Nehemiah 3:1-32 – Are you taking part in God’s building program?

Like Hebrews 11, Nehemiah 3 is also another roll of honor. It contains a list of the name of people who participated in the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. In this chapter, we are given the names of the people involved in the rebuilding.  Besides telling us who they were, we are also told which part of the wall each of them rebuilt. Every participant attended to their work diligently. And like the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, the building of our community requires every one of us to participate in the ministry diligently and totally. Every believer must be ready to jump in to help in the task, no matter how insignificant the job may seem to him or her.

Gates are an important part of a city or a building. They were not only the first line of defense but also the centre of activities in Biblical times.  Hence it is interesting to note that the building of the wall of Jerusalem centred around the gates. Here in Nehemiah 3, we see the repair of ten gates. They are namely,  the Sheep Gate (verse 1), Fish Gate (verse 2), Old Gate (verse 6), Valley Gate (verse 13), Refuse Gate (verse 14),  Fountain Gates (verse 15), Water Gates (verse 26), Horse Gate (verse 28), East Gate (verse 29), and Inspection Gate (verse 32). Interestingly, in Jerusalem, there are twelve Gates, ten of which are mentioned in this chapter. The other two, the Gate of Ephraim and the Gate of the Guard are mentioned in Nehemiah 12:39. In Revelation 21:12 we are told that the New Jerusalem in the future will also have 12 gates.  

Here are some other observations of the people involved in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

1.     Eliashib the high priest and his associate priests were all involved in the repair of the Sheep Gate. This was the gate where sheep would be brought into the temple for worship and sacrifice. Hence it seems appropriate that they should be the people assigned to rebuild this gate. And they reconstructed it, hung up the gate, and consecrated it.

2.  One group of people who did not participate in the work that were singled out were the nobles from Tekoa. Verse 5 says “…these did not support the work of their masters.” In God's work, no task should be deemed too small for anyone to do. And none should consider any ministry beneath his or her dignity to do.

3.   In verse 11 we are told that “Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of Furnaces.” In other words, after they had done one part, they took on another assignment and finished building the Tower of Furnaces.

4.    Verse 12 tells us that even women folks were involved in the work.  Here the verse explicitly said that Shallum and his daughters were involved in the rebuilding.

5.      In verses 19-21, 24, 27, and 30 few other groups were identified to have taken extra duties and repaired other parts of the wall beside what was already assigned to them.

6.   Baruch in verse 20 was specially mentioned for the zealousness, he brought into his work. Oh, that  we will all bring to into the work of God such attitude as Baruch. Let's make it our aim to attend our ministry with such an orientation.  

God’s intention in the building and edifying of the church was never to only use the pastors and leaders. Every one of us, who is a member of the community must be responsible and be an active participant in the task of upbuilding our spiritual home. God is not building the church with stones but the lives of believers. We are all called to be a part of God’s building program. So let's get to it!