Until or unless God makes people able to live for him by causing them to be born again by the Spirit, faithful leaders work in vain to modify external behavior to mimic it. Yet Nehemiah does not teach us that all leadership is pointless; instead, Nehemiah helps us to set our sights more on faithfulness to God than on control over what happens with those whom we are tasked to lead.

Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. – Nehemiah 13:30–31 (ESV)
The Book of Nehemiah is set in the time of the return of Judah from exile in Babylon. It recounts the trials, travails, and triumphs of Nehemiah, the Persian king’s cupbearer-turned-governor of Judah who does his best to put things in order in Jerusalem. The special emphasis is on the repair and rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.
The Big Idea of Nehemiah
The Big Idea of Nehemiah can be expressed this way: God is faithful even when his people are not (cf. 2 Tim. 2:13). Over and over again in Nehemiah, the people’s faithfulness wanes and corruption and/or complacency takes root. Nehemiah’s faithfulness is a clear demonstration of God’s preservation of his people, not only in returning them to the land from their exile but also in providing Moses-like leadership to establish them in it.
An Outline of Nehemiah
1-6: Restoration of the Wall
The Book of Nehemiah begins in Persia. It is a story told in the first person, making it one of the very few autobiographical books of the Bible. It begins with bad news. Nehemiah learns that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed. In response, Nehemiah weeps, mourns, and confesses sins to God in prayer.
We learn that Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king of Persia. Seeing his downcast countenance, the king asks Nehemiah what the matter is. Nehemiah tells him, and in response, the king grants all of Nehemiah’s requests and more.
So far, so good. But very quickly we meet Sanballat and Tobiah, two men highly opposed to the Jews’ welfare and well-positioned to hinder progress.
After inspecting the wall by night, Nehemiah rallies the people to rebuild the wall. Chapter three describes the work. In chapter four Sanballat and Tobiah do what they can to discourage the work. When words fail, they plan an attack. But the people arm themselves and make good progress.
In chapter five, Nehemiah becomes aware of complaints from some Jews that they are being forced into servitude for debts to their fellow Jews. Nehemiah becomes angry and formally rebukes the nobles and officials for charging interest and taking the people’s inheritance from them, which is prohibited by the Law of Moses (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36-37; Deut. 23:19-20).
We learn that Nehemiah serves as governor during this time. During a twelve-year span, Nehemiah claims that he leads with integrity and fairness. More than that, he relinquishes some of his claims on the people to lighten their burden. Nehemiah concludes this note, and chapter five with it, with a plea to God to remember the good that he has done for the people.
In chapter six, Tobiah and Sanballat make another concerted effort to stop the rebuilding project. They gradually escalate their misinformation campaign from lures to open threats and lies. Nehemiah does not give in, but even his own countrymen seek to lead him astray with false prophecies. Nehemiah is beset by enemies from without and within who want to discredit him and make him afraid. Nevertheless, Nehemiah perseveres and the wall is finished. As a result, it is the enemies who fear. Yet still, all the time Tobiah continues to send letters and send his cronies to wheedle at Nehemiah and cajole him into approving of Tobiah. This is in many ways a study in how a godly person may engage in the political process and what he or she might expect in it.
7-13: Restoration of Worship
In chapter seven, Nehemiah transfers the power of governorship to other men and records a genealogy at God’s prompting. Following this, in chapter eight Ezra the scribe reads and teaches the Law to all the people. The people recognize their disobedience and are grieved. Many leaders come on the second day for Ezra to teach them more from the Law.
Read More
Related Posts:

