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It was not just Jerusalem's citizens who rebuilt the walls. Volunteers came from outlying areas:Jericho, Gideon, Tekoa, Mizpah, Zanoah, Beth Halkerem, Beth Zur and Keilah. They saw thevalue in supporting God’s kingdom program.Look at the “one another” passages speaking of mutual ministryRedpath: The entire population responded to Nehemiah’s plea for help and cooperation, and thisaccount shows a warm-hearted and enthusiastic spirit. Each had his own particular job to do, andno one was envious of the job that somebody else did. Each was satisfied with his particularassignment, and every section of the wall was cared for.Are all of us pulling our weight in the building of God’s church?IV. SHAMES THOSE WHO HAVE DIVIDED LOYALTIES AND DON’T PULL THEIRWEIGHTVs. 5 “Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support thework of their masters.”Case of divided loyalties – you cannot serve God and MammonOr maybe simply a matter of pride – thinking too highly of themselves as though manual laborwas beneath themTekoa – town 10-12 miles south east of Jerusalem in Judah; largely a wilderness on the range ofhills which rise near Hebron and stretch toward the Dead Sea –Fensham: could easily be attacked by Geshem the ArabMacArthur: Cf. 6:17-19 Nehemiah added a footnote that in the days of building the wall, thenobles of Judah who refused to work (3:5) were in alliance and correspondence with Tobiahbecause, although his ancestors were Ammonites (2:19), he had married into a respectableJewish family. Shemaiah was from the family of Arah (Ezr 2:5); his son Jehonanan was the sonin-lawof Meshullam who shared in the work of building (3:4, 30). According to 13:4, the High-Priest, Eliashib, was related to Tobiah (which is a Jewish name). The meddling of these nobles,by trying to play both sides through reports to Tobiah and to Nehemiah (v. 19), only widened thebreach as Tobiah escalated efforts to frighten the governor.Vs. 27 causes some folks to do extra labor to pick up the slack“After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and asfar as the wall of Ophel.”V. SALUTES EACH WORKER FOR MAKING A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION --SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAMES OF THE WORKERSRedpath: In the Hebrew tongue, a man’s name was often descriptive of his character. That wastrue of God, also. The name of God always reveals the character of God – so here with thesenames.