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

Disciple: Judas

  {Disciples} JUDAS ISCARIOT_   Turning away     The most notorious of al the disciples – and the one universally scorned – is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. His name appears in every list of the disciples (except in Acts 1), and it always appears last.   The other eleven are an encouragement to us because they show how common people can be used by God, even with all their faults and failures, to do remarkable things.   Judas, on the other hand, stands as a warning about the power of spiritual carelessness and pride, which can drag us away from loyalty to Christ.   Judas lived in close proximity to Jesus for three years.   He heard every teaching; he saw every miracle.   But in all that time his heart only grew harder.   The other disciples were being transformed, by Jesus, into passionate followers; Judas was being changed too...     [Group discussion starter] Have you ever had a friend or colleague that appeared to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9

  [Grace and Peace] EPHESIANS_   [Activity] Spend some time exploring the logical flow of Ephesians 5:21-6:9…   [Read Ephesians 5:21]   Paul addresses different relationship types (marriage, family, co-workers) when he writes to the Ephesians. Before he gets specific in his instructions, he gives a general one. What attitude are we supposed to have towards others?     What should submission look like in daily life?     [Read Ephesians 5:22-33]   In verses 22-24, why does Paul tell wives to submit to their husbands?     How does remembering that a wife is really submitting to the Lord affect submission to a husband?     In verses 25-33, how are husbands, in turn, to treat their wives?     How does comparing a husband’s love for his wife to how the Messiah loves the church remove any danger of the husband abusing the wife’s submission?       What ...
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