Nehemiah 3

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Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP Church in Southeast Iowa. We want to thank you for listening today and we pray that you’ll be blessed by both hearing God's Word as well as having it applied to your life and your heart.

Please turn over in your Bible with me to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 3. You can find Nehemiah chapter 3 on page 429 of the provided pew Bibles. We're actually going to start the reading at chapter 2 verse 19 and go through all of chapter 3. Nehemiah chapter 2 beginning at verse 19. Hear now God's holy and perfect Word:

“But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”

“So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel. Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

“Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.

“Moreover Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars. And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River. Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs in front of his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabniah made repairs.

“Malchijah the son of Harim and Hashub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens. And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs.

“Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.

“Malchijah the son of Rechab, leader of the district of Beth Haccerem, repaired the Refuse Gate; he built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

“Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he built it, covered it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David. After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs as far as the place in front of the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and as far as the House of the Mighty.

“After him the Levites, under Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, leader of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. After him their brethren, under Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of the other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs. And next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the Ascent to the Armory at the buttress. After him Baruch the son of Zabbai carefully repaired the other section, from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, repaired another section, from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib.

“And after him the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs. After him Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house. After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress, even as far as the corner. Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the buttress, and on the tower which projects from the king’s upper house that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

“Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the Water Gate toward the east, and on the projecting tower. After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel.

“Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his dwelling. After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants, in front of the Miphkad Gate, and as far as the upper room at the corner. And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.”

Thus ends this portion of God’s Word. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever.

Well, if there's one thing that I really don't like in this world, I mean I really really really don't like it, every time Olivia and I see this, I wag my head and I say, “They could have done a lot better than that!” is a bad Christian movie. You know the types of Christian movies I'm talking about. Where everything works out perfect in the end. Where everyone you share the gospel with comes down to their knees and says the sinner's prayer. Where when somebody prays it's like all of the sudden the cloudy skies break open and the sun shines through and there's rays of golden sunshine down on the land and there's an audible voice, “Yes, I will do it for you.” Every single one of us knows that's not real. Every single one of us, in our lives, knows that that is not how the Lord answers prayer. A few weeks ago, we looked at Nehemiah's prayer in Nehemiah chapter 2. When Nehemiah got down on his knees and pleaded with God to take away the reproach. When he pleaded with God his own promises from Deuteronomy chapter 30, he asked God to take away this reproach and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And the rest of Nehemiah is how God is answering that prayer to keep His promise. And here we find God's promises are coming true. He will not leave His people in reproach. The walls of Jerusalem will not stay torn down.

And so as we look at this passage today and as we work through it, the call in your life is are you trusting the promises of God and putting your shoulder to the work? Are you trusting the promises of God and putting your shoulders to the work? It’s pretty amazing as we look through that long list of names and places, normally I try to look up at you as I'm reading different portions, if I look up from some of those names there ain't no going back! You just got to keep going. But as the Lord is showing us this person made this area and this person made this area and this person made these gates and these people did these things, there's a great reality there that all the people of God are engaged in this work.

All the people seem to be engaged in this work and it starts with the high priest, Eliashib. Look with me at verse 1. Nehemiah 3:1, “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate.” The high priest is the first one to put his hands to the work, he and the other priests, and they build that most northern gate, the Sheep Gate. Why is it called the Sheep Gate? Because that's where the sacrifices would come in. That's where people would bring in their sheep to go to the temple at that time. And that's where Eliashib starts at the Sheep Gate. And the rest of the story of Nehemiah chapter 3 is going in a circle around and showing how they're rebuilding all the walls of Jerusalem. But it's important that that works starts with the priest.

And what do the priests do after they build that section of the wall? “They built it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.” See, God's city was a holy city and they needed to consecrate, the word there is holify, it is qadash. They made this holy. They set it apart, saying, “this gate, this part of the wall is only used to bring in the sacrifices and protect the temple.” This is a holy city. This is a holy people who dwell in this city. This is where God's name will rest. And so, the beginning of the rebuilding of the walls starts with the priest.

But look with me at the different people. See, this is both grassroots, everybody coming together, as well as top down. This is full scale, everyone. Look with me at verses 7, I'm just going to read it as we go. Verse 7, “And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River.” People are rebuilding the house of the governor as they’re rebuilding the walls. And then in verse 9, “And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.” So Jerusalem is split into half, and here we find that one of the leaders of half of Jerusalem is rebuilding the wall. And then look down at verse 12, “next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem.” So both leaders of half districts are rebuilding their section of the wall. Look down with me at verse 16, “After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs as far as the place in front of the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and as far as the House of the Mighty.” And then look down at verse 17, “After him the Levites, under Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, leader of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.”

