"Synagogue of Satan"?!
The whole of Revelation was meant to be a circular letter among the seven churches of Asia Minor; as the letter begins, there is a short message from Jesus to each of the churches in turn. Today we look at the second message, to the church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11).
Today’s Reading: Revelation 2:8-11 (day 03 of 30)
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
Jesus introduces and identifies himself in a different way in each of the short messages to the seven churches. Here’s the key to understanding the point of each respective message: use the description of Jesus to underscore the point he is making.
So here, Jesus stresses his Resurrection. As we’ll see, the message to the church in Smyrna is: be faithful, even if it costs you your life.
9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
The early Christians were all Jews; in fact, the early Christians thought of themselves as Jews who followed Jesus as Messiah. There were synagogues in many of the cities around the Mediterranean, and in Smyrna it seems that the non-Christian Jews had collaborated with the Roman authorities to persecute the followers of Jesus. That’s why John calls them “Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” John saw these Jews as doing the work of Satan.
At this time, the Christians in Smyrna were a tiny, poor minority without social standing or power. Over the centuries, of course, Christians would become the dominant force in Europe, and we all are aware of the ugly and shameful history of European Christian anti-semitism. Here, however, those words don’t apply.
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
The church in Smyrna is poor and persecuted, but Jesus is pleased with them and encourages them not to give up. In fact, the way they will “conquer” is precisely by not giving in, even if it costs them their lives.
In the same way, that’s how we will conquer: by remaining faithful even to the point of death. What looks like losing—martyrdom and weakness—is actually strong because of the Resurrection.
Don’t be afraid today—every courageous, faithful step you take is a step toward victory, no matter what it looks like today.
Zombie Church
The entire text of Revelation is a circular letter shared among seven churches located in separate cities in the Roman province of Asia Minor (which is modern-day western Turkey).
But at the beginning of the letter there is a specific message from Jesus to each of the seven churches in turn.
Today we begin with the message to Ephesus. And that message is:
Beware lest you become a zombie church.
Today’s Reading (day 02 of 30): Revelation 2:1-7
2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
Ephesus was the greatest city in the Roman province of Asia, and one of the places Paul lived during his apostolic ministry.
The one with the seven stars and seven lampstands is Jesus (see chapter 1). He is walking among the churches (we learn in chapter 1 that the lampstands represent churches), which means he knows them intimately, both their good and their bad.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
One of the major themes of Revelation is truth, and Jesus commends the Ephesians for their hard work and their commitment to truth. Apparently, there were people who claimed to be apostles but were charlatan, and the Ephesians correctly identified them as such.. The way one discerns between true and false teachers in the church hasn’t changed: true teachers teach in accordance with the faith that’s been delivered to us from the true apostles; false teachers invent new teachings and doctrines. Always test everything you hear in church by comparing it with the vast, ancient body of Christian teaching.
3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Though the Ephesians are courageously bearing witness for Christ in a hostile culture, nevertheless they have ceased to love each other in the way they did at first.
Truth is important, but true doctrines are nothing if they are not joined with loving hearts. To love is to will the good of the other.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
What does it mean for the Lord to remove the lampstand of the Ephesian church if they don’t repent? I think it means that they would become a zombie church. In other words, they might not literally cease to exist as an organization, but because of their unfaithfulness, the life-giving Spirit would leave.
How many churches do you know that fit that description?
6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
I’ll say more about the Nicolaitans on Thursday. As to what it means to “conquer", this is actually the central message of Revelation to the churches—what it will look like for them to “win”. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, but let me say that to conquer in Revelation means bearing true witness to the truth of Jesus.
Anyway, I think the idea of the Spirit being removed from an unfaithful church is a convicting idea. Such a church would have “the form of religion, but none of the power.” A zombie church, in other words: one that looks alive, but is actually dead.
Lord, save us from such a fate.
Apocalypse Now
Today, we begin to read and study the last book of the bible, Revelation.
We’ll read through it over the next 6 weeks, with readings assigned Monday-Friday; we’ll finish on the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested. As always, the daily article will go live at 3:30 AM and will be emailed to anyone on my email list at 4:00 AM.
(If you haven’t yet picked up your Revelation book and bookmark, there are available for free at Munger; if you don’t live in Dallas, you can also order one for yourself here.)
Apocalypse is a Greek word that means “uncovering” or “disclosure” or “revealing” (from which we get our English word revelation). John is on the Mediterranean island of Patmos on a Sunday when he receives an apocalyptic vision which he later writes down and circulates among the churches of the wealthy Roman province of Asia Minor (the western part of modern-day Turkey).
The book of Revelation is that letter.
The difficulty of Revelation comes from the fact that John is writing as a Jewish-Christian prophet and sees his vision as the culmination of the entire tradition of biblical prophecy; this means his vision is replete with allusions to and images from the Old Testament, allusions and images with which we are not familiar.
The good news is that once you see that the key to John’s letter lies in understanding how he connects his vision to the Old Testament, it begins to actually make sense!
Today’s reading (day 01 of 30): Revelation 1.
John hears a voice, turns, and this is what he sees as his vision begins:
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The lampstands are the clue. Lampstands were meant to be used in the Temple; the lampstands here tell us that John’s vision has taken him to a version of the Temple, where heaven and earth meet. He sees Jesus in a robe—like a priest—but he is majestic and transfigured, so majestic and transfigured that John falls down upon seeing him as though dead!
Jesus graciously puts his hand on John’s shoulder and tells him not to be afraid and that his task is to write down the content of the vision and share it with the seven churches in Asia. Since seven is the number of completeness, the letter is actually for every church, and not just for the seven historical churches mentioned.
What All This Means
The churches are symbolized by the seven lampstands that Jesus is holding in his hand.
The lampstand is imagery from the Old Testament Temple (which had been completely destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 by the time John has his vision). The Temple was supposed to be where heaven and earth came together; the Temple was supposed to be a new Eden. This means that, just as with the physical Temple before it was destroyed, the church is now the place where heaven and earth come together. Every church is meant to be Eden! What can you do to help make your church more like a Paradise for anyone who comes in contact with it?
The lampstands are in the hand of the Lord! This means that, despite historical persecution or other challenges, the church can be confident that we are exactly where Jesus wants us to be today.
P.S. Bonus Content
The more familiar we are with the Old Testament, the more John’s vision will make sense. Here’s one quick example.
The prophet Zechariah was active in Jerusalem at the time that the first wave of exiles (led by Zerubabbel) returned in 538 BC from Babylonian captivity. Zechariah had his own apocalyptic vision, and this is part of it:
4 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
Zechariah 4:1-7
Sound familiar? It’s the background for the initial part of John’s vision, above.
As we will see, this part of Zechariah’s vision is very important to John because of what the angel tells Zechariah: it is not human power but the Spirit of God that will win the victory. More to come on this fourth chapter of Zechariah later, especially when we get to Revelation 11.
Nehemiah's End + Housekeeping Notes
Today is the last day of our Nehemiah reading; the book ends not with a bang but with a whimper.
Instead of ending with the victorious and thrilling celebration that Nehemiah leads after the completion of the walls (our reading for yesterday about which I didn’t write because I didn’t have anything interesting to say!), the book ends instead with proof that Nehemiah’s great leadership has not actually changed the people.
What does that mean?
Short answer: we cannot save ourselves, because the problem is within every human heart.
Long answer: you’ll need to watch my sermon for this Sunday. I recorded it last night and I think it would be better for you to watch it than for me to try to summarize it here. Sermon will be available at mungerplace.org and via podcast starting at 6 AM Sunday.
Revelation Comes Next!
We are going to start reading Revelation together on Monday, October 12. More details to follow.
At Munger, we are handing out Revelation booklets. If you don’t live in Dallas but want to follow along, you can buy one for yourself here.
“We will not neglect the house of our God.”
I can’t win.
If I talk about tithing—giving 10% of whatever comes in to the ministry of Christ’s church—folks will just say, “Of course you say that. You’re not a disinterested party, and you just want our money.”
