NEHEMIAH 4: Gateways Into God’s Presence

At first glance, Nehemiah’s rebuilding project of the walls of Jerusalem can seem quite…well…unspiritual. Is it all about brick and mortar?  Is the purpose strictly practical and militaristic?  Are the walls being rebuilt merely to keep the city safe from enemy attack?  I think not.

The clue to the deeper motivation behind Nehemiah’s project, and therefore, wider application to today, is found in Nehemiah’s prayer in 1:8-9: “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying,‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’”

Here we have the primary purpose for the rebuilding of the city’s ruined walls: God has chosen this city to be a dwelling for God’s Name.  That is, Jerusalem was supposed to be a place where God’s glory shines forth in a unique way.  A place set apart as Holy to the Lord. The broken down walls were not merely a safety issue for the inhabitants; it was an affront to the Holy God who desires to make the city His dwelling place.

How does this relate to us today?  Well, God no longer dwells in a temple made by human hands, but has chosen to dwell in human temples — namely, the community of believers called the church. God no longer resides uniquely in a small geographical region in the middle east called Jerusalem; His presence now dwells all across the globe as the church brings the gospel to more and more places.

Yet, just as the Holy City in Nehemiah’s day was in a state of disgrace (2:17), so our churches today can lose our saltiness or hide our light under a bowl (Matt. 5:13-16), forsake our calling to make disciples (Matt. 28), and even have our lamp stand removed (Rev. 2:5).  When and where such a tragedy occurs, God will raise up modern day Nehemiah’s to rebuild God’s church, to plant new churches, to revive old churches, to raise up communities where God’s Name can dwell.

NEHEMIAH 3: More than Monotonous

At first glance, Nehemiah chapter 3 is a monotonous list of random people doing seemingly mundane tasks (e.g., “So and so repaired such and such gate, putting in the doors and hinges…”).  Yet, digging deeper we find a beautiful picture of an entire community — local families, business owners, religious leaders, neighborhoods — all uniting around the vision of rebuilding a city!  How can the people of MainStreet follow their example as we unite in building up this new church in Mound?

In this sermon, we unpack 9 fascinating insights hidden deeper in this often skimmed over chapter of Nehemiah.  But first, one of the most encouraging things about Nehemiah 3 is that it’s filled with a bunch of “no names” like you and I, ordinary people who said ‘Yes’ to God and found themselves in the Bible alongside the more well-known names. All they did was move boulders, swing a hammer and hang some doors!  This should give significance to our own seemingly mundane lives IF we’ll only dedicate our every day tasks to the LORD for his glory and honor!

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Here are the other 9 points in the sermon: