Please open your bibles and read Chronicles 36:15-21
The lesson of this story repeats itself over and overall throughout the bible… The lesson being: Oft repeated, unrepented sin causes God to replace His mercy with swift judgment. In the scripture that you just read it is expressed that time after time, over and over, God had repeatedly warned Judah about its sinful ways, continually forgiving them and giving them chance after chance only to watch them slip back into their sinful ways until no more chances could be given to them. The fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. was something that the people of Jerusalem were repeatedly warned about. In the end, God's wrath was the only remedy.
The instrument of God's wrath and swift judgment appeared at the seemingly unpenetrable, majestic walls of Jerusalem in the form of the Chaldeans, an overwhelming force that laid to waste everything and everyone in its path. They slaughtered every man, woman, and child that they came across, demolished the temple, burned palaces and homes, looted their riches, and destroyed the great wall that surrounded the city. Those who managed to escape the carnage were exiled to Babylon where they became servants. The first exiles returned to Jerusalem in 538 B.C., and a couple of years after that the Jews began to rebuild their temple. Six years into the reconstruction of the temple, opposition to the temple being rebuilt from rich, politically connected enemies of the Jews caused reconstruction to stop, but finally, in 516 B.C. the temple was finished even though opposition to it being completed never let up. And even though God had given the green light for the wall to be rebuilt, the condition was that the wall could not be completed until they rebuilt their lives spiritually. When Ezra came along in 458 B.C., he began to preach and teach to his people, imploring them to open their eyes and listen to what he was saying, making them recognize, face, and remedy the sin that was in their lives. He made them recognize the errors of their ways.
Even though the Jews had completed much of the reconstruction, completing the wall was something that would not get done for decades. It was a job that was put off by people who benefitted from Jerusalem being exposed and unprotected. It was a job that was put off because some people in power lined their pockets from the suffering of others. Think about that while you think about what we are going through as a nation right now. No matter what side of the political aisle you stand on, inactivity in government makes people suffer, Gridlock makes people suffer. Political corruption makes people suffer. Incompetent leadership makes people suffer. Every major problem we face as a nation today is exactly what Nehemiah faced when it was his turn to solve the problem of rebuilding the wall.
Read Nehemiah Chapters 1 through 6. In Chapters 6:15 and 16, it says "So the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elul, in 52 days. And it happened when all of our enemies heard of it, and all of the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God."
From afar, Nehemiah watched the politics, red tape and corruption strangle any movement on rebuilding the wall. He watched inept leadership stall everything. He saw the status quo wallow in "can't do it" self-pity. So, he listened to God when God tapped Nehemiah to move. Nehemiah was in a securer position in life. A cupbearer for his king, he was known as an honest, trustworthy faithful man of God. He was also the perfect man for the job because he was equipped with two special traits. First, he had excellent leadership skills that allowed him to succeed in anything he put his mind to. Secondly, He had connections. He knew the right people in the right places. But above all of that, he was a man of God, who always put God first in any endeavor he was a part of. So, armed with a royal letter from his king, he headed for Jerusalem to take over the reconstruction of the wall.
Nehemiah arrived at the walls of Jerusalem facing the exact same opposition that had stifled past men tasked with the job. However, Nehemiah never turned his back on God. Even in the grimmest & darkest of circumstances, he succeeded where everyone else had failed. One of the ways that Nehemiah was able to do this was by bringing a spiritual revival to the people, conditioning them to be more receptive to the presence of God where the people were not only sure of their purpose, they were sure of the protection of God had blanketed them with. So while the people diligently worked, Nehemiah dealt with keeping morale up and dealt with the corruption, sabotage, and threats that had bested the mission many times before. His number one weapon? Faith and prayer… both for the people who tried to stop him and for those who worked under him. And in 52 days, he had completed a wall that had sat in ruins for the last 70 years.
What are the demolished walls in our lives? What have we been through, or think we will go through that we think can never be changed, never be fixed, can never be overcome, or that we think "that's just how things are"?
In my humble opinion, the worst thing that has happened in my lifetime has been the systematic removal of God from the institutions that were built to uplift us, teach us, heal us, protect us and bring us together. Without God in the center of our goals and vision, we invite failure, corruption, or sabotage. We must turn to God in the beginning, in a celebratory revival before we embark on anything rather than in a vigil or sadness or anger, turning to Him only when things go wrong. Do you think there would be as many tragedies and shootings in our schools if God or prayer remained in our classrooms? I ask this because after these tragedies there are no shortages of vigils or pastors popping up to offer prayers of condolences. Where is the prayer of protection before the day starts? How many injustices that plague our criminal justice system could be avoided if our oaths were made under God, and not merely under the penalty of perjury? How many marriages would be better off if they were built on the foundation of God? How many addictions could be successfully overcome if a person put Christ at the center of their recovery? Secular recovery programs talk about higher powers but make God generic so as not to offend someone who may be seeking treatment that does not believe. Christians struggle with substance abuse, too, just like we battle any other illness, and if we join into a recovery program that does not have Jesus Christ front and center, the walls of our life will always crumble.
We need God now, in 2022, more than ever before. We need prayer right now more than ever before. We need fellowship right now, with each other, more than ever before. We need the foundation of our day-to-day lives to start and end with God individually and collectively. In order to move forward with any plan, goal, or vision that we have for our lives, God has to be at the center. We must pray for God's guidance and protection, utilizing the same effective elements as Nehemiah.
"Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22. Please, remember that God wants us to turn to Him in all that we do. Trust that the same strength that God gives us to overcome trials and tribulations can give us protection and guidance on any mission, plan, goal or vision we embark on.