Nehemiah 1:1–7:5

The opening chapter describes the secret exercises by which God prepares the vessel for the special work in hand. Ezra, the instrument of a former revival, was not only a priest but a scribe — a student well versed in the word of God. Nehemiah was more a practical man of affairs. He held a responsible secular position as the cup-bearer to the king in the palace of Shushan. But the easy life of the palace, the well-paid position he held, and the king's favour did not lessen his interest in the people of God and the city of Jerusalem.

Personally, he was surrounded by every kind of comfort. As far as that went, it was a sorry exchange to leave the court of the great king and to go into all the desolations of the land and of Jerusalem. He might well have reasoned to himself: "Why should I trouble myself about Judea? It was because of our sins that we were driven out, and it is obvious that the people who are there are utterly unworthy. They are behaving without a thought or care for the glory of God. Why should I trouble myself about it? … It is no good to think of the people of God. It is only a question of the soul individually. All I have to do is to serve the Lord where I am."

His question shows that his heart took in all the people of the land. He asked about "the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile" — that is, about those left behind when so many went into captivity in Babylon. He also asked "concerning Jerusalem," meaning the remnant that had gone up, with the permission of Cyrus, to build the Lord's house. So he was in fellowship with the heart of God, taken up as he was with His people and His interests. … They never dreamed of isolating themselves from the whole nation, nor of seeking the welfare of a single tribe only.

Nehemiah was a young man, born in captivity. It was in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year (445 B.C.), that Hanani his brother visited him with certain men out of Judah. The question he asked them shows at once the deep interest he had in God's people. Though he had never seen Jerusalem, the city of his fathers, he loved it and felt like all godly captives. One of the Psalms puts that feeling well — "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!" (Psalm 137:5-6). Though he lived in prosperity, his heart was with his people.

In his circumstances, Nehemiah was not on divine territory. He was in Shushan, Persian territory. But he was there under the governmental ordering of God, and his heart was not there. … Here we see a man whom providence placed in Shushan, the palace. Faith took him out of it, and brought him, in exercise of heart under the hand of God, back to divine territory.

Hanani, whom Nehemiah calls "my brother," is mentioned again once the wall is finished. He was the one who brought the first news of the sad state of the city and of the Jews, as told in Nehemiah 1:2. He is linked here with Hananiah, a ruler in the city — "a more faithful and God-fearing man than many." … To have such men identify themselves with him in his service must have been an encouragement, granted to him by God.

Israel was no longer a nation settled in their own land, as they had been under Joshua and the Judges. They were no longer a kingdom with one of their own sons on the throne — the kind of throne that the glory could accompany, as under David and David's sons. The people were now subjects of the Gentile. They depended on the Gentile's permission to live in the land of their fathers, and to keep the laws and do the service of their God.

They were in great affliction. It came out of their own moral condition, and out of the activity and hatred of the enemies who surrounded them. They were also in reproach. It is a blessing when God's people suffer reproach because they are His people, or because of the name of their God (compare 1 Peter 4:14). But nothing is sadder than when the world reproaches the Lord's people, or when they become a reproach to the world, through their inconsistent walk and ways. It would seem, from the end of the book of Ezra, that the reproach in this case was of the second kind. They claimed to be what they really were — God's people — but they denied it by their alliances with the nations around them and by forgetting the claims of their God.

That was the plain fact, and Nebuchadnezzar had been the instrument, through his army, that did it. But there is another meaning as well. The wall is the symbol of separation, and, as we have seen, the wall of separation between Israel and the nations around them had been broken down. The gate was the place of judgment, and so the emblem of it. This teaches us that no one was giving justice and fair judgment any more.

The wall stands for keeping separate from evil. The gate stands for godly care in receiving people and in discipline. In any age, careless associations and slack discipline among the people of God are sure signs of a low moral condition.

The next book, Esther, tells us what happened to the much larger number of Jews who did not care about God's interests in His temple, but chose to stay in the land of their captivity... The people who, despite their faults, had cared for God's interests and rebuilt His temple are marked by affliction and reproach. Meanwhile those who did not care, and stayed in their comfort, have "feasting", "gladness", and "a good day".

Nehemiah loved the people of God at the very time when they had lost their rightful claim — when God was disciplining them for their serious faults and sins against Him — at a time when giving them up seemed the most reasonable thing to do. Had not God given them up? Why, then, should Nehemiah feel so much about them?... He knew that only the remnant of that people was left on earth — deeply guilty, and punished with full justice — but still the people of God, the people with whom God's plans of blessing and grace for the earth are bound up.

If Nehemiah was so moved by the earthly state of Jerusalem and the affliction of the remnant, how much more should believers mourn and weep over the spiritual state of God's people. Yet how little of this sorrowing spirit do we see today! We need it if we are to humble ourselves and pray effectively.

He made the sorrowful state of the people his own. He felt it according to God. In their affliction he was afflicted. But he knew to whom to turn. He wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed. "Is anyone among you suffering?" says James. "Let him pray." And the sorrow and affliction of Nehemiah, expressed in his tears, mourning, and fasting, found an outlet in his prayer. This was a true mark of a mighty action of the Spirit of God upon his soul.

The time had come when God was about to grant a revival, and the way God does it is worth noting. God begins a great work through one man — and that man a broken-hearted man on his knees... His tears were the outward sign of a broken heart. His mourning showed how truly he entered into the affliction of God's people. His fasting proved that the sorrow had cut so deep into his soul that he forgot and gave up the comforts of life.

His daily work likely interrupted this weeping and prayer, but it was certainly the most important matter on his mind. Notice his mention of "praying before the God of heaven." He does not say "the God of heaven and earth" (v. 4). Israel's earthly possession had been left in ruins, and little clear evidence remained that God was caring for His people. Yet God was still in heaven. His power could be trusted to bring some blessing to Israel, despite the low spiritual state that had caused their distress.

It is blessed, dear friends, when the Spirit raises this question in our hearts: "Is there among us anything that suits the heart of God?" It is even better when that heart-searching sends us to our knees, hating what we find in ourselves before God... If the condition of the remnant in Israel was to be raised, individual self-judgment was the way. And if we as a whole are to be revived, we must begin at home.

By prayer and fasting, Nehemiah learned the will of the Lord for His people. So when the opportunity came, in front of king Artaxerxes, he seized it. It is possible to know a great deal about evil and still not know the will of the Lord — and so still be "unwise."

In chapter 1 it was right for him to sit and weep, but now it is a time to "arise."

God gave up Judah, which had turned away from Him, to the Gentiles, as He had given up Israel before. He passed the sentence of Lo-ammi — "not My people." He stopped acting as God of the earth, the Jehovah of His people. As "God of the heavens" He gave world empire for a time to four Gentile powers, one after another.

When the ark took its place in the Jordan to lead Israel into the land, they heard the words: "Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you" (Joshua 3:11). Now, in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, and the last chapter of Chronicles, God has left the throne of His kingdom in Israel. In the mouths of His people He has become someone far off — "the God of heaven."

In verse 5 Nehemiah uses three names of God, and they are of special importance. In Hebrew they are these. "Jehovah" is His covenant name with Israel. "Elohim" is His supremacy in the universe. "El" speaks of the might that God has ready to carry out every detail of His will. It is the "Mighty God".

He reveals in the opening words of his prayer familiarity with the Word of God: "I beg you, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God (Deuteronomy 7:21; 10:17; Daniel 9:4) who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 Kings 8:23)." These are the words of Scripture. They show his confidence in the power and faithfulness of God. After them, Nehemiah confessed his sin and the sins of his people.

First, Nehemiah defends the character and ways of God. Jehovah is the "God of heaven, the great and awesome God." He is also the faithful God who "keeps covenant and mercy for those who love Him and observe His commandments" (5). Second, he confesses the sins of the children of Israel. In doing so he identifies himself with them — "We have sinned against You: both I and my father's house have sinned."

In prayer Nehemiah appealed to the God of heaven as "the great and awesome God," and as the One who keeps His covenant and mercy — though Israel had broken that covenant badly. He adds the words "and mercy," for Israel was in desperate need of mercy. Those who do not love Him and observe His commandments have forfeited all claim to His covenant, and can hardly expect His mercy. Nehemiah does not go so far as to say "keep His commandments," but "observe." He had no doubt learned that keeping all God's commandments is too hard for man, but that man must still respect and honour them.

"He keeps covenant and mercy for those who love Him and observe His commandments." This, together with the way he addresses God, brings out in a marked way the contrast between law and grace. Nehemiah was devoted and God-fearing, yet you cannot help sensing distance in the terms he uses — "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God." The age he lived under made that distance necessary. How different from the place the Lord gave His disciples after His resurrection, in His words: "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

Day and night he was praying for them, and that is how he had the power to confess their sins. No higher privilege could be given to a servant than the one granted to Nehemiah. That privilege was the power to identify himself with Israel so fully that he could take up and confess their sins as his own. "I," he says, "and my father's house have sinned." This is a true sign of spiritual power. Many can lament the condition of God's people; but there are few who can identify themselves with it. It is only such people who can truly intercede for them in the presence of God.

In verse 6 we read, "We have sinned against You," but Nehemiah adds, "Both I and my father's house have sinned." "We have acted very corruptly against You." We might have thought it was the other way round with a man like Nehemiah. But that is what he says to God. "And have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that You commanded Your servant Moses." They had been downright disobedient to the things of God. That is where trouble always begins.

These books describe the effort of the Jewish leaders to restore the temple and the worship as they had been before the captivity, and the law of Moses is the standard by which everything was to be done. Ezra (7:21) speaks of "the law of the God of heaven." Nehemiah (1:7) confesses the breaking of "the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that God commanded Moses."

He confesses the sins of the children of Israel, and in doing so he identifies himself with them — "We have sinned against You: both I and my father's house have sinned." They should have loved Jehovah and kept His commandments. Instead, he says, "We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that You commanded Your servant Moses." So they had forfeited all claim to the mercy of God on the ground of obedience. … The first plea is God's faithfulness to His own word. He has just owned that they have not kept the commandments God gave through Moses. But there was something else God gave through Moses. Besides the rules of the law there were the promises of the law.

It is easy enough to feel for God's people when their sinful conduct dishonours them in the eyes of the world. But some are in communion with the mind of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. They share His affections for His own, and so, first and foremost, they are filled with zeal to guard His glory. Only they can measure the sin as it touches the holy Name they bear. Only they can go down, take up the sin, make it their own, and tell it all out before God. Moses, Nehemiah, and Daniel are examples of this in their various measures, and so is Ezra. But all of them are only faint shadows of Him who so identified Himself with His people that in confessing their sins He said, "O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you."

God is always faithful to those who love Him and keep His commandments. But sadly, they had not kept His commandments, His statutes, or His judgments. Nehemiah confesses all of this. Now he turns to a promise. On that promise he can base his prayer, and count on God stepping in for him.

He has just admitted that they have not kept the commandments God gave through Moses. But there was something else God gave through Moses. Besides the precepts of the law there were the promises of the law. Nehemiah asks God to remember this word of promise, given through Moses. In it God had said that if the people acted unfaithfully He would scatter them. But if they repented He would gather them, and bring them to the place He had chosen to set His name.

But in one way he went further. He pleaded the word of the Lord written in Leviticus 26. God had warned Israel that disobedience to the law would scatter them. But even then, if they turned to God and obeyed His word, He would gather them from distant lands. He would restore them to the place of His name. On this written word he based his plea.

But Israel failed completely. Verses 14-33 of this chapter set a solemn and terrible picture before their eyes. Even so, they abandoned the Lord and served other gods. So they brought on themselves the severe judgments threatened here. Under the heavy weight of these judgments they are suffering at this very hour. Scattered and stripped, wasted and cast out, they are the monuments of the Lord's unbending truth and justice.

There is no doubt this refers to Leviticus 26, and it looks forward to the final restoration of Israel. Here lay Nehemiah's spiritual understanding, as led by the Spirit. Turn to that chapter and you will see that this restoration will be a work of pure grace. It rests on God's absolute and unconditional covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So while Nehemiah confessed the sins of his people, he threw himself on the mercy and unconditional promises of God. He rose in this way above law, and reached, in his faith, the source of all blessing — the heart of God Himself.

But he does not rise in his own prayer beyond Moses in his predictions; he does not plead the promises to the fathers.

The first plea is God's faithfulness to His own word. He has just owned that they have not kept the commandments given by God through Moses, but there was something else given by God through Moses. The law had promises in it as well as commands. Nehemiah asks God to remember this word of promise, given through Moses. God had said that if the people were unfaithful He would scatter them; but if they repented He would gather them.

This reference is undoubtedly to Leviticus 26, and looks on to the final restoration of Israel. This restoration will be a work of pure grace, founded on God's absolute and unconditional covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So while Nehemiah confessed the sins of his people, he threw himself on the mercy and unconditional promises of God. He rose in this way above law, and reached, in his faith, the source of all blessing — the heart of God Himself.

Nehemiah then asked God to remember the words He had spoken to Moses. If Israel was unfaithful, He would scatter them among the nations. But if they returned to Him and kept His commandments, God would still gather them back — at least some of them — and bring them to the place where He had set His name. God spoke all this to Moses in Deuteronomy 4:25-31.

God had warned Israel that disobeying the law would bring scattering on them. But even then, if they turned to God in obedience to His word, He would gather them from distant lands. He would restore them to the place of His name. Nehemiah based his plea on this written word.

"If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven" — as far as they could go — "from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers."

In his appeal to God in verse 6, his desire is, "Let Your ear now be attentive, and Your eyes open". In verse 9 he reminds God of His promise "to set My name there". He mentions God's ear, God's eyes and God's Name. In 2 Chronicles 7:15 we have God's answer to Solomon's prayer: "Now My eyes shall be open, and My ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and set apart this house, so that My name may be there for ever. My eyes and My heart will always be there." Nehemiah comes to God and reminds Him of this wonderful promise. He asks God to keep it in his own day.

God would allow only His own choice as a place of worship for Israel. Later history shows that Jerusalem was that centre. Its name means "the foundation of peace." In the New Testament the centre for the Church of God is not a physical place. Christ in resurrection is the Centre. He Himself declares, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

He too identified himself with the sin of the people, saying, "we have sinned." But in one way he went further. He pleaded the word of the Lord written in Leviticus 26. God had warned Israel that disobedience to the law would scatter them. Yet even then, if they turned to God in obedience to His word, He would gather them from distant lands and restore them to the place of His name. On this written word he based his plea.

Notice that Nehemiah associated others with him in his prayer. It was continually so with the apostle Paul too. The fact is this. When the Spirit of God leads us, we cannot help joining to ourselves all in whose hearts He is also working — whether in service, in thanksgiving, or in prayer. The people of God are so much one that isolation in spirit is impossible. So Nehemiah bows before God, grieving over the state of Israel and longing for their deliverance and blessing. He is sure that every godly Israelite stands with him in what he asks.

Nehemiah uses a fourth name in verse 11, "Adonai." It means "the Lord in blessing." It is beautiful to see how he leaves that name until verse 11. First he owns God's rights. Then he owns God's power to uphold those rights. Last he appeals to God as the source of all blessing for His people. In that verse he can speak of those "who delight to fear Your name." It is one thing to call on God to help us. It is far more blessed to be open with God and tell Him we delight in the way we know Him. Nehemiah does both.

Nehemiah intended to act. He would not only pray and leave it there. He did not pray that God would send someone to Jerusalem to help the suffering remnant. Since he knew and felt the sorrow of their condition, he considered that he was the man to go. He did ask for the approval and help of others, but he simply asked God to give him favour "in the sight of this man" (v. 11). Though Artaxerxes was king, Nehemiah regarded him simply as a man in whose heart God could work as easily as in any man.

He laid hold first of all on the greatness of God and the power of God. As a result, he had only a small view of the power that is in the hands of men.

Then Nehemiah adds the explanation — "Now I was cupbearer to the king" — to show that, in human terms, he was entirely under the king's authority and dependent on him. Nehemiah has poured out his heart before the Lord and made his request known. Now he must wait, and wait many days, for the answer to his cries. A prayer may be entirely according to the will of God, and the fruit of communion with His mind, and yet God may not answer it at once. We need to understand this, or the soul may sink into distress and unbelief for no reason.

God answered his prayer (Neh. 1:11) after he had "mourned for days" — about four months. Fasting and sorrow had left their mark on his face; and no one could appear before the king with a sad face. But God used this very thing to put words into the king's mouth that would give Nehemiah an opening for his request. Such miracles, in answer to our prayers, are so much a part of the daily circumstances of our Christian life that we hardly notice them.

Four months had passed since he offered the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1. He is careful to give us the dates. In the month Chislev (our November) he had prayed; and in the month Nisan (our March) the answer came. Through that whole period, man of faith though he was, he must have waited on God in daily expectation. He could not foresee how the answer would come; but he knew that God could step in when and how He would... It is in this way God both tests and strengthens the faith of His people. He waits while they wait. But if He waits, it is only to bring His people into fuller dependence on Himself, and so to prepare their hearts for the blessing He is about to give.

Hanani had visited his brother Nehemiah in the month Chislev, the ninth month. Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year. How many prayers he must have offered up during those months! How patiently he waited for the Lord's time!

Suppose Nehemiah's sorrow had been only for outward misfortunes — the loss of possessions or any natural thing here below. Then his tears and gloom would all have disappeared in the presence of the Lord. But the presence of the Lord deepened them. The more he went before God and weighed the state of the Jews in Jerusalem, the more grieved he was... Nehemiah was in no way delivered from sadness by his prayer... There was confidence in going to God, and at the same time there was still the deep sense of the ruin.

The chapter opens with Nehemiah busy in the duties of his office as the king's cup-bearer. He "took up the wine and gave it to the king." But his heart was on other things. It was weighed down by the unspeakable sorrow of his people's condition. Wine and sadness do not go together. Scripture tells us that wine makes a man's heart merry. So the king could not bear it when his cup-bearer wore a sorrowful face at such a moment. It spoiled his own pleasure.

The king's cup-bearer of those days had to be a man of integrity. He had to make sure that nothing undesirable or poisonous got into the king's wine. The news he had just received had affected him so deeply that his sorrow showed in his face. Noticing it, the king was of course suspicious and asked what had made him sorrowful.

Fasting and sorrow had left their mark on his face. No one was allowed to appear before the king with a sad face... but God used this very thing to put words into the king's mouth that would give Nehemiah an opening for his request. God answers our prayers with miracles like this. They are so much a part of daily Christian life that we hardly notice them. Looking carefully, everything is a miracle in God's ways toward us. He turns aside certain dangers. He arranges certain meetings and prevents others. He gives us certain opportunities and closes certain paths to us.

We can fix the date of the command to rebuild Jerusalem exactly. Nehemiah 2:1 states it clearly: the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of the reign of king Artaxerxes. Count four hundred and eighty-three years from then. A prophetic year is three hundred and sixty days, its established length. That makes 173,880 days. The count brings us to the tenth of the month Nisan... the very time when Christ entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt.

Four months had passed since he had offered the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1... He could not foresee how the answer would come; but he knew that God could step in when and how He would... It is in this way God both tries and strengthens the faith of His people. He waits while they wait. But if He waits, it is only to bring His people into fuller dependence on Himself. That prepares their hearts more fully for the blessing He is about to give. And when He steps in, it is often as quiet and unseen as it was here. Only the eye of faith can detect His presence.

If his grief had been only about outward troubles — the loss of possessions, or anything else in this life — his tears and gloom would all have disappeared in the presence of the Lord. Instead, the presence of the Lord deepened them. The more he went before God and weighed the state of the Jews in Jerusalem, the more grieved he was... Nehemiah was in no way delivered from sadness by his prayer. There was confidence in going to God, but at the same time there was still the deep sense of the ruin.

He took up the wine and gave it to the king, but his mind was on other things. The terrible sorrow of his people's condition weighed his heart down. But wine and sadness do not go together. Scripture tells us that wine makes a man's heart glad. So the king could not bear his cup-bearer wearing a sad face at such a time. It destroyed his own pleasure.

Nehemiah's attitude came from a heart drawn out toward the condition of what was precious to God. The king could see that this was something deeper than a physical problem, for he says, "You are not sick." It went much deeper. What Nehemiah had heard about the interests of God in Jerusalem had burdened and troubled his spirit.

Nehemiah tells us honestly how afraid he was, for it might have cost him his life. The king might have suspected treason. He might have suspected some dark plot, and that Nehemiah's conscience was at work. All sorts of things might have come into his mind as he tried to explain the unusual gloom on his servant's face.

The king was angry... Nehemiah might well have been afraid, for in such a mood Artaxerxes, the Persian king, could have had him executed on the spot. But though he was afraid, God kept his presence of mind.

He gives our hearts liberty to decide the character of our communion with Him. Let it be, He says, according to your condition. "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise." This is not the way of a master or a patron. The patron's pleasure or mood must set the tone of the scene around him. It was dangerous to spoil the presence of the Persian king with sadness. There was danger of death if one had a heavy face there... But God's presence gives room to the heart and its conditions, whatever they may be.

Suppose his trouble had been only outward: the loss of property, or any other natural thing here below. Then his tears and gloom would have all disappeared in the presence of the Lord. But the presence of the Lord deepened them. The more he went before God and weighed the state of the Jews in Jerusalem, the more grieved he was... Nehemiah was in no way delivered from sadness by his prayer. There was confidence in going to God, but at the same time there was still the deep sense of the ruin.

