At the conclusion of the Book of Ezra the Jews are occupied with separating themselves from the tribes of Canaan with which they had intermarried. So it is true today that judgment has begun in the household of God. The Spirit of God will not work when there is a mixture of believers and worldly people, except when it is for the purpose of bringing lost souls to Christ.

The building of the Temple of God and the wall of Jerusalem is only for the "circumcised" (those who truly are in Christ) to accomplish.

The Book of Nehemiah begins with the notification that the remnant of Jews in the Jerusalem area were suffering and that the wall and gates of the city of Jerusalem had been broken down.

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. (Nehemiah 1:3)

This is the condition of the Christian Church today. Some progress has been made from the days of the Protestant Reformers to the present in rebuilding the Church, the Body of Christ.

But the walls and gates, so to speak, have not been rebuilt as yet.

The Wall

The concept of the wall is important in the Word of God.

One of the main differences between the garden of Eden, the first Paradise, and the new Jerusalem, the second Paradise, is the Presence of the wall around the new Jerusalem.

The garden of Eden was an unwalled paradise. The new Jerusalem is a walled Paradise. Never again, from the present hour forward, will God allow to exist an unwalled paradise, an undefended, unprotected glory. Those days are gone forever.

And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. (Isaiah 4:5,6)

"Upon all the glory shall be a defense."

The reason the Jews who lived in the Jerusalem area in the days of Nehemiah were suffering "great affliction and reproach" was that the wall and gates of the city had been broken and burned with fire. Therefore the enemy from the surrounding Canaanite villages was able to harass them. If the wall and gates had been standing the Jews of the remnant could have closed the gates and lived in peace.

So it is today. The majority of God's people are without a strong spiritual protection. They have become the prey of every demon and unscrupulous "teacher of the Gospel" who is using the things of Christ to feed his own stomach, just as Paul warned. The Church of Christ needs a wall of defense against all that is not of God. The wall is needed now. The wall is to be rebuilt now.

To be continued.