God’s Compassion for His People

2:33And they ran down the street and they hid in a bush and waited. So, we come ambling down the street. I want you to picture this scene. You've got Dustin over here on the right, okay? You've got this elderly Mexican woman who's about four foot eight, and then you've got me on the left side. Well, we get down the street, and these two kids jump out of the bushes, and Dustin goes like that. The elderly Mexican lady goes, and I was like, oh my gosh!

3:13And they run away laughing. I kind of pull myself together and I look at this lady, and she's looking up at me like some escort service. All I could look at her and say was, lo siento. Not my finest moment as a leader. Well, friends, today we come to the book of Nehemiah, and we've called this series courageous leadership. And to set the context, I want to review some of the things that we learned last fall through our study of the book of Ezra. And so we've got to back up even further before that book starts. Under the reigns of King David and King Solomon, Israel was at its zenith. It was at its height in terms of political influence, in terms of its military, in terms of its economic prosperity.

3:58It was at the height. But after it reached that zenith over the next 200 years, the nation descended more and more into idolatry. And so God sent his prophets to the people and he warned them over and over again, you need to repent. You need to turn back to me. You need to worship me alone. But the northern kingdom refused. That was the ten tribes of the north known as Israel. So in 722 BC, God sent the nation of Assyria to conquer them. They were conquered. They were exiled. They were forced to conquer. To intermarry with these other people. And so, for all intents and purposes, the northern kingdom of Israel, those ten tribes, they ceased to exist. They became known as the Samaritans.

4:42And in the south, those two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, which were collectively known as Judah, they had brief seasons of revival and repentance, led by Josiah and Hezekiah and other godly kings. And so that meant that God didn't discipline them right away, but they too just continued further and further down the path of idolatry until God brought discipline on them. The nation of Babylon conquered Assyria, who had conquered Israel years earlier, and then they moved south and they besieged Jerusalem in 605 BC. And in 586 BC, they broke through the walls, they burned the temple to the ground, and they left the city in ruins. And so that's in 586 BC. And so through the prophets, both before the exile and during the exile, God is speaking to his people and he's telling them the same message over and over again: I have not forgotten you. I will never forsake you. I'm going to bring you back after 70 years, and I'm going to do this through a king named Cyrus who is not even born yet.

5:44And so God makes all these great promises to them, and that takes us to the book of Ezra, where we started last fall. And in the first chapter, we learn that in 539 BC, King Cyrus defeats the Babylonian army and defeats Babylon as an Nation. And in that first year, he tells everybody who is of Jewish lineage, you can go home. Anyone who wants to go back, you can go back and you can rebuild your temple. And so Zerubbabel, this first among these courageous leaders that we meet, he leads the first wave of exiles back and they get to work on the temple. But if you remember, they encountered opposition almost right away. And so the temple just sat there after they finished the foundation for about 15 years. But in God's providence, he raised up Haggai the prophet and Zachariah the prophet and then King Darius. And he told the people, you need to get back to work. You need to finish that temple. And so between 520 and 516 BC, that's exactly what happened. Then about 70 years after that, another courageous leader named Ezra the scribe, he took the second wave of exiles back to Jerusalem. And his main focus, as we remember from last fall, was to restore biblical worship, biblical worship in the temple and in the nation of Israel, so that God would once again be the focus as he was always supposed to be.

7:08Now at the outset of Nehemiah, where the book opens, it's about 13 years after Ezra arrived in Jerusalem. And the book represents the last recorded history of the nation of Israel. It's the last recorded history before what we call the 400 years of silence. And that's the time period in between the events of Nehemiah and the prophets. Who are prophesying during this time, all the way until the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. So, this is it. This is the last recorded history before that 400 years of silence. Artaxerxes is the king. He's been the king since 464 B.C., and it's now, as you see in verse 1, the 20th year of his reign. So, it's about 445 B.C. The month is Kislev, as you see there. That's November or December, according to our calendars. And he and his royal court are in Susa, the Citadel. That's the winter palace of the kings of Persia. Ekbatana was the summer palace, and Susa is the winter palace. And if Susa sounds familiar to you, it's because that's where Daniel has this great vision in the eighth chapter of his book. And it's where all of the events of the book of Esther take place, and Susa, the citadel. And also in verse 1, we're introduced to the main character of this book, a courageous leader named Nehemiah. Now, Nehemiah held a very important position. He was the cupbearer to the king. That meant he was a trusted personal servant. And God is about to move. And as usual, when God is about to move, he's going to use a godly, gifted leader that he has providentially placed to accomplish his purposes. You see, all throughout Scripture, God reveals himself as a God of compassion.

9:00A God who is not indifferent to the plight of his people, but a God who is sympathetic and concerned for the sufferings of his people. Look on the screen at Psalm 103. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. That is who God is. He is a God of compassion. He is a God who is slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. And the question is: how does God show compassion to us?

9:40Well, most often, God shows compassion through his people, and specifically through leaders like Moses and David and Ezra and Nehemiah, and yes, even ordinary people like you and me. So, what we're going to learn as we start Nehemiah today in this first few verses is that God shows compassion for his people through his people. So, let's look down at the text together. Look at verse 2. In verse 2, we see that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.

10:32So, Nehemiah's brother shows up at this moment in history. He's got some other men from Judah with him, and he asks about the welfare of Jerusalem and the people living there. And this is very important to note. Nehemiah had probably never been to Jerusalem in his life. He was born in exile. He was serving in the royal court. He had probably never been there, and yet he cares about the city of his ancestors. He cares about the city that housed the temple where God met with his people.

11:05And even more than he cares about the city, he cares about his kinsmen. He cares about his fellow Jews. Look at how he refers to them. He calls them the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile. So Nehemiah is asking specifically about those who came back with Zerubbabel in 538 B.C., and those who are their descendants, and those who came back with Ezra in 458 B.C. and their descendants. He's asking about all of those people.

11:38And Hananiah's answer is not encouraging. But before I get there, I want to pause and I want to reflect on how Hananiah refers to the people. Look again at the text and look at what he calls them. He calls them the remnant. Now, that's very important. Interesting because he's in conversation with somebody, and Nehemiah has just referred to these people as Jews. He's just called them Jews who had escaped, who had survived the exile. Now, if you're in conversation with somebody and they refer to people by a certain term, it's likely if you're going to answer them, you're going to use that same term. But Hanani doesn't do that. He calls them the remnant.

12:25And the remnant is a term loaded with theological meaning. It's very important. It is a clear reference to the promises of God never to forsake his people. In 1 Kings 19, you may remember in this chapter, the prophet Elijah is depressed. He's just seen this great victory from the Lord where God poured down fire on his altar. The prophets of Baal are humiliated and defeated, and yet he is depressed and he is crying out to God. He's saying, God, I'm the only one left. Life isn't even worth living anymore. And I want you to look on the screen at how God answers him. He says, Yet I will leave. That Hebrew word is the same word as the word for remnant. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.

13:23In Isaiah chapter 10, Isaiah is prophesying about the coming discipline of the Lord, the coming judgment and exile. Then Isaiah says this, look again at the screen. In that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. And then in Zechariah chapter 8, remember, he's prophesying during the first part of the book of Ezra, after the first wave of exile's return. Look at what he says in Zechariah 8: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in faithfulness and in righteousness.

14:25Hanani's response is not positive, but there's a reason that God inspired him to use the term the remnant. It's a clear reminder that God had not forgotten his people and that he had, in fact, promised never to leave them or forsake them. At the outset of our worship service today, we looked at Psalm 37. I want to put a few of those verses up again. Just get you to reflect on these for yourself, for our church. I have been young and now am old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. Turn away from evil and do good, so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice, he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever. But the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

15:28Friends, those words are true for the church, and they are true for you as an individual believer as well. Have you ever felt forgotten by God? Have you ever felt forsaken? Do you feel forgotten today? I think that there must be some of you who feel forgotten by God today. And perhaps you haven't sensed God's presence in your life for some time. You've grown discouraged. You've wondered at times, is he there? Does he care about me and what I'm going through?

16:09I hope and pray that through those words that we just read, you would be reminded today that God has not forgotten you. God will never forget you. He will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever. And if you do feel forgotten by God today, I hope and pray that you won't leave this morning before talking. To someone about that, find one of our pastors, find your life group leader, find a member here that you know, pull them aside and say, I am discouraged, I feel forgotten. Would you pray with me?

16:45Don't leave today if that's how you're feeling. Allow someone to minister to you from the body of Christ. That's what we're here for. That's our calling. So, back in verse 3, Hanani tells Nehemiah that the remnant, look at his answer. He says, The remnant is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire. Well, in the year 2019, you can understand that's a problem. Like, surely it's not good if the wall is broken down and the gates are burned with fire. But for a more complete understanding, we've got to go back to the 5th century BC to really understand why this was such a big deal.

17:42Understand that back in those days, a city's walls and gates were absolutely critical to its safety and security. Back in those days, armed marauders would simply decide that they needed or wanted some goods or some money or some Some servants, or some wives, or whatever, and they would raid a city out of nowhere. Sometimes kings would muster up their armies for political or economic gain, and they would raid a city. And so, the wall and its gates were the first and most important line of defense. When a city had a strong, high wall and strong fortified gates, any band of marauders, any army, had to ask themselves the question: is this really worth it?

