Intro:

Imagine you're hosting a community garden project. The idea is exciting, and people are enthusiastic about contributing—everyone loves the thought of fresh vegetables and beautifying the neighborhood. You rally a group of eager volunteers, and the project kicks off with a burst of energy.

But as the weeks go on, challenges start creeping in. Some volunteers are unsure about their roles, a few start to lose interest, and coordination becomes more difficult. What started as a wave of motivation begins to slow as the realities of organizing a long-term project set in.

The gap between initial enthusiasm and maintaining that drive often lies in how well the project is structured. It's one thing to inspire people to get involved; it's another to create a system where they remain engaged, feel valued, and see the progress they expect.

The challenge is balancing the emotional aspect of motivation with the practical side of organizing—so that passion translates into sustained participation.

Without the right structure, clear communication, and consistent feedback, even the most motivated teams can lose steam… … This is the core difficulty: turning motivation into organized long-term action.

The Organizer

As we turn our attention to Nehemiah 3, we are going to see Nehemiah’s remarkable, godly leadership and his organizational skills, turning a monumental task into a collective effort.

Nehemiah didn’t just inspire people; he structured the work so that every person had a role and responsibility…

Nehemiah chapter 3 is one that many people have a tendency of skipping over:

Because it contains a list of 75 names, that (lets be honest) are kind of hard to pronounce correctly…

And it seems to be more clerical notes and not really moving very far into our storyline…

However… we know that ALL Scripture comes from the mouth of God and so we are going to look at this chapter this morning and glean from it some principles that we can apply to our own lives as godly leaders.

I want to encourage you to have your Bibles open and have your outline flipped over to back side as I read, in order to get a snapshot of this ancient city.

(Picture)

This is the same picture that is on the back of your outline and we will start at the top (or north side) of the wall and make our way around in a counter clockwise direction.

(Read Nehemiah 3)

Nehemiah 3:1 “1 Then Eliashib (eh-LAI-uh-shib) the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.”

Nehemiah 3:2–3 “2 Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur (zah-KOOR) the son of Imri built. 3 Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.”

Nehemiah 3:4–6 “4 And next to them Meremoth (MAYR-eh-moth) the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam (meh-SHOO-luhm) the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. 5 Next to them the Tekoites (Tech-o-ites) made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord. 6 Moreover Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.”

Nehemiah 3:7–13 “7 And next to them Melatiah (meh-lah-TIE-yah) the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River. 8 Next to him Uzziel (YOOZ-ee-el) the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph (ha-ROO-mahf) made repairs in front of his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabniah (hash-ab-NEE-ah) made repairs. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hashub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens. 12 And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs. 13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.”

Nehemiah 3:14 “14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, leader of the district of Beth Haccerem, repaired the Refuse Gate; he built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.”

Nehemiah 3:15 “15 Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he built it, covered it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David.”

Nehemiah 3:16–26 “16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs as far as the place in front of the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and as far as the House of the Mighty. 17 After him the Levites, under Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah (hash-ah-BIE-yah), leader of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18 After him their brethren, under Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of the other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs. 19 And next to him Ezer (EE-zer) the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the Ascent to the Armory at the buttress. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai carefully repaired the other section, from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, repaired another section, from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 And after him the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs. 23 After him Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house. 24 After him Binnui (BIN-noo-eye) the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress, even as far as the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the buttress, and on the tower which projects from the king’s upper house that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. 26 Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the Water Gate toward the east, and on the projecting tower.”

Nehemiah 3:27–28 “27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel. 28 Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.”

Nehemiah 3:29–32 “29 After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his dwelling. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants, in front of the Miphkad Gate, and as far as the upper room at the corner. 32 And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.”

Meat:

We have just made our way around the wall of Jerusalem and starting at the sheep gate in the north east corner, making our way around in a counter clockwise direction and have ended up right back at that north east corner.

Nehemiah lists 10 different gates that built into the wall. Each one of these served a very specific purpose that can pretty much be known by their given names.

We will talk about a couple of these gates as we make our way through… but one that I want to mention real quick before we get to far into this… is the “East Gate” (also known as the “Golden Gate” or the “Gate of Mercy”).

This is perhaps the most wellknown and prophetically significant gate of the entire city, for a few reasons…

This is the Gate through which Jesus triumphantly entered into Jerusalem as the crowd was celebrating and laying palm branches down on the road before Him.

This is the Gate that Jesus will, once again, enter Jerusalem at His Second coming…

The Eastern Gate was sealed shut in 1541 by order of Suleiman the Magnificent, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire. It’s believed that the reason for the closing of the Eastern Gate was to prevent the Jewish Messiah from gaining entrance to Jerusalem.

Jewish tradition states (Through the book of Ezekiel) that the Messiah will pass through the Eastern Gate when He comes to rule.

The Muslim Suleiman was attempting to thwart the Messiah’s plans with sixteen feet of cement. The Eastern Gate has remained sealed for nearly the past 500 years.

I guess they were trying to out do the guards who put a stone in front of the tomb…

Anyways… on to our outline… Last week we saw that Nehemiah was able to get the people motivated to take on the monumental task of rebuilding this wall… and now we see exactly how he was able to get it accomplished…

Someone has said that “If you want people to work together and without grumbling and complaining, and if you don’t want them to get discouraged and walk off the job, the entire project needs careful, behind the scenes planning.”

In other words… you must be organized and the project must be organized.

Nehemiah was Organized in his…

1. Delegation

A lot of people hear the word delegation and associate it with negativity or laziness, but in reality, delegation is a key aspect of effective, godly leadership.

A leader who delegates wisely is not shirking responsibility but rather acknowledging that leadership is about empowering others, fostering growth, and building a team that works together for a greater purpose.

Delegation, when done with wisdom and discernment, reflects a leader’s understanding that they are not called to do everything themselves. It reflects humility, trust in others' gifts, and the ability to build a community that works together in unity for God's purposes. By organizing tasks and responsibilities, a godly leader can create an environment where everyone can contribute meaningfully, leading to a more fruitful outcome.

Nehemiah organized his delegation…

1.1 By Setting Achievable Goals

As we made our way through the chapter, several times we read the phrases “and next to him”, or “next to them”, “after him” or “after them”…

Nehemiah had taken this wall that had a rough circumference of 2 miles and broke it down into 40-50 sections and said “hey, all you have to do is this 200-250 foot section of the wall”… now I know they didn’t measure in inches and feet… 130 - 170 cubits… … to put that into perspective,… the Ark was 300 cubits long.

And so each person or family worked on a small section of the wall… … **As godly leaders, if we want people to excited about a project or ministry opportunity, we need to make sure that we are not giving them more than they can handle**

On the other side of that same thought… As godly leaders, it's essential to recognize when we are becoming overwhelmed and have the humility to step back and reassess… We need to seek God's guidance to discern where He truly wants us to invest our time and energy.

This allows us to focus on what aligns with His will and step away from activities that may not be part of His plan for us. By doing so, we ensure that we remain effective in the areas that matter most and avoid spreading ourselves too thin.

Nehemiah also organized his delegation…

1.2 By Strategically Assigning each Section

From v.1 we can see that the Priest’s started at the Sheep Gate… Which was close to the Temple… Where are you going to normally find Priests??? … at the Temple…

The Sheep Gate was where all the animals would enter through that were going to be sacrificed to the Lord… It has been speculated that Jesus what brought through this gate just before He was crucified.

As Nehemiah assigned places for people to work… he did so in a way that families were working on the section of wall near their own houses.

Which was an extremely wise move for Nehemiah to make…

1. It insured that each family would build their section of wall as securely as they could, since it was the section that would be protecting their home.

2. The workers wouldn’t have very far to travel, just get up, walk outside and get to work… no time was wasted in a lengthy commute…

3. In case of an attack, the workers wouldn’t have to run home to protect their family, they were already there and could continue to work or fight as needed.

4. Plus, being this close to home, made it so that entire families could be involved in the project, not just the boys and men.

Nehemiah did not believe in a one man ministry… He knew that everyone needed to be involved if it was going to be a successful project.

Just like the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:11–12 “11 And He (Jesus) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”

The body of Christ grows when we are all living as the godly leaders that He made us to be.

So Nehemiah was Organized in his Delegation

Secondly Nehemiah was Organized in his…

2. Promotion of Unity

One of Nehemiah's greatest organizational strengths was his ability to bring together people from different backgrounds, professions, and social standings to work toward a common goal.

I don’t want you to miss this next point… The unity that nation of Israel exhibited throughout this project…

2.1 Started with the Priests

The godly leaders of the nation…

As Nehemiah laid out his plan before the Priests and the City leaders in chapter 2, motivating them to action… It was the Priests who were first to step up and say “Let get it done!”…

v.1 says… “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests...”

They didn’t wait for Nehemiah to delegate, they stood up and got to work.

We as godly leaders need to be the first ones to get to work… … We are to lead by example.

And when we do… others will follow…

Unity in Israel started with the Priests… and was…

2.2 Followed by the People

Nehemiah was not just working with one type of person—he coordinated priests, rulers, common laborers, craftsmen, and even people from outside Jerusalem.

Nehemiah’s strategy also involved getting families and groups from various regions to work side by side. People from Jericho (v.2), Tekoa (v.5), and Gibeon (v.7) came to Jerusalem to contribute to the rebuilding efforts, even though they didn’t directly live in the city.

Nehemiah emphasized the importance of unity between families and different regions, creating a sense of shared responsibility for the project’s success.

Now, truth be told, not everyone caught the unity fire…

v.5 says…

Nehemiah 3:5 “5 Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.”

There will always be those who refuse to exert themselves. Most people worked, but some shirked their responsibility.

Tekoa was a town about eleven miles from Jerusalem, and while some of the people commuted to the job site; the nobles from Tekoa called in sick. Actually, the text says that they refused to participate in the work of God because they didn’t want to follow orders. They were too proud to submit themselves to the supervisors of the job. They were too important to get their hands dirty.

The phrase, "would not put their shoulders to the work," suggests that it was pride more than anything else which kept them from pitching in.

This is the only time that they are mentioned in Scripture and all they are known for is snobby attitude.

However, the ones that did come from Tekoa to work, went above and beyond the call of duty…

v.27 says…

Nehemiah 3:27 “27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel.”

So even though their nobles were to stuck up to do anything, the Tekoites finished their initial part of the wall and went and helped build another section.

And then there’s people like Malchijah… v.14 says that he was the one who repaired the Refuse Gate…

The Refuse (or Dung) Gate was located at the southern most point of the wall and opened to the Hinnom Valley. This was the gate where all the residents of the city would bring their garbage and throw it in the valley below.

The Valley of Hinnom is mentioned several times in Scripture… and not in a good way…

In 2nd Kings 21, we read of an evil King named Manasseh and the Valley of Hinnom was where he would sacrifice children to the pagan gods.

Here in Nehemiah, it is a place where garbage was dumped and eventually the garbage was lit on fire and it burned continually…

Jesus says this in Matthew 5:22 “22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”

The Greek word for “Hell fire” is “Gehenna”, which literally means “Valley of Hinnom”.... a place of human sacrifice and refuse, constantly burning… … this valley became a visual picture of Hell for those who lived in and around the city.

I have to imagine that the smells coming out of this place were absolutely atrocious… and yet, Malchijah stepped up and said, I’ll take care of that gate and section of wall.

I can stop here and ask the question… are you as willing as Malchijah was to serve the Lord?… He could’ve easily taken the same attitude of the Tekoite nobles, but instead he chose to serve wherever he was needed…

As godly leaders, we need to be willing to serve wherever God calls us… doing whatever needs to be done to further the message of the Gospel.

Church family, as we get further into our study and we see the enormous accomplishments that these people were able to achieve, I want you to know… … These people were able to accomplish what seemed impossible because they worked together in unity, as one body.

This is exactly how the New Testament Church is supposed to operate… When we embrace unity and cooperation in our work for God, we position ourselves to receive His blessings and to achieve more than we ever could do on our own.

Lastly this morning… Nehemiah was Organized in his…

3. Ability to Encourage Others

Nehemiah didn’t allow himself to get so caught up in project that he forgot about the ones who were making it happen…

One of his key organizational skills was ensuring that the people’s hard work was recognized and that they remained motivated throughout the project.

This 3rd chapter shows how he meticulously documented exactly who did what… so that he could encourage them…

3.1 By Acknowledging Contributions

Nehemiah carefully records the names of those who worked on the wall and the specific sections they completed. He makes sure that no one’s effort goes unnoticed.

This level of detail serves two purposes: it recognizes the individual contributions of each worker, and it allows the community to appreciate how much work had already been done.

People are more likely to stay motivated when they know their work is seen and valued.

Nehemiah also encouraged others…

3.2 By Celebrating Victories

Whether the victory was big or small… Each gate that was repaired was a small victory and each section of wall that was repaired between the gates was an even greater victory…

The ability to have a celebration on a regular basis throughout such an enormous project helps to keep people engaged and excited… it is also a great reminder that we are moving forward and that every step matters.

And finally, Nehemiah encouraged others…

3.3 To Complete the Project

Though Nehemiah’s record of the work in chapter 3 is focused on specific sections and gates, it is clear that the ultimate goal was always in mind: the complete rebuilding of the wall. By the end of the chapter, all the pieces of the wall are connected. Nehemiah ensured that, while people focused on their particular tasks, they never lost sight of the larger picture. He kept the vision of the finished wall before the people, reminding them that their individual efforts contributed to something far greater.

In any major project or ministry, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details and lose sight of the larger goal… As godly leaders we need to recognize the importance of continually pointing people back to the big picture. Reminding people of the ultimate purpose keeps them motivated and gives their daily efforts deeper meaning.

Keeping the mission of making disciples and equipping them to go out and make more disciples, front and center ensures that each task, no matter how small, is understood as part of God’s greater plan.

Closing:

As I mentioned just a couple of minutes ago, Nehemiah meticulously documented exactly who did what in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. He took the time to record every contribution, big and small, honoring the efforts of those who put their hands to the work. But it wasn’t just a record of laborers—Nehemiah also noted those who didn’t step up, like the nobles of Tekoa who "would not put their shoulders to the work" (Nehemiah 3:5).

Believe me when I say this—Jesus is doing the same thing. Just as Nehemiah kept track of the builders and the slackers, Jesus is watching how we build. In 1 Corinthians 3:11-13, Paul reminds us that "no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." But he goes on to say that "if anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work."

Our Lord is watching how we build upon the foundation of faith He has laid. He sees our efforts, our faithfulness, our sacrifices, and yes—He also sees when we choose not to act.

Just like Nehemiah, Jesus records not only our labor but also our lack of engagement. One day, our work will be tested, and it will reveal the quality and motivations of our efforts. Are we giving our best to God’s Kingdom? Are we investing in the work that will last for eternity, or are we holding back, building with materials that will burn away?

So let us take this seriously.

Each one of us has a role in building God's kingdom, just as every family had a role in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Jesus is taking note—not to shame us, but to remind us that what we do matters.

Let us build with faithfulness, commitment, and love, knowing that our labor is not in vain when done for the Lord. Let us lead by example, knowing that He is watching, and one day, we will see the fruit of our efforts… in the Heavenly Kingdom… that will never fade away.

Prayer:

Help us, as godly leaders, to realize that ministry is not a one man or woman show

Help us, as godly leaders, to step up and lead by example

And help us, as godly leaders, to encourage others to stay faithful until the day you call us home.