Articles
Let Us Rise Up And Build
When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in Nehemiah 2, the children of Israel were a group of disorganized people. They were living in a city surrounded by crumbled and burnt walls and were looked upon as weak and unimportant. Even though this must have made the children of Israel very vulnerable and scared, no one did anything about it.
When Nehemiah arrived at Jerusalem he surveyed the situation and began to inspire the people to do something about the dismal condition of their once proud city. In Nehemiah 3, we see the people went to work and rebuilt the wall. There were priests, gold smiths, perfume makers, a man and his daughters, rulers, and many others who worked together many days to rebuild the wall. No one complained that he was not qualified to be a builder, or what part of the wall they had to work on; they just built the wall. They worked together as one large unit, and every day the wall and the people grew stronger.
As the children of Israel continued to work on the wall, the people around them started to look at them in a different way. They started to be concerned about this new Israel who was working together and showing great strength and passion in rebuilding their city. In Nehemiah 4 some of these people even threatened violence to stop the work. But the children of Israel continued to build, becoming even stronger and closer as they worked on the wall and protected one another from their enemies. Finally, in Nehemiah 6 they completed the wall in 52 days. Working together as one they had accomplished something great, and in Nehemiah 6:16 it reads:
"When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God."
As we read this story we can learn much to apply to our lives today:
Just like Nehemiah, those who are strong in the faith must work with and inspire those who are weak. We can only accomplish great things if everyone is strong and believes in what they are building.
We must all work together as one unit to build the kingdom of God. Even though we may not be as experienced as some in building, we must move outside our comfort zone and do what we can. I know from experience this is very difficult for some of us, but we must try.
We must arise and work everyday. As Christians we do not get to take vacations or retire. If we work and build everyday we are on this earth, our reward will be great.
When we are threatened by our enemies, we must become a tighter and stronger group. We must protect one another and, though it will be harder, we must continue to build.
In Nehemiah 3, God names many people by name and states the work they are doing. God also knows each of us by name and knows the work we are doing. We must be sure as a church and as an individual that God is happy with the work we are doing.
Finally, when people around us look at us as individuals and as a church, we should work so they will respect us and say the same thing said in Nehemiah 6:16:
“they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”
