Eskimo's Icy Wisdoms

Nehemiah Chapter 9

Hello again, today we move deeper into the rebuilding of the people of Israel. It wasn’t enough for them to feel bad about having sinned; it was time to do something about it.

[quote=Nehemiah 9:1]

1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads.[/quote]

Now, I couldn’t find it biblically where God told the people to wear sackcloth, however from my understanding and some research into the culture of the time, it’s more of an outward sign of internal change. So here you have a lot of people dressed up in scratchy, itchy, very uncomfortable clothing, and not only that!

[quote=Nehemiah 9:2]

2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers.[/quote]

They stood with just the Jews.  At this point in time they were probably intermarried with non Jewish people and this is a huge thing to step away from your family to show that you are repentant.

Then, they read from the Book of the Law and then prayed. Half the day was spent doing this, which means very little work got done. However; getting yourself right with God was far more important than tilling the field or pulling the weeds; without God at the head of their own lives, their family and their nation… How would things ever change?

I’ll let you read the prayer in your own Bible. Go ahead, it starts on verse 5 and continues until the next chapter. It reads like a rap sheet of sin.

Notice how they say what their parents did, acknowledging that the problem started before them, but not making excuses for it.

It is  especially interesting how they mention that every time they sinned, they became oppressed and were put into bondage until they cried out for the Lord. They know that’s what happened, and still repeated history.

Yet… At the end of the chapter… They allude to something more.

I’m afraid that’s all the time I have for this week, your comments and insights are welcome.

God bless you this week,

Until next time,

Eskimo

Well… Chapter seven starts out with some awesomeness

[quote=Nehemiah 7:1-3]
1 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.
2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.
3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”[/quote]

So they got the gates (doors) set up; basic security in a wall after all, and Nehemiah decides to put two of the most trustworthy men he knows in charge of guarding Jerusalem. Not because it was his brother, not because of military prowess, but because of integrity and fearing God.

Now let’s step back a moment here. Fearing God. This isn’t the “I’m afraid of going to hell so I obey God” Type of fear. It’s more of a “I am in awe and reverence to God and obey Him out of Love” fear. It sounds crazy, but if you think about it. Isn’t better to be afraid of misstepping in your walk, not because of the sin itself, but because you will disappoint your Heavenly Father?

I digress… So now you have two men that Nehemiah totally trusts setting up protection for the city. And of course Nehemiah gives them some orders.

I especially like the one about having the guards placed near area’s where they live. Protecting those nearest to you makes more sense with a reminder like that.

Of course, now that you have a city, you need people in the city right? So Nehemiah started going through the records of the people who came to the city.

Now you have to remember, genealogy is important. Knowing where you come from is important and with Nehemiah wanting to help restore the priesthood, well, those records telling who was allowed by Biblical rules to become a priest were extremely important.

You have to remember that waaaaay back in Numbers (chapter 1 and 2) God tells Moses about the Levites and how they are to be set aside for doing the work in the Tabernacle (Which got turned into the temple)

So know who was actually a Levite is a very, very good thing. You wouldn’t want to mess up orders from the Lord.

So what can we learn from this?

A couple things in my opinion.
You got Nehemiah who surrounded himself with good, Godly men and he found them to be men of Integrity. Are we being found as men of integrity or are we just doing good enough to get by?

Nehemiah got the walls built and the gates hung in record time by motivation and having God’s hand upon him. How often in our own lives have we failed to move forward because we were afraid to act or worried about what other people might think of us?

Knowing who your family is and where they come from is important. God blesses generations (He promises too, look it up!) children get blessed because of their parents, grandchildren get blessed because of their grandparents, parents get blessed by their children, all when they are doing what God has them to do.

I’m out of time for this week, homework is calling my name.

I hope this blesses you in some way and that you are challenged.

Have a most excellently blessed week,

Till next time,

Eskimo

Nehemiah chapter 6

It seems with every step forward Nehemiah was able to lead his people; the devil was stirring up others to try and stop them.
Of course, it seems to me that Nehemiah had good friends in those places to find out about these same schemes.

I think it was awesome how Nehemiah was able to resist the easy way out of the pestering from Sanballat and Genshem. Most people would have given in just to get them to shut up.

