Jexit: Judah Comes Home
Why Is The Wall Important?
A sermon on Nehemiah
We've been working our way through a series of messages looking at the Jews who returned from the exile in Babylon.
What has been going on in their lives.
How they are resettling back into the land of Judah.
And some of the issues they are facing.
Today we want to have a look at Nehemiah and the impact of the book of Nehemiah on the returned exiles. To begin with let's get our bearings in terms of the historical times and events.
The exiles return from Babylon to Jerusalem 538 BC.
They rebuild the temple … with a bit of stopping and starting … but eventually the temple is built in 515 BC.
When Esther became the Queen it was during the time of King Xerxes – whose name is Ahasuerus in the Hebrew bible – rules from 483 BC.
These are some key events. Then we get to this situation in the book of Nehemiah where we read in Nehemiah 1:1-4
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
This is the context of the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is concerned about the wall and the fact it is still in ruins.
We know a date when this look place because Nehemiah tells us in Nehemiah 2:1, “In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.”
This would be the year 445 BC.
The exiles returned in 538 BC.
So it is almost 100 years from the time when the first exiles return.
After 100 years the wall had still not been rebuilt and, because of this, the people are in distress.
The distress comes because there is constant opposition form the surrounding nations and the local residents in Judah. We read about this in the book of Ezra
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes (Ahasuerus) they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Ezra 4:6
In the days of at Xerxes king of Persia this group of people to the king of Persia and they say, “We know want these men plan to rebuild the wall. They are a rebellious people and the wall will create more division and uncertainty. King Xerxes what do you want us to do?”
The response is in Ezra 4:17-22
17 The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
King Xerxes has issued a decree saying that the walls cannot be rebuilt. He also says the city cannot be rebuilt. This decree would have been earlier in Xerxes rule when he was trying to reduce the amount of rebellion which was happening in the Empire.
And the decree is creating problems. Including problems in Jerusalem.
So a delegation from Judah comes to Nehemiah saying, “the people are in distress because of the broken walls, and the charred gates and the destruction.”
In response Nehemiah’s heart is now focussed on fixing the wall.
The wall is important.
I want you to keep on thinking about this question as we going through the sermon today, “Why is the wall so important?”
After Nehemiah hears the news of the problem his first response is to fast and pray.
He does this because he wants to know the answer from God … he wants to know what God wants him to do. Nehemiah wants God to resolve this situation and he knows only God can resolve this situation.
After the prayer, at the end of chapter 1, we read that Nehemiah is the cup-bearer to the king.
That's really important information. Because the cup bearer is a very very trusted position. The cup-bearer’s responsibility was to taste all the food and taste all the drink before the king and the queen.
It wasn't just a matter of bringing the cup.
He protected the king and queen.
It was to stop them being poisoned.
This position means Nehemiah has daily access to the king and the queen.
Nehemiah 2:1-10 tells us what happens. Let’s read it.
So Nehemiah has been given permission to go.
But you also now have a group of people sitting saying, “there are people who are looking after the welfare of Jerusalem and Judah … and we don’t like this outcome.”
Nehemiah then is this dual story which is completely intertwined.
The building of the wall and the support of God … that is one story.
The resistance of the people around Jerusalem and their constant pressure … that is the other story.
So in this situation Nehemiah puts plans in place. So firstly he makes an inspection of the wall at night time. He doesn’t want people to really realise what is going on just yet. Then after the inspection he rallies the troops.
17 Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’ 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. ‘What is this you are doing?’ they asked. ‘Are you rebelling against the king?’
Nehemiah 2:17-19
So now the opposition has gone from distress to mocking and casting doubt and questioning the integrity of the Jews and the lawfulness of the project.
But the building begins. Nehemiah 3 describes how the wall is rebuild. Here Nehemiah gets families or groups of people of all trades.
They are people from all sorts of places, and all sorts of backgrounds, and all sorts of situations.
Nehemiah places them around Jerusalem at different places along the wall and then they all start rebuilding their specific area of that wall.
The coordinated effort works and the wall starts growing quickly.
So now there is a renewed attack.
1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, ‘What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble – burned as they are?’
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, ‘What they are building – even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!’
Nehemiah 4:1-3
When God’s people act it creates resistant doesn't it.
That's what's going on here. They know that something is going on that is significant … but there's resistance against the work of God. And one way to try and counter the work of God, and work of God’s people, is to ridicule and down play the impact.
To question the success of these people.
To make it sound like it's not going to have an impact, or it's not going to be worthy, or it's not going to be doable.
So these enemies of Jerusalem are actually enemies of God. They're trying to seek to stop the work of God. But the people don't listen. They press on.
And Nehemiah being the man of God that he is - he knows what needs to happen.
At this point he prays.
4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
Nehemiah 4:4-5
I just put it out there that we don't pray like that anymore. This is a very specific approach to God's people and how they pray in the Old Testament … really that is a whole other sermon.
I'm not encouraging you today that when you encounter people who resist the Word of God that you say, “Don't cover up their guilt and blot their sins our from your sight.”
We need to understand that this is the people of God standing and they are the only ones. And around them every single person - every single person - is against them. And there is growing resistance.
And so they need God’s strength.
They need God’s help.
They need to know that God is on their side.
And this is how they prayed to remind themselves that this is the truth. That this is how God works. That God is there them no matter what.
So they press on and then verse tells us that it reaches half its height. So this wall is going up, and it's going up quickly.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Nehemiah 4:6-9
You see the resistance is growing now it's moving to physical retaliation. We're going to go out against these people and the word is spreading.
Now we know something important his happened because “the word spreading.” The Jews are rebuilding the wall. And everyone in the Lands around them are starting to hear this news, “the Jews are rebuilding the wall.” The peoples of the land understand the significance of the rebuilding of the war and they don't want it to happen. They want to tear down God’s people.
But here is Nehemiah again …
… and that's another exercise you can do to see what sort of book Nehemiah is. You can count how many times he prays. As you read the book how many times does Nehemiah pray … and when does he pray. Then you get a real insight into how we as God’s people should meet resistance. And we are reminded of the power of prayer.
So the resistance is rising and Nehemiah prays.
Let’s keep reading
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, ‘The strength of the labourers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.’
11 Also our enemies said, ‘Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.’
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, ‘Wherever you turn, they will attack us.’
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, ‘Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.’
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our work.
Nehemiah 4:10-15
Now the enemies are starting to realise who they're up against. It's not the Jews. They are up against the God of the Jews.
God is involved in the process.
God’s hand is on this.
When we are doing what God wants us to do people know something is happening. They might not recognise the Lord Jesus Christ … but they know something's going on.
They know there is more than just group of individuals doing something.
There is power behind what is happening and those looking on realise this.
Which means the wall keeps getting built.
Now move forward to chapter 6.
1 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it – though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates – 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: ‘Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.’
But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
5 Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his assistant to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter 6 in which was written:
‘It is reported among the nations – and Geshem says it is true – that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king 7 and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: “There is a king in Judah!” Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.’
8 I sent him this reply: ‘Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.’
Nehemiah 6:1-8
Nehemiah is no fool. He is a man who knows what's truth and what's false.
But there is something really important about that letter. Geshem and Sanballat have hit the nail on the head, “You want to establish the king.”.
The people understand that when cities are built and when there's walls around city it's got something to do with kingship and rule. They understood this right from the very beginning. And that's why the surrounding people have been so much against the rebuilding of the wall.
But the people keep building.
15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realised that this work had been done with the help of our God.
Nehemiah 6:15-16
This is the key verse of Nehemiah. They realised that this work had been done with the help of our God.
No small group of people could achieve what they had achieved without the hand of God.
The people surrounding see it and they know it. In response to seeing the hand of God at work they are afraid and they step back and they finally leave the people alone.
It wasn’t easy to be a child of God in those days.
It is not easy today.
But all the time we can call on the strength of the Lord … can't we. We know from the New Testament that these great promises will come about.
If God is for us who can be against us? The implied answer is, “Nobody.” With God one is a majority.
We hear and we think it is a cliché. But it is true if you're doing what God wants you to do. In that case one is a majority and that's all you need.
Ultimately we know that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus has authority and all things are under his feet.
So the big issue as we live on this earth is not, “If we are going to bow our knee” or “If we are going to acknowledge that God is Lord.”
We will do this.
