Rebuilding the Wall (Nehemiah 3)

People may tend to skip over lists of names in the Bible. Yet we know that there are quite a lot of them throughout the Scriptures, so skipping over them could mean ignoring many verses and passages in the Word of God. The lists can give guidance about spiritual matters or hints about how things occurred in church life in biblical times, such as the list in Romans 16. Perhaps we might meet in heaven the men and women whose names are listed in this chapter as well as the unnamed persons.

Some of the lists in the Bible have intriguing surprises such as Jabez and his prayer for prosperity in a list of names found in Chronicles, or the significance of the four women found in the genealogy of Jesus, or what did Paul mean when he said about Priscilla and Aquila that all the churches of the Gentiles gave thanks for them?

So with that in mind, we can ask, ‘What can be said about the list of names in this chapter of Nehemiah?’ First, we will consider some details from the chapter, and I have entitled them as Plan, Pleasure, People, Priorities, Progress and Peculiarity. Second, we will note some applications.

Plan

Obviously when engaged in a building project a person needs a plan. What was Nehemiah’s plan? He would have put it together after his survey of the city mentioned in the previous chapter. The account in chapter three mentions eight gates: in verse 1, the Sheep Gate is mentioned and then it is mentioned again in verse 32, which means that the wall was circular, going round the city. In between are nine other gates, and beside the reference to each a summary is given of what took place there. The Fish Gate is mentioned in verse 3, the Gate of Yeshanah in verse 6, the Gate of the Ovens in verse 11, the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate in verse 14, the Fountain Gate in verse 15, the Water Gate in verse 26, the Horse Gate in verse 28, and the East Gate in verse 29. The teams of people who built the wall did so between the different gates. So ten gates are mentioned in this chapter.

Two further gates are mentioned later in the book – the Gate of Ephraim and the Gate of the Guard (12:39), which suggests that there were twelve gates in the city. This detail may cause us to think of the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 which has a high wall and twelve gates. The idea of a city with twelve gates is also found in Ezekiel 48, although each of the gates there is named after a different tribe of Israel, with the aspect of city life stressed being the presence of the God of Israel. The city with a wall and twelve gates that was built by Nehemiah was temporary whereas the city with a wall and twelve open gates that Jesus will build will last for ever.

Pleasure

The wall was circular, and commentators reckon that the wall was about two miles long. That might not seem much if we compare it to the Great Wall of China, which can be seen from outer space. Parts of that Great Wall were in existence when Nehemiah rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem in the fifth century BC. Perhaps his wall would not have been visible from outer space. More importantly is the question: which wall would God look on with more interest? The answer is Nehemiah’s wall.

People

Different types of people are mentioned such as priests, Levites, rulers, goldsmiths, perfumers and merchants. Some of the workers came from other places such as Jericho, Tekoa, Zanoah and Mizpah. Special note should be taken of the people from Zanoah who ‘repaired a thousand cubits of the wall’ (v. 13). They built between a quarter and a third of the wall. While it was mainly men who participated in the building, the women of one important family are mentioned in verse 12.

A sad reference is made in verse 5 about the nobles of Tekoa who ‘would not stoop to serve their Lord’. Imagine having that written about you! In contrast to them, the people of the same location chose to work on two sections of the wall (vv. 5, 27). So too did Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz (he was a priest according to Ezra 8:33). Another person to note was Malchijah who although he was a ruler repaired the Dung Gate (v. 14)!

Priorities

While those who came from outside the city would have been shown where to work, some of the residents of the city, if not all of them, were responsible for repairing the part of the wall that was nearest to their own house. No doubt the position for which they were responsible would demand careful work to make that section very safe and secure.

There is a particular activity connected to the priests in verse 1. ‘Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.’ The gate probably had this name because the animals for sacrifice were taken through it. This could point to the priority they gave for the things of God, that the gate and section of the wall closest to the temple was secured first. At the same time, they did not forget to consecrate the area to God. We are not told how they did this, but presumably there would have been a suitable religious service.

Progress

How long did it take those teams to build the wall? Nehemiah 6:15 says that it ‘was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.’ In less than two months they finished a project that had been hindered and delayed for a very long time.  Discouragement and opposition had taken their toll over the years. Some people dismissed the possibility, but Nehemiah and the others proved them wrong. With God’s help, they did it. A man with a heart for the state of God’s city did it with God’s help. He and those who caught the vision did it with God’s help.

Peculiarity

There is something unusual about this list of names as far as its location in the book is concerned. Subsequent chapters describe issues that occurred while the wall was being built. Normally, the list of persons involved in a project comes after the account of the project was completed. But here the list comes first. The author is telling us to honour those who do something for the Lord.

Connected to that detail is the silence of the human author about his involvement in the task. The author of the book is Nehemiah, and he does not mention himself in the chapter. He does not begin it by saying that certain others helped him reach his goal. Rather, he mentions the others who did it. In subsequent chapters he does mention things that he did. But here he keeps himself out of the picture. Sometimes a big name can hide the contributions of others. Nehemiah knew that there were times when others should be commended.

Applications

We have referred to what the human author of the book did when he omitted himself from the details of the chapter, revealing the importance of humility. Yet we know that another author was involved in the production of the book, and that second author is the Lord who inspired Nehemiah to compose the book. Indeed the Lord is the primary author. Obviously, he chose to have Nehemiah record the names and that fact should cause us to wonder why that was the case. Why did God want us living in another time and place to know what those people did?

Several answers can be given to that question. One is that God knows the names of people. This in contrast to all human leaders. The emperor of Persia would not have known the names of those who built the wall, but the great God of heaven did. A second answer is that God records the names of those who do things for him and his kingdom. There are other examples of God doing this in the Bible. A psalmist mentions that God collected his tears in his bottle. Malachi mentions how the Lord wrote down in his book the names of those who met together to think about his name. A third answer is that he records the names of those who refused to do what they should have done, those like the nobles of Tekoa.

A second application is that building the kingdom of God is a task that cannot be done by one person alone. Nehemiah was obviously a very gifted man and his ability had been recognised by the rulers of the Persian empire. Yet there were things that he could not do. Maybe he was not very good with his hands. But others were. The fact is, God does not allow one person to get all the glory. Even the most gifted need the contribution of others.

A third application comes from the necessity of certain people being responsible for their place near the wall. Each had to secure the location where his or her house was. It is not difficult to see how that requirement applies to us in a spiritual sense. Each of us is responsible for our own homes, of what goes on in each of them. We can imagine what would have happened if an owner had been careless about his section. It would make it easier for an opponent to get through, and perhaps not only to his home, but to others as well.

A fourth application is that different gifts and talents were utilised in the project of rebuilding the wall. The New Testament makes it clear that every Christian has at least one spiritual gift – each has received grace from Christ in this regard in order to contribute to the growth of the local congregation. Some believers have more than one such gift. Those gifts are not the same as the natural talents that a person may have (these talents too can be devoted to the Lord’s service, as was the case with some of the people who helped Nehemiah). Paul and Peter provide lists of spiritual gifts and while they include public gifts such as teaching and evangelising, they also include more private gifts such as encouraging and helping. Many of the spiritual gifts are verbal and don’t require a high level of skill and education, as if only well-trained and highly informed people can use them. What is needed for their practice is a devotional spirit and a willingness to engage in helping others with the truths and comforts of the Bible.

​A fifth application is that God usually works through a united people. We see an example of that reality in the New Testament church in Jerusalem following the day of Pentecost. And we also see the trouble that can happen when people are not united as was the case in the church in Corinth. Proverbs 6:16-19 says that there are seven things that God hates and regards as an abomination and one of them is the person who sows discord among brothers.

A sixth application is the importance of having a wall. As far as Nehemiah was concerned, the need for a wall was to provide security for the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the attacks of enemies. And there is an obvious sense in which the church needs a wall in a spiritual sense. One of the pictures of the church in the Song of Solomon is that of a walled garden. When it comes to the church, it has several walls such as the wall that keeps out false doctrine and the wall that keeps out worldliness. Sometimes, ancient cities had several walls. Even so, the church needs several suitable barriers to keep out spiritual danger. Individuals need them as well. We are living in times when we need several walls for our own spiritual protection.

A seventh application is the value of lists. The list in Nehemiah 3 looks like the commence of his report to the Persian emperor about how the city was rebuilt. Instead of highlighting what he did, Nehemiah brought to the ruler’s attention what others had done. It is not difficult to imagine Nehemiah using this list as a prayer list. Whether he did or not, there is something striking about us mentioning in the presence of the King the names of his people who are working hard in his kingdom, and also perhaps mentioning those like the nobles of Tekoa who chose to contribute nothing to the building of the city. One person commented that he regarded such lists as unspiritual and preferred to wait for God to bring names to his mind. Those who heard him had to confess that very few names were suggested to him.

An eighth observation is to note that some people in the chapter are identified by their calling, whether religious or secular. In a spiritual sense, we are called to participate in the progress of the city of God, whether in its defence or in its growth. We have heard the story, no doubt apocryphal, of the three workmen in London who were asked what they were doing. One said he was making bricks day after day, a second said that he was working for a living day after day, but the third said that he was helping Sir Christopher Wren to build a great cathedral, St. Pauls, day after day. It is all to do with spiritual perspective and awareness of the wonderful task we have in the work of the city of God. The question to ask is this, ‘What is written beside our names in the heavenly register?’

How do we build in the city of God? The answer is by using the means of grace that he has provided. Even as what was needed for the rebuilding of the literal wall would have been provided for the people by Nehemiah, so what is needed for working in the spiritual city has been supplied through Jesus in the means of grace such as Bible reading, prayer, application of our baptism, use of the Lord’s Supper and participation in church fellowship. We have a great calling, but it is a calling to be a participant and not a spectator.