If I do NOT talk about tithing, then folks will never understand that it’s important!
In our reading today from Nehemiah 10, we see that Nehemiah and Ezra have the people pledge to give a tenth part of their income to the ministry of the newly-rebuilt Temple. This is an important part of what repentance looks like—to commit to living the right way.
It’s really that simple. If you are a follower of Jesus, you need to be a tither—whatever comes in the door, give 10% of it to your local church.
If you think I’m just after your money, then I’ll call your bluff: if Munger is your local church, then just find another local church and give it there. That’s how much I believe in tithing.
American Confession, or If I Were President
It strikes me that we—as Americans—have never really reckoned as a people with our history of slavery and its terrible consequences. Yes, of course, many individuals and politicians have given speeches lamenting our original sin and promising to do better, but to my knowledge as a nation we have never confessed, asked for the Lord’s mercy, and promised to move forward with repentance.
Reading Nehemiah 9 has made me think that now is the time for a national prayer of confession.
Nehemiah is a story of rebuilding. 140 years after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and its citizens taken off into exile (586 BC), Nehemiah leads a group of returning Jews back to the city of their fathers to begin to rebuild (446 BC). He starts with the walls around Jerusalem, which—due to his remarkable leadership and the Lord’s favor—they miraculously rebuild in only 52 days.
After that, Nehemiah (the governor) and Ezra (the leading priest and reformer) lead a covenant renewal ceremony with all the people gathered. The reason that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 was because the Israelites had forsaken the covenant and sinned—generation after generation—against the Lord. Actions have consequences, and the Lord won’t hold back judgment forever, and finally the doom came down on the stiff-necked Israelites.
Now, Nehemiah and Ezra are beginning again, and in a remarkable worship service (narrated in Nehemiah 9), the people pray an agonizing prayer of confession and repentance that is worth reading in full:
“Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”
“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
The Agreement of the People
38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”
[Nehemiah 9:5-38.]
One of the reasons we have so much racial division in our country is because as a people we’ve never confessed our corporate sin. All of us who are Americans today are inheritors of both the blessings left by the Americans who came before us, and the burdens of the sins they committed. The only way for the cycle of sin and hatred to be broken is through the grace of God, which—by definition—we do not deserve and have no right to receive.
And yet the Lord is a merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God is eager to hear the prayers of a contrite heart.
I believe the heartrending prayer in Nehemiah 9 offers us a way forward. It is time for national repentance.
National repentance requires national leadership. The only person who can speak for the entire nation is the President of these United States. Not as a candidate or member of a particular party, but as the representative of the entire people.
If I were President—God help us all—if I were President, I would pick a date on the calendar and begin to call our nation to participate in a national prayer of confession and repentance. The militant atheists wouldn’t like the mention of God—what else is new?—but even some people with no faith could observe some minutes of silence.
The thought if it stops the breath. Think of the image of the President on his or her knees in a place of national significance—Gettysburg or the Capitol or Arlington—leading the nation in prayer and asking for the Lord’s mercy. It is only then that we could begin
“to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Until a national confession, I don’t see us moving forward freely into that future. As a nation, we have no right to be forgiven, and yet the Lord delights in showing mercy to the humble and penitent.
All we need to do is ask.
Until that day comes, may Christ have mercy on us all.
The Feast is the Point
Continued from our previous episode:
Nehemiah—feeling prompted from the Lord—has gathered the people for a census.
While they are all gathered, Ezra—who is a priest and a scribe, and who hasn’t yet appeared in Nehemiah’s memoir—stands up on the platform and begins to read from “the Law”, i.e., the first 5 books of the Bible, Genesis-Deuteronomy. (He’s probably reading Deuteronomy.)
While he reads, some of the other priests make their way around the crowd and explain the scripture to the people:
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. [Nehemiah 8:5-8]
In other words, it’s not just you who needs help understanding the Bible—so did the ancient Jews! The Bible requires learning to fully appreciate, just like everything else in life.