Wine and sadness do not go together. Scripture tells us that wine makes a man's heart merry. The king could not bear to have his cup-bearer wear a sad face at such a time. It destroyed his own pleasure... The king therefore was angry... "Then," says Nehemiah, "I was very much afraid." And well he might have been. In such a mood, Artaxerxes might have sent him out to be executed at once. But though he was afraid, God kept him calm. Out of the fullness of his heart, God led him to tell the plain truth about why he was sad.

He emphasises "the place of my fathers' graves"; he does not say the place of my fathers' achievements. One generation had followed another on God's own land. Nehemiah seems to say that this is the place where he ought to be, keeping up what they kept up when they were there.

Along with this exercise of his spirit towards God, Nehemiah's heart was alive to his brothers. In deep affection, and in that eloquence that comes fresh from the heart and its promptings, he calls Jerusalem "the city of his fathers' tombs." All this presents to us a very attractive person.

Our work does not consist only in raising up the wall: we must also work on the gates. The enemy knew very well what he was doing when he burned the gates of Jerusalem with fire. The gates of a city are just as important as the wall, and even more so. Gates can open to let the people of the city come and go. They can also shut out anything foreign, sinful, contagious or criminal that tries to settle inside the city.

Nehemiah's prayer was answered after he had mourned for days — that is, about four months. Fasting and sorrow had left their mark on his face. No one was allowed to appear before the king with a sad face. But God used this very thing to put words into the king's mouth, and those words gave Nehemiah his chance to ask. Such miracles come in answer to our prayers. They are so much a part of daily Christian life that we hardly notice them.

Suppose we satisfy ourselves only with the mercies the Lord shows us. That would be just like Nehemiah blessing God for what he enjoyed in the great king's palace. He would be content without a thought, without a care, without a tear and without a prayer for the people of God. But not so. Of everything on earth, his whole heart was set on them. He grieved because that people of God was now falling short of what was due to His glory here below.

Here is what I want to show — how truly it is a question of faith. "Then the king said to me, 'What are you requesting?'" What does he do? Does he make a request to the king? No, he makes his request to God. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." It is not that he does not tell the king. But even at that moment, in the presence of the king himself, his heart was toward the Lord. No wonder he got his request. No wonder God listened and heard, and he could take it as from Him. Why? Because he prayed to the Lord first.

The record is, first, "So I prayed to the God of heaven," and then, "I said to the king…" God first, and the king second. This silent prayer must have shot up to heaven in two or three seconds, quite unknown to the king or anybody else. Heaven answered it just as fast, so the request he made was the right one, and it met with a favourable answer.

Here we have a prayer offered in the interval between the king's question and Nehemiah's reply. It must have been brief. Eastern kings were not in the habit of waiting long for their cupbearers to answer them. But there was time enough for the prayer to rise and for help to come. The case was urgent and the relief was instant.

When the king asks, "What are you requesting?", Nehemiah does not reply at once. He first lifts his heart to God, and God puts into his heart what he should say to the king. That is like what the Lord said: "And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:11-12).

Most would have hurried to answer the king. They would have concluded that since he had stooped to ask the question, he was bound to grant the favour. Not so Nehemiah, and this brings out a special trait in him. … Before he answered his master he cast himself upon his God. He acknowledges that he depends on God for wisdom to say the right thing. He shows the special mark that another has called "a heart that habitually turned to God." We might well seek the same grace… When this is the case, the presence of God will be more real to us than the presence of men.

God gave up Judah to the Gentiles for turning away from Him, as He had given up Israel before. He pronounced the sentence of Lo-ammi (not my people). He then stopped acting as God of the earth, the Jehovah of His people. As "God of the heavens" He granted world rule for a time to the four Gentile empires that followed.

We have little idea today of the splendour and greatness of that monarchy, but it was not this visible greatness that filled Nehemiah's mind — it was the God of heaven. He recognised that however great and important the circumstances around him were, it was the heavens that rule, and he was in conscious touch with the God of heaven.

At once Nehemiah recognises that the king's ready agreement was the result of the good hand of God. … We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge His goodness when they are met. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

"The king said to me, 'What are you requesting?'" What does he do? Does he make his request to the king? No, he makes his request to God. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." It is not that he fails to tell the king. But even at that very moment, standing before the king himself, his heart was toward the Lord. No wonder he got his request. No wonder God listened and heard, and he could take it as from Him. Why? Because he prayed to the Lord first.

Here we have a prayer offered in the interval between the king's question and Nehemiah's reply. The interval must have been brief. Eastern kings were not in the habit of waiting long for their cupbearers to answer them. But there was time enough for the prayer to ascend and for help to come. The case was urgent and the relief was instantaneous.

He emphasizes "the place of my fathers' tombs"; he does not say the place of my fathers' achievements. Generation had followed generation on divine territory. Nehemiah seems to say that this is the place where he ought to be, keeping up what they kept up when they were there.

He did not say to the king, the place where my fathers have sinned. Before the king he speaks of divine territory; before God he says, "Both I and my father's house have sinned."

The city was clearly before Nehemiah. He had carried this burden for months. Is it not interesting and challenging that, when challenged about it, he could speak of it so clearly? He knew exactly what he wanted. He was not vague about the concern he carried. He could put four months of that concern into one sentence and say what he desired.

Nehemiah intended to act. He would not only pray and leave it there. He did not pray that God would send someone to Jerusalem to help the suffering remnant. Since he knew and felt the sorrow of their condition, he considered he was the man to go. Though Artaxerxes was king, Nehemiah considered him simply a man in whose heart God could work as easily as in any man.

This decree applied to the building of the city and its defences (B.C. 445). In the twentieth year of his reign, Artaxerxes gave letters, or warrants, to Nehemiah, allowing him to build the city of his "fathers' tombs." In this "word" of the Persian king lay the appointed sign that the seventy weeks of Daniel were beginning.

At once Nehemiah recognises that the ready compliance of the king was the result of the good hand of God. Before he asked, Nehemiah had turned to God. Now that the king has granted his request, he acknowledges the good hand of God. We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God when they are met. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

Four months had passed since he had offered the prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1. He is careful to give us the dates. In the month Chislev, which is our November, he had prayed. In the month Nisan, our March, the answer came. During this period, man of faith as he was, he must have waited in daily expectation upon God. He could not foresee how the answer would come; but he knew that God could intervene when and how He would... It is in this way God both tries and strengthens the faith of His people. He waits while they wait. But if He waits, it is only to shut His people up to fuller dependence on Himself. So He prepares their hearts for the blessing He is about to give. And when He steps in, it is often, as in this case, in such a quiet and unseen way — unseen by all but the eye of faith — that it takes faith to detect His presence.

What does he do? Does he make a request to the king? No, he makes request to God. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." He does tell the king. But at that very moment, in the king's own presence, his heart was toward the Lord. No wonder he got his request. No wonder that God listened and heard, and he could take it as from Him. Why? Because he prayed to the Lord first.

What moved the king's mind is hidden from us. It is hidden so that we may see more clearly that, whatever it was, the power of God controlled him, in answer to Nehemiah's brief and sudden prayer.

The queen was sitting with the king at that moment. The king asked how long Nehemiah planned to be away, and then granted his request at once. Nehemiah saw his opportunity — the opportunity God had given him. Strengthened by his faith, he grew bolder and dared to ask for royal letters... His aims were exact and clear: to restore the fortress that protected the temple, to rebuild the city walls, and to build a house fit for his own office.

The king made no objection. But he asked how long Nehemiah would need for the work, because he wanted him back. Nehemiah set him a time. We are not told what it was, and Nehemiah records nothing about his later return to Shushan. The wall was rebuilt in the short space of 52 days, however (ch. 6:15).

Nehemiah had to return to put an end to this misuse of holy things. While these things were going on, he was with the king at Shushan, because his leave of absence had expired. But when he returned, a situation like this could not escape him. Although everyone else tolerated it, Nehemiah could not.

At once Nehemiah recognises that the ready compliance of the king was the result of the good hand of God... We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God when He meets them. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

The king invited Nehemiah to make a request, and he asked respectfully to be allowed to go to Jerusalem with the king's authority to rebuild it. That authority would come in letters — one to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, and others to the governors beyond the river. The river here is almost certainly the Euphrates, so these governors ruled the lands toward Palestine. We are not told what moved the king's mind. That silence lets us see more clearly that, whatever the reasons were, it was the power of God that controlled him, in answer to Nehemiah's short and sudden prayer.

Nehemiah saw his opportunity — the opportunity God had given him — and his faith made him bolder. He dared to ask for royal letters "to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah"… His aims were exact and clearly defined: to restore the fortress that protected the temple, to rebuild the city walls, and to build a house suitable for himself as he carried out his duties.

The answer to this question comes at the end of verse eight: "And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me." The request was in line with God's wisdom. The resources were in the king's hand, but God was behind it all.

When Nehemiah made the same journey some years later, captains of the army and horsemen went with him. His faith was not as active, though his heart was truly set on the Lord's interests. How much better to trust in the Lord than in a strength you can see!

Notice an important difference between Ezra and Nehemiah, one that still puts no blame on Nehemiah. In Ezra, faith alone is at work. He was "ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way" (Ezra 8:22). Nehemiah, by contrast, puts himself under the protection of the governors on the other side of the river… He leans on the power he serves, not because he lacks faith, but because in such low times faith no longer shows itself with the same simplicity… Nehemiah was alone, and his mission would not begin until he reached Jerusalem. Until then he had to recognise and accept that he depended on the Gentile power.

When "Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian" said with scorn, "What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?", the striking thing is that Nehemiah does not fall back on the king's authority. He falls back on God Himself. He could have said, "See these letters I have from the king." Instead he said, "The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we His servants will arise and build."

Nehemiah saw his opportunity — the opportunity God had given him. Strengthened by his faith, he grew bolder, and dared to ask for royal letters to the governors beyond the river... and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest. His aims were precise and clear: to restore the fortress that protected the temple, to rebuild the walls of the city, and to build a house fit for himself in his office... Before God he had poured out the desires of his heart — desires which God Himself had produced. He had looked to God for guidance and strength while he stood in front of the king. Now God showed that He had taken up His servant's cause.

It seems that the more exact translation of this word would be "fortress". This may have been the well-known fortress connected with the temple. Under Roman rule it was later called the tower of Antonia.

The palace would perhaps refer to what we would call the Town Hall. The house, of course, was the place of worship. The walls would safeguard both.

In verse 8 Nehemiah says, "That he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace". David lived in a very different day from this. When he was collecting material for the house of God, the first thing he had in mind was the doors. "Nails for the doors of the house". It seems to be an important point that the gates, or doors, should be set up in their right position.

There is much detail between the two statements "I prayed to the God of heaven" and "The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me". Nehemiah recognized where his resources were. He also recognized that God, in His sovereignty, used the secular power to give them to him. Nehemiah did not ask for them from the secular power, he asked of God, and he recognized that they came from God.

Before he asked, Nehemiah had turned to God. Now that the king has granted his request, he acknowledges the good hand of God. We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties, and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God once He has met them. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise.

If He puts within our hearts a desire for any service — a service for His glory — He will surely open the way to it before us. If our minds are really set on His work, He will enable us to do it in His own way and time. The door may seem closed and barred; but if we wait on Him "who opens and no one shuts," we will find that it suddenly opens to us.

Nehemiah was an official in the king's court. He clearly did not have the spiritual education and understanding that Ezra had as a priest, devoted to the law of his God. Yet both could speak in the same way of "the good hand of my God upon me." If the heart is right, God will guide and support His servant, whatever the measure of his intelligence and faith.

The 'river' here is almost certainly the Euphrates, so the governors were the ones who ruled in the direction of Palestine. What moved the king's mind is hidden from us. That way we see more clearly that, whatever it was, it was the power of God that controlled him, in answer to Nehemiah's brief and sudden prayer.

The text tells us plainly that the king sent the captains and the horsemen. It does not say that Nehemiah asked for them. Nehemiah was travelling as the king's cup-bearer, and the king was probably thinking more of his dignity than of Nehemiah's safety. Even so, God can use the dignity of a king and the demands of royal custom to provide for the welfare of His servants. The situation clearly called for some such protection, because we are told at once about the enemies of God's people, who were deeply upset that a man had come to seek the welfare of God's people.

Ezra would not ask the king for any military escort. He had already told the king that he trusted God (Ezra 8:22), and God fully proved that trust right by guarding him and his companions "from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way." Nehemiah did not have the same simple faith. He was a godly and devoted man, but he travelled with the show and ceremony of one of the king's governors. That way was more likely to win him the respect of the world and the help of the king's servants.

He accepts the support of the power that protects him and that he serves. This is not from any lack of faith. In these low times, faith does not show itself with the same simplicity. When the temple was finished, Ezra only had to carry gifts to the house of the Lord. The greater the treasure trusted to him, the more he needed to show the world that faith turned to God to guard what belonged to Him. Nothing like this was true of Nehemiah. He was alone, and his mission would not begin until he reached Jerusalem. Until then he had to acknowledge and accept that he depended on the Gentile power.

Nehemiah was given this escort without asking for it, so it would have been out of place for him to refuse it. No doubt he saw it as tied to the Lord's promise to protect him.

Nehemiah was an official in the king's court. He clearly did not have the spiritual training and understanding that Ezra had as a priest devoted to the law of his God. Yet both alike could speak of 'the good hand of my God upon me.' If the heart is right, God will guide and support His servant, whatever the measure of his understanding and faith. This should encourage us today. Our faith and understanding may be small, but let us make sure our hearts are marked by real devotion to Christ and His present interests. Understanding will grow as the fruit of devotion.

It was a humbling state of things when a foreign power ruled over Israel — an extreme punishment for the nation's sin. It was right to feel that, while still looking up to God above, Who heard Nehemiah and turned the king's heart. The other option was the rebellious pride we see later in the Pharisees, the strict religious leaders of Jesus' day.

But as soon as there is action, as the result of devotion and some understanding, opposition is sure to appear... Sanballat was a Horonite; that is, we understand, an inhabitant of Horonaim, a town of Moab; while Tobiah was an Ammonite. So here we have representatives of the two sons of Lot, who were born under shameful circumstances, as Genesis 19 records. These men set themselves against what God was doing. A man had come "to seek the welfare of the people of Israel", which God had in view at that moment, and therefore the adversary was against it... It has often been the case, sad to say, that those closely related to the saints of God have led the opposition against them.

They came from Moab and Ammon, blood-relations of Israel... The Moabite and Ammonite were never to come into the congregation of God; the curse rested upon them. They did not meet Israel with bread and water when they came out of Egypt. They hated the people of God, and had hired Balaam the son of Beor to curse Israel (Deut. 23:3-6). They were the bitter enemies of Israel. That explains why Sanballat and Tobiah were displeased when Nehemiah came with the king's credentials.

But as soon as he arrived, there was the sign of opposition to his mission. That opposition grew and confronted him at every step. In fact, it was Satan's opposition to the work of God. At first it seemed a very small thing.

These enemies of God were anxious to keep Israel in a state of misery, just as Satan desires to keep believers from enjoying the blessing of the Lord.

Satan's aim is reached when God's people are corrupted. As long as they live in forgetfulness of their true place and character, joining themselves to the world and taking up its manners and customs, Satan poses as a friend. But the moment a man of God appears on the scene and seeks to call them back to the claims of God and His truth, Satan is roused to active hatred. This is not always openly admitted. As in the case before us, his servants are only "grieved" — grieved, of course, that the peace between Israel and their enemies should be disturbed.

So we have very briefly examined the seven stages of opposition to God's own work. The grief of the enemy (Neh. 2:10); the laughter of the enemy (Neh. 2:19); his wrath (Neh. 4:1); mocking (Neh. 4:3); fighting (Neh. 4:8); scheming from outside (Neh. 5:1-9); scheming and danger from within (Neh. 6:10).

Departure from the will and way of God is, we may say, an infectious thing. The chapter begins with Eliashib forming an alliance with Tobiah the Ammonite. It ends with his grandson making an even closer alliance, by marriage, with a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Sanballat was an even more prominent adversary, since Tobiah is introduced as "the servant" in Nehemiah 2:10. If departure from God and His word starts as only a trickle, it may soon become a torrent.

In verses 9, 10 and 11 there is another point worth noting. Nehemiah reaches his goal — at least, he came to the governors beyond the river. But he himself says in verse 11, "So I went to Jerusalem." His troubles were not all over when he left the king's palace. He ran into a completely different set of trials in the fierce opposition that came from Sanballat and Tobiah.

It was three days before Nehemiah began the labor he had come for. He would need some rest after such a long journey. It is important for us too to build a restful spirit before we start any service for the Lord.

Arriving at Jerusalem, Nehemiah waits three days. He has a great and serious work in front of him, and he will not act rashly or rush it. He is about to speak of the distress of God's people and the ruined state of Jerusalem. But first he must see for himself the ruins he is going to speak about, so that he can do it in the spirit of the Servant who later could say, "We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen."

"So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days." We can well imagine, though he does not tell us so, that these three days were more than rest after a hard journey. They were days of waiting on God, of fresh prayer for guidance and wisdom. He was alone with his God... No one knows what God had put in his heart; he kept it a secret. He made no boast that he had come to do a big work, and he announced no plans. The man of faith, who trusts God, can go and act without telling others what the Lord has sent him to do.

We may note how much Nehemiah feels and acts alone at first. This was faith — faith before the king, and faith when he arrived at Jerusalem and sought the good of the sons of Israel, to the grief of their enemies (verses 10-16). How often movements of blessing begin with one man!

At Jerusalem, the end of his journey, Nehemiah counts it most important to inspect the full extent of the ruin himself. He had come to Judah with the captains and the horsemen of the king of Persia. But when it came to the work, he keeps only "the beast that [he] rode upon" — that is, his own resources. He does not lean at all on the resources the world might offer him... When God entrusts a work to us, we are to take counsel with Him alone. Like Nehemiah, we depend on neither the world, nor even the priests, nobles or rulers (v. 16).

This simple statement reveals the characteristics of a true servant. First, he confesses the source of his inspiration for his work. God had put the thought of it into his heart. The assurance of this is the secret of all strength and perseverance in service.

Faced with such ruin, the natural heart might well decide the case was hopeless, beyond the power of man to mend. For man on his own it truly was hopeless. But God had put it into Nehemiah's heart to take up this work, and God can enable a man to carry out what He puts into his heart to do. The secret of Nehemiah's power was his assurance that God had given him this work to do.

He is about to testify to the distress of God's people and the ruined state of Jerusalem. He is about to stir the people of God to action, and to direct them in their work. But first he must see for himself the ruin he is to testify about. Then he can speak in the spirit of the Servant who later said, "we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen."

There was no pomp or show here, nothing of what men usually do. It was not a matter of bringing in many engineers and other skilled workmen to see what needed doing. He went himself: his heart was in it… He goes by night on purpose, so that he can see it at once without drawing needless attention. Lack of openness would be a sad thing among the people of God, but it was no question of openness here. Here it was wisdom, and the man who does not know when to be silent will hardly know when to speak.

Telling others might have raised up obstacles on every side. When the Lord plainly lays a service on one of His servants, nothing is often more dangerous than talking it over with others. Talking with others often raises many questions: Is it possible? Is it wise? Is it the right time? The effect is that faith droops under many a suggested doubt, if prudence and common sense do not put it out altogether.

He could let no one advise him about the work, because he had received his mission from the Lord. But now it was only a question of carrying it out, so he could welcome the help and fellowship of others. This is always the path of the man of faith. He cannot change or soften his purpose. But he is glad to join others with himself, if they are willing to help forward the goal he has in view, in dependence on the Lord.

As Nehemiah rode around Jerusalem, so ride around Christendom. Oh, I ask you to reflect, what are God's thoughts about it? View the whole scene in the presence of God and in His fear. Did Nehemiah give up in despair? No!

We can well imagine, though he does not tell us, that his first three days in Jerusalem were more than rest from the hard journey. They were days of waiting on God, of renewed prayer for guidance and wisdom. He was alone with his God. When the three days of waiting were over he began a night ride to inspect the gates and the wall. All was quiet and the people were asleep. This servant of God went out on that memorable night with a few men. No one knew what God had put in his heart; he kept it a secret. There was no boast that he had come to do a big work, and no announcing of his plans.

Verses 13-15 describe Nehemiah's tour of inspection. They show the condition in which he found the walls and gates of the city. It matched exactly the report brought to him in Shushan. (Compare verse 13 with Neh. 1:3.) … He had made his survey in silence — alone with God, though some attendants were with him. He drew strength from talking with God through that solemn night. And if his heart was touched by the ruins of the holy city, that was only a faint reflection of the pity and compassion of the LORD for the place He Himself had chosen.

He has a great and serious work before him. He will not act rashly or hurry. He is about to bear testimony to the distress of God's people and the ruined condition of Jerusalem. He is about to rouse the people of God to action, and direct them in their work. But first he must see for himself the ruin he is going to speak about. Then he can speak in the spirit of the Servant who later said, "We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen."

What a picture this is! The walls picture the separation between believers and unbelievers, now broken down. The gates picture the principles of truth, which let in what should be in and keep out what should be out. Those gates are burned — deliberately destroyed! … Can we repair these walls and gates? Certainly not across the whole professing church. But we can do it in whatever small area of responsibility the Lord gives us.

The enemy knew very well what he was doing when he burned the gates of Jerusalem with fire (Neh. 2:3, 13, 17). The gates of a city are just as important as the wall, and even more so. They can open to let the people of the city go in and out freely. They can also shut out anything foreign, sinful, contagious, or criminal that might try to settle inside the city. At night the city shuts its gates. That keeps the citizens from leaving during the hour of danger. It keeps out anything against the laws of the city. Above all, it stops traitors slipping in and opening the gates to the enemy when the watch grows slack.

