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God Has a Plan

God Has a Plan
January 21, 2018

Scripture: Nehemiah 11:1-12:26

I. God plans for you to live together with His people in a city.

A. In Nehemiah 11 we see the leaders of Jerusalem deal with the problem first mentioned in Nehemiah 7:4: “The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.” The walls of the city had been rebuilt. But no houses had been rebuilt. Also those relocating to Jerusalem would have to leave behind their farmland and their crops and their grazing land for any sheep, goats and cattle they owned if they were going to live in the city. Not too many then wanted to live in Jerusalem so a lottery was devised to get people into the city (Neh. 11:1).

B. Everyone who lived in Jerusalem made a sacrifice. They put God’s plans for Jerusalem above their own individual plans. God needed to repopulate Jerusalem so that He could send His Son there to save the people. God also plans to populate a New Jerusalem of heaven. Revelation 21:2: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

II. God plans for you to live together with Him.

A. The entire city of Jerusalem was called the holy city (Neh. 11:1). The mention of the priests and the Levites and the gatekeepers in chapters 11 and 12 would have caused people to think about the temple where God symbolically lived in the Most Holy Place. God’s plan was that the temple’s work would be brought back to life so that people would regularly come and meet with Him and worship Him. God planned for the daily, weekly and seasonal celebrations of worship at the temple to take place once again so that He could be with His people.

B. If you tried to enter the most holy place, one of the temple gatekeepers would have stopped you. If the people offered the sacrifices God wanted at the temple, why couldn’t they come into the direct presence of God? Hebrews 10:3-4: But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Animal blood could not finally remove our sin. We needed the blood of a perfect human sacrifice to bring forgiveness from God. We need Jesus to have free and open access to God.

III. God plans for you to live together with Him and your family.

A. These are far more than lists of names in Nehemiah 11 and 12. They are family names, with family ties and connections that stretch back over several generations. All throughout these chapters you are seeing the ancestry of several families listed. What does that tell you? Faith in God was nurtured and encouraged in godly homes among the Jews. These parents followed the command of Psalm 145:4: “One generation shall commend your work to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” On the day that the church was born, on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached these words in Acts 2:39: “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” God wants entire families to be together in their love for Him and in their experience of salvation.

Application:
Pray for others to live with you and God for eternity in heaven.

Sources:
The book of Nehemiah
Commentaries on Nehemiah by Derek Thomas, James Hamilton Jr. and Carrie Sandom.