Seeds for 10/07/2024 - Nehemiah 7:1-3
Scripture:
1 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed. 2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do. 3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
Observation:
After you accomplish the goal and complete the project, what next? Nehemiah now faces how to solidify the gains and keep the change alive. The gatekeepers, musicians, and Levites are in place. But who to oversee the city? How to pick?
Nehemiah highlights two qualities that make the difference.
First, “he was a man of integrity.”
After all of Nehemiah’s trouble with sketchy characters who were looking for anything to use against him, he knows first hand the external importance of integrity. More important, of course, is the internal benefit of integrity, which is the health and strength of one’s soul. Integrity, the old definition says, is being the same person whether people can observe you or not. Another way I’ve learned to understand integrity is from the structural connotation of the term—as in a building or a bridge. With faulty materials or construction, the object lacks structural integrity—it will not hold up to expected and appropriate levels of stress. As with a building, also with a soul. The materials are good and God-given. The construction, in which we play a role as we choose our principles, our belief system, and our morality and ethics, is the variable. Nehemiah’s compliment about integrity speaks to the health and vitality of the soul and character.
Second, he “feared God more than most people do.”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
Fear of God is both reverence and awe and a recognition that God and His almighty power is more fearsome than all the things we are afraid of. So, fear of the Lord really is the first step in true knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.
But there’s a wonderful qualifier here: “more than most people do.” There’s a baseline grasp of the concept, and then there’s deep understanding coupled with greater volume of practice in his everyday life.
One thus anchored in personal integrity and deeply applied faith would be the suitable leader Nehemiah was looking for.
Application:
When have you made tough choices that strengthened the “structural integrity” of your soul?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, keep me pursuing the “fear of the Lord,” that I might grow ever deepening roots of confidence in you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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