God's Word, Our Story: Learning from the Book of Nehemiah

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Entrusted with the Gospel: Pastoral Expositions of 2 Timothy, edited by D. A. Carson

God’s Love Compels Us: Taking the Gospel to the World, edited by D. A. Carson and Kathleen B. Nielson

The Gospel as Center: Renewing Our Faith and Reforming Our Ministry Practices, edited by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller

Here Is Our God: God’s Revelation of Himself in Scripture, edited by Kathleen B. Nielson and D. A. Carson

His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, edited by D. A. Carson and Kathleen B. Nielson

The Scriptures Testify about Me: Jesus and the Gospel in the Old Testament, edited by D. A. Carson

The Gospel Coalition Booklets

Edited by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, by Thabiti M. Anyabwile and J. Ligon Duncan

Can We Know the Truth?, by Richard D. Phillips

Christ’s Redemption, by Sandy Willson

The Church: God’s New People, by Timothy Savage

Creation, by Andrew M. Davis

The Gospel and Scripture: How to Read the Bible, by Mike Bullmore

Gospel-Centered Ministry, by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller

The Holy Spirit, by Kevin L. DeYoung

Justification, by Philip Graham Ryken

The Kingdom of God, by Stephen T. Um

The Plan, by Colin S. Smith

The Restoration of All Things, by Sam Storms

Sin and the Fall, by Reddit Andrews III

What Is the Gospel?, by Bryan Chapell

God’s Word, Our Story

Learning from the Book of Nehemiah

D. A. CARSON

AND

KATHLEEN B. NIELSON,

EDITORS

God’s Word, Our Story: Learning from the Book of Nehemiah

Copyright © 2016 by The Gospel Coalition

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Jeff Miller, Faceout Studio

Cover image: Shutterstock

First printing 2016

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture references marked NIV 1984 are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture references marked NLT are from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL, 60189. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the authors.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4969-4

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4972-4

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4970-0

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4971-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Carson, D. A., editor.

Title: God’s word, our story : learning from the Book of Nehemiah / D.A.

Carson and Kathleen Nielson, editors.

Description: Wheaton : Crossway, 2016. | The Gospel Coalition. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015034170 | ISBN 9781433549694 (tp)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Nehemiah—Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Classification: LCC BS1365.52 .G63 2016 | DDC 222/.806—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015034170

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Foreword

Sandy Willson

Introduction

On Exposition

Kathleen Nielson

1Taking Action in Light of God’s Word

Nehemiah 1–2

Kathy Keller

2Laboring for a God Who Fights for Us

Nehemiah 3–4

Tim Keller

3Fearing God in a Fallen World

Nehemiah 5–6

Paige Brown

4Coming Together around God’s Word

Nehemiah 7–8

Nancy Guthrie

5Responding to God according to His Word

Nehemiah 9–10

John Piper

6Celebrating! A Moment of Joy in Jerusalem

Part I: Nehemiah 11:1–12:26

Carrie Sandom

Part II: Nehemiah 12:27–43

Jenny Salt

Part III: Nehemiah 12:44–47

Kathleen Nielson

7Leaning Forward in the Dark: A Failed Reformation

Nehemiah 13

D. A. Carson

Conclusion

On Old Testament Narrative

Kathleen Nielson

Contributors

General Index

Scripture Index

Foreword

Nehemiah is one of my favorite books in the Bible. I’ve taught through it many times. In these thirteen chapters, we are shown how greatly God cares for his city, his people, his kingdom. During one of the lowest moments in our history as God’s people, he raised up an extraordinary servant to accomplish the daunting task of rebuilding the city walls and the people within those walls. We grant that Nehemiah is one of the Bible’s finest champions, but God himself is the ultimate and only hero of this, and every, biblical book.

I commend this book to you. Kathleen Nielson drew together outstanding expositors, who addressed attentive thousands at The Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference in June 2014, and whose written expositions will now serve many more who want to learn from God’s Word and learn more about studying and teaching God’s Word. At the conclusion of every exposition, Kathleen has assembled sage advice for those who would teach the text.

One of the chief concerns of The Gospel Coalition has always been faithful, intelligent, Spirit-empowered, gospel-centered exposition of the sacred Scriptures. From our very earliest meetings as TGC Council members, we prayerfully discussed how we might encourage our sisters in the Lord, just as we wanted to strengthen our brothers in the Lord. But I think none of us imagined what a powerful and fruitful ministry would one day rise up under Kathleen’s remarkable leadership. The regional training events planned for ensuing years, in which women leaders in local churches will be diligently trained to teach the Scriptures and to teach others how to do so, will expand this great work even further, as part of the ongoing ministry of TGC’s women’s initiatives.

We will all be the wiser for studying each of the chapters in this book, in order that we may serve the church and the world through faithful biblical exposition.

