3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. – Nehemiah 1:3-4 (NIV)
Nehemiah has received word that the remnant group of exiles who had been tasked with fixing up the Temple and the city of Jerusalem have been unsuccessful, to say the least. The wall is destroyed, the gates have been burned, and God’s people are discouraged and defeated. Nehemiah is so overtaken by this terrible report that he becomes physically weak and has to sit down and weep before the Lord in a state of brokenness. Is this a little overdramatic for a broken wall? Not at all when we consider what this all truly represents.
Nehemiah knows that a broken wall in a city means that Jerusalem was now living in a state of constant danger. They would be vulnerable to attacks from outside forces and nations with no defense at all. Everything of value could be easily taken away. We can only imagine what it would be like to live in a state of constant alertness and the stress that would bring. And what about the morale of the remnant? After all, these are supposedly the people of the Almighty God and yet they are living in disgrace and have become a laughingstock to the surrounding nations. Add to that the weight of their sin and disobedience to God that produced these results and you can see why Nehemiah fervently prayed and confessed for the people.
Our homes, our communities, and our world is full of broken walls today. Financial crises, mental health struggles, addictions, shattered relationships, lost hope. We get this news all of the time…but does it lead us to broken hearts? Does it leave us so weak that we can’t stand? Does it lead us to weep before the Lord day and night for His intervention, help, and provision? Does it lead us to confess the sins of “we” rather than the sins of “them”?
What about the church? Are there sins of our past that we need to weep over and confess? Are we broken over decades of spiritual decline amongst God’s people? Are we praying for the faithful remnant, encouraging them, and inviting them to be part of the new thing God wants to build in them and through them?
God may have led and used Nehemiah to rebuild the wall, but it was about so much more. It was about rebuilding people. And when godly leaders team up with God’s people to be a part of rebuilding God’s vision, the seemingly impossible gets accomplished. Broken walls that had been devastated for 150 years were rebuilt in 52 days! What does God want to rebuild in you, in our community, in our world, in our church today?