The Strength Decaying - Nehemiah 4:10

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them”,and in chapter four and verse ten of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared how, “Judah said, the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed”, where we read,

And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; 

so that we are not able to build the wall.

The verse reads, “And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish;”Nehemiah began with the words, “and Judah said” or “and Judah, whose name means praised, uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “the strength of the bearers of burdens” which means “the power and might belonging to the porters or ones who carry loads” “is decayed” or “exists as staggering, tottering and stumbling”, “and there is much rubbish” which means “and there exists a numerous and abundant amount of debris, dust, ashes and clay”. Nehemiah shared how “Judah” declared that the might and power belonging to the ones who were carrying the loads of debris was waning, and an abundant amount of debris remained. 

The verse goes on to say, “so that we are not able to build the wall.” Nehemiah continued with the words, “so that we are not able” or “which causes us, the people of Judah, to be unable” “to build the wall” which means “ to rebuild and erect the barrier wall”. Nehemiah shared how the result of the people of Judah's weakness and the remaining abundant amount of debris caused the people of Judah not to be unable to rebuild the barrier wall. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how the people of “Judah” who were reconstructing the barrier around Jerusalem began to be weak and exhausted, and yet, there remained an abundant amount of debris left to manage. It is not unusual to grow weary when we work relentlessly. God knows our limitations, and He desires to have a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind to help us in these times. He was raise from the dead three days later so when we put our faith and trust in Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip and refresh us according to His perfect will, purpose and timing for our lives. (See Matthew 11:28)

Next time Nehemiah shares how, “our adversaries said, they shall not know, nor see”, 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".