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 down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven – Nehemiah 1:3-4
+--------/Whispering Stones; Nehemiah’s Thoughts upon Seeing Jerusalem’s Wall Obliterated
These stones are like disassembled
fragments of a once grandiose and vaunted
dream almost forgotten
but not quite yet. On the ground slain, burned
yet resilient, they yearn to be touched and
comforted, lifted to one’s ear and granted
the opportunity to speak. They sing
the song of Solomon’s Temple newly dedicated,
they intone of the parting of the Red Sea,
of Moses forsaking everything he once knew,
of hoping with abandon,
of yearning to fulfill
a greater destiny, cynically mocking the
screams of Pharaoh’s charioteers gargling water
whilst Hebrews walked giddily on
dry land, the astonishment
of an abused dejected people
at last embracing freedom.
They muse that even the five most
insignificant among them felled (in a sling)
the greatest of Philistines, stained in
the blood of Goliath’s head, rolling
with pride, wearing
tattoos of the highest order.
Now, they cry out to me for revival.
They were
once a stalwart bastion of refuge
against marauders, a united wall
impregnable, lauding and cheering
King Josiah’s victories and casting
menacing stares at invaders
with Watchmen (who once
killed Abimelek by hurling
a millstone...) but now disgraced
now they are disillusioned.
These stones:
the prophet’s visionary totem
cleansed with my tears as we
mourn together beneath the moon. But
our legacy isnt dead just yet, I promise-
from the Sheep Gate to the Fish Gate
to the Dung Gate,
the Eunuch Cup Bearer has come
from Artaxerxes bearing goodly
anticipation shining in the Sun
of the King's Countenance.
A heart in shambles will be patched,
a broken wall will be rebuilt,
the reverie of the captives is coming true:
Jerusalem will rise
once again.
[dedicated to anyone who has had hopes and dreams and desires destroyed. Pray with me. One day, will reign autonomously, free from the captivity and scorn of our enemies and detractors. One day, our hearts will be rebuilt and we will reign victorious. We will have our heart's desires. Amen. #wooooooo (Ric Flair)]
-----------------Nehemiah 2:12-18, 4:1-3
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment