Book of Nehemiah Part 4

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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May 21, 2023

Sunday school from May 21st, 2023

The Book of Nehemiah Part 5

00:00: Alright, let's pray and we will get started Lord Jesus again as we open your word We ask the Holy Spirit to rightly understand what you have revealed
00:07: So that we may properly believe confess and do according to your word we ask in Jesus name. Amen Okay.
00:14: Yes, Hannah. You have a question. Yeah, they cast lots
00:32: Yeah, so I would say that in that particular case You know, there's
00:37: I forget the text That's basically says that the lot belongs to the Lord a lot. The Lord is the one who actually decides the lots
00:43: So every time I win very big against my wife and Yahtzee, that's that God Shining down on me
00:52: That's a valid connection, what are you guys grown in about? Yeah, I Should tell you but the connection between Christ's a casting of lots and and the casting of lots in today's text
01:06: That's more just a coincidence kind of thing But you know, I will say this there was one time
01:12: I beat my wife really badly in Yahtzee I mean, it was like I got like three Yahtzee's and you know, it was like a huge score
01:19: I was like 200 points better than her and I in and I won so handily in that particular whole game that I put the the scorecard on our refrigerator using a magnet because I wanted everyone to see it and And it disappeared very quickly when
01:35: I opened the toilet lid it was sitting in the toilet so She wanted to make sure that she that I knew what the fate of that Yahtzee card was
01:48: But that that's a whole other thing. By the way, I I got to get back with you Hannah regarding your questions you asked about Messianic Jews and Seventh -day
01:57: Adventist This might actually be a good kind of place to talk about that. Actually So, you know from time to time we do have
02:05: We do have like open open studies where people can ask questions and I had received from Hannah Ganarvich to two pretty big questions
02:15: What do Messianic Jews believe today and and and what about Seventh -day
02:21: Adventist? So we'll start with Messianic Judaism So Messianic Judaism that I grew up with is different now than what is being put out there as Messianic Judaism so the the best way
02:35: I can put it is that there was a group back in the 70s 80s and even 90s called
02:41: Jews for Jesus and what what these people basically are are people who grew up Jewish and through the
02:50: Word of God have come to realize that Jesus is the Messiah and They still maintain some of their cultural identity in their in their churches, but their churches aren't a true denomination so but what happened maybe about 10 and 15 years ago is a lot of the
03:09: Jews for Jesus groups gonna ended up being co -opted by the The then up -and -coming false theology known as the
03:17: Hebrew roots movement And and so the Hebrew roots people have kind of decimated large portions of the
03:25: Jews for Jesus community And and considered them to be not
03:30: Jewish enough, which is really weird but the the the people who claim that they're
03:37: Torah observant Christians and things like this That is they literally if not, if they're not a cult they border on cultic
03:46: Practices and there are some there are some conclaves of these Hebrew roots folks up in Montana and in Idaho and they practice polygamy
03:57: So, you know just I mean crazy kind of stuff going on in this and the horror stories coming out of that are interesting so that that's the so the
04:06: Jews for Jesus if you can't think of them as like Like evangelicals with like a slightly
04:11: Jewish spin based on their culture It would have been better if they'd like become
04:17: Lutherans, but that I say that about everybody But we'll talk about seven -day Adventism in a second. Yes. You had a question James.
04:27: Oh, yeah So the Hebrew roots people absolutely require circumcision and the
04:34: Hebrew roots folks If let me see if I can find this really quick Let's see here.
04:41: I need to do a Google search. I'm and I'm looking sorry I was doing some research on North Point for issues, etc
04:49: Interview. Hold on a second here. I want to go Hebrew roots
04:59: T sit -see Both let me see if I spelled that right.
05:05: Yeah, I'm trying to transliterate One of the other things they do is they require
05:11: Their men to wear these tassels off their pants These are called sit -see oath.
05:18: And so they'll connect them You know four of them, you know on their belt loops and and you know
05:23: They're that these guy are people who legitimately try to be like completely Torah observant So here's some photos
05:30: So you got two in the front two in the back and and they think they're required to do this You know, it's so the
05:36: Hebrew roots the best way I can describe the Hebrew roots movement Is is that this is today's modern -day version of the
05:43: Judah Ising heresy and just before I Arrived here as pastor.
05:50: So this would be nine years ago like about this week I did a debate with a guy in the Hebrew roots movement by the name of Jim Staley on whether or not
05:58: Christians were required to keep the Sabbath and The guy is a super snaky guy the best way best way
06:04: He ended up spending some time in prison because he like built old ladies out of millions of dollars in just really terrible stuff, but And so they you know, they claim you're required to keep the
06:17: Sabbath you're required to you know, continue circumcision and in my debate with him I asked him straight up.
06:23: I said so if they were to rebuild a temple in Jerusalem today
06:28: Okay, would you be traveling there three times a year for the
06:33: Mosaic Covenant feast days? You have to be there for Passover you have to be there for the
06:38: Feast of Pentecost and you also have to be there for The Day of Atonement. I said, would you be traveling three times a year?
06:46: And he said he basic he kind of balked at the question of initially He says well in order to be obedient to my
06:52: Lord, I would have to and just totally not understanding what the scripture says that That the
07:01: Old Testament temple and all that was a was a type in shadow Pointing us to Christ.
07:07: And so I mean, yeah, these these are people who They they've taken the writings of Paul and completely flipped him on their head.
07:15: In fact, Jim Staley who is Now that he's out of prison. He's like reasserted himself in the
07:20: Hebrew Roots movement He is a fellow who claims That he has a divine interpretation of the book of Galatians which basically his divine interpretation is it contradicts what the actual text says and he learned it because An angel appeared to him while he was reclining on his lazy boy
07:42: Chair in his in his living room. Yeah, I was thinking that maybe the angel
07:48: Moroni and Joseph Smith appeared to him as well So you'll note that the Hebrew Roots movement very dangerous very dangerous movement
07:56: Last year at the issues, etc Conference we actually met a fellow who came out of the Hebrew Roots movement because of the work that we've been doing at fighting for the faith
08:03: So because once you see that the Sabbath is actually type in shadow and the scripture actually says that in Colossians 2
08:10: And we're not required to keep it and you'll note that Paul and the Apostles they argue strongly against circumcision.
08:17: You're not required to be circumcised just full stop You know, that's that's and in fact
08:23: Paul goes on to say anybody who's circumcised Because they think they're keeping the law.
08:29: They're required to keep the entire law. They've actually been severed from Christ so You know, there's that and then when you talk about Seventh -day
08:38: Adventism Um, I think they're connected with the Millerites if I'm not mistaken their history but you have to go back into the 1800s and you have to recognize that in the 1800s with the rise of Evolutionary theory a lot of Christians and a lot of Christian groups went super mystical
08:55: You think of like Ralph Waldo Emerson and you know, all these like these kind of like pseudo
09:01: Mystic writers of the 1800s With that then you had the rise of very real really weird sectarian groups
09:10: Including Mormonism and the Seventh -day Adventists. And so the Seventh -day Adventists, it's a
09:16: Who is their prophetess again? LNG white there we go.
09:22: LNG white. This is a woman who claimed to be a prophet and and but Basically, I consider her to be like a prototype
09:31: Hebrew roots lady, so she claimed to be a prophet. She actually has some notable false prophecies. She's not a prophet and and she she claims that The only day that Christians are allowed to worship because they have to follow the
09:45: Sabbath is on Saturday So there that's why their Seventh -day Adventist is that they only worship on Saturday It's a legalistic group and I would note that despite their legalism.
09:54: The gospel is still present there It just gets papered over by a bunch of other stuff And so we when this so we don't actually say that the
10:03: Seventh -day Adventists are a legitimate cult They they have some they do not properly distinguish between law and gospel so there are some
10:10: Chris there are Christians in the group, but the the the overall warp and woof of the
10:16: Teaching especially from Ellen White is is it's really dangerous stuff and can shipwreck your faith pretty quickly.
10:23: So Yes Mm -hmm
10:35: Yep Yeah, no, see that's that's kind of the thing
10:42: That's good. That's the story if you would have like how false teaching works is You'll note that the devil when he comes to us
10:49: He doesn't say he doesn't come to us, you know on fire with horns and a pitchfork and hi I'm here to take over your church, you know
10:56: Instead what the devil does and you'll see this in the screw tape letters if you've ever read the screw tape letters
11:01: Is that CS Lewis wrote about how
11:07: When we're deceived it's always Christianity and it's
11:12: Christianity and something else So I've been in an online debate over the past five weeks now with like legitimate
11:22: Nazis And and I and I'm not actually speaking in hyperbole here.
11:28: Okay, just I'm It's one of the craziest things I've ever had to deal with and in fact if I can give you an example of what
11:36: I Mean by kind of Christianity and let me see if I could find this in my screenshots Yeah, Christianity plus something.
11:44: Um, hang on a second here What'd you say? new
11:50: Christianity and Hang on a second. I gotta hunt this down. Let me let me find this real quick Just allow me to wander through my
11:59: Twitter stream for just a minute if I could okay, I'm gonna say and yeah, this is kind of just a mess, but Yeah, yeah, you know what?
12:11: Let me go through maulers. Hang on that I can probably get to a quicker my apologies What you're gonna see now is actual Nazism, but I'm gonna
12:18: I'm looking for something very particular and This will give you an example of kind of what's wrong.
12:24: You know the same thing that's wrong with Lng white and and these guys it's the same thing.
12:32: Hang on a second here Let's Yeah, that's he's truthy, okay, but I gotta find there it is, okay, this is what
12:50: I was looking for Okay So, I mean if that doesn't just take your breath away just looking at it
12:57: But here's the so I don't I don't read German. So but here's the here's the So Hitler come on Luther's lair, okay
13:08: So Hitler's struggle and Luther's teaching The issue is the wound.
13:14: Okay in German the issue is the wound Okay, and note who gets taught billing
13:20: Hitler does Okay, and this guy You know so he put this up because he claims that you know that guys like me are
13:30: Stupid because we claim the Nazis were pagans and atheists. They actually most of them were but So you'll note that in 19 and no 1933 that's kind of an important thing there by the way because with Luther with Hitler rising to power in 1933 you couldn't oppose him within five weeks.
13:51: He was the dick. He was not Chancellor of Germany He was the dictator of Germany and there were people who were dying and I hate to say a lot of churches
13:58: Capitulated and it like immediately and so so this was a piece of Nazi propaganda and the issue is the owned
14:05: Alright, the issue is the owned You don't mix Hitler and Christianity.
14:12: You don't mix LNG white and Christianity you don't you and that's always how it goes with it with with with false groups
14:22: And I would note that we conservatives are very very prone to an wound ourselves the
14:28: Republican Party and Christianity, okay, be careful with that be careful
14:34: Okay, so vote principally, but don't add to the scriptures. Does that make sense?
14:40: So, you know, this is again, you know, I got to get that off the screen Go away.
14:46: Go away You keep a look at so but so if you wanted to do more research on LNG white and in the
14:58: Seventh -day Adventist if you look up like lectures by the late dr Walter Martin on Seventh -day
15:05: Adventism, I think that gives a very balanced approach to it Where he for real takes on their legalism
15:12: But they come all all the old -school cult Apologists would come up short and say that they they don't quite
15:21: Fit the actual bill of being a cult, but they're cult ik if the best way I can put it
15:26: So does that make sense? So lose the owned the end, right?
