I was reading Nehemiah this week ….. the rebuilding of the wall…..and something jumped out at me. It’s the men of Tekoa in chapter 3. They are the only ones mentioned twice in the crews that rebuilt the wall….they did more than their fair share…because they were discerning men. And yet the nobles of Tekoa are the only ones mentioned in the crews that wouldn’t put their shoulders to the task……it was beneath them to work under the supervisors….pride led them to their infamy. They did nothing.
I found it interesting to look into where they came from. Tekoa is a small village about 10 miles south of Jerusalem. It’s in the hill country of Hebron next to the wilderness. Remember Caleb, he was their great grandfather that asked Joshua for that land…..and then proceeded to drive out the “giants” to make it safe for his grandchildren. Time and indifference to the ways of the Lord took its toll and after 70 years in Babylon captivity, they were back on their land.
The men of Tekoa remembered who they were, who their great grandfather was, what he stood for and what he did for them. It was because of Caleb they stood on that ground in the hill country….and now it was time to make it safe again. (70 years in Babylon was fresh on their minds). They packed up their belongings, their wives and their children, and went to Jerusalem for 2 months. Pitched their tents and went to work. The sons and daughters helped and the women brought them water and food by day, and bandaged their injuries by night. The pictures above show the work and the one on the right is Nehemiah’s wall…..note the size of the stones they had to manhandle and put into place. It was tough work.
But the self important nobles of Tekoa had forgotten who they were….pride got in the way, and they did nothing.
Time for some reflection. We are the same as the people of Tekoa. And it’s important that we remember what our fathers and grandfathers did for us, and why we are standing on the ground we are on today …..lest we become like the nobles of Tekoa…..and do nothing.
For myself,….. my father and uncles were part of the Greatest Generation in WWII …..and one of them didn’t make it back home. They kept this land safe for my generation.
I was fortunate to have taken care of my father during his last several months on this good earth, and one day we were watching the news. There was a news clip …. it looked like Sodom and Gomorrah at Burning Man…..and Dad said “Don’t they believe God anymore?”……the answer was they didn’t.
As a nation, our walls are in rubble and we are reaping the whirlwind. We are still the best nation on earth, but we have forgotten who we were, …….we have lost sight of the Lord’s precepts….and some of our children do not “know” the Lord. There is work to be done for the “people of Tekoa”. It’s time to restore the walls…..they are our defense against the “flaming arrows” of the enemy. The work starts in the church and it spreads to our homes…..because that is where the children are.
Who will place the first stone?
SELAH
SCRIPTURES: NEHEMIAH 3: 5&27
GENESIS 18:20
EXODUS 32: 25-26
JEREMIAH 32:26-41
2 CHRONICLES 7:14
JAMES 1:22 (KJV)
PRAYER FOCUS: Awe of the Lord and his precepts.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Not only hearers of the word, but doers as well……
lest it be lost in one generation.
~ Written by Gene Bennett