Nehemiah 12:27-47 Dedication

Theological Proposition/Focus: We should dedicate our actions, spaces, and lives to God as an act of worship and obedience, and embrace the joy that comes from such dedication.

Christ Focus: Christ is the ultimate example of dedication, as He devoted His life to fulfill the will of the Father, leading us to understand the importance of dedicating our own lives to God.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Christians should reflect on what areas of their lives they need to dedicate to God and how this commitment can lead to a deeper obedience to His Word in daily living.

Introduction

Image: Paying off the remodel

Back on May 15, 2022, we officially launched our Together We Grow campaign. We set a goal of pledging $620,000 across a three-year time frame. What we didn’t fully know at the time was exactly how much we would need to complete the remodel, but we believed God was at work. And guess what? God blessed abundantly. More than $765,000 came in across the three-year period, and I am excited that God is allowing us to move forward in ministry completely debt-free.

When we first started out on this process, the church council hired a consultant to get everything started. We were also right in the middle of a pastoral transition. I distinctly remember our consultant pulling me aside and telling me, "Don't worry when all the money doesn't come in; churches only bring in about 80% of what has been pledged." I thought to myself, 80% of $620,000 puts us $124,000 short—yikes!

Well, guess what? Instead of being $124,000 short of our goal, we exceeded it by $145,000. Our consultant could not have been more wrong! But let's be careful to give the credit not to ourselves but to God. Let's be careful not to declare victory but rather to ask God, "What do you want from us next?" Let’s dedicate this moment to God.

Setting the Stage:

Nehemiah, a Jewish official in the Persian court, played a crucial role in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls around 445 B.C. As cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I, he obtained permission to return to Jerusalem and lead the reconstruction effort. Nehemiah faced opposition from local leaders like Sanballat and Tobiah but managed to complete the wall in just 52 days. Beyond his role as a builder, Nehemiah was also a significant religious leader who worked alongside Ezra to reestablish Israel's covenant with God. He implemented various social and religious reforms, including the observance of the Feast of Booths, renewal of Torah instruction, and measures against intermarriage. Nehemiah's actions emphasized themes of separation and purity, symbolized by the rebuilt walls. His memoir, preserved in the biblical book bearing his name, provides most of our reliable information about his life and accomplishments.

Today, as we celebrate the conclusion of our Together We Grow program and as we celebrate the end of high school for several of our seniors, I want us to carefully examine the celebration that Nehemiah held upon completion of the wall. We have already dedicated the building, but that doesn't mean that we should not study dedication and glean as much as we can about how we should live from one of the most significant dedication ceremonies in the Bible.

In Nehemiah 6, the work was completed on the wall in an amazing 52 days sometime in 445 B.C. (Neh. 6:15). Upon completion of the wall, several things took place, including reforms, confession, and the resettlement of people into the city of Jerusalem. By the time we get to Nehemiah 12, I am guessing that thousands of people are present in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.

Body

Holiness — Dedication to God necessarily involves intentionally setting aside for God (27-30).

The purification rituals described here emphasize the necessity of holiness together with dedication. We, as followers of Christ, are cleansed by His sacrifice to serve with pure hearts. Drawing from this, let us reflect on how Christians can purify their hearts and lives as they dedicate themselves to God's work.

Dedication involves drawing on many resources.

I want you to take a minute and look at all the resources that were brought together for this dedication. The text tells us that the Levites from the surrounding towns were brought in. Musicians from the region were brought in, and the priests were brought in. What we see here is that the dedication of the wall involved more than just Nehemiah; this was an all-hands-on-deck call.

Whether you are dedicating a building, a business, a job, a child, or your own life, dedication is not something to be taken lightly. Nehemiah's call for dedication was an all-hands-on-deck event because it was a big deal. Dedication should be a big deal, and we should not shy away from devoting resources to dedication.

In the case of a building, we should invest; in the case of life, you should put your resources into dedicating yourself to God. Seniors, we celebrated you earlier today, but I do want to challenge you: how are you investing your resources in dedicating yourself to God? Let me be more explicit; if your decision is to only follow Christ, only to dedicate to God that which is convenient, then you are one day going to look back on life and be filled with regret. True dedication to God demands resources.

Dedication is worth celebrating.

I want you also to notice that within the text, we see Nehemiah brought in a lot of specialized people with the goal of joyfully celebrating. What is the point of all this joyful celebration? I am pretty sure the emphasis here is that dedication involves both knowledge of God's work in the past and confidence in His work in the future.

Nehemiah is celebrating the completion of something big—the wall—but it is more than just a wall. The wall symbolizes a promise, a promise that God's people were going to dwell within the city God had set aside.

We should celebrate milestone events for two reasons. One, we celebrate because God has worked powerfully in the past; but we also celebrate milestone events because we have confidence in God's work in the future. Dedicating something to God is a declaration of confidence in God. It is a declaration that says, "God, I trust You. I trust You enough to turn this completely over to You."

