Introduction

Good morning, everyone. Let us turn to Nehemiah chapter 1. The theme of this chapter is, "O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and give him success in the presence of the king."

Background of Nehemiah

The last verse of this chapter says, "I was cupbearer to the king." Now, do you think the cupbearer simply poured wine for the king? Actually, no. The emperors of the Persian Empire often needed someone to discuss national affairs with them. The cupbearer would pour wine for the emperor, and as they sipped their wine, they would discuss important national matters. This was a very important position.

If a person could speak to the emperor, they would at least need the level of He Shen and Ji Xiaolan. Nehemiah was the cupbearer, essentially a chief steward, a chief secretary, somewhat like the positions of He Shen and Ji Xiaolan. "Second only to the emperor, above all others." The emperor's secretary was very powerful, and it is still the case today. Those who take over the power of the top leader have often served as secretaries to previous emperors.

What is the background of Nehemiah? Nehemiah and the prophet Malachi lived in the same era. If you are not familiar with Malachi and Nehemiah, that's okay. Let me tell you a bit about the history of Israel.

How did Israel come about? Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob's descendants are called Israel, because Jacob's name was changed by God to Israel. But this is not the current State of Israel, Palestine, or Gaza. The meaning of Israel is to prevail with God and with men.

Later, Jacob's descendants migrated to Egypt due to famine, because Jacob's youngest son, Joseph, had been sold to Egypt by his brothers and later became the prime minister in Egypt. He was second only to the emperor, above all others, and he brought his father and siblings to Egypt.

However, decades later, Joseph died, and a new king arose in Egypt, who enslaved the Israelites. More than four hundred years later, God chose Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt and gave them a series of laws, such as Genesis, Numbers, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. These were all written by Moses.

These books written by Moses are also called the books of the Law, which clearly record who is cursed and who is blessed. Strangely enough, the Israelites insisted on taking the path of being cursed, and nothing could stop them.

Many years later, it came to the time of David. Let me give you a timeline so you have a general understanding. Abraham was about four thousand years ago, Moses about three thousand five hundred years ago, David about three thousand years ago, Nehemiah and Malachi about two thousand four hundred years ago, and Jesus about two thousand years ago.

After David became king of Israel, Israel became a very prosperous nation with a vast territory. Later, because they repeatedly violated God's words, God was not joking. If you violate God's words, you will be cursed; if you carefully obey God's words, you will be blessed. As a result, Israel was destroyed more than two thousand six hundred years ago.

God had mercy on the Israelites. Since the destruction of Israel, many Israelites were taken captive to Babylon, and some of them became officials in Babylon. The greatest among them was Daniel. There is also a book in the Bible called the Book of Daniel.

Daniel lived about two thousand six hundred years ago. He was taken captive to Babylon and later became the prime minister of Babylon. He was very powerful, very reverent of God, and loved to pray.

Seventy years passed, and Babylon was destroyed by the Persian Empire. As a result, the emperor of the Persian Empire sent Zerubbabel back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. Zerubbabel and Nehemiah were separated by a hundred years. By that time, Zerubbabel had died and turned to ashes. So, what about the temple and walls that were built? Actually, not so good! There are many stories in between.

Malachi and Nehemiah were contemporaries, about four hundred years before the time of Jesus Christ. After my explanation, you should have a clearer understanding. Nehemiah held a high position. He had a very close relationship with the emperor and directly influenced the emperor's decisions. Therefore, he influenced the politics, economy, and culture of the Persian Empire.

How did Nehemiah climb to this position? Actually, he and Daniel were both men of prayer. It is a miraculous thing to live in this world. Whether your boss likes you is a matter of a slight difference. These things are difficult to control. You don't know which words are deep and which are shallow. Sometimes the boss tests you, and if you say something wrong, the boss will dislike you. As the saying goes, "Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger."

Whether it was Daniel, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, or Mordecai, they all lived in the same era. Although the Book of Nehemiah is placed in the middle of the Old Testament, it is chronologically at the end of the Old Testament.

A hundred years earlier, the Persian emperor sent Zerubbabel with the Israelites back to Jerusalem and allocated them a budget. What happened later? It was miserable! A brother named Hanani, who had escaped from Jerusalem, told Nehemiah that those who survived the exile were in great distress and disgrace in the province of Judah, and the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and its gates were destroyed by fire.

This situation is like you being a Chinese person in Europe or America, hearing that China is being ravaged by the Japanese devils, and you are filled with righteous indignation and feel very uncomfortable. But when Daniel heard about this, he chose to pray, and so did Nehemiah.

