This program is brought to you by Israel restoration ministries.
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Welcome to Friendship with God with our Bible teacher, Tom Cantor. Today’s message and previous messages can be listened to or downloaded for free at friendshipwithgod.org.
Just like the people that jesus Christ described when they were invited to the wedding, and the scene was a great multitude around Christ when he said this, and someone yelled out, what provoked this description that he gave of this wedding invitation? It was when someone yelled out, the person who goes to heaven and eats bread with you, now he’s a blessed person, and Christ responded with, oh, let me tell you, let me tell you about the person who is not going to be in heaven to eat bread with me. Because going to heaven, he was saying, it’s kind of like responding to a wedding invitation, like an invitation to a wedding.
And this is how Christ put it in Luke 14.15, Luke 14.15. And when one of them that sat at me with him heard these things, he said unto him, blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said he unto them, unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bad many, and sent his servants at supper time to say to them that we’re biddened come for all things are not ready.
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I bought a piece of ground. I must needs go and see it.
I pray thee, have me excused. And another said, I bought five oaks and of yaks, and I go to prove them. I pray thee, have me excused.
And another said, I married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and showed his Lord these things, and the master of the house being angry said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind. The servant said, Lord, it’s done as thou has commanded, yet there’s room.
The Lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. Now when Christ said that was nothing short of shocking about who was going to heaven, because Christ said that to go to heaven, there’s got to be response to the invitation of God, like responding to an invitation of a dinner of this man was making.
And there’s going to be a sacrifice to pay. yes, there’s going to be time. And God said that just like those who are asked to volunteer to live in Jerusalem, there were all sorts of excuses that people said, special case, special case, I have a special case.
I need to be excused from going to the supper. Special circumstance, special circumstance. I need to be excused.
I would come, but I just bought some property. Oh, the timing’s so bad. I’d come, but the timing is so bad, I just bought a team of five oxen.
I gotta prove them. You can’t blame me. I would come there, but I just got married.
Honeymoon time, sorry. The man who made the wedding says, no way they will ever, the supper rather, no way they will ever come to my supper. And all Christ was talking about was just going to heaven.
That was the situation when Nehemiah asked for more volunteers to populate Jerusalem. Nehemiah was probably thinking that I need to have about 20,000 people living here in order for it to be sufficiently populated. And he saw nowhere near that number of volunteers.
So Nehemiah then had to resort to casting lots. Think about like a drawing straws. And we can see Nehemiah holding up his hand with his 10 straws in it.
And then, okay, let’s have 10 men up here. Now you each grab a straw. We’ll see which one gets the one short straw.
Verse 1, verse 1, the rulers of the people dwelt in Jerusalem. The rest of the people also cast lots to bring one of 10 to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city. Nine parts dwell in the other cities.
What that shows us is that Nehemiah only needed one in 10 people. That’s all he needed. All he needed was one in 10 people just to step forward and volunteer, and he would have had his number and he would not have to resorted to this casting lots.
This means that when Nehemiah took 10 men and said, okay, now before we do this, is there one of you 10 that will volunteer, will step forward so I live in Jerusalem? He didn’t get that. He had to resort to the lots.
Why didn’t he get that? Why didn’t he get at least one in 10 person among the people of Israel to step forward and said, I volunteer, I will willingly live in Jerusalem? Why not?
What’s wrong with living in Jerusalem? What turned the people off to the invitation of living in Jerusalem that made them like the people who were invited to the supper and said, oh, I’m sorry, but I just can’t come because I got a special circumstance. I’m sorry.
I’m sorry. The first problem that the people saw about living in Jerusalem was the name in verse 1. That turned people off.
What was the name of Jerusalem in verse 1? It was not just Jerusalem. It was Jerusalem, the Holy City.
And the people says, I don’t want to live in a place called the Holy City because that means that my life has got to be holy. If I live in the Holy City and I’d rather live in the countryside, it’s not called the Holy Countryside. For me, live in a city called the Holy City means that I got to be watched more carefully.
