Whoa! Halfway There!!

“Whoa! Halfway there!!” 

About 2,500 years before Bon Jovi and the boys sang about Tommy busting his butt on the docks, Nehemiah and the Israelites hit the halfway point rebuilding the walls. Despite the cat calls and smack talk from knuckleheads like Sanballat and Tobiah, the work goes on and the walls go up. But this is so much more than sheer determination in the face of opposition. The perseverance of the people is an answer to prayer. Nehemiah steps up in leadership when he drops to his knees and prays to God about the situation. The LORD responds to Nehemiah’s prayer by putting the Hebrews to work. And before you know it, they’ve hit the midway point of the project. 

“Whoa! Halfway there!! Whoa! An answer to the prayer!!”

Let’s rewind just a bit and see how we got here. The glory of Jerusalem seems like a distant memory. Under the leadership of the wisest man in the world, King Solomon, this city was once one of THE destinations in the ancient Near East. But the disobedience and rebellion of God’s chosen people against His goodness eventually led the LORD to send Nebuchadnezzar to sack the city and drag the Jews back to Babylon into captivity. For 70 years, the Hebrews serve as slaves almost 1,000 miles away from the Promised Land. Suddenly, God begins working through a series of pagan Persian kings to bring them back home. Yahweh enlists various men to lead a three different expeditions. First, Zerubbabel. Second, Ezra. Third, Nehemiah. 

Just a few months ago, our man Nehemiah was pulling his shift as King Artaxerxes’ cupbearer back at the winter palace in Susa (Neh 1:1, 11). His brother breaks the news to him about the broken walls of Jerusalem and it breaks his heart (Neh 1:2-3). The word of the crisis brings Nehemiah to his knees in prayer (Neh 1:4-11). Little does he know what God is about to orchestrate. Before he can pop the cork on the next bottle of Merlot for his royal highness, this humble wine steward is leading an expedition to rebuild the once proud city on a hill (Neh 2:1-8, 11). After a bit of quick midnight recon (Neh 2:12-16), Nehemiah pitches the project to the city leaders of Jerusalem and tells them that the king and God are behind the project (Neh 2:17-18). 

Before we start to think everything is rainbows and unicorns, we need to realize that this is the real world. There is opposition. There is massive pushback on the project from a group of local thugs named Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem (Neh 2:10, 19-20). But under Nehemiah’s encouragement and leadership, the people get busy. This is a total team effort (Neh 3:1-32). Sanaballat and the boys amp up their bullying tactics even more (Neh 4:1-3). Nehemiah prays even more (Neh 4:4-5). 

How does God respond to this latest prayer by the leader of the project? Does His angel army rumble over the horizon to the rescue? Do the walls miraculously build themselves overnight? Nope. Something even more unexpected happens. “So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work” (v6). Nehemiah and the Hebrew work crew buckle down and start building up. Despite the trash talk and intimidation of their enemies, the Israelites trust in God’s provision and protection on this project. As part of his prayer, Nehemiah makes the huge point that Sanballat’s thugs weren’t just a pain to the people. “They have provoked You to anger in the presence of the builders” (Neh 4:5). They were standing in blatant opposition of God. Just in case you were wondering, this is NOT a good place to be. You will lose. Every. Single. Time. Nehemiah not only leads the people in the project but in the demonstration of faith as well. He constantly reminds everyone that God has a firm grip on what’s going on (Neh 2:8, 18). So they built the wall. A God-given passion combined with a prayer-driven action is powerful combo.

At this point, we get a status report on the project. “And all the wall was joined together to half its height” (v6). Back in chapter 3, Nehemiah walked us around the job site to show how everybody is working at the same time. The stones are connecting. The holes are closing. The people are working. This is all hands on deck. In some ways, this is a picture of how things should work in the local church. Everybody needs to be a part. Just as the wall has joined together, the body of Christ should join together. We all need to get off our blessed assurance and serve. It’s not what Jesus from you. It’s what He wants FOR you. There is a huge blessing when we serve together. There is a huge blessing when we build the walls.

And the people are making incredible progress. Before you know it, the city wall rises “to half its height” (v6). While the author doesn’t pull out his tape measure and tell us just how high this is, archaeologist Sir Charles Warren has found evidence that the ancient walls of Jerusalem during the days of Nehemiah were about 200 feet tall. That certainly is awesome headway, but they are far from finished. The city is still vulnerable and still in danger. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that the walls at full height failed to keep out the Babylonian army. But HUGE progress has been made due to God’s hand, the people’s faith, and Nehemiah’s leadership. They’re halfway there. Cue Bon Jovi.

Nehemiah not only gives us a status report on the walls, but the people as well. “For the people had a mind to work” (v6). A closer look at the original text of this little sentence tells us a lot. He uses a Hebrew word for “work” (Heb. ‘asah) that can be translated as to do, make, produce, and maintain. It carries the powerful idea of perseverance and powering through. Again, we see God answering Nehemiah’s prayer by giving the people the passion to persevere. The LORD sustains the drive in the hearts and minds of the Israelites to keep going. He gives them the motivation to push through. To keep on keeping on. We see that in The Message’s take on verse 6. “We kept at it, repairing and rebuilding the wall” (v6 The Message).

Notice how Nehemiah takes absolutely no credit for such fast work by the people. He prays to God and celebrates the crew. The insults and intimidation of knuckleheads like Sanballat and Tobia have no effect on the Israelites. If anything, they may have worked even harder! A huge part of God’s blessing on rebuilding the walls is that He gave His people a desire and passion to do the work. They have the mind to do it. They have the mind to make it. They have the mind to keep it going. A God-given passion combined with a prayer-driven action is powerful combo. 

Cue Bon Jovi.

“Whoa! Halfway there!! Whoa! An answer to the prayer!!”