And then an extraordinary thing happens. The people, whose ancestors had ignored the Law and so had eventually been conquered by the Babylonians, these same people start to weep with guilt at their sins and rebellion against the Lord! In Christian language, we’d say that a spiritual revival started as Ezra read from the Law.
And it all began with Nehemiah following the Lord’s prompting to assemble the people for a census.
It is good for God’s people to feel guilt at our sins, but it is not good for us to remain in a state of despair, because the Lord offers forgiveness to us. So, as the people are weeping over their sins, Nehemiah goes around and tells them that JOY is where the Lord wants to leave them.
The same is true for us. The goal is always joy. Confession of sin—thanks be to God—is a means to an end.
Or, as Nehemiah so memorably puts is:
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
I hope you can feast today.
Today’s Nehemiah Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-12.
What Big Thing Does God Want to Start From Your Small Step?
Nehemiah 7:5-73 is the sort of thing people skip over when they read the Old Testament, as verses 6-73 are simply a census list of the returned exiles.
BUT
That boring detail is actually a key step to an amazing spiritual breakthrough.
Nehemiah has a sense that the Lord wants him to take a census of the people:
Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. [Nehemiah 7:5]
Nehemiah is obedient to the Spirit’s prompting, and he begins to gather the people for a census. The rest of the chapter is a list of the exiles.
Who cares?
The reason this matters is that chapter 8 (coming tomorrow) tells us that when Nehemiah gathers the people together for the census, there is an amazing revival among the people! (Again, more tomorrow.)
Today, we read that Nehemiah feels prompted to take a census, and that small obedient step leads to a big spiritual breakthrough.
Here’s my question for you: what small obedient step do you feel as if the Lord is asking you to take TODAY? What if there is a BIG BREAKTHROUGH waiting in your future that all depends on your small step today?
A Test Worthy of the Man
The wall is completed in 52 days.
Destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians, 140 years later Nehemiah’s leadership results in the walls around Jerusalem being rebuilt in 52 days.
The accomplishment is so astounding that the surrounding people are filled with awe and terror at the obvious favor of the Lord on Nehemiah’s life and in support of the beleaguered Jewish community of exiles in Jerusalem:
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. [Nehemiah 6:15-16]
But the accomplishment is all the more impressive with the next details that Nehemiah gives us as to the complicated web of corruption and intrigue he faced when building the wall. (See today’s passage: Nehemiah 6:15-7:4.)
Allow me to share an extended quotation from Derek Kidner:
“While chapter 5 brought to light the severe strains beneath temporary unity, these three verses reveal a still more serious threat in the disloyalties that might have sabotaged the whole enterprise, and which would persist to the end of Nehemiah’s story (see the final chapter).
This evil, like the other, found its foothold in the more prosperous levels of society, this time through the love of power and status rather than primarily through love of money. Tobiah was a more insidious influence in this respect than Sanballat, since he was probably a fellow-Jew…. His numerous binding agreements (by oath, 18) within the Jewish community were probably trading contracts, facilitated by his marriage connections…. While such links and loyalties were embarrassing enough in themselves, we now learn how busily they were exploited by intrigues, persuasive talk, leaks of information and threatening letters. All this, in addition to the outside pressures already described, brought Nehemiah under attack from almost every quarter. It had been a test worthy of the man, and it was not yet over.”
May each of us take inspiration today from Nehemiah, a truly great man.
How to Respond to the Haters
You can be doing anything of value—literally anything—and you will face opposition.
If Handel were premiering Messiah this week, someone would write on Twitter:
“Sure, the music was pretty good, but I HATED the part when we had to stand for the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.”
It doesn’t matter what it is—there will ALWAYS be someone who complains, dishonestly critiques, or otherwise tries to compromise what you’re doing.
Opposition is inevitable, which is why I like Nehemiah so much—he never lets opposition get in his head. In today’s passage (Nehemiah 6:1-14), he gives us three different ways with which to respond to opposition.
