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Speaker 1: Let us pray think upon me, my God, for good

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Speaker 1: according to all that I have done for this people

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Speaker 1: Niemiah five nineteen. My Lord, as I look around and

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Speaker 1: observe all of the blessings that you have bestowed upon me,

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Speaker 1: quicken my heart to be mindful of your children who

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Speaker 1: have yet to lay hold of all the promises that

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Speaker 1: you have in store for them. With this quickening of

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Speaker 1: my heart, I pray that you will give me the

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Speaker 1: vision and resources needed for me to carry out the

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Speaker 1: rebuilding of your children. Like the wall in the book

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Speaker 1: of Nehemiah, I now understand that I am called to

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Speaker 1: help build the walls of hope in the hearts of

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Speaker 1: your children who are lost. I thank you for uncommon

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Speaker 1: favor with powerful kings like Arctic Cerxes. I thank you

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Speaker 1: that the deed has all already been written for me

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Speaker 1: to receive all of the provisions and protection needed for

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Speaker 1: me to act out the next assignment for my life.

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Speaker 1: I decree and declare that I will not allow the

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Speaker 1: voices of those who are jealous of your favor to

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Speaker 1: stop me from building and completing my mission. I decree

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Speaker 1: and declare that, like Nehemiah, you quicken and multiply the

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Speaker 1: works of my hands, so that I will be able

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Speaker 1: to accomplish more in less time. I command every limiting

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Speaker 1: thought that would hinder my momentum to be removed and

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Speaker 1: cast away. I can, and I will rebuild the lives

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Speaker 1: of those around me, because you have anointed and appointed

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Speaker 1: me to do so. Lord in Jesus name, Amen. Listening

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Speaker 1: to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue

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Speaker 1: hearing from the Lord by listening to Today's Bible in

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Speaker 1: a Year brought to you by Bible Ineyear dot com.

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Speaker 2: Slash pray.

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Speaker 3: Nehemiah builds the wall. In our last story, the invisible

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Speaker 3: and silent hand of God was used mightily in the

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Speaker 3: life of Esther. In the presence of a great threat

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Speaker 3: to the Jews in the Persian Empire, an unlikely hero

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Speaker 3: was raised up to save them.

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Speaker 1: Now we learn of.

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Speaker 3: Another hero sent by God, Neemiah. Neemiah oversees the rebuilding

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Speaker 3: of Jerusalem's temple. He gives them hope and encourages them

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Speaker 3: to trust in the protection of God. Yet no wall

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Speaker 3: could truly protect them from their real enemy. Inspired by

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Speaker 3: the Book of Nehemiah.

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Speaker 4: In our previous episode, we heard how God used Esther,

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Speaker 4: a young Jewish woman, to save his people from the

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Speaker 4: evil plan of Hayman, which was to wipe out the

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Speaker 4: Jews in Persia. We see her courage to speak up

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Speaker 4: for her people at great personal risk, and we see

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Speaker 4: it demonstrated again that God doesn't need the strong and

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Speaker 4: powerful to accomplish his purposes. He can do amazing things

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Speaker 4: through people who are available to him. There are really

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Speaker 4: two abilities that are needed, availability and expendability. And today

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Speaker 4: we're going to hear of another who was willing to

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Speaker 4: step up and do what God put upon his heart

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Speaker 4: to do for him. A man by the name of

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Speaker 4: Nehemiah will see the sorry state of Jerusalem and mourn

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Speaker 4: for his homeland and his people. But then he will

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Speaker 4: hear the call to boldly act, to rebuild and restore

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Speaker 4: what had been lost. Let's listen now to God's word.

