Building

Intro/Recap

Last week we had a little break from Nehemiah while Mike shared about parenting, and we had a dedication for Eden, which was really cool.

This morning, we’re back to our study in the book of Nehemiah!

So far, we’ve covered the first two chapters, so we’ll be picking up in chapter 3 today.

But first, let’s do a quick little recap:

Chapter 1: Who is Nehemiah and what is his mission?

First of all, who is Nehemiah, and what is he all about?

Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah is introduced in chapter 1. He’s a Jew, but we learn that he is the cupbearer for the king of Persia - the empire in control of a vast region including Israel.

The Jews, who were in exile in Persia, were allowed to return to Jerusalem, but they faced a massive task of rebuilding the city and their temple.

The temple has already been rebuilt, that was covered in Ezra. By the time we get to Nehemiah, though, the city itself was in bad shape: burned and destroyed.

Nehemiah gets a report of this, and although he has a really great position in the Persian administration, his heart is with his people and he mourns for Jerusalem.

He fasts and prays to God, not just that God would fix the situation but that God would grant him favor in front of the king, so that Nehemiah could go help, and become part of the solution himself.

Chapter 2: He got the king’s blessing and successfully made the journey to Jerusalem

In chapter 2, Nehemiah is given an opportunity to explain his situation to the king, and ask permission to journey to Jerusalem. He’s terrified of what might come of this conversation, but he trusts God to handle it. He prays even in the heat of the moment, remember his “popcorn prayer?” We don’t know what he prayed, just that he was acknowledging God’s presence and power even in the midst of an extremely stressful situation.

We also saw in chapter 2 how by the grace of God Nehemiah acted wisely and with discretion. He did not act rashly or foolishly, just because God is gracious. It’s a really important distinction, and we saw him continue to model it after his wish was granted by the king (by the grace of God), and he journeyed safely to Jerusalem.

Once he got there, he assessed the situation, made a plan, and presented it to the people.

We had 3 simple application points from Nehemiah Chapter 2, I’ll put them up again, because they’re worth reiterating:

Trust in God’s Sovereignty.

Don’t be foolish.

Pray a lot.

At the end of chapter 2, the people are ready to build, and we get a sneak peek into the opposition they will face. But before advancing the narrative, and fully introducing the next major conflict in the story, we get a little breakaway from the story with more of a list of facts.

Chapter 3: The Building Begins.

Chapter 3 shifts from Nehemiah’s first-person account to a third-person description of the work that was being done on the walls and buildings. But the first-person narrative picks back up again in chapter 4. If you imagine Nehemiah compiling this book like a memoir of sorts, you can picture him taking an official report of the construction project and inserting it here as a piece of material that’s relevant to the story.

Chapter 3 is one we might tend to skip over. It’s very repetitive. But it’s not included just to make Nehemiah’s readers bored! To the contrary, at least to me, it’s almost like Nehemiah is giving us an illustration, like a chart or a graphic, only using words. But that only works if you have the right frame of reference for the words to actually provoke the right images in your imagination.

And if you were living in Jerusalem, even today some of these places would be familiar, though they may go by other names now too. But a couple thousand years ago, imagine reading this, and recognizing your neighbor’s family name, and the name of the gate you use every day going to and from the western hilltop.

Around here, it would be like reading about the Sayres, and the Zehrs, and the Widricks, and the main gate at Fort Drum, and the Stewarts in Carthage, and the mall in Watertown. It’s a record of who did what and where, so it’s not meant to be incredibly riveting; it’s not an “exciting” part of the story. But to the original readers, it would have been familiar names and familiar places, and they would have been able to imagine all these people and places and the rebuilding that was taking place.

We don’t have the advantage of familiarity in this passage, so I have a couple of visuals that I thought might help.

First, let’s just read verse 1:

Nehemiah 3:1 CSB

1 The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests began rebuilding the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated it.

First of all, here’s the sheep gate: [slide] it’s kind of cool to be able to see what it looks like today.

But I also wanted to point out Eliashib’s involvement. Who’s Eliashib? He’s the high priest. And he and his fellow priests are mentioned first, along with their dedications of the gate and the walls nearest the temple. The priests dedicated their work. What does that mean?

Last week, we “dedicated” our daughter Eden, which was an acknowledgment of our commitment, as parents, to raise her in such a way that she knows the truth of scripture and the message of the gospel, and to know who God is, and to pray that she will choose to love and follow him when she gets older and is able to make those decisions for herself.

Dedicating a child to God is also an acknowledgment of our dependency on HIM when it comes to raising a child. God has chosen us, as her parents, to raise her, but we are merely stewards, and temporary ones at that. The responsibility of our role in her life is indeed huge, but ultimately it is God who is her true father; he created and sustains her and it is ultimately HIS hands into which we trust our daughter’s life, because as much as we will do EVERYTHING in our power to love and protect and teach and train Eden, there is a whole lot more OUT of our power than is IN our power.

I bring all this up, not just as an excuse to talk about Eden, but because it’s easy to read that “they dedicated the gate” and not really think about what that means. Obviously, dedicating a baby is different in many ways from dedicating an inanimate stone structure. But the underlying principle is the same.

The priests’ dedication of the work implies their motivations for building, and their dependence on God for the completion of their work.

Remember, Nehemiah trusted in God’s sovereignty, while recognizing himself as being an active participant in God’s sovereign plan. This is a major theme not just of Nehemiah but the whole Bible.

In this case, we’re seeing another great illustration of that; they are doing the work with their hands, but they recognize that it’s because of God’s gracious hand that they’re successful.

Now, we’re going to keep reading in a moment, and at first I was planning on just reading a couple of verses because, again, it is very repetitive. But I eventually decided to read the whole thing, and I have a reason for that, which I’ll explain after I read it.

But first, I wanted to show you an illustration of the whole city as it would have been at the time of Nehemiah.

[slide]

So you can see the city kind of sprawling in a long oval shape, from North East to South West.

At the North East end you have Mount Moriah, which is where God provided a sacrificial ram for Abraham in place of Isaac, and the temple is up on the hill, at the highest point in the city.

On either side of the city there are valleys, and to the west, on the other side of the valley, is the “Western Hilltop” which is now referred to as “Mount Zion.”

So, this will give you something to look at while you zone out as I read.

But if you do try to follow along with the text, it may help to know that chapter 3 goes in a systematic, counter-clockwise loop, starting at the north-east of the city. #4 is the sheep gate that is mentioned first, and then #3 and #2 are the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. The next place mentioned is the Fish Gate in verse 3, which is #22 in the illustration, #21 is the Old Gate, and so on, it continues moving around the city.

Alright, now I’m going to read chapter 3, and I will warn you, there are a LOT of names. I know that normally that would be a reason to avoid reading it out loud, and I promise I will fumble over them and my pronunciation may be nothing close to the correct English OR Hebrew pronunciation, but I’m going to read through them nonetheless.

Here we go:

Nehemiah 3 CSB

1 The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests began rebuilding the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated it. 2 The men of Jericho built next to Eliashib, and next to them Zaccur son of Imri built. 3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They built it with beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. 4 Next to them Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Beside them Meshullam son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok son of Baana made repairs. 5 Beside them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not lift a finger to help their supervisors. 6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They built it with beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. 7 Next to them the repairs were done by Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, who were under the authority of the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River. 8 After him Uzziel son of Harhaiah, the goldsmith, made repairs, and next to him Hananiah son of the perfumer made repairs. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. 10 After them Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. 11 Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab made repairs to another section, as well as to the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Beside him Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs—he and his daughters. 13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars, and repaired five hundred yards of the wall to the Dung Gate. 14 Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. 15 Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and roofed it. Then he installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also made repairs to the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors. 17 Next to him the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani. Beside him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18 After him their fellow Levites made repairs under Binnui son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, made repairs to another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. 20 After him Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the Angle to the door of the house of the high priest Eliashib. 21 Beside him Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, made repairs to another section, from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of his house. 22 And next to him the priests from the surrounding area made repairs. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. Beside them Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 After him Binnui son of Henadad made repairs to another section, from the house of Azariah to the Angle and the corner. 25 Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the Angle and tower that juts out from the king’s upper palace, by the courtyard of the guard. Beside him Pedaiah son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out. 27 Next to him the Tekoites made repairs to another section from a point opposite the great tower that juts out, as far as the wall of Ophel. 28 Each of the priests made repairs above the Horse Gate, each opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. And beside him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, guard of the East Gate, made repairs. 30 Next to him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph made repairs to another section. After them Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his room. 31 Next to him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs to the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upstairs room on the corner. 32 The goldsmiths and merchants made repairs between the upstairs room on the corner and the Sheep Gate.

Whew! That was exciting, wasn’t it? No?

Look, I don’t blame you if you had a hard time focusing on that or following that, and I know it’s not super compelling narrative. But it’s in here for a reason. And not just one reason, I’m sure.

But I DO actually think it’s exciting for at least one reason that jumped out to me.

It’s exciting, not in spite of all the names in this passage, but because of all the names. And no, I’m not going to go through each one and pick apart the Hebrew meaning of each one.

I wanted to read through all the names, simply to make the point that there are a lot of names! I know I could have just said “there are a lot of names” but that wouldn’t be nearly as memorable as traumatizing you with the entire reading!

And, by the way, in the midst of all those names, whose name is missing?

Nehemiah! Actually, the name Nehemiah IS in there - vs 16 - but it’s a different Nehemiah. So, yes, his name is in there, but the namesake, the main character, the hero of the book, is not mentioned in this record of the reconstruction project!

That’s so cool!

Why? Because it points us to a really significant application for this book.

I gave you 3 application points from chapter 2. I’m just going to give you ONE from chapter 3.

Conclusion

Nehemiah chapter 3 underscores a super important theme of both Ezra and Nehemiah.

[slide]

The people of God as a whole, and not just “great” leaders are vital for accomplishing God’s redemptive purpose.

ALL of God’s people worked together to rebuild the wall: clergy and laity, craftsmen and tradesmen, by town and by family, each contributing to the completion of the whole.

In chapters one and two, we saw how Nehemiah trusted in God’s sovereignty, while recognizing himself as an active participant in God’s plan.

But Nehemiah didn’t go to Jerusalem expecting to rebuild the walls single-handedly, did he? Of course not!

He encouraged and equipped and organized a multitude of people, and it was the many hands, belonging to those many names that I made you suffer through, those many hands working together, that got the work done.

That’s not to say that Nehemiah didn’t get his own hands dirty! He didn’t just stand back and watch everyone else do the hard stuff, he counts himself among the workers in the next few chapters. But that’s the point: he was just one of many. Nehemiah did not rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The people of Israel rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. The people were united under Nehemiah’s leadership, of course, and ultimately the credit for ALL of it goes to God who enabled them to succeed; we’ll see more of that in the next chapters.

But this chapter is a reminder of how God uses leaders, not to be placed on a pedestal, but to equip and encourage ALL God’s people to do his work.

Plus, seeing how God used his people to rebuild the physical walls of Jerusalem is a foreshadowing of how He would ultimately build his eternal kingdom that can never be conquered or destroyed. Daniel prophesied this during the exile:

Daniel 2:44 CSB

44 “In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

That’s the good news that Jesus came preaching 400 years later: he said the kingdom of heaven is coming to earth, and I’m the one on the throne.

I’m not going to turn this into a whole study of the kingdom of God, we’ll have plenty of time in Matthew for that. But as it relates to Nehemiah, the same principle of whole-body cooperation applies the church! The church - that is, the people who ARE the church - not a building, but the people of the church are the foundation of God’s kingdom!

Ephesians 2:17–22 CSB

17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

This is Paul, speaking to the church, using the metaphors of physical building to describe the spiritual work of God building his kingdom. And ultimately, HE IS the builder, BUT we are not passive observers, we are active participants.

Again, I’m only scratching the surface of the kingdom of God and the doctrine of “church,” but it’s just to show you how even Nehemiah chapter 3, while giving a very in-them-moment record of what happened, is also pointing forward to Jesus and the church. And this point is as true for us as it was for them:

The people of God as a whole, not just leaders, are vital for accomplishing God’s redemptive purpose.

So, I challenge you to ask yourself: “where and how is God inviting me to join his redemptive work in the world?”

Actually, let me rephrase that. Don’t ask yourself. Ask GOD: “Where and how are you inviting me to join you in your redemptive work in the world?”

If you’re truly willing, you’ll see that you ARE invited to join him, at home, at work, in your communities, and in the church.

Now, if you’re struggling to figure out what that looks like in your life, remember, the whole point is that you’re not in this alone, don’t try to figure out your role in isolation, because that would be the opposite of the point! We’re a family. We need to help each other work together.

Nehemiah is certainly not offering a cop-out for leadership, any less than it’s emphasizing the importance of teamwork. It illustrates the necessity of both. Although we certainly may fail at times, Mike and I, as “leaders,” have the goal and the desire to encourage and equip each other and you, our fellow brothers and sisters, to be a fully functioning body, but we’re not puppeteers, we’re fellow workers, and we want you to be willing and active alongside us. And let me just say that spiritual leadership does not only come in the form of “pastors” and other official positions: we’re all called to be discipled by those further along in their journey, while also discipling those who are less far along, so we are all building each other up continuously.

Because the people of God as a whole, not just leaders, are vital for accomplishing God’s redemptive purpose.

PRAY