Rebuilding Home: 13 Days in NehemiahSýnishorn

What is the air and ground war in spiritual warfare?

Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church. As we have learned in Nehemiah, gates are defensive protections. Satan has captured people in sin and darkness, locking them behind gates like deception and addiction so that they are not free. Jesus came to set captives free and commissioned the church to tear down gates that are strongholds so that people can be free to new life in Christ. All of this is spiritual warfare.

In a military war, there is both an air war and a ground war. Planes, drones, and helicopters fly over the battle to demolish strongholds and distribute supplies to needy soldiers and civilians. Soldiers with boots on the ground do the hard work of fighting off the bad guys so that people who are oppressed can be set free. What is true of military war is also true of spiritual warfare. Large events where the Bible is preached, God is worshipped, and things like publishing, social media, and Internet platforms get ministry out to the world broadly like an air war of truth. Local churches and ministries, people meeting together in homes to pray for and support one another, sharing the gospel with family and friends, and doing good by meeting the physical needs of the poor and suffering is the ground war of love. In Nehemiah 8, we see both of these ministries at work. In the New Testament, this same pattern occurs when there is the public preaching of the gospel to large groups, followed by small groups meeting in homes to build relationships and spur one another on to love and do good deeds.

Air War

• Deals with the masses
• Is event centered
• Draws people to the church
• Proclaims with authority
• Provides general principles

Ground War

• Deals with individuals & small groups
• Is relationship centered
• Connects people in the church
• Explains with accountability
• Provides personal applications

Shortly after the completion of the wall rebuilding, roughly 50,000 people moved back into the city and had practical needs for everything from housing to food. The first church service occurred only one week after the wall was completed because the worship of God was a high priority. This time of year was their equivalent of New Year’s Day and was the perfect time to get right with the Lord. Ezra, the spiritual leader, was the counterpart to Nehemiah, who was the administrative leader. We see the two men working out of their gifting, with Nehemiah focused on stewarding things and Ezra focused on stewarding people. The men were very humble as they willingly shared power and worked together with tremendous success.

Ezra’s lengthy sermon summarized the Pentateuch (meaning a book in five parts), the first five books of the Bible written by Moses. Every man and woman who was old enough to understand what was being taught was listening to the sermon, cheering like a rock concert for Ezra to open the Bible.

Despite Ezra’s sermon lasting upwards of six hours, people remained attentive. A high pulpit was built for Ezra so that the people could see him and hear him, with God’s Word literally and figuratively raised in authority. Joining Ezra on the platform were other godly leaders like an old-school Billy Graham Crusade. In reverent respect, the people stood when the Scriptures were open, honoring and receiving God’s Word humbly.

Ezra’s sermon exalted God. The people are passionate in their worship, evident in their words and visible in their actions, as the whole person responded to God’s Word, including getting face down on the ground. This powerful move of God the Holy Spirit was a revival.

In addition to the air war of preaching, there was also the ground war of explaining the sermon and praying for people. Group leaders were family heads and ministry leaders who met with individuals and groups to answer questions, clear up confusion, and help apply Scripture to their lives. In those days, very few people had copies of the Scriptures as the printing press was not invented for nearly 2,000 years, so hearing God’s Word was a tremendous blessing. The Old Testament they read from was originally written in Hebrew, but most people spoke Aramaic. Their Scriptures were translated, preached by Ezra, and then applied to individuals in the same way we learn from and apply the Bible to English.

Hearing God’s Word, people were convicted by the Holy Spirit with deep remorse for the sin in their lives. Ezra brought the men who were the heads of their homes together to instruct them on lovingly caring for their wives, children, and grandchildren. This is exactly what the closing lines of the Old Testament promised would occur when the good news of Jesus was understood – fathers’ hearts would be inclined toward their children.

Ezra’s sermons covered, in part, the Feast of Booths (also called the Feast of Tabernacles), which is like the U.S. celebration of Thanksgiving. The spiritual leaders discovered instructions about the feast in Leviticus 23:37– 43. This was celebrated from the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month. Since they discovered these instructions on the second day of the seventh month (8:2, 13), the timing was perfect. They had exactly two weeks to prepare for it.

In previous years, not all Jews had made booths (not unlike camping) and lived in them for the week of the feast. They had given only “token” acknowledgment of the feast. This revival was a pivotal week of joyful celebration that brought glory to the Lord.

This time was to look back on their exiles for disobedience and 40 years of wilderness wandering, look around at God’s gracious blessing in their lives and ways to help others in need, and look forward to their future and eventual entrance into God’s eternal Kingdom ruled by King Jesus! Jesus Himself celebrated this feast many years later in John 7:10–26.

Ezra continued the “Bible conference” during the entire week of the feast, reading and explaining the Word of God day by day. The combination of joyful fellowship, feasting and hearing the Word strengthened the people. Nehemiah 8 stresses that the celebration of the Feast of Booths was to include solemn repentance of sin and corresponding joy in the grace of God. This good news of Jesus Christ was foreshadowed just days before the celebration of the Feast of Booths on the annual Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. In God’s providence, Jerusalem was open, and the revival meeting occurred just in time for the celebration of the Day of Atonement. This was the most important day of the year, and sacrifice was made for sinners to prepare them for the coming of Jesus Christ, who shed His blood for the sins of the world.

Question:

Why is it important that leaders like Nehemiah and Ezra, along with those who serve under their leadership, love, respect, and appreciate one another’s differences?