Shalom, everyone. We are studying the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah, and so please turn with me to Nehemiah, chapter 1, verse 1 to verse 11. We have already covered the first three verses of Nehemiah, chapter 1, when we had the introduction in the previous meeting together, but I would like to read the whole chapter, including those three verses today, for our ministry meeting together. So please follow me, Nehemiah, chapter 1, and verse 1. The words of Nehemiah, the son of Chakaliah, and it came to pass in the month of Kislev, in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, and a certain man of Judea, and I asked him, concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said unto me, the remnant that are left of the captivity there, in the province, are in great affliction, and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down, and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy, for them that love him, and observe his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's house have sinned.

We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgment, that thou commended thy servant Moses. Remember I beseech thee, the word which thou commendest thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost parts of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants, and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name, and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day. And grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cup-bearer. This is the end of Nehemiah chapter 1. You know, when we are sitting in such a setting, willing to be together as brothers and sisters, under the sound of the word of God, it is a real privilege. It always reminds me of past history of our own people, the people of Israel, whether in the days of Moshe, Moses, whether in the day of Joshua, or whether in the days of the time of the prophets of Israel, those who wanted from among the people of Israel, to listen to the word of God.

God found joy in his heart, and he blessed his own people. You know what Malachi, the last prophet of Israel said? Listen to this statement in Malachi chapter 3. Malachi was preaching actually in the time when the Jewish remnant returned from Babel under the leadership of Nehemiah. Malachi was the last prophet. Nehemiah was the last one who gave us the restored remnant of Israel back to the land. Malachi said in chapter 3 and verse 16, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. And the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him. For them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.

And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day when I will make up my jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. You see when Malachi wrote his prophecy, he wrote to the remnant of Israel who returned through Nehemiah, the last portion you might see of the Old Testament. And now Nehemiah is the one that is teaching us great lessons, beloved brothers and sisters. This book of Nehemiah can help us in ministry, in service among the body of Messiah when there are so many problems and so many discouragement and so many disappointments. And when you look at the condition of the body of Messiah and we see how failing we are, we are part of this body, the Ekklesia.

Just the same like Nehemiah, Nehemiah was looking at the condition of the people of Israel in those days and he himself needed encouragement and strength from the Lord in order to be a blessing to the people of God. And now let me just remind you and I'm going to go to this text once again, we have seen the reason that the people of Israel were in Babylon in the time when Nehemiah was writing his book and he was exercised to come to serve the people of Israel. Remember what we said, beloved brothers and sisters, that because of our own nation's disobedience, God scattered the Jewish people.

He brought Nebuchadnezzar and he took the people of Judah to Babylon. In fact, in 6 or 6 or 6 or 5 BC, it was the first deportation of the Jewish people from Judea, from Yerushalayim into the land of Bavell. 597 will be the second deportation. 586 BC will be the third deportation. And then finally, the temple was destroyed, burnt with fire. The Jewish people were in Bavell for 70 years. 70 years later, there was a restoration of the Jewish people. In 538 BC, Zubavell led a group of 50,000 Jews back to the city of Yerushalayim. In 457, Ezra led a second group back to the Promised Land. About 1,500 Jewish people returned to the land. But now, at about 444 or 445 BC, Nehemiah lead the third return to the Promised Land.

But this time, Nehemiah was not so much leading the group of the Jewish people back to the land to rebuild the temple because the temple was already built. But there was a problem because even though the temple was rebuilt, the walls of Jerusalem were broken down. And that's where we read, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 1, 2, and 3, that Nehemiah inquired about the condition that existing in the city of Jerusalem and in the land of Israel. This man, by the name of Hanani, told him in verse 3. They said to him two things. Number one, that the remnant that are left of the captivity there in that province are in great affliction and reproach.

This is the Jewish people. Yes, they are in the land, but they have a lot of affliction, a lot of reproach, a lot of problems in their lives. Secondly, the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. When Nebuchadnezzar took the Jewish people, our own forefathers, to Babel, he destroyed the city completely. He burned the temple with fire. He took all the articles from the temple with him to Babel and he left everything in a desolation. When the Jewish people came back with Zerubbabel and with Ezra, they rebuilt the temple on a smaller scale, but they still did not build the walls of the city and the gates that were burnt with fire.

And walls and gates in biblical time speaks of number one, protection, and number two, separation. Walls in biblical time protected the people from their enemies from without and also kept them separated from the enemies that would want to come in and influence them with all their idolatries and all that which is contrary to the will of God. So, if we just for a moment going to see another slide and you look at the second slide, I want you to notice that. In the second slide, in the second slide you see the four kingdoms that really represent before us the times of the Gentiles. The time of the Gentiles began at about 605 BC.

And if you remember the dream that Daniel had of this image, and in this image he saw that was, you might say, divided into four sections. He saw the head of gold, the chest of silver, the thighs of bronze, and the legs and the feet of metal and clay. It's a representation of what we called in New Testament teaching the times of the Gentiles. It began in 605 BC when Nebuchadnezzar was the one as the head of gold. And it will only end up, we are still in the time of the Gentiles, when the Messiah himself will come and rule and reign over the nation of Israel as king of kings and over the nations of the world as lord of lord.

By the time that Nehemiah was seeking to be restored to the land of Israel because of the condition that existed, the broken walls and the burnt gates, he was living in the time of the Medo-Persian. He was under the authority of the Persian kings. That was the time that Cyrus gave permission to Zerub Havel to go back to the land. That was the time that later on Ezra received permission to go back to the land. And this is the time when now Nehemiah get permission to go back to the land of Israel the city of Jerusalem. So now I want you to see some beautiful reaction of this man of God by the name of Nehemiah to remind you that the word Nehemiah simply means the comfort of Jehovah, the comfort of the Lord.

By virtue of his name, you see the tenderness of his heart towards the people of God. He wanted to comfort the people of God. He wanted to bless the people of God. He was not selfish, thinking only about himself, but he loved God's people. And you and I are called to love the people of God. We are to love Israel, to love the Jewish people, but we are also to love the brethren, to love the believers, Jew and Gentile alike, who are part of the body of Mashiach. We are to love the brethren, even though at times we are not always lovable, beloved brothers and sisters.

So in verses 1 and verse 2 and verse 3, in our introduction, we have already seen the sad news that Nehemiah received about the city of Jerusalem. Let me just make two more points before we're going to go to verses 4 to the end of the chapter. I would like to remind you that Jerusalem is a very important city. It was important in the past, and it is important in the present, and it will be important in the future day. Why Jerusalem is very important? Because God's name was set in that city. In fact, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 12, and there you will notice what God said to Moshe about the city of Jerusalem.

We read in Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 5, "But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shall thou come." Before our people enter into the promised land, he said to them, "Listen, there is a place in which I will put my name there." Even before Israel enter into the land of Canaan, God have already prepared the people of Israel for that place. It is a literal location in this universe, the city of Jerusalem. Chapter 16 of Deuteronomy, and verse 16 elaborate a little bit more, "And God said to Israel three times a year, shall all your males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose?" And he gave Israel, our forefathers, the three feasts: unleavened bread, Chagamatzot, wicks, Shavuot, and tabernacle, Sukkot, the three feasts in which the people of Israel were to go to the promised land, the city of Jerusalem, and celebrate before him those famous three feasts, because his name is upon that city.

Thirdly, I want you to notice that this city is a city which God's eyes are always upon that city. In 2 Chronicles 6 and 7, God mentioned this to King Solomon. "Listen, my eyes are always upon that city." That's why you see that everybody in the world today fighting over that very city of Jerusalem. constant friction even today. It was in the past, it is in the present, and it will be in the future until the Messiah will come to take his rightful place as the king of the Jewish people, the king of our own nation. God's eyes are always upon this place. He's always watching over the city of Jerusalem.

Number 3 I would like to mention here about the city of Jerusalem is that this city is called in the Bible in Psalm 48 verse 1 and 2, the city of the great king. In other words, for the name Jerusalem is Zion or in Hebrew it's Sion. Yerushalayim and Sion is really the same location. The city that belongs to the great king. The Mashiach, the king Messiah will reign and rule from the city of Jerusalem. And that's why Yeshua in Matthew chapter 5 verse 34 and 35 says not to make any oath using the city of Jerusalem because it is the city of the great king. Not to swear by it carelessly.

The city that belongs to the great king. To the Messiah himself. To God himself. And also beloved brothers and sisters over this city. In Luke chapter 13 and chapter 19 we just read that earlier in our Bible reading. Over this city Yeshua wept. And you remember how the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah says, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How long would I have gathered you as a hen gather her cheeks? But you would not. And that's why he said, your house shall be left unto you desolate and so on. And what happened up till today, the house, the temple is still in desolation. Our Jewish people are still scattered.

And here we find even before that, already scattered people. And therefore Yeshua the Messiah loved the city and he's planning one day to reign over the city of Jerusalem. But here you can see the heart of Nehemiah. And now in Nehemiah from chapter 1 from verse 4 all the way to the end we find the reaction of Nehemiah when he heard of the sad news about the fact that Jerusalem, the gates are burnt and the walls of Jerusalem are broken down. What do you think he did? We find out in verse 4, it says here, "And it came to pass, when I heard these words that I sat down and I wept and I mourned for certain days and I fasted and I prayed before the God of heaven." See what Nehemiah did the moment he heard about the condition of the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish people he did not say, "Well, never mind, you know, maybe it's their own fault, maybe there was something wrong with them." And so Nehemiah took to heart the state of the people of God.

It was so grieving to him that we have five expressions here in this verse 4, "I sat down, I wept, I mourned, I fasted, and I prayed." Sitting down is an expression of mourning. We read, "Veya shavti." He was like sitting down so discouraged to hear of what was going on among the people of God, the people of Israel. And he found himself weeping. In Hebrew we say, "Veya shavti." And I wept. It was so heavy for him to hear about the condition of the people of God that he wept. How similar he was to our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that when Yeshua saw the city afar off.

He wept over the city. We read it in the Gospel of Luke. He was so concerned and so much in love with the city and the people of Israel but the condition of the people of Israel produced in his own heart a desire to mourn for them, to weep on behalf of the people of God. Notice the word in verse 4, "And I mourn." This is when someone died and you mourn over the death of an individual. That's why the Hebrew word is lehit abel. I mean I really mourn as if this person died. As if the nation in a state of death. Then the next thing he said, "Then I fasted." He denied himself of that which was necessary for his body because he was so concerned with the people of Israel.

And the fifth thing we find out that he prayed. Now this is becoming for us such a great example, beloved brothers and sisters, that here's a man that has a concern over the people of God. Sometimes I'm wondering about myself, about you, about the believers. How much concern do we have for the people of God? And we are now not so much by application we are applying it to the body of Messiah. You know, those of us that belong to Yeshua the Messiah, how much do we care and have this kind of attitude towards the people of God? You see it reminds us of the condition that is existing in the days in which you and I live in.

The gates are burnt with fire. The walls are broken into pieces. There is very little preservation of the truth of the Word of God. The gates represent an entrance inside and going out and how many things have been creeping in among the people of God. Things that are not sound and are not right. And then the gates and the walls of Jerusalem are broken down. Anybody could come in and everybody could go out and there was no protection for the nation. So what Nehemiah does, he is sitting down, he is weeping before the Lord, he is mourning before the Lord, he is fasting, denying himself the necessary things for the body and he is ultimately began to pray.

Now we often talk about revival. there will ever be a revival any place. Revival does not begin by making a sign and saying, you know what, we have a special revival meeting. That is not where revival began. Revival began in the hearts of individuals who have such a yearning for the things of the Lord and have a desire to be a blessing to God's people and to honor the Lord. that is where revival began. Nehemiah gave us an example on how to begin a revival. And you look at it throughout as well the assembly history, the church history, just like the history of the people of God.

If you look in the history of the body of Messiah, you will notice that there was a period of time in which revival came through because there were some individuals that were burdened in their own hearts in their conscience for the people of God. And here we see Nehemiah weeping, mourning, fasting, sitting on the floor, and praying. And you notice what it says here? I prayed before the God of Heaven. In Hebrew it's Elohei HaShamayim. Now why doesn't he say the God of Israel here? Now again, if you look at this chart one more time, and I would like to remind you beloved brothers and sisters, that in that time when Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zubabel, and Daniel were in Babel, they were a part of what you call the times of the Gentiles.

God, in a sense, have turned the headship and the leadership over all the world to the Gentiles' nations, to the Goyim. It began with Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and it continued on through the Persians, then the Grecians, and then the Roman Empire, that even when the Messiah came to this world, when Yeshua came, who was Israel under the authority of? They were under the Roman Empire. the Jewish people did not have their own liberties that they should have had they submitted to the word of God. So that's why you notice, he used this expression here in that chapter, "I prayed before the God of heaven." Notice in verse 5, "I besieged thee, O Lord, God of heaven." Notice in chapter 2, and see again using the expression in chapter 2 and verse 4, he says, "So I prayed to the God of heaven." And finally, notice in verse 20 of chapter 2, "Then answered I them, and I said unto them, the God of heaven." "Elohei Hashamayim." Why does he use that word?

You see, he understood that Israel as a nation because of disobedience was scattered. And now, of course, God is the God of Israel, but in a sense he had gone up to heaven. And he had given authority over the nations of the world to another nation. Israel was no longer in the place that they ought to have been. But Israel forfeited what God had planned for Israel and they are waiting for the day to the end of the tribulation where the Messiah will come and he will restore the nation of Israel to himself. And then Israel will be the nation that God had intended for them to be.

Turn to Luke 21 and verse 25. verse 24. Here is the words of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah when he came at his first coming. Speaking about Jerusalem because verse 20 says of Luke 21 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compass with armies and know that the desolation thereof is nigh. and then read with me verse 24. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations. and Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. you see beloved brothers and sisters you and I even today we still live in the times of the Gentiles.

Jerusalem is still under attack by the nations of the world even though Israel today is a nation on its own called Yisrael have an independence since 1948 but Israel do not have the liberty as God have intended our people Israel to have as a nation that is ruled on its own ruled by the Lord himself. Israel even today living under the times of the Gentiles. And again you can see Bavel Middle Persia Grisha Rome and ultimately the revived Roman Empire by the time of the Tribulation period which will consummate when the Messiah will come at the end of the seven-year Tribulation to take his rightful place here in this world.

And no wonder Nehemiah understood that and that's why he says to the God of Heavens. If you carefully will read it the book of Daniel speak about the God of Heaven in Daniel chapter 2. Ezra himself used the expression the God of Heavens because they were in the diaspora in the dispersion. And they understood that Israel is in this state at that time. God never left his people but nevertheless he scattered his people and his people were dispersed. And so Nehemiah is praying to the God of Heaven. and so now in verses 5 to 11 we get a beautiful pattern in a way which we all need to learn from Nehemiah how to pray.

And you can see how Nehemiah is praying in a right way. You know, he doesn't begin give me, give me. He doesn't begin by do for me, do for me, like we often time pray in such a way. He began by first of all giving God the praise and the glory. Notice verse 5. And said, I beseech thee O Lord God of Heaven Elohei Hashamayim the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. He first of all dwells upon the faithfulness of God. And he's a terrible or awesome God. You know, sometimes we sing that song, our God is an awesome God.

In Hebrew the word is Nora. He's not awesome in a negative way. He's awesome in a positive way. He's an awesome God. He's a good and a loving God. He's a great God. He's an awesome God. And that very God is a faithful God. He keeps covenant. He's merciful for them that love him and observe his commandments. You know, beloved brothers and sisters, Israel was not faithful. But God is faithful. Israel was not true to God. But God was true to Israel. Yeshua the Messiah is faithful to the body of Messiah. Even though the body of Messiah is not always faithful to him. The Lord Yeshua the Messiah is faithful to believers today, to you and I.

Even though we are often time not faithful to him. So he gives him the glory. He gives him the honor. He began by addressing the God of heaven and he's saying to him, God, you are a great God. You are an awesome God. You are a merciful God and you are a loving God. You respond to those to those that obey you and to those that respond to you who love him. You know, John said in 1 John, we love him because he first of all loved us. That's why we love the Lord. We just sang a song. I love the Lord because he heard my voice.

I love the Lord because he heard my cry. That's why we love him. That's why we respond to him. But first of all, beloved brothers and sisters, Nehemiah is praising God. In Hebrew, we say mehalel. Think about this, beloved brothers and sisters. Nehemiah, he's there in the diaspora in the dispersion. He hears about the condition of his brother and the Jewish people. He doesn't come to God with a complaint. He comes to God with praise. He comes to God and exalts his name and he says, thou art worthy. Yes, he will talk about the condition of the people of Israel but he first of all give glory to the Lord.

Let us never forget wherever we are, whatever condition, whatever state we are, to give thanks to the Lord for who he is and for what he has done for us. Even when there are problems in our life, even when things are not so good in our own life, let us never forget to give thanks to the Lord for who he is and for what he has done for us. That is the attitude of the man by the name of Nehemiah. if you remember in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 8 to 13, Yeshua taught the disciples to pray. And the first thing in this order of prayer, Our Father which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as it is in heaven, so upon the face of this earth. the concern is for God's glory. That is what we need to develop in our hearts as believers in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So the first thing in verse 5 to 11, Nehemiah gave praise to God. The second thing we find out in the order of his prayer in verses 6 and 7 that he confesses the sins of his own and the sins of the nation of Israel. And you know, this is so beautiful. You know, he doesn't come to God and try to justify himself and say, God, look at me, how we have done, we have been so...

