“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one” ( Ezekiah 22:30).
There are many places including nations but also workplaces longing for someone sent of God to take them out of their misery. They are troubled with overwhelming darkness all around, the stench of corruption and abuse of power. In the Bible there is a story to inspire believers faced with such wickedness that all is not lost.
The Israelites had been pushed into exile where they heard terrible things happening to the land they loved. God touched a number who sent an emissary to one person called Nehemiah. “In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem” ( Nehemiah 1:1-3). What they shared broke Nehemiah’s heart. “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” ( vv 4).
An important point to observe that besides Nehemiah others had been troubled too. Fortunately Nehemiah quickly grasped the terrible state of Israel to take matters to God.
Eventually Nehemiah would return to Israel to rebuild the wall. But it was not a walk in the park. He faced incredible challenges. “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” (4:1-3).
Another lesson here is that rebuilding a wall is not easy. It takes great resolve of those called by God to do the job.
Nehemiah needed an army of his own people to complete the tasks. These shared tasks among themselves ( Nehemiah 3) and protected the rebuilding of the wall up to its completion ( Nehemia 6). In other words for God to “rebuild the broken walls of our cites” it is not going to be a one man job. There must be a willing company of believers in Christ, ready to go with with the one God has sent to take them out of their misery.
Eventually the wall would be rebuilt and together the people rejoiced. “Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God…Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” ( Nehemiah 8: 9-10).
Our God is not immune or removed from the troubles we face in this life. But to liberate us anywhere it is not just a one man job. God will bring the “liberator” but he must find the people as willing to help rebuild the wall!
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, as we see darkness all around in our nations and places of abode, we pray for a deliverer knowing it is not him alone but each one of us has a role to play to rebuild the wall, this we pray in Jesus’s name.