He will acquaint himself with the extent of the ruin. He pursued this midnight journey until there was no place to pass. Faced with such ruin, the natural heart might well decide the case was hopeless, beyond any human power to mend. For man on his own it really was hopeless. But God had put it into Nehemiah's heart to take up this work. And God can enable a man to carry out what He puts in his heart to do.

We, too, are not to act as though the ruin did not exist. Nehemiah waited, and went by night to view the situation, so he knew perfectly well what was at stake and what was needed.

It seems he rose up so he could view the city for himself. As a wise man, he would learn the true state of things before he tried to start the work of recovery. As the one taking the lead, he wanted to know fully all that was needed.

It must have been a sad journey as he passed from gate to gate in the walls. Desolation and debris everywhere. Fire had burned the gates to ashes. In the end the rubble in the way was so deep that the animal he rode could go no further. How he must have sighed as he looked at the ruin and wreckage, the results of the judgment of God because of Israel's sin!

What he found was that all the resources were cut off, and the question was how to open them up again. We are quite sure that the hand of God was not shortened.

He had come to Judah with the captains and the horsemen of the king of Persia. But when it came to the work, he keeps only "the animal that was under me", that is to say his own resources. He does not depend at all on the resources the world might offer him. Here his faith shows itself. Jerusalem was defenceless against the enemy, and her ruin was such that the city did not even offer a path where Nehemiah's mount could pass.

He kept on through the night until there was no place to pass. Faced with such ruin, the natural heart might well judge the case hopeless, beyond any man's power to mend. For man, it was indeed hopeless. But God had put it into the heart of Nehemiah to take up this work, and God can enable a man to carry out what He puts into his heart to do.

He goes about it at once with all simplicity, and he goes about it by night with the express purpose of taking a view without drawing needless attention. It was not that he owed anything to others. Lack of openness would be a sad thing among the people of God, but this was not a question of openness. Here it was wisdom, and the man who does not know when to be silent will hardly know when to speak.

By night he inspects the city walls, acquainting himself with the nature of the work that now lay before him. He proves for himself what he is about to announce. Quite right — it is the way of Spirit-led servants. "We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen." And he is no patron but a fellow-worker, like Paul. He is like Paul's divine Master too, who was Lord of the harvest and yet served in the harvest field Himself.

It was no matter of pomp or show, or anything that would be usual among men. It was not a question of bringing in engineers and other skilled workers to see what needed doing. It was he himself: his heart was in it. He does not wait for all that. He goes about it at once, with all simplicity. He goes about it by night, for the express purpose of taking a view straight away without drawing needless attention... Here it was a matter of wisdom, and the man who does not know when to be silent will hardly know when to speak.

He wanted to know for himself how far the ruin went. He kept up this midnight journey until there was no way through. Faced with such ruin, the natural heart might well decide the case was hopeless, beyond any man's power to mend. For man on his own it was indeed hopeless. But God had put it into Nehemiah's heart to take up this work. And God can enable a man to carry out what He puts into the heart to do.

He had made his survey in silence — alone with God, though some attendants were with him. He drew strength from his time with God through that solemn and eventful night. His heart had been touched by the ruins of the holy city. Yet that was only a feeble reflection of the pity and the compassion of Jehovah for the place which He Himself had chosen.

And how many other true servants of God have spent nights like this in considering the failure and ruin among God's people, burdened with sorrow and deep concern, sighing and groaning, with hearts touched like Nehemiah's, ready to do the Lord's will.

What do we learn by the term, valley gate? A valley in Scripture is evidently a symbol of lowliness and humility. John the Baptist, who came ahead of our Lord, lifted up his voice. He echoed the words of the prophet Isaiah, spoken over seven centuries earlier: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low... and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Luke 3:5-6)... Is this not a beautiful picture of the humble mind that should mark Christians in how they treat one another?

There was no need to consult any man about a work that God had given him to do. Advice from men could add nothing to God, but it might well weaken and discourage Nehemiah. Men would probably have told him it was wiser to leave the matter alone, that he would only distress himself by looking at the ruin, and that he would stir up trouble among God's people, and opposition against them, by trying to rebuild the walls.

He could let no one advise him about the work, because he had received his mission from the Lord. But now it was only a question of carrying it out, so he could welcome the help and fellowship of others. This is always the path of the man of faith. He cannot change or adjust his purposes. But he is glad to join others with himself, if they are willing to help forward the object he has in view, in dependence on the Lord.

We, too, are not to act as though the ruin did not exist. Nehemiah waited, and went by night to view the situation, so he knew perfectly well what was at stake and what was needed.

It was not that there was anything that he owed to others. A lack of openness would be a sad thing among the people of God, but this was not a question of openness. Here it was wisdom, and the man who does not know when to be silent will hardly know when to speak. It is a great thing to learn that there is a season for both.

There was no need to consult with any man about a work that God had given him to do. Counsel from men could add nothing to God, but might well weaken and discourage Nehemiah. Men would probably have told him it would be wiser to leave the matter alone. They would say he would only distress himself by looking at the ruin. And by trying to rebuild the walls he would stir up trouble among the people of God, and opposition against them.

He had made his survey in silence — alone with God, though some attendants were with him. He gathered strength from talking with God through that solemn and eventful night. And if the ruins of the holy city had touched his heart, that was only a faint reflection of the pity and the compassion of Jehovah for the place which He Himself had chosen.

He had come to Judah with the captains and the horsemen of the king of Persia. But when the work was in question, he keeps only "the beast that he rode upon" — that is to say, his own resources. In no way does he depend on the resources which the world might offer him. Here his faith shows itself… When God entrusts a work to us, we are to take counsel with Him alone. Like Nehemiah, we depend upon neither the world, nor even the priests, nobles or rulers (v. 16). This is a very important principle for all those whom the Lord sends.

He could allow no one to advise him about the work, because he had received his mission from the Lord. But now it was only a question of carrying it out, so he could welcome the help and fellowship of others. This is always the path of the man of faith. He cannot alter or change his purposes. But he is glad to join others with himself, if they are willing to help forward the goal he has in view, in dependence on the Lord.

We, too, are not to act as though the ruin did not exist. Nehemiah waited, and went by night to view the situation. So he knew exactly what was at stake and what was needed.

When God entrusts a work to us, we are to take counsel with Him alone. Like Nehemiah, we depend on neither the world, nor even the priests, nobles or rulers (v. 16). This is a very important principle for everyone the Lord sends. Nehemiah is sure of his mission. But only after he has taken stock of the evil in detail, alone under God's eye, can he urge the people to act and repair the ruin.

He could let no one advise him about the work, because he had received his mission from the Lord. But now it was only a question of carrying it out, so he could welcome the help and fellowship of others. This is always the path of the man of faith. He cannot change or adjust his purpose. But he is glad to join others with himself, if they are willing to help forward the aim he has in view, in dependence on the Lord.

In verses 17 and 18 he gives them three motives to move them to "Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem." The first motive is the extreme ruin and misery that they and the city are in. The second motive is the grace of God which had encouraged him: "the hand of my God that had been good upon me." The third motive lies in the king's words and his help, which God Himself had ordained.

The hand of God in government had used Nebuchadnezzar to break down the walls and burn the gates. But the hand of God in goodness was upon Nehemiah to build the walls and set up the gates… Nothing will strengthen our hands for a good work so much as seeing God's hand directing the work. God has put it into the heart of one man to do the work, and now God strengthens their hands to carry out the work.

In his zeal for the Lord and for Jerusalem, he could not bear that His chosen people should be such a reproach to the nations around them. His one desire was to rebuild the wall of separation, and to restore justice and judgment among them by setting up the gates… God worked with His servant's words, and produced a ready response in His people's hearts, so that they said, "Let us rise up and build." When we are in communion with God's mind about our service, He never fails to send the helpers we need.

What a picture this is! The wall of separation between believers and unbelievers is broken down. The principles of truth seen in the gates — which let in what should be in and keep out what should be out — are burned, that is, deliberately destroyed… Can we repair these walls and gates? Not in the whole Christian world; but we can in whatever small sphere of responsibility the Lord gives us.

When Nehemiah called in his brothers we read, "And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me." Notice again that he first tells them how the matter stands with God. He does not overlook the king's favour towards him, but he acknowledges that it all came because God's hand was upon him.

In verses 17 and 18, he presents them with three motives to get them to "come… and build up the wall of Jerusalem". The first motive is the extreme ruin and misery of the people and their city. The second motive is the grace of God which had encouraged him: "the hand of his God had been upon him for good". The third motive lies in the king's words and his help, which God Himself had ordained.

God's hand in government had used Nebuchadnezzar to break down the walls and burn the gates. But God's hand in goodness was upon Nehemiah to build the walls and set up the gates. When the rulers heard of the hand of God they said, "Let us rise up and build." "So they strengthened their hands for the good work." Nothing will so strengthen our hands for a good work as the recognition of God's hand directing the work.

He does not reproach them or charge them with unfaithfulness and neglect. He does not assume the role of a leader, but identifies himself with the people. "You see the distress that we are in" — he might have said, "You see the distress you are in." Then he told them of what God had done. But we find not a word of credit to himself, nor of the lonely hours spent during that sleepless night. Then the people resolved to rise up and build.

He could let no one advise him about the work, because he had received his mission from the Lord. But now it was only a question of doing it, so he could welcome the help and fellowship of others. This is always the path of the man of faith. He cannot change or adjust his purposes. But he is glad to bring others in alongside him, if they are willing to help forward the goal he has in view, in dependence on the Lord.

God worked with His servant's words. He produced a ready response in His people's hearts, so that they said, "Let us rise up and build." When we are in fellowship with God's mind about our service, He never fails to send the helpers we need.

They were truly ready to put their hands to the work. Godly thoughts and understanding are not enough. They had to put their hands to the task and work. It is the same with us today. To understand God's mind and purpose is not enough. We must be ready to give ourselves to the service it calls for. Here, we fear, is a very weak spot in many Christian lives.

Then he told them of the goodness of God, and the king's words to him — and what effect did this have on them? They said, "Let us rise up and build." Such was the effect of devotedness in one man. No one can measure the influence of one such person on those around him.

Yet the moment that God begins to act, the devil tries to hinder… This was the enemy's first effort. It was to pour contempt on a work so simple and insignificant; and beyond that, it showed their malice. Yet God used it for their good. Nehemiah learns more than ever before about the adversaries who were there. But this is no reason to be alarmed.

As it became plainer that the work would really go ahead, the opposition grew. In verse 19 we find Geshem the Arabian joining the Moabite and the Ammonite. This is remarkable. The people of Arabia came mostly from Ishmael and Esau. To this day the various Arab tribes are the bitterest foes of the Jews. In prophecy these three peoples are linked together too. Daniel 11:41 says that in the coming day the king of the north will overthrow many lands, but Edom, Moab and Ammon will escape him. Isaiah 11:14 says that Israel, brought back and made one again, will then subdue them.

These relentless enemies of the Jews hated them all the more because they themselves had some knowledge of the true God. Sanballat was in charge of the forces of Samaria, where their system of idol worship was not fully separated from the worship of the LORD. In religion, the mixture of the true with the false is far more hostile to Christian testimony than plain paganism is… The world's hostility begins with mockery, which frightens the timid more than hatred does. This was one of Sanballat's weapons (Neh. 2:19; 4:1). We all easily feel the influence of mockery if our hearts have not broken with our former ties to the world. Then we will fear ridicule and scorn. We will draw back from open fellowship with this humbled people, "these weak Jews", who claim to repair the breaches.

They even accused them of rebelling against the king. That charge was completely false, since the king had encouraged the building of the wall. But Satan will use every kind of falsehood to get his own way.

Sanballat had threatened to report him as a rebel against the king. But where the heart is simple there is no such reason for alarm. The more firmly Nehemiah honoured those in authority, the more he could afford to ignore Sanballat's threats and scorn.

So we have very briefly examined the seven stages of opposition to God's own work. The grief of the enemy (Neh. 2:10); the laughter of the enemy (Neh. 2:19); his wrath (Neh. 4:1); mocking (Neh. 4:3); fighting (Neh. 4:8); scheming from outside (Neh. 5:1-9); scheming and danger from within (Neh. 6:10). Many readers of this booklet will say, "I have seen all seven in the opposition to God's work in our own day."

In our chapter the opposition for the moment took only the form of mockery — "they jeered at us and despised us." This kind of opposition often has real effect, even on the people of God. But that only happens to those who live and act with an eye on men. Nehemiah and his friends were acting before God in what they planned to do… Their reply was, "The God of heaven will make us prosper." As far as they could, they were already living the triumphant word of Romans 8:31: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Notice that they pray to the God of heaven. In Israel they knew Him as the Lord of all the earth (Exodus 8:22; Joshua 3:11; 2 Kings 5:15), for He lived and had His throne among His people. But now it was otherwise. He had removed His throne from Jerusalem and handed the rule of the earth to Nebuchadnezzar. So the "four children" called Him the God of heaven with a true understanding of where they stood before God.

Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arabian said with scorn, "What is this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the king?" The striking thing is that Nehemiah does not fall back on the king's authority. He falls back on God Himself. He could have said, "See these letters which I have from the king", but instead he said, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build." His enemies might have said, "Are you not the servant of the king?" But again and again in this chapter we see that everything he did stood in relation to God.

This working of the Spirit of God aroused again the opposition of the enemy. Whenever God works, Satan counterworks... At first Sanballat and Tobiah were deeply upset that Nehemiah had stepped in. They pretended to be sorry that he had come and disturbed the peace between Israel and the nations around them. But now they "laughed us to scorn, and despised us." One weapon is as good as another in the hands of the enemy. Their grief did not change Nehemiah's plans, so they would try mockery and contempt. At the same time they would, if possible, stir up fear by hinting at a charge of rebellion.

This kind of opposition often works, even on the people of God — but only if they are living and acting for the eyes of men. Nehemiah and his friends were acting before God in what they planned to do, as we see in the last verse of our chapter. Their reply was, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us." In their own measure they were already saying what Romans 8:31 says in triumph: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

"The God of heaven, He will prosper us." He puts God first. Knowing that they were doing His will in rebuilding the wall, he had the confidence and assurance that God was on their side and none could hinder. "Therefore we His servants will arise and build." This was their determination to do the work. "But you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem." It is the refusal of their fellow help. Though they might have claimed a relationship with the people of God, they did not belong to Israel. Their help was not wanted. What a contrast with what is now called "work for the Lord," where the unsaved and ungodly are invited to take part!

The leader in this opposition is not a heathen but a Samaritan (Nehemiah 4:1-2), one whose religion was a corrupt mixture of idolatry and the worship of Jehovah. In the eyes of the world, his profession no doubt made him look like a true worshipper of Jehovah. Nehemiah, however, is not deceived, for he says, "You have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem."

So they finished the work, but not in their own strength — it was the God of heaven. He prospered them (chapter 2:20). Their confidence was in Him and He did not fail them. He will not fail anyone today who takes up His work, moved to it by the love of Christ. But let us do it in His fear. Heaven keeps a record of all we do, and of how and why we do it, for "each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it… what sort of work each one has done" (1 Corinthians 3:13).

The Lord used Nehemiah's zeal to rouse almost the whole people... It was, in fact, a real revival, and one that only the Spirit of God could produce. And God showed the value He set on it: He has caused the names of those who did this work to be written down and kept. This shows that they had His mind in building the wall. What did their proposed work mean? It meant that they, led forward by Nehemiah, confessed their need of separation from the nations around them, and took steps to secure it.

Through this gate the sacrificial animals went up to the altar. They were the constant witness that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins," and pictures of Him who was "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter"... The lesson here is that the person and work of Christ are the starting point of a true restoration. The cross of Christ, the work God's Son has accomplished, must be guarded above everything else. At the close of this chapter this Sheep Gate is mentioned once more. After going round all the gates, we come back to this first gate. It is with this great truth, the gospel of Christ, that all repairing of the inroads of the world and the flesh must start and end. This gate suggests Him who said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved" (John 10:9). There is no other gate that leads to life and into God's presence.

Then, too, we see that with Eliashib a priestly lead was given. Days of recovery bring to light men who know what it is to spend time in God's presence as priests. We can be sure that God will bless the lead such men give. There was a defect in Eliashib, as we shall see, but as the priestly leader of the people he did well in starting this work.

Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests are the first workers mentioned. This is not because they surpassed the rest in energy or devotion. It is because of the position they held among the people... The high priest and his brothers built a gate and set up its doors. But they did not lay "its beams" to give it stability, and there is no mention that they provided locks or bars...

The Sheep Gate stood closest to the temple, on the north side. The stretch of wall they rebuilt held two towers: a work that was especially important and difficult... It is possible that Eliashib had a personal interest in leaving out the locks and bars. He was allied to Tobijah the Ammonite, one of the three great enemies of the people of God. He had even prepared a room in the court of the temple for this enemy!... A grandson of this same Eliashib was the son-in-law of the second great enemy of the Jews: Sanballat the Horonite. Was Eliashib acting dishonestly here? No one can say for certain. But it is a constant principle that association with the world, because we make room for it, always leaves our work with a character of incompleteness. The enemy takes advantage of that when the moment suits.

Eliashib and his brothers built the Sheep Gate. But a different man, Meremoth, repaired the wall "from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib" (v. 21). What a lesson there is here! A man may care about repairing the public character of Christianity in some measure. Yet he may have little concern for the wall of separation in his family life!... Still, Scripture credits Eliashib with the good he actually did.

The men of Jericho built next to the priests (v. 2). They had come up from their city to help their brothers at Jerusalem. Their work does not appear significant: they do not build a gate or a tower, but they do help defend the city against evil from outside. Part of this task falls to one man, Zaccur the son of Imri. God uses many different kinds of instrument. Each one is useful. No one else can take his place, and no one chooses his own work. Whether several work together, or a worker is alone, their only duty is to work in the place God gives to each one.

"And next to him the men of Jericho built" (v. 2). That is a most encouraging feature. These men came from a city whose wall God had brought down. Now they are ready to help build a wall around the city of God itself. That is a wonderful thing. Should this not challenge each of us? Have we given more time and interest to the system of things Satan has built up than to the circle of divine interests God has brought us into?

The men of Jericho, once under the curse, but now in the place of nearness and blessing, laboured next to the high priest. What grace this reveals! Zaccur ("well remembered") the son of Imri ("the towering one") also was there.

The first to take up the work were the first in rank, as was fitting — the high priest and his fellow priests. They did not plead their sacred duties as an excuse from the new task, but set to work without delay... Notice those who came next, because they belonged to Jericho; yet they gave themselves to the work of Jerusalem. Nothing beyond his building attaches to Zaccur, who follows.

One feature that comes to light in this chapter is unity. Very different classes of people share the work — "men of Jericho", nobles, goldsmiths, perfumers and others. Does this not suggest that, although we differ from one another in secular things, we should be one in our desires and activities in divine interests?

This unity of mind and activity for such an end is a sure mark of the work of the Spirit of God. Because it is, the Lord shows His special approval. He records the names and families of those who shared a work that means so much for the honour of His name and the blessing of His people.

Let me point you to the grace of God here. He notices the work of everyone, and He shows what makes each piece of work distinct. That was an important thing to remember. There is not one of you, beloved friends, who has not a work to do for the Lord. Are you doing it? Further, there is a work that you can do better than any other.

In the Old Testament we read of the "fish gate" at Jerusalem, which no doubt led to a fish market. Neh. 3:3; Neh. 12:39.

One whose sons built the fish gate at Jerusalem, Neh. 3:3. Probably the same as SENAAH in Neh. 7:38 and Ezra 2:35.

This gate stood in the northern part of Jerusalem. Along with "the gate of the old wall," it was among those most exposed to enemy attack. The Assyrian armies came from the north to surround the city and besiege it. The sons of Senaah saw how important this gate was. They did not stop work until its locks and bars were in place.

Some are marked out for the quality of their work, for God makes a difference between "quantity" and "quality." Eliashib and his brothers did more work than the sons of Hassenaah. The priestly company built a gate and, it seems, a large part of the wall. The sons of Hassenaah only set up a gate. Yet the quality of their work was higher than that of the high priest and his brothers. They not only built the gate; they laid its beams and secured it with locks and bars. Such details are not recorded of the high priest's gate.

There is a reason for the significant omission of the locks and bars from Eliashib's gate... We shall learn that Eliashib the priest was an ally of Tobiah the Ammonite and Sanballat the Horonite... Moreover he had prepared a great chamber for Tobiah in the house of the Lord. Little wonder then that he put no locks or bars on his gate. If he gives the enemy outside a room inside, he must also leave the way open for that enemy to reach it. He claims to be separate by building the gate and the wall. But he is careful to leave off the locks and bars, so as to keep in with the man of the corrupt and mixed religion of Samaria.

Some have thought it was right that the sheep gate had no locks and bars. But Eliashib was the man who later brought Tobiah into the inside place — a place where he should never have been.

Outside that gate there may have been a fish market. Or it may have been the gate the fishermen went out through to catch fish. It reminds us of the words of our Lord, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17). After we have passed through the sheep gate we must go through the fish gate, to catch fish, to be soul-winners. In this way, by leading others to Christ and bringing sinners to a knowledge of the Saviour, the Church is built up. Hassenaah (the name means "lifted up") was the builder there.

