Revelation 1
Nehemiah 1-2
Psalm 96
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Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading
But, the condition of the literally city of Jerusalem is more than a point of historical trivia to us today. The condition of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah is a shadow-picture of the spiritual condition of God's people, in the Last Days.Nehemiah 2:17 "Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach."
To demonstrate this, let's begin by looking up the word "reproach" in a Strong's Concordance. The word translated as "reproach" in Nehemiah 2:17 is from the Hebrew word cherpah, which means: "a shame, blasphemous, exposed, and a disgrace".
Revelation 3:13-17 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."Notice how similar the description of the Laodicean condition is compared with the condition of Jerusalem:
#1. Condition of Jerusalem: Gates burned with fire
Nehemiah 2:17 "Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach."
Jerusalem's gates were burned with fire and its walls needed to be rebuilt. What does this symbolize? To answer that we first need to recall what the purpose of a gate and city walls were, in Biblical times. Gates and walls were put up to protect a city. They kept the evil out and preserved what was within. Thus, a city with burned gates and broken down walls was a city with no protection.Nehemiah remedied the crisis of literal Jerusalem by setting about to rebuild the broken down walls and replace the burned gates. But how can we do this vital work in a spiritual way, to find healing for the spiritual brokenness of a Laodicean spirit?
In Proverbs, a human soul is compared to a city. When there is no "rule" in the soul, we are as spiritually defenseless against the enemy's onslaught as a Bible-times city would have been, without its walls.
Proverbs 25:28 "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."Spiritually then, what is our "wall" of defense? It is God's Rule!
God’s Law is a vital Blessing. Through Grace-empowered obedience to it,
we are blessed. Through sinful disobedience to it, we are cursed.
• Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a
curse. A blessing, if ye obey the
Commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the Commandments
of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day,
to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”
• Psalm 19:7-9 “The Law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of
Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of Yahweh are right,
rejoicing the heart: the commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of Yahweh are
true and righteous altogether.”
David Was
Listing the Parts of the Law in Psalm 19! He was also listing the powerful ways
the Law blesses us
• The LAW of Yahweh is perfect – converting the soul (the Law is what truly
converts a sinful soul)
• The
STATUTES of Yahweh are right – rejoicing the heart (the Law is a source of
great joy to the heart)
• The
COMMANDMENT of Yahweh is pure – enlightening the eyes (the Law brings
wisdom)
Defining the Law
– the word translated as “Law” in the Old Testament means:
– “Law of Yahweh”
is translated from the original Hebrew word Torah (to-raw), meaning: “A
precept, or statute, especially the Decalogue, or Pentateuch: - Law” (Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, #8451).
Defining the Law
– the word translated as “Law” in the New Testament means:
• “Law,” is the Greek word Nomos. Nomos, according to Strong’s
Concordance (#3551), means: “Law, regulation, specifications of Moses, also
of the Gospel, a principle.”
By these definitions, we know that the Law of Yahweh: is the complete Torah – or Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy
In the Words of Christ, we can clearly see that Yahshua did not come to
do away with the Law, either in His Life or Death. The Law is still in full effect until
Heaven and Earth pass away.
·
“Think not that I am come to destroy
the law, or the prophets… For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, til all be
fulfilled.” Matt 5:17-18
The Law of Yahweh is so important that it is
actually the Standard by which we will all be judged:
• 2 Corinthians 10:12-13 “For we dare
not… compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring
themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not
wise. But… according to the measure
of the rule which God hath distributed to us…”
• James 2:10-12 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he
is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not
kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a
transgressor of the Law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be
judged by the law of liberty.”
There are two
Laws. We serve one or the other. One is the Law of Sin. The other is the Law of
God.
·
Romans
7:23-25 “But I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I
am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?… With the mind I myself
serve the Law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Sin = Breaking
the Law of God. Thus, without the Law, there would be no sin at all. This is
one evidence that the Law of God existed even prior to God’s Creation of Earth.
The Bible says that Iniquity – or sin – was first conceived in Lucifer’s Heart
(in Heaven) – Ezekiel 28:14-15. If Lucifer could sin, and sin is Biblically
defined as breaking the Law of Yahweh,
then the Law of God must have been in existence in Heaven.
• 1 John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the Law: for sin is the
transgression of the Law.”
Obedience to
God’s Law is a Salvational Issue. The Bible lists Law Breaking, calling it “The
Works of the Flesh.” It also says that those who break the Law by doing these
“works of the flesh” will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
• Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like… They which do such
things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.”
Spiritual
Warfare is only effective when we also believe in obedience to God’s Law.
Spiritual Bondage comes from Law-breaking. The more of God’s Law we break, the
more strong are the enemy’s shackles that bind our souls.
“His own iniquities shall take the wicked
himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins,”
Proverbs 5:22
How We Come to Be in Bondage:
What causes
a person to become enslaved to Satan in the first place? The answer is found in
Proverbs 5:22:
Our own
“iniquities” (our faults and sins) “shall take” (trap of catch in a net) the
“wicked” (the ungodly) himself. And we are all “holden” (held fast) with “the
cords” (rope or snare) of our sins.
What does “Holden in the
cords of our sins” mean? It means we are unable to get free from the devil’s
bondage.
Spiritual Warfare is NEUTRALIZED without
Grace-empowered Obedience to God’s Law:
·
According
to Psalm 59:1-2, God will not hear our prayers if we have iniquity (or sin) in
our lives.
·
We
are only Christ’s true disciples if we continue in His Word and know the Truth.
For the Truth makes us free – John 8:31-32.
·
What
is the epicenter of Truth – from which all doctrine is checked – and out from
which all Truth radiates?
o
“To the Law and to the testimony, if
they speak not according to this Word, there is no Light in them,” Isaiah 8:20.
The
Biblical Formula for True Success
·
Psalm 1:1-3
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Law of Yahweh; and
in His Law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Walking in the
Counsel of the Ungodly means – taking the advice of someone who disregards
or breaks the Torah.
Standing in the Way
of Sinners means – Hanging out with, and thinking, talking or acting like
the Lawless world.
Sitting in the Seat
of the Scornful means – disrespecting God’s Law either in our thinking or
by allowing it in our associates.
Delighting in the Law of God means to:
- Delight to do God’s Will - Psalm 40:8
- Hide His Word in your heart (memorize Scripture) - Psalm 119:11
- Delighting in His Law protects me from affliction - Psalm 119:92
- When I love God, I will keep His Commandments - 1 John 5:3
Psalm
119:97 “O how love I Thy Law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Instead
of Viewing God’s Law as a bunch of restrictions, we should understand it is our
guardrail of protection against the enemy. It is our spiritual wall of protection. As we prayerfully study it and incorporate its principles into our lives and homes, we are spiritually rebuilding the Wall, restoring our spiritual defenses and God's Protection against the enemy.
