I started Romans back at the end of February, but then shifted to read Nehemiah through March as my church studied it. Today I return to Romans.
Romans2:1-5 – I can remember smugly reading this passage condemning the hypocrite who judges but assumes they won’t be judged, as if Paul was claiming that Christians are perfect or that I somehow was. No, rather he’s calling us to humility and repentance. Verse 4 says “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” Of course we presume on God’s kindness and forbearance, how else could we be saved? But, do we do so allowing it to humble us and lead us on that never ending journey towards repentance?
For too long I smugly counted on God’s blessings without thinking too much about my need to repent. Then, when confronted with my arrogance, I flipped it around, striving hard to repent but refusing to presume that He’s be kind to me.
No, the Gospel is both. We are constantly reminded that we sin, so we rely on Him to raise us and His grace in doing so prompts us to repent. With out the grace that we rely on, repentance is a never ending, ever faster treadmill, and grace that does not produce repentance is a hollow shell promising fulfillment yet delivering none.
Romans 2:12-16 – The law at one time divided the world into Jew and Gentile, those of the law of God and those not. Merely possessing the law, however, did not make the Jews righteous any more than lacking it made the Gentiles evil. it’s the content of their hearts, expressed in how they lived, that will God judge them on.
Romans 2:17-29 – Paul here points out the elephant in the room for those Jews who boast in having the law – none of them follows it. It is essentially of no value to them because they all are law breakers. In fact, some apart form the law follow better than some who have it, and God will treat tehm accordingly.
He’s setting them up to see that the law isn’t what they need, they need Jesus. He’s laying the foundation of the gospel, that we’ve all sinned

Nehemiah 13:1-9 – I’m unclear on the time line here. Verse 1 seems to indicate that they discovered the part of the law about associating with the Ammonites and Moabites on the same day as the events of chapter 12. Verse 4 inidcates that Tobiah was given the room before that, but the rest of the paragraph seems to indicate that Nehemiah had been away for some time and this had happened then.
So, was this just more reform that Nehemiah participated in, or was a a slip into old ways after Nehemiah left?
Nehemiah 13:10-13 – This passage seems to support that Nehemiah had returned to the King for a time and returned to find that people had slipped into their old ways.
It points to a challenge any leader has. Nehemiah’s heart was for God’s honor in all this, that seems to be what motivated him. It was a dishonor for the wall of Jerusalem to be broken, that lead to further restoration of the temple practices, following the law, etc. While he restored all these actions and behavior, based on what happened after he left, it’s clear that he didn’t instill in them the passion he felt for God and His honor. Those practices seemed good to them at the time, but once Nehemiah left and took his conviction with them, they felt no conviction to maintain them.
The bottom line is that it is easier to use your passion to create change in behavior than it is to create a change in heart. but a change in heart produces the change in behavior on its own, even if you leave.
Nehemiah 13:18 – Once again, they’ve forgotten the consequences of the sins of their fathers and are perpetuating them, thinking the same will not befall them.
Nehemiah 13:23-27 – The people had forgotten who they belonged to, they forgot the price that was paid by their ancestors and by God in His bringing Israel to the promised land and removing the pagan peoples from it for them. They no longer saw themselves as chosen, but simple another resident of the land. The blended in.
As disciples of Jesus in America, we do this all too often. There is no difference between us and the non-believers. We intermarry with them, thinking nothing of it. We allow our children to build unhealthy relationships with those who have no fear of God at all. We forget the price that was paid for us and in doing so we act just like Israel. The answer is not forming communes or closed, isolated communities, but we live a long, long way from that.
Nehemiah 13:14, 22, 29, 30 – Four times Nehemiah pleads for God to remember what he has done on His behalf. You can almost hear the frustration and the pleading. I can understand it, he’s trying his best and the people aren’t getting it. But I wonder if maybe there’s something in that repeated plea (and it’s happened elsewhere in Nehemiah too). Perhaps his focus was to much on the doing instead of teaching them to want to do on their own. It’s hard to say, but I wonder if perhaps he had done more to instill his passion on a few leaders if perhaps they could have carried the torch while he was away, and instilled that passion in a few more. Then they would do the same and the passion would spread leading to a longer lived revival.
Sound familiar?

I actually read Nehemiah 11 last week, but since it’s just a list of those who lived in and around Jerusalem, I didn’t have much to say about it.
Nehemiah 12:1-26 – A record of the priests and Levites.
Nehemiah 12:27-43 – They rejoiced and celebrated what God had done through them in rebuilding the wall and re-establishing Jerusalem. As he wrote in verse 43 “And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Nehemiah 12:44-47 – Restoration of the service at the temple.

Nehemiah 10:1-27 – Quite a few familiar names in this list of people who sealed the covenant: Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Daniel, Hezekiah – Are all of these the folks we are familiar with?
Nehemiah 10:28-39 – A re-commitment to the covenant tha God made with Israel, to return to the ways He commanded of them.
It’s no different today than it was then. We too easily forget what we have committed to with our God and fall into the same ways the world operates under. And just like with Israel, it’s not that we don’t know what to do but more that we forget what God has already done. They forgot the rescue from Egypt and the blessings of the promised land, we forget the cross and the grace of Jesus.
When we forget the gospel, we act just like Israel did – blending in with the nations around us.

