Nehemiah 3:1

Nehemiah 3:1 says, Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.  The high priests and his brother priests rebuilt the sheep gate.  They didn’t consider themselves above doing the actual work.  No matter how high up we might be in the church organization, we need to be willing to do the work that needs doing and never believe that it is beneath us to do so.  After rebuilding the sheep gate, they sanctified it.  We should always sanctify our work to God.  They set up doors in the gate, but we today need to open doors to anyone who would become a part of God’s kingdom by putting their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Verse two adds, And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri.  The work on the different parts of the wall was being done by several different groups.  The men of Jerico even helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  They were working with Zaccur, who was a Levite.  God’s work is not exclusive to anyone based on where they were born, but it is to be shared in by all believers, no matter how we may be divided physically. 

Verse three continues, But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.  The sons of Hassenaah completely rebuilt the fish gate.  It seems this group worked alone on this particular project, but they were still a part of the overall work.  From what I can find out, Hassenaah meant the Hated One, but his sons were working to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  I do know that what the world may view us as shouldn’t keep us from joining in with other Christians to do God’s work. 

Verse four states, And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.  As stated, many different people were involved and working on different sections of the wall.  We will also see that later, some of these men went to work on other sections.  We need to be working together to ensure that all of God’s work gets done, and if we complete one part, we need to move on to the next.  Of course, this all needs to be done under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Verse five adds, And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.  The nobles of Tekoa did no work to help repair the walls of Jerusalem.   I believe that too often today those who consider themselves to be higher up in the view of the world expect those that they view to be beneath them to do the work of the church while they sit back and relax.  I am not saying this is true of all more affluent people, as we will see that many nobles were doing the work, but it seems to be true of too many.  We need to understand that as followers of Christ, we all have the responsibility to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish God’s work and bring Him honor and glory, no matter our status in life or even with a local fellowship of believers.  The first step as always, though, is to become a part of that fellowship of believers, and the only way to do that is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord.