Support and Opposition
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning!
Please keep your Bibles open to Nehemiah Chapter 2. As we have been seeing, Nehemiah has so far been an unfolding narrative of how God went about bringing his people back and restoring Jerusalem to its former position.
In Jeremiah, God pleaded with the people through the prophet to return from their wicked ways and nobody listened - so the Israelites were ultimately cutoff from the promised land, cut off from the temple, cut off from the covenant relationship they had with God - and it wasn’t God who cut them off, No! They had cut themselves off because of their own infidelity to God and the fact that they refused to adhere to their end of the covenant - even after God sent the prophets to warn them about their impending chastisement. They had promised to be the people of God and to receive the blessings of God in exchange for their love and obedience to Him.
Instead of being God’s covenant people, they continued to sin, to rebel and to chase after foreign gods. God finally came to a point where He said, “Enough is enough” and He scattered the people as He told them He would do - See Deuteronomy 28 and 30.
However, we know God is not a vengeful and spiteful god, like the petty gods of the Greeks or the Romans, but is an all-powerful, loving, merciful and gracious God. We are seeing the foundations of that through the narrative of Nehemiah in the Old Testament as well. The people did nothing to deserve being restored to Him, except to be born in the lineage of Abraham, to whom God had promised great things.
So the people spent 70 years in exile before being given permission to return to Jerusalem. Their return wouldn’t be an easy ordeal - it certainly wouldn’t take place over night - so God raised up three men to help oversee different aspects of their return from exile. In the book of Ezra, we see Zerubbabel and then Ezra (about 60 years later) lead the people back to Jerusalem from the various places where they had been scattered. Not all of the Jews came back however - we see that in Nehemiah and in Esther. There were some Israelites who, for whatever reason, decided not to go back to Israel, but rather chose to live out their lives in exile - as foreigners in foreign lands. In Nehemiah, instead of bringing people back, we see instead, the re-fortification of the city begin. Not only was God bringing the Israelites back from exile, but He was going to make sure they knew the city was also being redeemed and made new.
We have spoken at length about how God placed a burden on Nehemiah’s heart and how Nehemiah committed that burden to the Lord, was faithful to Him in prayer and even the importance of sharing that burden with others. The one thing I would hate to do is to give you the false sense that if God places something on your heart that you wont face any opposition, but that every obstacle would have some kind of commensurate “open-door” so to speak. In reality, some of the most difficult and trying things we will ever face in life are roadblocks and opposition in the face of doing what we feel convicted to do.
How many of you have ever felt that you had to do something? Not just remembering to do the laundry, but something big and uncomfortable, like confront someone in their sin or even run for some kind of political office? One of the things I have done in my life, that I felt like I absolutely had to do was to pursue working in ministry. It was time consuming, it was humbling, it was expensive and there were times all along the way I was repeatedly discouraged, told I wasn’t good enough or that I lacked the giftings needed to be in ministry, etc. etc.
There are roadblocks we are guaranteed to run into when pursuing a burden the Lord has placed on our hearts. Those roadblocks could look different for everything and everybody: lack of financial resources, a lack of buy-in from those you are counting on to help you, or even direct opposition from someone who has no desire to see you succeed.
In his book, “To Be Determined…” by Warren Weirsbe, he says this:
No matter how difficult the task, or how strong the opposition, BE DETERMINED!
Warren W. Wiersbe
There is a certain amount of fearless resolution we should have if we are going to commit to doing something the Lord places on our hearts to do. This would include the willingness to stand up to others who would try to get in our way.
Please don’t hear this and think that I’m giving you “carde blanche” to be repugnant and impolite to those who oppose you - what I hope you hear is that you should stand resolute and place your hope and faith in God, and you will get through times of opposition.
The big Idea for today is: To fulfill God's purposes, we must be prepared to face opposition with faith and courage, trusting in Him to guide us through.
We have a shorter passage today, so that means we also have a little bit of a shorter outline.
Support and Assurance (2:9)
Opposition and Distress (2:10)
Support and Assurance (2:9)
Support and Assurance (2:9)
Read with me, starting in verse…
9 I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me.
God had provided for Nehemiah and the burden on Nehemiah’s heart with incredible generosity through the provisions of the King that we discussed last week. Notice how in this verse, it talks about how the king also sent military officers with Nehemiah when he had not requested them originally?
