Continuing the Reformation in Meekness and Humility

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While I was doing some Bible study with J. Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible Commentary" and I find myself stuck on trying to reflect on two important characters namely Ezra and Nehemiah. The Jews were still in exile and some of them were still in Persia (modern-day Iran) at that time. These are two important characters who have two books in the Bible devoted to them. One book devotes itself to Ezra the Levite and to Nehemiah who would rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. These two present examples of what it means to continue the spirit of Reformation. Just remember that Martin Luther and John Calvin aren't the first reformers. We've got godly kings, prophets, apostles and even our Lord Jesus as reformers. To be a reformer means to be one who causes people to abandon their wickedness or to improve by removing the evil conditions. Sometimes, reformation requires a complete makeover.

Granted, it's almost October 31 when it's Halloween. Yet, Halloween isn't the real purpose of October 31 for Christians. They can remember the very day when the Dark Ages started to collapse when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses written in German on the Wittenburg Door. Indulgences (which were introduced by Johannes Tetzel) became the latest abuse of the Roman Catholic institution to gain more money. Luther would declare the one Biblical truth that salvation was definitely not for sale. Luther was putting his neck at the risk considering that the Roman Catholic institution has had been persecuting Christians before the Reformation. Earlier Baptist groups (who were called as such because they insisted on biblical baptism, not because of the heresy of Baptist successionism) had experienced various tortures along with other pre-Reformation groups such as the Waldenses and the Albigenses.

The very spirit of reform is a dangerous thing. Having a personal relationship with Christ is dangerous because you can only expect to get into trouble with the world (John 15:18-19). There will be mockery, insults, put-downs, or even bloody persecutions. I really failed to reflect at how much mockery Nehemiah suffered in his quest to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Tobiah the Ammonite, Sanballat the Moabite, and Geshen the Arabian were the best mockers anybody could hire to stop the job from getting done. Ezra and Nehemiah were doing a great job but they had one problem - Satan was always ready to try and destroy them.

How did Ezra and Nehemiah respond? Ezra started with the revival of bringing the Word of God and preaching it. Nehemiah the layman was a mason (no, not a member of the dreaded Freemason cult) but he was focused on rebuilding Jerusalem's defenses. Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshen were doing all they can to prevent the restoration. They made every huge mockery, naysaying, or even infiltration to stop the work from getting done. I'm amazed at how Nehemiah humbly and meekly continued the Word of God. You have to remember Satan isn't permitted to attack the believer unless God says, "Go ahead Satan!" God has a purpose as to why He allows men of Satan to harm His own. I believe God did so to keep both Ezra and Nehemiah for the chastisement of whatever sins of pride may have been left unrecorded and to keep them humble.

I'm amazed at how Nehemiah himself remained calm and humble during the rebuilding process. He could've chosen to beat up Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshun or even murder them with huge blocks of bricks. Nehemiah may have been an engineer and a stonemason. I would believe that he could have easily thrown a hollow block with very little effort at either one of those three clowns and murder them to end the mockery. Instead, he meekly and humbly continued the work of rebuilding the defenses. He may have ordered the builders to have a sword and trowel but he never ordered the massacre of the mockers. Nehemiah only gave them orders to defensively use the sword. The sword was going to be used defensively but never vindictively. Nehemiah was a responsible user of deadly weapons by not ordering a massacre of the opposition. No massacre was ever done by the Jews except that if God ordered it as divine judgment like what he did with the wicked civilizations namely the Canaanites and the Amalekites. It took great humility and meekness (or gentleness) to complete the work of both great reformers namely Ezra and Nehemiah! The wall was finished in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15) which is amazing granted that no modern engineering equipment was used. Such can only be done in the power of God.

I could imagine what if Nehemiah chose to give in to the mockery. What if he decided to throw bricks or use bricks to murder Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshun for their mockery against God's cause? I think the possibility is that Cyrus of Persia would've arrested Nehemiah and his crew. If they did decide to launch a massacre out of a petty reason then the walls would have never been restored. Nehemiah and his gang would have been in jail or worse, executed, for launching such a bloody massacre. Instead, Nehemiah's and Ezra's exercise of meekness and humility did great to their cause. They ended up getting God's protection while they did their part. Our God Himself will only help us not if we help ourselves but if we do His will. Ezra and Nehemiah were in full compliance with God's will. Both of them sought to keep moving forward. The wall was done but the city wasn't. Nehemiah could've been arrogant and say, "Look what I did." then the enemy would've destroyed what he did. Instead, he chose not to let overconfidence take over him and he set tight security for the walls of Jerusalem. Ezra soon proceeded to do pastoral work in Nehemiah 8. Ezra did what any good pastor (in his case, he was still a priest) will do - preach the Word of God!

The cry of the Reformation is a cry for Biblical doctrine. The five Solas that are affirmed are Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gracia, Sola Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria or Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, in Christ alone, and glory to God alone. Four of the five Solas has been antagonized. Luther and William Tyndale got into trouble for their stand. I think Tyndale must be an earlier group of Baptists. Today's Baptists might be considered as Protestants already but it was only because of the Reformed Baptist movement. Personally, I don't consider myself a Protestant even if I embrace any Protestant who shows signs of being truly born again. The five Solas is in the spirit of humility and meekness. When you accept that your salvation and the good works that come after it are all by God's grace and your faith alone - there's nothing to brag about. When you accept that you can't understand Scripture outside of God's will then you will be humble. When you accept that it's through Christ and glory to God alone - the more humbling it is! The religion of Roman Catholicism is so built on pride that it considers the four Solas to be very heretical. It's all about false humility (thinking you have no right to go directly to Christ broken as you are) and pride (to think that you are certainly going to make it on your own while Rome declares you can't be sure).

The call to uphold the Bible is a call for humility and meekness. There will be opposition. Jesus Himself was hated for preaching the truth. The followers of Jesus will too experience such pain one way or another. I'm not saying every Christian will eventually die a painful death but there will be opposition. It's hard to keep the spirit of humility and meekness outside the grace of God. What's really needed is to continue in the spirit of meekness and humility. Pride and arrogance go hand in hand. Pride is the very root of it that is when you have a high view of yourself. Arrogance is when you start letting your pride control your life. That's the very reason why Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshun did what they did. Nehemiah could've chosen to stoop down to their level but he didn't. The Christian is called to be the opposite of the evils of the world. It takes God's grace to have guts to be humble when others are proud and to be meek when others are arrogant.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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