THE BUILDING OF THE WALL, NEHEMIAH 3
THE BUILDING OF THE WALL, NEHEMIAH 3
This chapter brings before us God’s thought to have a city here; God is Himself the great city builder. There is a marked contrast to the first city built. Satan seems to have been allowed in the actual course of events in this world to anticipate God. The thought of a city was in the mind of God, but it made its first appearance in Satan’s world. The thought of kings was in the mind of God, but they first made their appearance in the world as under Satan’s ordering. God will have a wonderful city, and it would appear that, while the cities of the nations are still standing in their greatness and glory, God would introduce the features of His city. There is one description of the saints which perhaps we do not dwell [p. 468] upon as much as other descriptions and that is that they are fellow-citizens, showing that the city idea has place now.
The city has its own character and constitution. The thought suggested in the scripture before us particularly is that it has a wall and gates. In a sense it is self-contained, unique in its character as distinguished from all around it. That is marked in the closing verses of the Bible. We see the difference between what is within and without. Purity and blessedness are within the city, and without are dogs and every kind of evil. Those who have washed their robes have the right to go through the gates into the city.
We have seen that Nehemiah went out by night to survey the ruin in secret exercise with God — he surveyed the conditions. We should go out with holy exercise to see the terrible ruin, but we should not be content to leave it at that. Many pious persons are conscious of the ruin and mourn over false teaching and worldliness, the sectarian character and spirit that has come into display, but they do not arise to build. Nehemiah had not only pious sentiments but he was a man of action; divine thoughts were brought into some concrete expression. All this fits into 2 Timothy, where we are exhorted to follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It is very constructive. It is not mere separation from what is wrong — that in itself is too negative to be pleasing to God; we must have the constructive side.
The gates set forth symbolically certain great principles which always mark what is of God as here in the world and apart from which there is no entrance into the city. The sheep-gate comes first. It is of primary importance that we should apprehend the thought of divine election as taught by John. There are certain persons whom the Lord recognises as His own sheep; it is entirely a matter of divine election. Viewed as sheep we belonged to the Father before we belonged to the Son. This is not our first apprehension, but it is thus presented in John. John 10 is the great unfolding of what stands connected with the sheep-gate. The Lord said to the Father in chapter 17, “they were thine, and thou gavest them me”. To have an intelligent part in the city we must apprehend what the saints are according to sovereignty, according to divine calling; otherwise there will be no proper measure of the character of the separation becoming to the [p. 469] people of God. Our right conception of separation depends on our seeing that it is a matter of God’s election. If we apprehend that the Father claimed us in His purpose to give us to Christ, and that we are of value to the Father and Son, what a separating effect it will have! We need to have built up in our souls the truth of divine sovereignty, through which we have been made Christ’s sheep and have life eternal. “I and my Father are one”, means that They are one in mind and purpose in regard to the sheep. What a holy scene we are brought to! This is the only gate built by the priests. The thought of locks and bars does not enter into the thought of the flock, and that is the spiritual reason why they are not mentioned. The flock is not held by restraint or by a fold, but by the attraction of the Shepherd. He has knowledge of all the sheep; they hear His voice and follow Him. He has made Himself divinely known to the sheep and He gives them life eternal. That is the thought of what the sheep are as a divine conception. The Lord does not say that the sheep ought to hear His voice; He speaks of the thing in its divine character. If I see that, I pray that it may be true of me.
We shall not enter intelligently into the character of the city in its present position apart from apprehending this. It is a priestly and hallowed matter. The things belonging to the Father and Son are holy. We have to move into the region of the Father and Son to get a proper apprehension of the one flock that belongs to the one Shepherd. The thought of the flock is one of those thoughts which are attached in common to Israel and to the saints of the assembly. There are many thoughts connected with Israel and with the assembly; for instance, the house of God, the kingdom, the temple, and the flock, are all thoughts that appear in the Old Testament. They are not wholly new thoughts, but they take an entirely new character. The thought of being Jehovah’s flock suggests the divine shepherd-care which was true of saints in Old Testament times. He led Israel like a flock through the wilderness. It was as precious and real to faith in Israel as it is in the saints of the assembly. I do not think God allows any of His thoughts to lapse; they are carried on in a spiritual way in the assembly. The kingdom, the house, and the flock, were all attached to Israel, and they are now brought in in a spiritual way. We are now not only His brethren morally but we are His brethren spiritually as having a place with His Father and God. We [p. 470] start with a conception purely divine. We do not, in the actual history of our souls, begin with that, but God gives us a picture of things that will help us. The difference between being before and after Christ is immense. There was no greater born of women than John the baptist, yet a little one in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. The ministry of the apostle John was largely on this line. He speaks of the saints as born of God, a sovereign action of God. It is a divine and holy action which imprints a divine character. He that is born of God cannot sin; it shows the holy character. In the sense of John 10 the Lord does not lay down His life for every one; He lays down His life for the sheep. It is the outlook from the standpoint of sovereignty. It is quite different when we get one sheep out of a hundred as in Matthew. The Shepherd goes after the lost sheep there, if so be He find it. The thought of hallowing connects in my mind with what we are speaking of, the holy character of all connected with God’s election. He calls us with a holy calling. Holiness is imprinted upon us. If we apprehended this it would have a wonderful effect upon us. It is what the saints are by divine calling. God’s calling is outside responsibility. Whom He foreknew He predestinated; it is all on the line of divine sovereignty. It is a chain of gold links from eternity to eternity, and not one link will ever be broken or put out of its place.