There are surrounding towns outside of Jerusalem that the people, the leaders, are coming in with their people and rebuilding Jerusalem. Look down with me at verse 18, “After him their brethren, under Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of the other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs.” So they're still making repairs. That's all the people of that district are coming up to the city with their leaders to make repairs. Verse 19, “And after him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section from the Ascent to the Armory of the buttress.” See, both the leaders and the people of God are all coming up to build up the walls of Jerusalem. They have understood that God's hand was upon Nehemiah, that this was the Lord's will for them to build up the city wall and that's what they're going to go do.

But it's interesting. Look with me at verse five. Out of all those leaders and all those different places, look at verse five, “Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.” Tekoa is in the south of Jerusalem, to the south of there near the area that Geshem, the man who had just mocking the Jews is from, and their nobles won't put their shoulder to the work. But the people of Tekoa still do it. They actually, it said that they build one section in verse 5, and later on, they build a second section of the wall. All the people of God are together building this wall.

But it's not only the leaders, it's not only the people, but it's also the guilds. It's also the people who had a trade at that time. Look with me at verse 8, “Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.” Who are the perfumers? Who are the goldsmiths? Archaeologists and historians of this time will tell us that these were the wealthy people of the land. These are the people who had lots of financial influence. And they don't look after just themselves, but they give themselves to seeing the promise of God accomplished. They put their money and their time where their mouth is. And they build the hardest section of the wall, the Broad Wall.

But it's not just the men who are doing it either. Look with me at verse 12, “Next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs.” The church is not man's work. The church is not, you know, men only. This isn't the guy's club. Paul himself greats and encourages the coworkers in the gospel and those are to women in Philippians chapter 4. Ladies, the work that you do in the church is valuable. The work that you do for the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is, at the last day, your name is going to be in that book this same way. When He's handing out rewards, He's going to go, “Oh yeah, I remember when you visited that widow. I remember when you showed kindness to that young mother by helping with her children. I remember when you made that meal for fellowship time. I remember how you helped share the gospel and care for the church. How you helped build up as well.”

See, the Lord is taking away the people's reproach here. God is answering Nehemiah’s prayer that God would accomplish His promises to do this. God is making them prosper. Again, I want to look back to Nehemiah's prayer. Nehemiah 1:8, ““Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the furthest parts of the heavens, that I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and the prayer of Your servants who desires to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king's cupbearer.”

Nehemiah is praying to be prosperous before the king. But in Deuteronomy chapter 30, God says He is going to restore His people. The prayer that he's going back to, the promise in Deuteronomy chapter 30, God says that He's going to bring His people back and He is going to prosper them. And this is something we know in our own day. The Lord doesn't forsake His people. The Lord has been extremely gracious to this congregation. It's just this week 173 years ago this congregation was formed. Just this week, 173 years ago, persecuted Irish and Scottish immigrants traveled here and joined together to become a congregation. In the early 1840s, this is when the Beards and the McElhaney's went down the Ohio River and crossed the Mississippi and became some of the first people to settle along the Honey Creek and to become the people who we live here, and are our ancestors and are buried in the graves next to us. And it wasn't long that other people came along with them. Other families came along and cared for them. But as they met as a society for six years, they would pray and they would read their Bibles and they would encourage one another and sing the Psalms. They desperately wanted to hear God's Word. They wanted a place where they could actually worship together, where they could actually partake in the sacraments regularly, and where they could be fed and that they could know that this was a place that God was establishing His people in. And it was again, in 1847, that James McDonald's was called as this congregation's first gospel minister. And has been from that day that He has not left you, nor your ancestors, without someone to proclaim the gospel.

It was here that under hardship, that the people put their shoulder into the work. See, they did not just hear God's Word and sit on their duffs. After James McDonald was called as the first pastor here, they were worshiping in the barn a couple miles up. But it was not long after that, 18 short months later, they had raised enough money and built the first church. A bunch of farmers. And then when God continued to prosper this congregation, and into the late 1800s, there's over 200 people in the congregation and again within 18 months they raised $3,600. By the way, that's not $3,600 our time, that's their time. I don't have internet at the house, so I don't know how much that is in our dollars, but I guarantee it's quite a bit. They raised the money and they built the building that we sit in now. Yes, it's been remodeled, but some of your fathers and grandfathers and your uncles and your brothers and cousins were the ones who put their shoulders to the work here when they wanted fellowship and dug out a basement by hand.

The question is: will you? The question is: are we those who are willing to put our shoulders to the work or will we be like the Tekoite nobles? Are we the ones who say, “Oh yeah, those promises are good.” But are more comfortable to sit on our own duffs and be happy and let others do the work, or are you embracing God's call that no Christian is meant to be sedentary, but that God calls us to work. And that work is good, no matter how big or how small that task is. No matter how long the section of your wall is, or how short that section of your wall is.

