Read with me, Nehemiah 1:3, “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 burnt with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven”.
The above verses express Nehemiah’s plight for the broken walls of Jerusalem. Jerusalem has various meanings like ‘City of God’, ‘Holy City’, and ‘City whose possession is peace’. Altogether, Jerusalem appears to be the symbolic representation of Heaven on earth! In other words, this means ‘Temple of the Living God – a habitation where God dwells’. Many evil forces invaded Jerusalem because its walls were broken. In this process Jerusalem was utterly devastated and burnt. Jerusalem was no longer the Jerusalem it was meant to be; rather it turned to be a misnomer. We, as New Testament believers now represent the true Jerusalem. That’s what Paul writes to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 3:16, 17, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple”. When we are the temple or city of God, what does broken city walls signify? Solomon, the wise says in Proverbs 25:28, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control”. Those erected walls represent the attributes of God – his character and nature while broken walls represent a character and nature of the world or flesh that is not of God. The latter provide access to dark forces through which Satan invades our lives and devastates the purpose our God originally created us for.
Now let’s pause for a moment and consider our own lives. Do our lives bear the testimony of Heaven on Earth? Are we possessed with peace that surpasses all understanding? Or it is devastated and ruined?
Dear Brothers and Sisters, we need to have the burning passion to rebuild our broken walls, also to help with rebuilding the broken walls in other believers just like Nehemiah.
Isaiah 58:12 says, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings”. So be very convinced that as believers we are called to a ministry of “Repairing Broken Walls”. No doubt, we would have opposition towards rebuilding the broken walls just like Nehemiah. How did Nehemiah handle the scream of his flesh and the opposition of people? We read in Nehemiah 6: 9, “They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” Yeah, Nehemiah went though the same pressures we go through; but when he pleaded for the broken walls of Jerusalem asking God to strengthen him to rebuild them with a truthful heart, God helped him in the great task. The good news is that, it’s God who rebuilds our broken walls. Christians often get frustrated ‘coz they take up the task of rebuilding broken walls (like addressing character issues) upon themselves which God is supposed to do. It is Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and strictly not us. When God rebuilds, who can oppose Him? Who can stop Him? Who can destroy His work? We read further that Nehemiah completed rebuilding the walls. “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God”. (Nehemiah 6:15, 16).
The fact is that, just like Nehemiah who completed rebuilding the walls; our city walls will be rebuilt. Yes, we will indeed rebuild the broken walls of other believers. Our character and nature will become more and more like Jesus Christ. This is bound to happen as Christ begins to form in our lives (Galatians 4:19).
