Download Nehemiah 4:1-3 - Dictations From The Spirit

Beginning Again
Lesson 26
The Walls Begun
Nehemiah 1-4
For copies of the notes to this lecture go to dictationsfromthespirit.com
History Matters
605 BC – neo-Babylonian empire, under king Nebuchadnezzar
begins forcing Judah into submission.
587 BC – Babylon destroys Jerusalem, destroys the temple that
Solomon built, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem
Jeremiah 25:12: “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will
punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the
Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make
it desolate forever.”
539 BC – Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon establishing the
Medo-Persian Empire
History Matters
Ezra 1:1-4: Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the
word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the
LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing,
saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the
earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has
commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and
let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of
the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And
whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place
help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the
freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
536 BC – first of three groups of Jews return to Jerusalem to rebuild the
temple
The Picture of a Perfect Prayer
Nehemiah 1:5-9: And I said, “ I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and
awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who
love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be
attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your
servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of
Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which
we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the
commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded
Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded
Your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you
among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments
and do them, though some of your were cast out to the farthest part of the
heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place
which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.
The Outline of a Perfect Prayer
Acknowledges God’s place – “LORD God of heaven”
Acknowledges the magnitude of God – “O great and awesome God”
Acknowledges the faithfulness of God – He keeps His promises – “You who keep
Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your
commandments.”
Acknowledges Israel’s wickedness – and includes his father’s house as well as
Nehemiah himself – quotes Scripture confirming the consequences of their sins –
“If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations.”
He believes in and acknowledges the full promise of God - again quoting Scripture
- if they returned to Him, He would bring them back to their land – “But if you
return to me…I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I
have chosen as a dwelling for My name.”
Asks for mercy
The Man Nehemiah
An Important Prophecy
Luke 19:41-44: Now as He drew near, He saw the city
and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you,
especially in this your day, the things that make for your
peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For
days will come upon you when your enemies will build
an embankment around you, surround you and close
you in on every side, and level you, and your children
within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you
one stone upon another, because you did not know the
time of your visitation.
An Important Prophecy
Daniel 9:24: Seventy weeks are determined for your
people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for
iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up
vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
Daniel 9:25: Know therefore and understand, that from
the going forth of the command to build Jerusalem until
Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublesome times.
An Important Prophecy
Nehemiah 2:5: And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king,
and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you
send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers tombs, that I may
rebuild it.”
Nehemiah 2:6b: So it pleased the king to send me
Nehemiah 2:1: And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in
the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes.
The twentieth year of Artaxerxes would be 445 B.C. The month
of Nisan is typically March/April. According to work done by
Sir Rollinson, the exact date of the commandment was in the
palace of Shushan on March 14, 445 B.C.
An Important Prophecy
A week, or a “7”, is equal to 7-years in Scripture
7 weeks + 62 weeks = 69 weeks; 69 weeks x 7 = 483 years
Babylonian calendar had 360 days in a year, so 483 years x 360
days = 173,880 days
Counting down from March 14, 445 B.C. using 365 days/year,
that puts you at April 6, 32 A.D.
Daniel 9:26: And after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be cutoff, but not for Himself;
The 5 “P”s of Preparing For the Journey
Purpose
John 3:17: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him.
Plan
Matthew 26:28: This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
the forgiveness of sins.
Prayer
John 17:1-2: Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify
you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to
all those you have given him.
Petition/Permission
Luke 22:42: Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but
yours be done.
People
Luke 23:34: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
Reaping and Sewing
Genesis 19:37-38: The firstborn bore a son and called his name
Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the
younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he
is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Deuteronomy 23:3: An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the
assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his
descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever
A Walk Through the Gates
Sheep Gate (vs. 3:1) is where we all begin our walk with Christ (Isaiah 53:6)
Fish Gate (vs. 3:3) Once saved, we’re to go to work. At the fish gate – we
become fishers of men
Old Gate (vs. 3:6) When asked questions by people, we go to the Old Gate –
the teachings of the Word
Valley Gate (vs. 3:13) Where we go during times of trials and difficulties –
testing
Dung Gate (vs. 3:14) the “dungy” things we say - things we don’t want to in
the testing – we need to confess and admit who we are before God
Fountain Gate (vs. 3:15) the place where we’ve gone through our stuff and
now want more.
A Walk Through the Gates
Water gate – Word of God and new life
Horse Gate – Revelation 19:14 – Jesus coming on a horse –
Jesus’ return
East Gate – Jesus will enter this gate in His second coming
Miphkad literally means “Judgment” – Jesus will bring
judgment with Him
Sheep Gate again – everything begins and ends with Jesus,
the Lamb of God
The Opposition Intensifies
Daniel 9:25: “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will
be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a
trench, but in times of trouble.
Nehemiah 4:1-3: When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he
became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the
presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those
feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will
they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of
rubble—burned as they are?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said,
“What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their
wall of stones!”
Nehemiah 4:4-5: Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults
back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5
Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have
thrown insults in the face of the builders.
Diagnosis & Cure for Discouragement
The Symptoms
The Cure
Loss of strength – 4:10
Unified the people – 4:13
Loss of vision – 4:11
Pointed to the Lord – 4:14
Loss of confidence – 4:11
Encouraged balance – 4:16
Loss of security – 4:12
Had a rally point – 4:20
Had them serve others – 4:22
Closing
Can you name one name one of the names of the people listed
in Chapter 3?
Exodus 3:7-8a: I have indeed seen the misery of my people in
Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave
drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have
come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and
to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,
a land flowing with milk and honey
For copies of this lecture
dictationsfromthespirit.com
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