So, our text for this evening is Nehemiah 4, and this morning we were wonderfully reminded and focused on our future, eternal life, the God, and the means he gives it through Jesus Christ. And we see much the same in Nehemiah here, but I want to say something so you're not disappointed. I probably won't mention John Calvin at all in my sermon. I know, I know. But I also promise not to make any comments about your appearances. So, but in all seriousness, as we look at Nehemiah, sorry, did I say four? Nehemiah three, I think I need to set the stage first for us because context is so crucial. I teach that at the seminary. When you want to study a text, you really need to look at it in its context. And that really, it works for all of life. If you hear a comment of somebody, you want to see the larger context. What kind of speech was it in? Where was it given? Or even on a bigger model, when you look at world history and you look at the activities of a nation, You want to know their history and how this fits into a larger context. And I want to do that for our text because it might, on first read, look a little mundane. It is a list of people who built various sections of the wall that we no longer have. There's no giants in it. There's no villains. And so maybe this afternoon you looked ahead and you thought, well, I'll read ahead the portion of scripture. And you thought, oh boy, I better bring an extra peppermint tonight. But again, context is all important. Because as we look at this time of Nehemiah, the situation in Israel was very bleak. I think there's a good comparison to be made, and I saw at least one person make it, with actually the time before the Protestant Reformation. The people of God were being corrupted. They were compromising their unique identity and their calling. And here comes a reformer, raised up by God to call them back. And Nehemiah is this reformer, and he comes to call God's people back. He comes to this compromised people of God. He comes to Israel, who had returned from exile, who had been living in the land for many, many years already, and they've begun to be assimilated to the nations around them, allowing those neighbors to distort and distract them, to distort the true worship of God and distract them from his work. And so Nehemiah comes to remind them in many ways of their context. Who are they? What is their history? What is their hope? They are a people called by God with his covenant and his promises. And they need to act according to that identity. They've been following the ways of the nations around long enough. And Nehemiah comes there to make a distinction. to separate a people of God, calling them to do the work of God. And our text records the summary of their response as God brings this people back to himself. And so we'll actually start reading just a little bit earlier in chapter 2, verse 17, Because I think the end verse of chapter 2, 2 verse 20, is a crucial tie into our text. Because it very much sets up this contrast between the enemies of God, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, those who have no portion, no rights, no claim in Jerusalem, and those who do, those who arise and build. And so, let us begin reading Nehemiah 2, verse 17. Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in? Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. They replied, Let us start rebuilding. So they began this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. What is this you are doing, they asked. Are you rebelling against the king? I answered them by saying, the God of heaven will give us success. We, his servants, will start rebuilding. But as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it. Eliashib, the high priest and his fellow priests, went to work and rebuilt the sheep gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zachor, son of Imri, built nicks to them. The fish gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassanah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. Merimoth, son of Uriah, the son of Hachos, repaired the nicks section. Next to him, Meshulam, son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezebul, made repairs. And next to him, Zadok, son of Banah, also made repairs. The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. The Yashana gate was repaired by Joyada, son of Paseah, and Mashulam, son of Besodeah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah, Melatiah of Gibeon, and Yadon of Meranoth, places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. Uziel, son of Har-Hiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section, and Hananiah, one of the perfume makers, made repairs next to that. They restored Jerusalem as far as the broad wall. Rephiah, son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section. Adjoining this, Jedidiah, son of Haramoth, made repairs opposite his house. And Hatush, son of Hashabniah, made repairs next to him. Malchiah, son of Harim, and Hashub, son of Pahat Moab, repaired another section. And the tower of the ovens. Shalom, son of Halohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the Nix section with the help of his daughters. The valley gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. They also repaired 500 yards of the wall as far as the Dung Gate. The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchia, son of Rechav, ruler of the district of Bet HaKarim. They rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. The fountain gate was repaired by Shalom, son of Kol-Hozah, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the pool of Shalom by the king's garden, as far as the steps going down from the city of David. Beyond him, Nehemiah, son of Azbuk, ruler of the half-district of Bethser, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the house of the heroes. Next to him, the repairs were made by the Levites under Rahum, son of Bani. Beside him, Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Kalia, carried out repairs for his district. Next to him, the repairs were made by their countrymen under Benua, son of Hinnadad, ruler of the other half-district of Kaliah. Next to him, Ezer, son of Yeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section from a point facing the ascent to the armory as far as the angle. Next to him, Baruch, son of Zabai, zealously repaired another section from the angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib, the high priest. Next to him, Merimoth, son of Uriah, the son of Hachoz, repaired another section from the entrance of Eliashib's house to the end of it. The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region. Beyond them, Benjamin and Hashub made repairs in front of their house. And next to them, Azariah, son of Maaseah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. Next to him, Benui, son of Hinnadad, repaired another section from Azariah's house to the angle and the corner. And Palal, son of Uzziah, worked opposite the angle and the tower projecting from the upper palace near the court of the guard. Next to him, Hedayah, son of Parosh, and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the water gate toward the east and the projecting tower. Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel. Above the horse gates, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. Next to them, Zadok, son of Emer, made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemiah, son of Shekinah, the guard at the east gate, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah, son of Shalamiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zelop, repaired another section. Next to him, Meshulam, son of Berechiah, made repairs opposite his living quarters. Next to him, Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants opposite the inspection gate and as far as the room above the corner. And between the room above the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs. So as we look at this text tonight, we'll ask one question a few times. And it's the question, who is building Jerusalem? Now, I had the opportunity to teach the first grade class during the family tithes just a week and a half ago or two weeks ago, whatever it was. And I know what their answer would be, the good Sunday school answer. God and then maybe Jesus right after that. And really, they would be right. They would be right. For Nehemiah says as much if we look back at 2 verse 20. Who is it that's going to give them success? Nehemiah knows that it's the God of heaven who will give us success. And so it is true that God is the one who is rebuilding Jerusalem. But here we can see him working through Old Testament Israel, through this people who have returned from exile. And as we look at some of the details, I emphasize that some of the details, we won't go through them all, we can appreciate more fully what God was doing through these Israelites. Now, before we begin, on a side note, I have to at least indulge my interest as an Old Testament professor a little bit because the wall in the city of Jerusalem from Nehemiah's day is no longer there. And so this is a great resource we have to know what it looked like back then. And just to give you an idea of the scale that we're talking about, most people would say that the wall was probably about a mile and a half in circumference. Maybe it was a little bit more than that, but that's about how big it was. And we have found sections of it, sections that probably were newly founded by Nehemiah. And the wall there is about eight feet wide, so a pretty good wall. We got a big wall going here. And so this was quite the work that they were undertaking. And the description we get in this chapter starts in the north of the city, the most unprotected, the one that had the least natural defenses, and goes in a counterclockwise fashion around in a circle. And so we can locate many of these gates or we can guesstimate at where some of them are. One thing that I thought was rather interesting is we get a good description of gate construction. Did you know Old Testament gates had roofs on them? As we talk about them laying their beams, we get to see their roof. But what we really want to ask is, what are they building? What did Israel, the Israelites themselves who were doing it, and in the story, in the history of redemption, what were they building? Because Jerusalem was not just a city. It was not just a city. We, if we needed to, we could sell our building here and go and build somewhere else. And that would be fine. We'd leave many memories behind. There's been much that has been spent, much dedication to give us the facility we have here. But there's nothing special about this location, about this building. But Jerusalem was different. It wasn't as if they could just ignore Jerusalem, that if they rebuilt another city, that would be just as well. Let's all go rebuild Samaria. Let's rebuild somewhere else. No, Jerusalem had a special function. And we can see that a little bit with how our text starts. Who is the first group that we encounter building? Well, we encounter the priests. But the priests aren't only building. We find them doing something else in this verse, something that we don't see throughout the rest of this chapter. but what comes up later again in the book of Nehemiah. They not only rebuild these walls, they consecrate them. They set them apart as holy. This was a sign that they understood that Jerusalem had this special status. It was this holy city. They were not involved in just a building project. Instead, they were undertaking a special task, a holy task, as they built this. Because Jerusalem, it had been identified by God as his dwelling place, where he would dwell with his people. And as it took on that character, it became identified with his kingdom, with his rule. It was the place where God was amongst his people, where he ruled his people. And so there would be no kingdom of God without Jerusalem. And we can also see in this passage that the wall was not just a practicality. There was many practical benefits to it, as later in Nehemiah they use it to shut out people and observe the Sabbath properly. But here, it's not just about a place to live. And we can see that as we read through, we read people who built a cross from their house, but we also read about people from other towns, from towns that were actually quite a distance from Jerusalem. At least a day's journey, if not more. There was Jericho, Tekoa, Gibeon and Mizpah, Zenoa, Bet-Hakarim, Betzer, Kaila. These people from all over Judah came to help rebuild Jerusalem because it had this special status, this special status as the dwelling place of God. And that status really functioned for these exiles, these ones who have come from the exile and have now returned, that it was very much a symbol of their restoration. If Jerusalem was still in ruins, they were not fully restored. The restoration of Jerusalem was really necessary for them as a restoration as God's people. They had a future hope, a future