Positioning God where he is supposed to be (Nehemiah 3: 1-2)

At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall. The men of Jericho built next to Eliashib, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.

Verse of the day: At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding.

Commentary:

The work of rebuilding the wall didn't start with builders, but with priests. There were a few things that stuck out to me, some which I need to do more research on.  

1. They start at the Sheep's Gate. 
2. They dedicate it.  
3. They don't just pray. They participate in building it.  
4. After building their section, then then dedicate the entire wall. 

Like why? Why not dedicate the full wall first? Why start at the Sheep's Gate?  

This prompted my modern Christian mind to associate with Christ the shepherd. Shepherds were women so the Sheep's gate shouldn't be a prestigious place. So, I looked it up. The Sheep's Gate is where sacrifices came into the temple. The priest would naturally be in charge of the sacrifices. So, the work of rebuilding the temple started with the restoration of the sacrificial system, or the system of worship.  

The priest participated in the work. They didn't pray and leave. They got their hands dirty. It's probably the church hurt speaking, but it's so refreshing to see spiritual leaders who lead with action to back up their prayer.  

Now much of the next chapters are detailed work results of different people and groups. But before we dive into them, I wanted to point out that credit was given and in detail. Nehemiah could have just said, "and all the people built the wall". But he didn't and clearly God didn't want him to either.  

God wants to show that he sees our contributions. A good leader doesn't take credit for the contributions of others. A leader knows who his people are and what they contributed. Nehemiah either was the main organizer or he had some on helping him to maintain this level of order and detail.  

Daily Practice: Try dedicating your work day to God. Start with positioning God at the front of what you do for the day.

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References:

An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, with Useful Observations Thereupon, Eze 21, p 522

David Mandel, in The Ultimate Who’s Who in the Bible (Alachua, FL: Bridge-Logos, 2007), 197–198.

The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, p 1190

Noah M. Marsh, “Tobiah, Governor of Ammon,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).