Key Thought: The Israelites now dedicated the city wall. The dedication was accompanied by music, feasting, sacrifices, merriment, and the purification of the people.
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Deceember 7, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 12:27-29.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Name some of the key words that reveal what their worship and praise was like? How do you describe their worship?
3. Personal Application: In what ways is music important to you in worship service? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Is the form of music important is worship service? Some churches have drums and Christian rock and rap as part of worship. Others use operatic music in their services. Are these appropriate ways in which God can be worshipped?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 12:30-42.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What did singing have to do with the purification process in Israel?
3. Personal Application: List some reasons that you have to sing praises to God. Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “I don’t like to sing. I’m not very good at it and wasn’t taught that singing was something we should do. So what should I do when everyone else is singing and I am just standing there?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 12:44-47.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. Why did Judah rejoice over the priests and Levites who ministered? Why were they important?
3. Personal Application: Do we take our musicians and ministers for granted too often? How can we show our gratitude and thankfulness for their ministry? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “How can we appreciate the music and singing in church without exalting the person doing the singing, or the minister doing the preaching? Some people can get prideful and lifted up because of the talents of music, song, and preaching that God has given them.” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 12:43.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. Why were great sacrifices part of the Israelites worship service and part of their singing and praise?
3. Personal Application: If Jesus is our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, what is He doing there? How does that relate to worship and praise? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(2)

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After the Scriptures talk about the dedication of the wall, and then the gathering of the singers, the next verse, Nehemiah 12:30, talks about purification. “Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall” (NKJV).

The Hebrew root word for “purified”, thr, means to be clean, to be pure, and it is used in many contexts in the Old Testament, including those with the idea of being morally pure and clean before God.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9, NIV). What does this text teach us about 1 human nature, 2 God’s forgiveness, and 3 God’s power in our lives?

Purification

The Temple and its services were crucial components of the religion of ancient Israel. But the Temple and its services were a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves. And that end, of course, was to lead the people into a saving relationship with their covenant God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to know His cleansing power in their lives. And it’s the knowledge of what God has done, what the Lord has saved us from, that leads us to love Him and to worship Him. That’s one reason why, over and over, the ancient Israelites recounted what God had done in their past. It helped them to know the goodness and love of the Lord, which was central to the joy and thanksgiving that was to permeate their worship experience.

For us today, the experience and appreciation of forgiveness for sin should come out of gratitude to God and a sense of hope and joy. Then it is easy to praise the Lord and express appreciation for the beauty of His character. And what greater revelation of God’s character can we have than seeing Jesus on the cross, bearing the punishment for our sins so we don’t have to bear that punishment ourselves?

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Read Nehemiah 12:27-29. Notice some of the key words that reveal what their worship and praise was like. How would you describe it?

The Israelite nation had commissioned a specific class of the Levites to be singers and musicians for the temple services. God directed the practice and gave instructions for the service, as the temple worship was to be beautiful and professionally performed.

Songs of the Lord

King David had organized this practice into a more elaborate and magnificent system than had previously been done. Therefore, the descendants of Asaph, whom David had appointed as the leader of worship in the temple, were still designated as “the singers in charge of the service of the house of God” (Neh. 11:22, NKJV).

Look up 1 Chronicles 25:6-8. What does this teach us about how central and important music was to their worship and their singing “the songs of the Lord”?

The singers were Levites and, therefore, officially assigned to the temple. Thus, providing music for the temple services was their paid job. During the time of King David, a full-fledged music academy was organized, which he supervised. It had teachers and students, young and old, who worked in shifts in the temple, providing music. Some were instrumentalists, others singers, yet others took care of the instruments and the garments used for the services. What was the purpose of such a professional organization? It served to develop talent and the vision of excellence in worship. Excellence must always be a goal in worship. Praises must come from the heart and be expressed in the best way so that people will be spiritually uplifted. One can assume that those musicians and singers who served in the temple were carefully selected to lead the worship service.

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Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 12:27-47; 1 Chron. 25:6-8; 1 John 1:7-9; John 1:29, John 1:36; 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 9:1-11.

Memory Text: “And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel’ ” (Ezra 3:11, NKJV).

This week’s memory text gives us insight into the Hebrews’ worship practices and how their gratitude toward God had overflowed in praise to Him. In 515 B.C. they celebrated the dedication of the new temple (Ezra 6:15-18) and then, about 60 years later, the people celebrated the dedication of Jerusalem’s completed wall (Neh. 6:15-7:3; Neh. 12:27 onward).

Following the listing of genealogies in Nehemiah chapters 11 and 12, the author transitions to the time when they celebrated the dedication of the city wall. It was customary for the nation to dedicate things to God: the temple, a city wall, or even houses and public buildings. Such a dedication was thoughtfully prepared and was accompanied with singing, music, feasting, sacrifices, rejoicing, merriment, and the purification of the people. David established the practice of sacrifices during a dedication, and afterwards Israel’s leaders followed his example, starting with Solomon when he brought the ark into the temple (1 Kings 8:5).

This week we will look at how they worshiped the Lord during this time and see things that we, who worship the same Lord, can apply to ourselves.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 7.

 Sunday–>

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Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Test of Discipleship”, pages 57–65, in Steps to Christ.

“There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. . . . He desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. Pray more fervently; believe more fully. As we come to distrust our own power, let us trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise Him who is the health of our countenance” – Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 64.

Discussion Questions:

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