[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2026]
A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.
Luke 8 v5-8 [NIVUK]
Following the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586BC the walls of the city had been torn down, effectively leaving the city defenceless and in disgrace. In 444BC Nehemiah was called by God to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls.
So what has Nehemiah to do with the parable of the sower as recorded in Luke chapter 8?
The parable tells us of the four kinds of response that people have when they hear the word of God. If we associate the building of the walls with sowing of the seed we can identify similar responses in Nehemiah’s account.
Nehemiah was cupbearer to king Artaxerxes, the head of the Persian empire at that time. This was a senior position in the royal household, probably one of the King’s closes confidants. In this he was following in the footsteps of people like Daniel and Obadiah who, despite being Jews, also held high office in the courts of secular kings. In this role Nehemiah was able to approach the king and request access to the necessary resources.
Has God given you a position of influence? How are you using it in his service?
Despite having the king’s authority the men building the wall faced strong opposition, led by Sanballat and Tobiah who were secular leaders in the region neighbouring Jerusalem. These two were strongly opposed to the work and attempted to prevent it progressing. They are representative of the seed on the path; so hard that there was no hope of a successful outcome.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. ‘What is this you are doing?’ they asked. ‘Are you rebelling against the king?’
Nehemiah 2 v19 [NIVUK]
Does mockery and ridicule affect the way you react to God’s calling?
In the case of Eliashib we see a man who started well but became compromised by his relationships.
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate.
Nehemiah 3 v1 [NIVUK]
Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles
Nehemiah 13 v4-5 [NIVUK]
Have you entered into relationships that compromise your service to God?
The men of Tekoa built several parts of the wall but their leaders did not want to get too involved themselves.
The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Nehemiah 3 v5 [NIVUK]
Is God’s work beneath you? Would you prefer to delegate it?
The wall was approximately 2 miles long and varied between 12 and 40 feet in height. It was completed in 52 days by 42 teams comprising different families, districts and trades. In this it represents a positive outcome similar to a bountiful crop.
Are you a team worker in the service of God or do you want to build a name for yourself?
References:
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Last week’s reflection: Sundry Times and Divers Manners
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys