Does God need us to pray in the temple, or do we need God ourselves? We must know where the source of all blessings lies. Why is it that many brothers and sisters, after receiving grace, cannot freely give it away? What challenges did Nehemiah face? What can serving in the temple bring us? Now, let the teacher reveal to everyone the source of being blessed:

Questions for Reflection:

• Why did Nehemiah require the leaders of the people to live in Jerusalem? Why did he ask the people to cast lots, with one out of ten living in Jerusalem?

• What did Nehemiah consider the key to being blessed? Did the people at that time care?

• Did Nehemiah's demands have an effect on the people at that time? What was Nehemiah trying to promote? If it were us, what choice would we make?

Honorable Service

When Nehemiah wrote this chapter, he had a regret, which was that many people did not want this honorable service. Faced with such a situation, Nehemiah felt very uncomfortable. He believed that living in Jerusalem and serving in the temple was a matter of honoring God, but most people did not think so and avoided their responsibilities. This chapter recorded by Nehemiah is likely the action he took after discovering this situation.

Nehemiah first gave some encouragement, but it did not have much effect. There were still not many people willing to serve in the temple. I am reminded of when our church first started promoting prayer meetings four years ago, some people did not want to see me. Every time the meeting ended, before I even had time to step down from the stage, some people had already rushed to the door, and I couldn't catch up with them. Why? It is because people do not know that this is a matter of honoring God.

Building a culture of honor in the church, a culture of willingness to draw near to God, serve God, pray, and worship in God's temple, is not an easy task. But I am very grateful to God that He has done a wonderful thing among us. Now, among us, you will see brothers and sisters often coming to the church to pray, not only on Sundays, but also on weekdays. Even brothers and sisters who work or live far from the church often come to the church to pray.

Nehemiah's Challenge

Nehemiah faced a great challenge. He knew that serving the Lord of hosts in God's temple was the key to being blessed. In the previous chapters, we saw the Israelites, under Nehemiah's leadership, confessing their sins, repenting, and keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. These were also good, but they still could not establish a culture of honor. Since these measures did not work, Nehemiah had to resort to administrative orders.

First: All leaders, including the leaders of each clan, must live in Jerusalem. This solved the first key problem. The benefit of this measure was that when the people of each clan needed the leaders to judge their disputes, they had to come to Jerusalem. Second: One out of every ten people was chosen by lot to live in Jerusalem. This measure was already somewhat coercive. In fact, God wants people to be willing and joyful. The third measure was, Everyone who willingly lived in Jerusalem, the people blessed them. Whether the people truly blessed these people, we do not know. But this was a great desire in the author's heart, hoping that people would know: Living in Jerusalem is truly a blessed thing, an honorable service.

Names in the Bible and Names in the Book of Life

It is very interesting that the Bible often records the names of many, many people. I also hope that all of our names are recorded in God's Book of Life because we are all willing and joyful to draw near to God and serve God. Perhaps you will ask, Am I serving God just by coming here to listen to a Bible study? Actually, you are! When you walk into a church and there is only the pastor preaching on the stage, and there are only rows and rows of empty chairs below, preaching to chairs, it is really exhausting.

God hopes that there will be many, many people in His temple who are willing to worship Him, praise Him, and also receive blessings in His temple. This is a very important spiritual principle. Nehemiah longed to establish such a culture. Therefore, he specifically recorded the names of these people who lived in Jerusalem. God also knows very well, and God also likes to record people's names in the Book of Life. This is recorded in the Bible. Nehemiah recorded the names of these people because he wanted to encourage his own people, that is, the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. He wanted to say: Look, God will remember you. Your staying in Jerusalem is not in vain. Your staying in God's temple is not in vain. Your serving the Lord of hosts in this way is not in vain!

Difficulties in Establishing a Culture of Honorable Service

Unfortunately, Nehemiah's hope was not fulfilled. The final result of his painstaking efforts, although not recorded in the Book of Nehemiah, is recorded in the Book of Malachi. In fact, the era of the prophet Malachi was not far from the era of Nehemiah, only about ten years. What was the situation in Malachi's time? Let's take a look together:

Priests Despise God's Name

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?' says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. (Malachi 1:6)

Who is this being said to? It is being said to the priests of that time. In the era of Malachi, these priests were likely the same group of people as the priests in the Book of Nehemiah. Although their names were recorded by Nehemiah, in the era of Malachi, God Himself said that they were: Priests who despise My name.

Priests Are Weary of Worshipping God

You say, 'What a weariness this is,' and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 1:13)

What does these things refer to? It refers to the matter of worshipping God! What kind of culture is this? Even the priests despise God's name and feel that worshipping God is a very tedious thing! I am very worried that some of our brothers and sisters may have such thoughts: Worshipping God is so tedious! Be careful!

