Road Trippin With Rachael

Have you ever been in a room and watched someone come in and just saw chaos ensue. I had the experience not long ago when I saw a family with children of various ages enter a gather I was at. While the over atmosphere previous had been relatively laid back, it suddenly became noisy, crowded, and I was definitely over stimulated by the time the gathering was over.

I personally don’t enjoy chaos – I like to think of myself as more of a hobbit from the Lord of the Rings – the occasional epic adventure, but the calming atmosphere of my books, chair, and good food (because I can’t keep a plant alive I’m not including “garden”). But I did enjoy the family that I mentioned. The whole encounter reminds me of how God isn’t a god of chaos, but a God of Order/Logic. As we work out way through Nehemiah 11-13:3 we see five different ways that prove that God isn’t about chaos: he plants us where we need to be, he is specific in what he calls us to, remembers the details, gives us a structure to worship him, and he gives us direction about what we should be considering when it comes to our spousal relationships.

You Are Where God Wants You To Be

I think we have all had times where we have wondered if we are in the right spot. We wonder how life would be different if we were somewhere else, if we’d made different decisions. I know I have. There is something to be said about self-contemplation and accepting that we are in certain situations due to the decisions and choices that we have made. However, I think that it is important that we also acknowledge that we are where God wants us to be, and when he intended us to be there.

Nehemiah 11 recounts how the people of Israel chose to redistribute themselves in the land of their fathers. There was land that was assigned to the tribes, yes, but they also needed to intentionally and strategically inhabit Jerusalem. If they could do that, the center of their internal politics, religion, and culture then they would be able to preserve what they had worked so hard to build back. Focusing in on Chapter 11 verse 1, the people intentionally and prayerfully selected people to go to live in the capital. If you go through the beginning of 11, you will see something interesting about the people who were selected to go to the Jerusalem – they were all people whose families had once been influential and were leaders of the Hebrew people before the Babylonian Captivity. Many of the families and names are relatively familiar to students of the Bible. This list includes families of Judah, listing them as being from Perez’s descendants (Nehemiah 1:4) of whom David descended (Matthew 1:2-6), and of the Shilonite – the woman who is portrayed in the Song of Solomon (11:6). Members of the tribe of Benjamin are listed off (11:7-9). Nehemiah 11:10-18 records the Levites and their heads of the families that did the work of the temple. Verse 22 records the leader of the Levites who lived in Jerusalem to be the descendants of Asaph – who along with David wrote some of the psalms. It was no happenstance that these were the families the came to live in Jerusalem.

God was not only concerned with those who would live in Jerusalem, but he also cared for and had a purpose for those who lived in their ancestral lands. 11:25-27 shows how the people made sure to go to the different regions and the surrounding villages so that the land could be worked. The Israelites had been commanded in Deuteronomy 1:8 that they were to take possession of the land. This doesn’t only mean that their name was to be on the deed; it also meant that it was to be lived on, worked, and cultivated. Just like God called specific families to go to the center of Hebrew culture in Jerusalem to run the temple and be administrators over the city, so too did he call families to settle the land and take possession of it, to fill it once again with vineyards, and to have sheep in the pastured lands. They were called to be there and they were the best people for the job. And most importantly, these people who were caring for the land, were able the ones responsible for providing the food and the necessities for the priests. They were the workforce that was going to allow the religious system to begin to function once again and free up the Levites and the sons of Aaron to serve as they did when the temple was originally constructed.

God is Specific

Although the purposes of this blog post is not to delve into all views of soteriology, there is a certain tension that exists between God directing the choices and decisions that people make, and free will. Both exist in scripture, and we need to recognize that both are at work. God specifically calls certain individuals to certain places, but he also allows for the people to volunteer to go. At this point of the blog we are going to look at some of the ways that God gets specific.

The very fact that there are people who are listed by name, has always amazed me in scripture. It isn’t that we only see Moses, David, Elijah, and Daniel listed. It is that we also get to see Ziklag and Meconah (11:28); we see Uzzi (11:22); we see Iddo, Ginnerthoi, Abijah (12:4). God sees and uses the individuals. Not only that but there are whole families recorded to scripture that weren’t a part of the Moseses or Daniels, or Elijahs. My own family is normal – although I think out history is pretty cool. I’m proud of where I come from, but I don’t have presidents, or statesmen in my family tree. I’m not descended from some Lord in Germany whose third son came to the Americas to make a name for himself. But God knows where I come from, and all the steps that it took for me to be where I am right now, all the way back to when a man and his brother set foot on the East Coast when they came from Sweden in the 1850’s. God not only remembers the people, he remembers the families and those who have gone before each individual (12:1 – 26).

But because God is able to look at us and see that we are individuals, that also means that God knows what tasks and careers we are the most suited for. Chapter 12:44-47 states that there were duties and responsibilities that were given to specific people. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins uses the analogy of a bus to represent an organization, with the seats are the roles and responsibilities needed for the organization. Mr. Collins postulates that by getting the right people in the right seats on the bus an organization can run more effectively. Keeping this concept in mind, this is exactly what God does – he places the right people in the right places at the right time with the right responsibilities. If people were taking on roles that they were not suited for, or responsibilities were assigned willy-nilly there would be utter chaos. I don’t know if you’ve ever worked with someone who was in a role they clearly weren’t suited for, but I have. It does not make for a good working environment. The roles might not always be glorious, and the responsibilities may be monotonous but the people placed in those roles are the best suited. I think it is something to remember when we become discontent for no reason. (Of course, sometimes discontentment is because God is calling you to something different – but that determination can only be made through prayer and seeking his will).

