Adversity and Sufficiency Nehemiah 3:1-4:23 INTRODUCTION Sometimes the most difficult task is not getting started, but keeping going. One of the more arduous projects I have ever taken on was the finishing of the lower level in our home in South Dakota. I did some extensive tiling in the downstairs - about 600 square feet of flooring and a shower. Getting started wasn’t the hard part. I bought the supplies. I watched YouTube videos, and probably annoyed the flooring guy at Home Depot with all of my questions. But while getting started wasn’t that difficult, finishing it was. What I thought would take a few weeks turned out to be six months. I ran into all sorts of set backs I wasn’t expecting - uneven spots in the floor, warped tiles, tight corners, mortar drying too fast…let’s just say I was ready to quit more than once. Of course, Christians face adverse situations that are far more serious than mixing mortar and laying tiles. If there is something you and I know, it’s this: adversity and setbacks are common to the Christian life. In fact, the book of Nehemiah along with other parts of the Bible remind us that every time we are living for the glory of God in all things, we will face adversity and persecution to one degree or another. As we mentioned last week, the Apostle Paul once told Timothy that all who desire to live a godly live in Christ will be persecuted. When an individual Christian, as well as the corporate church, move along the path of faithfulness - there will be opposition and adversity to be certain. The question is what are we going to do about it? Let’s turn to chapter 3 and chapter 4 of Nehemiah. I won’t read chapter 3 right now. We’ll refer to it as we move along. But let’s read all of chapter 4 together. READ NEHEMIAH 4:1-23… A Word About the Wall At this point I believe it’s appropriate to say a bit about how we’re to understand and apply Nehemiah. Nehemiah is not the easiest book in the Old Testament to apply. I say that because its quite common to apply it in a very moralistic manner. Here’s what I mean: We can come to chapter 3 and quickly say, “This account is telling us about the need to delegate.” Or we can look at chapter 4 and say, “See this is how you solve problems when you’re in leadership.” And that’s not entirely wrong. But how do you apply the building of the wall? Are we as Christians supposed to builds walls to keep out all of the unbelievers? Certainly not. You see, we’re reading a book of actual events at a different time in redemptive history. Israel was a nation state. And as such, they needed walls for jurisprudence. They needed walls to maintain their economy. They needed walls in order for them to live as the covenant people of God. But you and I live in a different period of redemptive history. We don’t live in anticipation of the cross, we live in light of the cross. So what does it mean for us to be the covenant people of God? To begin with, our citizenship is not tied to an earthly city. We’re citizens of heaven. And for us, the walls are not physical structures to keep people away, but it’s our santification. It’s our growth and progress in the gospel. And the way in which we build the city of God is not by bricks or buildings, it’s through others coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The book of Nehemiah points us to the greater Nehemiah, who is the Son of God. Nehemiah has a passion to see God advance his kingdom through his covenant people. And for him that meant building a wall. For us, instead of building walls we’re faithful to point people to Jesus; both by our pursuit of holiness and our invitation to all people to come to God through Jesus. So know, as we walk through our text this morning the adversity we see - as it is applied to us - is opposition to the work of the gospel in our lives and in our church. TRANS: But Before we examine how Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem faced adversity, we need to see the manner in which the work got started. But let’s be honest - can anything be more uninteresting than a list of names that are hard to pronounce? What are we supposed to do with chapter 3? Well, some people do absolutely nothing. In 1983 Chuck Swindoll wrote a popular study on Nehemiah called, “Hand Me Another Brick.” This has been one of the more popular studies on Nehemiah. But interestingly, he skips chapter 3! To be honest, it’s tempting to do the same. But if we skipped chapter 3 we would miss out on something important about how every believer has a role in building God’s kingdom. And as we take a look through this list of names, you need to… 1. Realize Your Part in the Whole (3:1-32) In chapter 2 Nehemiah had called the people to action. Chapter 3 is their response. Now, go ahead and look at chapter 3 in your Bibles. I’m not going to read but rather point out what’s happening here. Basically, chapter 3 is organized geographically. It works its way around the edge of Jerusalem, showing how the wall was built from gate to gate. In fact there are seven gates in total, and between each of those gates the people build or repair the wall. Notice that every one is at work to rebuild the wall. As you read through the list you see that there are representatives from every part of society. You have merchants, rulers, temple servants, guards, priests - everyone. In fact, if you read verse 23 correctly a couple of bachelors are pitching in. Everyone was in on the work. And in some ways this signals a major shift in the OT. Because what you see here is that the clergy are working side by side with everyone else. The work of building up the kingdom of God is not something that is relegated to a few - but the whole people are needed for the rebuilding. Everyone has to do it. And not only is everyone getting in on the rebuilding, there is a certain unity in what they are doing. Everyone knows their job and does it. Everyone knows where they fit within the whole. Notice what’s absent from chapter 3? Grumbling. Boasting. Laziness. Procrastination. Passing the buck to others. Recognition seeking. You see, if the unity hadn’t been there then it would have been impossible for the walls to be rebuilt. It required people to not only build the walls, but remove the rubble. Not only was it necessary for people to carry out the skilled labor, but you had to have people do the “grunt work” also. But you can see from the text that there was a certain harmonious rhythm to their work: It lists the name of a specific person and then, “Next to him…next to them…next to him.” That’s the pattern of an efficient and unified group. You also get the sense that these people were working sacrificially as well. People came from eight different places up to a fifteen- or twenty-mile radius. Not everyone working on the wall lived in Jerusalem. According to chapter 3, volunteers came from Jericho (2), Tekoa (5), Gibeon (7), Mizpah (7, 15, 19), Zanoah (13), Beth Hakkerem (14), Beth Zur (16) and Keilah (17, 18). And these are people who had jobs in the towns they lived in. They had fields to cultivate, and farms and workshops must be maintained. However, they left their homes and families in order to help see the walls of the covenant people built up. And the immediate benefit went to those who lived in the city - but they still gave of their time. They still made the sacrifice. In a couple of instances, you see that people are building multiple sections of the wall. They’re doing double duty. They cover their part, and then they go over and help with someone else’s. For example, Meremoth completed one part in verse 4 and then repaired another section in verse 21. Meshullam did the same, while the men of Tekoa also completed two main sections. And Nehemiah is good at not taking credit for the work. It’s safe to assume he was sweating up on the wall with everyone else. But instead of writing about how he had the wall built, he lists the names of so many faithful people - drawing attention to their sacrifice and their service. In fact, he didn’t even list his own name. And when you get to chapter 6, and it’s all done, he says, “This work has been done with the help of our God.” Of course there is always a few who do nothing. I think that’s universally true that you can count on someone whose not doing their part. Look at verse 5: And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. They did not stoop to serve their Lord. Why? There will always be some who refuse to get their hands dirty.