First, Stay Focused On What Matters Most
6 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, but the enemies of the Jews want to stop him from completing his project, so they try to distract him with a pretext for a meeting. I love Nehemiah’s response:
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
Stay focused on what you are building; ignore the folks who only want to tear down.
Second, Don’t Feel You Have to Respond to Lies
5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
The charge that Sanballat levies against Nehemiah is that the rebuilding is just a cover for a rebellion that Nehemiah wants to lead, with himself as king. This is a serious charge, because presumably the Persian king would not take kindly to rebellion in Jerusalem. And yet Nehemiah doesn’t take the bait:
“No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”
And he goes on with the work.
Don’t feel the need to respond to every lie that is said about you.
Third, Be Prepared to Stand Your Ground, Come What May
10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
A false prophet—on the enemies’ payroll—tries to persuade Nehemiah to hide for his life in the Temple. Nehemiah rejects this suggestion:
“Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.”
Nehemiah decides that he has a job to do, and if it costs him his life, so be it. In other words, he doesn’t give into fear.
Fear is a lie, and it never comes from God, so don’t give it undue power in your life today.
As you are engaged in building something beautiful, what opposition are you facing today?
Walls Won't Work When the Enemy is Within
Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #5): Nehemiah chapter 5.
Walls won’t work when the enemy is within.
The walls of Jerusalem are meant to protect its citizens, but as Nehemiah is engaged in the task of rebuilding those walls, the poor people of the city come to him and tell him that they are being oppressed by their fellow Jews. In other words, the enemy is not only without, but within the city. Nehemiah promptly and effectively confronts the elites that are behaving in that way and even gets them to willingly agree to change their economic practices. However, this sour note in the rebuilding process is a foreshadowing of what will happen at the end of the book.
Today’s Leadership Lesson from Nehemiah:
The narrative then jumps ahead and we learn that Nehemiah is actually the governor and that his first term lasted 12 years! And then, he gives us this insight: though he was entitled—as governor—to tax the people to pay for food for his retinue and for himself, he never took a dime from the people; rather, he paid for everything out of his own pocket.
Great leaders serve their people.
Whom can you serve today?
We Prayed...and Set a Guard
Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #4): Nehemiah 4:1-23
Nehemiah is a model for faithful action. Unsurprisingly, his rebuilding project faces opposition, and the enemies of Israel conspire to come with violence and tear down the half-rebuilt wall around Jerusalem. So, this is what he does:
“We prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against [our enemies] day and night.” [Nehemiah 4:9]
We prayed…and set a guard.
Prayer informs and undergirds action. We still need to act, but prayer makes our actions meaningful.
Pick Up the Stone Right in Front of You [Day #3]
Don’t skim or scan today’s Nehemiah passage. Yes, it first seems like a tedious list of who did what when, but I think it’s worth reading for 2 reasons:
All the specific historical details are a clue: this really happened!
All the names and groups of people listed are an insight into Nehemiah’s leadership genius: he got everyone to do a part.
The rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem is a difficult project to undertake, and it will only be successfully completed if Nehemiah gets everyone to do his or her part. Which, of course, is what he does.
Friends, there is a lot of building to do, and it can be overwhelming—where do we begin?
Take the next faithful step right in front of you; pick up the stones right there, and get to work on your section of the wall.
Let us rise up and build!
How to Be Strong No Matter What Happens [Day 2]
It’s the kind of detail you miss if you don’t have access to a good Bible commentary (or a learned and refined blog like this one):
Four months pass between Nehemiah chapters 1 and 2.
Nehemiah 1:1
Now it happened in the month of Chislev….
Nehemiah 2:1
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes….
“Chislev” is the Jewish lunar month of November/December, and “Nisan” is the Jewish lunar month of March/April. Our story begins in chapter 1 in November/December 446 BC, and then resumes four months later in chapter 2 in March/April 445 BC.
In other words, Nehemiah has been praying about his meeting with the Persian Emperor for four months!
Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #2 of 15): Nehemiah 2:1-20
How to Be Strong No Matter What Happens
I love the story of Nehemiah’s life-and-death meeting with Emperor Artaxerxes that’s told in our reading today. As the cup bearer to the king, Nehemiah is a close personal aide and advisor to the king, and yet he is still taking his life in his hands with his audacious request to be sent back to Jerusalem—at royal expense(!)—to rebuild it. I love his gulped prayer (v. 4) and how he then boldly pushes ahead. And, the king grants his request!
Nehemiah’s four months of prayer have prepared him for this moment in 2 ways:
He has become the kind of person who is able to simply do the right thing when the moment comes. Disciplined prayer shapes us like an athlete’s training—when it’s game time, you just do the right thing without thinking about it. Disciplined prayer is God’s way of making us wise.
He knows that he has been praying and that his life is in God’s hands; whatever happens, God is with him. So, when the moment of decision comes, he gulps out his prayer and just pushes ahead.
What if you started preparing today for your next challenge in the same way? Circle something in prayer, and when the moment comes, walking boldly ahead, knowing that you are in the hands of the Lord.
That’s the secret of strength.
P.S. Today’s Leadership Lesson from Nehemiah
When applicable, I’ll add a brief leadership lesson to each day’s reading. Here’s today’s:
When Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he doesn’t tell anyone what he’s there to do. Rather, he goes by night and silently inspects the walls, learning about the state of the ruined city before he shows his hand.
Listen and learn first, and then act.
446 BC
For the next 3 weeks (weekdays only), I’m going to be reading through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, which is all about rebuilding after disaster.
Talk about timely.
You in?
(Trust me—it’s one of the most inspiring stories in the Bible, and most of it is told in first-person as a direct memoir from Nehemiah himself.)
Scripture for Day 1 (9/14/2020):
The story begins in November 446 BC, and to understand what’s happening, a few historical facts are in order:
In 586 BC, the Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem and carried off the Israelites into exile in Babylon;
In 539 BC, the Persian empire conquered the Babylonian empire;
In 538 BC, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great permitted the Jews to return home to begin to rebuild, and a small group of them did so;
Over the next several generations, the rebuilding moved forward slowly, in fits and starts (this story is told in the Book of Ezra).
Much of the book of Nehemiah is a memoir written by Nehemiah himself, and as the story begins in November-December 446 BC, he is working for the Persian emperor in the Persian citadel of Susa.
Prayer becomes an essential part of Nehemiah’s story, and before he makes his move (we’ll read about it tomorrow), he spends 4 months in prayer.
What do you need to circle with that kind of intense prayer today?
P.S.
My sermon yesterday was about today’s Nehemiah passage, and it centered on this question:
What if God needs to change you before he changes your circumstances?
The Nastiest Verse in the Entire Bible - Psalm 137
In 586 BC, the Babylonia Empire razed Jerusalem to the ground and removed its people into exile in Babylon, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Psalm 137 comes from the time immediately following that cataclysm; it closes with what is perhaps the nastiest verse in the entire Bible.
137 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
Unsurprisingly, the exiles first action upon arriving in Babylon (between “the rivers”) is to lay down and weep.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
Willow trees grow alongside rivers, and when the exiles arrived their oppressors taunted them to “sing about Zion!” It wasn’t just that Zion had been their home; it was that Zion was the home of the Temple, the Lord’s “house.” Did the Babylonian victory mean that the Babylonian god was stronger than the Lord?
And so the Israelite exiles resisted and hung up their harps and refused to sing.
4 How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
This is the central question of exile, isn’t it? How can we stay faithful even when it looks like we’ve been abandoned by God?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
And so the psalmist declares: if I forget from where I came, then let my hand cease to work and my mouth cease to speak.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
Edom was an historic enemy of Israel, located to the south and east of the Dead Sea (in present day Jordan). We don’t know to what v. 7 is specifically referring, but it seems the Edomites rejoiced over Jerusalem’s fall, and the psalmist wants to be sure they receive punishment for their gloating.
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
The prophets had said that the Lord would use Babylon to punish Israel, but that Babylon would itself subsequently be punished for its wickedness. The psalmist says that whoever punishes Babylon will be blessed! (Historical note—Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC, not even 50 years later.)
