Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Post-exilic Prophets (4)
Pray Psalm 48.12-14.
Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;
Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may tell it to the generation following.
For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death.Sing Psalm 48.12-14.
(Cwm Rhondda: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah)
Walk about the blessèd city, see her beauty, see her power.
Count her ramparts, filled with glory, look on every mighty tower.
Tell her glory to the nations: God will guide her evermore;
God will guide her evermore!
Read Nehemiah 2.1-20; meditate on verses 17-20.
Preparation
1. What did Nehemiah call the people to do?2. How did they respond?
Meditation
It is not hard to see Nehemiah as a type of Christ. A mere servant—but to the king—he undertook a great mission, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. To bring Jerusalem back from the dead, as it were, and all who would dwell therein.
For these last days, the Lord Jesus has declared His agenda: “I will build My Church.” To that end He calls His chosen ones into His Kingdom and glory, sends His Spirit to dwell within them, gives them gifts and resources for the work of building-up the Body of Christ, and calls all who follow Him to arise and build.
There will be opposition, of course. The world will never reconcile itself to the existence of the Church, and the father of lies will continually seek to sweep it away with a tsunami of lies and persecution (Rev. 12). But we must trust in the Lord to prosper our work according to His design (Neh. 2.20). We do not need the help of this materialistic, narcissistic, entertainment-besotted age. We are the servants of the King of kings. We have His Word and Spirit. We know what He intends and how He intends us to do it (Eph. 4.11-16). So let us arise and build, day by day, doing all things for the glory of God and working to build our church, the Body of Christ, in unity and maturity, as a sign and outpost of the Kingdom of God.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Nehemiah, and his team of builders, would assuredly have won that year’s HGTV award for speedy do-overs, and they probably would have even been offered their own weekly show. I’m sure Nehemiah would have declined, however, because the broken-down wall was merely a symptom. The real problem was the rebuilding, reforming, and revival of the people’s hearts, which took years and years to accomplish.
The success on the inanimate was completed in 52 days (a winner), the success in the animate—their hearts—was perpetual, a slogging work in progress (a mediocre placing).
The people were gung-ho on the wall building idea, “Let us rise up and build” (Neh. 2.18); but lacked the same enthusiasm for their spiritual growth.
Just like sanctification, which doesn’t get nearly the attention it should.
There is much talk and preaching and proclamation of the gospel, but the follow-up work of disciple-making is rather lacking. And the emphasis on personal growth in Christ—through reading and studying His Word, through prayer, by seeing Him in His creation, and by applying our best thoughts and energy toward His Kingdom work and in becoming more like Jesus every day—is mediocre, if present at all. For all the wrong reasons this as a priority has fallen into disfavor with the religious of our day.
Could that be why the Church is marginalized and rather altogether ineffective?
“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Prov. 25.28).
There is no work—on inanimate or animate—that can be accomplished successfully without the Holy Spirit.
But with Him, “nothing will be impossible” (Lk. 1.37).
“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;
unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Ps. 127.1).
Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, and on this truth, He said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16.18).
And Jesus wants dedicated people serving Him in His Kingdom.
Sanctified people, perpetually a work in progress, growing to be more like Him every day.
Jesus loves the church, and gave Himself for her, “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5.25-27).
“…to present [us] holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed [we] continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel…” (Col. 1.22, 23).
“Come and let us build the wall [of ourselves and of the church]
…that we may no longer be a reproach” (Neh. 2.17).
Reflection
1. Becoming more like Jesus begins in the heart. Why is that?
2. How do hearts have to change if they’re going to be effective for serving Jesus?
3. What can you do to make sure your heart is always inclining to obey and serve our Lord?
The church of God asks for our help. Is it not desolate, and exposed to assaults? Does the consideration of its low estate cause you any grief? Let not business, pleasure, or the support of a party so engage attention, as that Zion and her welfare shall be nothing to you. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Nehemiah 2.19, 20
Pray Psalm 48.1-11.
Pray for your church, that God will allow your church to realize the fullness of her mission and calling, to be a beautiful sign and faithful, joyful outpost of the Kingdom in your community.
Sing Psalm 48.1-11.
(Cwm Rhondda: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah)
Great is God, now greatly praise Him in the city of the LORD!
Holy she, His lovely mountain, great and glorious by His Word!
God her King is great within her, He, her Stronghold ever sure!
He, her Stronghold ever sure!
Earthly kings, amazed and wond’ring, look upon the Church with fear.
See them flee in dread and anguish, knowing that the LORD is near.
For the city of the Savior God will keep forevermore!
God will keep forevermore!
For Your grace and lovingkindness we proclaim Your matchless worth!
As Your Name is, great and boundless, let Your praise fill all the earth.
Let Your people sing rejoicing for the judgment of Your truth;
for the judgment of Your truth.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: We continue reading excerpts from the book, Revived! in our Read Moore column. Why not listen in? Last week’s Crosfigell letter called us to make sure we have the right priorities. And in our ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church”, we pray for the work of one-anothering And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
