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THE GREATNESS OF GOD!

Thirty-three-year-old Genelle Guzman was the last person to be rescued from what has become known as Ground Zero. She had been buried under the rubble for twenty-seven hours oscillating between prayer and despair. As night came on that awful day, she finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Then, when dawn broke she heard voices. At midday, with hope fluttering she mustered her strength and called for help. She clawed through the rubble until somebody finally heard her voice and the sounds of her feeble attempts to free herself. In a final valiant attempt, she thrust a bruised and battered hand through the debris and felt a hand clasp hers. With a heart of thanksgiving she cried out “Thank God! Thank God!”
I wonder where Genelle Guzman is today - spiritually. After all, God had pulled her out of the rubble and saved her life. She acknowledged that it was the Lord, through the New York Fire Department, who had rescued her. Undoubtedly, she had poured out her soul during that time, confessed all her sins, and made peace with God. But did it last? I don’t know. I do know it is easy to forget about God when things are going well. So I wonder where Genelle Guzman is today - spiritually.
In this lifetime, I will probably never find out. But I do know that the tears of sorrow and repentance in chapter eight of Nehemiah were genuine. Through the reading of God’s Word, the Spirit of God had lifted the Isralites out of the rubble at just the right time, reminded them of all that the Lord had done for them, and touched their hearts.
The time, of course, was the seventh month, our September/October. It was the month where the Israelites celebrated three important aspects of their relationship with God. The first day of the month was a time of worship. It was the Festival of Trumpets, Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the civil year, the celebration of the week of creation.
This led up to Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Messianic Jews reflect on Yesua (Jesus) the Messiah, others reflect on the scapegoat of atonement which bore the iniquities of all the Israelites. It is a time of confession, of atonement offerings, and, as you can imagine, a time of great joy.
This was followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, where they lived in homemade tents for a week. This Feast recalled the 40 years of Wandering and served to remind them that God was someone you could trust to take care of you.
These three festivals served to solidify the changes that God’s Spirit had done on their hearts. After, the Feast of Booths they evidently returned to their homes and the normal activities of making a living. But just over two weeks later they returned for another public assembly. As near as I can tell, there was no official reason for it. In chapter 9, we read:
On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. Standing on the stairs were the Levites – Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani – who called with loud voices to the Lord their God. And the Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah – said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God who is from everlasting to everlasting.”
For three hours they listened to the Word of God, they stood where they were and listened with all their hearts. They then spent three hours confessing their sins and worshiping the Lord their God. In short, this was a six-hour discovery class!
As a result of this class, or in response to it, we have the longest recorded prayer in Scripture. Incidentally, it is interesting to note that in Nehemiah 2:4 we have the shortest prayer in the Bible and here in Nehemiah 9 we have the longest - and both moved the heart of the target audience. The first moved the king’s heart, so much so that he reversed his position on Jerusalem. The second moved the heart of those who had returned, so much so that they spent a good part of the day confessing their sins and worshiping their Lord and Savior.
As you read, I want you to make two list. In the first, make a list of all of God’s attributes. Or, to put it another way, make a list of what he did for Israel. In the second, make a list of our transgressions. Beginning in v. 5b, we read:
“ Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
“ You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You kept your promise because you are righteous.
“ You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt, you heard their cry at the Red Sea. You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
“ You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
“ But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
“ Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. by day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
“ You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. You made their sons as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their fathers to enter and possess. Their sons went in and took possession of the land. You subdued them before the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you handed the Canaanites over to them, along with their kings and peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. They captured fortified cites and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
“ But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
“ But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
“ You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples. But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
“ Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes – the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
“ But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
“ In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and priests are affixing their seals to it.”
At least ten aspects of God’s nature and character emerge in this prayer. They are as important to us today as they were for the Judean believers in Nehemiah’s day. First, we see that God is eternal. he is from everlasting to everlasting. As such the Isralites believed, as we do, that God has made generous provision for a secure and everlasting future. In short, we are not locked into the present.
Second, God is unique. He has no rivals. The world tells us otherwise, but the Book makes it clear that there is one and only one true God. For those of us who wish to live life without being pulled this way and that depending on which way the wind is blowing this is good news. It means, the rules are always the same. It means, that any idiot can learn what it takes to please God.
Third, God is all powerful. After all, if God can make everything out of nothing, then he can do anything. He can even work in the hearts and minds of those who refuse to acknowledge his existence.
Fourth, God keeps his promises. He doesn’t say one thing today only to do something different tomorrow. The reliability of his word is guaranteed by the integrity of his character.
Fifth, God is a God of love. The story of God’s redeeming love for Israel, how he delivered them from Egypt, how he took care of them in the wilderness, how he brought them into a land of milk and honey, and his loyalty to them though they again and again turned their backs on him is the story of unrelenting love.
Then in his love, his tough love, he turned them over to their neighbors, neighbors you and I would not want living next door to us. He did what he did, not because he had given up on them but because he wanted them to turn to him. For only under the pressure of adversity could he grab their attention. After all, we tend not to admit the ugliness of sin until we suffer its consequences!
Sixth, he is a God who unfolds his will to us. He came down and spoke with the people at Mt. Sinai. He gave them his decrees and commands so that they could learn and live instead of always living and learning.
Seventh, God is a God of mercy. The story of Israel is a story of rebellion. A story that shocks us – until we examine our own wayward hearts. Yet, again and again God chose not to treat them as they deserved. This is mercy, the heart of God.
Eighth, God is a God of grace. Despite persistent disobedience he met their daily needs. They were rebels, but they were rebels who lacked nothing because of his generous acts on their behalf. This is grace, the hand of God.
Ninth, God is infinitely patient. The Israelites didn’t simply ignore God, they took steps to ensure that they wouldn’t have to listen to him by ridiculing and killing the prophets. They didn’t merely use offensive speech about the Lord, they held him in contempt. And when things went well for them they didn’t simply forget God, they turned to other gods. In all of this he patiently absorbed their abuse.
A mere human could hardly bear such abuse, but the Lord, though grieved by their infidelity, fully forgave them and delivered them from hardship and anguish again and again.
Tenth, God is faithful. The Israelites persistently shattered the relationship by their appalling behavior. They broke their side of the agreement, but God resolutely refused to break his side. In all that happened, he acted faithfully while they did wrong. This prayer exalts God who over the centuries had done so much for his people. He gave himself to the work of creating (6), choosing (7), encouraging (8), hearing (9), delivering (10 - 11), guiding (12), meeting (13a), teaching (13b), protecting (14), feeding (15), forgiving (17), loving (17), accompanying (19), clothing (21), empowering (22) sustaining (21), multiplying (23), prospering (25), correcting (26 - 27), and rescuing (27). Looking back they could trace not only their own waywardness but God’s constant faithfulness.
What about them? Their greatest sin was disobedience to what God had said for in their self-sufficiency they had become arrogant. The law was abandoned, the commands went unheeded, and the warnings were ignored. Because they refused to serve God they were slaves to others. In Nehemiah’s day they were still under the dominion of another ruler - and justly so. The Persians were not cruel overlords but God’s people weren’t entirely free either and heavy taxation frequently put them on the edge of poverty. A severe produce-tax meant their land was primarily for the benefit of others. They worked while others reaped!
Only a great God, who does great things for his people, could relieve such great distress. This greatness challenges our own irreverence. In our prosperity we too tend to forget about God. We take him for granted and adopt a careless lifestyle. We forget that if God is holy, we must be holy too.
The greatness we see in this prayer is also an antidote for our despair. We live in troubled times and must confess that we have added to the problems of the world. But God accepts us where we are at and loves us too much to leave us in our despair.
Finally, God’s greatness overcomes our inadequacy. In ourselves we cannot handle the challenges of the future. But in this great and awesome God of unlimited resources we have the strength and wisdom to handle the impossible.

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