Nehemiah 7:1-2 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do.
Leadership requires integrity. Nehemiah showed this in choosing men for service that feared God and were capable of carrying out his plans for the city. They would select the right people as watchmen for the walls and gates. Their task was to ensure the ongoing safety and purity of Jerusalem. The gatekeepers were critical to the proper functioning of the city as the place of worship and fellowship for God’s people. They maintained the separation of God’s people from the world and its evil influences.
Separation allows God’s people the place and the freedom for fellowship that is pleasing to Him. It is a privilege to be among the community of believers. All who make up this assembly are to be believers committed to loving and serving their God. For this reason Nehemiah chooses Godly men to manage the gates; allowing entry to those who are qualified to enter. The purity and holy character of the fellowship of believers will quickly recede if anyone or everyone is permitted entry. Care was taken to ensure that the entrant showed true belief in God, exhibited behavior that God permitted and believed as Scripture taught.
The church today is guided by the principles that Nehemiah’s story presents to us. Without the implementation of God’s standards for fellowship, the church will become just another gathering place for all kinds of beliefs and all sorts of behaviors. In time the church will reveal no distinctive from the world. The light it was tended to be for the lost nations will have been extinguished.
May God continue to raise up Nehemiah-style leaders who are able to make Godly decisions and discern the character of others who aspire to lead the people of God. Only then will renewal begin within the church. Only then will our light draw others out of the darkness that surrounds us this day.
