Reference:
Nehemiah 1: 3-4
They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Context:
After the Babylonian exile ended in 538 B.C, God started bringing his people back to their land as He had promised through Jeremiah the prophet. Of these, the first return was led by Zerubbabel with whom around 50,000 people decided to leave their comfortable life in Babylon and take the further burden of rebuilding the temple.
Some decades later, Ezra leads a band of around 2000 people in 457 B.C to rebuild their lives spiritually and morally.
In 444 B.C, Nehemiah leads another return for the reconstruction of the Wall of Jerusalem. After hearing the news of Jerusalem, in the above verse, Nehemiah was grieved and poured out his heart before God. After around four months, God opened a way for him to return to Jerusalem and start the reconstruction of the wall.
Lessons:
God’s purposes are being fulfilled all the time. He is working out His eternal plan in our lives notwithstanding our view of the circumstances. Whether it be David’s time of expansion, Solomon’s time of prosperity, Jeremiah’s time of exile, Nehemiah’s time of return from exile or the Messiah’s time of salvation, God has his people and God has his plans being worked out in every generation.
Today is no different. Even today God has his plan being worked out. What is the burden God has laid in your heart? What is your role in God’s eternal purpose? If you know it, cry out before God to open a way to fulfill it in your life. If not, ask Him for a revelation.
Nehemiah faced opposition and lots of it.
- Opposition through ridicule
- Opposition through threat of attack
- Opposition through discouragement
- Opposition through extortion
- Opposition through compromise
- Opposition through slander
- Opposition through treachery
In spite of it all, the construction of the wall was completed in a record 52 days.
You know, if you have clarity of God’s purpose in your life and you set about to do it, there will be opposition. You need to expect it beforehand and if it does not come, there is something wrong in you or your way of doing things. Satan always opposes God’s plan and His work. But our hope is that in spite of all, we will accomplish our purpose in record breaking style if we stick with God. I encourage you to stick with God.
This article is a part of Free Bible Study Lessons from End-Times-Outpouring.com
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