One benefit of reading Joshua is to be encouraged by a rather unusual bright spot in biblical history of faithfulness to Yahweh. There are not many places in Scripture where an entire generation’s faithfulness is recorded, but we have such a recording in Joshua. 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. (ESV) – Joshua 1:9
If the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) is conceived as a series on the life of Moses, then the book of Joshua is a spinoff. Joshua plays a prominent and positive role in the books of the Law. He serves alongside Caleb as one of the two faithful spies to Canaan and is Moses’s right-hand man.
Yahweh’s conversation with Joshua to kick off the book sets the tone for the rest of the book. The Book of Joshua records a mostly flawless history of Israelite success following the death of Moses. Joshua is a worthy successor. When read in light of Moses’s final pleas for faithfulness in the book of Deuteronomy, the people of Israel look to be off to a great start. Sadly, the book is in stark contrast to the stories that will follow in the book of Judges.
An Outline of Joshua
Joshua represents the story of how the first generation to enter the Promised Land fared as they went about conquering and settling in the land.
Chapters 1-6 record the miraculous crossing of the Jordan and the approach to the first city to be conquered: Jericho. Chapters 7-8 record the sin of Achan and the people’s initial defeat at the hands of Ai. Achan’s sin is discovered and punished before the people go on to defeat Ai handily. Chapters 9-12 describe in rapid fashion the large number of kings and territories defeated, with the Gibeonites excepted. Chapter 9 records how the Gibeonites pretend to be from a distant land and succeed in securing a covenant with Israel before Joshua consults Yahweh on the matter. As a result, Joshua is forced to come to their aid when they are threatened.
By chapter 13, Joshua is old and God tells him so (Josh. 13:1). Yahweh commands Joshua to divide the rest of the land among the remaining tribes. This apportioning is described all the way through chapter 21, and at the end of the chapter there is a summary statement of Yahweh’s faithfulness to the people in keeping every promise he made to them (Josh. 21:44-45).
Read More
Related Posts:

Numbers also reminds us of the pervasiveness of sin and our need for a savior. It can be frustrating to read a book like Numbers because we just want the people to behave and the heroes to act like heroes. But they often do not. The only consistent hero in Numbers is Yahweh, God himself. Everyone else fails or shows themselves to be flawed. How we need to come to God in humility, asking for grace to live in God’s world without making a fool of ourselves! Numbers helps us in these ways and many more. 

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, [24] The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” – Numbers 6:22–27 (ESV)
The worst thing about the Book of Numbers is its name. Those who expect a divine spreadsheet will be disappointed because the book contains much more than that. Numbers contains stories of plagues, miracles, espionage, political intrigue, divination, war, talking animals, and angels. And that is only a start. Far from being a book devoted to lists of names and tabulations, Numbers continues the story of the people of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and narrates the rest of Israel’s time in the wilderness.
This series continues to work through the books of the Bible, landing now at Numbers. An unsuspecting reader coming off of Exodus may expect Numbers to be a generally happy book, narrating how the people of Israel followed the freshly revealed glory of Yahweh into the Promised Land. But Numbers does not do that. Instead, we find in Numbers the story of how an entire generation failed to enter the Promised Land because of disobedience.
The Big Idea of Numbers
I have taught that the big idea of Numbers is that Yahweh is his people’s guide to the promised land. Although the passage cited above does not explicitly address Yahweh’s guidance of the people, it does address his intention and disposition toward his people. It also addresses Yahweh’s guidance and leadership of the people as a whole as he directs their way to Canaan.
The blessing Yahweh commanded the priests to pronounce upon the people represents a distillation of the hope of God’s people at all times and in every place. There is no greater hope than to see the face of God. It is shorthand for the entire experience of being fully in communion with God.
An Outline of Numbers
Numbers can be divided into three main sections according to the people’s location. The story picks up where Exodus leaves off at Mount Sinai, then tracks the people in the wilderness while the first generation dies off, and ends with the journey to Moab as the next generation finally prepares to enter the Promised Land.
Chapters 1-10 cover less than a year’s worth of time while the people are getting organized and ready to depart Mount Sinai. In this section, the people are divided and arranged in camps to prepare for their move. More instructions are given to the priests and Levites with various jobs assigned and various offerings made. The time at Sinai ends with the people celebrating Passover and departing from Sinai under the direction of Yahweh.
Chapters 10-20 cover the people’s journey to and stay around Kadesh Barnea. This is a span of about 38 years. Many interesting things happen during these years. Yahweh strikes down many in a great plague after raining quail on them (ch. 11). Aaron and Miriam find themselves in trouble for questioning Moses’ leadership (ch. 12). Spies are sent into Canaan to scope it out, only to return and recommend that the people not try to take it.
Read More
Related Posts:

It is all too easy to convince ourselves that we are fearers and worshipers of God because we attend church and sing songs. Yet Scripture clarifies for us that external shows of worship do not always reflect the heart: “…this people honors me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men” (Isaiah 29:13).

