How to build a wall

Building The Wall

Nehemiah 3 is one of those chapters that you start to read, then think, “I should just skip over this to the good stuff.” Let me show you why.
Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

Booorrrriiing. And this goes on for 32 verses. Verses 31 and 32 cap off the chapter.
After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner. 32 Between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants carried out repairs.

Are you asleep yet? Then I noticed something interesting. Each family or individual was identified, not only by his parents, but by his occupation. In verse 1 the high priest and his brothers the priests built. The men of Jericho built next to them.

My curiosity was sparked and I scanned the whole chapter. Look what emerged, like a submarine surfacing in the ocean.
Verse 5: the Tekoites made repairs; v. 7: the Gibeonite and the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, also made repairs; v. 8: the goldsmiths made repairs; v. 9: the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs; v. 10: (some guy) made repairs opposite his house; v. 12: the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters; v. 13:  the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall to the Refuse Gate; v. 14:  the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars. V. 15: the official of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, covered it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at the king’s garden as far as the steps that descend from the city of David. V. 16: (the) official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men. V. 17:  the Levites carried out repairs; v.17, 18:  the official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district. 18 After him their brothers carried out repairs under (the) official of the other half of the district of Keilah. V. 19:  the official of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent of the armory at the Angle; v. 22:  the priests, the men of the valley, carried out repairs; v. 26: the temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower; v. 27: the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel; v. 28: above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house; v. 29: the keeper of the East Gate, carried out repairs.

Notice anything? The list started with the high priest and ended with goldsmiths. In between we find not only other professions and officials, but many “ordinary” people, each contributing his part to the overall project. Did you miss the official of Jerusalem who worked with his daughters? (V. 12) People from all walks of life and even places outside of Jerusalem joined in the united effort to build the wall and secure the city.

It is also interesting that the list of names and people completely surrounded the city. The link for a map is included and you can see that the list of workers began at the Sheep Gate (v. 1) and ended with the project building to the Sheep Gate. (V. 32)

The “crew” included people from all walks of life and different locations. Sounds like a church at its best, doesn’t it? And they completed the job. What a fantastic testimony. You can read the whole chapter, and with the attached map, trace the entire outline of the city.  And some archeologists believe that they have found remnants of the wall built over 2500 years ago. (Circa  445 BC)

What a stimulating account. Aren’t you glad you didn’t skip to chapter 4? If you want to read the whole thing, follow the link. Not only is every person valuable in God’s plan, every chapter, verse, and line in His Book are too. Happy reading.