Why did Nehemiah care for us to care about this chapter? As we always should do, we want to know what this text of Scripture meant to the author and what he wanted his readers to understand, and then we can figure out any principles that apply in our own context.

Even though Nehemiah 3 is in the third person, Nehemiah included this record of rebuilding in his memoir. It’s right above genealogies on the scale of interesting-to-us, but Ezra—who complied both Ezra and Nehemiah—also had no reason to remove it from the post-Babylon documents. This part of the story summarizes a lot of action, but it’s more like a scorecard: who played what position, or what group worked on what part of the wall. We can observe a lot from the text, but most of the names of persons and places only corroborate the history, because after/outside of Nehemiah they don’t do much. Modern day Jerusalem makes excavation to trace the Persian-day remains impractical.

I’d also like to read it, and point out some of Nehemiah’s emphasis, and spend a little more time that I usually do on some ideas for our coordinated effort.

The Text

Nehemiah 3:1-32

These are after-the-finish facts. Installing hardware on the gates is one of the final todos on the work order. The next chapters provide more of the challenges, this is sort of like the general contractor naming all the subs.

There are 45 or so sections compiled, ten different gates (from the Sheep Gate in verse 1 counter-clockwise back to the Sheep Gate in verse 32), and 40 groups (some worked on two sections). The city perimeter ends up being smaller than in previous days, not only because some new sections couldn’t be built on top of existing rubble, but also because the remnant who returned were not yet again as large/populous/strong as in Solomon’s heyday.

Different types worked on the wall. It started with the high priest ( Eliashib, grandson of the high priest who returned with Zerubbabel) and other priests building at the Sheep Gate, located in the north near the temple. The Sheep Gate is where sheep for sacrifices were brought in. The priests consecrated their section, probably representative of the entire effort.

There were goldsmiths and perfumers (verse 8) and other merchants (verse 31). Some of these guilds may have lived and worked in their own districts. That bakers and butchers and wine-makers aren’t mentioned could be because they kept at their work feeding the wall-builders. Goldsmiths and perfumers in particular may have had more money, and would have had less business anyway during this intense season.

Even one guy is said to have brought his daughters to work (verse 12). If you don’t have sons, why not? It doesn’t mean Shallum was the only father with tomboys.

A thousand cubits is around 500 yards (verse 13), quite a long stretch, and maybe less repair was needed here.

Only one verse describes a refusal to join, the nobles in verse 5; they would not stoop to serve their lords. Though the ESV has a capital “L” Lord, the lord is plural and probably includes Nehemiah (just as Ezra is called in Ezra 10:3). They were nobles from Tekoa, Tekoa was ten miles to the south of Jerusalem near to the area Geshem ruled. It’s speculation, but reasonable, that Gesham had great influence on these guys. The enthusiasm was not unanimous.

In general, you worked on the part of the wall nearest your own home, so not only efficient for your commute, but including personal interest. Nothing wrong with that.

Lots of details but no drama, external or internal. Sanballat and the boys will be back to badmouth and berate, but here, people are working together. You know that not all of them had the same process, or the same quality standards. They had to join up their work at numerous points, and it all got done. The whole thing got buttoned-up surprisingly fast, more to come on that.

What It Means

It’s become a poignant joke to pick at, “What does this verse mean to you?” We pick on the verbal equivocation, playing off the double possibilities for “mean”: interpretation or relevance. We should all work to interpret the author’s intent; what did he mean? Then we build on that with many, personal, different reader responses; how is this relevant?

Historically, biologically, geographically, and covenantally, we are not Israel. There is a Jerusalem, and you’re not him, if you know what I mean. It may feel like Western WA is captive to Democrats trained at Babylon University, but still, we don’t have any verse that demands walls and gates. Building a physical wall around our town(s) would be a waste of our time.

But while we don’t have a temple, we do worship the God of heaven and Him alone. We even know His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who died and rose again for our sins. We are His disciples, learning to obey all that He commanded. We seek His blessing, we make our boast in Him. Jesus is Lord of all.

And while we don’t have city walls, we do have identity as God’s people, and that includes living for Him in our finite callings, elected by God to live certain years in a specific location with different skills and resources for sake of generations and neighbors and giving a good answer when our Master returns to see what we made with what He gave us. This is also known as the Jealousable Project, The Blessed Option, Making Marysville a Destination. You could call it the Great Commission.

We have labored to establish the foundations of proper worship. Our assembled worship on the Lord’s Day is the fat kid, the faith food, the kick in the image-bearer pants. That is a church responsibility. Elders oversee the preaching of the Word and the observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and exercise church discipline. The assembly’s worship is the foundation of community building. We are consecrated to the Lord, and as the consecrated we live and move and have our being.

Pastors are not Nehemiah. And, actually, building a physical wall around the city would be easy compared to the consecrated effort of cultural reformation. But the walls are a relevant illustration of unique identity and lifestyle. We do not think it is RIGHT for the church to RUN a bunch of things. But this is big: it is CRUCIAL for the church to equip CHRISTIANS to run for the prize in Jesus’ name and run as many things as they can.

It takes all kinds, and, again, a physical wall has convenient scope and sequence. You can see it and you can know when it’s done. Our rebuilding isn’t the same kind of concrete.

I believe it is possible for Christians (not one pastor, not one church) to take over Marysville. At this stage, a lot of work is going into just getting Christians to agree that this is even a good thing. Some are ready to consider their part. But it’ll require Take-Them-a-Meal plus more.

A brewery for fellowship and meetings would be awesome. Check. Still looking for a great coffee place (that isn’t Starbucks) to do the same. A medical clinic that refuses to perform abortions and loves life and health that can avoid as much of the medical/insurance foolish practices is great. On its way. A construction/remodeling/design company with beautiful space on the main street. Check. A K-12 school not just with a commitment to binary bathrooms, but that loves the Bible and aims to raise the virtues and vision of jovial warriors. Check. An increasing number of farm/homestead/garden cross-pollinating ideas and eggs. Check.

And we can excel still more. Fathers who have the hearts of their children, who give their kids a vision for their place not just in the family but in the community. Men who can employ other (young) men. Those who see the complete lack of any competition for Christian legal services, so also for Christian news/media. Those who are encouraged to aspire to politics, local and local representatives at the state or even for the state. Where are the traffic engineers developing the theology of traffic circles? What about bookmakers/sellers?

More Christian schools. More Christian spaces and stores. More Christian landlords, website designers. Crisis pregnancy center. Participation at the Cold Weather Shelter.

Could we get property, take over a public school campus and let it shine? Not at the moment. We are still working on some basics back at Bible reading, some basics on wanting more than more and better family vacations. But, Christians, if Christ cares about it, you can too. And these big ideas are free, though they may cost you some comfort for sake of coordinated efforts for your grandkids.

Conclusion

The work on the wall was impressive in Nehemiah 3. Even as H.G.M. Williamson points out in his commentary, there is unity of intention, diversity of interest, and variety of involvement.

Who were the wall-builders building for? For themselves, for their people, for their future, for their God.

Church is not the boss, but church should bless believers and encourage them to coordinate efforts, to take root downward and bear fruit upward. Community building has to be more than private piety; more then enjoyment of the good, but effort to contribute. By God’s grace we can have an outsized influence in Jesus’ name. Not everyone will like it, and we’ll see more about that in Nehemiah 4.

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Charge

Christians believe the Author of our story is sovereign. God elected our salvation, He elected every difference in creation, He elected every difficulty in His providence. So you don’t get to decide what days you get. He has you here for His reasons, and you are right on time.

Benediction:

[May you be] strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:11–12 ESV)