Dedication involves setting things aside specifically for God's use.

1 Peter 1:15-16 states, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'"

Here in verse 30, before the dedication takes place, we see a significant event: the purification of all the people and even the ceremonial cleansing of the gates and wall. This would certainly, in this case, involve the sprinkling of the sacrificial animal's blood. But what is significant is the actual act of cleaning.

When we dedicate things to God, we are dedicating things to the holy God of the universe. We should necessarily seek to sanctify things to God. The idea behind sanctification is setting something apart specifically for use by the Holy God of the universe. In this way, dedication is not the end of a process but the beginning.

What do I mean by that? We dedicate to God in order that something might be used for God. That is, we set aside something to be used by the God of the universe as He sees fit.

Image: A clean tool says a lot

Here is an important truth that many mechanics will recognize. A tool can be used, show signs of use, and still be clean. What do I mean? Your tools don't have to be sparkling clean, brand new, or never used. But if you hand me a wrench that has never seen the clean side of a shop rag, I am going to question how much you take your work seriously.

I love tools, but when you are working hard on a project, you really need your tools to be in the right spot and cleaned up enough that they are ready to go. I really hate it when I go to do something and find that the 13mm is not in the 13mm slot, or the cordless drill battery is dead, or the #2 screwdriver is missing, and you are stuck trying to use a #3. There is a very real sense in which tools need to be sanctified, or at least set apart to be used properly.

I wonder how often we fail to realize that life is the same way. When the time comes to be used of God, are you on the shelf ready to go, or are you missing? Is your battery charged, or have you run your battery down living in a way that wastes what God has given to you?

Worship — Dedication to God should also include intentional acts of worship (31-43).

The joyful procession and thanksgiving are an important part of the communal celebration in dedication. Our dedication to God should be expressed through joyful service and community participation.

Having sanctified the people and the wall, Nehemiah moves into stage two: worship. Worship should be an essential part of any dedication efforts, and in particular, worship should be intentional.

Worship should be intentional.

Verses 31-36 are one of those passages that nobody wants to read in a Sunday School class. There are all these names that are hard to pronounce and these details that are hard to understand. In fact, I was interested to look at my commentaries on these verses. In general, when I look at a verse in a commentary, I expect somewhere between 3/4 and 1 1/2 pages of text per verse. Instead, 13 verses did not even generate one whole page of text. Then as I read, I found that one commentary spent a significant amount of the discussion talking about how the wall Nehemiah constructed must have been wide because people walked on it.

As we read the Bible, we need to understand that it is a historical document written to us from the God of the universe, but situated in real history. So, I will admit to you that I don't really know who most of the people named in these verses were, and I am not sure I really care a whole bunch. What I do know is that Nehemiah had a carefully laid out plan.

Nehemiah organized two large choirs to express gratitude, beginning near the Valley Gate, where he previously inspected the walls. The first choir moved counterclockwise along the southern and eastern walls, while the second choir moved clockwise, both eventually entering the temple. Key figures included Ezra, Nehemiah, and various priests with musical instruments. Their procession on the walls demonstrated the strength of the walls, countering Tobiah's earlier mockery of the wall's stability (Neh. 4:3). The absence of weapons indicated that their enemies had retreated, making the event visually impressive.

What I see in Nehemiah's carefully laid out plan is intentionality. When we worship, we should do so with care and intentionality. Here is the thing: God is worthy of our time and care; He has blessed us abundantly and provided us with intellect. We should be capable of taking the time to worship God with intentionality.

True dedication to God is not haphazard. Not everyone realizes this, so I am going to say it. The ministry staff meets every week to talk about what the service is going to look like. Several weeks in advance, I give Myra a sermon title and a careful statement of the idea behind the sermon. Myra takes this information and carefully chooses music that will prepare our hearts to hear the Word of God. After the sermon, we sit down and debrief; we talk about what went well and what distracted from the goal—worship of God. Worship should be intentional; it is worth your time.

Worship should be done in an orderly manner.

I want to read you the final part of verse 42 one more time: "The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah." Did you notice that little piece in the verse? There was someone who led the choirs; in other words, it was not just a bunch of people singing what they wanted when they wanted. No, the worship was done in an orderly manner.

In 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, Paul provides some important instructions for the church on how services are to be conducted. I have preached on this passage before and gave a lot of details on it, but what I want to focus on today is verse 40. 1 Corinthians 14:40 states, "But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." Paul has given all sorts of particular instructions, and all those details can be summarized in a simple principle: when we worship God, we should do so in a way that is decent and orderly.

This really matters; I mean really. We can have fun in worship; we should have fun in worship. You are allowed to clap your hands; if you want to lift your hands up, I don't see anything wrong with that. You might even move your body in worship; it will be okay. But what is it that you should not do? Lose control, go rogue, or disrupt order.

Let me put it another way: if you are distracting, calling attention to yourself, or doing your own thing, you are probably not worshipping but doing something else. If you are submitting to the Spirit's leading and joyfully offering your praise, then you are probably on the right track. Just remember 1 Corinthians 14:33, "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord's people." In other words, the litmus test is pretty simple: does this seem ordered or chaotic?

So, if we have a mosh pit at the front of the church, we may have a problem. If a few people clap their hands or even start moving their bodies a little, it seems to me like we probably have orderly worship.

In fact, true worship can be pretty intense. Maybe I can go so far as to say...

Worship can be incredible and even overwhelming.

I love how verse 43 ends: the sound of rejoicing could be heard from far away. Since I am married to an audiologist who specializes in noise, I happen to know a little about how sound works. Believe me, every time I run a power tool without my hearing protection, we have a conversation about it!

Distance affects decibels (dB) through the inverse square law, which states that sound intensity decreases proportionally to the square of the distance from the source. Mathematically, this leads to a predictable drop in decibel level as distance increases. Practically, this means that if you double the distance from a sound source, the sound level decreases by about 6 dB.

At a typical rock concert, 10 feet from the speaker, the volume might be 120 dB. This is right at the threshold of pain and can cause hearing damage. That means at 20 feet, the sound has decreased to 114 dB, and at 400 feet, it drops to 108 dB; at 800 feet, it is 102 dB; and at 1600 feet, it is 96 dB, which is the typical volume of a lawn mower. Now, that is not truly accurate because of atmospheric absorption and other real-life factors, but here is the point: at less than a mile away, a very loud rock concert is not that loud, and once you get more than a mile away, you are not going to be hearing a ton of sound. The text tells us that the sound of rejoicing could be heard from far away from the city. This had to be nothing short of incredible and probably overwhelming for many.

Our worship can be incredible, overwhelming, amazing, and something you can get fully into.

Image: The Huskers Tunnel Walk is orderly and yet incredibly intentional and intense.

The Huskers Tunnel Walk is one of college football's most iconic entrances—a carefully choreographed moment that electrifies Memorial Stadium and unites over 85,000 fans in a shared surge of anticipation. As the familiar notes of "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project begin to pulse through the stadium, the atmosphere shifts—the crowd rises, flags wave, and the big screen flashes images of Nebraska's proud football heritage. The lights, music, and visuals combine to create a wave of energy that builds to a crescendo as the players emerge from the tunnel. It's not just an entrance; it's a moment of transformation, where the ordinary gives way to something larger than life, and the crowd becomes one voice of celebration and support.

Yet, for all its intensity, the Tunnel Walk is a study in order and intentionality. Every step—from the timing of the music to the players' alignment—is executed with precision, conveying discipline and focus. This is no chaotic sprint; it is a deliberate procession that honors tradition while preparing the team mentally and emotionally for battle. Fans, too, are drawn into this rhythm—cheering, clapping, and participating in a collective ritual that channels excitement into purpose. The Tunnel Walk inspires celebration, but never loses sight of control. It's this balance—raw energy tempered by structure—that makes it not only thrilling but deeply meaningful, setting the tone for everything that follows on the field.

Obedience — Dedication is not the end of the journey of obedience but only the beginning (44-47).

Dedication was not a quick and done event, but rather was sustained by ongoing contributions and service. This parallels the continuous commitment Christ asks from His followers. Believers can regularly offer their time, talents, and resources to maintain their dedication to God.

You may need to continue to sacrificially give.

As part of the final part of dedication, Nehemiah sets up a system that will help going forward—someone to oversee the receipts of tithes and other offerings. The work of building the wall was done, but the work of serving God was to continue, and the expectation that Nehemiah had of the people was that they would give.

The priests and Levites were in a predicament. Since they would be spending their time in the temple, they would not have the opportunity to care for their own fields or livestock. This meant that they needed a way to survive, and God's method of provision was through the people. The people were called upon to give. I want you to notice two key ways in which the people gave. One was tithes: the people were expected to tithe. The other was first fruits: the people were expected to give of their first to God.

I grew up in a pastor's house, and so I am going to tell you a story from my childhood. I tell you this not to complain, but rather because I want you to understand that giving the first fruits is supposed to be a sacrifice—a sacrifice given in faith that God will provide more!

Growing up, there was a family that always brought food to my parents as a gift for the pastor. The problem was that the food they brought was the expired food they had not finished. I am serious; we could count on the bread being either hard as a rock or moldy. Time and time again, they offered us not of their first fruits, but of what was no longer good enough for them. This is not sacrificial giving. God is calling on you to sacrificially give. Dedicating oneself to God is not the end but the beginning. Paying off the loan is not the end but the beginning. We have learned to give, and we should continue to give!

You may need to sacrificially serve.

Finally, I want you to notice that there were some who were asked to sacrificially serve. You may be asked to sacrificially serve. I have talked to two types of people who go into ministry: those who know they are called and have faith to believe God will take care of them, and those who are concerned with how they will be able to raise a family.

Let me ask you a question: can God take care of you? You may be asked to sacrificially serve!