Arise and Build!

…Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste,

and the gates thereof are burned with fire:

come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem,

that we be no more a reproach.

…And they said, Let us rise up and build.

So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Nehemiah 2:17-18

So the walls of that great city, Jerusalem…

lay in ruinous heaps…

for the corruption, sin and rebellion…

of her inhabitants.

Even so…

the time had come…

Time to Return…

Time to Repair…

Time to Restore…

Time to BUILD!

So Nehemiah, a servant of the Living God…

began to intercede…

according to the burden upon his heart.

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, Nehemiah 1:3-4

With great brokenness…

He prayed…

I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. 

We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.  Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 

But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.  Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.  (Nehemiah 1:5-10)

God heard his prayer…

and opened up a way…

for Nehemiah to return and BUILD!

Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,  and said unto the king…

Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad,

when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste,

and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.  And I said unto the king,

If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight,

that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.  Nehemiah 2: 2-5

So it pleased the king to send me…

Moreover…

I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.

And the king granted me,

according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Nehemiah 2:6-8

Confident. Hopeful. Expectant.

Nehemiah traveled to Jerusalem…

eager to begin the work…

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.    Nehemiah 2:11-13

Meanwhile…

the enemies of God were stirred up against him…

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.   Nehemiah 2:10

Nevertheless…

Nehemiah pressed forward…

with his eyes fixed upon the task at hand…

and his heart fixed upon the God of heaven.

Resolute. Earnest. Determined.

He rallied the workmen…

and delivered the charge…

Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste,

and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come,

and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem,

that we be no more a reproach.

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me.  And they said…

Let us rise up and build.

So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

And their enemies mocked…

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

But Nehemiah stood firm and steady…

Then answered I them, and said unto them…

The God of heaven, he will prosper us;

therefore we his servants will arise and build:

but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial,

in Jerusalem.   Nehemiah 2:17-20

Nehemiah, servant of the Living God…

willing to intercede …

willing to go…

willing to bear reproach…

and completely resolved to…

REPAIR the breeches…

RESTORE the destruction…

And BUILD UP the walls!

Are YOU willing and resolved?

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:

thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations;

and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach,

The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Isaiah 58:12