Nehemiah 3:
Nehemiah’s methodology to rebuild the wall was simple and effective. Instead of starting at one or two points around the city and building the wall from there to a finishing point, Nehemiah assigned each family group the task of rebuilding a part of the wall all at the same time. This has the dual benefit of the whole wall of the city being raised higher day by day but also each man knew and took pride in the piece of the wall they were building. No-one wanted the task to fail and it was only going to be by united effort that the amazing goal could ever be reached. This is a great picture for each of us to consider…it speaks to the need for the church of the Lord Jesus to be unified in purpose and busy about the job of building what is needed. Each one of us have a part to play but are we willing to put in the effort? If we don’t we will be left with gaps in the walls!
Job 4:
The narrative style of the book of Job reads like the well rehearsed movements of a play. I am not suggesting that the story is fiction but it is possible that as the story was passed down it was recorded in a ‘theatrical’ form. We see each of the speakers taking their turn upon centre stage and each gives way to the other. Eliphaz is first to speak and he simply states that if Job is innocent then he would not be receiving such harsh judgement from the Lord. It is not helpful and not comforting, it is narrow minded and limited in the extreme. He cannot see the dealings of God and cannot fathom the depths of His ways and yet he is quick to pronounce his opinion regarding Job. This is a good lesson to us…at best we see only the edges of the Lord’s ways so we should be careful not to simply remain diminished by our limited thinking. We should wait for the Lord to reveal to us something that is actually worth saying.
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