WWUTT 744 Spiritual Walls?

The Spiritual Meaning of Jerusalem’s Walls

The walls of Jerusalem were more than just physical protection against an outside enemy. They also represented spiritual protection against a spiritual enemy. God is our true protector when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you Becky. We are back to our study of the book of Nehemiah and today we'll be looking at chapter three a little bit, then we'll go to chapter four. Three is full of a lot of names of folks talking about who rebuilt what in the walls of Jerusalem and who was working next to whom.

And so we'll look at that a little bit, but then if you want, you can go back and read that word for word instead of listening to me fumble through all of those names. Then we'll go to chapter four. So where we ended up last week, Nehemiah, who was a cup bearer in the court of the king of Assyria, had heard that the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down and the city was unprotected.

And Nehemiah grieved, but his grief was not in hearing that the walls had been broken down. It was primarily because he heard that the Jews were sinning. Even after all that they had done in rebellion against God and God had exiled them and turned them over to their enemies, yet they came back to this place and they were still living in sin.

And so Nehemiah was grieved over this, that they were not honoring God. It's like they hadn't learned their lesson after their exile. So he asked the king if he could go back and help rebuild Jerusalem and if the king would even give him some supplies to do that work.

And the king was so fond of Nehemiah that he let him do that. And of course, this was the providential hand of God that was working through all of this. And so in chapter two, Nehemiah returned and he immediately faced some adversity.

There were a couple of men, Tobiah the Ammonite and Sanballat the Horonite, and they simply did not want to see Israel prosper. They certainly did not want to see Jerusalem rebuilt. And so Nehemiah stayed there for three days and he talked with some people about some of the things that were going on in Jerusalem.

And so not to alert the attention of their antagonists, Nehemiah got a horse and late at night he went all the way around the city to survey the walls. And indeed they were in shambles and the gates had been broken down.

The city was completely unprotected. So he gets back and he talks to the people about here's what we're going to do. We're going to rebuild the walls and here's our plan of action. Well Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite heard of it and they jeered and despised the Jews and they said, what is this thing that you are doing?

Are you rebelling against the king? That's kind of like trying to strike fear into their hearts. You're doing something that's contrary to the king of this land, what he would want and his wrath is going to come upon you.

But Nehemiah's reply was the God of heaven will make us prosper and we his servants will arise and build. But you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem. And that's quite a threat. In fact, it's the greatest of threats.

The Lord is on our side. You are not on God's side and this will not go well with you. And you will see that God is on our side when we accomplish the task that he has arranged for us to do. And this rebuilding effort as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, this was quite an undertaking and it was done very quickly.

They completed the building project in 52 days. That's fast. And it wasn't shoddily done either. They were as strong as the walls had ever been. Let's go to chapter three here. I'll read the first portion of it.

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 and next to him, the men of Jericho built and next to them, Zachar, the son of Emery built.

And that's the way the chapter is going to go. This person or this family or this tribe rebuilt this section and next to them, it was this person and they rebuilt this section and this person or this family, this tribe, they rebuilt this gate.

And that's the way that chapter three reads. Now, some of these locations and some of these gates, we don't actually know where they are. We kind of have a guess, like the Tower of Hananel, the Fish Gate.

These were all on kind of the northwest side up around the Temple Mount. We know where the Dung Gate was. That was a pretty consistent landmark. But at the time of Jesus, some of these locations didn't exist anymore, either because the wall had been expanded or they were going by different names at those particular times.

So as some of these gates are going to be mentioned, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where in the wall this was that we kind of have an idea. And the wall that they rebuilt was only encompassing the city of David.

So it was about the size that Jerusalem was when David was king. It wasn't the size of Jerusalem at the time of Hezekiah, which was about three times larger than what Jerusalem was when David was king.

So you have that entire western side of Jerusalem remained unprotected. And in fact, that part of the city was even uninhabited. There wasn't anybody living in it. It was mostly destroyed. A lot of homes and things like that up on the up in that area.

But it would be rebuilt sometime around the second century B .C. Jerusalem was quite large by the time Jesus was born. At this particular time, it's a very small area that's being reconstructed. But it's still incredible that these walls were completed in a span of time that was basically less than two months.

