Nehemiah had his heart set on rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. When he first heard that the walls were broken and the gates burned, his burden became a blueprint. He prayed, planned, and persisted until God opened the door. It was no small task—he needed the king’s permission, funds, workers, and courage enough to face every kind of opposition. The king of Persia granted him favor, and Nehemiah gathered a weary remnant to rebuild what had been in ruins for generations. But the enemies were loud and plentiful. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem scoffed, threatened, and conspired against him. As Nehemiah wrote, “It displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.” The more they mocked, the harder he worked. Nehemiah had discovered what every dreamer of God’s purposes learns eventually—when you rise to build, someone will always rise to block.
In many ways, Israel today faces the same kind of relentless opposition. Since the replanting of the nation in 1948, and continuing through the conflict following Hamas’s attack in October 2023, the nation has been surrounded by hostility. Every time it seeks peace, someone nearby prefers destruction. Like Nehemiah, Israel rebuilds under pressure—trowel in one hand, defense in the other. The protests and politics of the world may shift, but the principle remains: rebuilding anything that matters will always draw resistance. In our own lives, whenever we determine to rebuild something broken—a marriage, a reputation, a church, or our own faith—we discover our own versions of Sanballat and Tobiah. Critics, cynics, and internal doubts line up to whisper, “You’ll never finish.” But God has a different message: “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Perseverance may not always look glamorous, but it gets the wall built.
Nehemiah’s determination points us toward Jesus, who set His heart on rebuilding humanity itself. Like Nehemiah, He faced mockery and opposition, yet He pressed on “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus came to restore what sin had shattered—to rebuild the ruins of our souls. The cross looked like defeat, but it was the cornerstone of redemption. Paul reminds us, “You are God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Nehemiah rebuilt a city; Christ rebuilds hearts. Both faced enemies, both triumphed through perseverance, and both prove that when God authors a plan, not even hell’s rubble can keep it from completion.