18:34Is this really worth it to attack this city? A lot of us are going to die trying to get over or around the wall. Is this really worth it? But with no wall and no gates, you've got basically no safety or security, and that means you can't really make economic or political or social progress as a people either. But, friends, the trouble and shame weren't entirely related to economics and politics. The wall represented something more than that.

19:10The wall and its gates represented God's protection of his people. You think back in the Psalms and you consider how many times in the Psalms God is referred to as a rock, as a refuge, as a fortress. Think about that. Ancient hymn, a mighty fortress is our God. He's referred to in those terms so many times in the Psalms, and yet the walls of Jerusalem are broken down. The gates are burned with fire. They haven't been rebuilt in 140 years. They were broken down and destroyed in 586 BC. It is 445 BC. The walls and gates are still broken down. And so there's no doubt that enemies who passed by Jerusalem were giving voice to the thoughts in their heads and their hearts. If God exists, why doesn't he protect us?

20:14No doubt some of those people even said those things. Where is your God? If he's so strong, why can't he even protect you? Why do you not even have a wall or gates? So that brings us to another question. Why in 140 years have the people not tried to rebuild the wall and the gates? If it's such a big deal, why haven't they done something about it? Well, remember, they were in exile for the first 70 years. So there goes half that time. Then when Ezra came back and Zerubbabel came back, the priority there was to re-establish the temple, to rebuild it, so that God could be worshipped again. And then Ezra's priority was the spiritual worship of the people. So that's priority one. But then, if you remember back to Ezra chapter 4, they actually did try to rebuild the wall at one point.

21:07But opposition arose, and these adversaries wrote an accusatory letter to the king, and he wrote back and said, Command those people to stop working on the wall. And the worst part about all that was that the king who did that was this king, King Artaxerxes. He's the one who said at the beginning of his reign, tell them to stop rebuilding the wall. I don't want them doing that. And this guy not only had been in power for 20 years, he was going to be in power for 20 more years.

21:43So humanly speaking, there is no reason for hope. There is no reason to believe that the king who had said just a few years before, you cannot rebuild this wall, is going to suddenly change his mind and say, well, never mind, you can rebuild the wall. And so it looks hopeless. And anytime things look hopeless, it's a perfect opportunity for God to move and to show his power. And so look at what Nehemiah does in response to what Hananiah tells him. Look at verse 4.

22:22As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting. And praying before the God of heaven. How does Nehemiah respond to this report? He responds with compassion. He hears the news, he sits down, and he weeps for days. That is so convicting to me to read the level of compassion and concern that he displays for these people that he has almost certainly never met before. He is so concerned about them that it moves him to weep for days over their situation. What a powerful demonstration of Paul's command to us as Christians: weep with those who weep.

23:16Mourn with those who mourn. This was not his direct problem. He's got a cushy job. He's living in the palace of the king, serving the king his wine. He's a trusted personal servant. He lives hundreds of miles away. This is not his direct problem. And he could go on with his life and never think about the situation again. He could say, you know what, that's too bad. That sounds really hard for them. But he doesn't. He responds with great compassion for these people who are also sons and daughters of Abraham. He weeps for days.

23:56You know, friends, in our society, we're slowly losing the ability. To sympathize with other people, aren't we? We're slowly losing the ability to feel and to demonstrate compassion for others who are dealing with difficulty and loss. And as I was studying for the text this week, I came across this quote from the commentator Raymond Brown. Raymond Brown wrote this in 1998. Look on the screen: Modern society is crippled by selfish individualism. The sense of community concern has disappeared from many contexts in contemporary life. The ruthless pursuit of personal satisfaction has left many of our contemporaries with little time for projects which may benefit others. Our computers are starting to talk to us while our neighbors are becoming more distant and anonymous.

24:55I thought that was so insightful, and that was written over 20 years ago. Our computers are starting to talk to us. Yes, they are. We got an echo dot for Christmas. It talks to us far more than I want it to. Our computers are talking to us, but our neighbors, the people who live right around us, they are distant and anonymous. Many of us, we don't even know the names of our neighbors anymore. We're slowly losing our ability to demonstrate compassion for the Difficulties and trials that other people are going through. But, friends, Nehemiah had not become that way. He had not grown hard and cold to the plight of his fellow man. He had not allowed himself to get to the point where he couldn't weep with those who weep. He was still there. He still could experience and be moved with compassion. And because he had compassion for them, no doubt he wanted to do something for them. Because compassion always leads to the desire to act.

