Brick and the Sword

Good morning boys. Before we get into the word let’s pray. A trailmen honors God. (Pray) Today gentlemen we are going to be getting are scripture out of Nehemiah. Specifically Nehemiah Chapter 4. Can anyone hear tell me who Nehemiah was? Nehemiah was a descendant of the original Jewish exiles living in the Persian empire. It has been 140 years since It is likely that he has never seen his people's homeland. He enjoyed a comfortable position as the cupbearer of the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes. He was a trusted servant. In chapter 1 Nehemiah gets a report from his brother and some men from Judah. The once great city of Jerusalem is in shambles. the walls are broken down, and the gates have been destroyed with fire, leaving the city defenseless and the people with no protection. This news shocks Nehemiah, and he fasts and prays for days. After that He goes to the emperor and asks to be sent to Jerusalem to ensure that walls, gates and other fortifications are repaired. The emperor grants Nehemiah what he asked for because the hand of God was a upon Him. Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem. He inspects the walls, gathers the materials and organizes the people to task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s defences. The walls and and gates. and that is where we find Nehemiah at the start of chapter 4. Lets look at that passage together. Nehemiah 4:1-9

Nehemiah 4:1–9 ESV

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem are being successfully. We see very quickly that they are able to go from no walls to half of the walls rebuilt in a relatively short span of time. But what else to do we see? We see enemies rising up, seeking to work against the Jews and their task to rebuild. Which brings me to my first point.

Any time you are pursuing God’s will, enemies are going to rise up. Obstacles are going to spring up. Maybe the Lord wants you to go into ministry, but you dont have the money to do so.

When need to remember that God is bigger than any obstacles or enemy that is before us. And if we are following His will for our lives then we can count on Him being able to remove them from our path. Which brings me to point two.

What does Nehemiah do immediately upon getting this report? He prays. No matter what we are facing. No matter how much work we have before us, no matter what obstacles are praying, in all things we need to pray first.

Jeremiah 29:12 ESV

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

Men we need to pray more than we do. I am speaking to myself on this one. Scripture is clear on the power of prayer. We need to ensure that it is a part of our every day lives. Lets continue in Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 4:10–14 ESV

In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

So we have experience the enemies, next up the people face weariness. They are tired. They have been working and working, but they are still only halfway done. They are exhausted and discouraged, and on top of that their enemies are intending to invade to stop their work with physical violence. What does Nehemiah do? How does he handle this calamity? He arms the people and reorganizes them by family. He posts the people at the weakest parts of the defense. Then he reminds them of whom it is they serve. in verse 14.

Why did Nehemiah do these things? Reorganizing the people by their family groups allowed those that were weary to draw strength from the presence and ministry of those who love them. Family can be key encourages when we are going through hardship. Nehemiah also understood that the people would fight harder for their loved ones than for strangers. Now I know that not every has a get family life some of us hear may not can rely on our families for encouragement. But I look around this group today and I see a family. Scripture tells us that for those that have faith in Jesus Christ we are brother and sisters in Christ. We need to be there for each other to encourage and lend strength to each other in times of trouble. Amen. Lets look at what happens next.

Nehemiah 4:15–23 ESV

When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.