Historical Review of God’s Covenant Loyalty — Neh 9:1-15
Posted by Paul Apple in Christian on February 28, 2010
Jesus instructed His disciples regarding the greatest commandment of all: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:36) How are we doing in obeying that command?
One thing that greatly helps is to truly understand the character of God. Certainly Jesus Christ Himself is the supreme revelation of who God is: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3) But one main reason we study the OT is to learn of the attributes of God so we can love Him more deeply and worship Him more fervently. God has not changed – He is the same today as He was back then.
The revival of the Jewish people in the days of Nehemiah under the teaching of Ezra the scribe put renewed emphasis on that OT revelation. We saw last week how they listened and submitted to the Voice of Truth as it was read to them from the law.
The Celebration of Truth — People of the Book — Neh. 8
Posted by Paul Apple in Christian on February 21, 2010
Voice of Truth Lyrics [Casting Crowns]
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win”
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says “Do not be afraid!”
And the voice of truth says “This is for my glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.
We have many voices calling out to us – which voice will we choose to listen and believe?
- Voice of Temptation
- Voice of Inadequacy
- Voice of Doubt
- Voice of Humanism
- Voice of Pride
Truth floats my boat – there are many things we choose to celebrate in life – maybe some of you have recently celebrated a birthday; certainly the Olympic athletes are celebrating their great victories in the Vancouver Games – God’s people have special occasions that merit celebrations as well
The Importance of Godly Worship — Neh. 7
Posted by Paul Apple in Christian on February 14, 2010
Why was it so important that the Jews return from exile in Babylon and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? What was God trying to accomplish? What was the ultimate goal? There were a ton of devastated cities back then; cities where enemies had trampled down the people and burned their walls and reduced their houses to a pile of rubble. What was so special about Jerusalem?
This is a transition chapter between the two main sections of the Book of Nehemiah. You cannot study this chapter in isolation. It is a transition between a historical record that centers on the governing leadership of Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of the city and a record that centers on the priestly ministry of Ezra in reviving the people. Beginning in Chap. 8 we will see the importance of the Word of God in that revival process. We will see the necessity of holiness – including the corrective process of repentance from sin and rededication to righteousness.
