“But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.” (Nehemiah 3:15)
The year was 444 BCE. The Jews had been released after 70 years in captivity in the year 538 BC by Cyrus as Isaiah had prophesied two centuries before. Jerusalem was partially inhabited. The temple had been rebuilt, but the walls and gates were burned down. Nehemiah who is cupbearer to King Artaxerxes gets word of the condition of the walls and gates. He prays and fasts that the Lord will work some way to rebuild the walls and gates. When he is serving the king, the king notices Nehemiah is downcast, learns the reason for his sadness and gives Nehemiah permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and gates with letters to the surrounding rulers that he does this with the king’s permission. (Nehemiah 1:1-2:8)
Nehemiah gets the walls rebuilt and the gates up in 52 days. We read in Nehemiah chapter 3 how this was done. Portions of the wall and the different gates were rebuilt simultaneously by different people. The rulers surrounding Jerusalem had tried to discourage the building, had attacked them as they built and had schemed to kill Nehemiah. But Nehemiah’s words of trust in God were fulfilled. “Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:20)
We wonder what Nehemiah was doing in Babylon almost 100 years after Cyrus had released the Jews. Nehemiah was born in the captivity and had been assigned cupbearer for Darius and evidently was now cupbearer to king Artaxerxes. This was a high position in the courts of those days. One just didn’t leave their position but were commanded to serve when and how the king ordered under threat of death.
We see God’s hand in all that happened. There are no surprises for the Lord. He fulfilled His word in punishing sin and rebellion with the captivity and exile into Babylon. (2Kings 24:3-17) He fulfilled His promise in Jeremiah’s prophecy for their release after 70 years. (Jeremiah 25:1-14) He demonstrates His mercy on His people by the rebuilding of the temple and the rebuilding of the walls and gates of Jerusalem.
Nothing is a surprise to the Lord. He sees and knows the past, present and future of every detail of our lives, our cities, our countries and the world. He is especially attentive to the coming and goings of His children. “But if any man love God, the same is known of Him.” (1Corinthians 8:3) It’s no surprise to Him when we obey or disobey. It’s no surprise to Him when because of our choices, we suffer the consequences. It’s no surprise to Him when we have failed to watch and pray and as a result have allowed calamity to come near. Nothing in our lives is a surprise to the Lord.
We are His children, reborn of God, with His Spirit indwelling, so He is always in contact with us. We may feel far from God because of circumstances, situations or because of sin in our life, but He is near us and in us. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1Corintians 3:16) He will not give up on us even when we have failed Him. His Spirit is still in us, working in us, teaching us and maturing us even in our failures. We may feel that we’ve ruined our relationship to the Lord, but God uses all things for His glory. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) He works in us and for us even when we are in sin. They reveal those things of the old man we must abandon.
As reborn new creations, sin repulses us, even if we have fallen into sin. But through repentance and God’s provision for forgiveness, we grow each time, more and more into the image of Christ. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus began a good work in us. And He will complete it. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 1:6) And just like God knew from the beginning all the things pertaining to the Jews, God knows all things concerning each of us and knows us by name. “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” (John 10:2-3) He is our shepherd and even knows the number of hairs on our head. “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)
There is never any reason to think, even when we’re in the midst of calamity, that God is not near to us. He is near and is not surprised by the circumstances we find ourselves. We can declare our trust in God, just like Nehemiah did (Nehemiah 2:20) and proclaim the Truth, promise and power of His Word for victory. His Word is alive and able to accomplish what God has said. (Hebrews 4:12) “So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
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