Building Walls
Devotions for Growing Christians
Building Walls
Nehemiah 2:18 – “They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.”
Read the first three chapters of Nehemiah.
Since very early history, strong walls have been an important line of defense for any city or stronghold. Nehemiah's record of rebuilding the walls around ancient Jerusalem has a lot to teach us about building spiritual walls in the believer's life today. What do we mean by "spiritual walls”? Spiritual walls refer to areas such as:
- The stability of our Christian testimony.
- Our capability of defending the faith.
- Our moral strength in time of temptation.
- Our ability to separate from the values and attitudes of the world.
Background
The events in the book of Nehemiah took place relatively late in Old Testament history. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been overthrown and were no longer in existence. The 70-year exile of the Jews in Babylon had ended. Many Jews had already returned to their homeland under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Ezra. More than 100 years earlier, Nebuchadnezzar and the invading Babylonian armies had broken down the walls that surrounded the capital city of Jerusalem, and the walls were still in ruins.
Around 445BC, God stirred up Nehemiah’s heart to motivate the Jewish people to rebuild the walls of the Holy City. God blessed this building project, and brought it to completion in record time (Nehemiah 6:15). The wall was completed in only 52 days, in spite of what seemed to be insurmountable obstacles and unrelenting opposition! Some remnants of what’s believed to be Nehemiah's wall can be seen standing today in the archeological excavations of Jerusalem.
God didn’t just give us the book of Nehemiah for details about the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. There are many important lessons here for believers today, and spiritual wall building should be a way of life for the growing Christian. Every Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), but some Christians do not havestrong and solid spiritual walls. In fact, many Christians are content to live in the midst of broken down walls. Just as God wanted strong walls around His Temple city, God wants His followers to be strong and protected against Satan’s attacks during spiritual warfare.
Building spiritual walls
Spiritual wall-building is not easy. There are discouragements and obstacles along the way. We see this opposition in the book of Nehemiah (especially chapters 4-6). The encouraging truth is that solid spiritual walls can be built, and God will bless our efforts and perseverance in spiritual wall-building.
Compare a walled city with an unwalled city in ancient times. The walled city was much stronger and more easily defended from enemy attack - it was much more secure. It was also known and established, because walled cities were not just temporary settlements that could easily be overrun. The wall set the city apart from the surrounding countryside, and it was visible for miles around.
That’s how the Lord wants His followers to be established: strong, solid believers with a testimony that’s plainly visible in this dark world. He wants a consistent lifestyle that’s distinctly biblical, with clear separation from the values and the attitudes of the surrounding world system.
How can we build solid spiritual walls in our lives? Nehemiah 1 - 3 contain several vital principles.
1. Concern
Nehemiah lived far from Jerusalem at the time, but he was very concerned when he heard about the sorry extent of the broken walls. Chapter 1 says he was troubled to the point of weeping and fasting. If we want strong spiritual walls, we need this kind of concern Do we “weep” when we can’t defend our faith because we don’t have a working knowledge of God's Word? Do we “fast” from TV or the internet when we realize how certain material has contributed to our spiritual walls breaking down?
Even though Nehemiah lived in Persia—about 100 miles from Jerusalem—he was willing to go and do something about the walls of Jerusalem. (Notice the focus of his prayer requests in 1:11 and 2:4-6.) He didn’t use distance as an excuse!
Nehemiah had a prestigious job in the royal court of the Persian Emperor, but as a Jew, he was willing to sacrifice the privileges of his high position for God and the safety of God’s people. Can we say the same? Spending time and energy serving in areas of God's interests usually results in loss of worldly prestige and pleasure. Think about the sacrifices that godly men in and women you know have made to build strong spiritual walls in their lives, and the lives of others.
2. Confession
Nehemiah voiced his concern for the wall in a prayer of confession (1:5-11). Why confession? Nehemiah knew that Jerusalem had been destroyed because of Israel's sin in turning away from the Lord. Notice that Nehemiah, who had never been personally guilty of following other gods, linked himself to the sins of the nation (1:6).
Think of the condition of our own nation. Because we’ve followed the false gods of materialism and secular humanism, our moral and spiritual walls lie in ruins. Are we willing to link ourselves with the problem, and confess that we have sinned? Rebuilding cannot begin before confession.
3. Confrontation
When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem he confronted the problem head on. First he made a thorough inspection of the situation, and then he formulated a proper plan for rebuilding (2:11-15).
Next, he confronted and challenged the people to rebuild the walls so they would “no longer be in disgrace.” The surrounding nations surely looked down on the Jews who were living in the ruins of the once beautiful and powerful Jerusalem. Nehemiah made sure that the people understood that God was behind this wall-building idea. God always promotes spiritual wall-building!
Finally, Nehemiah confronted the opposition (2:19-20). In spite of mocking and slander, Nehemiah boldly predicted success, because he knew that God would give them the necessary power and resources to carry out His building plans. We can be sure that God will do the same for us!
The principle of confrontation must be practiced by growing Christians today. We must face our broken walls, determine the areas and extent of damage, and come up with a plan for spiritual rebuilding.
Is there a problem with sexual temptation? If so, confrontation will involve permanent elimination of “unhealthy intake” so rebuilding can begin. Does laziness lead to spiritual rubble where strong spiritual walls should be? Confrontation will involve planning and maintaining a more disciplined, structured lifestyle so that rebuilding will establish a life-long pattern.
4. Construction
The final principle of wall building is construction. It’s easy to skip over Nehemiah 3 as just a bunch of Old Testament names, but even this chapter has lessons for spiritual wall-building. That long list of names and various occupations indicates that everyonewas involved in the project. Spiritual wall building is not just a job for preachers and missionaries. Each of us is responsible to build.
Notice that the phrase "beside his house" or "in front of his house" is also used several times throughout the chapter (vs 10, 23, 28, 29). Apparently those who lived near the wall took responsibility for rebuilding the areas near their homes before moving on to other sections. It’s vitally important to make sure our own spiritual walls are strong before we can even hope to be effective in the spiritual walls of our families, our churches or some other ministry. We should practice personal and family wall construction by spending time in God's Word and in prayer every day.
One more point about construction is noteworthy: the whole wall was built all at once. Building activity was going on all around the city at the same time. The same must be true in spiritual wall-building. For example, we don’t complete a section of the wall called "resisting temptation" and then move on to another section labeled "lifestyle evangelism.” We don't work only on the “Bible study” part of our wall, but wait to build the “prayer” and “Christian service” sections at a later time. No, we work on all parts of the wall at the same time! In the Christian life, balance is a very important part of constructing spiritual walls.
Building strong spiritual walls is not easy, but it can be done. Let’s confront and assess the damage of our broken-down walls. Let’s be like Nehemiah's wall-building team, and “strengthen our hands for this good work.” Let us start rebuilding!
- Dave Reid
(Updated 2021, Ron Reid)