We continue our studies in the book of Nehemiah. We've come to chapter 8. I'd like to go fairly quickly through this chapter and come rather, go quickly through chapter 7 and come quickly to chapter 8. Our title tonight, thinking of chapter 8, is the people of the book. We read in verse 1 of chapter 8, and the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before Watergate. Chapter 8, is a time of remarkable revival. But before we get to that, the wall is finished at the beginning of chapter 7. It tells us that when the wall was built, verse 1. It sounds a small matter. Let me try to emphasize the great task that has been accomplished. I'll do that in two ways. 52 days. Less than two months. Two and a half miles. 12 meters high, the wall. Two and a half meters thick. There's 34 watchtowers on the wall. Do you know if you work out the cubic capacity, if your mind thinks in meters cubed, 120,000 meters of wool were constructed or reconstructed. That's a staggering feat. In 52 days, with just 50,000 people, women and children included, and many of them having to guard whilst the work was going on. If you haven't quite got the point, let me try a different way. In 1535, in the time of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan Suleiman I ordered that the ruined city, the walls of the ruined city of Jerusalem, this same place, should be rebuilt again. It took them four years. 1537 to 1541. Why was Nehemiah sped along the way in this task? Because he was a man of faith. Because God was with him. Because this is a pattern for the Lord's work. There was prayer, much prayer. And the Lord, with the Holy Spirit's help, was speeding on the work, remarkably. Now the work of building the church won't get done in 52 days, but we will have all the helps, we'll have the Holy Spirit, we'll have prayer, we'll have the people working together, I trust, in unity, guarding, defending, standing for the truth. And when that happens, the Lord will be with us and we'll see great advances. Well, we come to chapter 7 and there's a new problem for Nehemiah. It would be tempting to think, job done, time to relax, go on holiday, get the deck chair out. Not Nehemiah. This is what it says in verse 4, chapter 7. Now the city was large and great, two and a half miles around. That was a big city in those days. But the people were few therein. They built the walls, they rebuilt the temple under Ezra some years before. But the houses were not built. There was insufficient places to stay so that the city could be guarded safely. Up until then, some of the people had had to travel in from the surrounding villages and then when the attacks came, they did a B&B for some to stay with friends and family. But now they needed their own houses. So the task hasn't been finished. The task of building the spiritual The city of our God is not finished in such a short time. And so Nehemiah is moved. This lovely verse, verse 5. My God, put it into my heart. That's the way the Lord works, isn't it? We hear truth into the mind, then the Holy Spirit applies it. to the heart, so that we're moved to change, moved to work, moved with conviction to do the Lord's work. My God, it's personal, put it into mine heart. We'll come back to that. So phase one, the rebuilding, is done, chapters one to six. Chapter 7 is the record of who was involved. We'll look at it briefly. Chapter 8 is revival. And then we see this reorganization of the Lord's people to re-instruct them. They had to be acquainted again with the Word of God, with the laws of God, with worshiping God in the way that God had ordained. And that's the rest of Nehemiah. That's the subject that we shall come to, and we'll come to chapter 8 shortly. Well, priorities for Nehemiah. The first priority, verse 1 of chapter 7. The wall is built, and it's set up the doors, and now they're secure. The enemy can't get in unless they let them in. And so the first thing that happened was the doorman, the porters, and the singers, and the Levites were appointed. But their main job was spiritual, not practical and physical. The singers were those that were to lead in worship, a special group of people, and they're numbered later, and the porters were the people that opened up the temple in the morning, and the Levites were the priests that organized the worship. The very first verse, after the walls are built, Nehemiah's priority, spiritual. Yes, we've got to keep the fabric of the building, But before the walls were even built under Ezra, they instituted the worship. And now the walls have been built, they appoint people to those tasks. I had set up the doors and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed, carefully chosen, the right people to do the right task. Well, we read in Nehemiah 13 verse 22, just turn over to that, we read that the gatekeepers had another responsibility. Perhaps we read, from verse 17. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, chapter 13, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? The reason we were in captivity was partly because we broke the Lord's day, the Sabbath day in the Old Testament. Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. And it came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, we would say Saturday night, Friday night for them, I commanded that the gates should be shut and charged that they should not be opened. until after the Sabbath, and some of my servants sat at the gates, that there should be no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day. So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware, goods and possessions that lodged outside Jerusalem Once or twice, then I testified against them and so on. Verse 22, and I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves and that they should come and keep the gates guard to sanctify the Sabbath day. And then he says, Nehemiah, remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. They had a job to do, these gatekeepers. It wasn't just a physical job for defense. It was a spiritual task. It was vital that this city was kept clean. This is the city of our God. This is the Lord's people. Out of this people will come Jesus Christ, our Savior. And it was vital that they were to be real Jews and to be in fear of God's word following his enduring commandments to keep this special day. So the first priority for Nehemiah, appoint new spiritual leaders. Well, there's to be another priority. What about secular leaders? Verse 2. We come to look at two important leaders. It's been said that any good organization, and I use a secular example, I remember when our children were at one school and the head teacher changed. You could sense the atmosphere changing in that school within weeks. The new teacher, a very capable lady, appointed certain teachers And they had a different ethos. And for Nehemiah it was vital that not just the spiritual leaders but the leaders who were to guard and take charge, as it says, over Jerusalem should be deeply spiritual men, faithful men. Two names are mentioned. Hanani and Hananiah. We go back to the beginning of Nehemiah to the very first verse. Rather verse 2, Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 2. It speaks of a man called Hanani. We assume it's the same man. That Hanani, one of my brethren. Who is this man? seems he's a blood brother of Nehemiah. You can't really read the text any differently. It says one of my brethren in chapter 1 and in chapter 7 verse 2 I gave my brother. Oh, alarm bells, nepotism. Is this jobs for the boys, as they sometimes call it, or favors for brothers and sisters? No. This man Hananai, in case we're tempted to think that deacons are being appointed or Sunday school teachers just because of their family blood ties. What does it say? Verse 2, that I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah, the ruler of the palace, we presume he wasn't a relative, charge over Jerusalem. One of his family and one who was from the palace. Why? For he was a faithful man and a God-fearer. And not just a God-fearer, but one that feared God above many. This man was qualified. It wasn't because he was related to Nehemiah. He'd proven himself. And there's a lesson there for us, isn't it? We have to be very careful, especially in a smaller church, where inevitably, and it's a good thing, We have a number of families that are quite large in their representation. Sometimes you think there's nobody that's not related to somebody, but that's not true. It's vital we have no favoritism. We choose on spiritual qualification, experience, And faithfulness, that's what this says. He was a faithful man, Hanani, and feared God above many. Let me add to that. When, in Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 2, it says, Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah, there was others, they're mentioned, and I asked them, how are the Jews doing? at Jerusalem that had escaped. He's referring back to Zerubbabel and his time, Ezra. He said, how are they doing? Give me a faithful report, those who have escaped. which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. He was trusted then and he's trusted now. And an eye is a faithful man. What does the New Testament say? You don't lay hands quickly on any man. If you're to be proven to be a pastor, a minister, a preacher, an elder, you're to be what? A man of faith. that's a quality for any position in the church, that you're not a novice, you are faithful. This man feared God, feared God above many, and he was a faithful, trustworthy man. Well, the third priority, we thought of the spiritual leaders, the secular leaders, verse five, and God put it into my heart, to gather the nobles and the rulers and the people that they might be counted. Oh, Nehemiah, haven't you got better things to do? Are you obsessed with numbers? That's not the reason. The numbers as it happens are mentioned in chapter 7 and verse 66, 42,000. 360. And then there's maid servants and man servants 7,337. And there's 245 singers. If you add that up, it's just under 50,000 people. Sounds a lot. Judah, the tribe of little Judah had an army of 470,000 fighting men. What a small remnant. Went back to Jerusalem in the third wave to do this work. Doesn't it remind us of Gideon? Too many. Still too many. Even fewer. When you think of who was left to actually do the building out of the 50,000, it wasn't many people. This was a work of faith. So why did they have a census? Well, it was for good order. It's right in the church. We know who's a member and who's not. Members in this church have a vote. Those who aren't members don't. And that's right, isn't it? How would we know if the next pastor was to be appointed in the future? Who would make that decision? Oh, I don't know. I've lost the list. It's out of date. No, we need to have an accurate record. That's one reason. Secondly, this is real history. Whenever we have lists, lineage of Christ, going all the way back, it's so that people know this is real people, real history. But the third point, I mentioned it, as we're going to see, this people, the 50,000. From there Christ will come. And it will be vital. These people are not polluted. These people are not of another nation. They were to be Jews. Jews by blood and Jews by heart. If you look down here in chapter 7, We see there are those that sought to be among this people and they were not. Let's read verse 63. And of the priests, the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, which took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife and was called after their name, These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. Just pause there. We read earlier Nehemiah found Ezra's register. You don't need to turn to it. Ezra chapter 2. It's almost identical to Nehemiah chapter 7. There's just a few minor differences, probably copying errors, doesn't change the meaning. It's almost a replica. They sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. Ezra's record was needed, so they had the families, but together, could be a record of who was one of the families that returned. Now carry on, verse 64. Therefore were they as polluted and they were put out from the priesthood. The priesthood had to be a holy people. Now this was a mixed multitude. This is the Old Testament. but it was vital that they were Jews at least by descent, so that the priesthood could be kept clean. If there was to be a mixed multitude racially amongst the priesthood, soon the nation would be corrupt. And that wouldn't be right, verse 65. And the Tushartha, the governors, said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with the Urim and the Tumim and so on. It was vital that there was a census made so that they had a record, and so that the people of God were kept pure, for Christ would come. The godly line needed to be kept holy. Purity matters. That's the lesson for us. In the Church of Jesus Christ today, we're not one race, except spiritually. We are of Christ. We're blood-bought children. We're adopted into his family. And as far as we possibly can, nobody who's not a blood-bought child of God should come onto the roll, onto the register. This is to be a holy are royal people, blood-bought children only, as far as we can tell. Fourthly, here's the priority, and then we'll move to chapter 8. In verses 70 to 73, the people come, they give gold, they give silver. Oh, it's a vast quantity. Amongst the 50,000 people, the nobles give very generously, 180 kilos of gold. Can you imagine what that was worth? Two and a quarter tons of silver, given willingly. A free will offering, if you please. Now in this church, at the moment, we don't hand round an offering plate. We don't have a need to. The Lord is always supplied by faith. We try not to rely on grants and government handouts. We believe in a free will offering by faith of the Lord's people of this congregation. Why? Well, it's the pattern here. That's what they did. They were coming back to spiritual work. They gave freely and they gave willingly. Let me just show you one verse in the New Testament. I've never spoken on this subject in this church and I'll keep my comment brief. Galatians 6, verse 6. Paul speaking, and he says, Galatians 6, verse 6, let him that is taught, that's you, in the word, communicate unto him that teacheth, that's usually me, in all good things. The word communicate means share, give, Generously communicate of that which is good. If you hear the word of God and that is a good word, not my word, God's word, let him that is taught in the good word communicate, give unto him that teacheth in all good things. That's all I'm going to say on that subject. But that's what they did in those days. Now let's come to chapter 8. This is one of my favorite chapters in the whole of the Word of God. I spoke on it here the second time I ever preached. Now, chapter 8. The walls are built. Nehemiah's organized the people. They're going to return, the houses are going to be built. Temple worship has been organized. They're going to guard. They're coming in and they're going out. That verse that said, only open the doors when the sun is hot. That confuses some people. That means wait till late in the morning before you open up the doors where the enemy might come in. And before it gets dark, make sure they're closed. Just a few hours for business to be done and trade. But now, chapter 8. This is all spiritual. Let's just note some points here, very briefly in this chapter. The first point, all the people gather. Not one left out, that's what it says. And all the people gathered. When we come together to worship, All the people of God must come. Don't stay at home if you can possibly come. They all gathered themselves. There's far too many to gather to the temple, so they gather in the street. How do they gather? As one man. What does that mean? They were united. They had one heart, one mind. What mattered to them was that God's word was read and they knew they needed to approach their own sin The sin problem of 70 years had to be dealt with. So they all came. They came as one man. Where did they come? You can see the application. I hardly need to reply. All these things. They come before Watergate. Not the scandal in America. They come before that gate. where the picture is of the living waters, Jesus Christ, and the word of God, the law, is read before the place that pictures Christ, the living waters. This is the place for revival, isn't it? God's word, the law, and the picture of Christ in the Jerusalem. of earth and of heaven. These are beautiful, beautiful words. And so what do they ask for? They speak to Ezra. Ezra's been there for 13 years alongside Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the project leader. Ezra was the scribe. And as soon as there's an important spiritual task, Ezra, the scribe, and then he's called in verse two, Ezra, the priest. Ezra, come quickly! Go and get the scrolls. There would have been many of them. Not one. They were as long as 30 feet wide. And they would have been read. They bring the book. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. How long? It literally means from the time it got light until midday. I don't think they stood all that time. It says they stood as he began to read verse 4, but for six hours. They wanted God's word to be read. I think in six hours, you'd get through a lot of the first five books of the Bible. But more than that, they had to explain it. And even more than that, probably the majority of the people spoke Chaldean. They'd been in captivity for 70 years. The godly Jews probably would have kept the Hebrew tongue. I'm sure the young people, they didn't know what it meant. They needed interpretation so they could understand it in their own language. But look at the hunger and the desire. Six hours. Ezra reads it. He's got seven on the right and six on the left. There's a big pulpit party. And then there's another long list of names. The people go among the people, I imagine. There was little groups of 500, 1,000. The people had questions. Like an adult Bible class. What does that mean? What does that mean? And it says, they gave the sense. What was vital was that they understood. This wasn't like the Roman Catholic Church. Latin, deliberately to confuse the people. No, they needed to understand. And look, lovely picture. There's a wooden pulpit. made for the purpose. Why? Why do we have this old pulpit above the people so you've got to look up? Because God's word is to be above the people. God's word has weight Authority. We should be looking up to God's Word. We should be looking up to God. We should have reverence and respect for it. I know it's only a symbol. Look at verse 4. Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood which they made for the purpose. It's there for a reason. To give us respect. Do we reverence the Word of God? Do we respect it? And then there's those stood beside him. Look at verse 5, and Ezra opened the book, or would have been the scroll, in the sight of all the people. This isn't done in a dark corner. This isn't his own thinking. The people need to know where this comes from. God's Word. This is our authority. That's why we have this lectern here with an open Bible. I like it to be open. I like the children to see what we're doing. He opened the book in the sight of all the people. For he was above the people. In case you haven't got the point. When he opened it. All the people stood up. I imagine they sat down, it would have been quite tiring. Verse 6, Ezra, bless the Lord. Oh, this was a time of spiritual awakening. They hadn't gathered like this for years. And he worshipped and he praised. There would have been a long prayer, I'm sure. The great God, that's just shorthand. What do the people say? Amen. Amen. 50,000 people as one man saying, what does that word mean? I agree, I agree. I sometimes preach in another church, I'm not going to tell you where. And if I pray three times at the beginning, before the message and at the end, I don't hear one amen, and it hurts me. It quenches the spirit. Is that right? Amen. Amen. They lift up their hands. It's a sign that they're together. And they bow their heads. This is dignified, reverent worship. It's not a show. The people are moved in their hearts and they worship the Lord with their faces to the ground. Oh, this is revival. 50,000 people gripped by the word of God. We'll look at it next time. They've heard the law. The first five books called the law. It's all they had of the Bible at the time. But they wanted to hear that word. They knew they'd done wrong. What does it say in verse 3? I know it's in italics, but it's the sense. And the ears of all the people were attentive. That's what we want. Children on a Sunday morning, Sunday evening, listening on every word, attentive to the book of the law. This is revival. It's not about music. It's not drama. It's not funny stories. It's people under the power of the Word of God, gripped by the power of God, convicted of their sin and praising God. The Holy Spirit is moving among the people. God is there. God is at work. The people are worshipping in spirit and in truth. And that's what we want here. We don't want anything else as a church. We don't want celebrity this and celebrity that. We don't want to be famous. We want God to be here. When that happens, when people come through those doors, they will say, I've been with the Lord's people. And there was something different here. I heard God's word. and it brought me to my knees, and I worshipped the Lord as never before, and I wept over my sin. I was with a man this morning who told me of his conversion, a remarkable conversion from drugs and crime and prison. And there was nobody else involved. God's word spoke to his heart. He went home and he said to his wife, I've got to get rid of all the drugs. I've got to stop growing marijuana at home. And she said, why? We're making good money out of that. He said, no, God would call me to lead a holy life. And with the Lord's help up until this day, that's the way he's sought to live and he has lived. And that's Christian conversion. The work of the law of God upon the heart, where we turn from wrath to righteousness, and from sin to the path that leads to heaven. This is revival.