4.4.31 6.27.2021 Nehemiah 3 Repair Together

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Entice: The doctrine of Inspiration has helped many generations of Christians to develop a greater trust in the authority of the Bible. And it has provoked generations of preachers to avoid certain texts because they are either difficult to understand or it is hard to figure out how they contribute to God's revelation of himself.

Welcome to a sermon on one of those passages. In my mind it is our duty to squeeze the difficult passages, to refocus and creatively assess passages to extract the nutritional value from them. Often these passages teach us things we are not crazy to learn. Sometimes we resent the fact that they present comparisons and examples that we can and should directly follow.

Expand: Nehemiah 3 is not a theologically deep chapter. There is no devotional value. No memory verses. It just gives a detailed report of what occurred in the

rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 3 ESV

1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. 3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. 6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Gate of Yeshanah. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of the governor of the province Beyond the River. 8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters. 13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate. 14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18 After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, repaired. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. 28 Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 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 repaired opposite his chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

Difficult jobs require God's people to each contribute our skills and ability to the overall project. There are a lot of places in the Bible where

we are told.

In this text

we are shown.

Engage: 2021 is a year of repair. A year of rebuilding. A year to reassess and recalibrate and restore and revive.

What do we need to repair

as we move through 2021?

Are we unified

enough for God to use us in the tasks we are called to perform?

Excite: The Bible is constantly reminding us that unity, peaceableness, and sharing burdens are essential behaviors for Kingdom work. Nehemiah 3 does not tell us

that…it shows us. It reminds us by example.

One of the hardest kingdom commitments is shared work amidst diversity. The bigger the task, the bigger the team needed. The bigger the team the bigger the

trust.

Jesus Himself reminds us that we absorb the life we share from Him for the purpose of bearing fruit.

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Paul for his part tells us that the unified body of Christ is called to maturity and growth.

Ephesians 4:16–17 ESV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Explore:

Divided we cannot repair what we are called to repair.

Explain: This long chapter discloses two requirements for doing the hard work of repairing broke things.

Cooperation

(The people)

Who cooperated?

Name, after name, after name. Nehemiah mentions workers..

Individually

Tribally

Vocationally.

…and who did not cooperate v 5

How they cooperated?

Repair

Rededicate

Coordination.

(The Task(s))

Where

Up and down the broken down wall each group worked.

What

Everyone has the same goal…but not the same task

Everyone had both a community stake and a personal stake.

Why?

If they all did the same thing in the same place they would have made no progress.

There would have been unnecessary conflict, delay, and reduplication of efforts.

Romans 12:4 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

Shut Down:

Thousands of years have passed. Even with a great set of OT maps it is difficult to picture the situation in Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. Yet, when we close our eyes it all makes sense. These People, did these things because they were

called by God,

challenged by Nehemiah,

and

convicted to work together.

This combination of cooperation and coordination is the foundation for

community

We see it in Nehemiah and it is needed now.

You are called to be saved by Jesus. You are called to be a part of the Church. You cannot have one without the other. His body needs you. We have walls to repair.

We have ministry to pursue. We have not just a pew for worship but a place of service.