Build the Wall

So last week we saw Nehemiah’s problem and how he turned to God to prepare and to find the solution. The problem was all of the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed. The Israelites are in exile, under the control of the Persians at this time, and Jerusalem lies in ruins. Nehemiah mourns this fact, and he begins to fast and pray to God. And if you remember, we saw that God answered his prayers after 3 months when God led Nehemiah to ask a request of the King. Nehemiah asked the King if he could go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, a rebellious question, and the King says yes! He not only says yes, but he says here take an armed escort and all the timber you need to build the wall!

So tonight, we are going to look at the process of how Nehemiah rebuilt the walls.

But let me make a disclaimer, first. I do not want to go on instagram later tonight or tomorrow and see that anybody posted about how Nehemiah built a wall so Trump needs to build a wall, too. Nehemiah building a wall is not the Biblical precedence for Trump building a wall. Whatever you or your parents’ opinion is on that, whatever. But Nehemiah is not trump, and Jerusalem is not America. Okay.

Okay. So we are going to be covering a lot of ground in the Bible today. A lot of ground. Like starting in Chapter 2 verse 11 and going all the way through the end of chapter 6. So with that, let’s pick back up with the story.

Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, but he doesn’t tell people what is going on yet. He meets with the people, and then he spends the first night surveying all the damage. He goes to all the gates and inspects all the places of the wall. And then he calls all the people together, and he tells him his story. This is what God has done. This is what the King has said we can do. So let’s rebuild the wall. And they are all right there with him. Let’s rebuild the wall!

Some people questioned Nehemiah, though. And this was his response.

Nehemiah 2:20 CSB

I gave them this reply, “The God of the heavens is the one who will grant us success. We, his servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

God is the who will grant us success.

We must find our success in God’s success.

This is something I want you to learn early in life. Something you need to discover early in life. Because this runs exactly the opposite of what the rest of the world says is success.

How does everybody else measure success? It usually revolves around 3 things. Abilities, looks, and financial success. Who are the most successful people in high school in your eyes? Typically it is whoever is the best at what you deem important. It’s the best athletes. The smartest people. The first chair in band. The lead in every play. They are successful, and will be successful. Those who are the best looking. They’re successful because they always have the best looking boyfriend or girlfriend. Unfortunately, many guys find success in how many girls they can get with, and then lots of girls find success in thinking they can love and tame and train that best looking guy. And then people get older, and success is who has the most money. Who has the nicest house and goes on the nicest vacations? That person is successful. And all of this can be summarized in who our culture looks up to as the pinnacle of success: the professional athlete. The one who is athletically gifted, sleeps with all the most beautiful women, and is absolutely filthy rich. That is a successful person.

Except its not. The world says that if you are a six figure investment banker, you are successful. Whether you are divorced, a non-existent father, a bad husband, a bad wife, a gone mom, that doesn’t matter. You are successful because you make money. Except you are not.

You have to decide now how you will measure success for yourself. You can’t wait. If you wait, the world will decide for you. And the person who is truly successful is the one doing what God has called them to do. Not based on money. Not based on looks. Not based on abilities. But based solely on doing what God has called you to do. For some of you, that will be specific jobs. It might be being a missionary, being a teacher, being a banker, a pastor, a coach, an artist, a performer. But for everybody, that means seeing your job and place as a mission field. It means honoring God in everything you do. Your job will be how you survive financially, but more importantly it will be who God uses you to have an impact on. And when we live in doing what God has called us to do, he will be successful. And we find our success in God’s success.

And Nehemiah understands this from the start. He says I know we will be successful because God has called me to lead this. God wants this, so it will happen. I don’t have to worry about me being successful because God will be the one to do it.

And so they get to work.

Now keep your Bibles open and glance through Chapter 3. I’m not going to read any from Chapter 3, but I’ll tell you what’s going on in chapter 3. Nehemiah begins assigning jobs. And people begin working on portions of the wall. Chapter 3 lists out all of these people who help build the wall and which portion they are building. They all worked side by side rebuilding the wall, together. Men, women, all building. And here’s why that’s important.

God has called everybody to play a part in His mission

When we read Nehemiah, we tend to focus on mean, he is the main character in the book. But the truth is, not everybody is Nehemiah. It required hundreds of people working together to rebuild the wall, and each person was essential to the task. Some are called to be leaders, some are called to do the dirty work, some are called to be nameless but do the exact same work, but all are essential.

Let’s compare this to the mission that God has called us all to be a part of. The Great Commission. Go and make disciples. Jesus gave each and every one of us this mission before ascending into heaven. And we can learn a lot about making disciples from how Nehemiah and the Israelites rebuilt the wall. Everybody is responsible for what’s in front of them. I’m not responsible for making disciples of the whole world. You’re not responsible for making disciples of the whole world. Not even of your whole town. Not even of your whole school. But you are responsible to do the work in His mission with those who are right in front of you.

You don’t have to be Nehemiah. You don’t have to be the leader. Each of you still has an essential role to play in God’s mission.

Think of a football team. On a football team, you’ve got 11 players on the field, plus in the NFL, like 12 coaches on the sideline. It does not matter how good your quarterback is if the offensive line cannot block for him. It does not matter how good 4 of those lineman are if one of them can’t do the job. It doesn’t matter how fast your receiver is if you can’t get him the ball. Success in football requires every single person doing their job. Sure, some players get more credit than others. But the players know it takes a whole team. They know it requires everybody working together, doing the job thats in front of them.

No matter what role God has called you to, you are an essential part of God’s mission. And it’s time for you to get in the game.

But when you do that, when you begin to participate in God’s mission, when you begin to actively seek to make disciples of those God has placed in front of you, expect opposition.

Expect Opposition

Expect opposition to come in all forms. Expect emotional or verbal opposition.

Nehemiah 4:1–3 CSB

1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews 2 before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” 3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!”

Nehemiah 4:

Ouch. You pathetic Jews. What do you even think you are doing? You will never finish this wall! You guys are a joke! I mean, look at what you’ve already built! That thing would fall over if a fox climbed up on it! You guys look so pathetic.

What do you mean you don’t want to have sex with her? with him? What do you mean you’re trying to stop looking at porn? What are you gay? That’s stupid. You won’t be able to resist anyway. Didn’t you hear what that girl said behind your back? What are you gonna do to get back at her? What do you mean nothing? That’s weak. Why would you read your Bible? Your life is no different than mine. You’re lame. You’re sad. You’re weak. You’re wasting your time. You’re wasting your youth. You will hear it all. You’ll hear it from friends. You’ll hear it from random people. You’ll hear it from frienemies, especially. But who judges your success, them or God? Who brings you success, them or God?

Expect physical and spiritual opposition.

Nehemiah 4:11–14 CSB

11 And our enemies said, “They won’t realize it until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, “Everywhere you turn, they attack us.” 13 So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes.”

Nehemiah 4:

Nehemiah 4:16–17 CSB

16 From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah, 17 who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.

Nehemiah

The enemies of Jerusalem began physically attacking the Israelites. So Nehemiah created a plan. Half of the people worked while the other half were guards. Then they would switch jobs. Now, in America, odds are you won’t face actual physical opposition. You are probably not going to be physically attacked. Now, in other parts of the world, you might be. BUT, you are in a spiritual battle. You are in a spiritual war. And when you get involved in God’s mission, you make yourself a target.

When you’ve made yourself a target, you have to be ready at all times. You have to be ready for battle at all times. In your family groups you will take a look at to get a more specific look at what that means. And trust me, once you realize you are a target, you read in a much different light.

But in Nehemiah they were not just fighting for themselves or by themselves, but they had guards. They had those who were protecting them while they worked. You need people who are protecting you. You need close friends who are actively praying for you. Friends who are praying for you as you deal with temptation. Friends who are praying for you as you intentionally share and the live the gospel with lost friends. You need friends who are intervening for you as you work. And then you need to be doing that for them. All of you work, and all of you guard. Once again, not responsible for the whole entire wall or the whole entire mission, but you are responsible for where God has placed you.

For Nehemiah, the opposition continues. Not only do they continue to try to thwart the wall, but they begin to try to intimidate Nehemiah. Nehemiah we will tell the king you are rebelling. It didn’t work. Then there were assassination attempts on Nehemiah, but they didn’t work.

And then, the wall was completed.

Nehemiah 6:15–16 CSB

15 The wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul. 16 When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.

The complete wall and gates built around the whole city of Jerusalem was build in less than 2 months. It was nothing short of a miracle. And when everybody heard this and saw this, they knew that it was accomplished by God.

God can accomplish any task through any opposition

Remember how we started. Our success must be determined by God’s success. We are not the ones who make it happen, but God is the one who gets all the credit and glory. God accomplishes his mission, and we get to be a part of it.

Let’s finish with this question: what have you done, or are doing, that only God could take credit for? Let me explain. The Israelites finished the wall in 52 days, and everybody realized and saw that this was not normal. Only God could have done this. But typically, we don’t even try things like that. We don’t even attempt to be a part of things so huge. We are content to do what can be explained away with good effort, good strategy, and good execution. Pooey.

I want to be a part of God transforming the world. I want to be a part of God transforming schools. I want to be a part of God transforming lives. That’s something that only God can do. And that’s something that only God will get the credit for.