8/29/13 Fulfilling the Dream

22 The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region. 23 Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from Azariah’s house to the angle and the corner,25 and Palal son of Uzai worked opposite the angle and the tower projecting from the upper palace near the court of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh 26 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. 27 Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel. (Nehemiah 3:22-27) 

Thoughts: It is too easy to skip over this section because the names are hard to pronounce.  But this is not like the genealogies of 1 Chronicles.  There are lessons here about how to work, how to succeed, and how to honor God, even how to fulfill a dream.
    Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's march.  There has been a huge change- evident in the south- from 50 years ago.  As Lewis said, people can "go where they want to go and be what they want to be, and eat where they want to eat."  There are no black and white bathrooms.  There was a dream fulfilled, and it is still being fulfilled.  The people in Jerusalem had a dream of escaping the ruins and disgrace of their city.  Nehemiah is about their fulfilling that dream.
    Jerusalem and her security was so important that others who did not live in the city helped build the wall.  So the priests from the surrounding region helped with the build.  True, if there was another major invasion, they would probably seek shelter behind these walls that they were helping to build.  But for day to day protection, they were not there.  On the other hand, there were many who built the section of the wall next to their house.  It is clear that the writer (maybe Ezra?) did not want to divide the people up into those who lived in the city and those who did not.  Rather he took it one section of the wall at a time all the way around. 
     One other interesting point here is found in verse 27.  The men of Tekoa were the ones whose nobles refused to work (3:5).  But they didn't let their leader's bad example keep them from the work.  They even repaired another section of the wall.  It is an exceptional thing to not be discouraged by poor leadership- but it is even more exceptional to turn that around into doing more work than expected. 

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to not let the failures of some keep me from doing what you want me to do.  Let me follow your example, O Lord.