Tuesday, November 11th, 2025
Thank you to all of our veterans that have served our country. We recognize now more than ever how valuable our freedoms are and how much effort it takes to defend them!
I’m still really enjoying my slow march through the book of Nehemiah. Some of us may never be called to rebuild an actual wall, fortify a city, or restore its gates, but the transferability of this story to many of our current situations is remarkable.
From a spiritual sense, our entire existence should be hedged about by a wall that the enemy cannot penetrate. Our ears and eyes are the gates that we must guard and not let anything untoward pass through. Our heart is like the city of Jerusalem. It’s the place where the physical Temple was built and because of the cross, it’s the place where Jesus now dwells in us. Proverbs 4:23 says that we must guard it. If the wall around our city isn’t fortified and guarded, it won’t be long before everything we do and everything that is done to us will stink of stagnant water. A dilapidated wall also gives our enemies permission to plunder (Psalm 44:10).
Nehemiah recognized the seriousness of the call of God that was before him. He could see that Jerusalem was a reproach because of their unfaithfulness and he wanted to rebuild the Israelites in both a physical and spiritual sense. No matter the resistance that arose, he persevered without delay or doubt. As I mentioned on a previous blog, two of the people that presented much resistance were Sanballat and Tobiah. Here is one of Nehemiah’s responses to them (Nehemiah 2:20):
20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
I think what I relate to most about Nehemiah is his courage. When he faced resistance, he didn’t bow to a fear of man. God was the only one he feared. In this scripture specifically, he didn’t even try to answer their questions or compromise with them. He spoke the truth that God was with them, they were going to prosper, and Sanballat and Tobiah (in their ignorance and inability to see truth) would have no part in what Jerusalem was going to become.
Final Thoughts…
After writing three blogs on the book of Nehemiah it just popped into my head to look up the meaning of his name. It means “whom Jehovah comforts (or aids)”. God’s comfort and aid of Nehemiah allowed Nehemiah to aid and show God’s comfort to the whole city of Jerusalem. God took a willing vessel to show an entire nation how much He loved them. Just like we find today, not everyone could see or accept what God was freely giving, but that didn’t stop Him from reaching those who had ears to hear and eyes to see. Matthew 22:14 says that many are called, but few are chosen. Lord, let us all be the ones that take the chosen leap of faith.