Episode 9, “The Power of Repentance”
“I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” How many times have we heard people say those two words or how many times have we had to say them? Next to saying, “I love you,” “I’m sorry” are two of the most difficult and at the same time most powerful words to say for most people. Today, we are going to talk about the power of repentance in fasting with prayer by someone who said, “I’m sorry,” for himself and for a nation. That person is the prophet Nehemiah whose name means, “God Has Comforted.” We will see how this man sacrificed a life of comfort to help restore the City of Jerusalem. My name is Stephanie Wright. Let’s get started.
If you want to contact us or comment on this podcast, please visit our website at cgmissions.com/podcast, where all episodes are available by category in series format. You can see the most recent video and audio podcasts at:
www.youtube.com/@cgmissionsinc then select from the video or podcast"Playlist."
CGM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations may be made on our website: https://www.cgmissions.com/donate-here/
Episode 9, “The Power of Repentance”
“I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” How many times have we heard people say those two words or how many times have we had to say them? Next to saying, “I love you,” “I’m sorry” are two of the most difficult and at the same time most powerful words to say for most people. Today, we are going to talk about the power of repentance in fasting with prayer by someone who said, “I’m sorry,” for himself and for a nation. That person is the prophet Nehemiah whose name means, “God Has Comforted.” We will see how this man sacrificed a life of comfort to help restore the City of Jerusalem. My name is Stephanie Wright. Let’s get started.
If you want to contact us or comment on this podcast, please visit our website at cgmissions.com/podcast, where all episodes are available by category in series format. You can see the most recent video and audio podcasts at:
www.youtube.com/@cgmissionsinc then select from the video or podcast"Playlist."
CGM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations may be made on our website: https://www.cgmissions.com/donate-here/
Episode 1, New Series, “The Power of Repentance”
“I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.” How many times have we heard people say those two words or how many times have we had to say them? Next to saying, “I love you,” “I’m sorry” are two of the most difficult and at the same time most powerful words to say for most people. Today, we are going to talk about the power of repentance in fasting with prayer by someone who said, “I’m sorry,” for himself and for a nation. That person is the prophet Nehemiah whose name means, “God Has Comforted.” We will see how this man sacrificed a life of comfort to help restore the City of Jerusalem. My name is Stephanie Wright. Let’s get started.
Before we get started on our journey with Nehemiah, let’s have a brief background on him. Stay with me as I compress into two minutes what would be one hour of history. As we said in the opening, Nehemiah’s name means, “God Has Comforted.” Nehemiah was a Jew, believed to be born around 500 BC, 500 years before Christ. But long before Nehemiah was born, the Jewish people - because of their disobedience to God - were taken into captivity by other nations. Originally, the twelve tribes in the nation of Israel were united as one kingdom but that kingdom was split into two kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom or Israel (ten tribes) and the Southern Kingdom or Judah (two tribes). The Northern Kingdom was captured by the Assyrians during a period of 10 years from about 734 to 724 BC.
The Southern Kingdom was doing pretty good. They were sort of turning their noses up at the Northern Kingdom and basically saying, “You know, we're following God. We're doing what God told us to do. So, we haven't been taken into captivity.” But eventually they stopped doing what God told them to do and when the Babylonians overthrew the Assyrians, the Southern Kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians in three waves (605 BC, 597 BC and 586 BC). Eventually the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians around 538 BC. The Persian kings allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem shortly thereafter. And again, it happened in three different waves. Zerubbabel led the first wave to rebuild the altars in Jerusalem. That was about 536 years before Christ. The second group of Jews returned around 458 years before Christ. They were led by Ezra, a scribe of God's law. And then the third group to return was led by Nehemiah about 444 years before the time of Christ. The three books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, tell the history of God's people during the rule of the Persian empire and how some were allowed to return to Jerusalem while others decided to remain in Persia.
Today our attention is on Nehemiah who was a prophet and became a high‑ranking official in Persia as King Artaxerxes’ cupbearer. In other words, the king didn’t drink the wine until Nehemiah drank it first. If Nehemiah died, the king knew not to drink the wine. Sounds like a menial job but actually it was a position of esteem and Nehemiah lived quite comfortably. Nehemiah was among those who decided to remain in Persia even though other Jews had decided to return to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, he is concerned about what is happening in Jerusalem and learns that things are not going well. The people are in great affliction and reproach, the walls are broken down and the gates are burned. (Nehemiah 1:3) Without going into all the history behind the walls and gates of Jerusalem suffice it to say that walls and gates for any city at that time were needed for protection. Jerusalem was not just any city, it was God’s city and Nehemiah had a burden not only for the people, but also for the city. He wanted to see the people, the walls and the gates restored to their former glory.
Upon hearing this bad news, Nehemiah sat down, wept, mourned for days, fasted, and prayed. But what is most notable is how Nehemiah cried out for God to forgive him and the children of Israel. Repentance was his foundation for empowerment. Almost all of this first chapter is about Nehemiah’s cries of repentance. He acknowledges that they have sinned and been corrupt against God and Nehemiah includes himself among those who have not kept God’s commandments. He acknowledges that they deliberately sinned knowing the punishment would be captivity in a foreign land. He concludes the chapter by beseeching God to hear His prayer of repentance and his prayer for the people and let the king grant him leave to return to Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:5‑11.)
In Chapter 2, God answers Nehemiah’s request and the king gives Nehemiah leave to go to Jerusalem. When Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he sees that what he was told was true, the walls were indeed broken down and the gates were burned. Nehemiah tells no one initially why he is in Jerusalem but in time he strategically brings the people together and they begin to build the walls and repair the gates. They of course faced opposition from non‑Jewish rulers who did not want to see the walls rebuilt nor the gates repaired. Chapter 4, verses 7-9, names “Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites,” who were very angry when they learned the walls were being built and they conspired to “fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.” But Nehemiah and others prayed to God and set a watch against these enemies day and night.
Then Chapter 4:13‑14, says, Nehemiah, “set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.” Then, Nehemiah, “rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
The people listened to Nehemiah. The wall was rebuilt, two‑and‑a‑half miles long and almost 40 feet high and the gates restored because Nehemiah wept, prayed, fasted, and repented. Then, upon God answering his prayer for release to leave Persia, Nehemiah went forth to do what, for most people, would be impossible. But that is the kind of God we serve. If you want to see God move, pick something big and seemingly impossible to accomplish. And God’s answers are lasting. Research shows that portions of the wall still exist today because portions of it were used to build a new wall in the 16th century, by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent around 1537‑1541.
I believe God led us to study Nehemiah so we could understand that repentance is a foundation of empowerment undeniably linked to fasting with prayer. God empowered Nehemiah to do what he did because he repented for himself and for the people who had wronged God. His repentance was a necessary ingredient that catapulted his mission forward to success. Nehemiah could concentrate on the task ahead of him and did not have to think about whether there was anything standing between him and God because he had repented. So, when it was time to gather the people to work at building the walls and the gates, when it was time to ask the people to fight, when it was time to ask the people to watch and pray night and day, Nehemiah already knew repentance was not standing in the way of answers to anything.
Who is Nehemiah today? We are Nehemiah. Like Nehemiah, we are the ones who are called to pray, fast and cry out in repentance to God for our loved ones, friends, for the world, for ourselves. Instead of going to Jerusalem, we are authorized to go boldly to the throne of God with our petitions. Hebrews 4:16. We have the Holy Spirit as our intercessor in the earth when we do not know how to fast and pray or what type of repentance is needed and for whom. And we have Jesus as our heavenly intercessor who is seated at the right hand of God. Also, we do not need physical weapons like Nehemiah and others needed because our battle is not against the flesh and blood Sanballats and Tobiases of this world. Our warfare is in the spirit “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” and Jesus through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit brings us fully dressed and armed for battle day and night. Ephesians 6:11‑18. (Listen to Episode 7, in this series for more on spiritual warfare. We will tell you how at the end of this presentation.)
As we come to a close, just like Nehemiah, we will prevail against the enemy because of three words that Jesus spoke, “It is finished!” Never forget those three words. It doesn’t matter how difficult is the challenge set before you. If God sent you to it, the Holy Spirit will empower you to go through it with prayer, fasting, and a heart that is cleansed in repentance.
Finally, let’s give Nehemiah his due reverence because he certainly did not realize he was setting the stage for the location from which the gospel would be sent to the world. These are Jesus’ words to the eleven apostles after His resurrection, “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:46‑47.
Now, let’s go to Apostle Charles as he closes us out.