It is not easy for us to live a peaceful and stable life today. The later brothers and sisters may not understand our initial situation. When I first started leading the church, everyone in our church was full of problems, and there was no presence of God at all. Today, there is a problem with this job, tomorrow there is a problem with that rental, and the day after tomorrow someone has a problem with their permit. There are problems all day long, and there is no glory of God at all! But thank God, God has now begun to turn things around one by one.

How did it start to turn around? One of our sisters, who had an exam the next day, felt that praying was too troublesome, so she said she wanted to go home to prepare for the exam. As a result, she failed miserably in the exam. On the second Sunday after the exam, she wouldn't leave even if you asked her to. She stayed and said, Pastor, please pray for me! Why? Because I'm about to fail the exam. But thank God, God is doing the work of restoration. After I prayed for this sister, all the subjects were miraculously passed. Whether someone copied the wrong score or not, I don't know, but in any case, this is God's miraculous work. Are these things really tedious? No! That is the center of our lives. Worshipping God is the center of life, but unfortunately, not many people agree with it.

Priests Do Not Take God's Commandments to Heart

And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart. (Malachi 2:1-2)

These priests do not take the commandments to heart. Today, we must be careful and take the commandments to heart. In those days, it was still easy for Nehemiah to go back to build the walls and restore worship, but how difficult it is to establish a continuous and ever-developing culture of worshipping God! Nehemiah had to take administrative orders because there were too few people who were willing to live in Jerusalem, willingly do these tedious things, and worship the Lord of hosts.

The People Do Not Think God Is Righteous

You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, How have we wearied him?' By saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.' Or you ask, Where is the God of justice?' (Malachi 2:17)

They felt that those who did evil prospered, but God did not care about those who did good, and then they asked, where is the God of justice? So they did not believe that living in Jerusalem could be blessed. The people at that time did not fear God very much, and they offered sacrifices of crippled cattle and sheep. Nehemiah painstakingly recorded the names of these people here to tell us what an honorable service this is! But the result was not what we imagined. Later, in the era of the Book of Malachi, God was silent for four hundred years.

The Path of Willing and Joyful Service is Sure to be Greatly Blessed

We must serve our God willingly and joyfully! Although the administrative order did not succeed, everyone should understand Nehemiah's good intentions. I encourage everyone to sanctify their time and willingly come to God's temple to walk this honorable path of service, and God will surely bless you. Some brothers and sisters live far from the church, but they still come to church to participate in meetings and prayers. I have seen God's grace and blessings upon them! Everyone should know what an honorable service this is!

I hope everyone will walk the path of willingly serving God. In 2012, there was a sister who was severely controlled by the spirit of depression, suffering from severe insomnia. Another sister among us, who lived and worked in Woodlands, needed at least an hour to come to church every night to pray with her. As a result, she was blessed by God. In April 2013, this zealous sister's work contract was about to expire. The company she worked for, as well as the company of another contractor, were also about to expire, meaning that this sister would soon lose her job. Miraculously, her boss arranged an interview for her at a large bank, and she was hired and started working there.

When we begin to honor God and live a God-centered life, the Bible gives a guarantee: God can surely solve all your busyness and release you from it. Therefore, I really don't see busyness in some of the brothers and sisters in our church. Do you know why? Because their hearts willingly dwell in God's temple.

I encourage you to try it. There is no condemning voice, only willingness and joy. The Bible also says, To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life (Psalm 27:4). Bring a willing heart and offer the best to God, rather than the administrative orders that Nehemiah implemented. Then, it will be difficult for you not to be blessed. This is a worthwhile method to try in order to solve busyness. As long as God gives you a little wisdom from heaven, or God bestows a grace from heaven, it will make your boss think you are good, and make your work wise and smooth.

The Bible encourages us to live a God-centered life, but the Jews that Nehemiah faced at that time were not very willing. If it was because Jerusalem could not accommodate any more people, and then lots were drawn, and some people had to be drawn to move to other places, that would be a welcome thing. If such a day had come, then the Israelites would have been completely transformed in the days of Malachi, and God would not have been silent for four hundred years. Unfortunately, it was not the case.

See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction. (Malachi 4:5)

Today, should our hearts begin to learn to return to our Heavenly Father and have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life held in God's hand? Some people have already been written in it, like those in the Book of Nehemiah, but later they fell away, and God had to remove their names. It is possible that from the beginning, everyone's name was recorded in it by default, but some people have been lost.

Turn Our Hearts to the Heavenly Father, and the Heavenly Father's Heart Will Turn to Us

We must change our logical system and way of thinking, break free from narrowness, and dare to try in the presence of God. Through prayer, through drawing near to God, through serving in the presence of God and receiving grace, you will see how God turns your busyness around.

The Bible says in many places: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and so on. If your hearts turn to the Heavenly Father, and the Heavenly Father's heart turns to you, what problems cannot be solved? Not only can your problems be solved, but your names are also recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. We must learn a lesson: Although Nehemiah had good intentions and recorded these people's names in it, after twelve years, when he returned from Persia, it had all gone down the drain.

In summary: God is so eager for people to know how honorable it is to worship God, Amen!