Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 3:1-5 (day three)
“Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.”
The people followed Nehemiah. He facilitated their skills, helping them channel their engineering, masonry, and stonework abilities to rebuild an entire city. But Nehemiah also followed the people. That is to say, Nehemiah responded to the hopes and desires already present in their hearts. These longings were not wishful thinking or flights of fancy, but deep yearnings long dormant from ancient times, passed down from generation to generation from the time of the exodus, full of the fervor of Moses’s preaching and the promises of the law. These were dreams – initiated by God – that would not die. It was these dreams, present in Nehemiah’s own heart too, that Nehemiah heard and followed.