Then there is the fish-gate. The Lord had in mind the thought of fish, and the first thing He suggested to His disciples was that they should catch men. The fish-gate answers to responsibility in service; it gives us the other side. Sovereignty is emphasised in connection with the sheep-gate, and responsibility in service and its results are connected with the fish-gate. In connection with this gate the thought of good fish is important. Responsibility in service is always a matter of skill, care and discrimination, it is an important side of things, and is brought before us in many scriptures. “Who then is Apollos, and who Paul? Ministering servants, through whom ye have believed”, 1 Corinthians 3: 5. Responsibility in service carried on has certain results. The importance of having fins and scales is emphasised. If we have the sense of divine sovereignty we know we can do nothing unless God prospers it, but care and discrimination are required. In Matthew 13 they sit down and make a selection, and put the good fish into vessels and cast the worthless away. That is what is going on now.
[p. 471] 2 Timothy is putting the good fish into vessels; those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart are good fish. The vessels are local assemblies for the good fish.
The fish-gate gives a wider scope of things than the sheep-gate, for it brings us to what is universal. Fishing is to catch men. The sea suggests what is universal, and the thought is to catch men and bring them out of it for God. We can all see the importance of these two great principles put together. These are the only two gates which are said to be built, which shows the importance of what is suggested; the principle of divine sovereignty in connection with the sheep-gate, and the principle of responsibility in service in connection with the fish-gate. If we do not understand these two principles we shall make no headway towards the city. These are foundation principles. These two gates were entirely lost in christendom and so had to be rebuilt; the others were repaired. This indicates a special significance in these two gates, and the principles suggested in them are vital. If we are not right in our souls as to divine sovereignty or responsibility in service, it would be useless to go further in the development of the gates.
It was never the Lord’s thought that people should be converted and left alone. Our responsibility in service is to get all the good fish into vessels. There are those in the christian profession who are worthless in regard of the city idea. None but good fish go in by the fish-gate. There are those in the christian profession whom we can but regard as worthless in regard of God’s present thought. This would help us if we saw that all is in view of the fountain-gate, the enjoyment together in assembly conditions of what is spiritual, that which gives pleasure to Christ. There are those whom the Lord rejected, and whom we have to reject, especially in relation to this thought of the city, which is something enshrined in the present thoughts of God. It stands as a city on a hill that cannot be hid. You look out for the qualifications in a person, not merely in what they say. You look for fins and scales. I knew a man who professed to be converted on a Sunday night, and on the Monday night he was found in the public house; he was a bad fish without fins or scales. The thought of selection is a great principle in Scripture. The fins are that by which the fish takes a straight course through the element surrounding it. The scales are preservative and keep it from pernicious influences. You look for a young convert to take [p. 472] a straight course and go against the stream; he has scales, protecting armour. Paul, in writing to the Romans, speaks of the armour of light — protection. All that enters into the thought of good fish. Most of those brought into blessing have shown evidence of divine work before professing faith in Christ. It was a great help to me before I was converted to be thrown into the company of the most wicked set of men I had ever had to do with. I felt that, if I did not make some sort of stand, I would be done. That is the sort of feeling in a soul with no knowledge of salvation.
A good convert looks out for people like himself or better than himself. He has precious thoughts of Christ and he looks out for other people with precious thoughts of Christ, and if he finds someone with more than he has he is very pleased. That is how a young convert finds the fellowship. Great principles are connected with the sheep-gates and fish-gates.
Now we move on to the gate of the old wall, which may have reference to that principle of separation which has been set up from of old, indeed, which always marked off the saints from the earliest point of God’s dealings with men. It is not new to the assembly. This great matter of separation is an ancient principle of God’s grace. We have fallen on times when it is badly in need of repair. The great thought of the wall is separation, a security brought about on the principle of separation. It has marked the saints in all ages, before and after the flood and all down the ages. It is an old principle that has to be repaired; it marked men like Enoch and Noah, who walked with God. We shall only enter into God’s city as this principle is repaired in our souls and associations — the principle of separation from what is not of God. We could not enter the city on any other principle. Withdrawing from unrighteousness — that is an old wall. There has always been a tendency to slip away. In Hebrews we are told to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we slip away, showing the danger of slipping away from what is of God. Peter, in his epistle, stirs up the minds of the saints by way of remembrance, showing that things were in need of repair. The principle of separation is essential. People talk about narrowness if saints seek to walk in separation, but are they narrow? It is the people who say these things that are narrow. The most separate man is bound to be the widest man in sympathies, light and intelligence. He is the man who has [p. 473] great thoughts, so that separation is the way of enlargement. As Paul tells the Corinthians, “Be ye also enlarged”. How? “Come out ... and be ye separate” is the way of enlargement.
Even in Israel we see the principle of separation. Godly Israelites were by their godliness bound to be separate. If we put ourselves on common ground with people of the world we shall slip away from what is of God in our own souls. We cannot be at home with those who are of the world without slipping away from what is of God. We all have to see to it that we are in separation. How searching it is! “They are not of the world, as I am not of the world” — that is the principle of separation.
Then the valley-gate has a very searching voice for us. We might say with all reverence that the Lord Himself came in by the valley-gate. He came in by the manger and went out by the cross. The valley-gate secures a large measure of separation, an essential kind of separation. The principle of the valley-gate would secure things for God; it would have reference to those who, like the Lord, do not move in the activity of their own wills but are in subjection. The valley-gate is Philippians 2, the dung-gate is Philippians 3. The valley-gate sets forth that principle of humiliation seen in absolute perfection in the Lord. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. It is to be the real thing, and apart from it there is no entering into God’s city. We can only walk together on the principle of the valley-gate. Paul speaks of “all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” that is the valley-gate. We cannot enjoy spiritual things apart from that. We have no idea how our high thoughts of ourselves stand in the way of our happiness. Very few of us are aware what miserable offenders we are against our spiritual joy.