If the church ceases to be an evangelical body it ceases to grow or even maintain its footing. Put out that spirit and you have no birth rate. Put out that spirit and believers sink into mere theorists, with no power to reach others... If an assembly, as it were, has no fish gate, it is a fatal and irremediable loss.

God has seen fit to give a whole chapter to the names of the leaders of families and townships who took part in the work. We might wonder why so much valuable space goes to men who would otherwise be forgotten. But we conclude from it that the humblest service for the will of God is not forgotten. It goes on record, above all when it is carried on in the face of ridicule and opposition.

In verses 4 and 5 we see first of all Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest. He was a faithful and respected man, and Ezra's companions had entrusted to him all the free-will offerings sent from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:33-34). His zeal goes beyond the repair of just one portion of the wall. He is the first to repair "another piece" in front of the house of Eliashib the high priest (v. 21). Afterwards others copy his example. His zeal leads him to defend the representative of the people before God… Faithfulness shown in a service that looks small qualifies the worker for a work that touches Christ, our high priest, directly.

Our chapter mentions Meshullam after Meremoth. He was a man of doubtful character, for he had allied himself to Tobijah. He had given his daughter to Tobijah's son Johanan (Neh. 6:18)… Despite this troubling alliance, he shows zeal for the house of God, but not the same zeal as Meremoth. He next works at the "city of David", but he works first of all to protect his own living quarters (v. 30). After him, Zadok is among those who do not fear to work alone, at their own risk and peril.

It seems he had no house, only a lodging. His circle of responsibility was narrow, but he was found faithful. As the apostle says about stewardship, "For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." This should comfort anyone tempted to long for a wider sphere of service. The Lord values and commends faithfulness in the place where He has put us.

We do not want to over-stress the meaning of these names. But there are important touches in them, above all in the thought of serving with dignity. Meremoth means elevation. Urijah means the light of Jehovah. Meshullam means devoted. Berechiah means blessed of Jehovah. Meshezabeel means freed by Jehovah. All these are in the fourth verse, and they set out morally the position we are in today. God has brought us into a sphere of light and liberty and blessing… our service should be marked by devotion of heart and mind to the Lord.

It is noticeable that from the greatest to the least, all were united in this particular work. Priests, nobles, and common people were of one mind to build the walls and set up the gates… Their daily jobs may be very different. Some are goldsmiths, some are perfumers, and others are merchants.

We see the people of God at work building and repairing, everyone doing the work in a certain place. God keeps such a record of all His servants and their labours. When all His people appear before the judgment seat of Christ, God will open this book. Then "each will receive his wages according to his labor" (1 Cor. 3:8).

This chapter shows the record God keeps, and how He notices what we do. It names each company of workers and what each one did. Notice what it says about the Tekoites. They were so devoted that when they had finished their own work they turned their efforts elsewhere and repaired "another piece" (Neh. 3:27). But it says something else about some among the Tekoites, for God marks everything — "Their nobles put not their necks to the work of the Lord." I call this chapter a specimen page of the book of eternity. It is the Old Testament parallel to Romans 16, where God records the deeds of His people and comments on them.

Of the nobles of the Tekoites we read that they "put not their necks to the work of their Lord." The stubborn neck that will not bow speaks of the pride that governs the heart. They shrink from a path that makes nothing of man and his self-importance.

These men ought to have been at the head, encouraging everyone else. They had the means to do it best. Instead they gained this painful and unenviable reputation, and this solemn rebuke in the word of God: they did not put their necks to the work of their Lord. God is not indifferent. God notices, and no excuses will set aside His rebuke.

All too often worldly elevation proves a hindrance when the work of the Lord is in question. Their "nobles" no doubt liked to talk and direct, but did not like to soil their hands, nor bend their necks, to do the work.

On the whole this lack of zeal, this indifference of the nobles, does not bring about the consequences that so often follow in cases like this. May it always be so! On the contrary, the Tekoites do not depend on their leaders, and they redouble their zeal all the more. In verse 27 we see them repair "a second piece."

These were the leaders, and if the leaders were lukewarm, so would the people be, and to this day their shame stands on record in the Word of God.

Doesn't the silence and inability of so many children of God in ministry come largely from this? At the start God set some work before them to do for Him — a work needing effort, perseverance and the sacrifice of their time. Did they not, like the nobles of the Tekoites, refuse to put their necks to the work of their Lord?

They could not stoop low enough. They were not used to the yoke, and so they preferred their own importance and ease to the Lord's work. What a contrast to Him who, though rich, became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich for ever! He came into this world to do the will of God, and was among His own "as the one who serves." Every child of God should learn this lesson: rest for the soul comes only from bowing the neck to the Lord's yoke. The nobles of Tekoa chose their own will. Their stubbornness cost them the blessing of the service offered to them, and earned a mark of condemnation for their pride.

Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodiah (v. 6) are two men with no other reputation in Scripture. They repair "the gate of the old [wall]". This gate stood in the north-west of the enclosure. Judging from its name, it was no doubt one of the oldest gates of the city.

The next gate is the old gate. This gate was probably the same one that Scripture elsewhere calls "the corner gate" (2 Kings 14:13; Jer. 31:38). Jehoiada ("the Lord knows") and Meshullam repaired this gate. This gate may also remind us of Him "whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." He is the cornerstone, and everything rests on Him.

The enemy knew very well what he was doing when he burned the gates of Jerusalem. The gates of a city are just as important as the wall, and even more so. They can be opened to let the people of the city go in and out freely. They can also shut out any foreign, sinful, contagious, or criminal element that might try to settle inside the city.

These two men join together for this important work. A similar work had needed all the sons of Senaah working together. The agreement of these two men produces a considerable result: a lesson that is most instructive for us. … There is nothing missing in the gate they build: neither beams, nor doors, nor locks, nor bars. And so they serve as a model for others.

The high priest and his brothers built a gate and set up its doors. But they did not lay "the beams of it" to give it stability. The record does not mention locks or bars either. The truth is, they were not so much in earnest as the sons of Hassenaah, and Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and his companion. They were willing to have the gate and its doors; but they made no provision to make it secure, in case of need, against the entry of the enemy. They did not object to the convenience, but they were not prepared to give up all dealings with the enemy.

The old gate in verse 6 might also read "the old wall": the part the enemy had not destroyed may be in mind. The names are significant; Jehoiada — the Lord knows; Meshullam — devoted; Besodeiah — in the secret of Jehovah. It is good to be in the secret of what God is doing for the glory of His own Name, whatever may be the activities of the enemy.

"Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah" (v. 6). They, too, did their work well, laying the beams and setting up the doors and the locks. Does not this warn Christians against novelties? One has only to look at Christendom today, and one sees with sorrow truth given up and error being run after, even in circles where once it was maintained. One thing is certain. No truth is new. It may be new to me, but it cannot be new.

We find the modernist and higher critic battering at the doors of the old gate. They cause immense damage in the church of God, as they seek to undermine the very foundations of the Christian faith. Yet the truth will prevail, for "we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth" (2 Cor. 13:8).

They were Hivites, and "mighty" men. They deceived Joshua into making a treaty with them, and for that they had to cut wood and carry water for the house of God (Joshua 9:23). Saul had killed some of the Gibeonites… but God could not allow the oath of His people to be broken, so He brought a famine on the land… Ismaiah, one of David's thirty mighty men, was a Gibeonite (1 Chronicles 12:4). Some of them returned from exile and helped to build the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:7; Nehemiah 7:25).

The name Melatiah means "One whom Jehovah sets free", so that whilst as…

…Gibeonites they were under a servile bondage, God evidently came in sovereignly, and as this man's name suggests, set them free so that they might be available for the work. The Gibeonites cut wood and carried water, and they had to be set free from that to be available for this important work.

Jadon the Meronothite was from Galilee. Although the origin of these two persons is obscure and despised in man's sight, it is not so in God's sight.

While the Tekoites repaired the wall, their nobles did not put their necks to the work of the Lord. Oh, what a solemn rebuke this is — that the men who ought to have been most of all at the head, most of all encouraging, the men who had the means to do it best. Instead they earned a painful reputation, and the solemn rebuke in the word of God that they did not put their necks to the work of their Lord. God is not indifferent. God notices, and no excuses will set aside His rebuke. "And next to them," we are told, "repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite."

A city of Benjamin, near Ramah and Gibeon (Joshua 18:26). Samuel gathered the people there "to the Lord." He judged Israel there, and there he presented Saul to them as their king… after the destruction of Jerusalem, Gedaliah the governor established himself there.

Next to them worked not only two men, Melatiah and Jadon, whose titles came from places outside Jerusalem, but also the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, "to the throne of the governor on this side the river."

In verse 7 we have those who have the "throne of the governor" in view. How vitally important it is in a day of ruin to hold fast the thought of right administration. The Lord would encourage us in our day to maintain what is due to His Name, and to seek to be faithful to Him in all our movement. All true service has in view the advance of the Lord's rights in the affections of His people.

Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths, and Hananiah of the perfumers (v. 8), are not paired together like the men before them. Yet they work side by side. Their trades served the luxury of the world. But that was no bar to rebuilding the city of God. The Lord chooses His workers from every class and every position — not only where men would be tempted to look for them.

No doubt these men had been working inside the city, perhaps on temple work. But if they were to go on properly as goldsmiths and perfumers, they would feel their need of protection inside the divine circle. That is why they wanted their part in repairing the wall.

What was the meaning of their proposed work? It was that they, led forward by Nehemiah, confessed their need of separation from the nations around, and took measures to secure it.

We may suppose these men were not used to handling a trowel; they had refined occupations. Perhaps the gold points to what is of the divine nature, what is of God. The perfumer would speak of the fragrance of a service devoted to divine interests. It is a blessed thing to bring into the service precious thoughts of the greatness and deity of Christ, and alongside that the charm and sweetness of His Name.

The brother who can give us the most precious and most intimate thoughts of Christ, and the truth that surrounds Him, can also take his part in defending that truth. We see this in Paul. Who gives us sweeter touches of glory and intimacy than he does in his ministry? And who defended the truth more than Paul did?

First it is noticeable that, from the greatest to the least, all were united in this particular work. Priests, nobles, and common people were of one mind to build the walls and set up the gates. Those engaged in the work may hold very different social positions — some are nobles, some common people. Their daily callings may be very different: some are goldsmiths, some perfumers, others merchants (8, 31, 32). Their service for the Lord may differ too, for some are priests and some Levites.

This unity of mind and activity for such an end are sure marks of a work of the Spirit of God. And because it is such a work, the Lord shows His special approval: He records the names and families of those engaged in it. This work closely concerns the honour of His name and the blessing of His people.

Next, we hear of Uzziel, and then Hananiah, of the goldsmiths and of the perfumers, who worked as far as the broad wall on the west.

Is that not confirmed by verse eight in the New Translation? "And they left Jerusalem in its state as far as the broad wall." The footnote suggests that the Babylonians had left the wall standing as far as that point.

The Lord used Nehemiah's zeal to rouse almost the whole people. Their energy came in different degrees. In some hearts there may even have been lukewarmness, if not hostility. But on the surface, and by profession, nearly all came forward and offered their services as builders. It was, in fact, a real revival, and one that only the Spirit of God could produce. We see the value God set on it in this: He has caused the names of those who shared in this work to be written down and kept. This very fact shows that they had His mind in building the wall.

Of the others we mention Rephaiah, who was a wealthy man, who did not hire a substitute, but worked with his own hands, toiling with the rest. Shallum, the son of Halohesh, was another man of power and wealth; he and his daughters repaired like the rest.

reason: 64-word sentence split; grounds the Tekoa claim used in the lead-in God is not indifferent. God notices, and no excuses will set aside His rebuke… "The son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem," is found. So, though a few held back, we find noble service in others — real devotedness.

Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, and Hananiah, one of the perfumers (v. 8), are not linked together like the men before them, though they work side by side. Their trades served the luxury of the world, yet that did not make them unfit to rebuild the city of God. The Lord chooses His workers in every class and every position, and not only where men would be tempted to look for them.

First it is noticeable that, from the greatest to the least, all were united in this particular work. Priests, nobles, and common people were of one mind to build the walls and set up the gates.

Each of us needs a personal exercise about service, and that is likely why these various details are named. But we are to move before the Lord and in fellowship with our brothers and sisters, not apart from them. Then definite help would be given. It helps us greatly to see the clear difference between what is individual and what is independent. They built together.

In Nehemiah 3 the wall is being built. Each little company is in its place building the wall… the divine Architect has made each piece fit, like the well-worked courses of masonry. The work is of God; His good hand is with the feeble remnant.

Led on by Nehemiah, they confessed their need to be separate from the nations around them, and they took steps to secure it. Long before, Moses had said to the Lord, "How will anyone know that I and Your people have found grace in Your sight? Is it not in that You go with us? So we will be set apart, I and Your people, from all the people on the face of the earth." (Exodus 33:16.) They had forgotten this truth. But now, through grace, they were about to take again the place of a people set apart for God.

The fact was that these children of Israel built the wall opposite their own homes. But the Spirit of God would have us understand more than the fact. He would have us see its meaning, and the meaning is not hard to find. Remember that the wall is a picture of separation. These servants of the Lord began with their own houses. They sought first of all to bring their own families under the word of God, and so to separate from evil within the circle of their own responsibility. And this has always been God's order. When God called Gideon to save His people, He first told him to throw down the altar of Baal in his father's house. As another has said, "Faithfulness within comes before outward strength… Obedience first and then strength. This is God's order."

Jedaiah (v. 10) repairs "opposite his house". His first care is to keep his own family safe from the attacks of the enemy… All these men take it to heart to begin by sheltering their own household. How good and how useful this practice is among believers at all times. How can a man stand as a defender of the people of God if he does not know how to protect his own home from evil?

It tells us how closely God looks at His people. He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and He is pleased when they show devotion to His glory. Such commendations come from God and not from man, so they cannot be mistaken. On one side they look ahead to the judgment seat of Christ. On the other they should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

Though Eliashib the high priest and his brothers built the sheep gate, it was a different man, Meremoth, who repaired the wall along the house of Eliashib (v. 21). What a lesson is seen here! A man may care about repairing the public character of Christianity to some degree, and yet care little about the wall of separation in his family life!

Then there are others, as we learn from this chapter, who are full of zeal for their own houses and order them according to God, yet care almost nothing for the welfare of the church… But if we understand the place God's grace has given us, we will long to join the repairing in front of our own houses with the building of the wall and the gates.

There were those who built the wall in front of their own houses… wise men, doing the work that was near at hand, and doing it with a will. They did not waste their strength and time telling others how and where they should build.

In verse 11, the example of Jehoiada and Meshullam continues to bear fruit. Two men, Malchijah and Hasshub, repair the tower of the furnaces, which dominated the entire western wall. That work was as important for signalling danger as for defence. But the two of them also undertook "a second piece", proof of their untiring zeal.

Those towers! "I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me." (Habakkuk 2:1.) Man would say: come down from the watchtower, use your own judgment; break down the wall of separation, and be one with all the false teaching of the land. Satan hates that wall, and hates to see you sitting and watching before the Lord, to learn His mind and do only His will.

Then some are distinguished for the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but they also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13). The Tekoites repaired a piece of wall, following Zadok's work, and later they repaired "another piece" (5, 27). And of others we read that they "repaired a second piece" (11, 19, 30).

The reader will notice that some laboured in companies and some alone. Some were happiest serving alongside their brothers. Others shared the same aim, but chose to work in single-eyed dependence on the Lord, and alone with Him. The same thing is seen in every age... The important thing is to receive the service from the Lord. Labour as He directs. Go where He sends, alone or with others, and always keep a single eye to His glory.

It is good when we can move together in an exercise. These men clearly did so. Having finished one task well, they seem quite happy to move together again on "another piece". They plainly regarded the work as their Lord's.

It would seem that God in His sovereignty made room for the Gentiles in His interests — here, and in other places too. In 2 Samuel 8, David, after subduing the nations, brought in the dedicated things "of Syria, and of Moab", and so on. Again, we have the devotion to the ark of God shown by men such as Uriah the Hittite and Obed-edom the Gittite. All this would magnify the mercy of God. We might also refer to Ruth being brought into the family line of David the king of Israel.

It shows us how closely God surveys His people, how carefully He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and how pleasing to Him is the sight of devotion to His glory. Such commendations — not from man, but from God, and therefore never mistaken — look forward to the judgment seat of Christ, and should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

Nothing in the service of the Lord's people passes unnoticed. So in verse 12 we read, "Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters." The zeal of these godly women has gained them a place in this memorial of the work of the Lord. This Scripture gives us not necessarily what man saw, but what God saw. The father and his daughters were both busy repairing the wall, and the fact that it is mentioned is its commendation.

Shallum's enthusiasm for the work was such that it inspired his daughters, and they helped him build the wall. Their father held a place of honour. Because of that, his daughters might have argued that their business was to keep up the dignity of the house and not dirty their hands with labour. But no — their ambition was to have a part in the Lord's work, and they had it. The dignity of their house has not suffered, for it is recorded that Shallum built "he and his daughters."

This is an important thing too. It is a very great mistake to suppose that women do not have a fitting and weighty place in the work of the Lord. Indeed they have, and the apostle Paul takes good care to show it.

Rephaiah, named earlier, was also ruler of half the district of Jerusalem (v. 9). Shallum, a respected man, held the same office; only, in speaking of him, the Word adds: "he and his daughters." Here women do the work. But it is work of a public nature, so they do it under their father's responsibility and in dependence on him. Yet how touching it is to see them take up a work their sex was not called to, and one for which their strength seemed too small. They did it out of love for the city of God, and with a view to the restoration of His people.

The service of the sisters has its record here also: "Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters" (v. 12). A lovely sight! There was a thoroughly united household — the daughters heart and soul with their father in the work of the Lord.

These girls worked with their father in work for the Lord. To me that is about the most beautiful and most fitting picture we could have to close these meditations. It is what I have longed for, and not for my daughters only but for my sons too. May we strive side by side for the faith of the gospel, with one spirit and one mind (Philippians 1:27). May God grant it to me, and may He grant it to you!

This was indeed remarkable, for building work does not fall within the sphere of women's work. They were earnest enough to take part in it, though what they did may have been of a lighter kind and not so noticeable. These "daughters" remind us of the two women who laboured with Paul "in the gospel", according to Philippians 4:2-3. What counts with God is not how important or unimportant the work looks. It is the devotion and earnestness that moves us to do it. So the work of these daughters, whatever it was, has a place in the record. Similar devotion and work in the Lord's present interests will find mention and reward at the judgment seat of Christ.

Hanun (gracious) and the inhabitants of Zanoah (broken) repaired the valley gate. The valley pictures the low place, humility. How needed this is in service for God, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

What do we learn by the term, valley gate? A valley in Scripture is clearly a symbol of lowliness and humility. John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, lifted up his voice. He echoed the prophetic words of Isaiah, spoken over seven centuries before: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low… and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Luke 3:5-6)… Is this not a beautiful picture of the lowliness of mind that ought to mark Christians in their dealings with one another?

If only Diotrephes had passed through that gate, his name would not have been handed down for all time as one who loved to be first. To secure his position he acted in the flesh, removing every rival out of his way by violence and force. Can a Christian have this spirit if he walks with his Master, who said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29)? Impossible! May we know how to enter by the valley gate, and to do it often.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate in the south-west. Zanoah was a town of Judah, and so away from Jerusalem.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah (v. 13) repaired the valley gate south-west of the city, with the same care as the sons of Senaah. On top of this they repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the dung gate in the south-east. That is the entire portion of the wall facing south. What zeal! And it seems Hanun — if it is the same Hanun — did not limit himself to this work. Verse 30 says he repaired a second piece.

Then some stand out for the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but they also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13).

Then we have the Valley Gate. We may be more interested in the Gate of the Fountain, but the Valley Gate has its place. Verse 13 suggests some link between the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate. Both gates come up in what Nehemiah does in Nehemiah 2. The name probably refers to the Valley of Hinnom, the place where the bodies of criminals and the refuse were burned. So it does appear to be firmly linked with the Dung Gate.

Job would have arrived at the truth of the Dung Gate and the Valley Gate, when he said "I despise myself" (Job 42:6). Paul, too, counted as rubbish all that he had once boasted in (Phil. 3:8).

Dung is not a pleasant subject. It is only filth and corruption, to be got rid of as soon as possible. This is the one gate, we take it, that is not about entrance into the city, as all the other gates are. Its use is to get rid of something objectionable.

Malchiah repaired the dung gate, and he was the ruler of Beth-haccerem (the place of the vineyard). People used this gate to carry the refuse and filth out of the city. This gate reminds us of the calls for God's people to cleanse themselves from all filth of the flesh and the spirit. "For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness" (1 Thess. 4:7).

The apostle Paul knew how to use that gate. He had everything that gives confidence in the flesh: birth, family, circumcision, education, religion. But he met Christ on the road to Damascus, and from then on his values completely changed. Things that were gain to him he counted as loss, because knowing Christ Jesus his Lord was worth far more. He even counted them as rubbish, so that he might gain Christ (see Phil. 3:4-9).

Job would have arrived at the truth of the Dung Gate and the Valley Gate when he said, "I despise myself" (Job 42:6). Paul, too, counted as rubbish all that he had boasted in before (Phil. 3:8).

The record says that some of the workers, including even some of the priests, repaired "against their house". That means they took the section that interested them most and suited them best. Doing that was not as praiseworthy as working on a piece of no particular interest to the worker, or even repulsive to him. Repairing the "dung gate" is one example. Verse 14 records that a ruler of part of a township took it on.

