Half of My Servants Wrought in the Work - Nehemiah 4:16

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah instructed the people of Judah to, “remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work”, and in chapter four and verse sixteen of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “the half of my servants wrought in the work”, where we read,

And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

The verse reads, “And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, ...”Nehemiah began with the words, “and it came to pass” or “and the following happened and occurred”, “from that time forth” which means “separate and apart from the time he and the people of Judah went back to work forward”, “that the half of my servants” or “that one half of my, Nehemiah's, slaves, men of servile condition and bondmen” “wrought in the work” which means “fashioned, accomplished and produced within the business, occupation and service upon the wall”. Nehemiah shared how one half of the people of Judah worked on the wall from the time their enemies were aware of their understanding of their plan. 

The verse goes on to say, “... and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons;” Nehemiah continued with the words, “and the other half of them” or “and the other one half of the people of Judah” “held both the spears” which means “became strong, made firm and resolute the lances or javelins especially with the iron point”, “the shields” or “the bucklers or defensive shields”, “and the bows” which means “and the hunting or archers' bows”, “and the habergeons” or “and the breastplates, coats of mail, harnesses or body armor”. Nehemiah said the other one half of the people of Judah resolutely kept the “spears, shields, bows and body armor”.

Finally the verse says, “and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.” Nehemiah concluded this verse with the words, “and the rulers” which means “and the princes, leaders, chief, chieftains and official” “were behind all the house”or “existed after and in the hinder part of each, every, the whole and everyone of the habitation, abode and dwelling place” “of Judah” which means “belonging to Judah whose name means praised ”. Nehemiah ended this verse by sharing how the leaders within “Judah” were stationed in the hinder part of the dwelling place which belonged to “Judah”.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how the people who worked on the wall divided themselves into two groups. While one part worked on the wall, the other part kept the defensive and offensive weapons of battle. God's work was going to be accomplished, and even though opposition rose up against them, they would be prepared to go to war if needed. God wants us to be this way as well. First we are to receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the dead three days later, and when we do, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us the wisdom to continue His commission with work and weapons in hand. (See Matthew 28:19-20) 

Next time Nehemiah says, “one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".