#it’s not beautiful enough to stand on its own and with such a meaningless aimless story. it needs to

[kingdomofthelogos]

The Nobility of Work

Read Nehemiah 3

The record of building the wall in Nehemiah 3 is a noble account of the first discovery of meaning for a people who knew nothing but shame, despair, and desolation. God is holy, creating order and life that He may take joy in the beauty and excellence of His creation. The children of God were not made in His image to spite it, but to reflect it through great works of nobility that were rooted in the holy principles of God. These walls are not mere walls, but symbols of God and His unique holiness, and in this chapter we behold a moment where people discover the beauty of literally building on God's principles.

Nehemiah 3 is a chapter that could easily be overlooked, for it is mostly a record of work and the names of workers.  I must admit the format is rather bland,  yet we do well to appreciate the meaning of this chapter. The content of this chapter is beautiful, for it details the first fruits of revival for the People of God.

Our God is a holy God of achievement and excellence. This chapter reminds us that our willingness to achieve is an extension of our spiritual lives. Excellence and achievement are extensions of holiness. God commands us to be holy because He is holy. We were created in the Image of a mighty and loving God to reflect His Image, not to be pitiful and wallow in the terrible shame of our desperation. 

The first fruits of this revival are work and an opportunity for work. They are a fight and an opportunity to fight. They have meaning and opportunity for continued meaning throughout life. The walls they are building are not mere structures of architecture, but are physical expressions of the principles of God. The people find meaning and unity by standing for the principles of God and against the enemies of God. The primary reason for building these walls was not technical, meaning the main reason was not for defense or good business. No, these walls were built on the principle of rising out of shame and pursuing the holiness of God. Defense, along all of the other useful utilities of a wall, was a secondary matter. 

The walls are a declaration of God’s principles. This is a vital fact we cannot overlook. Our current age is riddled with spiritual warfare that seeks to bring our nation down to a state of shame, despair, and desolation. This cannot be defeated with technicalities and laws, but on principles that are deeper than laws. Technical blessings, such as having walls for defense, are downstream from righteous principles. Our world wants us to focus on its laws to keep us from God’s principles. We must stand on principles to find revival. 

The people are physically building something based on the principles of God. This is interesting because principles do not exist in the same physical form as items of the material world. The workers are seeing the world with renewed eyes that see the virtues of God, and they are building up the world in pursuit of what they see.  We must realize that an active life of holiness shapes the actions and works we do throughout all areas of life. These walls are not mere walls, but symbols of God and His unique holiness.  

This connection between principles and reality is far more significant than we might realize. The beliefs and virtues we hold in our heart guide our lives far more than do our intentions, and whether we realize it or not, our world is shaped by the deeper beliefs that lay at the foundation of our being. A society is guided by the principles inhabiting the hearts of its citizens and not merely the laws on its books. This is why faith in God is so important, because it supplies us tools and virtues that understand the world greater than our own minds. However, let us not think that our faith is merely a tool, something that is only embraced for its practical use for bettering the world. Tools and protections are subordinate to truth.

There must be light at the end of the tunnel, and God’s Kingdom has meaning by its own merit. God and His Kingdom are not holy simply by comparison to the fallen world, just as God is not righteous simply by contrast to evil. God is holy because He is. 

Our world is filled with phrases such as “it is not the destination that matters, but the journey.” This is foolish and hollow, for it teaches our youth to cease caring about destinations, which ultimately teaches them not to care for meaning at all. Without a destination, there is no need to start the journey, for that is just aimless wandering. There is meaning found in working on the walls, but that is found by pursuing the great joy of accomplishing them. Furthermore, there will be more work to do even after accomplishing the walls, for chapter 3 is not the end of Nehemiah’s memoir. God’s Kingdom is a real Kingdom, and it has many great works to be done. God’s work is not aimless, but is instead true with distinct purpose.  

There is great joy in accomplishment. God Himself finds joy in seeing what He has created; moreover, at the end of each day of creation God takes time to find joy in seeing the goodness of His work. We must cast a vision for our young people to open their eyes to the joy of accomplishment, and illuminate the fact that God desires us to reflect His image in doing meaningful work. This is a great gift of God that has largely been forgotten. 

Our modern age has placed a high priority on intellectual work, which is unfortunate, because it has unexpectedly robbed our youth of deeper meaning. Through acts of clever deception, our world sells meaningless endeavors to young people by telling them that hollowness is meaningful. Participation trophies, affirmation without the call towards virtue, and equality by the lowest common denominator are all meaningless. It saddens me to see people who go through the university system only to remain working in the universities after they graduate. They do not even leave for the purposes of teaching children as they develop. Instead, they trap themselves in a fantasy world of philosophy that is unaccountable to reality.

Being able to physically see the wall you have worked on teaches people a great many things. It was not enough for God to imagine His creations, but He brought them into a material existence to see them. We were not designed to be intellectuals cut off from seeing material results from our labor, and a society is damaged when people separate themselves from this fact, especially when this is the state of its leaders. Working with our hands not only gives us meaning, but keeps us in reality where we realize our ideas might be wildly wrong. So many of our thinkers have forgotten that their ideas might not fit the real world.  

What we find in Nehemiah 3 is a true Old Testament version of Acts 2:42-47 and reflection of the throne room in Revelation 4:2-11. It is a reflection of the thunderous might of God, bearing a magnificent vision above the desolation of fallen creation. It is a reflection of God’s love which pulls people out of shame. 

The People of God are truly loving one another in Godly reflection. They are elevating their brothers and sisters from shame and giving them the noble beauty that is found in being part of the Family of God. To pull people out of shame and to give meaning to one's neighbor is truly reflecting the love of God that would be perfectly exemplified in Christ Jesus. The people in Nehemiah 3 have come together, unified under the common goodness and holiness of their God, and they are building God's city where none may live in shame. 

The family is very important to God. God designed men and women to live in family units, that they would join together in the smallest form of society and walk with God to maintain His holy order. The family provides a unique structure for creatures of reason, and God did not create it by accident. The family design has been with mankind since before sin, and it is of the utmost importance to God.  The Israelite people were called out of the family and Christ’s church was modeled after the family. There is reason in how the Jewish people frame their history around their family lineage, for they understand that family life is not a random detail of creation. It is not a meaningless structure that people put up with on this earth, but is instead crucial to the design of all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. God cares deeply about our families and the meaning they have. God desires for our families to aspire to the heavens, and to be holy and excellent just as God is holy and excellent. 

In Nehemiah 3 we see different families working together to achieve something great as they serve the God of Heaven. They have a unifying vision for the eternal principle of God’s holiness. It is for this principled vision that they have victory over chaos and accomplish something greater than anything they had ever before attempted. This chapter shows us something of great meaning and nobility. What seems to be a bland archive of history is in fact something to which we should all aspire, for it shows God’s people embracing the hard work of building up our world on God’s principles, just as God intended.