Nehemiah 9:1-5 – What started as a simple exercise to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, has come to a full revival and a restoration of the people’s faith and trust in God. I suspect it was never really about the wall for Nehemiah, it was about God and His honor and his people, but I also don’t get the sense that he set out to accomplish this. The people standing, listening to the word for 1/4 of the day and confessing their sins for 1/4 of a day.
So, what happened that they went from building a wall to repentance and restoration of worship? I have to believe that it was Nehemiah’s faith. He relentlessly expressed his belief in God, his passion for His honor, his conviction that God deserved more than a crumbling city and a discouraged people. God was bigger, God was stronger, God was more faithful and Nehemiah wasn’t content to sit and see God get anything less than the best.
And Nehemiah’s faith was contagious, as they worked and watched his determination to honor God, they caught it.
Isn’t this how the Gospel works too? If we set out to get people to be faithful, to push them to a faith that is real and transformative, we will have some success. Some will listen and respond. But, if we simply relentlessly proclaim the gospel of Jesus, never letting up the proclamation of His glory and our inadequacy the people around us will get it. It will affect them, the gospel is contagious.
There surely were plenty of people in Jerusalem with belief in God. Why then did they not do what Nehemiah did? The weight of the world choked their faith, their problems were big and real and they forgot that God was bigger. Nehemiah came and refused to believe that anything was bigger than God and he refused to be deterred from proclaiming His greatness.
So, as I sit in my mediocre life, why, especially in light of the fact that I the love of God made so powerfully real in Jesus, do I act more like the residents of Jeruselem than Nehemiah?
Nehemiah 9:6-25 – As in so many Biblical revivals, it starts with a recounting of God’s goodness to them over the generations, even in spite of their forefather’s unfaithfulness. I wonder as they expressed it and remembered all that He had done, if they felt foolish for drifting away.
Nehemiah 9:32-37 – It comes down not to the ins of their fathers, but to their own sins. They have wandered, they have refused Him, they have forgotten all His faithfulness and they have received the resulting slavery that God had promised.
Nehemiah 9:38 – As a result of seeing their sin in contrast to His goodness, they made a covenant with God (Chapter 10). Isn’t this the gospel message? When we see ourselves honestly – weak, flawed, sinful, ungodly – and God clearly – loving, patient, gracious – we cannot help but fall down and worship.

Nehemiah 8:1-4 – “… and all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.” Nehemiah didn’t set out to restore the people to their worship and following of God, but that is what happened. He simply cared about their fortunes and the city that God’s people had called home.
Nehemiah 8:7-8 – It wasn’t simply read, there were men there to make sense of it for the people.
Nehemiah 8:12 – They rejoiced — why? “because they had understood the words that were declared to them”
Nehemiah 8:13 – The heads of houses meet with Ezra for further training and study.
Nehemiah 8:14-17 – They discovered something in the law that they hadn’t been doing, not in a long time. So, they reasoned and explained that, according to the traditions handed down, things were different now, we just don’t do those things anymore, and there are good reasons.
No, they saw something in the law that they weren’t doing – and they did it!

Nehemiah 7:2 – Qualifications for a leader – “more faithful and God-fearing man than many”
Nehemiah 7:6-65 – A big ol’ list of people. Kinda boring to read, but God told Nehemiah (verse 5) to make this list. These are the ones who put their lives on the line, who’s sweat went into restoring the wall. These are real people with real lives and families who did real work for the sake of God’s people.
Nehemiah 7:21 – Hezekiah get’s a shout out.
Nehemiah 7:70-72 – A record of the gifts to the cause.

Nehemiah 6:2 – How did he know it was a trap? Did he have inside info or was it just a hunch or intuition?
Nehemiah 6:5-9 – Nehemiah shows a cool, level head in the face of lies and provocations. I’m not sure that I would have been able to keep my cool and stay focused on the job at hand. My nature is to try to smooth over every disagreement and eliminate all confrontation. Nehemiah’s example of ignoring their threats and calls to dialog and staying focused on his plan is needed.
Nehemiah 6:13 – His enemies simply wanted him to be afraid and in his fear be distracted from the work, to run and hide and then, not only would the work be hindered but he would be discredited. Fear for our lives can , or our image more likely for us today, can quickly put a halt on anythign God has planned for us to do for His sake. I wonder how much good has not been done because of fear? How is fear stopping me today? Father, strengthen my hands and my resolve.
Nehemiah 6:14 – Rather than pursuing his own revenge, he simply asked God to remember what these enemies of his had done, and left it at that.
Nehemiah 6:15 – Because of Nehemiah’s determination and perseverance, they completed the rebuilding of the wall in less than 2 months.

Nehemiah 5:1-5 – I suspect that they were simply conducting business as usual. Those who didn’t have borrowed from those who did, interest was charged, etc. Not necessarily evil or cheating, but normal business. But they forgot that God had commanded that Israel be different. In Leviticus 25 God laid out rules for lending to each other including not charging interest, not enslaving each other and the year of Jubilee where debts are forgiven and servants freed. God called them to be a family and treat each other with uncommon love.
Nehemiah 5:6-11 – Nehemiah calls tehm on their sin, challenging them to fear God and do what’s right.
Nehemiah 5:12-13 – And they responded in repentance. I had a great talk with my girls last night about how to respond when challenged on their own sin. The human response is to defend immediately, to list out why it was OK, or in the very least what led you into sin. The goal is to excuse your behavior, minimize the offense and avoid the hard work of character change. This is not what the nobles did here. They listened quietly, took responsibility and committed to change. What I told my girls that I do is firs, immediately, even as the other is speaking, pray silently for humility and a willingness to see the truth. Then I listen considerately. Then I need to own my sin, not minimize it or excuse it, but own it. Sometimes there is discussion needed to clarify what’s happening, and of course sometimes I don’t see it as they do and we need to work it out. Tha’s why the first part, the prayer and desire for humility is so important. With humility I can deal with either a false accusation or a legitimate rebuke.
Nehemiah 5:14-19 – His concern was for the people and the honor of God. He even refused what was rightlyhis from the governor in order that God would be honored int hat time and place.