And you notice that as they're completing sections, it says here that the high priest came and they consecrated the wall. Now there's like a big celebration of dedication that happens in Chapter 12. So this act of consecration is apparently something different than that.

That big dedication that's going to happen later on. So it's kind of like once a section of the wall is completed, immediately it is declared sacred so that almighty God would bless that work and he would be the one that's holding that wall firm.

So it's not because the Jews were successful architects that they were protected from any outside forces. It's by the blessing in the hand of God that the people of Jerusalem would be protected from their enemies.

So the priests come and they would dedicate a section of the wall immediately so that the people of Jerusalem would know that God was with them. The wall had been declared sacred. It wasn't that it was Jerusalem's walls.

It was God's wall that he, by his providential hand, had constructed to protect his people. I mentioned to you it was either last week or the week before that this isn't just about rebuilding walls around Jerusalem so the city would be protected.

There's a spiritual significance to these walls. When Jeremiah heard that, not Jeremiah, Nehemiah, the other Maya, when Nehemiah heard that the walls were in ruins and that the people were living in sin, he mourned because he knew the reason why they weren't protected was because they were sinful.

The Lord was not protecting them. He was not going to bless them because they were not keeping his statutes. So if the people would repent and they would obey God, then the Lord would bless their effort to rebuild the walls and those walls would signify physically that they were being protected spiritually by God.

And the same thing goes for us whenever we are not in obedience to the commands of God. I know as Christians we are saved by grace through faith. Absolutely. But Jesus said to his disciples, you will show me that you love me when you obey my commandments.

Now, having been saved by his grace, we affirm the election that we have been given, as Peter talks about, 2 Peter 1, by obeying the things that Christ has told us to do. And we're able to do this in a holy way because we wear the righteousness of Christ.

Previously, we could not do anything good that would be received by God because our hands were filthy. We were rotten sinners. We could offer no good sacrifice to God. But now, having been given the righteousness of Christ by his perfect sacrifice, we are able to work for God in a way that is pleasing to him.

Remember, as we've been reading in Titus chapter 2, it says there in verse 14 that he has purified for himself a people who are zealous for good works. We desire to do the work of God. And if we have been saved by Christ and we are obedient to his word, then the Lord is protecting us from the devil's schemes.

Remember James, James chapter 4, draw near to God and the devil will flee from you. God is our protection. As Luther wrote in his famous hymn, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. So if we are in Christ and we are near to God, then we are protected.

He is that mighty fortress, a shield of protection for us. And the devil has no claim over us. And yet, even here in this story in Nehemiah, you've got these adversaries who do not want to see the people of God prosper.

And they're going to do whatever they can to try to discourage the work that they're doing, their very existence, to try to bring enemies against them, just as the devil tries to plot against us. But as long as we are in Christ, he can do nothing to us.

Remember the words of Paul in Romans 8, if God is for us, who can be against us? And that's very similar to something that Nehemiah said at the end of chapter two, where he said the God of heaven will make us prosper and we, his servants will arise and build.

But you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem. If you are not in Christ, then the adversary will have his way with you. But in Christ, there is no condemnation. Amen. Praise the Lord. So there is a spiritual significance there to those walls, even for the Jews and even for us as we read this story, draw near to God and he will quicken your heart to have zeal for his will.

Opposition to the Wall Rebuilding in Nehemiah 4

We get to chapter four and here's the opposition to the work that they were doing on the wall. Now, when Sanbalat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged and he jeered at the Jews.

And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish and the burned ones at that?

Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and he said, yes. What are they building? If a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall. Now, Sanbalat was kind of a ruler in this particular region and he was feeling threatened seeing that the Jews were rebuilding their city and they were being successful at it.

And here at this portion of Sanbalat's tirade and all the people who were kind of mocking with him, Nehemiah interjects and he prays against those who would try to come upon them. So in verse four, this is chapter four, verse four.

This is the words of Nehemiah. Now here, oh, our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

In Psalm 57, six, we read, they set a net for my steps. My soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah. So Nehemiah is basically praying for the same thing.

If they are trying to dig a pit in our path to get us to fail, may they fall into it themselves. We go on to verse six. So we we built the wall, Nehemiah says, and all the wall was joined together to half its height for the people had a mind to work.

