Is “Failure” Fruitless?

Nehemiah 13

Last Monday we dropped our oldest off at college. He was worried about my tears as we hugged goodbye, but I reassured him that nothing was wrong. And that’s true, even though it felt like I was leaving behind my 1 year old who had just learned how to walk, or my 5 year old who had just learned how to read, or my 10 year old who had just learned the difference between girls and boys. 

How can this be ok?

Eighteen years of parenting, and that stage is over with a wave out the window. 

We wonder deep down, if we led well enough. 

Whether you’re a parent or not, any time we invest ourselves whole-heartedly in someone or something, any time we give our lives to a cause or to a calling, any time we lead the way in some type of role, we’re hoping and praying for certain results. The late nights, the long prayers, the lack of sleep - will all of that end in positive outcomes?

It seems that the flourishing of both people and projects hinges entirely on the leader, especially today when leadership development initiatives are having their cultural moment. But in the final chapter of Nehemiah, we find unexpected reassurance - for both moms and managers - in a leader’s “failure”. 

For twelve years he prayed, labored and devoted himself to his calling, but the minute Nehemiah stepped away, it all fell apart. Some say these kinds of results indicate a leadership issue: If only he had done a better job building his bench, preparing the next generation, there would not have been a leadership gap. If only he had actually cared about the people, they would have followed someone who cared. If only he had a system in place, the people would have had the clarity they needed in his absence. Since leadership is influence, these results must mean he didn’t have either. Maybe God didn’t choose him after all.

We have only to read the previous chapters to know that these assumptions would be wrong. 

Famous for its leadership principles, the book ironically ends with Nehemiah’s agony and frustration. Nothing he did actually stuck with the people. His example couldn’t keep them on the right path, and his reforms couldn't hold them close to God. 

But these realities narrow Nehemiah’s focus: his calling isn’t actually about a certain response from the people he’s led; his calling is really between God and him (v. 14,22,31). If your leadership, your parenting, or your efforts to make change have failed to produce the results you were hoping for, you might be overlooking the fruit God sees: your own personal faithfulness to His calling, just like Nehemiah’s.

Musicians Needed

Nehemiah 10-12

After reviewing their scandalous history and confessing their desperation for God’s intervention, the people recommit themselves to live according to God’s ways. They sign their names on the dotted line, agreeing to center their lives around worshiping Him, and this covenant would have practical implications for their relationships, business dealings, agricultural rhythms, and temple staff.

Temple staff include priests, Levites, gatekeepers, and singers, and these four positions are a primary concern in Nehemiah 10-12. During the initial planning of the first temple, King David had formalized these temple roles (1 Chronicles 23-26), organizing each group by their specific place of service. 

In order for these groups to lead the people well in the worship of Yahweh, they would depend on the support of their surrounding community. If they lacked daily provisions, the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, and singers would be forced to abandon their temple posts in pursuit of careers that could meet their everyday needs, and once the temple was abandoned by its staff, Israel’s worship would crumble. 

If times were tough and harvest was slim, imagine how easy it would be to cut down on temple staff, likely starting with the role of musicians. How many accountants could have asked, What are they actually doing? What’s our ROI for these musicians? 

Interestingly, the topic of singers, music, song, or praise is brought up at least 17 times in chapters 10 -12. Music had such a place of priority that those who led songs in the temple were given “a fixed provision as every day required” (11:23) or “daily portions” (12:47). Corporate worship required a different kind of effort than farming required, but it was still work deserving of compensation.  

Although they led in only one aspect of worship, musicians had a role that transcended time. Israel passed on their culture, history, and theology, but not through individual textbooks or silent reading assignments. They had an oral tradition, rich with recitations and melodies, preserving for the next generation all of Israel’s momentous occasions, significant beliefs, and works of God through lyrics and song. 

Music does more than facilitate worship. Music unites. It brings together a vast and diverse audience into one voice, one body. Music flows like water, carrying truth along and seeping into the deepest places of the heart. As it settles, it softens and repairs. Words alone can be powerful, but they can also be quite forgettable; therefore, music functions like a preservative, keeping memories alive, and truth from growing stale. 

The people dedicate the wall of Jerusalem, accompanied by the echos of temple choirs, “And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.” (12:43) They factor in the singers with the priests, Levites, and gatekeepers, and they all agree that a life of worship will be their priority. As if foreshadowing chapter 13, they declare, “We will not neglect the house of our God.” (10:39)

But this revival climax won’t last long.

But, Yet, & Nevertheless

Nehemiah 9

Israel’s history looks like a seesaw - an up and down, back and forth pattern where two sides function in opposing ways. On one side are the people, and on the other, God himself, and their teetering relationship rests on these words at the fulcrum: but, yet, and nevertheless.

God moves closer, but Israel runs further.

God leans in, yet Israel leans out.

God remains steady. Nevertheless, Israel turns away.

The contrast is obvious, and it’s amplified by another conjunction: and. God’s actions on their behalf add up like a problem from a page in a math book: God did this, and that, and also gave this, and knew that, and provided that, and brought this...