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Speaker 3: The sun was shining on the empire of King Artexerxes,

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Speaker 3: the mighty nation of Persia shown in the light of day,

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Speaker 3: gleaming with prosperity and power. Serving in the great halls

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Speaker 3: of the king was Nehemiah. He was a Jew by birth,

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Speaker 3: a descendant of the exiles, and loyal to the God

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Speaker 3: of Israel. He served as the king's cup bearer and

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Speaker 3: had his undying trust. Neemiah served the king diligently and

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Speaker 3: with joy. The two became very close. However, Nehemiah's heart

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Speaker 3: always longed for the promised land. The exiles had returned

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Speaker 3: home to the great city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah had caught

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Speaker 3: word that the temple had been rebuilt and the exiles

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Speaker 3: were creating new lives for themselves. Niemiah asked his brother

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Speaker 3: how the new settlement in Jerusalem was faring. When asked

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Speaker 3: the question, his brother's face turned bleak. I am afraid

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Speaker 3: the remnant is in great shame. The walls were broken

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Speaker 3: to begin with, but now they are completely destroyed. They

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Speaker 3: are vulnerable and live in constant fear. As soon as

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Speaker 3: Nhemiah heard these words, his knees buckled. He wept on

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Speaker 3: the floor for his kin in Jerusalem. He beat his

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Speaker 3: fist against the floor, imagining the women and children of

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Speaker 3: the city lying awake in fear every night. A city

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Speaker 3: without walls was a city without hope. Niemiah mourned over them.

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Speaker 3: He knew what must be done. His forehead pressed against

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Speaker 3: the stone floor, his prayers echoed in his palace chambers.

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Speaker 3: O Lord, he whispered, grant me favor for what I

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Speaker 3: am about to do. The next morning, Neemiah was serving

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Speaker 3: food to King Artaxerxes. Neemiah's usually jovial demeanor was replaced

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Speaker 3: with deep contemplation. The king took notice of this. What

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Speaker 3: troubles you, he asked, as he was finishing his breakfast.

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Speaker 3: You are usually filled with the joy of your God.

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Speaker 3: Something must have changed. Neemiah froze with fear. For a moment,

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Speaker 3: he and the king were close. However, he was still

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Speaker 3: considered a god in the land. To be on his

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Speaker 3: bad side was ill advised. Live forever my king. Neemiah

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Speaker 3: feigned a smile forgive me, but my face reveals a

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Speaker 3: sorrow for my people. Their city is in ruins and

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Speaker 3: the gates are destroyed. The king looked closely at Nehemiah.

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Speaker 3: Artaxerxes has heard many stories of the Hebrews from his

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Speaker 3: grandfather Darius. He had heard of Daniel, David, and Moses.

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Speaker 3: Like his grandfather, he held a soft spot for the Hebrews.

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Speaker 3: His stepmother, Esther, was also a Hebrew. He had learned

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Speaker 3: much from her. What are your true desires, Nhemiah, Artaxerxes

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Speaker 3: asked plainly. The cupbearer bowed and said, if it pleases you,

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Speaker 3: I would like to see my people and help them

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Speaker 3: rebuild the wall. As you know, I am a skilled architect.

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Speaker 3: Nehemiah's words resonated with the king. Artaxerxes looked at his wife,

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Speaker 3: who was beside him. She seemed to agree that the

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Speaker 3: cause was noble, so Artixerxes allowed for Neemiah to go.

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Speaker 3: Not only did he allow for his departure, but he

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Speaker 3: funded the project himself. He sent money, resources, laborers, and

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Speaker 3: architects to aid in the building. Neemiah and his team

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Speaker 3: traveled for days and finally returned to the once great

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Speaker 3: city of Jerusalem, its high towers and low valleys filled

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Speaker 3: Nehemiah's heart with joy. He had always imagined visiting the

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Speaker 3: great city. Now his dreams had finally come true. Neemiah

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Speaker 3: could smell the faint odor of burning mortar from a distance.

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Speaker 3: As he drew closer, he could see that parts of

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Speaker 3: the walls were still smoldering from their previous attacks. He

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Speaker 3: walked the whole distance of the wall, holding his hands

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Speaker 3: against the broken stone. The walls represented the fortitude of

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Speaker 3: God's people. As long as these walls were broken, so

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Speaker 3: would their spirits. Nehemiah gathered the tribes and elders together.

