Celebrate, but There’s More to Do
November 5, 2017

Scripture: Nehemiah 6:15-7:4

I. After celebration give glory to God for what He has done.

A. Think about what Nehemiah and Jerusalem had accomplished. In spite of a broken-down rubble of a city, in spite of relatively few people to do the work, in spite of many powerful enemies like Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem completely rebuilt the walls of the city in 52 days (Neh. 6:15). This is astonishing! What was the only explanation that Israel’s enemies could come up with for the rebuilding of this wall? God must have helped the Jews (vs. 16).

B. God often does His work through His people. And so when the walls were rebuilt, Nehemiah was careful to give credit not only to the people. He gave glory to God. This was Nehemiah’s habit. In Nehemiah 2:8 Nehemiah writes, “And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.” And before the rebuilding project began, Nehemiah said to his enemies in Nehemiah 2:20: “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build.” When the people were surrounded by enemies and tempted to give up, Nehemiah said in Nehemiah 4:20: “In the place where you hear the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” God always deserves the glory.

II. After celebration establish godly leadership for God’s people.

A. The Jewish leaders are not only conducting business with an enemy of the Jews in Tobiah (vs. 17). These Jewish leaders are also feeding intelligence to Tobiah from Nehemiah as the leader of the Jews (vs. 19). They are helping a man who is trying to intimidate and defeat Nehemiah. Would you want people like this leading your nation? No! These are horrible leaders – greedy traitors whose only concern seemed to be money.

B. Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was a just a means to an end. The end that both God and Nehemiah had in mind was not rebuilding walls. It was rebuilding hearts. The end goal was to get the people of Jerusalem to return in their hearts to God. So Jerusalem needed good leaders – leaders like Hananiah (Neh. 7:2). “He was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.” Those are the types of leaders every church needs.

III. After celebration give continued protection to God’s people.

A. The purpose of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was to protect God’s people so they could worship God in safety. After Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem rebuilt the walls, Nehemiah didn’t stop thinking about the protection of the people. We see his thoughts in Neh. 7:3. Do God’s people still need protection from the world and from enemies? The Apostle Paul certainly thought so. Acts 20:29-30: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Paul’s last words to these elders were basic: Protect the flock. Don’t let the sheep get eaten by wolves. We can never stop in this work by thinking that the people of church are completely safe. The church always needs protection.

Application:
Celebrate when God does something special. But there is always more work to do for His glory.

Sources:
Commentaries on Nehemiah by Derek Thomas, James Hamilton Jr., and Paige Brown