Dear RTB’ers,
In his sermon series on Nehemiah in Northern Virginia, our former pastor saw Nehemiah as a type of the Holy Spirit. He spoke in particular on the following two verses. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. (v. 12a) He saw the Holy Spirit as active in our lives even when we did not see Him at work. As for those “few men” with Nehimiah, I don’t recall our pastor’s portrayal, but I might suggest three possibilities: (1) angelic beings in our lives that we never see, or (2) our own efforts alongside the Holy Spirit, or (3) other people that the Lord has sent to work alongside us. I would take any one of those three possibilities.
The second verse that I strongly recall, And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” (v. 18b) I can hear our pastor speaking over and over, “arise and build”. We might have even had a song that incorporated those words. They remain affixed in my mind!
And still for us today, there is work to do. Arise and build!!
Blessings.
Fred