How did Nehemiah please the emperor? I tell you, if God wants your boss to like you, then nothing is a problem. That's just how it is! Why do I say that? I have experienced it myself. It's not about how capable you are, but that God wants the emperor to like you, then you will prosper.

The theme of this chapter is, "O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and give him success in the presence of the king." Did Nehemiah find favor? Yes, he did! He had already become the cupbearer, directly involved in the emperor's policy-making in politics, economy, culture, and other aspects. How did he do it? Prayer!

Our brothers and sisters must not be mistaken. If God wants to protect you, then many problems are not problems. But the fear is not ending well, because "serving the emperor is like serving a tiger." The higher your position, the more things you cannot control, and it is very tiring.

Our church has a "Bible Data Encyclopedia," which contains these things. You can read it. But this is not important. The most important thing is that we should learn from Nehemiah, learn how he prospered, how he found favor in the eyes of the boss, and how he made God listen to his prayers. If you can recognize these things, then you are amazing.

Nehemiah's Understanding of God

We have to analyze this character. Nehemiah's understanding of God is not the same as the average person's understanding of God. Nehemiah grew up in the Persian Empire and gradually climbed to the highest stage of his career, becoming the emperor's cupbearer.

I can tell you, if your understanding of God is the same as Nehemiah's understanding of God; if your trust in God is the same as Nehemiah's trust in God, then you should also be a prosperous person!

Let's continue to talk about Nehemiah's understanding of God. When Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, its gates were destroyed by fire, and those who survived the exile were in great distress and disgrace in the province of Judah, he felt sad, and he sat down and wept and mourned for days, and he continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

He did not eat or drink, but devoted himself to prayer. Do you think this is useful? I tell you, Nehemiah had faced political struggles in the court before and had done this several times. Every time he found favor in God's eyes, so it really works! He prayed:

"O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses." (Nehemiah 1:5-7)

You see, Nehemiah said that what we have suffered is deserved, because we and our ancestors violated the commandments, statutes, and rules promulgated by Moses. I tell you, the Bible is too powerful, especially what Moses said in the books of the Law. If a curse is placed on a person's head, it is difficult to escape, and it is very accurate.

Some time ago, a sister went to work in the court. Do you think that job is easy? It's not easy! Actually, living in this world, don't make things too complicated. Those who work in this world, judging people and cases, have very miserable endings.

Some time ago, someone helped an old lady who had fallen, and then the person who helped the old lady was blackmailed. The judge said to him, "If you didn't knock her down, why did you help her up?" Then many people on the internet scolded the judge, saying what kind of words are these? I tell you, this is "moral collapse"!

Our brothers and sisters should be careful. You don't know if you will be blackmailed, so let's stay away! In this world, "morality is lost." How did this come about? It is closely related to those who judge cases.

The public security, procuratorate, and law are all legislating, enforcing the law, and judging cases. These jobs are too difficult! Why? Because some people seek favor! If that old lady is a family member of his good friend, then wouldn't he seize an opportunity to blackmail some money? It's easy to earn this money. Once you blackmail, you get a lot of money, but the descendants are cursed.

In other words, what happens in this world, if you observe it with the logical system of the Pentateuch, no one is wronged. In our Chinese words, it is "this is all retribution."

Don't say that Nehemiah is "untainted by mud." How did Nehemiah climb to this position? Li Ao said, "Behind successful people is not vicissitude, but dirt." It is difficult to go up if you are not dirty. How did Nehemiah go up? He went up by relying on God! He was blessed by God, God made him prosper, and God made him find favor in the eyes of the emperor. Where can you reason about this?

Someone asked, "Nehemiah was a person from more than two thousand four hundred years ago. Have you met him? How do you know?" Although I have not met him, I have seen God's work. He asked again, "How have you seen it?" Then I have to "Versailles" a bit, because I have found favor in God's eyes! But this is really not because of my ability, because my understanding of God from reading the Bible is very close to Nehemiah's understanding of God.

Nehemiah did not come up by being dirty, but by relying on God. Why don't you try it and see? In this world, without God's help, what can you control? Let me count it for you. When you are born, when you die, when you get sick, when you fall, none of these count.

When I was watching short videos, I saw someone playing by a waterfall, doing aerial photography, but a stone fell from the mountain and hit someone's head, and their brains burst on the spot, and they died! Can you control this? Someone said, "We don't know if we can put on our socks tomorrow after taking them off and going to bed today." So we have to have self-awareness. We really don't have the final say.

I also have a logic, which is that three meals a day, three full meals and two naps, going to school and leaving school, taking college entrance exams, finding a job, going to work and getting off work, these do not determine your destiny. Isn't it just living day after day, year after year? But what determines a person's destiny? Unexpected events!

For example, one day the emperor suddenly thinks, "This minister has a problem. Let the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Western Depot investigate him." Bad! I tell you, if they say you are guilty, you are guilty; if they say you are not guilty, you are not guilty. That's just how it is.

You really don't have the final say in this world! It's not about your ability. Many very capable people didn't go up, but people without ability went up instead! Everyone, please don't "label" me. I'm not talking about you. If you go up, thank God; if you don't go up, thank God. Alas, that's how life is!

As for me, I fear God and trust in God. I will never change this! Because I know my own limitations. How can I live without God? How could Nehemiah live without God? How did Nehemiah come up? He prayed, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments."

Everyone, remember, people can't escape curses in their lifetime, but there is one trick you have to catch, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might, and then you can come out of the curse. No matter if your curse is from eight generations of ancestors or from which generation, it can be solved.

So do you think I'm stupid? I can't be more stupid! I calculate this account clearly. Love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my might. How great is that! But many people don't know. If you can know God like Nehemiah, that would be great.

Then you also have to know how to pray. What to pray? "God, you are the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you."

Brothers and sisters must know, are you a perfect person? You are not, but you admit your sins, admit your imperfections, then you are not so self-righteous. The Bible says, "Even I and my father's house have sinned." I tell you, it's not because you are good enough, but because we come before God, there is really no other way to solve the problem of sin, only to admit it.

You say, "I haven't killed anyone or set fire to anything!" Does that mean you are a good person? It's not calculated that way, but by carefully obeying God's commandments. If you still cannot carefully obey, then you need to admit it, and then God will count you as a righteous person, God will be gracious to you, make you prosper, and make you find favor in the eyes of the boss.

Pay attention, many people fear their bosses more than God. But in the end, even the bosses dislike them, and customers despise them. What a mess! I tell you, if God wants your boss to favour you, isn't that the easiest thing in the world? God releases a signal into your boss's mind, and the problem is truly solved.

After you sin, God scatters you among the nations, just like the Israelites who have been tossed about among the nations for over two thousand years. How miserable! I tell you, don't be an Israelite, because the Israelites were chosen by God, and then they forsook God, and God severely punished them. How miserable!

You must understand that the Israelites are a model of sin, a model of living a small life. The Israelites returned to Jerusalem from the Persian Empire, and God asked them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, repair the walls, and live a life centered on God. But when you read the scriptures written by the prophets Zechariah, Malachi, and Haggai, oh my goodness, they went back and continued to be cursed.

The Israelites experienced such great miracles. When Judah was destroyed, God, through the King of Babylon, removed the gold and silver treasures from their temple. God, through the Persian Emperor, destroyed Babylon because the Persian Emperor revered God. He sent the Israelites back to Jerusalem with the gold and silver treasures and allocated them a budget to rebuild the great and awesome temple of God.

But what did the Israelites do when they returned? When Zerubbabel first returned, they were still singing hymns and praising God on the way, but as soon as they arrived in Jerusalem, they began to live a small life. How abominable! No one cared about God's temple, and no one thought about living a life centered on God.

As a result, almost a hundred years passed in the blink of an eye, and by the time of Nehemiah, they were still the same. Malachi and Nehemiah were contemporaries. Malachi wrote the Book of Malachi around the time after Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. Nehemiah led the Israelites to rebuild the walls and restore a life centered on God.

Then the emperor's decree came, and the court transferred Nehemiah back to the court because the court lacked talent. He was a talented man, and the emperor let him work in the court for more than ten years. These ten years were during the time of Malachi. As a result, the Israelites went back to living a small life, the walls were broken again, and the temple was not good either. What were the Israelites thinking?

I tell you, Nehemiah's understanding of God was so good. If you return to God, even if you are taken to the ends of the earth, God will bring you back to the place where He has established His name. Brothers and sisters must know, I hope you can understand that all the disasters we experience are because we do not live a life centered on God, but want to live a small life.

Some time ago, there was a sister who was quite interesting. She just lived her life and turned thirty. At thirty, you should do things appropriate for thirty-year-olds. Do you know what you should do at thirty? Marry a husband and have children. After giving birth, you are full of illnesses. In fact, aren't those postpartum illnesses all demons?

