Joyful celebrations and a quick return to sin

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Liz Nixon answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Chapters 11 & 12 list the people who moved into Jerusalem and the grand dedication ceremony of the newly built walls, celebrating and worshipping God. It’s good to see they took this seriously – it was such a great and joyful celebration that the sound of rejoicing could be heard far away! That’s sounds like the kind of party that God would love!

Nehemiah returns to Susa as promised, then back to Jerusalem, but is not impressed with how things have carried on without him. Reminiscent of Moses going up the mountain to come back and find the golden calf, having just promised to faithfully love and serve God, Nehemiah returns to find things not as they should be. The people had just promised to honour the Sabbath in particular, but here they were again violating it!

Nehemiah is very pragmatic in response – he shuts the gates to the city so that the merchants couldn’t come in. They would be re-opened only once Sabbath was over – what a brilliant tactic! But again, it only impacts the symptom, the outworking of their sin, not the root cause.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

Like yesterday, we need transformed hearts and minds.

The Israelites hopes are raised at the start of the book with the fulfilment of prophetic promises to return home. But a return to Israel hasn’t changed their spiritual state. Being away from their enemy hasn’t changed them. The political and social reforms don’t address the problem either.

The biggest problem facing them is their sinful condition, which impacts the way they think, feel, and behave. This issue is identified in Jeremiah and Ezekiel – the people need to start again; they need a transformation of their hearts and minds if they are to love and obey God. And it’s the same for us.

But thank God for Jesus!

Jesus is the solution to our problem! We can be reborn and start over through His death and resurrection. And through the gift of His Spirit, our hearts and minds can be continually renewed and transformed.

It shows me again how much we need a Saviour – we cannot save ourselves through better behaviour. But we can turn to a loving Father, who sent His only Son into the world to save us, to be with us, and who redeems our broken state through His broken body and make us whole. He made us to be fit vessels of His Holy presence – perfectly designed to carry the Spirit of God, who rebuilds me into who I was originally created to be and sends me out into the world to point others to this loving Father.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Be thankful for the kind of God we have, One with power to change us from the inside out.

Who am I going to share this with?

My husband Greg.