This is the Bible Book Club, the book of Nehemiah.

Welcome to the club.

Last episode in chapter two of Nehemiah,

Nehemiah waited patiently for an opportunity to talk to the king about his people and their dire situation.

While he waited, Nehemiah prepared for what he would say and how he would say it.

Then, when the opportunity came, the king asked him, what is it you want?

Nehemiah was then ready, and the king was moved to grant him even more than he had asked for.

Nehemiah set off for Jerusalem to put his plan into action.

But before revealing his plan to the people, he gathered intel for himself by studying the wall alone.

The opposition got word of Nehemiah's presence, his papers of permission from the king

and of his plans to rebuild. And they did not like it. They began their attack with ridicule.

Well, we ended chapter two with Nehemiah laying out his case to the people of Jerusalem. This is what he said.

You see the trouble we are in.

Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of

Jerusalem and we will no longer be in disgrace. To which the people responded, let us start rebuilding.

In this chapter, the people will, in a rare but inspirational act of solidarity,

do just that. Was it really that simple? Or was there more to this wall? Why did Nehemiah say they were

in disgrace? Well, before we dive into the building, I want to talk about why there was more to the wall than physical safety.

In episode one, we read that Nehemi's distress about the wall consumed him for days to the point that he could do nothing but weep and pray.

Then in episode two, he asked the king for resources for the wall.

He examined the wall himself for three days.

Then he recruited the people to rebuild the wall.

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