Summary: What does it mean to make a house, a home? There is a universal recognition that a home is more than a shelter from the elements, there is a deeper significance to it. The Greek historian, Thucydides, writing around the time of Nehemiah's reform, notes that "It is the people, not the walls, that make a city." So what is it going to take for Jerusalem to become a city once more?
What does it mean to make a house, a home? There is a universal recognition that a home is more than a shelter from the elements, there is a deeper significance to it. The Greek historian, Thucydides, writing around the time of Nehemiah's reform, notes that "It is the people, not the walls, that make a city." So what is it going to take for Jerusalem to become a city once more?
We find ourselves in Nehemiah Chapter 8 this week (please read chapter 8 and 9 before Sunday if you can). The walls are rebuild but the reform is not over, there is still a deep hunger that still exists in the heart of the Israelites. A hunger for something more than bricks and mortar, strong walls and safe houses. It is the hunger for the One True God, something lost to them through years of oppression and exile is now for the first time in their grasp, the chance to renew the bond their ancestors had with their Creator and Redeemer. To become, not a mixed multitude, but Gods people once more. They discover it is an occasion for deep sorrow and overwhelming joy all at once, as the righteous and perfect God who beacons us to Himself with open arms. By the mirror of the word of God we are to see ourselves, that is who we truly are, and strive to be. The Israelites knew that no mere city would suffice. Only in Gods house do we find our home.
As we step back into the world of Nehemiah this Sunday we look at another part of the multifaceted reform God brings. In the richness of the passage we see our own conversion, sanctification, obedience, joy and future hope.
Nehemiah 9: 5 “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting."
