What Breaks Your Heart? | Nehemiah 1:1-11

Show Notes

Episode 696: 
In this episode, Chris Zarbaugh and guest co-host Kyle Daubenmeyer dive into the book of Nehemiah, specifically focusing on the first chapter. Chris reads the opening verses, which detail Nehemiah's emotional response to the news of Jerusalem's ruined walls and the plight of his people. The hosts discuss Nehemiah's role as the king's cupbearer and the significance of his position, emphasizing his leadership qualities and the deep care he has for his fellow Jews.

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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Well, hey, good morning everybody. My name is Chris Tarbaugh and I'm Kyle Dobmeyer. Yes, and today we are the Bible Guys because Jeff's out of town and he's flying over. Where is he by the way, I don't know if we could talk about it. Isn't it like a secret? Oh? Yeah, you're right. He's in parts of the world that he's that that are that are dangerous, yes, yes, but he's there because. He's helping with Timothy Initiative, yes, spreading the gospel. And and I know that one thing he shared with me is that some of the doors that have opened last couple of years are things that he has been praying about and their team's been praying about for years, and God has allowed them to go into areas where the Gospel was not present before. So it's really cool. Yeah cool. And his and his wife's with him, so that's awesome. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. So Bonnie actually traveled with him this time and she's keeping him safe. Yeah, I'll tell you what she's she's a brave soul. Now we Kristen like to do that? My wife would say no, ultimately, Yeah, I don't know. I think she'd like it, like try it, like going once maybe, But I don't know. I don't think that would be a normal Like I don't think Bonnie is Bonnie is different. She's built different, right, Yeah, when it comes to that, that's sure. Yeah, Liz would say no, thanks, good for you, for you. For you. All right. Well, hey, today, before we jump into the Book of Neamiah, which is extremely exciting, we're going to be learning all about Neamiyah, you know, building the Wall, and obviously that's a pretty famous story, uh for the Old Testament. But before we dive into that, we have a segment and the segment is written by Desiree and it is Queen Desiree, and she says, guess the word. Let's see if Kyle can guess the keyword based on the clues from Chris. While Chris avoids saying the italicized words. Chris also gets to determine how many points that Kyle wins. Nice, okay, so you get to determine the points. Yeah, so each one that you win is worth one thousand points. Okay, And I just want to prep the viewers who are listening. I'm awful these types of games. So this is gonna be bad. You're gonna be yelling at them. They're gonna be yelling out lot, They're gonna be like this guy is an idiot. No, it's gonna be great. And if you're watching on YouTube, then hopefully we're gonna have the words on the screen that I cannot say. Okay, okay, are you ready? All right? The first one? If you want to put your knickknacks in something so it doesn't chip, what do you put them in? It doesn't chip? When when taking them from house to house? Douffel bag? No, nick knacks, purse? Secure them before you put them in the box. You secure them by uh uh wrapping them in? What? Foiling them in? Uh no? What's the fun stuff? Oh my gosh, you get let you haul? Oh? Strip wrap? Bubble wrap? Yes, that's the word. Sorry. Yeah, I couldn't say pop, no, no, no, that was good. That was good. I couldn't say pop plastic, packaging, bubbles or shipping. Okay, gotcha, bubble wrap? All right? Yeah, I'm sorry, man, I could have done a better. Yeah, I'm gonna give you five hundred for that five hundred. I'm just kidding, thousand, five hundred points. All right, here we go. Ready, Oh geez, When a person throws balls up in the air repeatedly, that is called uh clown jug Yeah yeah, but what is he doing juggling? Yes, a singular word, juggle juggle. Yes, that's correct, that's good. I wasn't allowed to say circus hands, catch, toss, or rotates, So yeah, that's it. So okay, how about this one? Ready, and Emperor's new groove? Emperor Cusco turned into a donkey? No, you don't, I. Love what is it? Have you ever seen Napoleon Dynamite? Yeah? Remember he goes, can you eat your dinner? What was that animal? A lama? That is correct? Two references for that. I was allowed to say animal spit, I'll pack a wool or South America? Okay, good, Hey that was good. You went to do movie, right? That helped a lot. Yeah? Yeah, so dude, you said Emperor Cusco turned into a donkey. It's actually such a good movie. I just could not remember what that animal was. Good, it's such a good one. All right, here we go. That's one of my favorites. By the way, how about g is Okay, what do you put on hamburgers that are green and crunchy? Hamburgers that are green and crunchy? What do you put out that? A green? Okay? Let us Uh that's that's one thing. What's sickle thing? Yeah? Pickles, that's right, and uh pickles onions in the jar? It is soaking in juice. Pickle juice, Yes, pickle juice, that's right. I couldn't say sour vinegar, cucumber, brine or drink. Okay, hey, did you do better than I am? I give you a thousand points? No? Are you so far? Did you have four thousand points? Four thousand? Let's go all right? The last one is this? Oh gee whiz okay? Uh. Old people don't don't uh keep together their new balances with strings but rather with balance another way. To tie your shoes killed. A new balance wouldn't be with strings, but with what old people do it all the time. I don't even know girl, Yes, well crow, okay, yes, I was yes, I wasn't allowed to say shoes, uh, strap stick, rip or fastener? Dude. Wow, I'll get me honest, I think you did better than I did, I would not have thought of new I would not all old people. That was really good. Yeah, I couldn't say I couldn't say like new, I couldn't say shoes, I said new balance, and I couldn't say you know. Yeah. But even still, I think I'd end up trying to make sound effects or something if it me and I had to describe velcrow. I think it's against the rules. Probably, Yeah, I think motions and sound effects the case. But at least if you're doing taboo rules. Yeah, yeah, right, So I got five thousand points. Good job, buddy. I wonder how many listeners. I bet you we have some pretty sharp people. Yeah, they're probably on the road, just like that was easy old people or maybe the rocket bell crow shoes. So well, hey guys, thanks for playing along, and we are now moving into the very exciting book of Neo Hi. I love this book. You know what's so funny is the listeners got Jeff and Wesley last week, nice, and now they're getting Chris and Kyle this week. Nice. So and you guys are definitely the most present besides Jeff and I. You're the most present on the Bible. Guy, and if you're watching this from home. I didn't realize until I stoodn't when I got here today, I looked like a referee today. If you said you're watching this, or if you're not, even go back and watch. I'm wearing my referee re shirt. And then Chris is the word of the Daily Bible. Guys, he's representing, representing as if people need another logo. Yes, you just need to get one with your face on it. So face f there's like logos surrounding us. So all right, buddy, So here we go. Niamiah chapter one versus started through eleven yep. And we got some words that are gonna be fun to say here, So be patient with me. Neamaiyah, starting in chapter one, verse one says, these are the memoirs of Neamiyah, son of Hakalayah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislov, in the twentieth year of King Arctic Xercees reign, I was at the fortress of Susa Hannah, and I one of my brothers came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. They said to me, things are not going well for those who return to the province of Judah. They're in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire. When I heard this, says, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days, I'm mourn. I fasted and prayed to the God of Heaven. Then I said, O, Lord, God of Heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer. Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned. We have sinned terrible by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. Please remember what you told your servant Moses. If you're unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I've chosen for my name to be honored. The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. Oh Lord, please hear my prayer. Listen to the prayers of those who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the King favorable to me, put it into his heart to be kind to me. And that ends by saying that in those days, I was the King's cupbear. It's a quick eleven verses here, but it's a lot here. Dude, Nehemiah is obviously writing this first person. He's the King's cupbear. He is a Jew, and here he is, you know, inquiring on the people back in Jerusalem. Now, let's remind our listeners that the Babylonians captured the Jerusalem and it was the Babylonian's reign and then the Jews were exiled. And remember back in the Book of Daniel five point thirty eight BC was the Persians coming in and taking over the five thirty nine five thirty nine BC. The Persians came in and conquered the Babylonians, and then it was actually King Cyrus, who was King of the Persians, who decided to say, hey, any Jews who want to go back to Jerusalem can do so. And not everybody did, uh, but but but a lot did, and so and and and so. Yeah, and then we went through the Book of Ezra, and obviously we saw, you know, some some Jews like Mordecai, had not gone back. But in this case, here's Nehemiah. He's still a cut bart to the king, and now he's cup bearer to a new king. This next king is art Xerxes, and art Dexerxes is king of Persia. So here's the name. I very prominent right now, even though you're a cup barrier, you're sort of like a servant, but you're also revered as you know, somebody who I'm sure people bowed to him. He had great respect, he had great command, and I would also imagine that he probably based on what we're going to be read in chapters three for you know, all that that that he was a person of great leadership, right he So he had prominence, right and and this was a great position for him to be in. Yeah, yeah, I think that. For me. There's obviously a few different just in this first chapter, a few things that stand out, but I find it interesting because Neemyah is seen as somebody who kind of steps in, just kind of fills in the gap there, steps up and says, you know, this is something that God is calling me to do. But really it starts with a couple of things that stand out to me. For one, it says that when he heard the news, he sat down and he wept. Says for days, I'm mourned, I fast and I prayed to the God of Heaven. There'll be a recurring theme throughout pretty much the entire book in Neemiyah where he in times of crisis and struggle, where he pauses it says that he wept. It's interesting because it doesn't shy away from this emotion that he had, that he himself so that I wept, and then he said he mourned, he fasted, and he prayed. And so prayer is something that is like very prominent throughout this entire storyline. You see this person who, obviously, like you were mentioned, he's got a higher position of prominence, you know, to have the ear of the king. But at the same time he. Ultimately goes to the king of kings all the time to pray. But I don't know about I'm sure, like you've probably taught on this story a ton, but I know one of the things that always stands out is that that weeping part, right, the fact that it actually broke his heart that his people were living this way, that the walls of Jerusalem were torn down, and that they were essentially wandering, they were essentially lost, and the fact that he cared so much about his people. Yeah, you know, it's interesting how so many times in scriptures there's different examples of people's heart breaking for something. You know. So I've been, I've been. I'm not nearly as well traveled as Jeff Right, but I've been to maybe I don't know, fifteen countries, you know. I've been to Egypt and India, and I've been to you know, Brazil in Israel and Costa Rica and Cuba and Haiti and all those things. Right, So I've been to those places and I've seen a lot of things. And it's really interesting how even though that we had a lot of global partners with our church, and was always pretty moved by, you know, especially Cuba. I think Cuba probably was the thing that moved me probably the most of all the global partners from my previous church. But when I came to Heritage Church about four years ago, I was invited to I'm just talking about my heartbreaking. I was invited to the Dominican Republic to go see college buddy of mine who's you know, who's involved in anti sex trafficking. He rescues underaged girls from sex trafficking. And it's just one of those things where again I'm exposed to a lot of things, you know, a lot of injustices, a lot of you know, really bad things. And all I had to do is just talk to a girl who was rescued, and then we drove the streets of this city and he was, you know, sort of giving us a tour and showing us sort of the workings of that area. And my heart just broke and I just wept, and I think to myself, like, Okay, God, God weeps all the time, right, So so for everything that I'm placed in front of that is bad, that is sinful, that is a result of sin and brokenness, God weeps for all of it. Right. When I was in India, for example, and Egypt, they discard their elderly. It's it's pretty crazy, right. And even though I was moved by that. I just I wasn't heartbroken the way that some people were, you know, I was like, wow, that was that's just that's just that's just awful. But nothing like when I went to the Dominican and then all of a sudden, Now, of course I'm for those who know me, I'm on the board of Transformed one. And by the way, it's a good opportunity to say, go to transform one dot org, transform the number one dot org and he just just donates something. Become a hero. Hero is you know, forty nine bucks a month or whatever it is. So anyway, bottom line is I just want to talk about the fact that probably many people have heard, hey, Jerusalem's walls are in ruin, your ancestral city that your grandparents used to live in, is unprotected. But Neamiah doesn't get moved. I don't think by the fact that he knows, you know, his cousin, his cousin lives in Jerusalem. Oh no, my cousin's going to be unprotected. Neamiah, I think has moved because of God, because what does he do. He prays and says, even my family is guilty, we have sinned against you. And he's not referring to his immediate family, sinning. Currently, he's referring to his lineage. He's referring to the big picture. He's saying, like, I realize that I've heard this. You know, Jerusalem's walls, they're a remnant of what they once were. The whole city is remnant what they once were. We were a great nation. We were a nation that represented you. We were a nation that once was serving you. And now all of this destruction and banishment and exile and scattering, and we've all our ancestors have all contributed to this. We brought this upon ourselves. He's taking responsibility for his own lineage, and he's saying, even my family has done wrong. We have all sinned. And then he quotes this promise, and dude, it's it's one thing to read it and say, oh, nam, I believe the promise, but it's another thing to be in that situation. Yeah. Right. Have you ever been in a situation where things seemed completely hopeless and you're thinking, there's no way this is going to work out, and then you're you're sort of forced in your faith to believe a promise. Yeah, Yeah, especially for him considering what he had witnessed what he'd gone through. Yeah, no, I love that true. You're right. The fact that he goes back, talks about all that, and then talks about the fact that God was going to rescue him, and then he believed that God was going to hear his prayers. Right, yes, right, yeah, And he actually said, he actually said, he quoted a scripture and he said, so the promise in here is that if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, and even if you're exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I've chosen, my name be honored, and so and so so think about it. He's he's hundreds of miles away and he's believing this promise from you know, a couple of generations ago where and he's he's thinking like collectively, as a whole nation. This is how we know he's a great leader. He's thinking not for himself or for his you know, families in Jerusalem, he's thinking as a nation, as a people. He's like, if we as a people came together and returned to God, then God will bring us back. You know. This is what Jerusalem needs, This is what the temple needs. Right, this is what God. It's time for your you know, for your for your name to be restored. Soniamiah has this incredible vision and and so let me just say this, don't ever underestimate the vision that God has given you. And it may seem way too big for you, right, it may seem like it's just a It's like, how could I who am I that I should be able to be a part of something, to accomplish something so great? You know? How can I transform my workplace for Jesus? How could I change my family culture to go to church? How can I start praying at meal times or whatever it is? And how can I start to become a person of faith? Then you think maybe it's too big of a dream, But don't ever underestimate that vision because God can use you, one step at a time to change a lot of things. Yes, And I would even say, like, if there is somebody listening to this, I'm sure there's everybody listening to this. It's feeling like maybe a little bit of motivation on this to step into the gap. And we're going to see throughout the life of Neamiah through this story how God does grant him favor, but also it all started with his heart being broken. So I just want to ask to our listeners, like, what breaks your heart? What situation currently? Like Chris has mentioned he goes to Dominican Republican his heartbroke for those people. But I imagine that wasn't the first time. It's I've been dozens and if not hundreds of times. I know my life, hundreds of times we're a situation, whether it's a family member or you know, even for me, I would even say when I was brand new, before I even like felt called by God into ministering to people as vocationally, I was a small group leader to high school students and I remember there was a certain type of students that I was like, God broke my heart for them. There was just certain students I was like, man, I just feel like these kids are lost right here. And I remember the youth pastor at the time when he met me, he was like, hey, you seem like you can get along well with these kids, and that they like you, they respect you. Would you mind playing basketball with them? And it was those exact kids, the ones who were far from God, the kids who maybe had you know, on the outside, were one way, but an inside were struggling and hurting, and God broke my heart for them. And over the years, you know, there's been many other situations where God legitimately broke my heart for a person or a group of people, And so don't neglect that nudge that God has or maybe just the interaction you have with those people. Even my wife, my wife and your wife has gone to some of my wife's classes before, but she does a faith based yoga nonprofit that she runs where she goes and they do scripture reading and you know, since you workout class, but it's worship scripture reading. And my wife, since she was younger, has always had a heart for those with special needs. And when she started doing this, God opened the doors up for her to like go and lead these special needs classes. And she's like, this is literally heaven on earth. She's able to be. It's just chaos around her. I mean, they're worshiping God, they're lifting their. Art and she's like, this to me is like heaven. I'm giving them for a moment an hour to just do something different and have fun like that is. But God broke her heart at a young age for that group of people and then has opened the doors up weave listeners. I'm sure who have a heart for a certain you know struggle, maybe you can be helping those who are less fortunate. That's why maybe serving in something like a food pantry or transform one and being a hero and that like God like, don't don't underestimate the fact that God has put that person or that group of people on your heart. You know that also reminds me as you're saying, like what what does your heart break for? My mind always goes back to shape shape, you know, you know that acrosstic so Rick Warren a long time ago came out. In fact, there's even a test where you can go online and just google it and saddle back church and the shape stands for shape, says stands for spiritual gifts. You can go on line and to actually take a spiritual gifts test and realize, like you know, like you're gifted in some area. And then h stands for your heart. And the question is exactly what you just said, what does your heart break for? You know, like where does your heart lead? Because for different people it's different things, right, I was also a person who my heart broke for teenagers right back when I was coming out of a really difficult situation as a teenager, which is the reason why. And then as abilities, So God has given every single person abilities, just natural abilities. And people who are super great at football, for instance, they usually become chaplains, right like Luther el Us from the Lions. Uh you know he he retired from the Lions and he became the chaplain for the Denver Broncos. And now he's a coach. And so now what he does is he does ministry. Uh you know, same with John Kittna and and and the previous Lions members that that have come and gone. Uh that that I'm familiar with through our friend Dave Wilson. And then so you know this abilities, natural abilities, and then peace stands for personality. You know, God has wired you in a certain way and and based on who you are, based on uh you know, some personalities have this uh you know, have like a pastoral carrying sort of like counseling heart. Some people of their personalities are not that way, but that that could play into it. And then and then he is your experiences. Uh what what experiences have you had? Uh? For instance, my wife. Many people don't know this, but my wife and I had two different miscarriages between my first and second child, and uh, it was you know, hard on me, of course, but not nearly as hard as it is on a mom. And and I tried my best to uh, you know, uh be that right there with her during that time. But even now, so many years later, goodness, I mean, just gosh, I mean, how many years later and she still has a heart for people who go through that because of her experiences, right. So she probably can minister to people in such a great way because of what she went through. Yeah, yeah, well, I mean, even what is it, Corinthians? I think that tells us that we should comfort others with the same comfort that we ourselves have received from God and so and so. But that's based on experiences and so so sometimes your experience can determine your ministry and that and that's a great example of that. So again, if you want to, if you're interested in that, go online and and and in google it. It's called shape with a nacrosstic Rick Warren, Uh, spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experiences and uh, and Nehemiah is a great lead into that because he's going to be called to this very specific assignment, and we're going to find out that God has used all of those things in his life to perfectly and strategically place him to do this job. I'm excited for tomorrow. Yes, okay, well that's about our time, so hopefully we will see you then. All the Bible guys, yep you