“But they stiffened their neck and did not obey...” 9:16

“Yet they acted presumptuously…” 9:29

“Nevertheless they rebelled, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets, and committed great blasphemies…” 9:26

It seems that these three connecting words signal doom for Israel and that there’s no way to reverse them. And yet, even these dreaded words can mean redemption when what follows them describes God:

“But you are a God ready to forgive…” 9:17

“Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, 

for you have dealt faithfully…” 9:33

“Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, 

for you are a gracious and merciful God.” 9:31

If Israel’s but, yet, and nevertheless sound like your story with God, know that the but, yet, and nevertheless of God form the fulcrum of our relationship with Him. In Christ, they tip the scales in our favor, because his grace outweighs our sin, his faithfulness is greater than our disloyalty, and his mercy runs deeper than our pride.

Revival’s Pathway

Nehemiah 8

The borders of Jerusalem were established, property was accurately distributed, and roles were properly assigned when the calendar flipped to the 7th month of the year. By this season, the people would begin to harvest the crops they had been diligently tending in their fields over the previous months. Life would finally be feeling more settled, and the future, more secure. Revival is planted.

And they’re hungry for more. 

So they gather together - men, women, and anyone else who could understand - and ask to hear the Law given by God to their ancestors long ago. For hours they listen to the reading and its interpretation, as the Word works through their very beings. The Word calls their attention, so they stand in honor; it moves through their extremities to raise their hands in agreement; it humbles their posture to bow face-down in worship; and it convicts their hearts to weep tears of joy and of sorrow. Revival convicts.

They realize how faithful their God had been and how far they had wavered from His Words. But what Nehemiah wants them to understand is that God’s goodness is greater than their wrongs; his joy is stronger than their grief, so on the heels of mourning, should be dancing. Revival includes repentance, but from repentance springs contagious joy worth sharing. 

The next day, the leaders are back for even more. 

This time, they want more than understanding; they want to study or “turn their mind to” (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon) the Word. What they discover upon further investigation is that God had instituted a celebration called the Feast of Tents (booths, tabernacles) when the entire nation would camp out for a week. During the time of harvest, they were told to construct shelters made of branches and essentially re-enact Israel’s historic campout in the barren wilderness when God led them out of Egypt (Leviticus 23:33-40). Families would spend a week in a tent while they were harvesting abundant crops, and future generations would know that when life feels settled and secure, it is only because of God. But for centuries, Israel had neglected this tradition.

If you’ve ever set up a tent, you know how awkward it can be; imagine setting up one made of branches. I consider camping out to be inconvenient on vacation, but imagine camping out during a busy work season at home. Obedience will require the belief that God’s ways are truly better, even if they seem cumbersome or the timing seems off.

The people of Nehemiah’s day make this discovery in the very month designated for this celebration, and they immediately spring into action, collecting olive, myrtle, and palm branches to construct tents for each household. They would do what the Word said, because when revival runs its full course, it doesn’t culminate in joyful parties; revival culminates in obedience.

Boundaries Spark Revival

Nehemiah 7

Jerusalem, as a particular place within certain parameters, has been physically defined by its new walls and gates. Boundary lines are set in stone, clearly establishing the city limits. 

We can easily overlook the importance of place today, at a time when working remotely, shopping online, and socializing through a screen removes the need for a place. But out of all the destinations on the map of the world, Jerusalem had been God’s hand-picked place where He would meet in-person with His people. It was meant to be the epi-center for accurate and passionate worship of the only God and King, and from the burning light of this city on a hill, worship could catch like wildfire, crossing cultures and spreading from one kingdom to the next until the whole earth was consumed.

When that didn’t happen in this place, God allowed its destruction. 

For Nehemiah, rebuilding Jerusalem wasn’t driven by nostalgia, but by conviction: perhaps this time, this place could be what it was always intended to be in the world. That would require, not just defining the city itself, but also defining the people inside, beginning with their leadership. 

Nehemiah places the charge of Jerusalem on two men: Hananiah who rises above the rest as a “faithful and God-fearing man” and Hanani, his brother. We met Hanani back in the first chapter of the book (1:2), where he made the journey to Susa and shared with Nehemiah his concern for the city. Government in a city that bridged heaven and earth, could only be properly carried out by those who felt that burden and lived with qualities like “faithful and God-fearing.” Now Nehemiah hands the two of them the reins. 

Nehemiah then senses God moving him to organize the people according to genealogical records.  Looking back through documentation from returnees to Jerusalem, about 100 years earlier, the people fall into 5 categories: 

Men of the people of Israel  

Priests

Levites

Temple servants

Sons of Solomon’s servants

God “put it into” his heart to trace the people’s ancestry back to their roots, but today, these records are the verses I typically skip. Why is this list of names important enough to record, not once, but twice (Ezra 2)? 

Through the people’s ancestry, came particular rights and responsibilities: specific land had been given out according to ancestry; the calling to oversee temple worship had been delegated according to lineage; the Messiah would come through one ancestral line. 

At the rebirth of this city, the people would define themselves, first and foremost, the way God did, as they looked back to their forefathers. They would be given land, or a temple position, not because they arrived first or raised their hand the highest. They would be allotted a place according to God’s plan, not their own.  

This was a place with boundaries. These were a people with boundaries. And when God is the One who sets them, they’re the kind of boundaries that will move the people to worship, just as they moved the Psalmist to worship, exclaiming, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6