Better Together

Isaiah 58:12 (NKVJ)
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of [a]Streets to Dwell In.

Isaiah 58:12 (The Living Bible)
12 Your sons will rebuild the long-deserted ruins of your cities, and you will be known as “The People Who Rebuild Their Walls and Cities.”

We Shall Be Known As:
-The Rebuilder of the Walls & Cities-

Rebuilding The Wall

Walls in Old Testament:
Structures that protected, provided security, and represented a place of shelter forming a sense of belonging.

The Setting

Nehemiah 1:1-6 (NKJV)
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.
It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan[a] the [b]citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love [c]You and observe [d]Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.

Nehemiah got a vision while fasting and praying

The Situation
-The Wall around Jerusalem had been demolished by the Romans in 70 AD. It had been in ruins for 60 years.

-The Wall:
4.5 miles long
26 feet high
9 feet wide
The Send Off

Nehemiah 2:1-6
1And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King [a]Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”
So I became [b]dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”
4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
6 Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Nehemiah was given favor by the King!

The Scorn
Nehemiah 2:19-20
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
-An open door, but there will be opposition!

-Sanballet – Tobiah – Geshem

Overcoming:
“The God of the Heavens will prosper us!”

I Corinthians 16:9
9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

“Spiritual Warfare”

Their Success

Nehemiah 4:6
6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

A. We built the wall
B. The people had a mind to work!

Nehemiah 6:15
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.

-The Wall was completed in 52 days!