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Speaker 3: They planned through the night, taking note of which repairs

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Speaker 3: needed to be addressed first. Each tribe and family was

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Speaker 3: responsible for overseeing their own portion of the wall. With

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Speaker 3: the funds of the King, Nehemiah's guidance and the favor

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Speaker 3: of God, the wall began to find its strength once again. Men, women,

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Speaker 3: and children all did their part to see the wall

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Speaker 3: reach its highest potential. As the walls rose, so did

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Speaker 3: the spirits of the people. However, the project was not

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Speaker 3: without opposition. The tribes that lived on the outskirts of

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Speaker 3: Jerusalem hated the exiles since their return resources had been

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Speaker 3: more scarce and land was disputed over. They jeered and

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Speaker 3: snickered at the builders, seeking to demoralize them. Look at

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Speaker 3: these feeble little Jews trying to rebuild what's broken, they scoffed.

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Speaker 3: Be careful that a fox does not brush its tail

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Speaker 3: against your wall, lest it fall again. The men laughed.

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Speaker 3: The Jews already lacked confidence since they lived most of

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Speaker 3: their lives as exiles. Now they had to listen to

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Speaker 3: the ridicule of their oppressive neighbors. Yet they kept working,

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Speaker 3: and the wall continued to grow. The borderland armies could

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Speaker 3: not bear the thought of Judah reclaiming its power, so

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Speaker 3: they joined forces to rise up against them. The exiles

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Speaker 3: stirred in fear. They were vulnerable and had very little

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Speaker 3: to defend themselves with. Nehemiah did not waver. He put

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Speaker 3: a sword in each man's hand and set up watchmen

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Speaker 3: to take guard over the workers. The men continued to work,

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Speaker 3: but their confidence was waning. Nehemiah saw this and stood

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Speaker 3: before them. Listen to me, he shouted, our God will

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Speaker 3: fight for us. Keep building. If you hear the trumpet,

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Speaker 3: rally to us, and we will watch the Lord defend us.

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Speaker 3: So each man worked with a hammer in one hand

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Speaker 3: and a sword in the other. Weeks had passed and

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Speaker 3: the Lord had thorted many plans to assassinate Nehemiah. Each

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Speaker 3: time the border lands would try and lure him out

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Speaker 3: into a meeting, Neemiah was spared by warnings of their

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Speaker 3: true plans. The wall grew day by day, as did

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Speaker 3: the confidence of the people. It was as if building

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Speaker 3: the wall itself was what the nation really needed. They

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Speaker 3: needed to come together for a common cause and purpose

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Speaker 3: that served as a greater protection than the wall itself.

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Speaker 3: Neemiah began to plan for life after building. He gathered

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Speaker 3: the leaders of Israel together and instituted a day where

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Speaker 3: all debts were forgiven in the land. Neemiah knew that

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Speaker 3: a land could not thrive if the people were continually

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Speaker 3: indebted to one another. This would prove as a powerful

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Speaker 3: image of things to come, a day when the Lord

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Speaker 3: would forgive the debts of humanity. After fifty two days

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Speaker 3: of labor in the hot eastern sun, the wall stood

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Speaker 3: as a monument of home for the entire nation. For

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Speaker 3: the first time since exile, God's people were able to

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Speaker 3: sigh a breath of relief. They no longer had to

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Speaker 3: live in constant fear of ambush and violence. They could

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Speaker 3: live in peace. They could worship in peace. Nehemiah called

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Speaker 3: for Ezra to come before the people and read the

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Speaker 3: word of God. There they bowed before the Lord and

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Speaker 3: confessed their sin. They bassed in his forgiveness and responded

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Speaker 3: to the call to be better. Feasts and festivals were

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Speaker 3: held to celebrate it. Yet ali it fell flat. No

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Speaker 3: wall could truly protect them from the real threat. No

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Speaker 3: brick could shield the people from their true enemy. The

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Speaker 3: enemy of sin still existed. It still bore its teeth

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Speaker 3: like a hungry lion. No war would ever be large

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Speaker 3: enough to protect them from their own hearts. That would

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Speaker 3: take an act of God, That would take an act

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Speaker 3: of the Messiah.

