Exposition
Today’s devotional relates to how God led the people of Israel in the job of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. It occurred at a point in time when the Jews’ captivity had come to an end. They were given permission to return to Israel and rebuild their country. Many Jews did return, and they began to populate Israel’s villages. The progress of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, however, was significantly hampered by persistent opposition from their adversaries who lived nearby, and outside the walls of the city in particular.
Nehemiah had concluded that he could not complete the work of building the wall by himself. We learn in chapter two that he encouraged the other leaders to collaborate with him because he knew that he could not do it alone though he was a leader himself. We also cannot leave the building of our nation in the hands of leaders alone, since there is no one who leads without a follower. It went on further to say that Nehemiah instilled in them the vision and encouraged them to share it and commit to it. We know the vision for our country already through the budgetary readings or even manifestos from presidential candidates. As Christians, the vision of peace and quietness is read to us clearly in the Scriptures as well. The vision has been shared. We need to fix ourselves and fix the country so that together we will build a nation where peace, prosperity and justice reign. Just like all Israel said in verse 18, “Let us rise up and build”
Hey brother, hey sister, let us arise and build.