How to build? (Nehemiah 3:1-3)

How to build?

 

 

[Nehemiah 3:1-3]

 

 

A phrase often used during President Bush's speeches at the Republican Convention was ‘Building a safer world and a more hopeful America.’  During his speech, President Bush mentioned several names: ‘… I am lucky to have the best Vice President  ...  I am honored to have him by my side ....’  He said that he was grateful to be walking through life with Laura Bush, saying that the American people were seeing the goodness, the kindness and the virtues of Laura Bush that she had seen 26 years ago.  He then mentioned his two daughters and close friends and parents.  During his speeches, especially at the end, as he spoke to the soldiers and their families who died fighting for freedom, I was moved and the TV showed people who shed tears.  As I listened to President Bush's speech, I compared President Bush and Nehemiah.  President Bush who wants to make America a safer and more hopeful America after the collapsed Twin Towers in New York and Nehemiah rebuilt the fallen Jerusalem.  President Bush with a concrete plan with strong and consistent leadership and Nehemiah, who prays with a clear goal and sense of duty, made plans and put them into action.  In particular, compared to today's text, Nehemiah 3, I see more similarities in the part where Nehemiah mentions the people who work with him.

 

In today's text, Nehemiah 3:1-3, Nehemiah mentions the names and groups of many people.  I'm writing what these many people did to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.  How did Nehemiah and the people of Judah build the city of Jerusalem?  Focusing on today's text, I hope and pray that, while receiving lessons while thinking about two ways under the heading “How to build?”, we will also be used to build the church, the body of the Lord we serve.

 

First, we must teamwork.

 

Look at the teamwork (collaborative work) in today's text, Nehemiah 3.  In Nehemiah 3, there are 38 individual names as well as 42 other group names written on the person who appeared to say, “they began this good work” (2:18) to build the city of Jerusalem [At least 75 people (Lee)].  What does this fact teach us?  It is true that the city of Jerusalem was not built by Nehemiah or anyone else alone.  In other words, many people who had a sense of duty and were motivated by the leaders worked together to build the city of Jerusalem.  Here we must learn the principle of cooperation.  A good Bible verse that explains that principle is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”  If team members who have a three-fold cord that is not easily broken are used to cooperate to rebuild the church, which is the body of the Lord, the power will be amazing.  One interesting fact here is that although Nehemiah wrote down the names of over 75 people and their deeds, he did not write down his own names and deeds (“Nehemiah” in verse 16 is a different person).  What does this teach us?  This teaches us Nehemiah's great leadership.  What are the characteristics of his good leadership?

 

(1)   Nehemiah knew the importance of manpower.

 

He knew that he would not have been able to build the city of Jerusalem alone without these 75+ men.  He needed these people.  Not long after Matsushita Electric was founded, Konosuke Matsushita told his employees: People will ask, ‘What is your company making?’  Then, they said, ‘Our company makes people’ (Internet).

 

(2)   Nehemiah delegated the work to them.

 

Here's what one brother wrote on their website: ‘The greatest leaders in history are not those who do better than their subordinates.  They were the ones who recognized, attracted, and effectively deployed talented people under a unified vision.  Third-class leaders use their own abilities, second-class leaders use the strength of others, and first-class leaders use the wisdom of others.’  Nehemiah, who had excellent leadership, entrusted more than 75 Jewish people with the work to show their talents to their heart's content.

 

(3)   Nehemiah was a leader who knew how to encourage.

 

Why is he writing down the names of over 75 people and their deeds (achievements) in Nehemiah 3?  In particular, he writes in verse 20 that Baruch the son of Zabbai “zealously repaired another section.”  This expression has never been used by anyone else.  Commonly there is only the expression ‘… people … worked.’  Then, Baruch emphasized that he worked especially hard.  Why does Nehemiah place special emphasis on Baruch?  Everyone worked hard, but Nehemiah wanted to remember one person who made a lot of sacrifices.  So, he recorded it without forgetting it.  Another thing to note in today's text is the word “Next to him”.  In Nehemiah 3:1-32, the word “Next to him” is emphasized 29 times across 22 verses.  Start with verse 2 (“Next to him …”).  And in verses 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, etc., it appears 29 times.  This is not just a sequence of things.  This means that the people of Judah stood where they should stand and did the work.  And another person stood next to them and did the work, standing where they should stand, and so the great Jerusalem was built.  What this arrangement of words emphasizes is that they made this grand work by cooperating in orderly harmony (Lee).

 

                     In building the city of Jerusalem, the most important thing is to become “unity” in order to achieve a great work by cooperating and harmonizing everything.  In other words, the important thing here is that people from all different backgrounds came together to build the city of Jerusalem: “the high priest” and “his fellow priests” (v. 1), “The men of Jericho” (v. 2), the “son” of so-so (vv. 2, 3, 4, 6, etc.), etc.  Looking at the list of people in Nehemiah 3, we can see that people from various backgrounds built the city of Jerusalem together (v. 1).  Interestingly, in verse 9 (vv. 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18), the word “ruler” appears.  Usually, when we think about it, we can think that if we were in different provinces or cities, we would have servants do the work.  But at that time, everyone worked in cooperation regardless of their position in the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.  How beautiful is this scene?  I am reminded of the word of Psalms 133:1 – “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

 

            Second and last, we must work as we have been gifted.

 

                Regarding those who do not work in the church, Pastor D. L. Moody said: ‘Too many people have wrong ideas (thoughts) about the church.  They think that the church wants to be a place where they can come and rest, where they can sit in soft pews, listen to the pastor's sermon, give alms offerings, and do their part to ensure that the church does not go bankrupt.  For them, work (practical work in the church) has no place in their minds’ (Wiersbe).  In the work of building the city of Jerusalem, there were people who did not work as Pastor Moody said.  Look at Nehemiah 3:5 – “The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.”  In rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, there were nobles who did not participate while everyone was doing this good work (2:18).  They did not help Nehemiah and the leaders who were with him.  Here I have 2 questions. (1) The first question is 'Why didn't the Tekoa nobles participate in the rebuilding of Jerusalem?', and (2) the second question is 'Why did Nehemiah point out that this noble did not work?'.  What do you think?  A possible answer to the first question is that Tekoa, as an open country, geographically west-east of Jerusalem, was vulnerable to attack from Geshem the Arab (v. 19), one of the groups opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  Because of this, the nobles of Tekoa may have been afraid of Geshem and did not participate in rebuilding the city of Jerusalem (Fensham).  Another possible answer is that as aristocrats, we might think that they did not serve with others because they were not humble enough (Park).  The second question, “Why did Nehemiah point out in verse 5 why the nobles of Tekoa did not join in the work of the Lord?’ gives us a valuable lesson.  That precious lesson is that there should not be any bystanders in the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, where everyone puts their strength into this good work, regardless of whether the reason is fear or not being humble.  In other words, everyone must rise up and join in rebuilding temple of the Lord.  Another lesson is that despite these bystanders, Nehemiah and everyone else worked hard and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem with one heart and one mind.  In other words, even though there were Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and the nobles of Tekoa who were bystanders internally, God made it prosperous in the work of building the city of Jerusalem (2:2: 20) to prove it.  Here we see that God made Nehemiah and the people of Judah prosper, but the important fact is that he used the gifts of many people in Nehemiah 3.  In other words, our responsibility is to use the gifts God has given to each of us.  In the parable of the talents we are familiar with, it says, “But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money” (Mt. 25:18).  In other words, rather than being praised as “Well done, good and faithful servant” (vv. 21, 23) on the day of the Lord’s return after not working diligently (hard) using the gifts the Lord has given, he will be rebuked “You wicked, lazy servant!” (v. 26) or “worthless servant” (v. 30).

 

                There are 38 individuals and 42 groups who appear in Nehemiah 3 (Weirsbe).  And if the 42 groups are divided into 4 professional occupations, “the goldsmiths” (v. 8) and “the perfumers” (v. 8), “the politicians” (v. 12), and “the merchants or businessmen” (v. 31) (Fensham).  Why does the Bible list a motley number of people with various occupations in the work of building the city of Jerusalem?  The reason is to teach them that they worked together using their talents according to the gifts God gave each one.  In other words, it is to teach us the principle of gifts.  What is the principle of the gift?  In 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, we are talking about the principle of gifts.  In particular, in 1 Corinthians 12, it says that the church is the body of Christ and that the church is made up of many people to whom God has given various gifts.  In other words, it is a gathering of various people who have given our bodies various talents and gifts, such as arms, legs, and hair.  Then, how did Nehemiah and the Israelites work according to the gifts they received?

 

(1)   Leaders set an example.

 

Look at Nehemiah 3:1 – “Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel.”  “Eliasib” is the grandson of Yeshua (who worked with Zerubbabel).  He, who was in a priestly position, took the initiative and cooperated in rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, which is an example in construction (Park).  What he did with his fellow priests was to build the Sheep Gate.  The Sheep Gate was the door that the priests had to pass through when going toward the altar to offer sacrifices.  Since this is related to the sacrifice, it was appropriate for the priest to do it (Lee).

 

(2)    Some did more work than others (vv. 11, 19,21, 24, 27, 30).

 

I'm not sure if I read the Korean Bible, but if I look at these verses in the English Bible, it says "repaired another section".  Many would have been happy to put down their tools when the job was done.  But the people in this verse are faced with something else.  The lesson we learn here is that we should not serve the church comparing ourselves to others, but only serve faithfully until the Lord grants us strength.

 

(3)    Some worked from home (vv. 10,23,28-30).

 

In these verses,  it is written “Adjoining this, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house” (v. 10a), “Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house” (v. 23a), “… made repairs, each in front of his own house” (v.28), “… made repairs opposite his house” (v. 29), “… made repairs opposite his living quarters” (v. 30).  At least six workers and an unknown number of priests repaired the part close to their house.  The spiritual lesson we can learn here is that Christian service must begin at home.

 

                There is a book called “Through Gates of Splendor” by Elizabeth Eliot.  This book is the story of the martyrdom of five young people who are the eternal hearts of North American missionaries.  This book is about Jim Eliot, the husband of Elizabeth Eliot, and his mission team members, who are the other four co-workers, and how they met in the providence of God.  This is a book that tells about their death.  At the end of the book, in the ‘Memorial Edition Epilogue’ written in 1996, author Elizabeth Elliot describes the five martyrs: The five men look back at themselves.  Pete's worry about whether he should join the other missionaries' adventures, Ed's enthusiasm to be sure that everything will work out even though Marilu is 8 months pregnant, Roger's depression and deep sense of defeat as a missionary, and Nate's extreme prudence.  It reminds me of Jim’s enthusiasm, his determination, and his reckless excitement.’  In the meantime, from the death of these five young missionaries to the long years when he later lived with the Wao Lani Indians (Auka Indians) and then recorded them and meditated on his own later experiences, confessed that their story pointed to one point. It is the fact that God is God. ‘If He be God, He is worthy of my worship and service’ (Elliot).

 

                The God of heaven lifted up Nehemiah and used him to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.  In addition, God accomplished great things by lifting up the people of Judah in Jerusalem.  That God wants to use me and you in this day and age not only to build the Lord's church, but also to expand the kingdom of God.  We must cooperate with each other to faithfully serve according to the gifts we have received, and fully reveal God's being as God.