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Speaker 4: In today's scripture, we meet Nehemiah, a Jew who liked

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Speaker 4: other Israelites before him, had worked diligently even as a

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Speaker 4: captive at an exile, and had gained therefore favor with

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Speaker 4: people in power. In Niemiah's case, it was King Artaxerxes,

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Speaker 4: the Persian ruler. Neemiah was one of the most trusted

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Speaker 4: servants of this man. He served as the cup bearer

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Speaker 4: to the king and therefore served him food and drink,

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Speaker 4: protecting the king from poisoning by his adversaries. He was

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Speaker 4: close to the king. Nehemiah knew of the work of

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Speaker 4: Ezra to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and this brought

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Speaker 4: him great joy to know that his homeland was being restored,

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Speaker 4: but he wasn't there. So he wanted to know what

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Speaker 4: was actually going on in Jerusalem, and when he asked,

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Speaker 4: the news disturbed him greatly. The city walk, their first

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Speaker 4: and best defense against invaders, was on the ground in shambles.

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Speaker 4: The remnant was living in constant fear in this rubble.

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Speaker 4: They were living in shame for the sad state of

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Speaker 4: their homeland. Neemiah was broken. He was distraught. He knew

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Speaker 4: that the walls of Jerusalem represented hope and peace and

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Speaker 4: the glory of God, and he couldn't imagine his brothers

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Speaker 4: and sisters living without God's glory, without God's hope in

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Speaker 4: their lives. So Namiah weeps, he mourns, and then Neamiah

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Speaker 4: went to action, and his first action, the first thing

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Speaker 4: he did, was to get on his knees. He knew

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Speaker 4: that unless he had God's favor and blessing upon his

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Speaker 4: life none of his efforts would be fruitful. We can

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Speaker 4: learn here so much from Neemiah. Prayer is not our

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Speaker 4: last chance, it is always our first choice. Too often

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Speaker 4: we are quick to act and react, to reach out

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Speaker 4: to those who, from a human perspective, had power and

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Speaker 4: resources to help. And while there's a proper course of action,

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Speaker 4: we must never forget to go first to God, who

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Speaker 4: is our source of strength, who is our source and

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Speaker 4: our resource. Always we are to submit to his will

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Speaker 4: and ask for his blessing and favor and for his provision.

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Speaker 4: Nehemiah understood this, and it made all the difference in

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Speaker 4: what he was going to do next. Before Niamiah even

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Speaker 4: spoke to the king, God prepared the king's heart. And

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Speaker 4: so when Niamiah went before this powerful man the following day,

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Speaker 4: and the Xerxes took note of the change in the

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Speaker 4: countenance of his trusted servant, he noticed that he was

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Speaker 4: full of faith and courage. This opened the door for

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Speaker 4: Nehemiah to tell the king that Jerusalem was in ruins,

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Speaker 4: and amazingly, the king not only allowed Niemiah to return

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Speaker 4: home with his protection and blessing, but he sent resources

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Speaker 4: and workers for the enormous work that needed to be

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Speaker 4: done the rebuilding of the walls. Once again we see

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Speaker 4: how God uses people just like you and me to

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Speaker 4: accomplish his purposes. Everyone has a place on the wall,

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Speaker 4: everyone has a place of service to rebuild and restore

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Speaker 4: what God is doing. Nehemiah arrived to Jerusalem with great

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Speaker 4: anticipation but also an understanding of the massive responsibility. He

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Speaker 4: gathered the elders and the people to survey the work

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Speaker 4: that needed to be done. Here again we learned a

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Speaker 4: valuable lesson from Nehemiah. He knew he had God's favor,

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Speaker 4: but that did not mean it would be smooth sailing

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Speaker 4: or that he could just mail it in without a plan.

