They that built on the wall, and they that bore burdens, with those that loaded, wrought in the work with one hand, and with the other they held a weapon.
The wall of Jerusalem is going up while enemies wait for a chance to attack. Nehemiah's answer is not to choose between building and defending, and not to leave the fighting to a trained few.
Did every man really lay stones one-handed for months on end? One writer reads the next verse as the explanation.
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.
One writer reads the verse as naming three groups: the builders, those who carried loads, and those who loaded them. He sees in that division a picture of how God's people share the work.
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.
Different jobs, yes — but one description covers them all. One writer takes that as a reading of the times, and finds the same pattern in the letter of Jude.
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.
The same writer sees the risk running the other way too. Conflict can swallow a person whole, and the building stops.
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.
Some are better fitted for defence than others. Does that let the rest leave the fighting to them?
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.
The same writer imagines what the enemy would say to a worker who straps on a sword.
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.
The pattern did not stop with Nehemiah's wall.
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.
- Two hands. Every worker carried both. The tool was in one hand, and the weapon in the other or strapped at his side.
- Two roles. Loads, loading, building — each had his own appointed work, and all of it went into the same wall. Forgetting this has caused confusion in every age.
- Two dangers. Build without watching, and you stand defenceless. Fight without building, and souls go unfed.
- No exemptions. Some are better armed than others, but no child of God may leave the use of the Word entirely to specialists.
- No end date. From the apostles until now, God's servants have had to defend the truth. Lose it, and you lose almost everything.
And the builders had every one his sword girded by his side, and built. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.