“And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their
Nehemiah 3:5
nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.”
Among the words that can be used for the Hebrew word ‘addîyr, translated in this verse as “nobles,” are the following: powerful, excellent, famous, gallant, glorious, goodly, lordly, mighty, noble, principal, and worthy. This list seems to suggest that every noble’s journey to nobility was well-earned, as opposed to being contrived by stealth and corruption, as we see too frequently in our governments today.
At one point, these men were valiant and self-sacrificing and deserving of the honour bestowed on them. But then, somehow along the way, they slacked off. They started indulging in ease and relaxing in the shadows of their immaculate reputations. They also began to care more about their fame and majesty and richly embroidered robes and comfortable mansions, and less about the work of restoration. Eclipsed by a frigid, corpse-like, still form, their passion for brave deeds and noble actions cooled off. The title of nobility became no more than that–a mere title which offered no evidence of the process required to obtain it.
Additionally, the Hebrew word for which the translators used the word “necks,” in the phrase “put not their necks to the work” is used “in the sense of binding; the back of the neck–as that on which burdens are bound.” Essentially, these nobles lost the burden. Somewhere along the way, their focus had selfishly shifted to themselves. They were doing work with their hands to maintain the pretense of nobility, but without a true burden. Their sacrifice was not tied to the altar in permanent knots of reckless abandonment.
May we not be discovered as hypocritical nobles! Instead, let us be bound to God’s work and “addicted to the ministry of the saints” (1 Cor. 16:15), that we be not left without reward!