God Remembers

I think that it is also important within the discussion of God not being a god of chaos, that we remember that God remembers. People, places, events are not lost to the ether that is the passage of time. All things happen with purpose, and God remembers them and has them recorded so that they can be remembered.

Consider the book of Nehemiah as a whole and much of chapter 12 itself. It is a list of names and families. Or we could go through the book of Numbers and read about the census that was done on the Hebrew people while they were in the wilderness. The lives that are lived do matter, and God remembers the individuals.

But it will also go beyond that from time to time. In 12:23, God also had the records of events that took place for the heads of the tribe of Levites recorded in the Book of Historical events. Why is this important with regards to chaos? Because it means that God doesn’t forget, he doesn’t want us to forget, and he wants us to be able to learn from the events that have taken place in the past. The whole idea that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” could be a case study for the Hebrew people. But after the events of Babylon, they are determined to learn, and they made sure that everything was recorded, especially concerning the Levites who were partially responsible for leading the people in the direction that resulted in them losing their homeland.

God Directs Us in Worship

If you were blessed to grow up in a church, most likely you will recognize the dichotomy that often occurs in a worship service. There is the Spirit’s leading and there is the organizing. The Spirit’s leading allows for there to be deviation from the organized service, but the organized service allows for people to get their minds and hearts in a place of worship. And if anyone claims that corporate worship isn’t organized, they are lying to you – chairs or pews are arranged in rows, the praise team/choir has practiced, and there are people who are ready to prayer with/for anyone who comes to the front (if that is something your church does) – it’s organized.

We see examples of this in Nehemiah. 12:30 shows how the people were prepared to be in his presence. Their goal was to praise him for the completion of the wall, and they were arranged around the city to offer that praise. 33-40, shows how Nehemiah organized the people in processions and where they were going to be standing. From an areal view, this was worship in the round – this is where the preacher/elder and music leaders on in the middle and the people surround them; in this case the singers were surrounding the city directing praise towards the temple.

It’s verse 47 that draws my attention – “So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for Aaron’s descendants” (CSB). The people were willing to give, and they gave happily. Part of their act of worship was to give back to God specifically so that those that were leading spiritually would have provision. Although I am not going to tell anyone how they should give or how much, there is something to be said about giving and giving gladly. At least in the US, church are considered to be non-profits, which means there is a certain business aspect that exists (I’m not arguing whether this is right or wrong, but stating a fact; if they want to be tax free there are rules that have to followed). Part of how they are able to operate is through the giving of money by those who are attending, and that is what budgets are based on. Part of that budget in most churches is the salary for at least one paid minister, whether full or part time. Part of God preparing us for worship and in keeping chaos from ensuring is having people give to support those who lead, which allows them to be effect leaders since they aren’t concerned about how they will provide for their families. Paul later parses this out more clearly when he speaks of how those who are married have more cares than those who are single (I Corinthians 7:32-34). As I stated in a previous post, a minister should be paid a fair wage. Don’t be stingy, as God has called believers to give.

God Directs Us in Family Life

As we begin to look at the beginning of chapter 13, we need to be reminded that the opposite of God not being chaotic is that he is a God of order.

Part of that order was calling Abraham in Genesis 12 to become a people that was going to live in such a way that was different from the peoples that were around them. It is also expressly stated in Deuteronomy 7:3 that” [Israel] must not intermarry with them, and [Israel] must not give your daughters t o their sons or take their daughters for your sons” (CSB). As the years progressed from the time they entered the promise land at the end of the book of Joshua to the return from Babylon, there had been many intermarriages during that time, and they were not marriages that were on par with Rahab or Ruth – both of which showcase women who chose to leave their idol-worshiping cultures to embrace Yahweh, and raise a family who worshiped him. This was never an ethnic issue, as we see from examples like Rahab and Ruth. This was an issue of being equally yoked (II Corinthians 6:14) and having a couple that was determined to follow God and guard what was coming into their homes. We see in Isaiah 56:3-5 that people of different ethnicities were able to join the assembly and worship God alongside the Hebrew people when they turned away from their people’s gods/goddesses.

No, the issue that comes to light in chapter 13 has to deal with marriages that brought either syncretism into the home, or completely embraced idol worship – both of which were contributing factors to what lead Israel into Babylon to begin with. And unfortunately, it has proven time and again that women have a profound effect on the home. When the Israelite men brought in a foreign wife, that was when the drift to idolatry noticeably occurred (I Kings 11:1-8). The mandate to not intermarry – specifically with those people groups that Deuteronomy 7:1 lists off – was because that would bind set apart Israel with idolatrous nations – and it increases the chances (as we see in scripture) of the Israelites not standing on their principles because they don’t want to offend their in-laws.

Final Thoughts

When we read through scripture we see over and over that God is not the one who brings chaos – it is by the choices that we each make that bring about the chaos that we experience in our personal lives and it is sin at large that causes it. In fact, God does the opposite: he actively gives ways that we can avoid chaos. He directs our paths through life to have us where we need to be at the right times. God is specific in what he says and in where people are directed to be, planting people in the places where they are going to be the most effective. Not only that, but God remembers what we do and say, and how we act on an individual level. He remembers people, and families, and we can see how he doesn’t let things be lost to the ether of time, but keeps a record to be both an encouragement and a deterrent for other looking to make the same choices. He aids us in the worship of him, but giving us directions to have some organization but also allows for there to room for the Holy /Spirit to move and change things. And finally, God gives direction on how we can help keep our family lives from becoming chaotic. This is done by giving directions on what we should look for in our spouses (being equally yoked) and knowing that when we allow ungodly things (like idol worship) to come into our homes and into our relationships it will pull us away from God into the chaos we want to avoid.