It should remind us also of what the godly woman Hannah said in her prayer in 1 Samuel 2. She said, "the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed". When our actions, as we seek to serve the Lord, are weighed, how will they appear — weighty, or of little worth?

Malchijah the son of Rechab (v. 14), a recognised leader, repairs the dung gate in the south-east. He is the first to build a gate by himself alone. And note his Rechabite character, which fits him for the perseverance of faith.

Descendants of Rechab, the father of Jonadab... they abstained from wine, and they did not build houses, nor sow seed. Being nomads they did not plant vineyards, nor had any; but all their days they lived in tents.

The gate of the fountain was next to the dung gate. The fountain, always flowing, is a blessed picture of the Holy Spirit. He lives in the believer. In him He is the well of living water springing up, like a fountain, into eternal life (John 4:14). The order is suggestive. If a believer cleanses himself from what defiles, nothing hinders the Spirit of God. The Spirit fills the believer and uses him as a vessel fit for the Master's use. Shallun (recompense) the son of Colhozeh (wholly seer) the ruler of Mizpah (watchtower) repaired and built that gate. And these names fit in beautifully with the Spirit of God as the fountain of life and power.

In Numbers 21 the people of Israel had the experience of the bronze serpent. It pictures the judgment of the flesh, which opens the way for the energy of a new life. Right after it we read, "Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!" (v. 17). So may this gate not set out the happy portion of the believer, who has made way for the full enjoyment of heavenly things by honest self-judgment as set out by the dung gate, and who finds the immense spiritual gain of doing so?

He repairs the gate of the fountain in the east on his own, and restores it to a complete state of defence. He also repairs the "wall of the pool of Shelah [Siloam]". Then he works on along "the king's garden" to the stairs that go down from the city of David. The gate gives protection, the fountain gives refreshment and healing, and the shade gives rest. All of this falls within the circle of his activity. Jerusalem owes the enjoyment of these priceless blessings to him as the result of his efforts to secure the good of his brothers!

The only thought I have is that the covering would preserve it from defilement.

Do we not also read, "Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matt. 12:32)? He was to be guarded in that way. So we value how refreshing the communications of the Holy Spirit of God are. But we must also keep a right sense of their holy character.

A pool on the south of Jerusalem near the west slope of the Kidron valley. The Old Testament mentions it as lying "by the king's garden" when Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:15). Isaiah 8:6 uses it as a symbol, under the name Shiloah. The people refused its gently flowing waters and preferred Syria and the king of Israel. The strong waters of Assyria would sweep them away. In the New Testament the man born blind had clay put on his eyes and was sent to wash at Siloam, which means "sent." Christ is the Sent One. So this is a picture: light comes when Christ in His humiliation is known as the Sent One of God. John 9:7, 11.

It would seem that he had no house, only a lodging; but though the circle of his responsibility was narrow, he was found faithful. As the apostle says about stewardship, "If the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." This should comfort those who are tempted to long for wider spheres of service. The Lord values and commends faithfulness in the place where He has put us. So the record singles out the work of Meshullam just as much as the work of Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah.

The zeal of Nehemiah was used by the Lord to stir up almost the whole people... It was, in fact, a real revival; and one that could only be produced by the Spirit of God. And the value God set on it is seen in this, that He has caused the names of those who engaged in this work to be written and preserved.

It tells us in what detail (if we may speak that way) God surveys His people. It shows how carefully He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service. And it shows how welcome to Him is the display of devotion to His glory.

Nehemiah the son of Azbuk (v. 16) is unknown to us, like many others, although here he occupies a prominent position. Through his activity he opens the way for works of great importance.

City in the mountains of Judah, apparently founded by Maon. The city was built or fortified by Rehoboam when the tribes divided... It commanded the road from Beer-sheba to Jerusalem, and is often referred to in the Wars of the Maccabees.

First it is noticeable that, from the greatest to the least, all were united in this particular work. Priests, nobles, and common people were of one mind to build the walls and set up the gates. Those engaged in the work may hold very different social positions; some are "nobles," and some are common people. Their daily callings may be very different — some are goldsmiths, some perfumers, and others merchants. But whatever their social position, their daily calling, or their special service for the Lord, all were of one mind and one purpose in building the walls and setting up the gates. By this unanimity, as one has said, "they confessed their need of separation from the nations around and took measures to secure it."

With v. 16 we come to the city of David, properly speaking... Nothing then remains to be repaired but the last and most important part of the holy city. Its position and height above the valley of Kidron had kept it from any direct attack by the enemy. The uncertain topography of this region makes some of the details hard to understand... Also, from v. 16 on, we notice that the words "next to him" are replaced by "after him." This seems to show that the work could be tackled from several sides at once.

Then follows a list of David's worthies, with their deeds of valour and devotedness. God also will have His valiant men; He will count them when He writes up the people. Ps. 87:6.

The Lord used Nehemiah's zeal to stir up almost the whole people… It was, in fact, a real revival, and one that only the Spirit of God could produce. The value God set on it shows in this: He has had the names of those who took part in this work written down and kept. This very fact shows that they had His mind in building the wall. It could not be otherwise; for what did their proposed work mean? It meant that they, led forward by Nehemiah, confessed their need to be separate from the nations around them. They then took steps to secure it.

This shows us how closely God surveys His people. It shows how carefully He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and how welcome to Him is a display of devotion to His glory. Such commendations come not from man but from God, so they cannot be wrong. They look ahead to the judgment seat of Christ, and they should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

In verse 17 we read, "After him the Levites repaired". Their service would have to do with the general service and ministry of the truth, instruction for the saints. We may thank God that this service never stops in the gatherings of the saints. In Deuteronomy 33 we read the particular work given to the Levites: "They shall teach Jacob Your rules, and Israel Your law."

Verses 17 to 21 speak of the work of the Levites. Rehum had returned with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:3). Later he is among those who signed the covenant (Neh. 10:25), and so was Hashabiah (Neh. 10:12), who repaired "for his district" and who is also a chief Levite appointed especially to give praise (Neh. 12:24). In every way, these two men are qualified to work "next to" one another.

We each need an individual exercise about our own service. That would be why these various features are named. But definite help comes when we move before the Lord and in fellowship with our brothers, not independently of them. It helps us to see the great difference between what is individual and what is independent. They built together.

They are all a working people together — the nobles and the common folk. The service of God's city had put them all on a level. The rich are made low, the poor are exalted: a beautiful sight in its time and place.

The variety of the service of these children of Israel is worth noting. One did one thing and one another, while all were working for the same end… Two things cannot be pressed too much: taking up the position we have been given to fill, and using the special gift, or function in the body, given to us. Every Christian has his own place, which no one else can fill. He has his own work, which no other can do. The health and prosperity of the assembly depend on seeing this truth and practising it.

It was a real revival, the kind only the Spirit of God could produce. You can see the value God set on it in this: He caused the names of those who took part in this work to be written down and preserved. That very fact shows they had His mind in building the wall. What did their work mean? Led forward by Nehemiah, they confessed that they needed to be separate from the nations around them, and they took steps to secure it.

That leads to another feature seen in verse 18: "After him their brothers repaired." This confirms the caution given earlier. Individual exercise is needed, and it matters a great deal. Yet we are set together. It is good to see this feature come right after the mention of the Levites: brothers plainly moving together.

These men are not working independently of one another. One cause of division among believers has been the effort to pull the exercise of gift apart from the rest. These mighty men, though, are alongside the Levites, and the Levites are seen working with their brothers, with the priests, and with the temple servants. Independence in the things of God is really self-will.

"They put not their necks to the work of their Lord." Pride was governing their hearts. They could not stoop low enough. They were not used to the yoke, and so they preferred their own importance and ease to the Lord's work. Every child of God does well to learn this lesson: rest for the soul comes only by bowing the neck to the Lord's yoke.

Hashabiah repaired "for his district," and he is also a chief Levite specially appointed to give praise. In every way, these two men are qualified to work "next to" one another. Bavvai (v. 18) has the same dignity and the same district as Hashabiah, but he is not mentioned later.

The instruments God uses are many and varied, but each one is useful. No one can be replaced, and no one chooses his own work. Whether several work together or a worker is alone, their only responsibility is to work in the place God assigns to each one.

Let us never be diverted from the work of God, nor even ashamed, by the ridicule of men who oppose Christ and His service… We note first of all that God has seen fit to fill a whole chapter with the names of the leaders of families or townships who took part in the work. We might wonder why so much valuable space should go to the names of men who would otherwise be forgotten. We conclude from it, however, that the humblest service for the will of God is not forgotten. It is put on record — above all when it is carried on in the face of ridicule and opposition.

Verses 17 to 21 speak of the work of the Levites… Bavvai (verse 18) has the same rank and the same district as Hashabiah, but he is not mentioned later. Ezer appears again when the choirs meet, at the dedication of the wall (Neh. 12:42).

In verse 17 we read, "After him the Levites repaired". Their service would have to do with the general service and ministry of the truth — instruction for the saints. Thank God, that service goes on without stopping in the gatherings of the saints. In Deuteronomy 33 we read that the particular work committed to the Levites was, "They shall teach Jacob Your rules and Israel Your law."

Then some are distinguished for the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but they also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13). The Tekoites not only repaired a piece of wall, following Zadok's work, but later we read that they repaired "another piece" (5, 27). And of others we read that they "repaired a second piece" (11, 19, 30).

The whole chapter appears to us as a miniature forecast of the judgment seat of Christ… The Tekoites were very diligent, for they repaired "another piece" as well as the first they undertook. Yet Scripture records that "their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their Lord". All too often a high place in the world proves a hindrance when the work of the Lord is in question. Their "nobles" no doubt liked to talk and direct, but did not like to soil their hands, or bend their necks, to do the work.

When they built the tabernacle, they put a double board at the corners, just where it was liable to fall apart. I think we know from experience that things sometimes come in among us which could divide us at once, if we are not careful. On such occasions we need extra stability and extra wisdom.

Some stand out for the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13). The Tekoites repaired a piece of wall after Zadok's work, and later they repaired "another piece" (5, 27). Of others we read that they "repaired a second piece" (11, 19, 30).

In verses 4 and 5 we see first of all Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest. He was a faithful and respected man. Ezra's companions had trusted him with all the free-will offerings sent from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:33-34). His zeal goes beyond the restoration of just one portion of the wall. He is the first to repair "another piece," and others later copy his example. This second portion was connected with the city of David and the temple, and it stood in front of the house of Eliashib the high priest (v. 21). His zeal leads him to defend the man who represents the people before God... Faithfulness in a service that looks small qualifies the worker for a work that has to do directly with Christ, our high priest.

Then Scripture tells us in careful detail that others built in front of the house of Eliashib. One man built up to the door of his house, and another man carried the work on from his door (20, 21). The high priest did not care about his own house, and he put no locks and bars on the gate he built. For his part, he left his house and his gate open to the enemy.

Eliashib the high priest is named first among the builders, not because he was the most devoted builder, but because of his position. Chapter 13:4 tells us that he had allied himself with Tobiah, and chapter 13:28 tells us that one of his sons had married the daughter of Sanballat. Besides this, Eliashib and his relatives built the sheep gate, yet a different man, Meremoth, repaired the wall "from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib" (v. 21). What a lesson we see here! A man may care about repairing the public character of Christianity in some measure, and yet care little about the wall of separation in his family life!

We might notice that this man's work was at a most important point of the wall — the corner of the high priest's house. The enemy would have been delighted to get in at such a point.

Then there are others, as this chapter shows us, who are full of zeal in caring for their own houses and ordering them according to God, yet care almost nothing for the welfare of the church... But if we understand the position grace has given us, we will earnestly desire to join the two: repairing opposite our own houses, and building the wall and the gates.

The Lord used Nehemiah's zeal to rouse almost the whole people. There were degrees of energy among them, and maybe lukewarmness, if not hostility, in the hearts of some. But outwardly, and by profession, nearly all came forward and offered their services as builders. It was, in fact, a real revival, and one that only the Spirit of God could produce. We see the value God set on it in this: He made sure the names of those who worked were written down and preserved. This very fact shows that they had His mind in building the wall.

First it is noticeable that, from the greatest to the least, all were united in this particular work. Priests, nobles, and common people were of one mind to build the walls and set up the gates... Their individual work in the service of the Lord may be different, for some are priests and some Levites. But whatever their social position, their daily calling, or their special service for the Lord, all shared one mind and one purpose. By this unanimity, as one has said, "they confessed their need of separation from the nations around and took measures to secure it."

All are a working people together — the nobles and the common folk. The service of God's city had put them all on a level. The rich are made low, the poor are exalted: a beautiful sight in its time and place. Then, some are distinguished... some of the priests "sanctified" their work in their part of the city walls, while others of them worked in an ordinary way.

No one would value the death of Jesus as the priests do. The more priestly a person is, the more the thought of the death of Christ softens his affections and subdues his spirit. The reference to "men of the plain (of Jordan)" may bear that application. In New Testament language it may point to those whose hearts move with the truth of the Lord's death. They understand what that death has established for the glory and praise of God.

As we noted earlier, there seems to be a moral progression here: from the warriors to the Levites, from the Levites to the brothers, from the brothers to the priests. None of us learn these things quickly. But if we seek grace to go on, and if we do go on earnestly, we will become established in the truth and enter more fully into its privileges.

It is important to realise this: all service carried on in the energy of the Holy Spirit aims at promoting priestly conditions among the saints of God.

The second noteworthy thing is the variety of the service of these children of Israel. One did one thing and one another, while all were working for the same end... Every Christian has his own place, which no one else can fill, and his own work, which no other can do. The health and prosperity of the assembly depend on recognising this truth and practising it.

In several cases the text says that certain men repaired the wall opposite their houses (vv. 10, 23, 28, 29, and others). In these notes we must separate two things — the fact, and what the fact teaches. The fact is that these children of Israel built the stretch of wall opposite their own homes. But beyond that, the Spirit of God wants us to understand what it means. And the meaning is not hard to find. The wall is a picture of separation. So we are taught that these servants of the Lord began with their own houses. They sought first of all to bring their own families under the word of God, and in that way to bring about separation from evil within the circle of their own responsibility.

Jedaiah (v. 10) repairs "over against his house". His first care is to preserve his own family against the invasions of the enemy. The case is the same for Benjamin, Hasshub and Azariah (v. 23), for the priests and Zadok (vv. 28, 29). All these men make it their concern to begin by sheltering those of their own house. How good and how profitable this practice is among believers at all times! How can one stand as a defender of the people of God, if one doesn't know how to protect his own home from evil?

Faithfulness within comes before outward strength. Evil must be put away from Israel before the enemy can be driven out. Obedience first, and then strength. This is God's order.

Again others are distinguished for their personal faithfulness in the work. They built over against their own houses (10, 23, 28, 29). God thus marks out for special approval those who are careful to maintain separation within the sphere of their own responsibility.

The record says that many of the people living in Jerusalem made repairs in front of their own houses (vv. 23, 28, 29, 30). This reminds us of 1 Timothy 3:5, "For if he does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" It is also true that some Christians care only about their personal and family responsibilities, and ignore the proper welfare of the church of God. In contrast, we have noticed that Eliashib repaired the sheep gate, but did not make repairs at his own house. How important it is to have a well-balanced concern for the spiritual blessing of our own families, and at the same time for the true prospering of the assembly of God!

We note first of all that God has seen fit to use a whole chapter to record the names of the leaders of families or townships who took part in the work. We might wonder why so much valuable space goes to the names of men who would otherwise be forgotten. But we learn from it that God does not forget the humblest service done for His will. He puts it on record, above all when someone carries it on in the face of ridicule and opposition.

We note first of all that God has seen fit to fill a whole chapter with the names of the leaders of families or townships who took part in the building. We might wonder that so much valuable space should go to the names of men who would otherwise be forgotten. But we conclude from it that God does not forget the humblest service for His will. He puts it on record, above all when it is carried on in the face of ridicule and opposition.

It tells us in what detail (if we may put it that way) God surveys His people. It shows how closely He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service. And it shows how welcome to Him is a display of devotion to His glory. Such commendations are not from man, but from God, and therefore infallible. On the one hand they anticipate the judgment seat of Christ. On the other, they should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

Then some are distinguished by the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13). The Tekoites not only repaired a piece of wall, following Zadok's work, but later we are told that they repaired "another piece" (5, 27). And of others we read that they "repaired a second piece" (11, 19, 30).

Only the "second piece" of Binnui (v. 24) is mentioned, which seems to show that he helped Azariah to protect his house. This Binnui seals the covenant in Nehemiah 10:9.

Keep in mind that the wall is a picture of separation. We are taught that these servants of the Lord began first with their own houses. They sought first of all to bring their own families under the authority of the word of God, and so to carry out separation from evil within the circle of their own responsibility. And this has always been the divine order.

Some of the workers, including even some of the priests, repaired the wall next to their own house. That meant they took on the section that was of most interest and convenience to themselves. To do this was not as praiseworthy as working on a piece of no particular interest to the worker.

It is true, on the other hand, that some Christians care only about their personal and family responsibilities. They ignore the proper welfare of the church of God... How important it is for us to have a well-balanced concern for the spiritual blessing of our own families, and at the same time for the true prospering of the assembly of God!

In the tabernacle a double board stood at each corner, just where it was liable to fall apart. I think we know from experience that things sometimes come in among us which could divide us at once if we are not careful. On such occasions we need, as it were, extra stability and extra wisdom.

It tells us how closely God watches over His people, down to the smallest detail. It shows how carefully He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and how pleasing to Him it is when someone is devoted to His glory. Such commendations come not from man but from God, so they cannot be wrong. They look ahead to the judgment-seat of Christ, and they should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

The whole chapter appears to us as like a miniature forecast of the judgment-seat of Christ.

Palal makes his repairs, and he turns his attention to the buildings that stood as witnesses of royal authority and of the judgment of the guilty (v. 25). In the same verse we find Pedaiah the son of Parosh. Several of his brothers had married foreign wives (Ezra 10:25). Later he is present at the reading of the covenant (Neh. 8:4), and he served as one of the keepers of the storehouses of the Levites (Neh. 13:13).

"The King's Garden" is the garden he walks in to gather his fruit. Its scent and fruit are for the delight of his own heart. "The House" speaks of a place of closeness, a place he shares with the one on whom his affections rest. Both thoughts are seen in what the Church is to Christ.

When the tabernacle was built, a double board was placed at the corners — just where it was likely to pull apart. And I think we know from experience that things sometimes come in among us which could divide us at once if we are not careful. At such times we need extra stability and extra wisdom.

Notice the grace of God here: He takes note of everyone's work, and He also shows what was distinctive about each one. This was an important thing to remember. There is not one of you, dear friends, who has no work to do for the Lord. Are you doing it? And there is a work that you can do better than anyone else.

Others again stand out for their personal faithfulness in the work. They built opposite their own houses (10, 23, 28, 29). So God singles out for special approval those who are careful to keep separation within their own area of responsibility.

A name meaning 'given, devoted ones.' The name was given to those who helped the Levites in the service of the tabernacle and the temple... Joshua made the Gibeonites "cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar." Joshua 9:27. They are not mentioned after 2 Samuel, so they and their descendants may have been the 'Nethinim.' God does not appear to have appointed them, as He did the Levites. Instead, 'David and the princes' appointed them 'for the service of the Levites.' Ezra 8:20... After the return from exile the Nethinim are called the 'ministers of this house of God.'

A part of Jerusalem. It is first mentioned in 2 Chronicles 27:3, where Jotham "did much building on the wall of Ophel." When Manasseh built, he "carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height," 2 Chronicles 33:14. On the return from exile the Nethinim dwelt there... People think it stood at the south-east corner of Jerusalem, outside the present walls, near the Virgin's fountain. The same word is translated 'tower' in 2 Kings 5:24.

In the account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, the wording about the Nethinim is rather obscure. Did the Nethinim renovate the tower of Ophel (which stood on the wall, 2 Chronicles 27:3) while others rebuilt the wall? That is not quite clear.

In Ezra 8:20 we read, "Also of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites." In our day they would perhaps answer to those who do many services behind the scenes, as we may say. Many things are necessary and have to be done week by week. People may often take these things for granted, but someone has to do them.

It is remarkable that it was the Nethinim who were there, maintaining the source of refreshment for the people of God. That should encourage all those who may not be able to take on any prominent service. Many a simple service can be used to set the affections of the saints free, and so enrich the service of God.

The verse mentions the water gate. It links the Nethinim with this gate — they were servants and lived in Ophel (the high place). This gate suggests the Word of God, so often spoken of under the symbol of water (John 3:5; 13:1-16; Ephesians 5:26; Psalm 119:136). Notice something very interesting. The verse links the servants with the water gate, but it does not say that they repaired the gate. The Word of God needs no building up or improving; it builds up those who bow to its blessed authority.

Here it is a case of dwelling. No lack of water. No lack of refreshment. And has not the Christian received what answers to this? Is there not the refreshment of the whole of God's Word by the Spirit as his portion?

One did one thing and one another, while all were working for the same end... Every Christian has his own place, which no one else can fill. He has his own work, which no other can do. The health and prosperity of the assembly depend on recognising this truth and living it out.

In verse 27 we see them repair "a second piece" of the city of David, "over against the great tower which lies out, as far as the wall of Ophel". Ophel, where the Nethinim lived, joined one of the gates of the temple.

