NEHEMIAH – BUILDING FOR THE LORD
by Bryan Gibson
The Book of Nehemiah tells of the efforts of a man named Nehemiah, along with his fellow-Jews, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Despite considerable opposition, the walls were completed in 52 days—less than 2 months. The following points show why they were so successful, and at the same time, how we can be successful today.
THEY HAD A MIND TO WORK
When Nehemiah first revealed his plans to the people, their response was, “let us rise up and build” (Nehemiah 2:18). They were ready to get to work. Later, as they progressed with the work, this statement is made, “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6).
The Lord still wants people with a mind to work, people who have a mind to visit the sick, teach a class, invite people to services, show hospitality, encourage weak brethren, labor fervently in prayer, etc. We’ll never get a lot done unless we first have a mind to work.
AS THEY WORKED, THEY KEPT WATCH FOR THE ENEMY
The Jews knew their enemies would try to disrupt their plans, so here is what they did, “Nevertheless we made our prayer to God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night” (Nehemiah 4:9). The Jews continued to build, but they kept their weapons at their side, ready to fight whenever the enemy invaded (see Nehemiah 4:10-23).
How does this apply to us today? We, too, must be watchful for our enemy (1 Peter 5:8). And since we never know when he might attack, we better have our weapons at our side (Ephesians 6:10-18), ready to fight (Philippians 1:27-28; Jude 3).
THEY KEPT ON WORKING, DESPITE CONSIDERABLE OPPOSITION
Nehemiah and his fellow-Jews faced enough opposition to make a lot of people quit. Along with efforts to discourage the Jews as a whole (2:19-20; 4:1-3), attempts were made to harm Nehemiah (6:1-4), to slander him (6:5-9), and to entice him to sin (6:10-14). But none of this kept them from working and completing the job before them. This is what is recorded in Nehemiah 6:15-16: “So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.”
What is the message to us? Some may make fun of us. Some may run us off when we try to teach them. Fellow-Christians may disappoint us. False teachers may run rampant. But we must never stop working. “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” (1 Cor. 15:58).
THEY CONSTANTLY PRAYED TO GOD
As evidence of this, please read Nehemiah 1:4; 2:4; 4:4-5, 9. Nehemiah certainly understood that they would need God’s help in accomplishing this great work.
Certainly, it should be no different with us today. To accomplish the work God has given us, we must learn to “pray without ceasing.” Prayer is still one of the best weapons we have against Satan (Ephesians 6:18).