Revelation 19:5: And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.” (ESV)
There is something striking to me about the idea of fearing the one for whom I live.  A moment’s thought leads me to consider that the fear of God is one way of describing the entire motivation for living for him in the first place. If there is a supreme reason for living our lives and an ultimate aim to which they ought to be directed, then it stands to reason that not living for him should strike the greatest fear in our hearts by definition. What could be more fearful than missing the entire purpose of our existence?
And yet, there is something positive here as well. It is not just that we fear the lack of God, but that we fear God himself. The fear of God is not fundamentally one of privation (“What if I don’t have God?”), but is intensely God-directed. It is not the absence of God that we fear, but God himself.
And not only that, but it is a fear that is marked not by servile subjection but by heart-filled praise. The fear of God is a wondrous thing! It is the first step in an entire economy or ecosystem of dynamics in the relationship between us and God, us and each other, and us and the rest of creation.
Fear and Worship
This train of thought, combined with continued meditation on this passage, leads me to something closer to the reason why fearing the one for whom I live is so striking: fear and worship are inseparable. This may not break new ground for many, but I have never explicitly drawn some logical inferences which now present themselves to me: if fear and worship are connected, then our fears and our gods are also linked. We cannot separate what we fear from who or what we worship.
Nevertheless, we do this often enough. We prefer to limit our conception of worship to lip service. There may be a root of motivation in laziness here. Worship is so intrinsic to our being and nature, so deep in the well of our hearts, that it takes work to draw it out and know it. Oftentimes, we prefer to leave our hearts on autopilot to taking hold of the controls and attempting to steer in the proper direction.
Read More
Related Posts:

If we thought half as deeply about how God thinks of us as we do about how others think of us, I believe we would see our fear of people similarly curtailed. And if we pondered Christ’s reactions to us twice as much as others, the large part of what struck fear in our hearts before would seem much smaller and less intimidating. As is so often the case, our union with Christ and the accompanying doctrines do all the heavy lifting. If only we would incline our people-fearing hearts to Christ so he could teach us to love them instead of fearing them.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:10 (ESV)
It may be true that no discussion of common fears which compete with the fear of God is complete apart from a discussion of what is commonly called the fear of man. I use the term “people” rather than man not because I have any issue with the term “man” but because the term, “people” fits better with our vernacular.
What is the fear of people? Paul seems to put his finger right on the nose when he mentions three sets of opposing pursuits: seeking the approval of man versus God, pleasing man versus God, and serving man rather than Christ. These three seem intrinsically connected since seeking man’s approval is to attempt to please him, which in turn is equivalent to serving him. That is my interpretation. Paul only makes the connection between pleasing man and serving Christ explicit.
In this context, Paul is reminding the Galatians that the gospel he is preaching is not his but God’s and that the people who are preaching a different gospel only want to boast in the Galatians’ flesh (6:13). Paul, by contrast, is not trying to get the Galatians’ approval, nor to please them, nor to serve them rather than Christ. Instead, Paul desires God’s approval by pleasing God, which he does by serving Christ. In an ironic twist, Paul serves the Galatians in order to serve Christ. So he ends up doing the same thing, yet for very different reasons. This serves as an illustration of just how drastically different distinct motives for the same action can be.
But what would it look like if Paul had been trying to gain their approval by pleasing them and therefore serving them? This, I put out for consideration, is the sum and substance of the fear of people.
Loving More and Needing Less
For many of us, the question, “What if I am disapproved of by X?” strikes fear into our hearts relative to how strong a possibility it appears to be. So we strategize how we can please them. And in doing so, we seek to serve them.
I recently heard an answer to a question about the fear of people which I think is insightful. The person said part of the solution to the fear of people is to love them more and need them less. I believe there is something to this.
Read More
Related Posts:

David can pen Psalm 23 in sincerity and integrity because want from which he is safe is not bodily want at all but the want of his soul. David’s soul, and therefore his life, and therefore his hope, is secure with Yahweh as his shepherd. David is content with that, and we can be too.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” – Psalm 23:1
What a lovely sentiment. I have seen this psalm invoked many times by people attempting to comfort themselves or others. It may not be too much to say that this entire psalm is devoted to reassuring God’s people in times of fear. So it is an appropriate psalm for us to examine.
The 23rd Psalm and Real Life
This verse tells us that those who have the LORD as their shepherd need not fear need. Yahweh’s people are not subject to want or lack in the same way that those who do not have him as shepherd are. At the same time, it is possible for God’s people to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. The presence of Yahweh as shepherd does not preclude exposure to danger; it only limits the nature and extent of that exposure. This limiting of the nature and extent of the exposure is a key to which we must pay close attention.
The message of psalm 23 is, in part, that God’s people can live free of fear of want. And yet, rather incredibly, God’s people can and do suffer want. God’s people have been persecuted, martyred, and subject to famine and drought just like other people. And while we tend to enjoy focusing on the victories in King David’s life as a young shepherd boy or as a persevering and faithful king elect, it is much harder to reconcile this psalm’s message with the character and events of David’s life following his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah. From that point on, and by the decree of God no less, relatively few good things happen to David in the last half or so of his life. He loses a child, one son rapes his half-sister, more than one rebellion occurs, David is forced to flee Jerusalem, and one of David’s sins brings a plague on the people.
In fact, we have a terrible penchant for overlooking the morally gory and sinfully grisly details of the lives of saints whom we love to eulogize. We read Psalm 23 as a pastoral psalm with the same escapist desires as someone who might take up and read Far From the Madding Crowd. Psalm 23 must be able to be read for real life with all its mundane dangers and fears. We need God to be our shepherd for real life and not just for those times we wistfully wish for another kind of existence. The Lord is our shepherd for this existence, and this existence is hard. So what is Psalm 23 saying?
It cannot be saying that bad things will never happen to God’s people.
Read More
Related Posts:

One of the first steps before us in order to cast out fears is to reorient our desires to the things God promises and away from the things we would like to guarantee for ourselves. The latter is a sure path to fear, anger, discontent, and conflict; the former is essential to casting out the fears which so often tower over us.

Hebrews 13:5–6: [5] Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” [6] So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (ESV)
We have seen in previous posts how the fear of God must be paramount, that it is wise to fear God (that in fact fearing God is the sine qua non of wisdom), and that if we would live for God through Christ then we must fear him. We have also established that the Christian’s goal is not to be fearless but to be fearful. However, the fear of which we are supposed to be full is not of the kind which so often plagues us – that is, the innumerable fears and phobias of daily life. Instead, we are to be full of a fear that casts out other fears. We are to be ruled by a fear that brings peace rather than by fears which bring disorder and chaos into our hearts.
There are plenty of instances in the Old Testament in which Yahweh instructs his people not to fear. Many of them are specific to certain situations, such as the taking of the Promised Land (e.g., Num. 14:9; Deut. 1:21). And those, like all Scripture, are instructive and helpful for us today. Nevertheless, there may be confusion if we port those same instances too quickly over to ourselves. Regardless, the New Testament leaves us in no doubt about how we should handle our fears.
Old Covenant Promises and New Covenant Fears
Notice that the quotes in the passage from Hebrews above are from the Old Testament (Josh. 1:5; Psalm 27:1; 118:6). They show that New Testament believers today share the same general protection as Joshua and David did. This does not mean that we can expect God to help us conquer another land. But it does mean that our covenant with God through Christ contains promises which are as grounding for us as the promises made to Joshua and David.
So, how do Christians come to the point where they are able to say, “I will not fear”? A few observations are in order.
First, we must remember that for the Lord to be anyone’s helper that person must fear the Lord. For example, Psalm 33:18 says, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love.” (cf. Psalm 103:11, 13, 17; 149:19; Luke 1:50).
Read More
Related Posts:

The fear of rejection is often a fear piled on top of other fears and uncertainties. The solution is to make the fear of rejection “a small thing”. And the way to make the fear of rejection a small thing is to make the acceptance of Christ a bigger thing. And the only way that can happen is to cultivate with all zeal a relationship with Christ through all the means we have been provided as fellow heirs with him. This takes work and a frank recognition of our fears and the beliefs that undergird them.

1 Corinthians 4:3–4: [3] But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. [4] For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. (ESV)
“What if they reject me?” This fear runs like an underground stream of thought in the hearts of many of us. When we see someone who seems impervious to the blows of public opinion and/or rejection, we marvel at them in part because we can’t imagine having that ability. It’s almost as though they’re superheroes whose powers we’re not certain we’d like to have.
In speaking with some of these people, it is often the case that there is still a fear of rejection, only that it looks different for them compared to us.
The Fear of Rejection
The fear of rejection often involves friends. One of the reasons peer pressure is such a powerful force is because it leverages the fear of rejection by functionally blackmailing a person into conforming. This threat is rarely made explicitly; normally it is implicit, and that only makes the threat all the more powerful. Not only does a person being threatened feel the power of the threat as the fears arise, but the nature and origin of the power are obscured behind a shadow in their mind. The same can be said of other manifestations of the fear of rejection, such as rejection by family or coworkers.
Why, in general, is the fear of rejection so powerful? How can the apostle Paul say it is a very small thing to be judged by the Corinthians or any other human court? How can Paul be content knowing that the only judgment of him that matters is the judgment by Jesus?
Before continuing, we may need to make the case that Paul is in fact speaking to things that reflect a typical fear of rejection. In speaking of judgment, Paul is invoking language that is more legal than social. Also, Paul speaks of not judging himself, which could hardly be construed as social rejection. How can someone reject themselves?
Nevertheless, Paul is defending himself against the Corinthians, and there is a social aspect to the judgment as well as the overarching legal tones. And the rest of the letter is in a sense a plea for the Corinthians to accept Paul. Although Paul is clearly not driven by fear but rather by faith, we can see in Paul’s words above a lack of the fear of rejection.
Read More
Related Posts:

This proverb humbles us by reminding us that the glory for our success does not belong to us but to God. When we do succeed in some endeavor in life, we can thank God rather than ourselves. And when we fail, rather than having an identity crisis, we can humbly submit to God in worship rather than chafing at the limits of our control.

Proverbs 21:31: The horse is made ready for the day of battle,but the victory belongs to the LORD. (ESV)
“What if I fail?” This possibility is so frightening for some of us that it is nearly unthinkable. The shade of a notion of the possibility of failure can induce panic or something close to it. Failure is not unique in this regard. The same could be said of many other “what-if’s”.
And that is the purpose of this series. We will examine various “what-if” statements that often plague us by creating a vague anxiety which can haunt even our dreams.
In fact, I recently had just such a dream. I woke up this morning thinking I had, in fact, failed at something. I dreamed that half of a project I had turned in to be evaluated had received a failing grade and would have to be re-done. I remember doing damage control in my dream, trying to rationalize, trying to excuse myself, trying to re-read and read again the results to see if I could re-interpret them as something other than failure. What did failure mean? Does this mean I don’t belong in my job? Does this mean I’m not capable of what I thought I was? Have I been kidding myself about who I am? When I awoke, I felt sad and stressed. 15 minutes later, I realized it had been a dream… or a nightmare.
But so often it’s not a dream, and we never actually arrive at a clear point of failure. This post is not about the experience of failure per se but the fear of it.
Defining Failure
What is success? And what is failure? Success may be defined as the fulfillment of a purpose or desire. We make a plan, the plan works, and we call that success. Failure as an experience is the opposite of success. We make a plan, the plan doesn’t work. We try something and it doesn’t work.
The proverb head at the head of this post can be very encouraging. It encourages us that God is the one in control over our successes, and that he receives all the glory for all our success. This is great news for those of us who believe that our success depends entirely on our own hard work. It doesn’t. There are far more factors at work in the outcomes of our investments and preparation than the dynamics we bring.
On the other hand, this proverb can be considered from a different angle. We do not control when we succeed and when we fail.
Read More
Related Posts: