Situation Report -  446 B.C. - Jerusalem

Nehemiah 2:1 - 4:23

The city was in ruins, the survivors left over from the captivity are in great distress and under reproach.  The walls of the city are broken down and the gates have been burned with fire.  There is no army, only the poorest of the poor trying to survive.  There is no leadership to give the people direction.   

The people could be attacked and picked off one by one or they could be completely over run at any time for there was no leadership or unity of command.  Everyone did what was right in his own sight.  To even think that an army would form out of this chaos with no leadership or common vision is ludicrous.  There was no organization, there were no supplies, and there was no leadership providing a common vision. 

Even if there had been the resemblance of an army left they would have been hard pressed to even protect Jerusalem their base of operations for the walls were in such a state of poor repair.  They could not guard all of the holes in the wall and there were no gates.  There was no unity of command with which to coordinate what little assets there were, because there was no communication and no chain of command.   There was no chain of command because no one would take responsibility.  Therefore, no one even tried.  They were reduced to a state of survival.  Every man for himself.  They had begun working on restoring the temple many years earlier and the Priest Ezra had helped restore true temple worship.  They served Yaweh for a while but it wasn't long before the people became discouraged and they neglected their time of fellowship with the Lord and returned everyone to focusing on their own house.   

Then God moved upon Nehemiah's heart with a vision to rebuild the ancient ruins and four months later he returned to Jerusalem with captains of an army and horsemen along with some supplies and letters of passage.  His mission:

Operation Reformation

Re-form the people, Re-organize, Re-supply and Re-build the Walls and Gates

The first thing that Nehemiah did upon his arrival was to secretly survey the condition of the walls under the cover of darkness.  They looked over the strong points, the weak points, examined the remains of the watch towers and identified the gates. 

Nehemiah gathered the people and shared the vision to rebuild and repair the walls and the gates to make the city a stronghold, a safe haven, a place of rest and refuge.  Why it could even be like it was in King David's time where it was the strongest of strongholds.  The army would go forth from here and defeat enemies and establish garrisons in other cities.  To accomplish this, Jerusalem would once again have to be strong with an abundance of supplies and a well trained army.  It was such a wonderful vision that all the people answered, "Let us rise up and build."  Then they set their hands to this good work.  (Nehemiah. 2:18)   Operation Reformation was in motion.  But before the walls could be reformed, the laborers had to be reformed as well.  

The third thing Nehemiah did was to organize the people and assign each of them a place in the wall that they would be responsible to repair and rebuild.  Family by family they were assigned a place in the wall or at the gate that needed repairing.  Because the work was large and the people were few, it was necessary to pull double duty.  Each builder was expected to carry his weapons and be prepared to fight at a moments notice, however, the priority was to build. 

Now that hope returned they began to think about going out and attacking their enemies, however, they realized that the time would come soon enough.  The next order of business was to rebuild and establish a secure base of operations, like David had in Zion.  Then they would go forth to conquer from a place of strength.  So, they did not go out to seek a fight but remained at their post and rebuilt the walls and the gates.  However, if an enemy came, they were ready.  Wherever they heard the trumpet sound, they gathered there to fight.   

There were guards and watchman posted but it was required that everyone watch and everyone fight until the walls were re-built.  Each family worked by two other families, one on either side.  So they watched out for one another and helped each other complete the task.  They were co-laborers.  However, in order to alert the trumpeter who stayed by Nehemiah in case of an enemy attack, it was necessary that everyone along the wall stay in constant communication with each other and with the leaders so as to be able to report what they saw and heard accurately and quickly.  Nehemiah and his leadership team then had to sort out the big picture by piecing together the reports as they came in from various places along the wall.  He had the captain of the guard help them by compiling the information and then reporting to them in a timely fashion.  

The work went well.  Everyone worked, everyone watched, and the work continued around the clock.  Everyone was prepared, everyone shared, and no one took advantage of those less fortunate for the works sake.  

Rumors were rampant but the Word of the Lord was sure.  There were many who did not want them to finish this great and noble work but they dealt with the fear, the rumors, and they guarded their hearts and minds. 

Upon completion of the project, the city was secure.  Now many of the people could be reassigned to new tasks.  Some became gatekeepers, others singers, some were appointed to the Levitical duties.   The people brought the tithe into the temple, the storehouses filled and provision was made for those who served before the Lord.  The word of the Lord was taught to the people and they now had a stronghold.  A place of safety, a place of security, a place of provision, a place from which now the kingdom could be expanded for the army once again had a secure base from which to operate.   

Now that families and supplies were secure, and the place of worship was in a good state or repair, the leaders and the army could once again begin to plan offensive operations from which to go forth and claim new territory for the glory of our King and Lord.  

The premise behind focusing on Nehemiah is intended to lay a foundation to build an effective fighting force (the church is an army) with which to engage the devil and his demonic hordes, so that the gospel might be preached and a harvest of souls gleaned.  The church needs to reform with everyone in rank and file (Joel 2).  It is much better to reform behind a place of safety rather than in the open fields and you need a safe place to store your supplies as well as secure lines of  communication.  Only then can an effective offensive operation be sustained by having the lines of communication flow between strong bases of operations (garrisons, forts, etc.) or between a base of operation and a strong army in the field.  

Today, many local churches are in a similar state of disarray.  However, not all.  God is moving in an incredible way to mobilize His church.  There is a historical amount of cooperation among different elements of the body of Christ.  Consider a few manifestations of God's grace like Promise Keepers, March for Jesus and of course, Praying through the 10/40 Window.  But there is more, there is much more.  

Never before in church history do we have different parts of the church coming together to work together on such a great magnitude.  However, I believe that God wants to accomplish so much more.  If we can catch a vision of Him as Lord of the Hosts, I believe we could begin to grow into another understanding of God's character.  He is called Lord of the Hosts over 245 times in the Bible.  That is almost 3 times more than any other name that He is called.   

There is a revelation coming in the body of Christ concerning the Lord of the Hosts (armies).  Jesus is a military commander.  He is the Captain of the Hosts and when He returns he comes to conquer with a strong people set in battle array (Joel 2).   In order to accomplish the great commission we will have to work together like never before.  This will require the greatest level of anointing and administration that the church has ever mounted.  In fact, it has already begun.  

I will liken the local church to the garrison and I believe that the local church needs to become a "strong base of operations."  That is based upon the warfare principle of security.  Have you ever seen a church try to minister to their city and be hindered by a lack of people, a lack of supplies, a lack of equipment, or a lack of finances? So, how do we build the walls and establish the gates in strongholds from which to launch and support offensive operations?  Realize that the old testament is a type and shadow and was written for our learning.   

The walls refer to people and the gates refer to ministries that flow in and out of the church.

1 Peter 2:4-6 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." NKJV  

Isaiah 54:11-14   "O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.  All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.  In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you. NKJV

Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no longer be heard in your land,
Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders;
But you shall call your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise.  NKJV

Isaiah 26:1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
"We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. NKJV

Nehemiah 4:10-21  Then Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall."  And our adversaries said, "They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease."  So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, "From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us."  Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.  And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."  And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.   Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.  Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.   Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, "The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.    "Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us."  So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. NKJV

We see in scripture where people are referred to as stones and His walls are called salvation.  His gates shall be called praise.  Are not God's people called to be a praise in the earth (Isa. 62:7)?  Gates are a place where people flow in and out and gates were also a place where the kings and elders sat (2 Sam. 18:24-27, 2 Kings 9:17-18).  I liken gates to ministries in a local church.  For this is where ministry flows in and out of the church.   

Typically each gate in a wall will have a place for a watchman.  It was necessary for the watchman that they cry out what they saw and what they heard to the kings and elders who sat in the gate (2 Sam. 18:24-27, 2 Kings 9:17-18, Isaiah 62:6).   

The Lord is establishing the Watch of the Lord in this season.  We are also building a Wall of Prayer.  As the wall of prayer is built and the watch is set, demonic strategies will be revealed and the church will receive strategic plans from our Lord.  As we implement the strategic spiritual warfare plans combined with evangelistic plans we'll see a transfer of  wealth to finance the harvest (the gathering of people (stones) to build the walls of salvation). 

CONECT is based upon Biblical Principles that is expressed in an organization, church  or city by taking 4 steps.  These steps are:

1. Build the Wall of Prayer

   1. Each family prays for two other families daily

2. Set the Watch (three possible ways for spiritual intelligence to be gathered)

   1. Prayer watch

   2. Prayer walkers

   3. Researchers

3. Assign a person to administrate CONECT for the leadership who will coordinate the watch schedule, collect reports and prepare a consolidated report for leaders.

4. Leaders seek the Lord for His strategy based upon up to date current information.

To learn how to practically implement CONECT in a local church click CONECT & Local Church article or click Spiritual War College.  The article provides an overview while the Spiritual War College provides training and tools.