Friday, June 12, 2009

Nehemiah Chapter 3

When is the last time you gave recognition to all those who have helped you in your work? Nehemiah is very careful to document all the people who have helped build the wall. He wanted there to be a good record. Section by section he lists out who did the work and the type of work they did.

Interestingly, Nehemiah also notes the people who didn't contribute. Look at verse 5... "their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors" I am not exactly sure what happened; was it pride that made the nobles think they shouldn't have to work or was it submission to the supervisors authority? In any case, we know that there were some who did not carry their load. I hope that when my work is written down, that no one will say that of me.

Here is another interesting thing I found...Hananiah and Malkijah show up twice once in verses 8 and 11 and then again in verses 30 and 31. Clearly there were some that carried more than their fair load. Nehemiah was faithful to record the work so that their names are forever examples for us today as we glean inspiration for our day today.

Another thing I noticed that Shallum who ruled a 1/2 district of Jerusalem was not only working hard, but also he got his daughters to help as well. We don't know their names, but clearly the work was not limited to the men.

There were also people who were not from Jerusalem who came to help with the project. In verse 13 we see the residents of Zanoah were helping out. A bold move considering the mounting opposition from other area forces, but they were written down in the record as helping out as well.

Even the priests who I would not have pegged for building walls were helping.

There were gates, towers and walls to be constructed and anyone who was willing was tagged for the work. Thank God Nehemiah recorded the help that he received. My application today is to make sure that I recognize someone who has been a help to me and thank God for them. No one should have to work without being given credit; but ultimately we need to credit God for all the work that is completed in the end. Let's be people looking to give credit where credit is due!

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