[quote=Nehemiah 6:3]
so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”[/quote]
He put it back on them, like “Why are you bothering me? I’m doing something important. If you want to see me, you come here.”
Then the threat came.
[quote=Nehemiah 6:6-7]
6in which was written: “It is reported among the nations–and Geshem says it is true–that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king7and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us confer together.”[/quote]
Of course Nehemiah knew this to be false, and… His reply still makes me laugh.

[quote=Nehemiah 6:8]
8I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”[/quote]

 
Isn’t that something so many of those tabloid writers are doing every single day? Making up stuff out of their head? And yet so many believe them to be fact… Just an observation made.

Of course it was just a scare tactic, trying to undermine the people, fear and conjecture will take the will right out of a peoples. So after realizing this, Nehemiah instantly goes to prayer. He doesn’t just blow off the whole thing; he goes to the one who has given him the strength to accomplish all of this great work. And he shows that short prayers are good too.

Poor Nehemiah, not only was he facing enemies from outside the walls, but even some of those inside had turned against him! He goes to visit a shut in and the dude is like “Nehemiah, you need to go hide in the temple. People are coming to kill you.”

To which Nehemiah replied “So? Why would a man like I am run away from adversity like that? Why should I run and hide like a coward in the temple just to save my own skin?” While that is my adaptation, you have to wonder what these people were thinking. Of course, Nehemiah explains that in the next verse.

[quote=Nehemiah 6:12-13]
12I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.13He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.[/quote]

One of the Jews agreed to be hired to do this! Why would they do such a thing? How can you betray someone like that? Especially someone who is trying to better your life…

The closing of the chapter is about the completion of the wall. How it took them only like fifty-two days to fix and rebuild. Imagine that! A whole wall done in 52 days. I don’t think that some people can fix a pothole in the road in that amount of time. The work ethic that drove these people was something I see sorely lacking in today’s generations…

That’s all that I have time for this week.

May God bless you this week in an extraordinary way,

Till next time,

Eskimo

CHAPTER 5!!!

… I had to read this one several times ot grasp the significance of it all. I mean seriously, The leadership of the city needed to be kicked in the buttocks and then replaced. The people would buy their families back from the gentiles and then have to re-sell them to get food… And the leadership just sat back in their wealth and didn’t seem to care! And they knew what they were doing was wrong. I mean Nehemiah hits them on the head verbally in verse 7 & 8
Quote:
Originally Posted by A very ticked off Nehemiah 5:7-8

7.
I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them

8.
and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
Nothing to say. Of course, with the man who was granted permission by the king to come out who united the people for a cause, what could you say?

Of course he didn’t stop there. Then he hit them in their money bags.
Quote:
Originally Posted by A still ticked off Nehemiah 5:9 -11

9.
So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?

10.
I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop!

11.
Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them–the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil.”

Alright, just for those of you who read this who do not know what usury is…

According to Dictionary.com:

1. the lending or practice of lending money at an exorbitant interest.
2. an exorbitant amount or rate of interest, esp. in excess of the legal rate.

This reminds me so much of our world today. Everyone is looking out for #1 and not for the good of their neighbors. Think about having to decide between starvation or selling your wife, son, daughter into slavery… And then when you go to your friends and neighbors for help they charge you so much money that you have to give them your whole income from your job, or your car or your house to pay them off…

You gotta admire the guy, he had guts and a massive backbone. He saw what they were doing wasn’t right and called them on the carpet for it. They of course had nothing to say. (I can only imagine the excuses our current leaders in our country would have)

Of course the leadership agreed to give everything back, but being a shrewd man, Nehemiah made them swear an oath in front of the priests. Then, to seal the deal, Nehemiah took off his cloak and shook it off.

Quote:
Originally Posted by A calmer Nehemiah 9:13

I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!” At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Nothing like putting the fear of the Lord in somebody to get them to keep a promise.

So life moves forward and suddenly Nehemiah is promoted to Governor. Not just for the city, but for all of Judah! This means he was in charge of the country basically. What a step up! The king was obviously pleased with how Nehemiah was handling things.

And just to show, (remember kids, actions speak louder than words!) Show that he was not like the previous governors, Nehemiah paid for everything himself. He didn’t take the food and silver allotted for the governors office from the people. Instead he fed all the officials, visiting dignitaries and other people who came by from his own pocket. This was like a massive tax break for the people. Instead of saying “times are tough and we need more money to fix things” He turned around and said “God wouldn’t want me to do this, yes times are tough, but I’m not going to make them harder.”