15:34: How we doing on time terrible? Okay All right, so Sherry online says she's an ex -member of the
15:44: Seventh -day Adventist interesting. All right. Oh moto I'm so glad to see so that somebody appreciates
15:49: Napoleon dynamite. Um, I don't know if Luis and Bill saw that but All right, let's in this short amount of time that we have
16:02: Let's consider something that happened in our text from the book of Nehemia we were in chapter 8 and we were in the portion of Nehemiah's book where the
16:14: Ezra the scribe was reading out the scriptures and he was on a lifted up platform and We got the names of the guys who were also in the crowd in Jerusalem while the book of the law was being read and it was being read over a long
16:29: Period of time, you know multiple hours. There were people there that were helping them understand
16:36: That what what the what the book meant what they were reading and what it meant They read from the book of the law of God clearly and they gave the sense of the people understood the reading
16:46: Now, here's the thing If you have had a large number of your relatives your ancestors at this point
16:54: This is 70 years since the destruction of Jerusalem who lost their lives in the campaign of Nebuchadnezzar remember out of all of the
17:05: Millions of people living in Judah at the time only roughly 5 ,000 of them survived
17:12: Nebuchadnezzar's campaign and They surrendered as they were instructed to by God and as a result of surrendering their lives
17:19: They went into exile but who of these people did not lose family members Who of them can say they didn't lose an uncle a grandma a cousin, you know
17:30: You know large portions of their family that are no more and he and one of the reasons why all of this went down is
17:38: Because in the reign of Manasseh the Word of God got moved away you know, no one was reading it anymore and he basically paganized
17:47: Solomon's Temple and Put in a Shira pole in the Holy of Holies because everybody knows Yahweh needs a wife and it was all kinds of Craziness going on in the temple and they refused to listen to the prophets and ultimately to Prophet Jeremiah and God Executed the judgments that he threatened the punishments from the
18:06: Mosaic Covenant See the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28 if you're not sure on this and so now they've come back to Jerusalem They've rebuilt the
18:19: Walls, there is no temple yet There is no temple at this point and now they are having the law read to them and they are hearing
18:32: God's law and They're connecting dots at this point looking at the temple mount.
18:39: There's not a workable temple there The worship has come to a stop hasn't gone on for 70 years
18:45: And this is all because of their guilt because of the guilt of their ancestors and their sin
18:51: So that being the case What do you think would be the normal response to hearing God's law read and having all of this stuff brought to the front of?
19:00: your mind It wouldn't make you leap for joy. It would actually cause some grief, right? And that's what happens the
19:08: Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin through the law So Nehemiah who was the governor
19:13: Ezra the priest and scribe and the Levites who taught the people? Said to all the people this day is holy to Yahweh your
19:22: God Do not mourn or weep for all the people wept as they heard the words of the law
19:32: So then he said to them go your way eat the fat drink sweet wine
19:37: Send portions to anyone who has nothing ready for this day is holy to our
19:43: Lord Do not be grieved the joy of the Lord is your strength So the
19:49: Levites calmed all the people saying be quiet this day is holy do not be grieved
19:54: And all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing
19:59: Because they had understood the words that were declared to them Isn't it interesting now?
20:05: Normally when somebody tells me how to feel the the only thing I feel is anger You know, it's like what do you mean?
20:13: Don't tell me to feel this way Ah You know Yeah, right and in this particular case, you know, they're not being rude to them
20:23: Yes, the law has convicted them their sins But they also have much to rejoice about and the thing that they found to rejoice in was what?
20:32: Because they had understood the words that were declared to them if anything if Anything they could rejoice in they didn't have a lot to rejoice in the thing that they can rejoice is they understood
20:44: God's Word That is something truly to rejoice in it is an absolute blessing from God When through the power of the
20:53: Holy Spirit he opens our eyes So that we rightly understand the Word of God so that we can see not only our guilt
21:01: But are the great mercy and kindness of our God that we would believe rightly
21:06: Regarding him and worship and war walk in our lives according to his holy commands
21:11: So you'll see that's that's kind of a thing so they need something to kind of fire things up a little bit and get people to not feel so terrible about themselves and so While they were reading through the
21:24: Torah, they would have run across the feast days the Mosaic Covenant feast days And it just so happened.