One way we could look at this is that the King’s graciousness toward Nehemiah is a reflection of God’s own graciousness towards us when we are pursuing His will. Not only does He give us what we need to accomplish His will, but He also goes above and beyond by providing things we fail to think of.
This is not a promise that God is going to give you all the resources your heart could desire if you pray really hard or tithe a certain amount - this is a reminder that if you are going about the Lord’s business that you will not be going alone - He is with you and He will protect you throughout the process. Even if this example is somewhat allegorical, the principle of God’s presence and provision in those who work on His behalf is well attested throughout Scripture.
When Moses fled Egypt because he murdered the Egyptian, God sent him to Jethro.
When the sailors threw Jonah overboard, God sent him a giant fish to take him exactly where he was supposed to go.
When Joseph’s was left desolate to rot in a jail cell, God sent him some cell mates to impress who would eventually play a part in getting him released.
Can you imagine what would have been going through Nehemiah’s mind at this point? He was on his way to do the Lord’s work, surrounded by military officers and infantrymen to protect him by order of King Artexexes. This would have surely been a great encouragement to him that not only was he doing what the Lord wanted him to do, but also that he had the support and backing he needed to get the job done!
I remember when I graduated with my Masters and when I completed my ordination trials how affirmed I felt that I was pursuing what the Lord wanted from me. I had the backing of the university, I had support and a recognition of the calling I felt in my life from the church - the support was astonishing!
There are times when we need this kind of affirmation - sometimes affirmation that we are accurately perceiving the burden we have felt in our hearts, or even affirmation that we are perceiving our role in that burden appropriately. Having that kind of affirmation is critical if we are going to be committed for the long-haul. I’m not saying we will all need to be surrounded by the King’s cavalry, but it is still important for us to know we have support when we need it.
Paul recognized this in the lives of the Thessalonians - a church who received more praise than the other churches in the New Testament because they were actively living out the Christian life the way they were supposed to be doing. He, for example, said this:
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
Here, Paul is acknowledging the Thessalonians are doing a good job in supporting those in ministry around them - the people who have had a burden from the Lord to teach and preach and lead the church towards Christlikeness.
In Nehemiah’s case, he isn’t necessarily going to preach with words or to open the Scriptures and elegantly describe the path the Lord wants the Israelites to walk, but his task from the Lord was a solemn one indeed! His job was to remind the Israelites of the importance of Jerusalem - that the capital city of the people of the Lord deserved to be protected and fortified from its enemies!
Nehemiah had rallied support from the King and received all he had asked for and more - the Lord used this to affirm that Nehemiah was - in fact - working as a commissioned solider for His name’s sake. But it wasn’t going to be all puppies and rainbows - just because we are working for the Lord doesn’t mean the task will be easy or without significant opposition or distress…
To fulfill God's purposes, we must be prepared to face opposition with faith and courage, trusting in Him to guide us through.
2. Opposition and Distress (2:10)
2. Opposition and Distress (2:10)
Read with me again, starting in verse…
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to pursue the prosperity of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.
It’s important to realize that the titles the author gives us hear identify for us, perhaps, their reason for being displeased with Nehemiah’s task.
Sanballat was a “Horonite.” This means that he came from either Beth-horon in Samaria or the Moabite city of Horoniam.
Tobiah was an “Ammonite.” The Ammonites were the descendants of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters after the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. There was tension throughout the history of Israel with the Ammonites because they didn’t share in Israel’s inheritance and because of the tension between the two peoples when Israel crossed through their land during the Exodus and during the conquest of Canaan in the time of Joshua.
There was tension there that the original readers would have picked up very quickly based on the descriptions. It would be similar to describing a bar fight between a German and and Englishman in the 1950’s. It might take us a couple minutes to put it together, but given the time period and what had just happened in the world, it wouldn’t be too hard to deduce that the fight was started because the two were on opposing sides of a horrible war.
