Skip to main content

Nehemiah 11

 [Nehemiah] TEN: Big decisions_ 

Nehemiah 11 

 

Has anyone ever moved house? 

[Discussion starter] What factors do you consider when deciding where to live? 
(Think about work, salary, school, church, ministry, family...) 

Does it seem weird to you that God is even interested in where you live? 

 

[Read Nehemiah 11] 

 

How did the Jews, in chapter 11, decide who would live in Jerusalem? 

 

 

If it was decided by lot that you should live in Jerusalem, and you were a farmer with a piece of land 15 miles away from Jerusalem, how would you feel about the decision? 

 

 

What other reasons do you think the people might have to not want to live in Jerusalem? 

 

 

In verse 3, what reasons can you think of for these five groups of people to live in Jerusalem? 

 

 

[Activity] List the kins of jobs/positions that would need to be filled in Jerusalem... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in chapter 10, how would all these people be taken care of materially? 

 

 

How is the security and the city’s ability to function related to the Jews living in the towns around Jerusalem? 

 

 

Would you rather be out in the fields producing crops or playing a supporting role in the city? 

 

 

Since the land was directly linked to a particular tribe (and family within that tribe) as an inheritance, what would be the difficulty and struggle of where to live? 

 

 

Since our barter system is based on money, in what ways does our lifestyle today free us up to be more involved in urban development and building the Kingdom of God? 

 

 

Given all that we have read, thought about, and discussed, can you think of your own personal past decisions that have impacted your service for God? 
How might this help to clarify how you should make decisions in the future? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #1

  The Lord Who Speaks_   Revelation 1:9-20   We  don’t  tend to get many letters these days. We get emails, text messages,  WhatsApp  and other electronic messages, but rarely  a handwritten, pen-and-paper letter.    I tend to save any good ones I get... notes from when Leah was little. Letters that encourage or bless me.   I’ll keep them in my  bedside  drawer or  tucked  into books on our shelves. Then I get to read them again and feel loved and blessed by their words. ..     [Discussion starter]    Tell the group about a significant letter you have received and why it meant so much to you.     Revelation 2-3 records seven letters written by Jesus to seven churches.   It must have been a thrill for an early church congregation to receive a letter from the apostles Paul, Peter, or James... but here were letters from Jesus himself . And we all get to read everyone else’s ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #3

  {SEVEN LETTERS}    The Attractiveness of Suffering_   Revelation 2:8-11     In the year AD 177 persecution broke out against the Christians living in what is today the French city of Lyon. Christianity had raised the suspicions and hatred of the Roman  bureaucrats who governed the city. The vicious persecution that raged, touched Christians at every level of society. After the persecuti on subsided, church father Irenaeus, arranged for a letter to be written to Christians in other parts of the Roman Empire describing the faithfulness of the  martyrs...   We  can’t  even begin to put into words, much less describe in detail, the  magnitude  of the persecution here: how the pagans raged so terribly against the saints, and how the ble ssed martyrs endured so patiently... To begin with, they nobly endured all the abuse the whole mob collectively piled on: screaming  at them, punching them, dragging them through the stre...
Post a Comment
Read more

PARABLE: the rich man and Lazarus

  {PARABLE} the rich man and Lazarus_   Luke 16:19-31   Have you ever heard someone say that religion is just  a ‘crutch’ or just a source of comfort for the weak?   Have you ever heard someone say that religious people pay no attention to those who are hungry or suffering?   Christianity doesn’t teach passive suffering in the face of injustice and oppression. Jesus calls us to serve those who are in need.     [Discussion starter] Have you ever been asked for money by someone homeless?   How did you react?     The final parable in this study reminds us that suffering in this life can be replaced by bliss in the next ...     [Read Luke 16:19-31]     In verses 19-21, how does the parable reveal the rich man’s lack of concern for Lazarus?       How would you account for the rich man’s indifference towards Lazarus?       What are some of the ways that you have heard people explain why ...
Post a Comment
Read more