Meet the Wall BuildersI have mentioned before that my favorite novel is Les Miserables. It is long, but the plot generally moves at a swift pace. Victor Hugo covers a lot of ground over the course of its 1200 pages. I say it generally has a fast pace, because there are a few sections of the narrative that come to a grinding halt.
The two points that particularly stand out to me are his lengthy descriptions of the convent where Jean Valjean and Cosette live for a time. He breaks from the story to essentially give the background of the convent as well as detailed descriptions of the location and the building. He makes a similar decision describing the sewage system in Paris before Valjean makes his escape through it. One popular translation of the novel places both of these sections in the back as appendices to be read by the devoted few.
Of course, I don’t think it counts as reading a book if you haven’t read every word that the author wrote, so I read them at the point in the novel where Hugo intended them to be read. But I did find those sections to be particularly cumbersome to slog through.
There are some sections like that in the book of Nehemiah as well. Chapter three takes a break from the flow of the plot to provide a detailed list of the building assignments. Similar lists are found in Ancient Near East cities during the time of the Assyrian rule. It seems likely that Nehemiah was keeping detailed notes of these assignments in order to provide updates for King Artaxerxes.
This list of names and assignments to rebuild various portions of the wall also served as a testimony to future generations, but does it have any relevance to us today? Obviously, God has a good reason for inspiring this passage and preserving it. We know that all Scripture is profitable for us (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
That being said, it would be easy to get lost in the forest trying to find meaning in each tree. Everything in this chapter can be narrowed down to two categories. We can talk about the project and we can talk about the people. However, while exploring those two sections this morning we will indeed learn some important principles for ministry.
Read Nehemiah 3:1-32
A Comprehensive ProjectThe IVP Bible Background Commentary on the Old Testament does a good job of guessing where each of the gates and walls mentioned were located. Maps have been created to show the estimated proportions of the wall, towers, and gates. I thought about including a bulletin insert with a map of Jerusalem at this time. But, honestly, the map is mostly conjecture.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary provides a map labeled “Jerusalem in the Time of Nehemiah” that lays everything out including the number of yards each section would have been. However, there is a (?) behind each label on the map and a dotted line for the “possible location of the Broad Wall”.
Now, I’m being a bit too simplistic. The text does provide some structure and uses language that indicates the list goes from one section of the wall to the next in a counterclockwise motion. “The Sheep Gate” is mentioned in the first and last verse. We are given cubit measurements to indicate the length of one section (v.13). Plus, although we don’t have precision, there is corroborating archeological evidence that supports some of what we assume about the layout of the map.
One study conducted in the region determined that the eastern wall, described in the latter half of the chapter, was moved up higher along the slope. So a new wall, eight feet thick, was constructed. While it was a solidly built wall, it was not very precise and seemed to have been rapidly made.
Still, it must be admitted that we have little data with which to reconstruct a map of Jerusalem during the Persian period. And a hypothetical map probably doesn’t help us understand and apply the purpose of this passage.
On the other hand, Ancient Christian Commentaries...
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