I got to be on display as having a holy life. That’s the same as people who say today, look, I don’t mind going to church once a week, and I don’t mind calling myself born again, but I don’t want to live so close to my neighbor that they hear everything I watch on television, and I don’t want to be scrutinized about the TV, the movies that I go to. For me to live in a city called the Holy City means that I’m going to be expected to live more straight life, and I don’t want that.
To call Jerusalem in verse 1, the Holy City, just describes the key characteristic of the city of Jerusalem. That meant that it was a special person who wanted to live in the Holy City, and that person had to have a deep, unsatisfied hunger and thirst in his soul that jesus Christ described in Matthew 5-6. Matthew 5-6, he called those people, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.
They shall be filled. And the person had to have this hunger and his thirst to live in a city where the name of God was not taken in vain. That person had to have a deep longing to live in a place where everything that was done was right and not wrong.
And Jerusalem as the Holy City was the right place for that person. And if a person was just content and okay with living his life in a God-rejecting world, if a person was comfortable living in a jehovah-jesus-ignoring world, well, then Jerusalem, the Holy City, was not what he would be looking for. Because Jerusalem, the Holy City, was for those who wanted to live in a city with a higher standard, from what was acceptable because Jerusalem was a special city, because Deuteronomy 12, 11, Deuteronomy 12, 11, moses said about this city, there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
2 chronicles 33, 4, 2 chronicles 33, 4, the Lord had said, in Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And that was the first reason, the first obstacle that Nehemiah ran into, that he could not get enough volunteers because a stricter life of obedience to God was expected for those who wanted to live in the place called the holy city of Jerusalem. And that caused people to be turned off and back away from wanting to live in Jerusalem.
We all should want that. We all should want to live in Jerusalem. If we were there, we all should have been the ones who said, me, I’ll live, move.
I want to live in Jerusalem. Why? Because 2 Timothy 2, 19, 2 Timothy 2, 19.
nevertheless, the foundation of God stand as sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that name at the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. Leave it.
1 Peter 1, 14, 1 Peter 1, 14. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance, but as he which has called you as holy, be holy in all manner of living. A holy city is for holy people.
Heaven is called the new Jerusalem. And it is for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness and want to live a holy life and no longer continue here on earth. Hebrews 13, 13, Hebrews 13.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Because jesus Christ said when he came, he said about himself in John 8, 23, John 8, 23, I am from above.
I am not of this world. That was the first reason. The second reason, it wasn’t popular to live in Jerusalem because the city of Jerusalem was the most aided city by the enemies of God.
The enemies of God, they didn’t talk about and plan and attack the people in the countryside, but they talked about and planned and attacked the people who lived in Jerusalem. To live in Jerusalem was to like to have a target on your back. Jerusalem was a city that needed to have 24-hour guarded protection against surprise attacks of the enemies.
And people just weren’t willing to expose themselves. They want me to expose myself, my families, to this continual danger of living in Jerusalem? It’s true today.
Jerusalem is the most dangerous city in Israel. That was like Israel came to the promised land of Canaan, and they immediately were met with wars. Wars for 40 years!
We haven’t seen a war in the desert, but now there’s war. Oh, we’re going to a place where there are giants in the land of Canaan. Israel had to confront those giants.
Israel had to fight those giants. But if Israel had decided, oh, need it, I’ll go back to the desert, I’m going to turn around, let somebody else have the promised land, because the promised land is a promised land of warfare. Instead, I’ll go back into the Sinai desert.
You know what? There were no giants back in Sinai desert. There were no wars that Israel had to face in the Sinai desert.
But as soon as Israel decided to move forward into the promised land, they faced wars and battles. The same is true for us. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 312, 1 Timothy 312, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 312, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ jesus shall suffer persecution.
That verse does not say all that will claim to be born again shall suffer persecution. That verse does not say all they that say they are Christians who go to church shall suffer persecution. It’s not about what a person says.
It’s about a decision that they make to live a godly life, walking with jesus Christ with a life that they have decided will be separate from a life of sin. To that person, persecution is promised. And for those who choose to live in Jerusalem, they knew they were choosing to live in a city that is a constant state of war, kind of like the country of Israel.