Ophel is a part of Jerusalem. It is first mentioned in 2 Chronicles 27:3, which says that Jotham built much "on the wall of Ophel." … After the return from exile the Nethinim lived there. Nehemiah 3:26-27; Nehemiah 11:21. … Translators give the same word as "tower" in 2 Kings 5:24, and in the margin of some of the passages above.

The Tekoites were willing servants, for verse 27 says they "repaired another piece." It is obvious that they were zealous men, and this despite the indifference, if not the opposition, of "their nobles." … The reason these nobles held back is plain. They "did not put their necks to the work of their Lord." Pride was governing their hearts. They could not stoop low enough. They were not used to the yoke, so they preferred their own importance and ease to the Lord's work.

On the whole, this lack of zeal in the nobles does not — and may it always be so — bring about the results it so often brings in cases like this. Instead, because the Tekoites do not depend on their leaders, they double their zeal all the more.

The prophet Amos was a Tekoite who had prophesied many years before, a simple herdsman who gathered sycamore figs. The Lord chose him, and here this record keeps forever the names of other humble workers from Tekoa whom He used in the work. Their nobles were slackers. They had no interest in the work of their Lord. And there are still people like that, who do not work for the Lord, and in that coming day they will suffer loss, though they are saved.

Then some are distinguished for the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but they also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13). The Tekoites not only repaired a piece of wall, following Zadok's work, but later we are told that they repaired "another piece" (5, 27).

It is good when we can move together in one common concern. These men did so. Having finished one piece of work well, they seem glad to move together again on "another piece". It is clear that they saw the work as their Lord's.

The whole chapter looks to us like a small forecast of the judgment seat of Christ. This stands out most in verses 5, 12, 20, 23 and 27. The Tekoites were very diligent, for they repaired 'another piece' as well as the first piece they took on. Yet the record says that 'their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their Lord'. High standing in the world all too often gets in the way when the work of the Lord is in question. Their 'nobles' no doubt liked to talk and give orders, but they did not like to dirty their hands or bend their necks to do the work.

The horse is a symbol of power. Read the vivid description of the horse that the Lord gives in Job 39:19-25. Here is part of it. "Have you given the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? … He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons." Now the Holy Spirit is given that the believer may have power.

Verse 28. The horse gate (2 Kings 11:6; Jer. 31:40) suggests warfare and victory. In a world of evil the people of God wage a warfare. We do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but with wicked spirits. Paul speaks of the believer as a soldier of Christ. Victory is on our side, though the forces of evil may threaten on all sides.

In verse 28 we read, "Above the Horse Gate (note: another sign of power) the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house". If priestly service is to keep its power, how vital it is for each man to see that things are right, according to the truth, in "his house". So we read again in verse 29, "After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house".

So we are taught this — keeping in mind that the wall is a picture of separation. These servants of the Lord began with their own houses. They sought first of all to bring their own families into obedience to the word of God, and so to separate from evil inside the circle of their own responsibility. This has always been God's order. When God called Gideon to be the deliverer of His people, He told him to pull down the altar of Baal in his father's house before he could go out to battle against the Midianites. As another has said, "Faithfulness within comes before outward strength." The record that each of these men repaired the wall opposite his own house shows that conscience was at work. They rightly understood God's claims on them in their own homes. They felt that setting their houses in order was a necessary qualification for any public service.

The Lord sees and knows what needs to be done opposite our own houses. He takes notice of the work of saints, even when they are busy with what they think is very small service. Home labour is little seen by man, but God marks it well. It is most important service. You may not be able to pray in the assembly; it is not the place God has given to some to do so; but have you unconverted ones at home? Do you seek their souls for Christ?

Many of the people of Jerusalem made repairs in front of their own houses (vv. 23,28,29,30). This reminds us of 1 Timothy 3:5, "For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" On the other hand, some Christians care only about themselves and their families, and ignore the true good of the church of God. We have noticed the opposite case too: Eliashib repaired the sheep gate, but made no repairs at his own house. How important it is to have a well balanced concern for the spiritual blessing of our own families, and at the same time for the true prospering of the assembly of God!

It tells us with what care God surveys His people. He carefully notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and a display of devotion to His glory is welcome to Him. Such commendations come not from man but from God, so they cannot be mistaken. They look ahead to the judgment seat of Christ. They should also stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

We are taught that these servants of the Lord began first with their own houses. Keep in mind that the wall is a picture of separation. They sought first of all to bring their own families under the word of God, and so to bring about separation from evil within the circle of their own responsibility. And this has always been the divine order. As another writer has said: "Faithfulness within comes before outward strength. Evil must be put away from Israel before the enemy can be driven out. Obedience first and then strength. This is God's order."

Jedaiah repairs the wall in front of his house. His first care is to keep his own family safe from the enemy's attacks. It is the same for Benjamin, Hasshub and Azariah, and for the priests and Zadok. All these men take it to heart to begin by sheltering those of their own house… How can anyone stand as a defender of the people of God if he does not know how to protect his own home from evil?

There are others, as we learn from this chapter, who are most zealous in tending their own houses and ordering them according to God. Yet they are almost entirely careless about the welfare of the church… But if we understand the position grace has given us, we will earnestly desire to do both. We will repair in front of our own houses and build the wall and the gates.

Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah is the "keeper of the east gate", the main gate of the temple precincts. His name appears later on all the main occasions. If his father Shechaniah had been the keeper of the gate, Jerusalem would have been in grave danger from Tobijah (Nehemiah 6:18).

Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah, repaired and kept the east gate. From Ezekiel's prophecy we learn that the glory of God's presence left by the east gate. When that glory returns to dwell in the temple once more… it will enter through the east gate. The east gate faces the rising sun. It suggests the coming of the Lord for His people. And here the two names fit in beautifully. Shemaiah means "heard of the Lord"; even so He will hear His people and some day will answer their prayer for His coming. Shechaniah means "habitation of the Lord." We shall be with Him.

Most of these men gain, as we have seen, "a good degree" through their zeal to build the wall of the city of David. Shouldn't we draw a lesson for ourselves from this? Think of the silence and inability of so many children of God in the ministry. Doesn't much of it start at the beginning? God set some work before them to do for Him, work needing effort, perseverance and the sacrifice of their time. And they, like the nobles of Tekoa, did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.

The value God set on their work is seen in this: He caused the names of those who shared in it to be written and preserved... The details of the chapter can hardly fail to remind the reader of Romans 16, where the apostle Paul, guided by the Spirit, names so many of the believers. In many cases he also describes their different characteristics in service... It tells us how closely God surveys His people, down to the smallest detail, if we may speak that way. He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and He welcomes the display of devotion to His glory.

In the case of Meshullam the son of Berechiah it is said that he repaired opposite his chamber (v. 30). It seems he had no house, only a lodging. His circle of responsibility was narrow, but he was found faithful. As the apostle speaks of stewardship, "if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." This should comfort those who are tempted to long for wider spheres of service. It is faithfulness in the place where the Lord has put us that He values and commends.

It would be an encouragement to people who are not heads of houses, and do not have a house of their own. If we have only one room, we can hold that for the Lord. There would be nothing in that room which is contrary to His Name. In that way the work of the Lord would be supported.

Then some are distinguished for the quantity of their work. Of "Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah" we read that they not only set up "the valley gate" but they also built "a thousand cubits of the wall" (13). The Tekoites not only repaired a piece of wall, following Zadok's work, but later we are told that they repaired "another piece" (5, 27). And of others we read that they "repaired a second piece" (11, 19, 30).

Then follow Zadok, Shemaiah, Hananiah; then Hanun described as a sixth son of Zalaph for a second piece. Where were the five? Did none come but this one to glorify God in this work?

Meshullam, whom our chapter mentions after Meremoth, was a man of doubtful character, for he had allied himself to Tobijah, to whose son, named Johanan, he had given his daughter (Neh. 6:18)... Despite this unfortunate alliance, he shows zeal for the house of God, but not the same zeal as Meremoth. Although he next works at the "city of David", his work aims first of all at protecting his own living quarters (v. 30).

From the greatest to the least, all were united in this one work. Priests, nobles, and common people were of one mind to build the walls and set up the gates… Their daily jobs may be very different — some are goldsmiths, some perfumers, and others merchants (8, 31, 32).

In verse 31 we read again of a goldsmith working. In verse 32 both goldsmiths and merchants take part in the work. Often it is the poor who do the work of the Lord (James 2:5). So it is all the more refreshing when people of means are willing to work for the Lord.

Malchijah (v. 31) had taken a foreign wife (Ezra 10:25 or 31) and had purified himself.

The last name mentioned, Malchiah, means "God is king", which would suggest the end in view. The rights of God amongst His people secured.

The name means "given, devoted ones." It was used of those who helped the Levites in the service of the tabernacle and the temple… It does not appear that God appointed them, as He did the Levites. Instead, "David and the princes" appointed them "for the service of the Levites" (Ezra 8:20).

In our day they would perhaps match those who do many services behind the scenes. Many things are necessary and have to be done week by week. People often take them for granted, but someone has to do them.

Malchiah (the Lord is King), the goldsmith's son, repaired the Miphkad gate. Miphkad means "the appointed place" or "a place of visitation." It was probably the gate where the judges sat to settle disputes and arguments. It suggests the judgment seat of Christ.

Miphkad means the place of meeting. How happy it is that God gives His people a place of meeting—an assembly on earth, where our Lord is in the midst of those gathered to His name.

It is a happy thought that the last gate in Nehemiah 3 shows the work is complete. They have reached this grand goal — "the appointed place". There is a very simple statement about Abraham setting out from Ur of the Chaldees with Sarah his wife. It says, "And into the land of Canaan they came" (Gen. 12:5). He might have set out and never finished the journey. But into the land of Canaan they came. Let us be encouraged not only to have a goal, but to seek grace to reach it.

In verse 32 a great number of goldsmiths and dealers put their hand to the work. They rejoin the walls of the city of David to the Sheep Gate, where the work had begun.

Through this gate the sacrificial animals were led to the altar. … The Sheep Gate at which the work started is typical of the blessed work of the Lamb of God. He bore our sins in His body on the tree, and by the offering of His spotless, holy body we are sanctified. The lesson here is that the person and work of Christ is the starting point of a true restoration. The cross of Christ, the work God's Son has accomplished, must be guarded above everything else. At the close of this chapter this Sheep Gate is mentioned once more. After making the circuit of all the gates, we are led back to this first gate. It is with this great truth, the gospel of Christ, that all repairing of the inroads of the world and the flesh must start and finish. This gate suggests Him who said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." No other gate leads to life and into God's presence.

The first man mentioned in the chapter is Eliashib. His name carries the suggestion that God is a God who will restore. He and his brothers built the Sheep Gate, the point from which the work started and also at which it finished. We learn from the fifth chapter of John's Gospel that the Sheep Gate is connected with Bethesda — the house of mercy. The principle of sovereignty in mercy therefore characterises the work throughout.

In verse 31 we read again of a goldsmith working, and in verse 32 of both goldsmiths and merchants taking part in the work. Often it is the poor who engage in the work of the Lord (James 2:5), so it is all the more refreshing when those of means are willing to labour for the Lord.

One of the features that come to light in this chapter is the unity that marks the different classes of those engaged in the work — men of Jericho, nobles, goldsmiths, perfumers and others. Would this not suggest that, although we differ from one another in secular things, we should be united in our desires and activities in divine interests?

One did one thing and one another, while all were working for the same end. It was a true picture of the different functions of the members of the body… Every Christian has his own place, which no one else can fill, and his own work, which no other can do; and the health and prosperity of the assembly depend on the recognition and the practice of this truth.

This chapter can hardly fail to remind the reader of Romans 16, where Paul names many of the believers one by one and describes their different characteristics in service… This tells us how minutely God surveys His people, how carefully He notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and how welcome to Him is a display of devotedness to His glory. Such commendations — not from man, but from God, and therefore infallible — should stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.

It was bad enough to find the work was begun. It was a great deal worse to find that it was going on, and that Nehemiah was not so easily frightened. Sanballat had threatened to report him as a rebel against the king. But where the heart is simple, there is no reason for such alarm. The more firmly Nehemiah honoured the authorities set over him, the more he could afford to ignore Sanballat's threats and scorn.

So we have very briefly examined the seven stages of opposition to God's own work. The grief of the enemy (Neh. 2:10); the laughter of the enemy (Neh. 2:19); his wrath (Neh. 4:1); mocking (Neh. 4:3); fighting (Neh. 4:8); scheming from outside (Neh. 5:1-9); scheming and danger from within (Neh. 6:10). And many a reader of this tract will say, "I have seen all seven in the opposition to God's work in our own day."

These relentless enemies of the Jews hated them all the more because they themselves had some knowledge of the true God. Sanballat led the forces of Samaria, where their idol worship was not completely separated from the worship of the Lord. In religion, mixing the true with the false is far more hostile to Christian testimony than plain paganism. A world that has taken its religion from the Bible and the Gospels often leads this opposition. It has made its creed out of certain scriptural truths. It cannot bear those who build the wall and the gates of the city of God, for these defences are against itself.

It is worth noticing that, while hatred of God and His will lies underneath, mockery is a common means. No method is more available to shallow people or more effective with the coarse. And we can see in Scripture and in experience that what is high and holy is especially open to ridicule. Some have so little conscience that they indulge in it, and others too little to resent the offence.

At first, however, the opposers try to hide their real rage. They pretend to despise a feeble people and their puny efforts, which, they say, a fox would bring to nothing. If that were really the case, they need not have troubled themselves further. They could very well leave the matter to the fox to deal with.

"Will they fortify themselves?" he asked. His very attitude showed that they did need to fortify themselves against him! Also, "Will they offer sacrifices?" In other words, he did not want them to honour God by sacrificing to Him. "Will they complete it in a day?" He feared the energy with which they were working.

He simply turned to God, sure that He cared for His people. God would be their defence and their shield, for they were busy in His own service. And it is always a blessed thing when we can take all the enemy's revilings to God and leave them with Him. In our natural energy and impatience we too often try to meet the enemy in our own strength. But faith turns the eye upward and commits everything to the Lord… And notice his plea — "For we are despised." God's people are precious in His sight, and to despise them is to despise Him.

Opposition did not stop the work: in fact, "the people had a mind to work." May we too keep on in the work of the Lord despite all opposition. God gives special grace at such times.

The language of both Sanballat and Tobiah did not match their feelings. It is in verse 1 that we find their real state of mind. Wrath and indignation filled their souls. They knew very well what the work of the Israelites meant. But when they spoke, they hid their anger behind pretended contempt. But suppose the "feeble Jews" were working for nothing. Suppose the wall they were building was a worthless thing. Then why the anger of Sanballat and Tobiah?

These relentless enemies of the Jews hated them all the more because they themselves had some knowledge of the true God. Sanballat led the forces of Samaria. There the worship of idols was never fully separated from the worship of Jehovah. This is what we will always find. The mixture of the true with the false, in religion, is far more hostile to Christian testimony than plain paganism is.

They were active, boastful, clever men of authority in the land, but not of it. Do they not, then, represent the active, boastful, clever men of authority inside the professing church? They are really strangers to God, and not of the church at all. They are the enemies and opposers of those who want to carry on the work of God.

The world's hostility begins with mockery, which frightens the timid more than hatred does. Mockery easily takes hold of us all, if our hearts have not broken with our old ties to the world. Then we will fear ridicule and scorn. We will pull back from open fellowship with this humbled people, "these weak Jews," who claim to repair the breaches.

Looking only at the outward circumstances, the enemy could call this little remnant "feeble" with some show of truth. They could fairly ask whether these people would be allowed to go on. Would they sacrifice? Would they "finish"? Would they "revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish"? But in asking such questions they left out God and His grace. They talked nonsense about a fox.

The course Nehemiah takes to meet this attack is simple and instructive. He faces the rage of Sanballat, "his brothers, and the army of Samaria." He refuses to be drawn into any argument with them. He makes no appeal to them. He suggests no compromise with them. He does not go out to fight them. He turns to God.

Notice his plea — "for we are despised." God's people are precious in His sight, and to despise them is to despise Him. Nehemiah had grasped this, and so made his appeal to the heart of God.

Tobiah says, "If a fox went up, it would break down their stone wall." But Nehemiah says, "we built the wall." The Jebusites said to David, "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will drive you back." Yet "David took the stronghold of Zion."

Men may mock the little, feeble company. They may say, "What are these feeble Jews doing?" as we seek to build the wall, or set up the temple and the altar, separated from everything that is not of God. But if Christ's glory fills the heart, we long to bear His reproach — it is an honour.

The language of both Sanballat and Tobiah did not match their feelings. It is in verse 1 that we find their real state of mind. Wrath and indignation filled their souls. They knew very well what the activity of the children of Israel meant. But when they spoke, they hid their anger behind pretended contempt.

At first the opposers try to cover their real feelings of rage. They pretend contempt for a feeble people and their puny efforts, which, they say, a fox would bring to nothing. If that were true, there would have been no need to trouble themselves further. They could very well leave the matter to the fox.

Tobiah joined in. "If a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall" was his biting taunt. A fox springs lightly. What sort of wall would it be if his spring broke it down? A dry stone dyke — no bonding, no strength — weakness itself.

The world's hostility begins with mockery, which frightens the timid more than hatred does. We all feel the influence of mockery easily if our hearts have not broken with former ties to the world. In that case we will fear ridicule and disdain. We will draw back from openly joining this humbled people, "these weak Jews", who claim to repair the breaches.

Looking only at the outward circumstances, the enemy can with some show of truth call this little remnant "feeble." They can well ask whether this remnant will be allowed to go on — to sacrifice, to finish, to raise the stones again out of the heaps of rubbish. But in such questions they left out God and His grace, and talked folly about a fox.

What does Nehemiah say? At once he turns to the Lord — "Hear, O our God, for we are despised." So it was also in the early days of the church of God. The apostles were beaten and threatened, but what did they do? They spread it out before the Lord, and the Lord answered. He answers with His own power. The Spirit shakes the building where they are, and with great power He gave them to witness for Him.

The enemy left God out; Nehemiah brings God in. He admits that the people are despised and under "reproach." When he was in Babylon he had admitted the same reproach. But how different the circumstances! Then they were in reproach because the wall lay in ruins. Now they are in reproach because they are building it. In the first case reproach was to their shame; now it is to their honour.

Tobiah says: "If a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall." But Nehemiah says, "we built the wall." The Jebusites said to David: "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off." But "David took the stronghold of Zion."

He will not be drawn into any argument against them. He makes no appeal to them. He suggests no compromise with them. He does not go out to oppose them. He turns to God.

And it is always a blessing when we can take all the enemy's insults to God and leave them with Him. When our nature is stirred up and impatient, we are too quick to meet the enemy in our own strength. So we often rush into the fight only to meet defeat and disaster. But faith turns the eye upward and commits everything to the Lord... God's people are precious in His sight, and to despise them is to despise Him.

A shallow reader may be surprised that anyone could pray such a prayer. Keep two things in mind. First, the order God had set for the people at that time. Second, the enemies of Israel were the enemies of God. Sanballat and Tobiah had set themselves against the work of the Spirit of God on purpose. And everyone may learn from this prayer what a solemn thing it is to persecute God's people and to hinder His work. Saul later had to learn it in another way.

Where there is true repentance before God, He blots sins out (Isa. 43:25). Israel will learn this at the end of their Great Tribulation. But these men knew nothing of repentance. Instead they provoked the Lord to anger by persecuting His servants. Nehemiah did not speak of how he himself felt about it, but of how they had provoked God to anger.

They may despise the "feeble" Jews and the work as much as they like: Nehemiah turns to God. He calls for judgment here and now on earth, in keeping with the law. Yet it seems that the translations which supply "You" go beyond the inspired record. It was rather the builders they provoked. In fact the work was only spurred on.

The ground on which Nehemiah presses his request is this: "They have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders." The cause of these despised exiles was the cause of God.

We cannot ask God for a thing like this. Our cry in His presence is not and cannot be anything other than the plea of grace. But we know this for certain: God feels the world's hostility against the family of faith as an insult. "God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you" (2 Thess. 1:6). And on the other hand, we know that the enemy's opposition cannot stop God's work from being finished.

In this day of grace it is not for us to ask for judgment on those who oppose. And yet, in the government of God, we see it again and again: those who oppose the keeping up of the walls of separation fall into hopeless captivity to the religious world.

Verse 6 shows God's answer to this short prayer: "So we built the wall." Opposition did not stop the work. In fact, "the people had a mind to work." May we too be stirred to keep on in the work of the Lord, whatever the opposition. At such times God also gives special grace.

The opposition of the enemy cannot stop the work of God from being accomplished. All we need is faith that trusts God, and the Spirit who encourages our hearts for the work. Nehemiah adds: "So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work" (v. 6). Whether it is a matter of defending Jerusalem or of conquering it, these principles stay the same. Tobiah says, "If a fox went up, it would break down their stone wall"; but Nehemiah says, "we built the wall."

Those who here sat in the seat of the scornful had already shown their hostility in Nehemiah 2:10, 19, and they were as persistent in evil as Nehemiah was in good. They were really afraid now, but tried to hide their fear behind ridicule and insolence... The work, in fact, was only stimulated.

Nehemiah was fully aware of the enemy's opposition, and in secret he met it by the power of prayer. In public the work went on, "for the people had a mind (literally, "a heart") to work." It was not simply that Nehemiah and a few earnest leaders had a mind to work, but "the people" had a mind to work. Their heart was in the work of maintaining what was due to God through the walls and gates. This unity of mind and energy of purpose gave sure evidence of a work of the Spirit of God.

