Nehemiah

Nehemiah Chapter 4

Opposition to the Work

• Nehemiah 4:1  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. 
• 2  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? 
• 3  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. 

Mockery is one way Satan uses to cause us to be discouraged and quit. Those that mock are  unknowingly being used of Satan to hinder the work of God. Mockery is also a result of being fearful that someone is doing somthing better than we are doing. Jealousy can cause this also. How many times throughout our childhood have we heard someone mock another out of jealousy and they think of something bad to say about a person to bring them down. Fear causes this also. These traits must be overcome for they end up bringing us down if the person or persons we attack are innocent of what they are being accused of.

We might ask, but what if someone is doing something really wrong, do we just sit back and let it happen? No. We pray first, examine our motives, and speak but in the spirit of humility and grief, not mockery. If it is someone we know, we pray first and ask God's direciton and then go in the spirit of meekness. If we don't have boldness enough to do that, it's better to leave it in the hands of the Lord unless it's a case of life and death. If we see a real crime that might harm innocent people, we call the police or someone in authority.

Building up the walls of Jerusalem is never a crime. It's a good thing. It is the God of Israel they were fearing and mocking. Satan is the only one that would hinder that. He doesn't want Israel to exist because he didn't want Jesus to come the first time and now he doesn't want Jesus to return the 2nd time. So he stirs up hatred against the Jewish people even to this day. Oh listen whoever will hear. To fight against those doing good and spreading God's word is to fight against God. You will not win in the long run. Any victory over God's people will only be temporary. Read the last 3 chapters of Revelation and see who wins in the end.

We see the mockers claiming that even a fox can break down the walls they build. So we see Satan first uses mockery to stop this work. We are mocked today by those that do not believe in Jesus or even in God.

• Nehemiah 4:4  Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: 
• 5  And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. 

Nehemiah prays to the Lord and asks God to stop them from trying to hinder their work. Tobiah is an Ammonite, a desendant of Lot. Lot was the nephew of Abraham. How sad to see one's own kinfolk coming against them. We are seeing that today. All those fighting in the Middle East were descended from the same family Abraham came from. Abraham originally came from Syria. The children of Ishmael came from Abraham. Israel came from Abraham through Isaac. Ishmael came from Hagar but also a son of Abraham. Moab and Ammon came from Lot. They are all distantly related. Of course we all are descendants of Noah when the human race started after the world wide flood but we all are really one race descended from Adam. There is really only one race and that is the human race. Yet we war and fight out of fear, hate and jealousy.

Jesus came to make things right but fear, hate and jealousy keeps many from seeing this. He wants to reverse the curse of sin within each one of us. The power of the gospel will do that if we would only receive Him into our lives. We don't have to hate.

• Nehemiah 4:6  So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. 

Mockery didn't work so the enemy tries to physically fight against them.

• Nehemiah 4:7  But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
• 8  And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

Why do they want to stop this work? It was a work of God. It was the will of God. It was a good thing, not evil. Satan was behind this attempt to stop the building of a wall.

• Nehemiah 4:9  Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. 
• 10  And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. 
• 11  And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. 
• 12  And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you. 
• 13  Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 
• 14  And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. 

The battle belongs to the Lord. Those that attempt to do what the Lord decrees must not give up, they must trust in God, pray fervently, keep going, and not turn back. I say this not in a holier than thou attitude but in meekness. It's not easy but all things are possible if God is on our side. Pray, seek and find the Lord's will in our own lives. Never give up.

The Work Resumes

• Nehemiah 4:15  And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. 
• 16  And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. 
• 17  They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. 
• 18  For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. 
• 19  And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. 
• 20  In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. 
• 21  So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. 
• 22  Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day. 
• 23  So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. 

We see them all working together here. Some are doing the actual building while others guard the workers with swords and weapons. Some use the sounds of the trumpet to warn against invasion by the enemies.

The sound of the shofars and trumpets give me the chills when I hear them. It is a sound I love to hear. A sound of victory, a sound of a battle for good. It will be the sound of the second coming of Jesus when He returns. It's a sound I long to hear. Believe me, those that do evil to any people God sets His heart upon, will never get away with it in the long run. In eternity, we will all stand before God either ashamed or in joy. We don't have to be in the number that are condemned. We can be free right now, this minute by turning to Jesus our Christ, turning from our sin and turning to Him for salvation. We don't have to hate and fear. We can live in the love of God instead. DC

Nehemiah Chapter 5