8/8/12

Aug. 8 Nehemiah 1-3


Aug. 8
Nehemiah 1-3

Neh 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
Neh 1:2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
Neh 1:3 They said to me, The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.
Neh 1:4 It happened, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
Neh 1:5 and said, I beg you, Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:
Neh 1:6 Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my father's house have sinned:
Neh 1:7 we have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which you commanded your servant Moses.
Neh 1:8 Remember, I beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:
Neh 1:9 but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.
Neh 1:10 Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.
Neh 1:11 Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cup bearer to the king.
Neh 2:1 It happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been before sad in his presence.
Neh 2:2 The king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid.
Neh 2:3 I said to the king, Let the king live forever: why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?
Neh 2:4 Then the king said to me, For what do you make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Neh 2:5 I said to the king, If it please the king, and if your servant have found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may build it.
Neh 2:6 The king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall your journey be? and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Neh 2:7 Moreover I said to the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;
Neh 2:8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertains to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God on me.
Neh 2:9 Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
Neh 2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Neh 2:11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Neh 2:12 I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any animal with me, except the animal that I rode on.
Neh 2:13 I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.
Neh 2:14 Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
Neh 2:15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
Neh 2:16 The rulers didn't know where I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
Neh 2:17 Then said I to them, You see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Neh 2:18 I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. They said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
Neh 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you do? will you rebel against the king?
Neh 2:20 Then answered I them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Neh 3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up its doors; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.
Neh 3:2 Next to him built the men of Jericho. Next to them built Zaccur the son of Imri.
Neh 3:3 The fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
Neh 3:4 Next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. Next to them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel. Next to them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.
Neh 3:5 Next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles didn't put their necks to the work of their lord.
Neh 3:6 The old gate repaired Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars.
Neh 3:7 Next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, that appertained to the throne of the governor beyond the River.
Neh 3:8 Next to him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. Next to him repaired Hananiah one of the perfumers, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall.
Neh 3:9 Next to them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem.
Neh 3:10 Next to them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, over against his house. Next to him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah.
Neh 3:11 Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.
Neh 3:12 Next to him repaired Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
Neh 3:13 The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.
Neh 3:14 The dung gate repaired Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem; he built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
Neh 3:15 The spring gate repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David.
Neh 3:16 After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, to the place over against the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.
Neh 3:17 After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district.
Neh 3:18 After him repaired their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah.
Neh 3:19 Next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another portion, over against the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall.
Neh 3:20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
Neh 3:21 After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.
Neh 3:22 After him repaired the priests, the men of the Plain.
Neh 3:23 After them repaired Benjamin and Hasshub over against their house. After them repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah beside his own house.
Neh 3:24 After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner.
Neh 3:25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired over against the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh repaired.
Neh 3:26 (Now the Nethinim lived in Ophel, to the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.)
Neh 3:27 After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.
Neh 3:28 Above the horse gate repaired the priests, everyone over against his own house.
Neh 3:29 After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his own house. After him repaired Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate.
Neh 3:30 After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another portion. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber.
Neh 3:31 After him repaired Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over against the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.
Neh 3:32 Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.

"THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS" Chapter Six by Mark Copeland

                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS"

                              Chapter Six

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To see that liberty in Christ involves responsibility toward others
   and our own selves

2) To appreciate the principles involved in "sowing" and "reaping", 
   especially as they relate to the flesh and Spirit

3) To understand the importance of becoming "a new creation" in Christ
   Jesus

SUMMARY

In this final chapter, Paul reveals that liberty in Christ involves 
responsibilities.  Those who are "spiritual" are to restore those 
overtaken in trespasses, and all are to bear one another's burden 
thereby fulfilling the "law of Christ" (1-2).  At the same time, each
Christian ought to examine himself and seek to bear his own load (3-5).
Further responsibilities involve sharing with those who teach, and not
growing weary in doing good to all, especially those of the household
of faith. As motivation to do good, Paul reminds them of the principles
of "sowing" and "reaping", particularly as it relates to the flesh and
Spirit (6-10).