He began by confessing the nation's sin and he's including himself. Look at this, verses 6 and 7. Let thine ears now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now, day and night for the children of Israel, thy servant and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father's house have sinned. Verse 7, he continues, says, we have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgment which thou commanded thy servant, Moses. You see, Nehemiah is confessing, he's really repenting before the God of heaven.

He's telling him, of course, in verse 6, he asks God to hear his prayer. He asks God to look upon him and he says, listen, I'm praying and you notice, brothers and sisters, I pray before thee now day and night. Yom Valayla in Hebrew. I'm constantly in prayer before the Lord. And I'm repenting and I'm telling him the condition of the nation of Israel. Sometimes we have verses in the Bible that we don't take it seriously. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17 says, pray without ceasing. Romans 12 tells us of always praying. Ephesians 6 tells us, pray always. All the scripture teaches us of continual prayer. And how beautiful to develop such an attitude.

Look at that, he said, I'm praying day and night. He probably had to do his work, whatever he had to do, but I'm also praying while I'm there doing my work. And at night time, I'm also praying. I'm going to bed and I'm beginning to spend some time with the Lord in prayer. Years ago, I went to a Bible conference and I was staying with another brother in the same room and we were going to the meeting every morning and I was amazed how this brother didn't even get up from bed. He slides slowly on his knees when I was still in bed and I was kind of opening my eyes and I see him praying in the morning, early in the morning.

What an example it was. He didn't get up to brush his teeth, to wash his face and so on. He slides slowly from his bed and began to talk to the Lord in prayer. It's beautiful to see that. And you know, your heart, how we are getting tired sometimes. Prayer is a thing that we are not always good at, you might say. We always seem to voice our thoughts and our opinion but to others but instead of to voice it to the Lord first of all. We need to learn from Nehemiah. What a lesson we learned. He's praying day and night. He's speaking to the Lord on behalf of the people of Israel.

But notice what he says here also in verse 6. He really confessed his sins and the sins of the people of Israel. He said, I confessed the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned. Both have sinned. You know, it's so easy to speak about somebody else. You see, they have done the wrong, not me. See, I was pretty good sometime, we say of ourselves. But not Nehemiah. Nehemiah knew very well that God knew his heart. And he knew it's not only the people of Israel. We can point our fingers about everybody else. And Nehemiah says, no, it is I. It is my father's house along with all the nation.

We have gone wrong. Confession of sin before the Lord is very important to align ourselves with God's thoughts about ourselves. Notice that confession of sins make a difference and is very important, beloved brothers and sisters, sisters. You remember what Yeshua said to the churches of the Ephesian church and the church of Sardis? They're important to confess their sins before him. If there is no confession before the Lord and we think that we are okay, then the Lord cannot bless his people. Here's the two verses. Revelation 2 and verse 5. Look at this verse. The church of Ephesus. The church of Ephesus. Jesus the Messiah, the glorified Messiah, speaking to the seven churches of Asia Minor.

He says to the Ephesian church, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and then repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlesticks out of his place except thou repent." In other words, there will not be a testimony here he's saying to the Ephesians local assembly. God desires from his people to repent and God is able to blow on a testimony of a local assembly when they don't repent before the Lord. Look at chapter 3 now. And verse 3 is now speaking to the church of Sardis and he says, "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent.

If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Here he's saying to the local assembly at Sardis you too need to repent and brothers and sisters when we are going wrong also to do so so God can restore us and bless us. So Nehemiah took this attitude and he repented. Notice verse 7. Not only that Nehemiah gave glory to God in verse 5 but Nehemiah confessed and repented of his sins and of the nation of Israel before the Lord. Notice in verse 7 he admitted Israel's failure to keep God's commandments, God's statutes, God's judgment.

He says, "We have dealt corruptly against thee. We have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgment which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses." You see, now he's saying we have simply failed God. We simply didn't obey your word. And he used those three words here. You notice that? Commandments in Hebrew mitzvot has to do with commandment. Chukim is a statutes that God gave to the people of Israel. And judgment is mishpatim. God gave the people of Israel the commandments, the statutes and the judgment. And Nehemiah saying to the Lord he admitted it before him we simply failed to obey God's word. God's word.