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Speaker 4: God had granted Neemiah wisdom and skill at developing and

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Speaker 4: planning and leading, and so he did not just dive

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Speaker 4: into the work. He developed his plan and his strategy

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Speaker 4: with the people. As we have heard, Neemiah's campaign to

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Speaker 4: rebuild the wall was not universally embraced or accepted. As

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Speaker 4: is the case with any work that God has ordained

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Speaker 4: for his glory, there was fierce opposition to the work.

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Speaker 4: It didn't stop with derision and doubt and danger. There

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Speaker 4: were actually people who tried to stop the plan and

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Speaker 4: undermine the work that Neemiah was set to accomplish. But

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Speaker 4: Neemiah reassured the people that God was on their side,

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Speaker 4: saying to the leaders and to the people in Neemiah

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Speaker 4: four fourteen, do not be afraid of them. Remember the

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Speaker 4: Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers,

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Speaker 4: your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes. What

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Speaker 4: a great challenge for us in the twenty first century

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Speaker 4: that we would fight for our families, for our husbands

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Speaker 4: and our wives, our children and our grandchildren. His words,

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Speaker 4: the words of Neemiah sound like the words of Paul,

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Speaker 4: who would later write, If God be for us, who

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Speaker 4: can be against us? We are more than conquerors through Christ.

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Speaker 4: The people were emboldened by his words and pushed on,

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Speaker 4: even against hardship and opposition. Step by step, brick by brick,

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Speaker 4: the walls came up and the city was protected by

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Speaker 4: outside threats, but there were still threats internally, and Namiah

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Speaker 4: set out to bring the people together, and when he did,

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Speaker 4: debts were forgiven, the poor were ministered to and cared for,

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Speaker 4: and the nation continued to heal. Then Neamiah called Ezra

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Speaker 4: to read God's word in the presence of the people.

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Speaker 4: Their forgetfulness of God's ways had brought them to their

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Speaker 4: lowest point, and only in turning back to God's word

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Speaker 4: could he preserve this newfound peace and prosperity among the people.

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Speaker 4: As the people listened, revival came to his people. Through

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Speaker 4: this podcast, we've seen time and time again of the

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Speaker 4: cycle of sin and judgment and restoration revival among God's people.

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Speaker 4: I pray that it has been apparent to you that

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Speaker 4: this tragic cycle can happen again and again, and it

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Speaker 4: is happening in the world today. It is happening in

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Speaker 4: America today, and the only solution for the problems we

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Speaker 4: face is spiritual awakening. That God would rescue his people

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Speaker 4: and revive us again in the midst of the years.

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Speaker 4: Dear God, we thank you for your word. We thank

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Speaker 4: you for the Old Testament with so many exciting stories,

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Speaker 4: sobering stories, stories that remind us that you and you

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Speaker 4: only are God. May we find our strength and our

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Speaker 4: favor and our valor in You. Help us to do

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Speaker 4: always what you have called us to do, to build

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Speaker 4: and rebuild the things that you desire. And we pray,

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Speaker 4: o God, that your church called by your name, would

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Speaker 4: faithfully advance your kingdom until you come again in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Speaker 4: Once again, thank you for listening to today's Bible in

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Speaker 4: a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.

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Speaker 4: Let me encourage you to download the pray dot com

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Speaker 4: app and make Bible study and prayer a real priority

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Speaker 4: in your life. And if you are enjoying this podcast,

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Speaker 4: share it with someone you know, someone you care about,

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Speaker 4: because sharing God's word has a powerful impact upon people's lives.

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Speaker 4: And if you want more resources as to how you

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Speaker 4: can find faith, grow in your faith, develop as a

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Speaker 4: disciple and follower of Jesus, be sure to visit me

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Speaker 4: at Jack Graham dot org. We have plenty of resources

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Speaker 4: that will encourage you and equip you for life. God

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Speaker 4: bless you.