1. ELIASIB
Rev. Daniel Hanafi

2. Background Nehemiah: Any broken walls in your life?
A Story of how the walls of Jerusalem was rebuilt
Walls crumbled  enemies come in and out (no defense)
Jerusalem: God’s city (we are God’s city!!)
Any broken walls in your life?
Building wall doesn’t happen by just listening to a sermon!

3. Background
Nehemiah 3:1
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred,[a]and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.

4. Role that Pictures Lordship!
High Priest
Nehemiah 3:1  Eliashib = “the high priest”
High Priest = “consecrated to God” (spiritual leader)
Kings are NOT businessmen; Priests are NOT pastors
Kings: Executing God’s rule + Reign on earth as it is in heaven
Priests: Perantara Tuhan yang Kudus & Manusia yang berdosa
We must PAY the PRICE!!
Some SAINTS = DEVILS
“A Christian is a man who feels repentance on Sunday for what he did Saturday and is going to do it again on Monday”

5. Role that Pictures Lordship!
Christians: “light of the world” and “salt of the earth”
Christians are to influence the world, NOT be identified with the world.
Not only who we are in Christ; but, what we are to be for Christ.
A Christian is someone who has put God first in their life.
Like Eliasib, our role as a Christian presents a picture of LORDSHIP!

6. Rebuilding that Proves Lordship!
How Nehemiah Assigned the Work:
Rebuilding massive walls of Jerusalem: not a small task
Leadership skills: demonstrated in how the work was carefully ARRANGED, APPORTIONED, APPOINTED, and ASSIGNED.
And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah. Neh.3:10
After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house. Neh.3:23
After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate. (3:29)
After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber (Neh.3:30)

7. Rebuilding that Proves Lordship!
He assigned each man a section of the wall to work on; work in their own neighborhood. He put them to work near and around their personal houses.
WHY?
Wall = protection from enemies; an incentive for the people to work; personal interest; Good Hokkian strategy!
In event of an attack, a man’s main concern: his family.
Convenience  making it easier to get to work; cut down on wasted time and improve efficiency.
It was a wise move on Nehemiah’s part, and demonstrated
tremendeous leadership skills on his part.

8. How Eliashib Prioritized His Work:
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate… (Nehemiah 3:1)
Eliashib worked on the Sheep Gate
Nehemiah 3:20: “After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.”
Interesting! This part tells that the house of Eliashib was not in the area of the Sheep Gate.
Sheep Gate: North wall; the house of Eliashib: East wall
Why? Eliashib must have chosen the area (not assigned!)

9. Rebuilding that Proves Lordship!
Other men worked in area’s that served personal interest, repaired their own defenses, and built walls nearest to their own homes; but, Eliashib chose to work at the Sheep Gate.
Though he concerned about his own home and family, he no doubt knew that the completion of the Sheep Gate would hasted the day when Temple life could be restored to normal.
Eliashib knew: altar and worship must be restored first!! Real peace and safety of Jerusalem  God being enthroned in His rightful place.
His concern is not the physical or material, but the spiritual
Proves that God was 1st in his life.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

10. Rebuilding that Proves Lordship!
Someone once wrote and asked Emily Post, the etiquette expert of another generation: “What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House but has a previous engagement?” Post replied: “An invitation to dine at the White House is a command, and it automatically cancels any other engagement.” When one accepts the invitation to become God’s child, everything is to be second place in our life. God is to be first in all we do! Yet, how tragic that many believers want God to take them to heaven but they don’t want Him to rule them on earth. “If He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”

11. Reward that Promotes Lordship!
Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Context: Jesus spoke of the things that people are most concerned about: finances, food, fashion, and the future. Yet, Jesus told us that if we put God first, these things would be taken care of.
God will be a debtor to no man!
I Samuel 2:30,  Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

12. Reward that Promotes Lordship!
If you put God first, God will add to your lives the very
things that we are often preoccupied with in life.
WHEN YOU TAKE CARE OF GODS BUSINESS,
HE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
Nehemiah 3:20: “After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.”
Every man worked day after day striving to get his portion of the wall completed. No doubt that Eliashib thought of his home and the wall around it. But the Sheep Gate came first. The spiritual had precedent over the personal, material, and physical.

13. Reward that Promotes Lordship!
But he that seeks first the kingdom of God shall have these things added.
They that honor God, God will honor. God saw to it that his portion was attended to and completed.
A man by the name of Baruch saw to it that Eliashib’s portion was completed as well as his own.

14. Reward that Promotes Lordship!
WHEN GOD TAKE CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS, IT
IS BETTER THAN WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE!
Now Eliashib was a High Priest (he had not taken carpentry and brick masonry while in Seminary);
He put God first, and God raised up a master carpenter to take care of his portion. Much better than his own work! Nehemiah 3:20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
Not only did Baruch work with great enthusiasm, but with great skill.

15. Reward that Promotes Lordship!
Eliashib put God first: his portion was completed far more competently than he could have done and far better than what he could have produced.
He put the spiritual before the material and ended up with far better materially than he had before he started.
We don’t put God first for what we get out of it; We put God first because it is what God wants.
Mark 10:29-30, “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, [30] But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”

16. Reward that Promotes Lordship!
Jesus said that if a person put God first in their life, they will not only reap eternal benefits but earthly benefits. Jesus said he would “receive an hundredfold now in this time.”
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. They that honor God, God will honor.

17. A woman purchased a statue of Christ at an auction
A woman purchased a statue of Christ at an auction. She took it home and placed it on the desk in the den. A few days later she moved it to a table in the living room. A few days later she moved it to the foyer. A few days later she put it on the mantle. Her little girl silently watched the whole ordeal.
One morning at the breakfast table, the little girl looked at the mother and asked, “Where are you going to put God today?” The same question could be asked of many a believer: where is God in your life today?
Alan Redpath said, “Jesus does not come into your life on the basis of a democracy: He comes on the basis of a dictatorship.” In other words, the Lord is to have complete charge of our life. He is to be in total control. He is to have more than a place. He is to have even more than prominence. He is to have pre-eminence. He is to have first place in our life. He is to be Lord. There is one place He desires, deserves, and demands and that is first place.
Response: “This is my desire”