What kind of worker are YOU?! Spotlight on Nehemiah’s work crew!

Hey there BCU Fam!

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Welcome back to our Nehemiah study featuring chapter 3! We’ve covered  chapter 1 and chapter 2 in weeks prior and to be honest, initially I started to glaze over this chapter, thinking it was like the genealogies in the Bible, you know the ones you skip over sometimes? In looking closer, though with God’s prodding there is some good info to be gleaned! Let’s dig right in!

Nehemiah 3:

v1Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

Spiritual checkpoint: Here we see the HIGH PRIEST and his fellow brethren got busy working. Recall in part 4 of our series, “The Called” the priests were mediators between God! They typically would not be doing this type of work! There is nothing like a LEADER actually doing instead of talking. That’s called an EXAMPLE. It also speaks to Nehemiah’s leadership skills in motivating the priests to work. 

v2And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri.

v3But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

v4And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baanah.

Spiritual checkpoint: What’s amazing in verses 2-4 is that next to the priests were “ordinary” people. There was no VIP section or division of duties by rank, they all worked together shoulder to shoulder.

v5And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.

Checkpoint: There is ALWAYS someone that will not put their necks/mind/head/hands to the work they were assigned to do. While it’s difficult to overlook, talk to the Lord on how to deal with it, keep working and with God’s help, DO NOT let this be you!

v6Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

v7And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.

v8Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

v9And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.

Spiritual checkpoint: Business men (goldsmith and perfumers) and leaders all worked together! How amazing is this, BCU family? This is the way things SHOULD go!

v10And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah.

v11Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahath–moab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces.

v12And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.

Spiritual checkpoint: The women of the ruler got to work as well. This “King’s Kid” mentality that we can have meaning everything is handed to me or I don’t need to do anything “my daddy got me” needs to GO! We have work to do—handle your God-given assignment with God’s grace!

v13The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.

v14But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth–haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

v15But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col–hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

v16After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth–zur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty.
v17After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.

v18After him repaired their brethren, Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah.
v19And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armoury at the turning of the wall.

v20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

v21After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.

v22And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain.

v23After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.

v24After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner.

v25Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from the king’s high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.

v26Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.

v27After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Opel.
Spiritual checkpoint: These folks (Tekoites)were mentioned twice! Sometimes we have to pick up the slack for someone else. Let’s do it with joy, but let us not practice slacking. When we slack we effect other parts of the Body of Christ.

v28From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.

v29After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.

Spiritual checkpoint: Some folks made repairs on their own homes as well. There are times when we are helping others that we need to make repairs on our homes. Our souls are permanent–our home! Are we taking good care of our spirit man? Are we feeding it with prayer, The Word, spiritual songs, wholesome talk? Have we been fighting in the flesh and it the spirit wounded? Been hurt badly and have not given it over to Jesus? Do we just avoid people and places rather than trust God to fix it? What part of your house needs repair? I promise if you tell God about it, He WILL fix it. Ask me how do I know?

v30After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber.

v31After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith’s son unto the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner.

v32And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.

Spiritual checkpoint: As well all have different gifts, talents and abilities, (for what a gift is, see Romans 12, I Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4) like leadership, pastoring, teaching. Everything else (singing, playing and instrument, painting) is a talent. In any case, we need to work on the wall together as a unit.

Just like Nehemiah kept records of who did what, God keeps records on us. What would our report card say?

All right, BCU family, this was a SOBERING reminder of how we should work together and with excellence. Some other questions to ponder:

1. When leadership asks you to complete a task, do you go about it with excellence or a complaint?
2. Are we SO distracted by the non-workers that we stop doing ours?
3. Are you able to work with ANYBODY? Or do we have our “picks”?

Those are questions we need ask ourselves (myself included), and take the necessary action steps with God’s help to ensure we get the VICTORY in areas of opportunity!

Lord will, next time we’re together we’ll talk a little more about chapter 3 (yes, there is more!) and them move to Nehemiah 4.

Thank you SO much for tuning in! Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram!  And PLEASE subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio and iTunes. You’ve already done that? Then tell someone you love as well as your enemy–I am trusting God they will become your friend! 🙂

Until the next time we’re together, God bless you and #StayOnTheWall!

 

 

Love,

 

BCU