From the last message we found that Nehemiah was very secretive about his mission. Once Nehemiah discovered there were some very influential people who did not like what he was up to, they would seek a way to counter his work. Nehemiah knew he could not begin right away. Something had to happen before they could start their work. What was that? The people needed hope. They needed to know of God's great purpose. They needed to come to the point where they believed there could be some positive change in their lives. Some people want to start programs among the demoralized. We can say with certainty that unless a program has fixed its starting place in creating hope among the people, then it will fail. Demoralized people are those with no confidence. Because there is no confidence, there is no change of behavior. They remain the same in their desperate situation. This is why the scriptures say "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (KJB; Pr 29:18). They are unrestrained as the NASB says; they are like a blob. Their environment shapes them not what God wants them to do. Nehemiah's chief goal was to bring hope to the people; not authoritative commands telling the people to do this and that. This can sometimes get the job done such as the wall, but it is only temporary and empty; it was not the job Nehemiah was content to do. He was there to rebuild the soul of the city. It was Nehemiah's job to get the job done but this does not mean that he had to ignore the workers.

Burnout are times when you are convinced more is being asked of you then you feel that you can give. Burnout is when you finally give up hope on yourself. Let me note two kinds of burnout.
€ Sometimes burnout comes from a great amount of inspiring work being done. But somehow, someway, your hope has been taken away. Maybe it is because you just haven't spent time before the Lord and have forgotten His promises. But the work goes on. You got to keep going. The work has to go on. So you continue that work on in the flesh and through your own strength. One day it all comes crashing down because the works of the flesh cannot for long duplicate what God does by His Spirit in your life.
€ Another type of burnout comes about when people are doing things only because you have the authority to make them do it. You can do what they are telling you to do, but you do not want to do it. You rebel with tiredness, laziness, criticism, etc. It will not be long before you just figure a way of pulling the project to a virtual halt. This kind of burnout is not so radical of giving up on the task, but the same general withdrawal of the situation occurs. Nehemiah was trying to avoid this.

Application Let me just apply this thought before I go on. I find that sometimes the jobs we have to do are not the most pleasant or inspiring. This is one reason people are willing to move so much just to change job scenes. They expect the job to give meaning to life when no job can do this. We are to find meaning in life and then express that in living out our lives in service such as a job or at home. In the self-defeated modern world, people just do not have this hope. They openly see that they are motivated by money so they become convinced that this is the only means of being motivated. Many of you are moving into the work field. Many others have been there for awhile. I am not saying that we should not look for a stimulating and challenging job but more than often you will not find exactly what you are looking for. Many jobs are dull; others have managers that make them dull and even others have crises that make it very difficult to work easily such as financial difficulties, political infighting or even the threat of being bought out or your work being found obsolete.

Meaning in life should not come mainly from your work. If your work brings encouragement, thank the Lord. But no matter what, always go back to the principle that:
1) you are working because the Lord wants you to work hard so that you do not steal but have money to give to those in need, and
2) you work unto the Lord. Col 3:23-24. "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." Yes, you have a boss who watches over your work, but really you do quality work with a cheerful heart not because of your boss checking up on you, or that your project will be used in the future, but because you have done your best for the Lord. He knows and will take full account of your work. Besides, doing it for Him enables you to grow in your special trusting relationship with Him.

Once hope comes into our lives, we see many dynamic changes. If this hope is based on the truth, then we will be able to see an ongoing work of God. We will see His life bring about miraculous changes. Some people try to convince me that I am only a positive or idealistic thinker but this is far different than the man who has hope in God. We are not in the end hoping in our abilities, opportunities or our mind sets except that all of what we have is from the Lord and that we are depending upon the Lord. We either trust Him or die. Psalm 118:9 says, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes." Today, we will be looking at the commencement of the rebuilding of the wall. It is impressive. After making observations of their different work, I would like to draw several conclusions leading to different truths God is trying to help us understand.

As we look through the reconstruction we will focus on the gates. They are of course very vulnerable places because generally speaking there is less rubble there to keep people going in and out. Without them even having a great wall is not of much use. Secondly, they discuss the work on the gates because it is convenient. The people all knew where the gates were. The most convenient and generally accurate way of describing what was being done would be by reference mentioning the work around those gates. Let's briefly look at the work being done about the ten mentioned gates. We will note that because this work was inspired by hope that there are many interesting observations worthwhile our examination.

1) The Sheep Gate (3:1) by Eliashib the high priest and his brother priests.
€ It is important to see that nothing is too holy for the priests. As they worked hard, the people took courage. If the priests were dirtying their hands in this project, and especially the high priests, then no one can think that they are too holy or privileged to do this work. Towers and walls are difficult to build but when the priests finished it, the work remains a permanent symbol that leaders are best when they are servant leaders. A pastor has certain specialized functions in the church as overseeing the flock, but sometimes they are needed to do the evangelism, the cleaning, the administration. Through their example the people see that every act is holy because it is done unto the Lord. However, if any pastor or high priest should let their schedule be perpetually be run by other needs, they will not be able to get their work done. Acts 6 is a clear reminder of times we need to specialize in certain roles. Acts 6:2 says, "And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables." For a while the apostles were doing this work but it was not good in the long run.

After this we see two other building teams going westward around Jerusalem starting from the Sheep Gate in the very north. The men of Jericho built next to the priests and next to them were Zaccur the son of Imri. At this point we run into another entrance to the city of Jerusalem.

2) The Fish Gate (3:3) built by the sons of Hasenaah.
As we continue on, we will find Meremoth, Meshullam and next to him was Zadok. After them were the Tekoites.
€ But what does it mean or imply that "Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their masters." (Nehemiah 3:5). Did this mean that certain rich and influential men did not financially support the work or were just unwilling to personally help out.

Yet, even without the support of the noble, the truly faithful still did continue on helping a certain section of the wall to be repaired. This reminds us that we do not have to wait for everyone to help before we do a certain thing that God has put on our heart and especially those with wealth.

3) The Old Gate (3:6) was built by Joiada and Meshullam.
Next to them was Melatiah and Jadon working. They even worked on the governor's official seat. After this was Uzziel the goldsmith and Hananiah the perfumers restoring the wall all the way as far as the Broad Wall. As the priests went beyond their regular routine and gifts, so we see the goldsmiths and perfumers. Even Rephaiah, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

€ Part of the excitement of the whole project was to see everyone pitching in. No doubt there were those who did not participate but wasn't it exciting to see those from every part of life working together in a common cause. Our unity does not dispel our individual uniqueness or contribution but beautifies it. The goldsmith was trained as a goldsmith. His family probably did this for years. He was trained in the family guild without costs. But this didn't stop him from carrying heavy rocks, getting burnt in the sun or working in ways that caused a lot of backaches and sores. I can go through the list of our elders, deacons and coworkers. They are skilled in different areas of life: some in science research, some in software, some in business, but together they stand out as those who work for a common cause of building up the kingdom of God. In order to do this, they will need to do things they never did before of if they did, on a different scale. But the important fact is found in Philippians 1:27,