As a result, in 2018, she listened to my prayers online, and all her illnesses were healed! I ask you, how much is that worth? You must know that in the hospital, money is worthless. No matter how poor you are, you have to raise money. You have to borrow money to get treatment. When people are in the hospital, they are like animals, just having tubes inserted into them.

A few days ago, someone said, "Teacher, look, I'm following you to study the Bible, and I can't even afford to eat." I said, "You should have been unable to afford to eat a long time ago. You are full of illnesses, what are you eating for?" He meant that believing in the Lord like this would delay his work and his life. I said, "Forget it, do whatever you want!"

Actually, I don't need people to follow me to study the Bible, but I need you to live like a human being. If you live neither like a human nor like a ghost, then what's the use of you living? Why is he like this? Because he read a few books by Kazuo Inamori, but you must know that Kazuo Inamori eventually died of cancer.

I tell you, people live their lives, and as they live, they become confused! The reason is simple, people live in this world, and "whoosh," they are gone. What people boast about in this world is toil and trouble. Not knowing God is a tragedy.

The place where God has established His name is a blessed place. We build a church to build a place where God has established His name, and then we become God's people, God's children. How wonderful! Then the blessings and promises in the Bible are all ours.

In fact, history has proven time and time again that those who fear God lack no good thing. Even if you live in a place where palace infighting is very fierce, you will lack no good thing! Daniel, Nehemiah, Joseph, and David have given us very good examples. Let's brothers and sisters ponder this slowly.

How much of God's grace did Nehemiah experience before he developed these understandings of God? He experienced a lot! So I have to tell you, there are too many unsolvable problems in a person's life. Don't think you are someone special. Even if you are Xu Jiayin, you cannot turn the tide.

Those unlucky people in China in the past, like the founding fathers Peng Dehuai and Liu Shaoqi, what could you do? If God makes you unlucky, you have to be unlucky. It's hard! What can people control in their lives? If you want to control something, I encourage you to give up! When a person is born, when they die, what happens to them, they have no say in it.

Always remember, it's best for people to keep their tails between their legs! For example, if you bump into someone on the street, and you look up and see that the other person's head is full of scars, one on the left and one on the right, crisscrossing, and some places the flesh hasn't even healed yet! What do you do then?

One day, I went to the airport to pick someone up, and then I took him to eat Singapore's especially delicious frog porridge, which is a standard for coming to Singapore. As a result, there were no parking spaces, so I said you guys go ahead first. Later, I parked the car far away and rushed back, only to bump into someone with a head full of scars!

Oh my goodness! What do you say I should do? I kept my tail between my legs. Why? My life is worth more than his life. I don't want to have scars on my head, with blood vessels showing, or even have to kneel down. Someone said, "Teacher, how can you be so lacking in confidence?"

When I encounter this kind of thing, I don't want to compete with people. I just keep my tail between my legs. Seriously, I may not be able to run faster than him. I'd better solve the problem first. What if he pulls out a kitchen knife from behind and slashes me? In the end, he let me go because I kept my tail between my legs. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. I bumped into you, I'm unlucky, I admit it.

Nehemiah's Plan

When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the people were being bullied, he thought: If only I were there, with my relationship with the emperor, who would dare to touch me? I am an important figure in front of the emperor. What are you regional officials, governors, and secretaries?

God is quite interesting. He had the emperor transfer Nehemiah back. Nehemiah couldn't decide to return to Jerusalem himself. What he said didn't count. What the emperor said was what mattered. He did whatever the emperor told him to do. He couldn't arrange things himself. Only the emperor's decree would work! Even though Nehemiah had plans to return and manage things personally, it was useless.

But later Nehemiah was very powerful. He was a very smart man. Some people have calculated that he repaired the walls in 52 days after arriving in Jerusalem. His mobilization ability was very strong. Think about it, if someone working by the emperor's side didn't have this ability, what could they do? Actually, there isn't much work to do. People are just a bit foolish, turning a tiny bit of work into a lot of work.

You must know that if you truly have God with you, you must be a very smart person, like Nehemiah. If a person is smart, then there isn't much work to do. As for me, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. I rely on God, and I work quickly and well.

I have a friend who used to be my boss. He asked me, "Where do you get so much time to do so much work?" Actually, I'm not bragging, I really did a lot of work.

Just before the Bible study, our church's system had a problem, and a colleague said to me, "Teacher, no method works anymore, the server is dead." I drove to the data center and fixed it. There aren't many people who have this ability.

