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Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of crossing the finish line with a great sense of accomplishment. Perhaps for you… it was graduation; or a major business project; or rehab from a surgery; or maybe it was giving birth after prolonged labor! Join me again back in Jerusalem for a glorious announcement in the fall of 445bc.
Nehemiah 6:15 reports: “So the wall [around Jerusalem] was completed on the 25th day of Elul, in 52 days!!” By historical reckoning that exact date was October 2, 445bc. But how could that be possible? Less than two months to accomplish this massive project of clearing the rubble and rebuilding the massive wall around the city of Jerusalem? A wall perhaps as high as 30 ft and as thick as 10ft?! YES!!
And accomplished with NO modern earth moving equipment, no cranes, no professional builders, no engineering architect and under the oversight of a project manager who had been ‘cupbearer’ to the king? What does a foodservice guy know about wall building or leading a small army of people in accomplishing such a huge and complex project? And remember, especially in the last weeks of this project, the people were working with one hand and holding a weapon with the other, because of the constant threat of attack from enemies all around.
May I offer you these keys to this remarkable accomplishment, at least as I see them…
1. Nehemiah helped all the residents of Jerusalem understand their vulnerability and danger without the wall.
And then he announced that he had come, at the commissioning of King Artaxerxes, with authority to lead the project. And he was willing to join the work, getting his hands dirty too.
2. Nehemiah refused to be discouraged or distracted by various enemy schemes including intimidation, threats, bribes, false rumors and even outright attack!
Nehemiah kept focused on the task God had given him with total resolve to accomplish it speedily and well.
3. Nehemiah PRAYED… often, seeking God’s guidance and help in the face of terrible and frequent opposition from outside and great weariness and discouragement inside Jerusalem, among the workers.
4. Nehemiah understood the significance and complexity of his mission, as well as the risk of failure!
He sought God’s guidance and adjusted with creativity and innovation to a constantly changing environment with challenges. He inspired the workers, and they worked as families, especially building the portion of the wall which was closest to their homes.
5. Nehemiah challenged the spiritual leaders in Jerusalem to lead the way… not with words but with being the first to put their hands to this hard wall rebuilding work. (Nehemiah 3:1,2)
I love Nehemiah’s summary of how the region responded when the wall was completed in 52 days! “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God!” (Nehemiah 6:16)
Oh my, that’s powerfully challenging, isn’t it my friends? When it is undeniably evident that God Himself, has been directly and powerfully involved in very practical things like building projects, people take notice…all types of people, right? No one could deny the miraculous work of God in this 52 day wall rebuild, no one! And word spread out far and wide, very quickly.
Once the wall project was complete, Nehemiah knew the workers would enthusiastically return to their farms and businesses, and that would mean Jerusalem would need some new leadership. They had learned important lessons about working together and how much can be accomplished even by normal people when their energies are harnessed to a common purpose.
But as life resumed some normalcy, new challenges would emerge which would call for those same wall building values to be celebrated and embraced. So Nehemiah appointed a new city manager! Nehemiah reports: “After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do!“ (Nehemiah 7:1,2)
Oh my, do you see the priority qualifying criteria for being Mayor or city manager of Jerusalem in those days, at least for Nehemiah who was selecting the new leader? I don’t know exactly what authority or influence Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem had in Jerusalem prior to Nehemiah’s arrival but clearly, they had disqualified themselves from ANY leadership role or any role of significant influence in Jerusalem life.
Now let’s pause right here my friends and consider the quality of life and leadership criteria God is seeking in your life and mine no matter where we live in the world or our age or marital status or education. How valuable would people of “…integrity who feared God more than most people do“ be in every segment of your community?
Are you that type of person and are you therefore a person of important influence as God seeks to raise the quality of life in your town? Probably a wall doesn’t need to be built around your city, but what are God’s priorities that He is trying to accomplish and what might be your strategic role in that?
How strong is your faith and your willingness to work hard as Nehemiah did? Do you know the God who is a ‘mountain mover’ and do you rely on Him like Nehemiah did? Let’s ponder those thoughts as we worship with this song, and I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow, my friends…
Today’s Scripture: Nehemiah 6:15-7:2.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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