1Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to thema Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.b
6Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Gate of Yeshanah.c They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of the governor of the province Beyond the River. 8Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district ofd Jerusalem, repaired. 10Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.
13Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubitse of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.
14Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
15And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David. 16After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress.f 20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repairedg another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, repaired. 23After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to the corner. 25Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
What observations did you make from this text? What lesson could we possibly learn from it?
Share your idea to your friends. You can post a comment here too. Let’s see how creative could you get 😉
Chapter 3 is one of those chapters that consists largely of unpronounceable names and long-forgotten people! It can be discouraging to come to a chapter like this. But it tells the story of the work of repairing the gates and walls of Jerusalem that Nehemiah had been sent there to do.
They worked together. All through this account you will find the phrase next to him worked so and so, and next to them worked others. The writer takes note not only of the workers but also the shirkers, however. Verse 5 says of the men of Tekoa: their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. Did you know that God records slackers too? When people will not take up their ministry, God puts their name down in that column as well. But the rest all worked together. They helped one another. Nehemiah had so marvelously organized this that each one had a section of the wall or a gate assigned to him.
Notice also they worked near their home. Look at verse 10: Jedaiah made repairs opposite his house. Verse 23 tells of certain men who made repairs in front of their house. The important truth that emerges is that this is God’s design for ministry. God has placed us all strategically where He wants us to be. Your neighborhood, office, or home is where your ministry should be. That is why God put you there. In John 15 Jesus said to His disciples that He had appointed them, and the word means strategically placed them. He had put them in the place where He wanted them to be. This is brought out beautifully here as we watch these people laboring in their own neighborhood.
Finally, each one completed his assigned task. They kept on until they had finished the work. Some had more to do than others, but no one failed–except the nobles of Tekoa who would not dirty their hands. I have learned through the years that responsibility is always the mark of spiritual maturity. The most mature members in a congregation are those who stay with the work that has been assigned to them until it is done.
We enjoy going on mission trips, but how well do we work together to spend time with our neighbors? Do our excuses reveal a shirking of responsibility?
Today’s passage highlights all the workers and their assigned tasks. It reminds us that in our church community and ministry we are all called to be apart of different things. It encourages us to see the bigger beautiful picture of God’s hand at work. For Nehemiah and the people it is rebuilding the broken wall. For us it may be rebuilding or continuing to build up the relationships we have to be apart of His growing community of believers. And in that process it will require us to put forth effort, time, and energy. We ask and trust that God will provide us with the tools to do so.
From brother Don
Such great insight on this passage so far! To me, I love the picture this paints of everyone working together and doing their part- that which was in front of them to be done- to rebuild this wall. It points to the picture of the church as one body of Christ, (as Daniel pointed out), each member doing its part for the good of the whole body! “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another,” (Romans 12:5).
In an ironic way, even the verse that tells of the Tekoite nobles, who “did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord,” serves as a contrast to accentuate the unity of the rest of the people. Aside from these nobles, for the most part no one member is too exalted, (and none too lowly), to perform the job that is set before them. Side by side, each in their designated section, God’s people work together to rebuild. This is another wonderful picture of how God’s people- the church- are called to do His work today.
I remember early on as a believer really struggling with what it was that God was calling me to do for Him. I felt as if I needed to have a particular gift, a specific calling, or some kind of burning desire that consumed me, that would clarify God’s unique calling upon my life. Over time, and through many failures, I came to the realization that God has called each of us to do that which He has put in front of them to be done! Whether it be praying for a neighbor, playing with my kids, encouraging a brother, listening to a co-worker, or whatever it may be, we are called to live out the gospel in our daily lives, working in unity with fellow believers, so that God may be glorified and His church is built up.
Father, thank You for Your Word today. Thank You for the way in which You continue to reveal Yourself and Your will to and for Your people! Help us to work together as one body to continue to build up Your church until You come again, glorifying You in all that we do.
This was definitely a longer and more difficult passage to read and fully grasp what was going on, but it’s about the rebuilding and the construction that went on. A couple of observations I saw was there was a lot of unpronounceable names and details that really the readers wouldn’t remember. But God made very important points here that I could draw from. There are many details on the building and constructing because God wanted it to be as specific as possible. Each person had a role but in the end they come together as one unit and work as one. Just like the church, there are different parts that consist to be the church but the hands, eyes, ears, legs all work together as one.
After reading the passage, I found it meaningful to see how everyone came together, united by God to execute the purpose that God had placed them in. It just goes to show that no matter who you are or where you’re from God will use you to build up His kingdom. I think this devotion also highlights their spiritual maturity. When God placed them to complete an assigned task they did it without failure and that was because they wanted to finish the purpose that God had assigned them to do. They recognized the importance and fruition that came into building the walls. It definitely challenges me to commit and follow through even in the small plans. When life gets hard, I’m reminded of these people who stuck it through. I do want to continue to grow in God’s community and I believe emulating the spiritual maturity that Nehemiah and others had will help me to spiritually grow.
One thing I observed is that the people who repaired the wall are all kinds of people coming together. We got the common men, the Levites, the temple servants, etc. all of the comes from different backgrounds but they got together to server God and repair the wall of Jerusalem. For us, God can use any people, from any backgrounds, to serve his kingdom here on Earth. It is up to us to take the responsibility and don’t be like the nobles in verse 5. When we are doing ministry, it’s not that we serve others, but we also serve God. So we have to have the right motivation and the right heart from the beginning. And yea that’s all I have 🙂
In today’s devotional, what stood out to me were the unknown characters that were spoken of in this passage no matter how insignificant because of the role they played in rebuilding Jerusalem. No matter how small these actions were, their significance is shown by just being in the Bible. In addition, their willingness to act and trust in Nehemiah to do God’s will was another thing that stood out because they didn’t question when Nehemiah was persuading them.
“Next to him, the men of Jericho built” (Ne.2:2) seems to be a casual statement, but the implication behind it is not insignificant. Jericho is 15 miles away from Jerusalem, at least 6 hours walk if you are fast. Let’s recognize the “out-of-towners” who contribute to the church. Believe it or not, we have many “men of Jericho” who faithfully support our church financially, especially when it comes to Missions, especially for the Ministry to the Blinds in Vietnam! They also prayed for our church when they see our livestreams. Let’s not skip over their parts in building the wall!