This is a wonderful record. It testifies to the energy of the Spirit of God acting through Nehemiah upon the people, producing unity and perseverance. For when it says, "The people had a mind to work," it means that they had God's mind. Sometimes people see unity and boast in it, without any thought of whether it is according to the mind of God. To be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Cor. 1:10) guarantees the successful accomplishment of any service God calls His people to, when it is the result of divine power. The reason is that with His Spirit ungrieved He can work among them without hindrance.

Nehemiah's praying (as we shall see again) did not interfere with his own work or the people's. We could better say that his perseverance in his work sprang from his prayers... No ear but God's heard these prayers. Yet they are written down to teach us the secret of all true activity and of courage in the face of danger: real dependence on the Lord.

Perhaps now and then we have a mind to work; but do we come together to pray about the work, as Nehemiah and his people did?... They prayed, they watched, and they worked with a mind. They were in downright earnest.

They laboured from sunrise until the stars came out (v. 21). Their hearts were in it. Their own comfort or time was a very minor matter to them; "the work of their God" was their first consideration. Nor did they labour by proxy — there were no shirkers. Every man had his own work to do, and did it, and more... There were those who built opposite their own houses. They were wise men. They did what was near at hand, did it with a will, and did not waste their energy and time telling others how and where they should build.

What stirred up the enemy again to hinder the work? It was the report they had heard: "the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed." It was now clear that the returned exiles were in earnest. Under Nehemiah's leadership they were determined to shut out evil by building the wall and closing the gaps. This never suits Satan, whose desire is always to break down every distinction between the people of God and the world.

The house of the Lord had already been built, but it stood in a ruined place. Its walls were broken down and its gates burned with fire. The day had not come then, and has not come yet, when the Lord will be to her "a wall of fire all around" and "the glory in her midst" (Zechariah 2:5). So a wall was needed. The city had to be seen again as the place where God had set His name, and His house, as a picture, kept separate from the defilement of the world around it.

Now, what will Sanballat and his company do? This brings us to the fifth form of opposition… We have had grief, laughter, wrath, mocking; now there is to be fighting — determined, uncompromising opposition to the work of God.

Up to now the opposition had come from a few people. Now Arabians, Ammonites and Ashdodites unite with Sanballat and Tobiah to fight against Jerusalem. People with very different interests and views can join hands against a movement which is of God… The spirit in which the people carry on the work proves the movement is of God. In the same way, the spirit of the opposition proves it is a work of the enemy. Behind this joint attack there is anger and conspiracy. "The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20), and the Spirit of God will take no part in dishonest human schemes.

A very serious time had come to the builders of the wall… "And we prayed to our God." It was prayer, dependence on God, first. The next thing they did was to guard against the enemy — they "set a guard as a protection against them day and night." But was prayer not enough? Why set a watch if they trusted the Lord? Not setting one would have been presumption on their part. Their action did not clash with their trust in God.

He depended on God, whom he knew to be his only strength and defence. At the same time he kept constant watch against the "roaring lion." These are the two invisible weapons God puts into the hands of His people when the enemy is near. They are enough to defeat his strongest attacks. So the Lord, looking ahead to Satan's advancing power against His disciples, said, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Matthew 26:41).

Behind the scene are wicked spirits in the heavenly places. We need the whole armour of God, and "Our God will fight for us." The work at Jerusalem still went on. So it is now: the more opposition, the more it drives us to God, and the more the work goes on.

Before there were only a few men, but now there are numbers. Satan found that Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem could not succeed by themselves. So he draws others to their help — the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. These last are new allies. In fact he collects an army, since force is the weapon he is now about to try. But what stirred the enemy up again to try to stop the work? It was the report they had heard, that "the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward, and that the breaches were beginning to be closed." It was now clear that the people back from exile were in earnest.

The grief of the enemy (Neh. 2:10); the laughter of the enemy (Neh. 2:19); his wrath (Neh. 4:1); mocking (Neh. 4:3); fighting (Neh. 4:8); subtlety from outside (Neh. 5:1-9); subtlety and danger from within (Neh. 6:10). And many a reader of this tract will say, "I have seen all seven in the opposition to God's work in our own day."

People with very different interests and views can join hands in opposing a movement which is of God. And this united movement emboldens the opposition to violent measures. It begins with sneers, grows into rage, and ends in violence... Those who end in taking violent measures usually begin by sneering at their fellow believers... For behind this joint attack there is anger and conspiracy. "The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20), and the Spirit of God will be no party to underhand human devices. So the worldly methods of the opposition often reveal its true character.

Mockery and ridicule had failed them. So they conspired to attack Jerusalem and spread confusion among the builders (v. 8). But the Jews knew of this determined conspiracy. They did not panic and think of attacking the enemy. They depended on God and stayed watchful against the enemy, and God protected them.

"And we prayed to our God." It was prayer, dependence on God, first. The next thing they did was to guard against the enemy — they "set a guard as a protection against them day and night." But was prayer not enough? Why set a guard if they trusted the Lord? If they had not done this it would have been presumption on their part. Their action did not clash with their trust in God.

Confidence in God alone and dependence on Him, expressed in prayer, come first. He is the great resource. That conviction makes Nehemiah say a little later: "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome" (v. 14). In verse 20 he adds: "Our God will fight for us." That is where our strength lies.

This time called for perseverance. Such perseverance springs from a deep interest in the people of God, because they are His people. It pursues its object despite the contempt the work stirs up — work that looks so small, yet is still the work of God. It pursues it despite the hatred and opposition of enemies, and despite the faintheartedness of fellow workers (Neh. 4:8-11). Such perseverance gives itself wholly to the work. It defeats all the schemes of the enemy and avoids every trap, for God takes care of those who trust in Him.

But it was not all bright. Decay began to show itself among the workers. Here is the beginning of internal weakness. Until now, what hindered success came from outside. Now faintheartedness appears among the workers.

Two things caused Judah's despondency. First, "The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing." Judah had forgotten that the Lord was the strength of His people. If He places a burden of service on the shoulders of any of His people, He also gives the strength needed to carry it out... The truth was, the show of the enemy's power and the prospect of constant warfare had discouraged Judah's heart. He looked for something to justify his state of soul, and he found it in the condition of the burden-bearers and in the obstacles to his work.

There are those who take a leading place among the people of God and yet would stop the building of the wall. The facts they bring forward may be true, but the conclusion they build on those facts is false. No one doubts the weakness of those who bear the burdens. It is also plain that there is much rubbish. But it does not follow that building the walls is impossible. People still argue in the same way today. They say "The people of God are so weak, the corruption of Christendom is so great, evil is so universal, that it is really impossible to maintain a strict separation according to the word of God. We must accept things as they are and do the best we can."

How often, when the task is crushing and the enemy is strong, have we not seen this discouragement? Or felt it ourselves? The burden is too heavy and the rubbish is too great: we cannot build. Those who reasoned this way had no part in Nehemiah's prayer or in setting the watchmen. Instead of looking to God, they looked at themselves and the obstacles.

Their work was one of revival — reviving the wall that separated the temple of God from the outside world. In His mercy God has granted various revivals in the history of the professing church. Every time there has been more or less "rubbish" that needed removing. Think of the terrible pile of worldly and moral rubbish that the church of Rome had heaped up in the thousand years and more before the revival we call the Reformation. Not all of that was cleared away then. The strength of the workers failed before the job was finished. We Christians always have to watch against this kind of rubbish piling up.

The rubbish was no doubt the remains of the wall that had been broken down. The strength of the workers was failing in the face of so huge a task of clearing it away. In Christian profession today there is much rubbish too, the rubbish of much false teaching. Removing it, so that people may be freed from weary confusion, is no easy task. Some are real burden bearers, but the work grows so heavy that it takes away their strength. We do need the exhortation, "let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Gal. 6:9).

There is much — very much — to discourage and hinder in the state of things around us. We can fairly apply the words of the men of Judah in Nehemiah's day to our own times: "The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble." But thank God, the remedy now is what it was then. It lies in one soul-stirring sentence: "Remember the Lord."

The remnant are also harassed by the fear of sudden, unexpected attacks by the enemy (verse 11). The adversaries say they will not be known or seen "till we come among them." This is a deliberate effort to gain a footing among the people of God in order "to kill them and stop the work." There is no shortage today of those who would slip in unnoticed to undermine the principle of separation that people are seeking to maintain.

If Nehemiah had listened to these complaints, what would have become of Judah? For during this time the enemy took every advantage.

Two other dangers appear in verses 11 and 12. The adversaries threatened a sudden attack to keep the builders in constant alarm. In this way they hoped to wear them out by the strain of continual fear, as they had partly done with Judah. There were also the Jews who "lived near them" — not people living in Jerusalem, but Jews scattered through the land close to their foes. They came and assured the builders again and again — "ten times" — that danger was really coming, and that their adversaries would certainly carry out their threats. As far as they could see, there was little or nothing to encourage them. Dangers of every kind hemmed them in, threatening both their work and their lives.

Behind these enemies stood the same enemy of God, Satan, who always hinders the work of God. His work of opposition is the same in every age. "We prayed to our God." It was prayer, dependence on God, first. The next thing they did was to take precaution against the enemy — they "set a guard as a protection against them day and night." But was not prayer enough? Why set a watch if they trusted the Lord? If they had not done this, it would have been presumption on their part. Their action did not clash with their trust in God.

Nehemiah positioned men with weapons behind the lower parts of the wall and at the open places. These were ready for conflict with swords, spears and bows (v. 13). May we be willing workers in the work of God, and at the same time prepared for spiritual conflict.

Nehemiah's watchful, energetic activity and his preparations for defence disheartened the foe. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" — even if only for a while. The enemy heard that their plans had become known to Nehemiah, and that God had in this way frustrated their counsel. They seem to have retreated for the moment, for the Jews were able to return, all of them, to the wall — every one to his work. So God answered the faith of His devoted servant and defeated the adversary's plans.

The Jews who "lived near them" were not people living in Jerusalem. They were scattered through the land near their enemies. They came and assured the builders over and over, "ten times," that danger was really coming, and that their adversaries would certainly carry out their threats. Judging by what they could see, there was little, if anything, to encourage them. Dangers of every kind were closing in, threatening both the continuing of their work and even their own lives.

Third, there is the attempt to wear down those doing the work by repeating unsettling rumours over and over (v. 12). Some people live near the enemy and seem to know all he is doing. The reports they bring from time to time tend to distract the builders. They are not enemies. They are Jews who bring these reports. Perhaps they have no wish to oppose the work. They may even think they are helping by giving warnings in good time. Still, they are doing the enemies' work.

It is sad that Jews were not ashamed to share the enemy's secrets and to report their plans to the faithful again and again. They were busy only with discouraging them, if they could, with their tales and fears. But a quiet look to God lifts a person above all fear of man.

No doubt these Jews had no bad intentions. But their link with the adversaries was not what would strengthen the heart of the people. In days of trouble, how many times have we heard warnings like these? Someone has a grudge against us. The enemy is powerful. Be on your guard. If you keep going, you will provoke a full attack. Notice that those who gave the advice had no cure to offer. So they only increased the distress of those who were weak.

But the man of God is already sure of the path to follow. He draws fresh courage from their warnings and strengthens himself. Thanks to the energy he finds in communion with his God, the scene changes. People who had been only labourers up to this point become soldiers, ready to drive off the enemy.

Nehemiah had Jewish informers who lived near these adversaries. They warned Nehemiah ten times that these enemies meant to attack them, despite all their precautions (v. 12). So Nehemiah positioned armed men behind the lower parts of the wall and at the openings. They stood ready for battle with swords, spears and bows (v. 13). May we be willing labourers in the work of God, and ready for spiritual conflict at the same time.

These were both properly ordered and fully armed; for when Satan is in question we are powerless unless we are in the right place and equipped with divine weapons.

There was also discouragement among them. The apostle Paul wrote of himself, "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within" (2 Cor. 7:5). The same was true of them. They became timid and fainthearted... But Nehemiah made no answer to the complaint "we are not able to build the wall." The best remedy was to keep right on praying, working and watching... Then Nehemiah acted in the energy of faith. He knew God was on their side and that He would fight for them. He prepared the people for the coming conflict and armed them with swords, spears and bows.

First, he arranged the defence. He set "the people by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows, in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places." Both groups were properly stationed and fully armed. When Satan is the enemy, we are powerless unless we are in the right place and carrying divine weapons (compare Eph. 6:10-17).

First he arms the people for the conflict and sets them in the exposed places (13). The walls had "lower places" and "higher places" that were especially open to attack. The devil does not care how he gets a footing among the people of God, whether by a 'low' walk or a 'high' pretension. May we not say the wall was low in the assembly at Corinth, where the world was getting in through sensual sin? At Colosse the assembly was in danger of letting in religious flesh by lofty pretensions. May we not say the danger there was "in the higher places"?

At the first moment, when the attack is close, all take up arms without distinction. "I even set the people, according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows" (v. 13), says Nehemiah. So everything was foreseen: the sword for hand to hand combat, the spear to keep the enemy at a distance, and the bow to strike at a distance. For us, the word of God contains all these weapons at once. Their purpose is to "fight for [our] brothers, [our] sons, [our] daughters, [our] wives, and [our] homes" (v. 14).

To meet either form of evil we need to put on the whole armour of God. But in Nehemiah's day the people were not to put their confidence only in their weapons. The word was "Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome" (14), and in that way they would be free from all fear.

Nehemiah's watchfulness, energy and preparation for defence disheartened the enemy. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," if only "for a season." The enemy heard that Nehemiah knew their plans, and that God had frustrated their counsel. They seem to have retreated for the moment... In this way God answered the faith of His devoted servant by defeating the enemy's plans. But Nehemiah was not ignorant of Satan's devices, and did not for a minute believe the danger was over.

There was also discouragement among them... Judah — the royal tribe, whose emblem was the lion — showed discouragement and was ready to give up in despair. But Nehemiah made no answer to the complaint "we are not able to build the wall." The best remedy was to keep right on praying, working and watching... All was at stake. No mercy could be expected from the wicked adversaries. It was a blessed battle-cry he gave to them: "Remember the Lord." If He is remembered and kept before the heart, defeat is impossible.

How often Scripture has to tell God's people not to be afraid shows how easily we give way to fear in the conflicts we are called to fight. It is both the first symptom of a lack of confidence in God, and the sure forerunner of defeat if fear keeps its grip on our souls. Nehemiah told them not to fear, and he also gave them the antidote: "Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome." He knew that once they grasped the character and presence of God, brought Him in by faith, and measured the enemy against what He is, they would be filled with courage and able to say, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

In Nehemiah's day the people's confidence was not to rest only in their weapons of defence. The word was "Remember the Lord who is great and awesome," and this is how they would be delivered from all fear. In the same spirit the Apostle introduces his exhortation about the armour by saying, "My brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might."

Everything was foreseen: the sword for hand-to-hand combat, the spear to keep the enemy at a distance, and the bow to strike far off. For us, the word of God contains all these weapons at once, and their purpose is to "fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."

In defending themselves they were fighting for their brothers and for those who would come after them. In all our conflicts against evil and for the maintenance of the truth, we do well to keep three things before us. First, to remember the Lord — all that He is and all that is due to Him. Second, to remember our brothers — that in holding fast the truth, often in a local conflict, we are fighting for all our brothers. Third, we are helping to keep the truth intact for those who may follow us — our sons and our daughters.

Nehemiah had spoken plainly: "Do not be afraid of them" (v. 14). Having the Lord with them, though they were prepared to fight, they were not required to. Believers today may well experience the same thing. If they study Scripture and stay on guard against the enemy's schemes, Satan will be afraid to attack. He would find himself facing the Lord rather than a weak believer.

The enemy heard that Nehemiah knew their plans, and that God had frustrated their counsel. They seem to have retreated for a time. We can see this, because all the Jews were able to return to the wall — every one to his work. In this way God responded to the faith of His devoted servant by baffling the adversary's designs. But Nehemiah was not ignorant of Satan's devices, and did not for a minute believe the danger was over.

Having the Lord with them, though being prepared to fight, they were not required to do so. Believers today may well experience the same thing. Suppose study of scripture has made them ready to watch against the enemy's subtle ways. Then Satan will be afraid to attack. He would find himself facing the Lord, not a weak believer. Satan wants to catch us off guard, with our confidence not firmly in the Lord. Otherwise he knows he can do no damage. When the adversaries found that the Jews knew of their plotting, they could do nothing (v. 15). If we are ignorant of Satan's devices, he will take advantage of us. If we guard against them properly, the Lord will protect us (2 Cor. 2:11).

What effect did these words of Nehemiah have?… A blessed effect! When they felt their own weakness, their hearts turned to the Lord, and so they were strengthened to go on. They counted on the great and awesome God. He brought the work and plan of the mockers to nothing, and He set the fainthearted burden-bearer eagerly back to work.

In all our conflicts against evil, and for maintaining the truth, we do well to keep three things before us. 1st. Remember the Lord — all that He is and all that is due to Him. 2nd. Remember our brothers and sisters. When we maintain the truth, often in a local conflict, we are fighting for all of them. 3rd. We are helping to maintain the truth for those who may follow us — our sons and our daughters.

Every one had his appointed work. Some worked at the actual building, some in conflict against the enemy. Some "built on the wall," some "carried burdens," some "loaded" the burdens. And one sounded the trumpet to warn of danger. Every one had his appointed work but all contributed to one end — to build the wall and set up the gates.

Here we see again how happy the people of God are when they see the special place they are qualified for, and fill it for the Lord. It is the forgetfulness of this truth that has in every age produced confusion in the church.

But those who assist in the work, and even those who are fully given to it, must never slacken in their vigilance. If they cannot hold their weapon in one hand, let them strap their sword by their side. No child of God should leave entirely to others the care of using the Word, that two-edged sword.

The enemy heard that Nehemiah knew their plans, and that God had frustrated their counsel. They seem to have retreated for the moment. So the Jews were all able to return to the wall — every one to his work. In this way God responded to the faith of His devoted servant by baffling the adversary's designs. But Nehemiah was not ignorant of Satan's devices, and did not for a minute believe the danger was over… Then he placed the rulers behind all the house of Judah — clearly to encourage them to resist if the enemy attacked.

In 2 Chronicles 26:14 and Nehemiah 4:16 this word is translated 'habergeon'. That word also means 'coat of mail'. It was made of brass scales fastened together.

There were some wholly devoted to the work. Others gave all their attention to the weapons of war. So it is in the church of God. The Lord calls some of His servants to build others up, and He fits them for it… He calls others to conflict. They are quick to spot the enemy's attacks on the truth of God… It is a happy thing for God's people when they see the place God has qualified them for, and fill it for the Lord. Forgetting this truth has produced confusion in the church in every age.

At the start of his letter Jude urges us to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. At the end he urges us to build ourselves up in our most holy faith. He would have us, in a word, like Nehemiah's builders, with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other. The reason lies in the character of the times… It was no time for peace, then, when the foundations were under attack… Notice that the sword is for defence rather than attack. But we must not shrink from conflict when the faith once delivered to the saints is at stake.

When controversies arise through Satan's attacks on the truth, there is a danger of forgetting the need of souls. We stop building. We grow so taken up with the enemy that we overlook something needful: steady, persistent ministry of Christ to sustain and nourish souls, so that they can repel the enemy's assaults.

Offensive and defensive weapons are entrusted to certain of our brothers. But those who help in the work, and even those who give themselves fully to it, must never slacken in their vigilance. If they cannot hold their weapon in one hand, let them gird their sword by their side. No child of God should leave entirely to others the care of using the Word, that two-edged sword.

Give your swords to others, more qualified than you for combat. Take care of your work: don't attempt to do two things at once… No, the worker replies, everything will not be fine if I allow your words to lull me to sleep. It is an invaluable privilege to let the Lord act, but am I not responsible to fight for Him?

In Nehemiah's day the people were not to put their confidence only in their weapons of defence. The word was "Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome," and that would free them from all fear.

The text says that both the builders and the burden bearers worked with one hand and carried a weapon in the other (v. 17). Verse 18 may explain this further. The sword was not always held in the hand. It was strapped at the worker's side, where he could reach it quickly if he needed it.

The builders, the burden-bearers, and those who loaded are also named apart. (v. 17.) Each had his appointed work, and all of it served the same end. God's people are happy when they see the special place they are fitted for, and fill it for the Lord. Forgetting this truth has produced confusion in the church in every age. If we are burden-bearers, let us not try to be builders; and if builders, let us get on with our building. The Lord, not the servant, appoints the work and fits us for it.

But whether builders, burden-bearers, or "those who loaded," one feature marked them all alike — "each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other." That alone shows what the times were like. They were dangerous times, when Satan's power showed itself more and more against the people of God. They were like the days when Jude wrote his letter; for we find the same two things in him — the sword and the trowel. He had to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, and he also urged his readers to build themselves up on their most holy faith.

When controversies arise through Satan's attacks on the truth, there is a danger. We forget the need of souls. We stop building. We get so taken up with the enemy that we overlook the steady, persistent ministry of Christ that sustains and nourishes souls. The weapons must be ready; but our work is to go on with the wall.

Those who help in the work, and even those who give themselves fully to it, must never let their watchfulness slip. If they cannot hold a weapon in one hand, let them strap the sword at their side. No child of God should leave the use of the Word, that two-edged sword, entirely to others. Some may be more qualified than others to apply it at any given moment... but we must all bear it in every circumstance.

