When Nehemiah led the Israelites to reconstruct the massive wall around their city,

he knew his job was not finished once the bricks were laid and the mortar had dried.

His job would be incomplete until he led the people back into the city of David

where they would take up residents together.

Today on Insight for Living, we'll see that Nehemiah called on a quiet and courageous group of people to help lead this campaign.

These selfless leaders didn't need accolades or public fanfare.

Chuck calls them the willing unknowns.

In the 11th chapter of Nehemiah, we have the crosses of unknown and if you please,

unpronounceable names of men. men who will never be remembered because of their names or even their significance.

But they form and frame one massive force

that in my opinion make the word of God so exciting.

As a matter of fact, I have saved up in these last few weeks chapter 7 for today's message because it lays the background to chapter 11. Look quickly with me back to the background if you will verse one it came about when the wall was rebuilt. City was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not built.

Why weren't there people in the city of Jerusalem?

Well, a couple of reasons.

First of all, the city had had no wall for 160 years.

A city without walls would be like today a house without lock and keys.

Another reason is because if you moved into the city you had a lot of rubble to clear out.

And frankly, it's a lot easier to build a home on a plain piece of land than to push and pull out all the stones of yesterday,

the stumps and the charred remains of a destruction of years ago.

Well, the question in my mind today and in yours

is how did they get people into the city?

Two methods.

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