When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. – Nehemiah 12:30

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 2, 2017): Nehemiah 12

Alexander the Great once remarked that “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” The reality that Alexander the Great seemed to understand is that we are often not defined by our individual abilities and tendencies, but rather that we will allow ourselves to conform to the tendencies and deficiencies that our leader possesses. An army of lions, despite their power, will change into sheep if they view a lamb as their leader. In the same way, an army made up of passive sheep will grow ferocious if they believe in the leadership of a lion. Whatever characteristic you think is most important, that is the characteristic that the one who leads you must possess. We will never surpass our leadership. Leadership then releases in us things that echo the leader’s tendencies, and in the same way limits us in areas where the leader is weak. This is one of the reasons that the choice of a leader is so important. An economically strong leader who is morally weak will never build a moral organization or nation. He may build a strong economic one but is likely to create that financial strength by making a series of weak moral decisions. So, at some point, we have to choose which is most important to us. And if morality (or any other characteristic that the current leader does not possess) is deemed to be most important, the only way to truly achieve those goals is to choose a different leader.

As this new chapter in the life of Judah begins, it starts with a consecration of the nation from the top down. I suspect that there is a step missing in the description of this purification, but it is evident the dream of the future of the nation was a moral one. Most of what Judah viewed as their painful past had resulted from ethical missteps. And so they gathered together to start again. The priests, the ones whose ancestry had been verified by Nehemiah and his staff, began the process. They ceremoniously purified themselves – a recognition that nothing moral could come from corrupt leadership. Then, and what is missing in this text, I suspect that the priests moved on to the secular government of the nation – Nehemiah, his staff, and any others who were seen as leaders in Jerusalem. A moral nation would begin with a moral priesthood, but the priest would need to be supported by moral secular leadership. After the leaders had been consecrated, then the priests moved on to the people in Jerusalem. And finally, they blessed the walls and the gates themselves, purifying them and setting them apart; giving them an active role in God’s plan for the city and the nation. The purification of the walls was a reminder that it was not just the Temple in Jerusalem that was holy, but rather Jerusalem herself was intended to be “The Holy City.”     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 13