After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. (Nehemiah 3:16 ESV)
Lesser Fame
I know of a man who shares my name. He lives in the city in which I was born, and is an engineer/entrepreneur. I have never met him, but sometimes the internet reports the business successes that “I” have accomplished!
This Nehemiah is not the Nehemiah that led the returning exiles back to Israel, and wrote the book of Nehemiah!
This lesser-known Nehemiah was a leader among the Hebrews who were not taken into captivity. He was not exiled. He was a governor of some kind, from near Jerusalem. And when the well-known Nehemiah organized the rebuilding of the Temple walls, the lesser-known came to Jerusalem and worked on a section of the wall.
While I could easily get lost imagining humorous situations where one Nehemiah was near the other, and both heard their name called out… that is not the main thing of wonder in this verse.
Rather, perhaps it can remind us that we share a name with someone of greater fame.
We Christians have been given HIS name.
He is Christ, and we are lesser-known folk of the same name. “Christians,” in fact means, “Little Christs.”
I am not sure that Nehemiah, son of Azbuk, was glad to be confused with Nehemiah, cup-bearer to the King. No one would confuse me with Christ Jesus, though.
But Christians are becoming more like Him! This is what sanctification is. As we learn to love our namesake more, and as we strive to walk like Him (Not to earn His favor, but because we love Him!) we are made more Holy in God’s eyes, simply because He is holy.
And when our bodies fail, and we enter the Kingdom of God fully, we will be like Him!