Nehemiah 3:1- Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and installed its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. NASB
If you are like me, the book of Nehemiah doesn’t cause you to get excited about what’s within the chapters. Nehemiah hears about the walls, goes to build the walls, gets the walls built, and the rest is history! After decades of reading this book, it’s never been a book that made me want to preach about it. But during this time of stopping and looking at what is going on in Nehemiah, I must say that I am intrigued by what I am discovering within the chapters of the book of Nehemiah.
In the third chapter, the concept of building or making repairs on the wall is mentioned in every single verse. For example:
Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and installed its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.
Nehemiah 3:1 NASB
What is so interesting about this chapter is that most of these people were already in Jerusalem when Nehemiah arrived. They saw the walls falling apart and they weren’t inspired to build or repair. These were the same people whom the messengers told Nehemiah about in chapter one:
And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Nehemiah 1:3 NASB
So what happened between chapters 1 and 3 that took the people from being in great distress and disgrace? Nehemiah happened!
Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
Nehemiah 2:17 NASB
Nehemiah went to Jerusalem. After inspecting the walls, the gates, and the city, he called a meeting of the people who were living in the city. As he spoke to them, he didn’t tell them that they had a problem, he told them that “we” had a problem. He encouraged them to join with him in rebuilding the walls of the city so that they (he included) would no longer be a disgrace. Then Nehemiah stated:
And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.”
Nehemiah 2:19 NASB
Maybe the people weren’t all that interested when Nehemiah stated that the walls needed to be rebuilt to remove the disgrace and despair they were experiencing, but there is something about a testimony! Nehemiah testified of the favor of God in his life. He shared how he fasted and prayed, and went to the king, and how the king not only gave him permission to help build the walls but also gave the provisions necessary to get the job done. As he finished his words of encouragement, the people had only one response, “Let’s arise and build.” These are the people we see in Chapter 3.
We find the high priest and his brothers building the Sheep Gate. And after they finished building it, they consecrated it and installed doors. And next to them, the men of Jericho built. Others made repairs in their section. They worked with their families, and with their neighbors to build or repair what was before them.
Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.
Nehemiah 3:12 NASB
I noticed this time around that women worked on the building of the wall. Officials worked on the wall. People who were qualified to build, and people who were not qualified to build worked on the wall. Everybody was working on the wall! And this time, I was moved by what I read in Nehemiah 3.
Although many people had to build in their sections, others only needed to make repairs. Whether they were building or repairing, everybody did their part, and every part was important to the completion of the project. This chapter is a beautiful picture of what can be accomplished when everyone has a mind a work!
It is typically reported that 20% of the people in the church carry 80% of the load of the church. I think more realistically, it is higher than 20%. However, I can safely say that it isn’t 100% of the body doing the work.
Nehemiah had a leadership style that we can learn from. First, Nehemiah included himself in everything that was going on. When a leader in the church is promoting a project, they need to make sure that the people see them involved in the project. No one wants to give up their time to do something that the leader didn’t feel a need to give up their time to do. Nehemiah saw the wall as being his problem and something that he needed to fix. He conveyed this to the people!
Another thing Nehemiah did was to let the people know why they were building the wall. He shared his vision as a vision he had received from God. He told the people that God had already begun to move on their behalf by touching the king’s heart and having the king provide for the project. This encouraged the people causing them to want to work!
For Christmas, our church did a project that was called, Jesus on the Red Line. On a Sunday afternoon, volunteers filled over 5,000 bags with food items to be given out on the Red Line of Chicago’s L train. As the vision was presented to the church, the leader told us that she would meet us there. It wasn’t a pleasant Sunday afternoon, yet hundreds of volunteers showed up to fill the bags. We were asked to fill about 8 bags each. But most people filled more than what was asked of them. There was excitement in the air as we chatted with people we knew and met others. We were excited to do our part!
On the day of distribution, a different group of volunteers showed up to give the bags to passengers as they got off of the L train. Video clips showed both volunteers and recipients of the bags smiling and sharing cheer. Did I forget to mention that both of our churches were involved and we were at every stop between 35th and 95th streets? It was something to see! This project was a beautiful picture of dividing and conquering. Some of us knew we couldn’t get off of work to make the Monday distribution so we stayed on Sunday. Those who went on Monday knew they were available or just wanted to participate in that part of the event. It worked!
This togetherness is what is needed to get the gospel out today. Guilt and manipulation is old news. Few are falling for that tactic today. And not only that, it doesn’t really work. The people of God understand that there is work to be done. What we need are leaders like Nehemiah who know how to seek God for a plan, and then allow Him to help them cast the vision. Then God will move on our hearts and cause us to say, “Let us arise, and get this done!” We are all in this together. There are just some things that won’t get done until we do them together! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 