Nehemiah's Revival

Part 4

We are separated…when you hear the trumpet rush to where we are.  Neh. 4:19

Who decides to sound the trumpet?  Can just anyone amongst the people do it?  That seems a disorganized plan.  After all, Nehemiah was a highly organized leader.  Up to this point he had ordered continual prayer, defensive preparedness – stay clothed, weapons in hand even while working, organized by families, strengthened leadership, with threats against those who did not comply, even the priests.  He was a man of strategy and a man of valiant faith.

THE SHOFAR

The use of the trumpet to rally the people has deep roots to the Jews.  The shofar is a sound to which mystics attribute voice like qualities, even linking it to the human soul, or neshama. 

“Chazal use this same concept to teach us that the sound Adam HaRishon heard on wakening from his creation, was the sound of a shofar, the sound made by his neshama as it entered him. This suggests that the shofar can take us back to the very moment when our neshama entered us.” From The Significance of the Shofar (שופר) By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian) http://www.betemunah.org/shofar.html

Hillel ben David also describes the root meaning of the word shofar as “a sense of incising”.  It is a sound that is able to cut or burn into our consciousness.  It is believed to have the power to stir a heart to repentance.  It is used for the voice of God that went walking in the garden sending out that most piercing question of where Adam was (spiritually).  Isn’t it much like the word of God which has the ability to pierce between soul and spirit? 

The shofar was the sound heard when Moses called the people to Mt. Sinai; they begged Moses to speak, not God, for fear of dying overtook them with the smoking and shaking of the mountain and the sound of the trumpet (Exodus 20: 18, 19).  This is yet another reference connecting the sound of the shofar with the sound of God’s voice.

So what, then? -  the sound of the trumpet is likened to the sound of God’s very voice, carrying on its loud and startling note the call to gather, to repent, to war, to be without hypocrisy.  This seems like the call to revival.  And to answer the question of who will sound the trumpet, clearly only a leader who follows closely after God, with no compromise, no fear of man in his character.  Men such as Gideon, Joshua, Nehemiah, Moses, priests, and upon the return of Jesus, angels are the ones responsible for sounding this heavenly call.  It is the ram’s horn that signified God’s faithfulness to Moses when he was prepared to make the most terrifying sacrifice of all, his son Isaac.

The Role of the Leader

It is undeniable that leadership has an initiating role in summoning revival.  We know that we are all like sheep.  Jesus told us that.  Sheep are not very smart.  They fall over and can’t get up; they eat poison plants, they wander away from safety.  Without the vigilance and the staff of the shepherd they would likely not exist long.  Yet how the corrupt strength of our own souls drives us to compete, covet power, and insert soulish desires into the operation of Christ’s precious Body.  It is not for the strongest, loudest, cleverest, or most talented to lead a congregation.  “For God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” I Corinthians 12:28

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11, 12

Our leaders are appointed by God.  He chooses them for their ability to sound the alarm even in the midst of opposition and ridicule.  Like Moses and Paul, they may not be eloquent.  “…my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”. I Corinthians 2: 4.

 

Leaders who rally us to seek revival have one outstanding quality that drives them.  Nehemiah began by grieving the remnant who had escaped the captivity, and the broken wall of Jerusalem.  So intense was his grief that he prayed and fasted night and day seeking to rebuild.  It is the task of the leader to recognize the demonic attacks, warn the other leaders and the people, and command them to rally.

“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Exodus 14:13, 14

If our leaders are so grieved for the state of the church, we ought to listen as intently as if the shofar had been sounded. But just as Nehemiah purposed to rebuild, Sanballat approached with ridicule that was rooted in hatred.  We need to beware of allowing the wicked works of Sanballat to affect our ability to follow those who lead us.  He will say things like “you are rebelling against the king” (corporate church authorities?), “What are these feeble Jews (Christians) doing?”  The accuser will say that the congregation is too small. He will send for secret meetings with the leader intending to do harm.  He will plant suspicion and disrespect amongst the flock, saying that this leader is not well-spoken enough, not in tune with the people, convincing them that he could not possibly lead them to do such a momentous task. He will use, as did Sanballat, personal or family connections to important people to intimidate the congregation. All along he serves as a distraction to what the Most High God is calling for – a repentance that leads to rebuilding, to revival.

The Responsibility of the People

The first thing that Nehemiah conveyed to the people after he received approval of God and of King Artaxerxes was that the hand of God had been favorable to him, and that the king had also.  Their response was immediate “Then they said, ’Let us arise and build.’  So they put their hands to the good work.”  Clearly these people recognized the hand of God in a seemingly impossible situation.  Did they ask about resources?  Did they meet amongst themselves to see if Nehemiah was bringing a true word, or to maybe find him insane?  Did they ignore him, wishing to keep things as they always had been?  No.  The high priest and other priests rose up first, helping lead the way.  Chapter 3 outlines the specific areas of repair led by specific workers, a long list of priests, officials, skilled workers, servants and all manner social strata working tirelessly and in unity. 

Even during the work of revival, Nehemiah addressed a great sin which had been infecting the people for some time.  Chapter 5 tells of the usury that was being practiced by brethren against brethren, bringing great financial hardship to many.  Nehemiah rebuked the nobles and rulers for this, and they were speechless.  In fact they said “we will do exactly as you say.”

The work of the people is to respond to the sound of the shofar.  Simply that.  Not to question, not to agree with opposition and discouragement.  This is not to say that leadership should always be blindly followed.  We have been warned about false teachers; we have been equipped with gifts of discernment.  But the sound of the shofar is unmistakable.  When we hear the final trumpet sound will we question whether it is real, or whether it is being sounded by a fallen angel?  No!

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (TNIV)