And so after he gave praise to God verse 5 confessed the sins of the people of Israel verses 6 and 7 in verses 8 and 9 Nehemiah claims God's promises to Israel. Now he can turn around and ask the Lord to fulfill his promises. And I'm reading those two verses 8 and 9. "Remember I beseech thee the word which thou commanded thy servant Moses saying if ye transgress I will scatter you abroad among the nations. And if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost parts of the heaven yet will I gather them from thence and I will bring them unto the place here is the city of Jerusalem again the place that I have chosen to set my name there." And he now can ask God to fulfill his promises.

You know God is faithful to keep his promises. He promised Israel in Deuteronomy that he will scatter them. And he sure did. Deuteronomy chapter 28 he said to Israel if you'll disobey me I will scatter you. And look where the Jewish people were then. They were in Babel they were restored for a while and then they were scattered again. And look at our Jewish people today. There is hardly a nation in the world in which there is no Jewish people that have been scattered by the Lord waiting the day of regathering which will happen in a full sense of the word in a future day when Israel will be restored.

You know in the last 15, 20 years I would say even 60 years many Jewish people came from all over the world to the land of Israel. Today you have Jewish people from Russia from Europe from France from United States from Canada all gathered in the land but not yet in its full sense as it will happen in a future day. But God was faithful to scatter the Jewish people He will be faithful in gathering the people of Israel back to the land and that's why Nehemiah asking God remember remember your promises verse 8 you made a promise to Moshe and to Moshe's descendants in Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 29 Deuteronomy chapter 30 if you read Deuteronomy chapter 30 verses 1 to 10 God promised to restore the people of Israel back to the land.

Of course Israel is not yet in the full sense of the word a restored nation but many are already in the land in preparation for the future regathering. but in Nehemiah time some already went back to the land and Nehemiah is taking God at his word and he is now asking the Lord to fulfill his promises to the people of Israel.

So brothers and sisters now just let's conclude here with the prayer of Nehemiah he gave praise to God he confessed the sins of the nation of Israel he claims God's promises to Israel on the basis of his promises to Moshe and finally and here is the climax Nehemiah asked God to help him because he wants to serve him and he wants to be a vessel of blessing and so notice in verses 10 and 11 he says now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou has redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand O Lord I beseech thee let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to

the prayer of thy servants plural who desire to fear thy name and prosper I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man and he's pointing to the king of Persia for I was the king's cup bearer and so Nehemiah in the last part of his prayer beseech the Lord to help him his desire to serve you notice in verse 10 he reminded God that after all he is his servant and the people of Israel actually are God's servants you see the people of Israel were called to serve God to be a representative of God upon the face of this world to serve God among all the nations

of this earth so he said I remind you God that these are your people and I am your servant and they are your servants and then he's concluding and he says here notice in verse 11 beautiful he beseeched God to help him to be successful in his ministry what he's going to do he's going to help Israel to rebuild the walls he was going to help Israel to have the gates gates placed in a right way he is going to be a blessing to the people of Israel and he wanted to be successful in this service and so he said I beseech you I beg you God let now thine ear be attentive to the

prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants you notice mine I'm praying thy people Israel are praying and then we fear your name you remember we just read in Malachi chapter 3 in verse 16 then they that fear the Lord spoke often one to another Nehemiah speak of himself as a man who fear God Yirat Adonai the fear of God and then he said I want you to prosper me I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him and hear what he asked and I remember brothers and sisters Nehemiah was still in Babel Nehemiah was still under the Persian occupation he was under Artaxixis the king of Persia and he was

a servant there in Persia and so he said to him grant me mercy in a sight and now he is pointing to the king and you notice he called him this man Haish Haze this was Artaxixis he was the king of Persia but as far as Nehemiah was concerned before God he was only a man he says give me favor grant me mercy before this man he was the king of Persia and then he said to him I was the king cup bearer in other words Nehemiah's responsibility was to serve the king with drink in Hebrew we call it mashke ha-melech in other words he is the one who is responsible to give the king

the wine but before he would give the king the wine he would have to taste from it and should somebody want to poison the king the first one to die to be poisoned he was his servant and therefore he had the trustworthy service in the palace of Shushan he had to be very much responsible the king had to trust him and should he would have a drink given to the king that had any poison in it he would be the first one to die and therefore he says have mercy grant me mercy before this man and that's how God will see it in the next ministry meeting that's how God had helped him to have

mercy by Artaxerxes the king of Persia which will ultimately allow him to go to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to set up the gates of the city of Jerusalem of Jerusalem and the Lord used him even a man that was merely a cup bearer a person who served in the king palace well may the Lord help us to learn from Nehemiah and to be those that are praying on behalf of the people of God and seeking the welfare of God's people