So Nehemiah had his support network in place, he was protected by the King’s cavalry and officers and finally, we come to the first point of opposition that he will face - from these two governors who oppose what he is doing. At this point, the narrative doesn’t tell us any more than the fact that they were “greatly displeased.” If you have ever been around politics, you can probably discern in a whole-hurry that when someone is “greatly displeased” by something, it generally means that they are in full-blown meltdown behind closed doors. However, regardless of how passionately displeased they were at Nehemiah’s task at hand, he faced opposition from these two men.
Without getting into the nitty-gritty detail, there is a linguistic peculiarity happening here that is not visible in English. Mark Thontvite points out how the names of the two men (in Hebrew) contain the participle of -ra, which connotes evil. This is in stark contrast, through to Nehemiah, whose name has the participle of -ya, which connotes good. Throntveit’s conclusion is that the author is trying to suggest that their is a battle emerging between good and evil that can be seen in their very names. While I think it is an interesting hypothesis, I think that the author of Nehemiah was just trying to accurately portray the events as they happened.
This battle between good and evil, between Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem and those who would oppose him will overshadow the rest of the book. In terms of narrative writing, this is where the plot begins to thicken.
So what does this mean and what does it matter to us today? How should a simple land dispute with ethnically-charged overtones impact Christians living 25 centuries later?
Here are a few ideas:
Pursuing God’s Work….
Draws the Enemy’s Fire
Defines Friends
Deepens Faith
Draws the Enemy’s Fire
Draws the Enemy’s Fire
When we are working for the Lord, we can’t expect the enemy not to shoot at us. When We are doing what the Lord wants us to do, it will likely chap the enemy enough that he will endeavor to stop us.
12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.
Defines Friends
Defines Friends
The harsh reality is that sometimes those who we love dearly and consider to be our dearest friends will show that they aren’t actually with us through thick and thin: when the enemy is shooting at us, they’ll be the first to run and leave us behind. Or, we can be surprised when those who we would least expect will be there to help when we wouldn’t have expected them to.
17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.
21 But he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”
Deepens Faith
Deepens Faith
Whether we are talking about the church at large or the individual believer, there is a constant throughout all of Christianity that we have discussed at length - struggle strengthens our faith.
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act,
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.
10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
To fulfill God's purposes, we must be prepared to face opposition with faith and courage, trusting in Him to guide us through.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We see in these two short verses the adulation between having support and facing opposition. Both are important factors for us to consider when it comes to acting on burdens the Lord may give us. Like we mentioned before, there are certain burdens we should all have - like the burden the Lord has for unbelievers, or a burden to be holy like He is holy. Not all burdens will look like tasks for some noble deed or holy crusade. However, going about the Christian life and dying to self shouldn’t be considered boring or in-noble task, but rather the greatest assignment we could be given. After all, we know that not everyone gets the assignment or responds to the assignment, so the fact that we have the opportunity to respond at all means that God has already been at work in us and gives us the opportunity to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
We want to know the Lord and to see how the cross of Christ works powerfully in us for the outworking of His good and perfect will.
John Calvin said this…
There can be no courage in men unless God supports them by his Word.
John Calvin (French Reformer)
I was asked last week if there is a grand reason why we should be going through Nehemiah - a main lesson we should be learning from it. So far, I would say that this is it - we can do hard things and we can do all things if it is, in fact, God working in us through His power and His word. There is no reason why those who are in Christ should ever cower before the enemy, but rather should march triumphantly towards the goals that Christ sets in our hearts, trusting Him to use us as his servants. Another reason we should be going through it is because we see a glimpse of the Gospel in Nehemiah.
Think of it this way - when the people had shown God they cannot be faithful to Him, he followed through on His promise to punish them by removing them from His presence. Now, through no effort of their own, He is restoring them to the Promised Land and to their previous position by nothing other than His grace and love for the Israelite people.
I don’t believe that God speaks to us in an audible voice to tell us to do things. If I am completely honest, I find a lot of that kind of spirituality to be a little more based around sensationalism than in reality - but I do believe He guides and directs us through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. He speaks to us through His word and reminds us through prayer of the importance of His word and the sovereignty of His will - our job is to pursue Him and obey with every ounce of strength we have and relying on His perfect strength at work in us until the day He calls us home to be with Him in glory.
I am reminded of a great truth from the Psalms and I would like to read that together today - please stand with me:
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need.
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