His ending prayer shows that he knew his reward would come from heaven, not from earthly men. His feet were firmly planted in the ground while his face was turned towards heaven.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nehemiah 5:19

19. Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.
I can only pray to have the integrity and courage Nehemiah did. While I may not face the same issues he did. Having the courage to stand up against the crowd and those in power is something that is harder to do than one would think.

God bless you this week,

Until next time,

Eskimo

CHAPTER 4!!!

WOW! I mean really WOW! Talk about adversity… People were going out of their way to cause trouble for the Isrealites, mocking them and then planning to attack them! Picture that today…

“I don’t want you putting up that fence, so me and my buddies are gonna come by and start harassing you until you stop.”

But then you got Nehemiah sitting back there praying

[quote=Nehemiah 4:4]

Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity[/quote]

And God heard Nehemiah and I think gave him the tactical plan of having half the people stand guard while the others worked. Then Nehemiah went a step further and had everyone with a weapon. Instead of being cowed by the antics of Samaria and the Ammonites, He stood fast in his hope and faith in the Lord.

And then the baddies (Easier to spell. ) saw that their plans were foiled they didn’t attack and everyone got back to work!

Then when the Isrealites were afraid again, for they were spread thin and with all the rubble the enemies could sneak up on them, Nehemiah got everyone together and said,

[quote=Nehemiah 4:19-20]

19. Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall.

20. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”[/quote]

So I can just see the first time the baddies tried something:

Baddy #1: “Let’s get those guys over there!”

Baddy #2: “Sounds good, on the count of 3. 1, 2… Wait, did you hear a horn?”

Nehemiah: “CHAAAARGE!”

Baddy #1: “Where did all these other guys come from! I’m outta here!”

Baddy #2: “Not if I get outta here first!”

Of course I’m sure it helped that Nehemiah had trained soldiers with him to help re-train the Isrealite’s in fighting, and those poor guys, may not have even been Jews, yet they fought for Nehemiah anyway.

The man was a great leader, he had the guts to tell a King what troubled him, he had the faith to go to Jerusalem, the Charisma to get people working together on rebuilding, and the mind to see the tactics needed to protect the people while they worked.

God gave victory to Nehemiah and the Isrealites because they went to Him with their problems and God provided the insight necessary to use the resources they had available to bring victory.

Just something to think on this week.

God bless,

Till next week…

Eskimo

Chapter three listed all the people who worked on the rebuild. It amazed me to read about how many people were already living there and who had not done anything to try and repair the walls (at least its not listed) and suddenly rallied behind Nehemiah.

Of course, with the way the guys were talking in chapter 2, its no wonder people were afraid. Fear is the strong tool any dictator has over people…

Sorry guys, I don’t have much more to add to this chapter.

Well… I do have a few things.

If you read the chapter, think of exactly how many people were working. Could you oversee such a project? Without God’s help I know I would fail. Yet Nehemiah got all these people into it, even the daughters were helping out as much as they could. (Verse 12)

One thing I would like to point out is the state of the walls…

You have four walls for Jerusalem, on the Eastern and southeastern side of the city, the wall had to be totally rebuilt from the ground up.On the Northwest and Southwest side, all you ahd to do was repair the wall. *they built things to last then, according to the little research I have done, archaeologists found parts of that wall and it was eight feet thick!)

Still, I think the hand of God being on Nehemiah was awesome to get all these people working together so quickly.

What are your thoughts?

until next week,

Eskimo

Chapter 2 brought on just how much the news unsettled Nehemiah and how much integrity he must have had with the King… All of the sudden he is given a blank check to fix his ancestral home… I don’t know of many people I could trust with a blank check.

Not only that, it goes to show that even when you don’t think your boss is paying attention, they do notice stuff… In fact, the King wanted to know when Nehemiah would return! Talk about making an impression.

Then he goes back to see how things are, not telling anyone why he was there. And he surveyed all the damage that had been wrought upon the city. I like how Nehemiah keeps talking about the Lord’s hand being on him.

