T-70 - Encourage Others

Nehemiah, being yielded to God and having secured the support of the king, has travelled to Jerusalem. By the cover of night, Nehemiah has surveyed the walls and gates. It is only now that he reveals his intentions to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Have a look at… Nehemiah 2:17 (NIV)
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.” [1]

I see in this passage parallels between the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the conquering of the Promised Land. You may recall that the spies observed the Promised Land and in the preceding passages of Nehemiah, we see that Nehemiah rode out, secretly, and observed the state of the walls and gate of Jerusalem. I can’t help but think that there is a lesson in this; perhaps about paying attention or careful observation before action.

Further, the tribal leaders of Israel were charged with analyzing the state of the land of Canaan. Nehemiah too analyzed what he had seen. I think it significant that Nehemiah did not ride to Jerusalem, get off his horse and immediately begin mixing mortar and setting stones. The phase of observation allowed him to assess the scope of the situation. The analysis of the observations allowed Nehemiah to determine what would be required to accomplish the task. Perhaps it was something along the lines of “okay, the west wall is completely crumbled; that’s 18’ tall by 50 yards in length, I’m going to need X number of stones and Y buckets of mortar.” Of course, this is just speculation and extrapolation on my part. But one thing is apparent to me. Nehemiah was not assessing the damage and analyzing his observations in order to determine IF the job could be done. He operated under the assumption that it WOULD be done. Therein is a significant difference between Nehemiah and ten of the tribal leaders of Israel who spied on the land of Canaan. Though Nehemiah was faced with a monumental job, he was completely undeterred.

Having observed and analyzed, Nehemiah then makes his report to the fellow countrymen. He begins his report by building up the people who are listening, giving them credit for understanding the trouble at hand; “You see the trouble we are in:…” In this manner, Nehemiah has made the cause a common cause. He did not say ‘you see the trouble YOU are in’ nor did he admonish the inhabitants for not having already begun reparations of the wall. He said ‘you see the trouble WE are in.’ If we are walking in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we will have this same approach for the troubles that face us/them. Their problems, their sorrows, their opportunities become ours as we struggle together for the greater good of God’s kingdom.

Nehemiah observed that ‘Jerusalem lies in ruins’ which is based on his observation and would be readily apparent. He then offers that ‘its gates have been burned with fire.’ Now, my initial understanding had me picturing big wooden gates that had been reduced to charcoal. But I believe that was not the case. I think that the real problem is that the gates had been built with a stone, perhaps limestone, that when exposed to fire loses its structural integrity. If the stonework of the gate had been compromised, repairing the gates would not be a simple matter of attaching new wooden doors. It would require a careful reconstruction of the supporting structure. Thus, this was no small or inconsequential task.

Lastly, I note that Nehemiah, like Caleb and Joshua, spoke words of encouragement to his listeners. He exhorted them “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I believe the word ‘disgrace’ here carries more of a meaning of vulnerability and dependence than one of pride. Nevertheless, Nehemiah was not deterred by that state of the walls. He lived his life predicated on the presence of God in his life. He worked with the assumption that God was in control. He approached the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem with faithful determination because he knew that God was with him.

As children of God, we too can operate in this world with ‘other-worldly’ confidence, just as Nehemiah. If we draw upon his example and internalize the lessons of yieldedness, prayer, humility and faith then we too can reconstruct all that has been reduced to rubble by our enemies. Our observation and analysis should be performed with the confidence of knowing that we operate in the center of God’s will and that by Him and through Him, all things are possible.

The camp connection… “come, let us set our teepees in the land that God has prepared for us and we will no longer be in disgrace.” God is Tsungani.

Warm Regards,
Carl 'Chief Running Water' Schultz
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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.