calling. They had prophecies about what God would do, and this was tied into it. And so that's what Nehemiah did when he came. He told them, he reminded them of their past. And to see themselves in this bigger plan of what God was doing, And that part of that was needing to work on Jerusalem, to rebuild it. Because really rebuilding Jerusalem was rebuilding the people of God, Old Testament, Israel, the church at that time. So what type of people were involved in this task? I think it's important for us to emphasize, and most commentators see this, that we see the average Israelites engaged. that we see them from a variety of backgrounds, many different occupations. They weren't all professional wall builders. They had regular jobs. But this was a special calling that they were to come to. They weren't giving up their regular job, but they had a special calling as God's people to partake in this undertaking. And so we get pointed out that there's priests, there's goldsmiths, There's perfume makers. There's local rulers of different sections of what was probably Judah. And there's merchants. And then we have a variety of other people that we aren't given those details on. We're left to guess what their occupations were. So all these people who had these regular occupations, they were called to come together in this because they were the people of God. But we also find amongst them some who are maybe more zealous or have more ability than others. I don't know if you caught it, probably on a first reading, it's hard to get, but there's a couple names that are repeated. We see in verse 4 that there's a Merimoth son of Uriah. And then you look in verse 21 and you find again Merimoth son of Uriah. And he's building two sections. He's partaking twice in this effort. The Tekoaites, they're mentioned twice in verse 5 and verse 27. And there's possibly more that we could find there. But there's also those in Israel who rejected this duty. We see that in verse 5. The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. Probably what's being referred to there, the supervisor, is actually a reference to Nehemiah. Nehemiah had come as their governor, as the supervisor, and they would not submit themselves to labor under Nehemiah in this work. We can also find amongst these people those who have struggled with sin in the past. In verse 11, we find somebody called Malikah, son of Harim. And we can look back in Ezra 10, verse 31, and he's mentioned as one of those who had a foreign wife, one of those who Ezra had to confront when he came. And so here we have a repentant sinner among them. And there are those that will have troubles later on in the account of Nehemiah. The actual high priest, Eliashib, we find out later his grandson is marrying the daughter of one of Israel's arch enemies, Sanballat, the governor of Samaria. And so he finds this great mix of people here. Many different occupations, struggling with sin, now in the past or in the future. And so we see how this group looks strangely familiar, doesn't it? It is very similar to the Church of God throughout all ages, in the past, even in the present. They are these people who are called out and they struggle with that, even in times when they unify and join together. They are people who are involved in various cultural activities, different jobs, different skills, different interests. And yet, there are people who have a special calling, a special calling placed on them because they are God's people. They are called to see themselves in this greater context of God's history of redemption. They are called to participate in that. And now we can ask, in what circumstance does Israel at this time, in what circumstance are they building Jerusalem? And I mean that in the sense of the history of redemption. Where do they fall within this? And we could look at their time, and in many ways it's a time of fulfillment. Israel had been in exile. They had been cut off from God, and he had brought them back to the land of Canaan. They had rebuilt the temple. This was the fulfillment of prophecy. And yet, Israel was under a foreign power. They were paying taxes to the Persians. They were oppressed by their neighbors near, north, east, and south of them. But there was another thing, another thing that is lacking that I think our text alludes to. And again, this is where context is so important. Those same prophecies which they saw really fulfilled in their return from the exile also spoke of a coming king, a restoration of the house of David, the son of David, the Messiah, the one who would come and under whom they would be fully restored. And many commentators, as they read the book of Nehemiah, they wonder, well, how prevalent was that expectation? It doesn't seem to be spoken about a lot in the book. But I agree with those who see it at various places. This was still very much their hope, still very much what they were looking forward to. They were looking forward to this coming king. And I think we can see allusions to that in some of the details, again, that were given in chapter 3. In chapter 3, verse 7, and this is where I differ a little bit from the NIV translation, The NIV reads, next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah, Melatiah of Gibeon and Yadon of Meranoth, places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. And commentators wonder if that last reference, the under the authority of the Trans-Euphrates, it refers to the throne of this governor. And they wonder if it's a reference to the jurisdiction, who these people are under, Or is it reference to a place where this governor lived? And elsewhere we see it as a reference to Nehemiah himself. And so it probably is a reference to Nehemiah's where he would take up his residence as governor. So Israel has in Jerusalem this place, this house of the governor. But what else is in Jerusalem? as they rebuild it, as they go around the walls. What do they come upon? Well, if we look a little bit later, and I think it's corresponding to this, what do we find in verse 15? It mentions near the end of it, the pool of Siloam by the king's garden, as far as the steps going down from the city of David. And not only that, in verse 25, as they're going along the wall, one section they go by is a section that is right near the house of the king, translated as the palace in verse 25. And so they are rebuilding this capital, this capital of the kingdom. They are going by this palace. that sits empty, and instead they have a governor, a Persian