If you’re a sports fan, you’ve seen teams struggle to put all the pieces together. Some teams have a high powered, high octane offense but their defense can’t stop a soul. Other squads possess a shutdown D but struggle to put anything other than goose eggs on the scoreboard. Maybe special teams are a joke. Coaches dream of those times when it all comes together. They call it a total team effort. That’s when every player is enthusiastically carrying out their specific duty and encouraging those around them. The offense is clicking. The defense is shutting them down. Special teams are flawless. In Nehemiah 3, we see a classic description of on of those amazing moments when everybody is excited, on board, and doing their job. Nehemiah oversees the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. For the first time in a very long time, every Israelite living in Judah is pulling in their weight. This is a total team effort.
It’s 445 BC. The once proud city of Jerusalem looks like Detroit. Back in 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar’s army absolutely obliterates Jerusalem. They wreck the walls. They burn the gates. They steal everything out of the temple. And if that’s not bad enough, they kidnap most of the Jewish people and haul them back to Babylon to serve as slaves. All that’s left behind is a smoldering pile of bricks and the poorest of the poor. You might make the mistake that God has forgotten all about His once glorious city on a hill. Not so fast, my friend. Through a series of pagan kings, God orchestrates a series of resettlements and rebuilding projects through men like Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
When Nehemiah hits town, Jerusalem is still in crisis mode. The walls that protect the city look like swiss cheese. Knowing that God has a firm grip on his mission, Nehemiah encourages the people to rebuild the walls. We know from Nehemiah 6:15 that work gets started on the Fourth of Ab (that’s right about July/August on our calendar). It will only take 52 days to take care of business. And people say there are no miracles in this book. Please. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Grab a hard hat and let’s check out the worksite. What follows in Nehemiah 3 is a detailed account of that project.
Nehemiah walks us around the wall project in a counterclockwise direction. Don’t make the mistake of thinking the people worked on walls one section at a time. Everybody is working at the same time. There’s no way they could finish in 52 days if they weren’t. Our tour begins at the Sheep Gate (v1). This is the northern wall nearest the temple. It’s probably the most vulnerable area. We see the high priest Eliashib leading a team made up of his brother priests hard at work. This is a great example of leading by example. People look to leaders like the priests to show the way. And that’s exactly what they do. They call this the Sheep Gate because this is where they bring in the sheep used in the temple sacrifice. They not only build the gate and the wall but they also consecrate it. In doing so, they recognize it’s special purpose in protecting the house of God. Yes, this is Eliashib, the grandson of Jeshua, the high priest under Zerubbabel (Neh 12:10). But something seems a little fishy about Eliashib but you can’t put your finger on it. We’ll find out just a little later that Tobiah has his hooks in Eliashib and his family (Neh 13:4, 7-8). Tobiah is one of the three thugs opposing the project (Neh 2:10, 19).
We walk out the Sheep Gate and make a left down the wall. As we go, we see that 42 specific sections and gates are mentioned in this chapter. And we’ll also see that this project is all hands on deck. Just check out all the different people on the job site. We’ve already met the high priest and his priest brothers (v1). There’s men from various neighboring towns who’ve come to work (v2, 5, 7, 13, 16, 17). Men from various families are mentioned all throughout the chapter. Goldsmiths (v8, 31, 32). Perfumers (v8). Various big wigs and rulers (v9, 14, 16, 17, 19). Look over there, a group of ladies is hard at work (v12). Priests (v22, 28). Temple servants (v26). Local businessmen (v32). Are these men trained construction workers? Absolutely not. But this is a great example that there are going to be times we need to do things outside our training, our gifts, and our passions. I’m sure the perfumers aren’t exactly skilled at swinging a hammer. But they saw the need. And they got to work.
All sorts of folks are pulling their weight and hard at work. There’s just one exception. Apparently the rulers of the Tekoites won’t get off their blessed assurance to help. Tekoa is a city just south of Jerusalem. Nehemiah tells us that “their nobles refused to stoop to serve their Lord” (v5). The Hebrew language here could either mean that they resent Nehemiah’s leadership or that they fail to submit to God. When it comes to this project, the people properly serve God by following Nehemiah’s leadership. In this case, it’s one and the same. This is all about submitting to godly authority. Even Nehemiah is under authority. He answers to both King Artaxerxes as well as the King of Kings. We’re ALL under authority. We ALL live in submission. Unless our leaders are asking us to sin, we need to do what they tell us. Being a follower of Jesus is being a good follower of human leadership. So what’s the deal with these slacker nobles from Tekoa? There’s a chance that they some of the leaders who are on the take from that bully Tobiah (Neh 6:17-19).
Nehemiah prefers to have people would work on the wall near their own home (v10, 23, 28, 29, 30). Let’s face it, you’re clearly going to bust your butt when you know the safety of your family and property are at stake. That’s smart leadership right there. We also see dudes willing to work on more than one section. Men like Meremoth (v4, 21). And check out the Tekoites. Despite bad example of their deadbeat nobles, they happily work at a second part of the project (v5, 27). Nehemiah mentions several teams that “repaired another section” (v11, 19-21, 24, 27, 30). The only way the rebuilding of the walls and gates is going to get done is if some folks pull double duty. There are going to be times when each one of us needs to step up and do more. It’s not everyday. It’s not all the time. But keep your eyes open for opportunities to go above and beyond when it presents itself.
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