Let's continue talking about Nehemiah. What did he plan to do when he returned? Besides God, who else could be so powerful? If God wants the emperor to send him, then he can go. Nehemiah said, "God, I want to go to Jerusalem, I want to rebuild your temple, rebuild your walls, and restore the Israelites to living a life centered on God." He was really amazing. He began to pray, saying:

"O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:11)

What does he mean by praying this? It means I want to return to Jerusalem, but what I want is useless. The emperor's arrangement is what matters. This is Nehemiah's prayer.

Nehemiah's Prayer

What kind of person can prosper and find favour in God's sight? Remember, you make God's interests your interests, and that's what works! But in the church, everyone asks for their own things. You must know for sure, why do I find favour in God's sight? Because I want to build His church for God. I say, God, please use me to build your dwelling place. The dwelling place where you have established your name is the church.

Why do so many people who come to our church receive blessings? Although you may not love God that much, your illnesses are healed through prayer because there is a group of people here who are willing to dedicate themselves to building God's glorious church, which is the dwelling place where God has established His name. So God bestows blessings in that place. If you don't know this, then it's troublesome.

Don't go around looking for blessings everywhere. How can a church without God's presence receive blessings? That's the problem. Many people also build churches, but there is no presence of God because that place is not the dwelling place where God has established His name. It may be established in your own name, but our church does not promote its own name. We promote God's name, we promote the name of Jesus Christ!

This is Nehemiah's prayer. It's all about his understanding of God. His request is to rebuild God's temple and restore the Israelites to living a life centered on God.

In fact, the later part of the Book of Nehemiah is a tragedy. Why? Because Nehemiah used his management skills to organize these people to rebuild the temple, but this was only because Nehemiah loved God. Those Israelites didn't have this desire at all. So after Nehemiah returned to the court, the Israelites lived in a curse again. Actually, they didn't kill anyone or set anything on fire, it's just that they didn't have Nehemiah's ambition.

So sometimes I think, why don't people want such a good choice? People don't believe! They believe in themselves, believe in Kazuo Inamori, believe in working hard, believe in having a good relationship with the boss, but they just don't believe in God. Actually, if you really have Nehemiah's abilities, trust God so much, and pray like Nehemiah, you will surely prosper.

You say, "Teacher, how can you be so sure?" Because that is what God promises you. So what does Nehemiah ask for? "Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." How powerful!

So brothers and sisters, all who want to live with some dignity in this world, learn from Nehemiah. This book is not written for us to read as a story, but to teach us to be people like Nehemiah. It's good!

Actually, it doesn't matter what kind of person you are born as. The key is what kind of person you want to be. The principles I teach are very straightforward. Even if you are born without knowing a single word, some children later become bachelors or masters, but they are useless when they work. Isn't that fatal? They are not like Nehemiah, but like "Mice Love Rice."

Through studying this passage of scripture, can we learn a little something? If your core request is the same as God's core request, can you not prosper? If you keep doing things and end up getting rid of God, you "divorce" God in your heart, thinking, "Go away, I don't have time to read the Bible, pray, or build the church. Don't you see how busy I am with work? Don't bother me!"

Why do people dare to do this? It's because they don't know how powerful God is. When you see people around you, even though they are Christians, living in such torment, then you have to be careful, don't imitate them.

If you slowly and carefully observe a person's life, all they can boast about is toil and trouble. But I hope that everyone can live like Nehemiah and Daniel. They lived quite well, and your boss will surely treat you kindly.

I really thank God that I have a very good relationship with my superiors. Of course, there were stories of getting to know each other through conflict, but the ending was always good. Therefore, when I look for a job and write a resume, I always have my superiors write a letter of recommendation. Which company wouldn't think that a superior's letter of recommendation is more reliable? If the superior has a good evaluation of him, can this person be bad? My superiors often say, "You are truly a problem solver." Isn't that a great evaluation!

We have talked for a long time about Nehemiah's understanding of God, Nehemiah's plan, and Nehemiah's prayer, but none of it was for promotion or wealth. It was all with God as his core interest, and then he lived a life of prosperity. We brothers and sisters must learn this. If you lack in finances or lack in health, then think about whether you are living wrongly?

Life is not long. I have already lived more than half of my life. I painstakingly, repeatedly, and tediously tell everyone this, hoping that brothers and sisters can truly know God, and then live well, joyfully, and happily!

If we are a little worried, it is to worry about the kingdom of God, and that is what we should do. Precisely because we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness in our hearts, and seek God's church, the dwelling place where God has established His name, therefore everything we do prospers, Amen!

Our Bible study sharing ends here. May God bless everyone!

null