Nehemiah vs 3:1-17
Sermon preached at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 15 May 2005
Nehemiah 3 (8/5/05)
Review of Nehemiah 2:
I. God is on the Throne, so we can rest assured that:
(a) He has heard our prayers and will not forget them
(b) He will open the doors for us and that we don’t need to force them open.
(c) He will provide our needs (but not our greeds!)
II. Since God is on the Throne, we should:
(a) Step out in faith and expect God to lead us step by step
(b) Expect Satan to oppose us as we step out in faith
(c) Pray for God to send forth men (not man-sent good, trained or experienced men!).
Lessons from Nehemiah 3:
1. God raises (v.1): After Nehemiah challenges the Jews to rebuild the city (2:17,18), there is no mention of any further meetings to encourage the Jews to do so, or meetings to plan the financing, the supply of building materials, the organizing of man-power, the engineering strategies, etc. This chapter begins with the word “Then,” implying spontaneity. It was as if an unseen Hand was leading and directing the events described in this entire chapter. Though Nehemiah’s name is not mentioned at all in this entire chapter that names the men and describes the work of rebuilding, it is obvious that he was not idle during these 52 days of furious building work. Though Nehemiah was not involved in the “frontline” work of rebuilding, he was obviously busy about the work that he “specialized” in (Neh 1:4-6). He knew that the best way to get God’s work done is not to get up and do it but to get down on his knees – and “pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers” (Matthew 9:38). There was no shortage of leaders or workers because Nehemiah believed that God raises men. Neither did Nehemiah have to “push” them to work because He preferred God to do the motivating. Unless we understand that it is God that raises men to work, we will build in vain (Psalm 127:1). We love to plan a lot and talk a lot – and we get frustrated when all our plans and persuasion fail to produce results. When we “challenge” someone to change and work, the change will be short-lived at best!
(It is interesting that the description of the rebuilding begins at the Sheep Gate, where the sacrificial lambs used in the Temple sacrifices were led into Jerusalem. Christianity must begin at the Lamb of God. There is no real rebuilding of our lives, till we start by receiving Jesus Christ as our Saviour.)
2. God leads (v.2-4): There were a total of 42 different work-groups mentioned. Each of them was a “complete ministry” that was “self-sufficient” in materials, manpower, skills, provisions, etc. There was no mention that Nehemiah planned, coordinated and provided for them. There was no need for matters to go through him, so there was no “bottle-neck” in the rebuilding work. This was one of the main reasons why the entire city could be rebuilt in 52 days. Though there must have been much overlapping as these work-teams built adjacent sections of the city-wall, there is no mention of confusion, quarrels or inefficiencies and redundancies. There appeared to be an unseen Hand that led each of the 42 work-teams to produce a seamless city-wall. Though there were 42 teams, there was one Coordinator (the Holy Spirit) and one Goal (the glory of God). “Control freaks” hinder the work of God because they trust in themselves, rather than in God.
3. God provides (v.1-3): There is no mention of a building-training program, accumulating of building materials or stores of food, yet they were not short of skills or materials throughout the building process (Phi 4:19). Most of us will not step out in faith until we have all the resources that we need to do the task. Since we can never have all the resources to do a task, we do not do anything. If God leads us to do something, we should step out in faith and trust Him to provide all our needs along the way (2Cor 5:7).
4. God accepts : Very few of these builders had prior experience in building city-walls. Obviously, some of them were more skilled than others while others were quite “unsuitable” for the work, yet God accepted all of them. In v.2, the men of Jericho and Imri were too few or too unskilled, so they partnered with Eliashib’s team (v.1). The Hassenah team was multi-skilled, so they did more complex work (v.3). Even goldsmiths and apothecaries (perfume-makers) who were trained in “fine work” built the walls (v.8). Shallum allowed his daughters to do work that was traditionally reserved for men (v.12). Hanum had a big team so he built a 1000 cubit (ie, 500 meter) long stretch of the wall (v.13). Others built tiny sections of the wall that were opposite their houses (v.15). They not only did a small work but also did a “convenient” work.” No Christian should ever disqualify himself from building for God because God accepts all.
However, there were some who felt too “high class” to do this type of building work (v. 5). In fact, if we compare the list of workers in chapter 3 with the census list in chapter 7, we realize that many did not step forward to build. Were they too high class? Or too afraid? Or just unconcerned? Or just too blur??