the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 2 of 5
Nehemiah 3:16-32
From v. 16 onwards we are concerned with the part of the wall protecting the city of David and the temple court.
We are astonished to learn that Eliashib, the high priest, did not build up the wall in front of his own house (cf 1 Timothy 3:5). Others had to do it for him (vv. 20, 21). As a further sign of their guilty neglect, when building the sheep gate, he and his brethren, these bad shepherds had failed to equip it with locks and bars (v. 1) That would allow thieves and robbers to slip in and take possession of the "sheep" of Israel (see John 10:8; John 10:10).
Goldsmiths, apothecaries and merchants (vv. 8, 32) did the work of masons. One of the leaders, Shallum (v. 12), builds with his daughters. God teaches us through these examples that we can be involved in His work irrespective of our age, sex or profession. Let us also notice that several of these men, or their fathers, had been implicated at the time of Ezra in unholy marriages with foreign women. That was true of Baruch, the son of Zabbai (v. 20; Ezra 10:28) and Pedaiah, the son of Parosh (v. 25; Ezra 10:25). Now it is good to see their eagerness to protect Jerusalem against just such foreign influences.
