultimately fighting for God. It's similar to people saying, "I want to serve God" in a noble tone of voice. And when they say that, I think so many times, well, how actually do you think you serve God? But the truth is there's only one way you can serve God. That's by serving his other children.

And the same too is fighting for God. When you fight for others, you fight for God. You fight for those that Jesus would fight for, for those he would defend. It may be your wife, your husband, your children. It will certainly be the least and the lost among us, the widows and the orphans among us. That is how you fight for God. That is how you honor God.

Proverbs 14:31 says it so clearly. Listen: "Those who oppress the poor insult their maker, but helping the poor honors God." Every time you help the poor, you honor God. Doesn't it make sense? They are his children too. He loves when you get out of your shell, out of your comfort zone, take some of those prized resources and help the poor. And when you do that, every time you do that, you honor God.

I want to give money to God. Hey, he wants his children to have those resources more than he wants it to go anyplace else. Doesn't that just make sense? And Nehemiah's plan works, and Nehemiah's response thwarts his enemy's efforts. We see that in verse 15. "When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall.

But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail." Don't forget that. That comes up later: coats of mail. "The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah who were building on the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon.

All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm." Verse 16 says, "But from that time on, after that threat came, only half of the men worked while the other half stood guard." And again, there's a lesson for us here. You know, so many mornings I am tempted to skip my morning devotions and plow ahead first into my to-do list that is always set before me.

My flesh says get started on your work, but my spirit knows that I will get less work done and less effectively and with more mistakes. I've seen it if I put my to-do list ahead of my devotions. I remember the story of a man speaking to a godly friend of his, and he said to his friend, "I don't know how you get everything done that you get done in the course of a day. I never seem to have enough time to do everything."

His godly friend said, "How much time do you spend in devotions?" He said, "I guess 15 minutes." His friend said, "Try 30 minutes." He said, "Listen, didn't you hear me? I'm not looking for time to fill. I need more time." He said, "I heard you. Just try it. Just spend more time with the Lord and see how your day goes."

You know, I believe that is what tithing is all about. That's what tithing teaches us. Tithing is giving 10% of your income to the Lord. If you give with the right motive, you've learned that God's calculator doesn't work like our calculator, that 100 less 10 does not equal 90. Tithing teaches that on God's calculator, 100 less 10 leaves 100 or 110 or 150, but not less, because you can never outgive God.

I remember a story in my notes, a true story, a small church. There was a fairly wealthy man in the church. The man in the church said, "Listen," it was at the beginning of the year. He said, "I challenge all of you to tithe this year, 10% on your income." And he said, "And if you get to the end of the year and you find you've lost that 10%, I'll pay it to you." And nobody collected, because if you're the right motive, it's just how God's calculator worked.

But listen, I believe once we discover how God's calculator works with money, we then come to realize that it's the exact same principle that applies to every other aspect in our lives, including time. The reason he does it with money is he knows how precious it is to us and we'll notice that. But the same thing is true of time. Surrender it to Jesus. Give him your time and watch what he can do with your time.

You know when we started Calvary Chapel 20 years ago, I came out of the car business. And in the car business, you count everything. You drive, you push. That's just what you do. But church was church. It wasn't a business. And I thought, God, what do I do with this? I mean, do I just sit back and do nothing? Do I push? What do I do?

And I've said this before, but this was so profound. I sensed the Lord clearly saying to me, "Thom, if you try to push this church to grow, you can make it grow. But if you make it grow in your timeframe, I can't bring balance to your marriage. I can't bring balance as you try to balance the church and your business. I can't bring balance in your own personal life. If you let me grow it, I can keep all that in balance." And I heard that, and he did beautifully so.

The point is let God handle all of those growth issues because he can keep your life in balance. Be careful of that. Nehemiah 4:19 says this: "Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, 'The work is very spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us.'"

Again, notice the perfect balance here between the workers' role and God's role. He says, "When you hear the trumpet blast, when you are called to act, rush to where you're needed and watch what God will do once you and he arrive on the scene." And then verse 21: "We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset, and half of the men were always on guard.

I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with the guard duty at night and work during the day. Listen, during this time none of us, not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me, ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water."

Now, how long did they keep their clothes on? Well, in chapter six we discover it took 52 days to rebuild the wall, to complete the wall. And it was completed on October the second. We know that. And so nearly all of August and September, they were wearing the same clothes for the 52 days. I looked up the average temperature in Jerusalem in August and September. It's 80 degrees in August, it's 78 degrees in September.

Remember what I told you to remember? They had on coats of mail. That's heavy. That's hot. And they're working from sunrise until sunset. If you worked in 80-degree days for 60 days, never taking your clothes off with a coat of mail in that blazing Middle East sun, what would that be like? It would not be a pretty scene. You know, to me, that could be classified as unseemly behavior.

I looked up the word "unseemly behavior." Unseemly behavior: disapproved behavior because it is not polite or suitable for a particular situation or occasion. Another definition is, quote, "not in keeping with established standards of taste or proper form." So how does that apply to us today?

You know, this statement, "We never took off our clothes and we carried our weapons with us at all times," here's the application in three words: dress for success. If you have been tested and matured in your faith, experience has shown you that likewise, you need to carry both a trowel and a sword with you every single day into the workplace.

Your trowel to do the work, that might be a laptop, a wrench, a blood pressure cuff, and the armor of God to ensure that your work is not diminished or destroyed by the enemy. Ephesians 6:10 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. Therefore put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm."

And then finally verse 17 of that chapter: "Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." But know this: that if you do carry these weapons, your sword, the word of God, the Bible into the workplace, many of, some of your coworkers will label your actions as unseemly behavior, not in keeping with established standards of taste or proper form.

But remember this: those who mock or criticize you will live with the consequences of facing life's challenges with only a trowel in hand, whereas you will reap the blessings that come to those who face life's battle with a trowel and the sword of the spirit and the word of God in hand, strapped to your side or laying on your desk.

And next we find Satan stirring up discord from within the ranks. Nehemiah 5:1: "About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews. They were saying, 'We have such large families. We need more food to survive.' Others said, 'We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.'

And others said, 'We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We've already sold some of our daughters and we are helpless to do anything about it, because our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.'"

The complaint is from three distinct groups of people. The first group are some non-landowning families who don't have enough money to buy food. They don't have any land. The second group are landowners who have maxed out their credit cards to buy food and they're flat out of money.

The third group is the desperate group. The third group are landowners who have maxed out their credit cards, have mortgaged their land, and have even sold their children, their daughters, it says, into slavery, because everything else they said is gone. And so these people complain to Nehemiah. The complaint in essence is this: Nehemiah, we are spending all our time working on the wall, but our families can't eat wall.

Now, some background here is helpful. You may not know this, but Mosaic Law actually allowed a Hebrew to buy a Hebrew as a servant, but there were conditions placed upon this. Exodus 21 verse 2 says this: "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year and he will owe you nothing for his freedom."

And there were also laws specific to daughters being sold, which is what happened here. Exodus 21:7: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not satisfy her owner, he must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners since he is the one who broke the contract with her," marriage contract intended.

"But if the slave's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a servant but as a daughter. If a man who is married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. If he fails in any of these three obligations, she may leave him as a free woman without making any payments."

And in Leviticus there were additional provisions added as well, verse 35 chapter 25: "If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty," this is what's happening in Nehemiah, "and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you. Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative.

Remember, do not charge interest on the money you lend him or make a profit on food you sell him. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave. Treat him instead as a hired worker or as a temporary resident who lives with you. And he will serve you only until the year of jubilee. At that time he and his children will no longer be obligated to you and they will return to their clans and go back to the land originally allotted to their ancestors." The year of jubilee was every 50 years.

And verse 4 tells us that they borrowed up to the limit just to pay their taxes. We discover through history that Persia collected a lot of taxes. They were tax-hungry. The Persian Empire was flush with gold and silver from taxes. When Alexander the Great conquered Persia, he found 270 tons of gold in the capital of Susa alone, which today at $1,700 an ounce would be 30 billion dollars.

So they collected a lot of tax. And Nehemiah responds to their complaint in verse 6: "When I heard their complaints, I was very angry. After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, 'You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money.' And I called a public meeting to deal with the problem."

He says, "I became very angry." Angry in Hebrew is the word "hara" and it means to be hot, furious, burn, to be incensed. And did Nehemiah act on this furious anger? Yes, he did, but wisely. Nehemiah 5:7 says this: "And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and their words. After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers and I said to them, 'Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.' So I called a great assembly against them."

So he says, "After serious thought, I rebuked these nobles and officials." There is such an important lesson for us here. When Nehemiah got hot, angry, hot, furious, burning with anger, before he did or said anything, it says he first gave serious thought. It's very interesting the word that is used for serious thought here in Hebrew.

The word is "malak" and it means to ascend to the throne, to take counsel, to induct into royalty and to begin to reign. He took counsel when he got angry. Listen again: it means when he got angry, he ascended to the throne of God. He took counsel from the throne of God. He was inducted into royalty and began to reign from that perspective. That word "malak" is used 284 times in the Old Testament, and nearly every reference is to a king reigning.

How does today's lesson apply to me? When you get angry, slow down, stop, ascend to God's throne and take counsel from the king of the universe. Psalm 4:4 says this: "Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent." That's so wise, to think about it overnight. Have you ever been angry, wanted to act on that anger, say something or do something, but you did not? You went to bed, woke up, and realized in the morning what an enormous mistake it would have been had you acted on it.

A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outburst. Billy Sunday was an evangelist in the early 1900s. She's trying to rationalize her angry outburst. She said, quote, "There's nothing wrong with losing my temper. I blow up, then it's all over." Billy Sunday said, "So does a shotgun, and look at the damage it does." Proverbs 14:29 says this: "He who is slow to anger has great understanding and profits from his self-control. But he who is quick-tempered exposes and exalts his foolishness for all to see."

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today for Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. We're in the book of Nehemiah right now. To give this a second listen, either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, and you can watch our services live or on demand. We could also send you a CD copy if you'll call 717-273-5633. Once again, that's 717-273-5633.

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Let me also give you our mailing address: Study the Word, 740 Willow Street, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, 17046. We hope you can join us for a Sunday service. For more information or to watch the live stream, visit ccleb.com or again go to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. We'll cover some more ground in Nehemiah next time on Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. This program is furnished on this station by Calvary Chapel Lebanon, Pennsylvania.