Paul's concluding remarks include an insight into the motivation behind
those seeking to compel circumcision.  While such people may seek to 
glory in the flesh, Paul himself will only glory in the cross of the 
Lord Jesus Christ (11-14).  Summarizing his whole epistle in one verse,
Paul reasserts that circumcision is inconsequential, and that in Christ
Jesus becoming a new creation is what really matters (15).  With a plea
for no one to trouble him since he bears in his body the marks of the 
Lord Jesus, Paul closes this epistle with a prayer of peace, mercy, and
grace upon those who walk according to his teaching, and upon the 
Israel of God (16-18).

OUTLINE

I. A LIBERTY WITH A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY (1-10)

   A. IN THE MATTER OF BEARING BURDENS (1-5)
      1. Be willing to bear one another's burdens (1-2)
         a. Those who are spiritual ought to restore those overtaken in
            a trespass (1)
         b. Bearing one another's burdens fulfills the law of Christ
            (2)
      2. Be willing to bear your own burden (3-4)
         a. If one thinks himself to be something when he is not, he 
            deceives himself (3)
         b. Examine your own work, and bear your own load (4)

   B. IN THE MATTER OF GENEROSITY (6-10)
      1. Those who are taught should share in all good things with 
         those who teach (6)
      2. Principles governing sowing and reaping (7-9)
         a. What a man sows, that he will also reap (7)
         b. Sow to the flesh, and you reap corruption; sow to the 
            Spirit, and you reap everlasting life (8)
         c. Don't grow weary in doing good, for in due time we shall 
            reap if we do not lose heart (9)
      3. Where there is opportunity, do good to all, especially to 
         those of the household of faith (10)

II. CONCLUDING REMARKS (11-18)

   A. A FINAL REBUKE OF THOSE WHO WOULD BIND CIRCUMCISION (11-13)
      1. The large letters confirm that Paul has written with his own
         hands (11)
      2. The motivation behind those who compel others to be 
         circumcised (12,13b)
         a. They desire to make a good showing in the flesh (12a)
         b. They do not want to suffer persecution for the cross of 
            Christ (12b)
         c. They wish to glory in your flesh (13b)
      3. Those who would bind circumcision do not even keep the Law
         themselves (13a)

   B. PAUL'S OWN CONFIDENCE IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST (14-17)
      1. God forbid that he might glory in anything other than in the
         cross of Jesus (14a)
      2. For by Christ the world has been crucified to him, and he to
         the world (14b)
      3. In Christ, circumcision is inconsequential; what matters is a
         new creation (15)
      4. For those who abide by this same rule, peace and mercy be upon
         them, and upon the Israel of God (16)
      5. Let no one trouble him, for he bears in his body the marks of
         the Lord Jesus (17)

   C. BENEDICTION (18)
      1. Directed toward the brethren
      2. That the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with their spirit

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - A liberty with a sense of responsibility (1-10)
   - Concluding remarks (11-18)

2) What should those who are "spiritual" be willing to do?  What 
   attitudes should accompany them in what they do? (1)
   - Restore those overtaken in a trespass
   - A spirit of gentleness, and a watchful eye for one's own self

3) How can we fulfill "the law of Christ"? (2)
   - By bearing one another's burdens

4) What responsibility is placed upon each person? (4)
   - To bear his or her own load

5) What responsibility does the person taught have toward the one who
   teaches? (6)
   - To share in all good things with him

6) What three principles are given by Paul concerning "sowing" and 
   "reaping"? (7-9)
   - Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap
   - Sow to the flesh, and you will of the flesh reap corruption; sow
     to the Spirit, and you will of the Spirit reap everlasting life
   - Don't grow weary in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if
     we do not lose heart

7) As we have opportunity, what is our responsibility? (10)
   - To do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of
     faith

8) What motivation does Paul ascribe to those who would compel 
   circumcision? (12-13)
   - They desire to make a good showing in the flesh
   - That they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ
   - That they may glory in your flesh

9) What was the inconsistency of those compelling circumcision? (13)
   - They themselves did not keep the Law

10) In what did Paul glory? (14)
   - The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world had been 
     crucified to him, and he to the world

11) In Christ Jesus, what is it that avails anything? (15)
   - A new creation

12) Upon whom did Paul pray for peace and mercy? (16)
   - As many as walk according to the rule that a new creation in
     Christ is what really matters
   - The Israel of God

13) Why did Paul ask that no one trouble him? (17)
   - Because he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus

14) What was Paul's final benediction to the Galatians? (18)
   - "Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
     Amen."