governor, over them. They are this people who are waiting for their coming king, who are waiting for this king to return and fully restore them, who will subject the nations round about. This will be the fullness of the kingdom of God, prophesied in the past, the glory to come. yet they live in a time when they have a governor. And yet they are faithfully rebuilding. They are looking at these prophecies and even though they wait for the king, they build, they build his city. And I hope you see some of the parallels that we really have with our time. A time of fulfillment, greater fulfillment than what Israel had, and yet a time of expectation, a time of looking forward to, a time of waiting, waiting for consummation, called to labor while we wait for the return of our king. But before we jump from Israel's time to ours, let's go back to our question again. Who is building Jerusalem? Who is building Jerusalem? Well, the walls that these Israelites built that are recorded here, they fell down many years ago. And other walls were built, and those walls fell down, and still others went up. And if you go to Jerusalem today, the wall that you see was built in the 16th century by a sultan of the Ottoman Empire. and it doesn't even include the old city of David. But as we saw earlier, their building of Jerusalem was not really about just the city. It was instead about the restoration of the people of God, a people who were looking forward to something more. And we could say, and we should see, that their actions were also pointing forward to something more. What that coming king would accomplish. Israel rebuilt those physical walls of Jerusalem using stone, using timbers, using iron. But that city had been destroyed because of Israel's sin and rebellion. And the one to come to restore the true Jerusalem, what it symbolized, the people of God, he had to do so much more. He had to restore us, a sinful people. He had to restore us to a right relationship with God so that we could be called God's people. And so the restoration symbolized in Israel's building, rebuilding those walls of Jerusalem, was completed by Jesus in his life and death and shown by power in his resurrection. The destruction that was brought by man's sin is now restored so that those who repent and believe can belong to a new city, the new and heavenly Jerusalem. And that's what we find in the New Testament. As the New Testament picks up this language of Jerusalem, it talks about not the physical earthly Jerusalem, but the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem. And so, for example, the author to the Hebrews writes in Hebrews 12, verse 22, See, you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. And we see similarly in John, as he writes in the book of Revelation, as he talks about the new Jerusalem, Revelation 20, sorry, Revelation 21. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. for the old order of things has passed away. See how John there weaves together this image of Jerusalem as the people of God and the bride as the people of God. And so we need to see that Israel, in their building of Jerusalem, was really pointing us forward to the work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who builds, who restores this true Jerusalem, this heavenly Jerusalem, his bride, his church. But again, we need to go back to our question. Who is building Jerusalem? As John so vividly portrays our hope here, his description of heaven, and yet as we look around us, we see something very different than that hope. We still have tears. pain, death, and the church doesn't always look so beautifully dressed as described. We're still waiting for that coming glory, when our king will return. But until then, he has given us a task, which we could also call the building of Jerusalem, the taking of his gospel to all nations, to all tribes, to all tongues. God in his wisdom has made us co-laborers. He has given us the privilege and the task of preaching his gospel. And so I would say in our text here, we see not only looking forward to what Christ would do, but it also comes to us and spurs us on, seeing what we are called to do. And we could set that up a little bit by realizing that the book of Nehemiah, as we have it, probably dates to at least 40 years, a whole generation after the walls were rebuilt. And those Israelites there who had the walls rebuilt already, who were living within those walls or moving within those walls, this text was still supposed to speak to them. It was supposed to place a calling upon them, a call that would either rebuke or encourage them, a call that they, at their time, had to choose who they would identify with, to they identify with this group, this group who clung to the promises of God despite what they saw around them, this group that arose and built despite the opposition and hardship they faced. or do they become too entangled in the things of the world and its cares and not dedicate themselves to the unique calling that they have? And so I would say we also get that similar call, that similar rebuke in this text. And I like to think of church in one sense as a weekly reminder of who we are. Who are you? Who am I? The world has many opinions, many suggestions, though often it just wants us to be distracted, to entertain ourselves instead of facing that question. But each week in church, we are confronted with this grand narrative, this greater story beyond ourselves, this story of creation, of fall, of redemption. And we're called to look outside of ourselves and place ourselves in a bigger context. We need to see this calling, this placement, that it's encouragement that it can give to us as we're reminded of our hope. It's rebuke that we can receive as we need to realign our priorities. We're called each week to clearly see ourselves as God's people, to see God's grace in our lives, and to see God's claim on our lives. And so God is building Jerusalem, and his gospel call is going out, and it calls to you, it calls to me, to find your new identity as a child of God, a member of his people, to find your identity among those who are chosen, chosen to build Jerusalem with him. Will your name be added amongst those who built Jerusalem, like the names we have recorded here? Those, this throng of saints who are marching towards glory, a glory that is so often hidden in the present, is so often hidden in our context now, but a glory that was seen and shown with power as God raised our Lord and King, Jesus Christ, from the grave. Amen.