Good morning, we reach the end of another book. Thank you all for staying the course. Knowing you are reading is an encouragement. Today we will look at Nehemiah 11-13.

The Ministry
I did not expect to find this message to be about types of ministry, but this is what God is showing me.

Nehemiah 11:1 records that they chose people by lot to live in Jerusalem. This was a dangerous place to dwell.

Foreigners all around the region had chosen Jerusalem as their favorite target.

Today, the nation of Israel remains surrounded by enemies.

Because of the danger, people respected those who accepted that call (v11:2).

I equate this with people who accept the call to the ministry.

We will read of various levels of ministers in these chapters.

In verse 11:14, there is a select group of one hundred twenty-eight men of standing.

This could include all preachers, but these men of valour could have been elsewhere.
Pastors
Their love for God dictated they would be in the temple where He dwells. Therefore, I see this to be the Pastors.

They were the ones that would care for the city of God, and would do the “outside work of the house of God” (v11:16, NIV).

This does not mean taking care of the landscape, but going out to the community. Doing outreach.

My pastor is always in the hospital visiting sick members, or even friends and family of members.

He is performing the services at funerals, sometimes without a prior relationship with the deceased.

In between this, he is meeting couples to discuss weddings, and visiting people who had shown interest in our church.

I have texted him in the middle of the night, when heading to a hospital. He comes at any hour.

This is one aspect of ministry that the Lord has not put on my heart, or equipped me for. Therefore, I remain an itinerant preacher, with no desire to pastor a church.

In our church, there are only a couple of paid staff members. Whatever they pay, the pastor is not enough.
Music Director
The other employee of the church is our music director. He also takes care of administration duties and building maintenance.

All of this corresponds with the writing in v13:5.

This is fitting when we read in v11:23, which says “The musicians were under the king’s orders, which regulated their daily activity.”

I had aspired to that calling many years ago, but after praying, I could tell God had other plans for me.

I was not like the musicians who had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.

Involved and available for everything, but not in the city.

This resembles our deacon’s as well.

The director of musicians, ordained for this task, leads “songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (v12:46).

Some people desire these positions. That does not mean they are called by God. We must vet them.

In verse 13:1, as they read the Book of Moses, they find that Ammonites and Moabites should never be in the Assembly of God.

God brought their refusal to meet Israel while passing through the land to their attention. Instead, they called on Balaam to curse them. God turned those curses into blessings.

Then we have the priests which served in the daily activities.

Not all denominations refer to their staff as priests. I would say in our church this is my role as a preacher.

It takes a well-rounded staff to keep a congregation going.

In 13:10, we read the officials neglected the staff. Because of this oversight, they went back into their own fields. Therefore, they neglected God’s house, and it showed signs of wear.

Nehemiah calls the officials who had caused this and rebuked them. He returned them to their posts to perform their duties.
Salvation
Then we see it is not just the staff members, but even those outside the church.

The merchants were trying to do business on the Sabbath instead of keeping it holy.

Nehemiah rebuked this and forbid they continue to do so.

To get around this, they tried to wait at the gates on the Sabbath to be the first in to Jerusalem to conduct business. He rebuked them for this, because it still desecrated the Sabbath.

Last, but not least, we see in Nehemiah saying, “Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done”. (v13:14) He added a list of his accomplishments, and asked, “Remember me with favor, my God”, (v13:31).

I think Nehemiah had faith. He didn’t know the name of Jesus, but he had faith in God.

Abraham was similar, and God accounted for his faith as righteousness (see Rom 4:3).

What Nehemiah was doing in these verses, however, is not how anyone will enter the kingdom of God.

This is a work based religion. He was saying, keep my name in the Book of Life, because I did all these deeds.

His name will not be in the Book of Life unless Jesus has accepted his faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

That verse is in every Bible for the last two thousand years, and yet many try to earn their way into heaven.

No sinful person will be in heaven. It would be like letting a fish live on dry land. The environment would be compatible.

Heaven is holy, we must be holy to dwell there.

The only way that can happen is to have all our sins forgiven.

This happens when Jesus takes our sins and gives or imputes His righteousness to us. This happens when we place our faith in Christ (see Rom 3:22).

Have you done this?
Tomorrow we will read our next book Esther 1-5