One thing I did find it interesting what he said to Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab…
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nehemiah 2:19-20 said:

19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”

20. I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”
He doesn’t answer their question, instead he moves forward with the claim that God will give them success based on divine right. Not only that, he feels it is beneath him to answer their query, if they had an issue they could have contacted the king via messenger… Interesting in how he dealt with them.

What are your thoughts on Chapter 2?

Until next week,

Eskimo

This was written to be for guys, however it applies to all people of God. I hope you enjoy. I plan to update this every week on Monday or Tuesday.

Nehemiah chapter 1

Let’s get some background first. The book of Nehemiah is about the main character depicted in the story. Many people credit Ezra for the writing of Nehemiah as many people put the two books together previously. (Me, I like to think it was his faithful steward named Bob. Simply because he was so awesome at his job and blessed by God a longer name would have been ostentatious! See, Bible studies can have humor too. )

The time period of the book is after Daniel, 465 – 424 B.C. According to the historical notes I have here. (For those of you curious, Daniel was around 650 B.C. from my research.)
Nehemiah’s name means “Yahweh Comforts”.

Chapter one starts out with Nehemiah asking his buddy Hanani about the people who were allowed to return to Jerusalem. Hanani gives Nehemiah such bad news that it causes the man to break down in tears. (Wept being the term used in the Bible) The walls and gates of the once great city were destroyed and burned. The distress Nehemiah felt wouldn’t leave him. He mourned for many days. Think about it, you just found out the crown jewel of your ancestral past, the city that housed David, Solomon, the Golden city with its many gates, gone. I would think it’s much the same we felt after the events of 9/11. Something grabbed us by the guts and squeezed.
So after mourning several days, Nehemiah starts to fast and pray. His prayer is one that is born of compassion. I have posted it for you here so if you don’t have your Bible handy, you can read the words.

[quote=Nehemiah 1:5-11]
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[b] and observe Your[c] commandments, 6 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. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;[d] 9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you 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.’[e] 10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” [/quote]

He begs God to listen to him, knowing he is unworthy because of the broken covenants. His compassion for his people drives him to intercede in prayer for them. He owns the fact that he has sinned. Not just the nation, but right there in verse six, “Both my father’s house and I have sinned”. (Emphasis added)
Now I’m as guilty as anyone of trying to push the blame off on someone else, it’s an easy habit to fall into. Yet one that I seem to welcome more than most, redirect the blame, it wasn’t my fault… The oldest thing in the book; clear back to Genesis. Yet here we have an example of Nehemiah owning up not only to his sins, but claiming them and begging forgiveness for them.
I have to ask, when was the last time we did that with God?

Nehemiah’s compassion led him to pray as an intercession for his people as a whole. Not just his family, but the entire nation. He didn’t think small, nor did he ask for something small.
Compassion seems to be in short supply anymore, just turn on the TV, special interest stories abound with that one person or a couple friends who have compassion and do something extraordinary. Why isn’t that the mainstay? Why can’t it be? Even if it’s not with fan fare, making sure you keep your eyes open to help that mom with three kids get her groceries to the car, even if it means having to sit an extra ten minutes in traffic, wouldn’t your compassion be worth it? Or holding the door open for the group of senior citizens as they leave the coffee shop? Compassion can flow in whatever we do, so long as our hearts are with our masters.
These questions are not ones I expect you to have an instant answer to. I just want you to think on them. If they pricked my spirit, they must be important enough to share.

I close with this.
Nehemiah was worried about his homeland, and hearing how bad of shape it was in, he prayed and fasted for it, begging God to intercede. He had a comfortable job as the King’s cup bearer, yet these things still mattered to him. His heart was open to God and to people. That gives me hope that the world can still be changed if we men have the same heart attitude.

God bless until next week.

Eskimo

Well, Spring classic is over and we finished in 10th place. We are going to Stanwood for our final match next month.

We get three weeks off before fall leagues are scheduled to start.

Not much else to report.

Sorry its just a list and not an update on bowling scores… I have to post those soon too. However I wanted to share some of my favorite songs. At least songs of the moment.

Philips Craig and Dean – Mercy Came a running

Philips Craig and Dean – Greatest Song of All

Carman – Heart of a Champion

Carman – Satan, Bite the dust

Carman – The Champion Carman – Lazarus Come Forth

Carman – Prayer Anthem

Carman – Sunday\’s on the Way

Jeff Moore and the Distance