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NEHEMIAH 2:17 + 3:1
Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel
Rebuild. Let us build the wall of Jerusalem. We know that walls represent our salvation — we are ‘hedged about’, protected, covered and uplifted by our Lord, and Jerusalem, (‘teaching of peace’), shows us as being the city (the people, the church) of our God.
Our salvation is a gift from God. We cannot save ourselves. Only God can save, but once saved, we are to work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.
Our salvation is a gift from God. We cannot save ourselves. Only God can save, but once saved, we are to work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain.
PHILIPPIANS 2:12-16
This building is not a solitary pursuit. We do it — it is a corporate enterprise, for although we are all individuals, our Lord is building His kingdom with a many-membered family of believers. Just as in the natural world, there is not one who holds the answer to all things save but for Jesus Christ. Only He holds the keys to the Kingdom. And in Him, we also have access to that heavenly place.
Notice that Nehemiah follows his declaration with the statement that Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate. Eliashib’s name means ‘God restores’. God is in the business of building up, of restoring all things to Himself. Nothing in His plan will ever be lost, which is restoration indeed, no matter which way you look at it.
This working out of our salvation is not a calculated thing, it is our outworking, our finding within ourselves that which Christ has worked into us, the infilling of The Holy Spirit — recognising His Life within us, and keeping our inner hearing attuned to His Small Voice. Our salvation is a gift from God. Working out our own salvation is the life of faith in Him. The wall of Jerusalem is built and we go on to ascend Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God.
Notice that Nehemiah follows his declaration with the statement that Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate. Eliashib’s name means ‘God restores’. God is in the business of building up, of restoring all things to Himself. Nothing in His plan will ever be lost, which is restoration indeed, no matter which way you look at it.
This working out of our salvation is not a calculated thing, it is our outworking, our finding within ourselves that which Christ has worked into us, the infilling of The Holy Spirit — recognising His Life within us, and keeping our inner hearing attuned to His Small Voice. Our salvation is a gift from God. Working out our own salvation is the life of faith in Him. The wall of Jerusalem is built and we go on to ascend Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God.
HYMN: JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN (tune: Ewing) — Liverpool Cathedral
A CLOSING WORD from …ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
Life is God’s novel. Let Him write it.
LISTEN TO THIS MEDITATION HERE…
COMING NEXT… #548 ACTS 3: THE BEAUTIFUL GATE AND SOLOMON’S PORTICO
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OBADIAH 1:17-18
“But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the LORD has spoken.
Obadiah shows us here that deliverance precedes holiness, but that The Lord says that there shall be holiness. No ifs, no ands or buts. The matter is settled. The matter is where we are, or rather where we must be.
The place of holiness is described as Mount Zion, and that is where His deliverance is to be found — and then there shall be holiness. The Lord has allowed us to see that this holiness is when we are in a certain place… and that place is Mount Zion, God’s Holy Hill. The question then becomes, not am I delivered and holy, but ‘where am I?’ Am I on Mount Zion… or am I elsewhere? What is Zion? In the words of a song…
The place of holiness is described as Mount Zion, and that is where His deliverance is to be found — and then there shall be holiness. The Lord has allowed us to see that this holiness is when we are in a certain place… and that place is Mount Zion, God’s Holy Hill. The question then becomes, not am I delivered and holy, but ‘where am I?’ Am I on Mount Zion… or am I elsewhere? What is Zion? In the words of a song…
Zion is a place of singing.
Zion is a place of joy.
Zion is the dwelling of the Lord.
Zion is a place of worship.
Zion is a place of praise.
Zion is the dwelling of the Lord.
So let us climb the hill of Zion,
to the city of the living God.
To the city of the living God.
To the city of the living God.
So let us climb the hill of Zion,
to the city of the living God.
For the ark of the testimony is in our midst.
The most telling phrase to me is Zion is the dwelling of the Lord. The name Zion (or Tsijon) means ‘a parched place’. However, it comes from another word, siyun, meaning dry or solitary place in the sense of conspicuousness: a monumental or guiding pillar; a signpost or waymark. In other words, Zion is a beacon for the people of God — who are the spiritual Jerusalem — pointing the way to come higher — and it can only be seen as a guiding pillar by those touched by the Holy Spirit with the burning desire to know Him more dearly, more nearly. It is The Almighty inviting us to be with Him; to live and abide with Him.
This is a clear and confirming word that Our Lord desires a deep close relationship with Him. What better for us?
Study these words. Almighty God is the revealing of His desire that we come up higher. “Come closer; be nearer…” Our Lord says… Live with Me, abide with Me in My Holy Place. That is fulfilment indeed beyond anything we could imagine.
This is a clear and confirming word that Our Lord desires a deep close relationship with Him. What better for us?
Study these words. Almighty God is the revealing of His desire that we come up higher. “Come closer; be nearer…” Our Lord says… Live with Me, abide with Me in My Holy Place. That is fulfilment indeed beyond anything we could imagine.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And this we will do if God permits.
HEBREWS 6:1-3
CLIMB THE HILL TO ZION
A CLOSING WORD from DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.