Today's Reading:

Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah 2
Nehemiah 3
Nehemiah 4

Gate by gate, the city walls were being rebuilt. Workers from all professions helped: masons, priests, perfume makers, men from the surrounding towns, and even their daughters took a section, all in a unified mission. Some repairs included the areas in front of their own homes, which made the project personal for protecting their families. This was not only rebuilding a city but putting a door between the outside and their family.

Scripture notes that not everyone was willing to help out. The nobles of Tekoa, where the prophet Amos was from, refused to help. God named those who showed up, and He named the ones who would not.

Grace was not in the speech; it was in those who stepped up in everyday life to help repair the section in front of their own homes. You do not have to rebuild the entire wall or do it by yourself. You just have to help with the section God put at your door, even if your neighbor refuses to lend a hand.

When a neighbor refuses to lend a hand on the work in front of you, do you still take your section of the wall, or will their refusal become your excuse to stop?

Israel had disobeyed God. They had finally been able to return from exile to rebuild the temple. Haggai and Zechariah had already pushed the temple building forward, and Malachi had called them out on the leftover problems of cheap worship and unfaithful living. Nehemiah overlaps with the time of Esther and Persia, the same empire, but he lives decades later. While Esther showed God saving the Jews, Nehemiah showed God sending him, the cupbearer, home from Susa to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and get the people back into the law. While Ezra was the priest of the time, Nehemiah was the Persian cupbearer to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. Nehemiah was in Persia when his brother told him the news of how the people were in great trouble. The walls in Jerusalem were broken down, and the gates were burned. Nehemiah mourned for days due to the condition of the city. His next step was to fast and pray. He included himself in the prayer to God with “we sinned.” Next, he asked for mercy when in the king’s presence. As a cupbearer, he would taste the king’s wine to make sure it was not poisoned. 

Nehemiah knew the problem with Jerusalem was huge. The king noticed he was sad, which could have looked like a threat, and it was like a death sentence to bring your emotions to the king. But Nehemiah answered the king honestly about Jerusalem lying in ruins. He asked the king if he could go back home, and the king agreed. Nehemiah also asked for letters for safe travel. He was crossing an empire, not going on vacation. He was headed “Beyond the River,” where the local governors could tax him or send him back to the king. He needed letters to counteract Ezra 4, when the enemies had written to the king to stop the building of the city. He would also need wood and could not have wood from the Royal forest without orders. The letters acted as a passport, building permits, and timber request all in one. God’s hand made it all happen. Two Ammonite officials, Sanballat and Tobiah, heard what Nehemiah had planned and were angry. He later responded that the God of heaven was with them in the rebuilding and would make them prosper. This was the first look at opposition again.

Chapter 3 started with the Sheep Gate and went counterclockwise around the city. Nehemiah had first secretly only looked over the southern walls and where the city overlooked the Hinnom and Kidron Valleys. Section by section, the walls were being rebuilt. Even the Dung Gate was repaired, which was used for taking out trash, ash, and waste from the city. Ugly gates need to be rebuilt too, because a city is not whole if only the pretty doors work.

Today's Discussion question:

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