Ever since it was formed on May 14, 1948, it has been in a state of war. And that’s the second reason people did not want to live in Jerusalem. By the way, that’s the reason why many Jews around the world say, I don’t want to live in a country that’s in a declared state of war.
But the good news about living in Jerusalem was that even though there was a war against Jerusalem, God made a promise in Psalm 46, 4, Psalm 46, 4, There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved, God shall help her, and that right early. To live in Jerusalem was an exciting life, of seeing God’s help against the enemies who attacked Jerusalem.
The second reason, this is the second reason people did not want to live in Jerusalem was because they just didn’t want to live in a battle zone. But as believers, we were born again into a battle zone. But Christ is with us.
Exodus 14, 14, the Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. When we get to heaven, we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all get to heaven, we can expect the Lord jesus to say to us, show me your wounds, show me your wounds.
And if we say, I don’t have any wounds, and he’ll say, well, if you don’t have any wounds, what were you doing down there? Because the Lord jesus says, I’ll show you my wounds. The hymn says, five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary.
They pour out effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me, forgive him, oh forgive. They cry, forgive him, oh forgive.
They cry, nor let that ransom sinner die, arise my soul, arise. And as another hymn puts it so well, must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody seas? Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God? Sure, I must fight if I would reign, increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by thy word. People just did not want to live in Jerusalem because in Jerusalem meant being in a constant state of warfare. And that was the second obstacle that Jeremiah could not get enough volunteers to step forward and say, I’ll live in Jerusalem.
And the third reason was that it was not popular to live in Jerusalem was because in the country, people could have large spreads of land. But in Jerusalem, it meant where’s my big house? Where’s my countryside?
In Jerusalem, I don’t have a ponderosa, but I do in the country. In Jerusalem, where’s my herd of cattle? Like I have in the countryside, there’s no fields here, no orchards, no fields for my cattle to feed on.
Jerusalem was not a trading city. People who lived in Jerusalem were actually supported by those in the countryside. They had to be supported from the outside because Jerusalem didn’t have any fields, Jerusalem didn’t have any orchards, Jerusalem didn’t have any vineyards.
Basically, Jerusalem was no place to live to make money in. Jerusalem, they didn’t grow any cattle, they had no corn to sell. The people said, you know, I just had my heart fixed on having a big spread with a big house, with wine, meat, and vegetables, and fruit production, and all of that’s not possible.
Jerusalem and Jerusalem, I just be poor. I don’t want to be poor. I want to expand.
I want to strike it rich. I got the go west young man, go west. I got that fire in me, and I’m going to become rich, and I can’t do that in Jerusalem.
There’s no land, there’s no orchards, there’s no cattle, there’s no minerals there. I just can’t realize the Israeli dream in Jerusalem. Sorry, Jerusalem’s not for me.
And he was right. That person was right. Jerusalem was no place to become a rich man.
That was the third obstacle, the third reason Nehemiah couldn’t get enough people to populate the city of Jerusalem. It was because there were very few people like Timothy there, who had a heart to serve God as put in Philippians 2.19, Philippians 2.19. But I trust in the Lord jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state.
For I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are jesus Christ’s. And that’s what it meant to live in Jerusalem.
That’s why the people said, why live in Jerusalem? Who needs it? So if in Jerusalem you had the burden of having a life that you had to live more holy, because you lived in a place called the Holy City, and if in Jerusalem you had the burden of having to live in a state of high alert, from being the target of attack from the enemies around, and if in Jerusalem you couldn’t make your millions, and all you could do is say, if I were a rich man, if a straight life and a target for persecution and no chance to get rich is what it meant in Jerusalem, what’s the attraction to live in there anyway?
What is the attraction to living in Jerusalem? What could Nehemiah say to sell the people on getting them to want to make the move from the country to the city of Jerusalem? There was only one attraction to living in Jerusalem, and it was Psalm 48 verse 1.