The Nastiest Verse in the Bible?
And then we come to the nastiest verse in the entire Bible. After the psalmist sings of his misery at living in Babylonian captivity, he closes his psalm:
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
The psalmist pronounces blessing on anyone who beats out the brains of Babylonian babies. Presumably, he is saying this in a language the Babylonians don’t understand, as a bitter ironic response to the Babylonian guards’ taunts that the Israelites “sing”.
What do we do with that kind of language?
Let us not clutch our pearls and imagine ourselves to be so much above such emotions. It is literally unimaginable for us to consider what it would be like to have your city razed, women raped, children killed, and to be carried off into exile.
The psalms are our prayers to God. Because honesty in prayer is so important, there are times when are prayers to God will disclose just how evil are some of the thoughts of our hearts.
If we keep these sorts of emotions in, they will still be there, festering. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Evil produces evil. Babylonian wickedness provokes Israelite hatred. This is one of the many reasons our evil actions toward others are so dangerous—they provoke them to hate me, thereby doubling injuring them, both body and soul.
The only way out of this trap is grace, and the only way out of the evil of the world is Jesus. Jesus died for his enemies, thereby showing us what God is like.
It seems counterintuitive, but the more we consistently pray our true emotions and read scripture, the more the Spirit will conform us into Christ’s image.
Some Cool Videos with Call and Response [Psalm 136]
Call and Response is found in musical styles all over the world.
Here’s Andrew Peterson’s beautiful song (based on a passage from Revelation) Is He Worthy?
I’ve written before about U2’s great song “40,” and in this famous recording from Red Rocks there is a fun call and response at the end. (How appropriate that it’s a psalm!)
I love the dancing of the school kids at the beginning of this video:
Psalm 136 is obviously a call-and-response song from Israel, with the leader working through the song and the congregation singing the refrain “for his steadfast love endures forever.” It’s fun to imagine the ancient Israelites singing this back and forth at the top of their lungs!
136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Why You Need to Stay Connected to Your Past - Psalm 135
It’s part of our national identity—forget the past, and look ahead. Almost all of our ancestors came from over the oceans (whether by choice or not) and made a new life in this country, and so Americans have been a forward-looking people, cut off from our past by thousands of miles of grey water. But the digital age in which we live is even more relentlessly-focused on an eternal NOW than were ages past: there’s no past and not really any future—just NOW.
The problem is that humans were not made to live disconnected to our past, because each of us is a product of the world that’s come before us. We will never be able to understand ourselves if we don’t acknowledge that we came from the past. One of the reasons modern man is so unhappy is because he is disconnected from his historical roots.
The Israelites knew this truth—they knew they lost a connection to the past at their peril. And so they sang songs to remind themselves—and teach their children—of who they are, from whence they came, and of whose they are.
Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, someone like me—who comes from the pagan peoples of northwestern Europe—has been adopted into Israel. Which means that Israel’s stories are now my stories.
Which means Psalm 135 is my family’s song!
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
give praise, O servants of the Lord,
2 who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
The Lord chose “Jacob” and “Israel” for himself, not because they deserved it, but because of the so-called scandal of particularity—that the One God would use one family—that of Abraham—and through that family would bring blessing to the whole world.
The church is the New Israel, and we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to everyone.
5 For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does….” How great is that?!
Pray BOLDLY today—nothing can stop the Lord Almighty.
8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and of beast;
9 who in your midst, O Egypt,
sent signs and wonders
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 who struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings,
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and gave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
Israel could never forget Egyptian slavery or the difficult journey to the Promised Land. There was opposition, yes—”Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan”—but by the mighty hand of God, Israel prevailed.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
There but for the grace of God go I. If it weren’t for God’s grace, I could think that sex and money and power are gods, and I could give my life to them. Thanks be to God I know who the Creator is and am blessed to live my life for a worthy purpose!
19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
AMEN!
Use This at the Bottom of Your Emails! - Psalm 134
This is a quick little psalm, and I think the final verse is a perfect blessing to send to someone:
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!