It's either going to be now in our lifetime … or it's going to be when the Lord returns. And we are going to see him face to face and when that happens you want to make sure that you bow before he comes back - not after.
Which means we should take courage and take heart. Because no matter what's going on in our life - no matter what's going on in our world - God will give us the strength to get through. Indeed God will carry us to such an extent that other people will look at us and go, “something's going on … “
That's more than their own strength.
That's more than their ability.
That's more than their own capacity.
They might not acknowledge God but there is something.
They will see the testimony you have … and every one of God’s people has this testimony … of how God carried them through a difficult time.
He gave them strength.
He gave them victory.
He gave them hope.
Ultimately even in the midst of death there's still victory. Because for every believer death is not the end -- it's the beginning. The beginning of eternity.
Scripture says, “Where oh death is your victory? Where is your Sting?”.
Death has lost.
Because even there God is with us.
Ultimately no one can be against.
But we are still left with the question as to why the wall is such a big thing. Because if we are honest there is a part of Sanballat’s view that I can understand. We don't like walls do we. Because when you put up a wall what are you saying is, “You keep out.”
You're saying, “you're not welcome.”
You're saying, “you're not like us.”
That's what walls do.
When you drive through the country and you see that massive farms surrounded by massive fences – it says, “Keep out.”
So you can understand why the people were so upset. Especially when we remember the history. The walls came down 586BC 586. Now it is 445 BC. So it is 140 years from when the walls came down.
In all this time the people from everywhere were freely coming in and out.
No walls to stop people from entering into Jerusalem.
No restrictions.
And now the walls are going up and people are saying, “Hang on we're being restricted.” And they saw this restriction as them no longer being welcome. They see the wall as a barrier.
But that's not what God sees that's not how God sees it.
God is not worried about what the enemies of God’s people think.
God is thinking about his own people. And for his own people God knows that this wall is really important.
Remember why Nehemiah is there in the first place.
Because a delegation came to him in Babylon and said, “The people are in great distress.”
The distress comes because of the nations … who are influencing and coming and going as they please. Who are making an impact on the life of the people who have returned.
Nehemiah wants to stop the distress.
He wants to change the focus of the people.
And it starts to work. We see the change happening in chapter 10, when the people commit themselves to a different life style.
30 ‘We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons.
31 ‘When the neighbouring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.
32 ‘We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.
Nehemiah 10:30-33
Do you get the sense that some of these things have been forgotten?
The people have forgotten who they were. They are having intermarriage with the people who are around them. They are relaxing the rules of the Sabbath. They are letting the identity of the people around them determine their own identity.
This is what's going on. They're losing their identity.
We can’t lose our God identity.
Which is why the wall is so important.
The wall is not a barrier. The wall is a boundary. It's a boundary for God's people to help them to understand who they are and to keep their identity.
The wall is a reminder of what they're called to do. And how they’re called to live each day.
That calling impacts those who are on the other side of the wall.
But God is always gracious enough to call people into his family.
So this wall is barrier to keep people out. It is a boundary to help those who are in.
So if there's only one thing that you remember out of this morning remember this:-
When God puts up the rules and the regulations and the laws – which can feel like walls - it's not because these walls are barriers to getting to know him. Rather the rules and regulations and laws are boundaries to help us know our identity.
So when the Scripture tells us how we ought to live,
and gives us a moral code,
and gives us direction,
and gives us values,
and gives us all of these things.
When Scripture does this it's not because God wants a barrier. Rather God is helping us to understand what sort of person you will be when you are in Christ. God is showing is how we live his way because that life is so much better.
When God says “do not be angry,” and “do not let the sun go down on your anger,” that is just one phrase. But that that one phrase and apply that to your life.
Apply that to your relationships:- your marriage relationships, your friendship relationship, your relationship with your children, your relationship with your friends.
How different would life be if everyone did that one thing?
To have this God identity. It is a boundary which is given to us in grace.
And this is how we show the world we are different.
Not just through verbal evangelism … but living our lives within the boundaries.
Because we are always in a battle.
We live in a world that wants to remove our identity.
Then God comes along in his grace and his mercy and says, “Here are the boundaries. I want you to be like me.
I've given you my Spirit.
I've given you my Son.
And I'll give you my strength.
You don’t have to be in great distress.
Prayer