So at this point in the story, the wall is halfway complete. The effort could still be thwarted, like the enemies, the adversaries of the Jews could still stop them from completing this effort. That's that's where this construction is at in the story.

So verse seven. But when Sanbalat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.

Those gaps in the walls where enemies could get through. They're now being sealed up. And those who hate what the Jews are doing, they're getting very upset about this. And they plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.

And we prayed to our God and set a guard as protection against them day and night. In Judah, it was said the strength, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble by ourselves.

We will not be able to rebuild the wall. And our enemies said they will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work. At that time, the Jews who live near them came from all directions and said to us 10 times, you must return to us.

So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall in open places, I stationed the people by their clans with their swords, their spears and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes. Now, as Nehemiah is giving this zealous pep talk here, one of the verses that may have come to mind for you is Joshua 1, 9, where God said to Joshua, have I not commanded you be strong and courageous?

Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go. As God has been faithful to protect his people in the past, even against impossible odds. So he is going to protect them even now when Nehemiah says to them, do not be afraid of them.

This is not just an exhortation. It is a command. Just as God said to Joshua, have I not commanded you be strong and courageous? So it is a command that they would trust the Lord. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome.

Is he not bigger than any of these guys who are going to try and stop us from this rebuilding that we are doing? Do not be afraid. Do not flee the city. God is blessing this effort. He is the reason why we are here and able to rebuild.

We have been given the materials. We have been given the blessing of even pagan kings know that it is God's hand that is behind this. We have no reason to be afraid. And so no matter what anybody would come against us with in this world.

Once again, Romans chapter eight, verse one, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, though there are people who will try to stop us, who will deride us and ridicule us.

Some may even try to harm us physically because of the godliness we desire and the gospel that we proclaim. We must not be afraid of them for they can do nothing to destroy us. They might be able to kill our bodies.

They will never be able to destroy our souls. And that's something that Jesus said to his disciples. Do not fear the one who can destroy the body and then after that can't do anything else, but fear him who can destroy both the body and the soul in hell.

If we have the fear of God, then we have absolutely nothing else to fear. Be strong and courageous and confident in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is mighty to save. Verse 15, when our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.

From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah who were building on the wall.

Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the wall with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.

The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, the work is great and widely spread. And we are separated on the wall far from one another.

In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. Well, that's something else that the Lord had said to his people. In Exodus 14, 14, the Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent.

Verse 21, so we labored at the work and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.

So neither I nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me. None of us took off our clothes. Each kept his weapon at his right hand. The very fact that they knew that there were people who were trying to stop them and had armed themselves as a result had already thwarted the plans of their enemies.

They realized this was not going to be an easy task to try to stop their construction efforts. These people are armed. They've got weapons. They can defend themselves. If we were to come up against them, it would mean a large loss of life.

Now, when I started in this study of Nehemiah, I told you that this would be an adventure story. It is a heroic epic and Nehemiah is very smart, very wise in how he handles and responds to even a crisis like this.

But today, as we were looking at this part of the story in chapters three and four, I didn't do a great job as a storyteller because I began by telling you that they're building efforts were successful.

And so then when we got to the actual parts of the story and you're watching that narrative unfold, well, you're kind of losing the tension a little bit because I've already told you, hey, it's OK, though, guys, they succeed.

They end up getting the walls rebuilt. But you knew that anyway, right? We're going to continue our study of Nehemiah next week. Let's conclude with prayer. Our wonderful God, we thank you for taking good care of us daily.

Your mercies are new every morning, though we have sinned against you. You have shown us kindness and faithfulness. As Paul said to Timothy, though we are faithless, you remain faithful. And so we are filled with thanksgiving for the continued kindness and steadfast love that you show for us on a daily basis, protect us from the devil's schemes and help us to be wise to his ways.

When we are tempted, give us the strength and the courage to run from it, to flee from it and cling to Christ almighty, whose righteousness covers us and whose forgiveness has made us whole. Help us to keep a focus on Jesus, who is the author and the perfecter of our faith.

He is the great prize, the great treasure that we have been given. And so with our eyes fixed firmly on Christ, we will cross that finish line into glory because God kept us sure and steadfast. We pray these things in Jesus name.

Amen.

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