Nehemiah 3:1-32
For the next two weeks we'll be reading through and considering Nehemiah as Dr. Kroll teaches from this incredible book on Back to the Bible. Our reading is starting in chapter 3, but in the first two chapters we've been told that Nehemiah is in captivity, that he is the cup-bearer to Artaxerxes, the King of Persia, and that he has gotten word that the city of Jerusalem is in a state of shambles. Nehemiah is heartbroken and after seeking the Lord's direction, he gets permission from King Artaxerxes to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. As we come to chapter 3, Nehemiah is in Jerusalem. He's met with the Jewish people and gotten their support to rebuild the walls.Nehemiah was an exceptional leader, but what caught my attention today, wasn't so much Nehemiah and his actions, but all the other people and names in this passage who stepped up to work on this massive building project. Talk about a picture of unity and the Body working together. It was simply impressive--goldsmiths, priests, merchants, temple servants, women, perfumers--all contributed to this important undertaking.
So what from Nehemiah 3 can you use and apply to your own life situation? Was there anything in particular that really spoke to your heart from this passage today? Tami W.
P.S. I hope you can join Dr. Kroll and me for this series on Nehemiah. It's called Effective Leadership in the 21st Century and it's full of information and guidelines that we can use every single day.
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This reminds me that when work needs to be done at our Church, we all should be responsible for a part. There is always something we can do and not leave it all to the pastor.
Several things caught my attention - no matter their station, they did a lot of hard labor. This included your everyday people and those in charge of sections of the city. Some even did twice as much as others. It was interesting to note that women helped also. And that the Tekoites made repairs but "their nobles did not support the work of their masters". In other words, with time, some things never change. :-) However, I feel it's my duty to do what I can for my church, regardless.
I think there is another subtle message left here for us to uncover: God remembers the names of those who do Kingdom work.
I find it interesting that all the people helped in the effort, with the priests, the high priests, perfumers, and all sorts of people doing work. Verse 5 lists the exception of noblemen of the Tekoites not supporting the work. When all of the people support the work of God, the task gets completed fast but we as the people must be careful to not be concerned with appearances and refuse to work. I believe that the wide spread support for the rebuilding was the result of God's hand being in it. The lack of support from one segment indicates that scoffers will always be around, even in God's household of faith. We believers ought to always partake in God's task and leave the scoffer alone.
It is amazing what we can do if we work together toward a common goal. Because we all have strengths and weakness and working together is how we finish a goal and support each other.
Where God leads, God provides, from the materials to the spirit of unity that's necessary to accomplish His work.
Nehemiah was very much a down to earth person, who believed God and followed the task set before him. He was able to use the wisdom and insight God gave him to set out the plan and methods which would allow the Jews to rebuild. The men he commanded and lead were not only builders and such, they were warriors. When Nehemiah was at court, one of the things he observed and was around was the King and his men playing games, one such game was chess, therefore, he knew the value of strategy and planing.