Today's readings are Nehemiah 4.7-23 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Neh.+4.7-23 ) and 1 Timothy 3.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Tim.+3.1-16 ).
We are surrounded by enemies. They complain, they quarrel, they threaten violence. The walls have been thrown down, the city burned, and we are striving, in the face of our enemies, to rebuild it. What provision do we have? What defense is there? Where will we look for aid?
Nehemiah had the work of building the walls continue, the workers armed with tools and weapons, ready to sound alarms. Picture building a wall when you think at any moment you may be shot by the onlookers. You are ill armed for building because you are hampered by your weapons. You are ill armed for fighting because you are hampered by your tools. The work is exhausting and urgent. What happens when someone attacks?
Look at the hope the Israelites had. When the alarm sounds, we gather together and God fights for us. What a hope we have in the God who fights for us.
In these last days our Lord has fought for us. He has provided us, as Paul tells us in 1 Timothy, with elders and deacons who will work for God and govern the affairs of the Church rightly. He has provided us with his headship, that Christ was crucified for our sins and now lives for us. Surely our God will fight for us.
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