Today I read Nehemiah 3; after Nehemiah’s statement about God prospering them, Jerusalem’s rebuilding began. Today I considered that it takes the community to make a town safe.
Community Building
The building was maybe inspired with Nehemiah’s faith, followed by leaders actions and community work (Nehemiah 3:1-32). The first people mentioned to build a gate and sanctify it was the high priest Eliashib and his family’s priests. This was followed by groups, families, leaders, and others building and repairing walls and gates. They took on large and small sections and completed the repairs. The people working included: the men of Jericho, Zaccur, Hassenah’s sons, Meremoth, Meshullam, Zadok, the Tekoites, Jehoiada, the men of Gibeon, Uzziel, Hananiah, Rephaiah, Jedaiah, Hattush, Malchijah, Hashub, Shallum and his daughters, Hanun and the people of Zanoah, Malchiah, Shallun, Nehemiah, the Levites, Hashabiah, Bavai, Ezer, Baruch, Meremoth, priests and men of the plain, Benjamin and Hashub, Azariah, Binnui, Palal,Pedaiah, the Tekoites, Shemaiah, and others. The community contributed to building the gates and walls all the way around to protect their community.
Questions and Thoughts for Today
A community’s safety requires the people in the community to work together to make sure it’s safe. So many people contributed to building the walls and gates to protect their community in Nehemiah 3. Nowadays people still contribute to protecting their community. People protect neighbors by watching out for each other, through neighborhood watch groups, advocating community and town gates, and through volunteer or reserve deputy sheriff positions.
Are you one of the people contributing to the safety of your community? If so, how?