26:03Always. That's not to say you will do something every time you're moved with compassion. Sometimes you can't do anything. But when you're moved with compassion, you are always going to have the desire to do something to help. But what does Nehemiah do first? Look again at the text. Verse 4, he continues, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. This is so important. Whatever Nehemiah may end up doing to help his kinsmen, and if you've read Nehemiah before, you know what he ends up doing. But whatever he may end up doing to help his kinsmen, the first thing that he does is fast and pray. That's the first thing that he does. Why?

26:58Because he knew this. Situation was not fixable with a flurry of human activity. There was nothing he could do, humanly speaking, at this point. The Jews were not legally allowed to start rebuilding the wall, no matter how much they wanted to do it. The king who made that decree is Nehemiah's boss. Humanly speaking, there was nothing to do. So he knew that whatever he might end up doing, God was going to have to move first. And oh church, how we need to recover that conviction.

27:48We must recover the conviction that unless God moves first, all of our human activity is in vain. That is a word, especially for people like me and maybe people like you who are doers. Who anytime something goes down, your first inclination is to make a phone call, to make a text, to send an email, to start a non-profit, to get in the car and go somewhere to do something regardless of whether it's actually helpful. That is such a good word to all of us who are doers. We must recover the conviction that unless God moves, all of our activities Efforts are in vain. Yes, we might do some temporary earthly good through a flurry of human activity, but we will achieve nothing of eternal significance on our own.

28:47Doesn't Jesus, our Lord and Savior, teach us this? He said, Apart from me, you can do nothing. Not apart from me, you can do some things. Not apart from me, you might do some good. He says, apart from me, you can do nothing. And that is one of the main reasons that we've made our Tuesday morning prayer meeting one of the focal points of our week. It's because we're trying to recover the conviction that we can work as hard as we want to as a local church, but unless God moves first, we can achieve nothing of eternal significance.

29:34So Nehemiah hears this report, and he is moved with compassion, and then he gives himself to fasting and prayer. The content of his prayer we're going to consider next week. And as we move throughout this book, we're going to see that Nehemiah's compassion is a tangible display of God's compassion for his people. You see, Nehemiah was moved because God's people were in great trouble and shame. And that makes sense because God himself, our compassionate God, is moved when he sees his people in great trouble and shame.

30:18Go all the way back to the beginning in Genesis. When God created the first people, he put them in a perfect garden. They enjoyed unbroken relationship with God and with one another. They had meaningful work to do. The scripture says they were naked and unashamed. God gave them one command, eat from any tree you want in the garden, but don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But as many of us know, our first parents were tempted to disobey God's command, to question his goodness, to question his word, and they disobeyed God's command. And when they did, they hid themselves. And it was God who pursued them.

31:08It is always God who pursues us, and he calls out to them. But Adam and Eve are hiding, and they're hiding because now in their sin, they are naked and ashamed. They're no longer naked and unashamed. They're now naked and ashamed. But friends, God is coming. Compassionate. He is slow to anger and he is abounding in love. So he makes coverings for them and he promises that one day the seed of the woman is going to crush the head of the serpent. He promises over and over again in the Old Testament that he is going to send a Savior for his people.

31:50And thousands of years later, that promised Savior came in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. And one day, as he was looking out over Jerusalem, over the same place, and the descendants of these same people, he's looking out over them. And look at what he says, Matthew 9:36 on the screen. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. What Jesus saw was a people who were in great trouble and shame.

32:36And he had compassion on them because they had been in great trouble and shame since our first parents rebelled. And so, in his compassion, Jesus offered himself in our place, his perfect life of obedience in place of ours, and he died virtually naked on a cross, bearing our shame. Thankfully, Jesus didn't remain dead, but he rose on the third day victorious over sin and death, and his resurrection is now the hope for every person who believes.

33:12Friends, the gospel message is a message of God's compassion for his people. It is proof that he does not desire that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And for every one of us who believe, the gospel is a reminder that we are called to show compassion for those around us, for those who are lost in sin, as well as those who have already been found by God in his grace. Look at what Paul commands us in Galatians chapter 6.

33:48He says, Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. You see, Nehemiah shows us how to live out those commands. Nehemiah shows us how to weep with those who weep. He shows us how to pray and to seek God first, knowing that that's the best thing that we can do for anyone as an act of compassion.

34:30God is a God of compassion. And God shows compassion for his people through his people. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful that you are a compassionate God. We so desperately needed you to exercise compassion on us. A people who, just like our first parents, went astray. A people who, just like our first parents, rebelled against you and did not do as you commanded. We stand before you today, God, and we acknowledge our need for grace, our need for forgiveness.

35:42And we are so thankful to know that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have that compassion. Father, we pray that you would help us to become a compassionate people who are not indifferent to the plight of the lost, who are not indifferent to the people. To the plight of other believers, especially those in our local church, but who are eager to show compassion to them through fasting and prayer and action. Thank you, Father, so much for your word to us. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

36:20Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.