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God who helped Nehemiah build the wall of Jerusalem
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Bible verse : Nehemiah
6:15-16 (NIV)
¡°So
the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all
our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost
their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with
the help of our God.¡±
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Nehemiah heard from Hanani that
the entire wall of Jerusalem had been destroyed. Nehemiah was very sad when
he heard that the city of Jerusalem,
a symbol of God's chosen people, had been destroyed.
Nehemiah did not eat anything for several days, cried, and prayed to God for
a way to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
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At
the time, Nehemiah was working as a winemaker under the trust of Artaxerxes,
the king of Persia. God heard Nehemiah's earnest prayer and moved King
Artaxerxes to allow Nehemiah to rebuild the city of Jerusalem..
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King
Artaxerxes wrote a letter directly to Nehemiah. It was an order to prevent
people from other regions from interfering with Nehemiah's path.
And the king sent his soldiers to enable him to reach the border of the
country. Nehemiah was able to safely return to Jerusalem.
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After
arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah rode a small donkey and went out to inspect
the city of Jerusalem. As he heard from Hanani, the city of Jerusalem had
collapsed and became a miserable place.
Nehemiah did not tell anyone about what God had allowed him to do.
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After some
time, Nehemiah told the leaders of Judah his plan.
¡°Everyone, the wall of Jerusalem
has been completely destroyed and all its gates have been burned. Now let us rebuild the
walls of Jerusalem.¡±
Nehemiah
spoke about the grace God had bestowed upon him and what King Artaxerxes had done to him. At
Nehemiah's words, the leaders decided to participate in building the wall
together.
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However, when
Nehemiah heard that he was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, people appeared
to interfere. People like Tobiah and Geshem, led by a man named Sanballat,
came to Nehemiah and started a fight, threatening him.
¡°What
are you guys doing now? Are you planning to rebel against the king?¡±
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Nehemiah
spoke confidently to them. ¡°The God of heaven will help us succeed in what we
do. We are servants of God. We will start building the wall.
This has nothing to do with you.¡± Nehemiah believed that God would surely
make this a success, and he was not swayed by their words.
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From
that day on, the Jewish people in Jerusalem all took on one task at a time
and began building the walls of Jerusalem.
High Priest Eliashib stepped forward to build the door and reinstall the
door.
As time passed, the city of Jerusalem began to come into its own little by
little.
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As the city of Jerusalem took
shape, those who opposed its construction reacted more strongly. They made a
detailed plan to prevent the Jews from building any more walls. They tried to
fight the wall builders and prevent them from proceeding further.
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When
Nehemiah heard this news, he was not afraid and prayed to God. ¡°God, please
listen. They are despising God. ¡°Please do not allow them to curse and ignore
God and His people, but may God give us victory and put them to shame.¡±
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Nehemiah
armed the people in preparation for an attack. Half of the people were made
to work with spears to prevent enemy invasion.
The guards did their best to guard without taking off their clothes, carried
spears even when going to draw water, and acted thoroughly to ensure that the
construction of the castle wall progressed.
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King Artaxerxes appointed
Nehemiah as governor of Judah. Even after becoming governor of Judah, he
showed himself to be an exemplary leader.
He was so heartbroken when he saw the people living in poverty. So he worked
hard for the poor people without receiving the salary given to the governor.
Nehemiah was a governor who truly loved his people.
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Those who opposed Nehemiah plotted to kill him. They planned to
lure Nehemiah by paying a man named Shemaiah. However, God did not let
Shemaiah's plan go as planned. God gave Nehemiah wisdom so that he would not
fall for their deception, and he was able to overcome the crisis well.
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Nehemiah worked, relying only on God, no matter what difficulties
he faced.
God enabled Nehemiah to accomplish something that seemed impossible.
The collapsed city of Jerusalem was rebuilt 52 days after construction began.
God worked to make Nehemiah's prayer come true and rebuilt the walls of
Jerusalem.
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Like Nehemiah, God helps those who believe in God and work with
courage until the end. What pleases God is that even if it is impossible in
human thoughts, God is with the person and helps make it happen. I hope that
all of you who hear today¡¯s message will act with faith like Nehemiah.
If you pray for something that will please God and plan and act according to
His word, God will work to make it happen.
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(This
is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the
conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)
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