Arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah found what he had only heard about: rubble, ruins, and resignation. The people had learned to live with brokenness. So he walked the walls by night, quietly tracing the outline of what once was. Then he gathered the people and spoke hope into the ashes:
“You see the trouble we are in… Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so we will no longer be in disgrace.”
(Nehemiah 2:17)
Something stirred. Hands that had grown idle found strength. “Let us rise up and build,” they answered. And they did.
But every wall of purpose attracts opposition. Sanballat mocked, Tobiah schemed, and enemies plotted to attack. The builders worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other. It was not comfortable faith; it was courageous faith. Nehemiah refused to come down from the wall to argue or explain. “I am doing a great work,” he said, “and cannot come down.”