Give your swords to others, who are better fitted for fighting than you. Look after your own work: don't try to do two things at once... No, the worker replies, everything will not be fine if I let your words lull me to sleep. It is a priceless privilege to let the Lord act, but am I not responsible to fight for Him? To say "the Lord will step in," while I myself drop the sword of the Spirit, watchfulness, prayer, and perseverance, is to run after certain defeat.

True servants of God have always had to spend a large part of their time and energy defending the truth. From the beginning the apostles had to preach the gospel and teach the truth. They also had to spend much time defending it from the enemy's attacks... The truth is worth contending for. If we lose it, we lose almost everything. So let each of us make sure that, in a spiritual sense, we have a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other, to do the Lord's work.

Along with the sword and the trowel there was the trumpet, to be blown when an alarm was needed. The work was great and large, so the workers were spread far apart from one another. Yet they were one in the work, not many disconnected people. So what endangered one endangered all, and their unity in the work had to be preserved.

To be effective, the work must be a combined effort. When the enemy appears, believers must not be scattered. If they put up no combined resistance at the point of attack, they are sure to give way. The enemy takes advantage of God's children when they are scattered. Their gathering together is what he is most against, because he knows that it multiplies their strength. So when he attacks them, his first concern is to sow discord and division among them… Let us not say: My work is enough for me. No, our Head says, it is not enough, for if the enemy finds you isolated, he will destroy both you and your work.

Beside Nehemiah was one who sounded the trumpet. It was priests who did this service (Num. 10:8). If warfare threatened, they were to sound an alarm (Num. 10:9). In this case it would be Nehemiah who gave orders to the trumpeter, for Nehemiah is a type of Christ, the Leader.

Only the priests were to blow the trumpets — only those who stayed near enough to understand the Lord's mind and to be in communion with it. So here, the man who sounded the trumpet was to stay with Nehemiah, and to sound it only at his master's bidding. Nehemiah had to discern the moment to sound. The trumpeter had to catch the first hint of Nehemiah's mind and will. It is the same now. Only those who live in the enjoyment of their priestly privileges, near to the mind of Christ and in communion with it, know how to sound an alarm. If they blew at their own will, or on their own idea of danger, they would only cause confusion. They would call the builders away from their work, and so do the work of the enemy.

For the moment they had to stop their work, gather around the Lord, and make common cause against the enemy. If the trumpet sounded, it would be unfaithfulness to keep on building. The Lord's mind for them at that moment would be defence and conflict, not building. Some of the builders, as often happens, might feel it was far happier work to build than to fight. But the only question for them would be: Has the trumpet sounded? If it had, they were to obey the call… In all these arrangements one mind governs all. Nehemiah commands, and the part of the people — whether rulers, nobles, or the rest — was simply obedience.

The work must be done together to be effective. When the enemy appears, believers must not be scattered. If they do not resist together at the point of attack, they are sure to lose. The enemy takes advantage of God's children when they are scattered. Their gathering together is what he opposes most, because he knows it multiplies their strength. So when he attacks them, his first aim is to sow discord and division among them… We have a centre of gathering. Let us gather around our Head. The trumpet has already sounded loud enough for everyone to hear. Let us hurry. Let us not say: My own work is enough for me. No, our Head says, it is not enough, for if the enemy finds you isolated, he will destroy both you and your work.

Numbers 10 shows what the holy trumpets were for. They were used "for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp." In times of war they were also to blow an alarm. That alarm did two things: it gathered the people, and it came up before God and called Him in, so that He would save them from their enemies. And the command was that only the priests should blow the trumpets — only those who, being near Him, understood the Lord's mind and were in close fellowship with Him… If they blew whenever they liked, or because they themselves felt danger, they would only cause confusion. They would call the builders away from their work, and so do the enemy's work for him.

Beside Nehemiah was one who sounded the trumpet. It was priests who did this service (Numbers 10:8). If warfare threatened, they were to sound an alarm (Numbers 10:9). In this case it would be Nehemiah who gave orders to the trumpeter, for Nehemiah is a picture of Christ, the Leader.

For the moment they had to stop work and gather around the Lord, making common cause against the enemy. If the trumpet sounded, staying at their work would have been unfaithful. At that moment the Lord's mind for them was defence and conflict, not building. Some of the builders, as often happens, might feel that building was much happier work than fighting. But the only question for them was this: had the trumpet sounded? If it had, they were to obey the call.

If God called the people together to defend His cause, He would surely rescue them from the power of the enemy. What courage that promise should give us! If by His grace we stand with God against the enemy, we can count on His help. "Our God will fight for us" is a battle-cry. It encourages His servants and strikes dread into the heart of the enemy at the same time.

It is a priceless privilege to let the Lord act. But am I not responsible to fight for Him? To say "the Lord will step in" while I myself give up the sword of the Spirit, watchfulness, prayer and perseverance is to run toward certain defeat.

"So" means "in this manner." Nehemiah says, "So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out." (v. 21.) They were always on the alert, ready for the enemy, and tireless in their service. They worked while it was day, from early morning till late at night.

The people had a mind to work, we are told (chap. 4:6), and they laboured from sunrise until the stars appeared (v. 21). Their hearts were in it. Their own ease or time mattered very little to them. "The work of their God" was their first consideration. Nor did they work by proxy; there were no shirkers. Every man had his own work to do and did it, and more.

So the opposition did not succeed in hindering the work of God. The labourers continued their work from the break of day until the stars appeared at night (v. 21). This reminds us of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 16:9, "For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." He does not say, "but there are many adversaries," as though that might excuse him from going on with the work. He simply says "and there are many adversaries." So it was all the more important to have his whole heart in the service of God.

Those who carried burdens and those who loaded them worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side. All these details carry instruction for us. Every one has a duty to defend the work of God in certain pressing dangers. At other times, a purely defensive attitude may slow the work down. At such times offensive and defensive weapons are entrusted to certain of our fellow-believers. But those who help in the work, and even those who are fully given to it, must never slacken in their watchfulness. If they cannot hold their weapon in one hand, let them strap their sword to their side. No child of God should leave entirely to others the care of using the Word, that two-edged sword.

Nehemiah's builders teach us God's way of being ready for the enemy's attacks. We hold our defensive weapons in one hand, or wear our swords at our side, and we stay busy building. When controversies arise through Satan's attacks on the truth, the danger is that we forget the need of souls. We stop building. We become so taken up with the enemy that we overlook the constant need to minister Christ to sustain and nourish souls, and so enable them to repel the enemy's assaults.

Every one had his appointed work. Some worked at the actual building, some in conflict against the enemy. Some "built on the wall," some "carried burdens," some "loaded" the burdens, and one sounded the trumpet to warn of danger. Every one had his appointed work, but all contributed to one end — to build the wall and set up the gates.

Nehemiah also gave orders that the workers and servants were to stay at night inside the walls of Jerusalem. So they served as guards by night as well as working by day (v. 22). This concentrated effort on the work of the Lord continued until the wall was built. What an example for believers today! They might take to heart the appeal of 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

The day for labour and the night for watchfulness. Satan loves the darkness. It is the element in which he lives and moves, just as his followers love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. (Eph. 6:12; John 3:19.) So the servants of the Lord should never stop being watchful. They must make provision for the night as well as for the day. We read in the Song of Songs of the sixty strong men around Solomon's bed: "all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night." (Song 3:7-8.) We learn then, from this instruction of Nehemiah, that the place of safety was "within Jerusalem," behind the walls they were building. Those who stayed inside were to labour in the day and keep watch during the night.

The closing verse of our chapter shows the great zeal and devotion of Nehemiah and his helpers. All of them were to lodge inside Jerusalem, so they gained whatever protection the unfinished walls could offer. None of them took off their clothes to sleep in comfort at night, though they removed them for washing. They were therefore always ready to labour in the work and to meet the foe. A very impressive picture!

Nehemiah also gave orders that the workers and servants were to stay at night inside the walls of Jerusalem. So they kept guard by night as well as working by day (v. 22). This concentrated effort on the work of the Lord went on until the wall stood finished. What an example for believers today, who might take to heart the exhortation of 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

When the workers strapped their swords to their sides, the enemy could have said to them: Give your swords to others. They are better qualified than you for combat. Look after your work; don't try to do two things at once. Don't concern yourself about the rest, and everything will be fine. No, the worker replies, everything will not be fine, if I let your words lull me to sleep. It is a priceless privilege to let the Lord act, but am I not responsible to fight for Him? Suppose I say "the Lord will intervene" while I myself abandon the sword of the Spirit, watchfulness, prayer, and perseverance. Then I am running after certain defeat.

You cannot be long off your watch before the devil hears of it. The devil knew the apostle's sleeping time, and then he asks leave to winnow them (Luke 22). The thief gets up when honest men go to bed. The devil begins to tempt when saints stop watching… Even the weakest temptation is strong enough to overthrow a Christian who is dozing in false security. Samson asleep, and Delilah cut his hair. Saul asleep, and the spear is taken from his very side, and he never knew it.

But the workmen were watchmen as well as builders... The sword and the trowel are as needed in our day as in theirs. Then at verse 23 they seem to have reached the highest point of devotedness.

Notice who this covers: not all the people, but only Nehemiah, his brothers, and his personal following — servants and men of the guard. Within his own circle of responsibility he set a wonderful example of personal devotedness. He knew how to deny himself his own ease and comfort in the Lord's service. He knew how to endure hardship as a good soldier (2 Timothy 2:3).

The closing verse of our chapter gives a glimpse of the great zeal and devotion that marked Nehemiah and his helpers. All of them were to lodge inside Jerusalem, gaining whatever protection the partly built walls could offer. None of them took off their clothes to sleep in comfort at night, though they did remove them to wash. They were therefore always ready to labour in the work and to meet the foe. A very impressive picture!

Those who assist in the work, and even those who are fully given to it, must never slacken in their vigilance. If they cannot hold their weapon in one hand, let them gird their sword by their side. No child of God should leave entirely to others the care of using the Word, that two-edged sword. Some may be better qualified than others to apply it at a given moment and in a given circumstance. Even so, we must all carry it in every circumstance. Every member of the family of God should be able to use it when the occasion comes.

Nehemiah's builders teach us God's way to be ready for the enemy's attacks. We hold our weapons of defence in one hand, or wear our swords at our side, and stay busy building. Controversies arise when Satan attacks the truth. The danger then is that we forget the need of souls. We stop building. We become so taken up with the enemy that we overlook the need for steady, persistent ministry of Christ to sustain and nourish souls.

However busy we may be in the Lord's work, we must never neglect "the washing of water by the Word." The work itself will cause some defilement, and that defilement must be washed away by applying the Word of God.

Nehemiah stops the story of the wall here. He turns aside to describe the state of things inside — among the people. And this teaches us much. If we are busy dealing with evil outside, we cannot afford to neglect our own moral state, or the state of the assembly. This has happened far too often. You will sometimes see people who fight hard for the truth completely neglect self-judgment and discipline in the house of God.

Never are we in greater danger of acting in the flesh than when we have acted in faithfulness to the Lord. As one writer rightly said, "We can be lured into moral slackness because we are pleased with our separation in church matters."

"The people and their wives" are clearly the poor, while "their Jewish brothers" are the rich. Division had come in because the rich oppressed the poor. They used the poverty of the poor to enrich themselves. Some of the poor had sold their sons and daughters to the rich for grain, so that they could eat and live. Others, pressed by the famine, had mortgaged their lands, vineyards and houses, or borrowed money to pay the king's tax. The rich had used the needs of their poorer brothers to grow richer, and to bring them completely under their power. The poor, bowed to the dust under the heavy burden of their bondage and need, raised "a great outcry."

The daily needs of life, the hard times caused by a famine, and the weight of taxation should have drawn out the sympathy of the richer Jews. Instead they became an occasion for feeding the greed of the flesh… This was not a matter of ordinary business dealings. The rich used the needs and trials of the poor, which came from special circumstances such as a famine, to enlarge their own wealth.

Now, who had taken advantage of them when, in their hunger, they needed bread? It was their brothers: and yet the law of Moses forbade them to do this. An Israelite could lend to other nations, but he could not charge his brother interest (Deut. 23:19-20; Ex. 22:25). So the love of money led them into this great sin.

Let us then seek to find the root of this festering sore. It lies in one word — used twice — "their brothers," "our brothers." They were brothers as common descendants of Abraham, and in a deeper sense too… So now "the Jews" were treating the people as if they were not their brothers. They completely forgot the common relationship in which they stood before God, and treated them as if they were strangers and pagans.

The people's outward testimony went with praiseworthy activity. But their inward testimony left much to be desired, and scandalous events hindered it. What had brotherly relationships among the members of the people of God come to? Could devotion, pity and sympathy for the poor be found; and did love show itself as it should have? No… A great outcry! Complaints and accusations — and they were fully justified!

Again and again even in our day, the work of God in revival among His saints has been damaged in the same way. While outwardly the work of God has been carried on with diligence and success, even in building a wall of spiritual separation from the outside world, there has grown up a spirit of self-seeking within, and so damage and impoverishment for many humbler saints.

Instead of continuing the story of building the wall, Nehemiah turns aside to describe the state of things within — among the people. And this is most instructive. If we are busy dealing with evil from outside, we cannot afford to neglect our own moral condition or the condition of the assembly. This has too often been the case. You will sometimes see zealous defenders of the truth who take no care at all for self-judgment or for discipline in the house of God.

It is moving to see and experience the most grievous selfishness among those who boasted of a return to divine ground.

The work of rebuilding the walls was a labour of love; no wages were paid. While the people were busy with it, their other occupations, including farming, had to be neglected. As a result the poor were driven to mortgage their lands, vineyards and houses in order to buy grain, because of the shortage. The rich took advantage of this and enslaved their sons and daughters, and there seemed no prospect of redeeming them.

The poor asked for grain so that they might live. Where was love? When the rich, following the example of Christ, ought to have laid down their lives for their brothers, did they help them in the ordinary things of life? "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" (1 John 3:17)

"The people and their wives" are clearly the poor, while "their brothers the Jews" are the rich. Division came in when the rich oppressed the poor, using their poverty to enrich themselves… Let us then try to find the root of this festering sore. It lies in one word — used twice — "their brothers," "our brothers." They were brothers as common descendants of Abraham, and even in a deeper sense. As God's chosen people they stood alike on the ground of redemption, so all were on the same footing before Him… So now "the Jews" treated the people as if they were not their brothers. They gave no thought at all to the shared relationship they held before God, and handled them as if they were outsiders.

The law forbade Israelites to charge interest to one another. Interest was not wrong in itself. It did not fit their exceptional standing and their relation as brothers by birth. They were free to lend at interest to Gentiles, but not to Jews. If a Jew sold himself into servitude, he went free in the seventh year, just as land returned to its true holder in the jubilee year. So the law restrained and regulated a failing people on the Lord's behalf.

The law forbade a Jew to charge interest when lending to a poor fellow Israelite. So now that we are under grace, should we ignore such instruction? Rather, under grace we might go much further, by giving instead of lending.

Some had sold their sons and daughters to the rich for grain, that they might eat and live. For the same reason, under pressure from the famine, some had mortgaged their lands, vineyards, and houses. Others had borrowed money against their lands and vineyards to pay the king's tribute. The rich had used the needs of their poorer brothers to become richer, and to bring them completely under their power.

The king demanded this tribute from them (Middah. Ezra 6:8; Ezra 4:20). Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards. They could not repay the debt. So the land was no longer their own, and they also had to put their children to work as slaves. They could not buy them back, because the fields were in the hands of their brothers. What a miserable situation!

There is a return of captives from Babylon. Jerusalem is regained, rebuilt, repeopled. The house of God is raised up again, and the worship of His name and the service of His altar are observed again. But this state of things was something quite new. Israel was no longer a nation set in their own land, as under Joshua and the Judges. It was no longer a kingdom with one of their own children on the throne... The people were now subjects of a Gentile king. They owed him for permission to live in the land of their fathers, and to keep the laws and carry out the service of their God.

Some had mortgaged their lands and vineyards and houses to buy grain (v. 3). Others had borrowed money to pay tax on their lands and vineyards. It is evident too that the mortgages and borrowed money carried interest. This was plain disobedience to the law of God. The law said, "If you lend money to any of My people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him" (Ex. 22:25).

The Israelites were forbidden to charge interest to one another. This was not because interest is wrong in itself. It was because charging it did not fit their exceptional standing and their tie as brothers by birth. They were free to lend at interest to Gentiles, but not to Jews. If a Jew sold himself into servitude, he went free in the seventh year. In the same way, land returned to its rightful holder at the jubilee.

Few people read this account without condemning such gross disobedience. Yet what did it amount to? Simply taking up human thoughts instead of God's, and worldly customs and practices instead of those the Scriptures lay down. In a word, these Jews walked as men, and as men who hurried to get rich at the expense of their brothers! And is this sin unknown in the church of God? Do the customs of society and the sayings of the world not often force their way in among Christians? Do they not govern how Christians treat one another?

Under law, the Jews were forbidden to charge interest when lending to a poor Israelite. Now that we are under grace, should we ignore such instruction? Instead, under grace we might go much further, by giving instead of lending.

This is the deeply serious lesson of Nehemiah 5. The opening verses (1-5) expose the corruption of the flesh among those who were building the wall. The rich Jews took advantage of their poorer brothers' poverty and need to enrich themselves. Daily needs, the hard times caused by a famine, and the weight of taxation should have drawn out the sympathy of the richer Jews. Instead, they became a chance to feed the covetousness of the flesh.

Let us then seek to discover the root of this festering sore. It lies in a word — used twice — "their brothers," "our brothers." They were brothers as common descendants of Abraham, and even in a deeper sense. As God's chosen people they shared one redemption, so all stood on the same footing before Him... Because of this, Malachi challenged them: "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?" Yet now "the Jews" were dealing with the people as if they were not their brothers. They had completely forgotten the shared relationship in which they stood before God. So they treated them as if they were foreigners and pagans.

The root of the trouble lay in the fact that they were viewing themselves as forming distinct classes of rich and poor, and forgetting that whether rich or poor they were "brothers."

Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards. Then they could not repay the debt. So the land was no longer their own, and they also had to put their children to work as slaves. They could not redeem them, because the fields were in the hands of their brothers. What a miserable situation! How clearly this shows that a testimony which looks right on the outside is no safety for us! It may even be a great snare in our practical life. Being satisfied that we hold a place of separation from the world may feed our spiritual pride. It can make us treat our moral slackness with our brothers as a small thing.

Interest was forbidden between Israelites, not because it was wrong in itself. It did not fit their special standing, or their relation as brothers after the flesh. They were free to lend at interest to Gentiles, but not to Jews. If a Jew sold himself into servitude, the seventh year set him free, just as land returned to its true holder at the jubilee. So the law checked and regulated a failing people on the Lord's behalf. Sadly, self governed the nobles and rulers in the land.

If we are busy dealing with evil from outside, we cannot afford to neglect our own moral condition, or the condition of the assembly. This has happened too often. People who fight hard for the truth are sometimes seen to completely neglect self-judgment and discipline in the house of God. There is no sadder sight than a gathering that is completely careless about its own state and its failure to obey the word of God, while it proclaims the need of separation from evildoers or false doctrine.

The Jews under law were forbidden to charge interest when lending to another poor Israelite. Now that we are under grace, should we ignore such instruction? Rather, under grace we might go much further, by giving instead of lending.

We have noticed certain good features that marked the people in chapter 4. But as we start to read chapter 5, we discover that beneath the surface sad mischief had been at work. Under Nehemiah's leadership they met opposition from outside with courage. All the time, though, selfish oppression was going on within. The richer Jews had taken advantage of the plight many poorer ones had drifted into. The shortage of basic necessities had driven them to borrow money or raise mortgages, so as to get food for themselves and their families. Outwardly they presented a picture of commendable zeal in doing what was God's service at that moment. Inwardly they were guilty of much self-seeking and corruption.

This word does not in Scripture mean, as it does now, undue interest, but simply interest of any kind. The Israelites were forbidden to demand interest from their brothers. This assumed the borrower was poor — otherwise he would not need to borrow. They were allowed to lend to strangers on interest... On the return of the Jews, Nehemiah sharply rebuked the nobles and the rulers for taking interest from their poorer brothers. Scripture strictly commands the rich to help the poor.

Lending at interest was forbidden among the Israelites toward one another. It was not wrong in itself. It simply did not fit their exceptional standing and their relation as brothers after the flesh.

In Mark 3:5 we find the Lord angry, "grieved at their hardness of heart." We feel at once how unselfish this anger is. It is all for their sakes and for God's glory. Righteous anger never has self in any shape or form for its cause... In Nehemiah 5:6 we find Nehemiah very angry against gross injustice done by others, and to others, not against himself. So he did "well" to be angry. In Ephesians 4:26 we get the exhortation to "be angry and do not sin"; that is, not to store up anger and malice in our hearts.

Nehemiah was rightly very angry when he heard this cry of oppression (v. 6). But there was no one whose help he could enlist in fighting the evil, because the nobles and rulers themselves were the offenders. So, in the energy of personal faith in the Lord, he rebuked the nobles and rulers. He told them they were guilty of charging interest to their own brothers. He called a great assembly, to have these matters publicly faced (v. 7).

He did not go and seek advice from anyone about what he must do, any more than on the night when he went around the walls of Jerusalem. "I consulted with myself," he said. He knew within himself what his responsibility was, both for the public testimony and for the moral life of the assembly. He did not fear to unmask the chief men in front of a large congregation. Fear of what people thought did not stop him when the truth was at stake.