Sandy Willson

Senior minister, Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN

Founding member of TGC Council

Introduction

On Exposition

Kathleen Nielson

Why, some people ask, do we devote so many hours at a Gospel Coalition conference to those huge plenary sessions, where one person stands up front and talks? Ours is an interactive age, and people aren’t used to listening for such long periods; couldn’t we cut a few of those talks?

Not really, and here’s why. The Gospel Coalition is one of those ministries that holds the preaching and teaching of God’s Word as centrally important. And we want that importance to show in our conferences—especially in an age when expository preaching is less and less valued.

This collection of talks from The Gospel Coalition’s 2014 National Women’s Conference (TCGW14) is a bit different from previous collections. Our aim in this volume is not just to share the talks, but also, in the process, to encourage readers to think about the nature and value of biblical exposition. We’d love for readers to be not only inspired by reading these messages on Nehemiah, but also better equipped to do the kind of study and preparation that would enable them to expound the Word themselves—perhaps to large audiences, to Bible study groups, to children, or to a friend over coffee.

To that end, we’ve included after each chapter not only reflection questions but also a few comments, including personal comments from the contributors, on the process of studying and preparing; these Think Like an Expositor sections focus on just one or two particular aspects of teaching that text. The conclusion looks back and reflects on the work of digging into Old Testament narrative in particular. The whole book, then, is an initial exploration of the how of exposition, through the various voices of these experienced Bible teachers. This introduction begins the conversation by asking three basic questions about biblical exposition: What? Why? and Where?

The What of Biblical Exposition

What do we mean by biblical exposition? The term is used quite often, and sometimes loosely, within the evangelical world. Exposition traditionally means some kind of public display—a placing out, according to the root meaning of the word, as in a museum’s exposition of a valuable collection. The items in the collection are laid out in an exhibit that allows people to take in the treasures that are there. That’s what biblical exposition is, at its heart: not creating new treasures—or decorating the old ones—but laying out the Word treasures that are there and helping people see them clearly in the form in which we’re given them—that is, passage by passage and book by book, within the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Among those who embrace expositional teaching, various definitions (and various strategies) can be found. One helpful, succinct definition comes from Pastor David Helm: Expositional preaching is empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text.¹ In other words, an expositor’s main job is not to expound an idea or ideas taken from a text; it is not to expound the present culture in relation to a text; and it is not to expound an argument supported by various fragments of texts. An expositor’s job is to expound a text of Scripture by bringing to light its whole form and content—and not simply as an academic exercise: notice these words in Helm’s definition: empowered and rightfully submits. The power of exposition comes not simply from right answers about the text and certainly not from a powerful personality that gets the text across, but from a right and full submission to the powerful Spirit of God who breathed out the Bible’s living and active words, who dwells in the Christian preacher or teacher, and who actively helps him or her rightly to articulate the meaning of the words in the text so that they penetrate hearts as they are intended to do, for the glory of Christ.

The Why of Biblical Exposition

We understand the what even better when we begin to ask the why of biblical exposition. Why is it so important to expound Scripture—to lay it out clearly, to let its shape and emphasis be the shape and emphasis we offer to our listeners? I will offer five reasons, but the list is not exhaustive. I recommend exploration of the various publications and authors noted in this introduction in order to study more exhaustively all sorts of questions relating to biblical exposition.

First, biblical exposition is so important because the Bible is God speaking. If we had to choose just one reason, this, of course, would be it. If it is true that these words are God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), written by men who spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21), then nothing is more important than hearing these words clearly. The One who spoke these words made us. He also made a way to save us from his wrath, which we in our sin deserve. He loves us and lights the way to him. That way is found in his Word. That way is Jesus, who is at the center of this Word. Hearing this Word clearly and truly is a life-and-death matter. Submitting to God’s Word as to the Lord himself is what we human beings were created to do, for his glory and for our good. When a person stands up to handle the Word of the God of the universe, eternal realities are at stake.

These realities are personal, not abstract. God’s Word is alive and active because God is alive and active. Sometimes we actually forget he is there as we receive and discuss his words to us. Pastor Mike Bullmore offers a great reminder: Preacher, imagine God sitting in the congregation as you preach. What will be the expression on his face? Will it say, ‘That’s not at all what I was getting at with that passage.’ Or will it say, ‘Yes that’s exactly what I intended.’²

Second, biblical exposition is so important because it gives us confidence in our message. The above quotation from Pastor Bullmore can be a little scary. When we’re honest, we redeemed believers know our sins and limitations that regularly impede our teaching. We know we’re fully capable of missing what God is getting at, or perhaps being guided by our own concerns and perspectives more than by deep study of and submission to the actual text. We all miss the expositional mark regularly. Please be sure that we do not offer these talks on Nehemiah as perfect examples. (I think I can speak for all the contributors!) They are humbly offered as examples, conceived with the aim of pleasing God by letting people hear as clearly as possible his life-giving words.