Psalm 48 verse 1. Great is the Lord, greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation.
The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. Jerusalem is the city of God, which means Jerusalem is where God lived.
And if you wanted to live where God lived, then you wanted to live in Jerusalem. Psalm 87.3, Psalm 87.3. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.
What are the glorious things that are spoken of Jerusalem? The city of God, Psalm 24.7, Psalm 24.7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates.
Be, lift up your everlasting doors. The king of glory shall come in. Who’s this king of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Even lift them up, your everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in.
Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory.
The glorious thing about Jerusalem is that Jerusalem was the residence of the king of glory. jesus Christ prayed in John 17, 24. John 17, 24.
Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. When jesus Christ said that, when he said that he wanted his own to be with him and see his glory, he meant to be with him in the new Jerusalem. And that is where every saved person is heading towards.
And when they wake up after death, when they wake up after death, like Daniel says, they’re going to wake up from the destiny of the earth. And they wake up and they look around and they say, where am I? Where am I?
Where have I come to? The answer will be Hebrews 12 22. It will be told to them, Hebrews 12 22.
Ye are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And if you were living, if we were living in Nehemiah chapter 11, where we are, there’s only one reason, one reason you wanted to live in Jerusalem, and it was because you wanted God so much that you didn’t care if it meant having to live a more holy life, as long as you could live on the street where God lived. And if you did and you lived in Jerusalem, you would sing, I have often walked down the street before, but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.
All at once am I several stories high, knowing I’m on the street where you live. People stop and stare, they don’t bother me, for there’s no one else on earth that I would rather be. Let the time go by, I won’t care if I can be here on the street where you live.
You really would be, if you sung that song in chapter 11, you’d be less than one in ten. less than one in ten, as you would step forward to volunteer to live in Jerusalem, and your friends and your relatives, and the countryside, they’d say, don’t do it. You’re going to waste your life in Jerusalem.
You only have to live once, and you’re going to waste the time of your life living in Jerusalem. And to those who try to get you not to live in the city of holiness, and persecution, and poverty, you would just sing, people stop and stare, they don’t bother me. There’s nowhere else on earth I would rather be.
Let the time go by. I don’t care if I can be here on the street where God lives. And if the people said to you, think all the money that you could make in the country, that you’re sacrificing with your strength in your youth is only comes once.
What are you doing? Think all the money you cannot make in Jerusalem. You would respond, I’d rather have jesus than silver or gold.
I’d rather be his than have riches untold. I’d rather have jesus than houses or land. I’d rather be led by his nail pierced hand than to be the king of a vast domain and to be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have jesus than anything the world affords today. This chapter is pretty sad. This chapter is very sad because this was the people of God.
And there were so few people who wanted to choose God and have nothing between their souls and the Savior. less than one in ten. Who chose God over sinful pleasure, over retreat to a quiet life, over love of money.
There were so few that really could sing the words about Him. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. Not of this world’s delusive dream.
I have renounced all sinful pleasure. jesus is mine. There’s nothing between.
Nothing between like worldly pleasure, habits of life, though harmless they seem, must not my soul from Him air sever. He is my all. There’s nothing between.
Nothing between in many hard trials. Though the whole world against me convene, watching with prayer and much self-denial, I’ll triumph at last with nothing between. It was a choice.
Nehemiah put a choice between them.
Tom Cantor’s messages can be listened to and downloaded for free at friendshipwithgod.org. For other free resources, email us at tomcantor at friendshipwithgod.org or call us at 800-247-3051. Join our live services on YouTube by searching Friendship with God with Tom Cantor every Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
What are you doing Sunday nights? Come join Friendship with God radio Bible teacher Tom Cantor of the Friendship with God Fellowship Church every Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. at The Vine at 9336 Abraham Way, Santee, California. Watch and listen live around the world to Tom Cantor Sunday evening on youtube.com by searching for Friendship with God Fellowship or by going to our homepage at friendshipwithgod.org That’s friendshipwithgod.org This program is brought to you by Israel restoration ministries.
