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Listen USA

Writer's picture: DeborahDeborah



Nehemiah 9:17 NKJV

2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV


Listening Series


I must admit I am enthralled by the history of a people, a country, and the connectors I find if you dig a little. It is a bit like digging for a hidden treasure. The history of the children of Israel is particularly rich and interesting because they were not acting of their own accord. They were (are) a people of a particular nature. They made a covenant with their creator. God invited and they chose to be in relationship with their Him. Adam walked with God in the garden. Noah chose to listen to God’s plan to build an ark. Abram made a covenant. It was a lasting covenant with the God who made all things come together out of his love for His creation.


It’s the greatest love story of all time. Man and God joined together. It wasn’t always easy or perfect, but forgiveness and the character of God made it worthwhile.


God’s hope for His people has always included His desire to be needed and loved in return. God, who needs nothing desires to have our love in return. Even when Israel turned to their own way and chose not to listen, God didn’t give up on them. Instead He helped them take another lap ‘round Mt. Sinai; several laps, several times.


The children of Israel from Judah (the Southern Kingdom) were taken by the Babylonians into captivity between 598 and 597 BCE to 587 and 586 BCE. Nehemiah was taken captive but he was given permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city wall in 444 BC.


Rebuilding a city wall was not only an important undertaking, it brought a city harm and shame when they did not have a city wall. That made Nehemiah’s task important on many different levels.


After the Wall was rebuilt in Jerusalem, Nehemiah gathered the Hebrew people together to remind them of their history. When the Jews gathered in Nehemiah Chapter 9 they separated themselves from the foreigners who were present, they confessed their sins as a nation, and they worshipped Yahweh God (verses 3-8). In verses 9-15 the children of Israel were reminded of the time when God delivered them from Egypt. God performed mighty deeds on their behalf, yet beginning in verse 16, Nehemiah reminded them their fore fathers were a stiff-necked people.


In Nehemiah 9:17 we read:

“They refused to listen,

And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;

So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.

But You are a God of forgiveness,

Gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;

And You did not forsake them.”


Nehemiah reminded the children of Israel of their history.


They were captive in Egypt, and God remembered them and set them free.


Now the question is, would history repeat itself? The Southern Kingdom of Israel in Judah had been taken into captivity by Babylon and now they had been allowed to return to Jerusalem.


Would they refuse to listen to Yahweh God like their ancestors had done in the wilderness? As Nehemiah quietly posed that question, he reminded them of God’s forgiveness, grace, compassion, patience, lovingkindness, and faithfulness.


Nehemiah was urging them to make a different choice this time. By reminding them of their history, he was urging them to listen to God.


LISTEN and choose to do what your ancestors refused to do.


Listen and remember the deeds that God performed on their behalf. Do not be a stubborn people who refuse to bow down to God and seek forgiveness.


Nehemiah used their history to catapult them into their future.


Nehemiah’s words were applicable then and are applicable for us today. 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”


2nd Chronicles covered the years from 971 BC when King Solomon assumed the throne to the time of the Babylonian exile in 586 BC. Nehemiah was written around 455 BC when the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem FROM the exile. Nehemiah knew “IF” they would humble themselves and listen, “then” God would hear them, forgive them, and heal them.


Our charge today is clear because as a people, WE are called to listen to God.


We are called to humble ourselves and pray.


WE are called to seek God.


WE are called to turn to God.


Then God will forgive and heal our land.


Today’s listening Spiritual Practice is: Listen USA


TOGETHER be humble, pray, seek God, and turn to God, Ask God to forgive us and heal our land.


In God, Deborah

acrazyjourney.com

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About Me

I am a child of God. I can’t remember when God wasn’t part of my life. I served in a church setting for 30+ years and now I seek to help others see and find their sacred space. Daily when we turn to God we begin to recognize where God is at work in our lives.

 

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