Let me ask you: In your faith, in the city of your soul, are you working? As you look at the north wall of relationships, are you paying attention to what's going on? Are you looking at that north wall of relationship and seeing that wall of purity and are you laying its doors? Are you setting its hinges? Are you putting up bars that all the enemies of God cannot prevail against it? Are you building up the walls of your marriage with precious stones? Or does the wall have a breach in it? As you look at the north wall of relationships, and you look at the children in your life, the grandchildren in your life, the great grandchildren in your life, are you paying attention to the wall? Are you caring for those future generations that they might be protected? Are you reading your Scriptures to your children, to your grandchildren, to your nieces, to your nephews? Are you praying for them? Are you building them up? Or are you happy to be a Tekoite?

As you inspect the east wall of your soul, is it well gardened? As you look at the buttresses of the east wall of your soul, is it well-fortified? Is it the broad wall? As you look at your mind and you think about what you read and what you hear and what you consume and what you think about, is it a wall or is there a breech open for the enemy, for Satan to come in and to attack you at any moment's notice? Will you repair that breach? Will you put aside the things that are leaving that gate open to attack? And would you steal it up with a strong gate? When you look at that east wall of your soul, that wall is guarded and protected by prayer, and by devotions. Is the garrison there strong? Is part of that wall there, remember, as they were building the wall, one of the places they built is where the army of God would assemble for war, do you go and look at that portion of your wall of prayer, your prayer wall, and inspect it daily? Are you conscripted by God to go to that wall every day and make sure that the city of your soul is strong? Brothers and sisters, will you put your shoulder to the labor?

As you continue to build the walls of your faith, will you look at the southern wall of your character? Last week we looked at what was on the southern wall and there's not a pretty gate at the southern wall. The New King James version likes to kind of make it a little bit nicer than what the Hebrew is. They call it the refuse gate. It's not as clean as the refuse gate. Are you building up that wall? Are you looking at the wall of your character and are you paying attention to your tongue? Let me ask you, when you look at the refuse gate, do you know where the Bible would most likely put the refuse gate of your body? We’d call the Dung Gate of your body if you want. I'll give you a hint. It's up not down. What garbage is coming out of your mouth? Are you speaking words to build each other up, to encourage one another? I think it's amazing that God's commandment in Hebrews 10:24 is given to us that we should come to the assembling of ourselves together so we can encourage each other. When you come into the House of the Lord as the temple of the Living God, as living stones, are you encouraging one another with your tongue or is the refuse of your soul, of your heart, coming out of your mouth? As you continue to look at that southern gate of character, what would other people think if they saw it? What would they see about the integrity gate? What would they see about how well you lay the gates and set the bars of your integrity? I remember when I was in boot camp they gave us a really simple definition for integrity. Who you are when no one else is watching. How strong is your wall when no one else is watching? Do you man that gate, that you're not two-sided? Are you are you building that wall of your faith?

Brothers and sisters, do not get me wrong. This is hard work. This is hard labor. If we think that the building of the wall was something easy, later on, during chalk and talk, I'm going to be showing pictures of what some of the stones at that time looked like. And I got to tell you, they were building that wall by the sweat of their brow. As you read about the goldsmith and the perfumers setting the wall, you need to think of men who had drenched sweat clothes on, who are weary, and who are trying to put the stone as far up and as high as they can to make sure the city is safe. Are you straining to build the wall of your faith? Is that wall, is that corner, Jesus Christ? See, Jesus, this is why we had to start with Philippians chapter 1. Yes, you're going to strain with all your might. That's what sanctification looks like. That's what mortification looks like. That's what doing war against our own desires looks like. That's what building up the household of our faith looks like is hard work. But it is founded upon and undergirded and pushed forward by Jesus Christ. He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of perfection. Brothers and sisters, ask yourself: how are you building your wall? How are we building the church? Are we doing it thoughtlessly? Or are we putting our shoulders into it?

Let's pray. “Lord, we thank you so much that You are the guardian protector of Your people. Lord, we thank you that You are the One who makes promises and You are the One who gives us energy and strength for You deliver by Your mighty right hand. Lord, we plead with You, that Your kingdom would come here on earth as it is in heaven and that You would be pleased to use people like us: sinful, small people; to do amazing and eternity changing work for Your glory. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

Thank you for listening to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP church in Morning Sun, Iowa. We pray that you would be blessed as you grow in your love for God, your love for His Word, as well as your love for His people. Until next week, God bless you.