The sons of Hassenaah
built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its
bars. 4 And next to them Meremoth
the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of
Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana
repaired. 5 And next to them the
Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.
THE STUDY:
We are continuing to look
at the sections of the wall that was being repaired by each person or group of
people who lived, resided, or worked near that part of the wall. Today we are
looking at the 2nd gate that is being repaired and we see that
Hassenaah is to repair the Fish Gate. As we go down the wall we start seeing
the names of those who were working on their assigned sections.
The verse that stands out
to me is verse 5, And next to them the
Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. The
city of Tekoa was located about 12 miles southwest of Jerusalem in an open
plain in the Judaean wilderness. What was interesting to me was the fact that
the nobles would not stoop to serve their
lord. This is the only time in the book where individuals are identified as
refusing to participate in the rebuilding project. Tekoa was vulnerable to
attack, especially by the neighboring Arabs. The leaders of the city may have
anticipated the opposition of Geshem the Arab to the rebuilding project, and
they did not want to join ranks with Nehemiah, thereby giving the Arabs a
reason to attack their defenseless city.[1]
Since Tekoa was close to the area controlled by Geshem the Arab, perhaps the
nobles were influenced by or afraid of him. Whatever their reason, it indicates
that some of the Jews did not support Nehemiah’s plan.[2]
The men of Tekoa seem to have compensated for the faults of their nobles by
repairing two sections of the wall (v. 27).
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that it may have appeared that everyone was on board with Nehemiah's plan but not everyone was. As a leader, this is one aspect you must get over: not everyone will agree!
APPLICATION:
Fear is a devastating thing! It can
cause us to miss out on the many blessings God has for us. It can negatively affect
us physically, mentally and emotionally. What we read in this passage is that
these nobles (leaders of Tekoa) let fear determine their choice. What we also
read is how the Tekoa people were not in agreement with them and so they felt
the need to do double duty to make up for their leaders decisions.
Today you are going to be faced
with someone or something that will cause fear to rise up within you. Remember two
things: 1) If God is in it then you want to be a part of it. 2) Not everyone
will think it’s a good idea! Don’t let those people cause you to miss out on
the blessing or miracle God has for you today.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Barry, J. D., Grigoni, M. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., &
Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study
Bible (Ne 3:5). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[2]
Breneman, M. (1993). Vol. 10: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed.).
The New American Commentary (187). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
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