Nehemiah’s Wall
A Priest dies and goes to heaven. As he's approaching the gates, he hears a band of singing and dancing angels approach, and he begins to get excited. The lead angel approaches the Priest and asks if he would mind stepping aside for a moment.
Surprised, the Priest does as he's asked.
The angels march out of the gates and encircle a man who has also approached the gates. The man is in a bus driver uniform.
The joyous parade of angels carry the bus driver in ahead of the Priest.
When the parade is gone, an angel returns to the Priest and says "You can come enter now.” The angel begins to lead the Priest inside alone. The Priest, somewhat confused, says "I'm not one to make waves or anything, but I need to know something. I think I've been a good Priest. I've worked hard and served the Lord all my life. Why is it that the bus driver gets led in by a band of angels ahead of me?"
The angel says "Well, frankly, whenever you preached, people slept. But whenever he drove, people prayed".
Nehemiah was a man known for his prayer
It’s now 445 BC, the Temple in Jerusalem had been completed about 70 years earlier, but the walls of Jerusalem remain unrepaired and outside the Temple it was a shambles with even the gates never been repaired. Just as background, chronologically this is the last book of the Old Testament, (Malachi prophesied around this time as well). Historically the book of Matthew happens about 400 years later. King Artaxerxes is the King of the Persian Empire at this time, and his step mother is Esther (Xerxes wife). So this Kings upbringing and environment has been prepared by God for this day. This meshing of events by God is generally beyond our capability of understanding. This mosaic created by God, just reinforces to what extent God is in control and the fact that all things work for the good for those in Christ Jesus. We don’t comprehend how intricately our lives are meshed together to accomplish what God has in plan for us!
Nehemiah receives news of the state that Jerusalem is in and he is determined to restore Jerusalem, particularly the wall that protects the city and the Temple.
Nehemiah 1:4-11
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.
Before we get into the wall building, lets look at Nehemiah’s response and his prayer to what we can learn from it.
This response to sit down and weep because the wall of a city is in disrepair, seemed to me to be a bit extreme? Over the top? I mean if the Bridgetown Town Hall collapsed and was in a state of disrepair for years I don’t think I would be in tears about it. I know the wall of the city is important, but to weep about it? Herein is a message. If God wants to use you in something He will give you a burden for it. Don’t become a missionary in Africa or India if you don’t have a burden for it and you feel it’s your duty to do it. God will lay it on your heart the things you need to do. Nehemiah had a burden to build this wall. God may give you a burden as well to do something special!
Once Nehemiah had the burden to repair the city, he began to pray day and night about it (v6). Nothing happened for about 4 months! Day and night he prayed- nothing happened- until about 120 days later, the King approaches him and asks him why he looks so sad. (ch2:2). Only then did Nehemiah broach the subject of going to Jerusalem. So here is another important point. He had a burden, a calling if you like, to repair the damage in Jerusalem, but he did not do anything until he was called. We may have a calling but we don’t do anything until we are called. We cannot force timing in any prayer. Had Nehemiah gone to the King earlier, he would have forced a response and this can have serious timing issue ramifications? In the meantime though, while we wait we can get our passports ready and our luggage, but nothing happens till we are called. Militarily we prepare our defences, so that we are ready when the call comes. Pray, send out your CV, but wait for the call and the doors to open. Patient, persistent, prayer! We may have a calling but we must wait for the call! Remember PRAYER IS A PRE-REQUISITE FOR ACTION NOT A SUBSTITUTE.
Nehemiah reminds God of God’s promises in the prayer. He’s referring to Lev. 26, where God declared that when Israel repented, He would restore them. His prayer is guided by these promises and asks only that the timing of the promises be now and that the person to do the task be him. A very good model to follow?
Getting back to the restoration of Jerusalem. Just look and see who led this effort. We had a prince, a priest and a lay-man. We had Zerubbabel who led the reconstruction of the Temple, the priest, Ezra and then we had a layman, a cup-bearer Nehemiah. Nehemiah had no fancy titles, he was just like us, but he had a burden. Do you notice how each of them was so different, each had something different to offer, each had something different to contribute and each was important!. Doesn’t that remind you of something- church! Each so different, each something special to offer! Nehemiah was an ordinary person in many ways, which reminds me of this story.
A group of American tourists visiting a picturesque village in his home country of Great Britain. The Americans had been overwhelmed by the rich history of England, and especially the number famous and notable men who been born or buried in the small towns that dotted the countryside.
At one point in their tour, they walked a short distance along a quaint country road in one of those little towns, and they happened upon an old man sitting beside a fence. It was obvious that this man was a local, who wasn’t particularly impressed by the group of foreigners.
One tourist asked the man, in a rather patronizing tone, "Were any great men born in this village?"
The old man replied, "Nope, only babies."
Great people aren’t born- only babies! And the God opens doors for the least of us as He sees fit!
If God gives you a burden, who knows you may be the next “Nehemiah”, Just make sure you wait to be called!
Now to the wall!
We too need a wall.
1 Cor 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
And we too need to build spiritual wall to protect this temple. Do you know there is even a wall around the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:12) with 12 gates!
If we don’t think walls are important look what the Lord says in Ezekiel 22:30., this in relation to the sins of Jerusalem
30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
And when we read what was happening in the city Ezekiel 22:25-30
The princes/ prophets [ie the leaders ]
Bring violence to my law and profane my holy things;
they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;
they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;[no difference between what is pure and impure, no difference in what is right and what is wrong]
and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths,
They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.
29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.
Does that not sound familiar to what is happening right now all around us.
So we need a wall. Remember Job 1:10 ‘Satan says to the Lord
Job 1:10 New Living Translation
10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!
And we know what happened to Job, without God’s wall or hedge of protection around him! Without a wall we open ourselves up to being overcome by the enemy. Without a wall a city falls! And so with the same determination as Nehemiah we need to build our spiritual walls. These spiritual walls are boundaries. We are called to be holy and these walls are the divide between the secular and the sacred. Just as the church is a divide between the secular and sacred.
So Nehemiah’s wall, while it is reflective of our own spiritual wall, it is very symbolic of the church itself! A divide between the secular and the sacred.
So what do we need to do to secure this wall? Let’s look at what Nehemiah did.
Prayer. We saw Nehemiah’s persistence and perseverance in prayer. Day and night he prayed. I’ve been praying about this Ukraine war now for many weeks, but there have been days when for one reason or another I just have not prayed about Ukraine! How weak is that! Not only did Nehemiah persevere, he was also patient in waiting for the Lord to answer. He was patient in not trying to pre-empt any decision and he waited for the timing to be right. This is the foundation to building this wall.
Secondly a key part to this wall, or our spiritual wall, or our church, is the Word of God
Nehemiah 8:2-8 New International Version
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. …..
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—………—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
This is such a clear picture of Church! And it’s in the Church, that we should be “read[ing]from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people [understand] what is being read”. Neh 8:8
Why is it important; because it enables us to commune with the Creator and sustainer of life, the One who is able guide us and lead us, the One against whom no army can stand. The One who it gives the purpose for life, and who gives us an eternal view!
Thirdly, we know in our life as we build these walls, we will face ridicule, discouragement, mocking, personal attack and insults The enemy, the outside world, will try and undermine us.
Nehemiah 4:1-4 New International Version
Opposition to the Rebuilding
4 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”
4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.
The enemy will say you are not good enough, what do you know about building a wall? Look how weak the wall is, you will never finish it, you are nothing! But you know what, the enemy does not know it, but the success of the wall has nothing to do with you. Look how Nehemiah responds
Nehemiah 2:20 New International Version
20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”
Its God that will give you that victory, nothing to do with your personal attributes, skills or abilities.
Fourthly, Nehemiah could not build a wall by himself and neither can we. Different tasks are given to different people, defences are shared, and skills and resources are shared, so that a solid wall can be built. Spiritually speaking the church is that resource. We cannot do without church. We cannot make the mistake of going to the internet or Facebook for all our spiritual input and we should not underestimate how important collective worship is in a Church. Do you notice how every family got involved in the building of Nehemiah’s wall. In our case, our building may be a ministry of intercession, of encouragement, of making sandwiches, of cleaning, of music etc etc. Each part is just so valuable to the proper functioning of the wall and it is these shared resources that are necessary for our walls, our church to be kept strong.
So in conclusion there is much to be gleaned from Nehemiah’s wall building, and how we can build spiritual walls in our life. But do we realise that God does not need a wall? He could just put an angel with a flaming sword to guard us, like He did in Genesis. The building of the wall, our trials, tribulations and successes are for our own development. It teaches us the importance of patient, persistent prayer, it teaches us perseverance, it teaches us that it is God alone that brings success and victory and it teaches us the importance of unity and fellowship to the glory of God. Our life is an intricate mosaic created by our Father, we should go out and enjoy every minute of it. We don’t know when our Father will call us home from this amazing “play-ground” He has created for us!