The kind of confidence we’re talking about is a humble confidence developed through Word study that is not disconnected from personal communion with the God who spoke it. This communion is known only through Christ, who by his death and resurrection made that communion possible. It is encouraging that, as we dare to teach, we believers in Christ have the best help possible: not only his people around us, but his own Holy Spirit with us and in us to help us take in the words he breathed out. In a chapter that offers a most excellent summary of The Hermeneutical Distinctives of Expository Preaching, David Jackman comments on the importance of prayer as central to the process of preparation: We are entirely dependent on God’s Spirit to open our blind eyes, unstop our deaf ears, and soften our hardened hearts, so at every stage in preparing to preach we seek the author’s help to rightly hear and handle his Word of truth.³ For years, my husband and I, along with our children, sat under the expository preaching of Pastor Kent Hughes, who consistently pointed his congregation to a full awareness of the triune God’s presence as the Word was preached; that was a great gift.⁴

Our confidence comes ultimately from a personal trust in the first reason why biblical exposition is so important: that this is indeed God’s Word—God speaking. We are aiming to lay out for people not our own wisdom from inside of ourselves, but the wisdom of words that come down to us like the rain and the snow from heaven, watering the earth, bringing fruit, accomplishing that which God purposes (Isa. 55:10–11). We don’t have to rely on our wit, our rhetorical ability, or our winsome presence—although God can use all those things if he so chooses (the contributors to this volume have various and generous doses of those gifts). What we trust finally, though, is that what we have to offer, by God’s grace, is sure, unfailing, beautiful, and effective—his Word. Our job is to get out of the way and let it speak (or, rather, let God speak, by his Spirit). These words are alive with the breath of God.

In his book Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism, Tim Keller offers an extremely helpful initial discussion of the call to Word ministry on multiple levels—clearly establishing the basic principle that those who teach the Bible in any context must faithfully present God’s words. Keller takes us to 1 Peter 4:10–11 and to Peter Davids’s instructive thoughts on that passage, in which the apostle Peter admonishes anyone who speaks to do so as one who speaks the very words of God (NIV).⁵ In doing so, we can trust his words to do his work, by his Spirit.

Third, biblical exposition is so important because those who preach or teach should be guides, not gurus. This point is obviously related to the last one. Because our confidence is in the Word itself, by the Spirit, we must aim to teach that confidence to others as we share the Word. We want to communicate not how much we have found in the text, but how much is to be found in the text—and, in the process, a bit about how to find it. We don’t want listeners to go away saying, Wow, what a good speaker. She’s amazing. I never could have found all that in there—but rather, Wow, that was an amazing passage of Scripture. It struck my heart. I loved seeing how it holds together and fits into the whole book. I never thought about how directly it relates to Christ and to the gospel. I think I’ll try asking some of those same questions of this other text I’m studying . . .

Maybe that sounds a little ambitious or contrived. But, again, maybe not. Maybe that’s really what we should be after. Don’t we want to send people away marveling at God himself, moved to follow him more closely, lifting up his Son more wholeheartedly? In one sense, it’s easier just to try to be witty or winsome and to pull a group of listeners along by those means. In another sense, it’s much harder and more pressure-filled to make the message depend on me. In the end, I want my listeners to be protected from me! We want our listeners to follow us, yes—but to follow us in the way of his commandments, in the delightful path of his testimonies (Ps. 119:24, 32). We want to be guides, not gurus.

Fourth, biblical exposition is so important because regular expository teaching tells God’s story truly. Biblical exposition works through passages of Scripture in context. Most pastors who are biblical expositors preach through biblical books, passage after passage and week after week, so that their congregations receive God’s Word in the form he ordained: in books, and in the collections of books we know as the Old and New Testaments. Many of these pastors, along with their elders, have made sure that this commitment to expository teaching trickles down through all the groups and programs in the church—so that a women’s Bible study, for example, also is working regularly through books of the Old and New Testament. This is not to say that from time to time there isn’t a great topical talk or series of talks. It is to say that the regular diet of Scripture intake consists of the whole Word of God, whole book by whole book.

We take in the Word in whole books because that is the form in which God has delivered his Word to us. He’s made us a people of the book. Even though in this day we all tend to be people of topics and snippets of information digested through one quick link after another, we must respect the beautiful coherence of the book we call the Bible. If an artist presented us with a magnificent sculpture, we probably would not feel free to break it apart and decorate our houses with one piece of it here and another fragment of it there. What if the artist visited us and saw his work of art torn to pieces? Now, it is certainly true that a topical or a nonexpositional Bible talk can do either a good or a bad job of respecting the coherence of Scripture. I would venture to guess that, if it does a good job, there’s a good chance the speaker has spent time doing some background work in biblical exposition related to the verse or verses mentioned in that talk. Occasionally, a nonexpositor has so satiated himself or herself in the whole of Scripture that one part naturally and beautifully resonates with another.

The Bible is God’s work of art. Each book’s form and content, and the unity of the whole Bible, represent an