21:31: Hey, wait a second The Feast of Booths is just next week, you know And so yeah, they they decided they're going to what they're going to do this
21:40: And what's interesting is you don't really have any other Account in the Old Testament prior to this of the Israelites actually observing this feast, which is fascinating so on the second day the heads of the fathers houses of all the people
21:52: With a priest and the Levites that came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the law
21:58: And so now the Bible study Continues we need to keep studying this we need to be in this we need to understand what it says and means
22:05: So they found it written in the law That the Lord that Yahweh had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths think tense here
22:16: But have you have you any of you ever seen any documentaries about the Hasidic Jews who live in Brooklyn?
22:23: And and how those Jewish communities in New York? When they how they celebrate the
22:28: Feast of Booths It's absolutely fascinating Okay, it's legitimately interesting
22:35: So and so you think back in the day you to build a tent maybe didn't have canvas you would have had to use trees
22:41: And branches and stuff like this. So during the Feast of Booths in New York to this day, okay
22:48: Jews who live in like condominiums or are in Are in apartment buildings they will put on their balcony they will construct a
22:59: Tent or a booth of some kind and they live in it during the
23:04: Feast of Booths. It's really fascinating Okay, you just google it, you know Maybe I just nerd out on the wrong things.
23:12: Anyway So here's they said so That they should dwell in booths during the Feast of the seventh month and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their
23:21: Towns in Jerusalem go out to the hills bring branches of olive wood oil myrtle palm and other leafy trees
23:27: To make booths as it is written So the people went out and brought and brought them and made booths for themselves each on his roof
23:36: In their courts in the courts of the house of God in the square at the water great in the square at the gate
23:44: Ephraim and all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths
23:50: From the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done
23:56: So going all the way back to when they first came into the land of Israel You'll note that that's kind of an indictment, isn't it that they knew that this was what they were supposed to do and After you know,
24:09: Joshua gets in and they finish the conquest. Do they do it? Nope It's like, ah, okay, and this is kind of an interesting thing, too
24:18: I think it's in the prophet Ezekiel is in describing life in the new earth
24:25: It talks about this feast day actually being observed in the new earth of all the feast days that you know that could end up in the in the new earth
24:36: This is the one that makes sense And let me let me explain it the reason why
24:41: God Instituted this the the Feast of Booths was for them to remember their wilderness wanderings how
24:49: God had had led them Through the wilderness to the promised land.
24:55: And so I think it's in the book of Ezekiel I'll have to do a little research on it see if I can pull out some of the passages for that before you guys next week because Obviously, I'm running out of time because you know, we had so much to do today
25:05: But all that being said this is the feast that makes sense for us to celebrate in the future Okay so imagine in the new earth one of the feast days that we have they're gonna be feast days because we're
25:16: Worship is gonna be a big deal in the new earth, right? And so, you know, we're gonna all like build booths for ourselves and live in them for a week
25:25: And to remember our wilderness wanderings here on the earth. I think that makes perfect sense
25:31: It just it's a beautiful picture. So anyway, they hadn't done so All the way from the time of Joshua the nun and then the son of nun and then day by day from the first day
25:40: To the last day he read from the book of the law of God They kept the feast for seven days and on the eighth day.
25:46: There was a solemn assembly according to the rule so, you know, they are absolutely this is a resurgence a revival if you would of the study and the hearing of God's Word and Keeping the feast days that their their ancestors had never kept and so just a fascinating Fascinating thing boy.
26:11: I wish I can say that we had more time, but we don't so let me see Louise says we admit nothing.
26:20: I I have no idea why Napoleon dynamite is such a hot topic with the with her So, you know gosh anyway
26:28: What was that a Greatest movie ever made. Absolutely. Yeah, you know
26:33: Tina eat your food anyway Yeah Dang quesadilla.
26:41: All right We're gonna end up here because I've got a head off to Emmanuel I got another confirmation to do shortly.