Nehemiah 6:1-14: A Great Enterprise
Monday, December 31, 2018
Model of the Temple Courtyard
I am engaged in a great enterprise and am unable to come down; why should the work stop, while I leave it to come down to you?
In this portion of the rebuilding story, Nehemiah knows that Israel’s enemies – Sanballat and Gesham – plot against them, trying to create problems for the Jewish people as they rebuild their city and temple. They invite the builder to the plain of Ono – about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem – in a plot to harm him. If he does not meet with him, they threaten, they will alert the king of Persia that Nehemiah was planning to make himself king. Nehemiah refuses their “invitation,” turning away outside threats.
We also read about the advice given to Nehemiah by Shemaiah, a prophet who was likely paid by Sanballat and Tobiah to lure the builder into breaking an important law – laypeople were allowed to seek asylum by grasping the horns of the altar in the courtyard, but were not permitted to enter into the temple itself. Nehemiah fends off this “invitation” and another from the prophetess Noadiah, turning away threats from within. (Mays 348)
What was it that called these outer and inner enemies to want to overthrow Nehemiah? As we see in the previous chapter, he has the well-earned reputation of being a man lacking self-interest, he cannot be bought or bribed, and the enterprise he has undertaken is going well. His work goes well because it is God’s work, and Nehemiah trusts God to see the work finished. Those who plot Nehemiah’s end do not understand this perhaps because they do not live their lives in this way. They do not see themselves as stewards of God’s grace . . . for this is the great enterprise in which Nehemiah sees himself engaged. It is the huge project he will not forsake.
Today we hear a portion of the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians read to us at Mass in which he explains this special stewardship with which each of us is charged: to share our talents – whatever they may be – with all, in order that we participate fully in God’s plan. Whether we know or believe this does not matter, we still carry this gift within, and we are meant to share it as Nehemiah shares: utterly, totally, and always. We are accountable for our own participation in the great enterprise.
Robert Morneau writes in today’s meditation and then poses questions in DAILY REFLECTIONS FOR ADVENT & CHRISTMAS: Waiting in Joyful Hope 2010-2011: Everyone is given the privilege and duty of being a steward of God’s grace . . . This stewardship, this receiving, nurturing, and sharing of God’s love and life, is a way of life and involves serious accountability . . . In what way are you called to be a steward of God’s grace? What is your unique gift? Do you have a sanctified vision of God’s plan of salvation?
William Brassey: Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
A re-post from November 28, 2011.
Mays, James L., ed. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 348. Print.
Morneau, Robert F. DAILY REFLECTIONS FOR ADVENT & CHRISTMAS: Waiting in Joyful Hope 2010-2011. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2010
Images from: http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/OT_history/unit4/Unit4b_exile.htm and http://people.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/J_Transp/J01_JudaismIntro.html
The Noontimes 