When the Nations Rage (2)

Introduction:

If you have your Bible go ahead and open it to Nehemiah chapter 4. We will be covering the whole chapter today. As you’re doing that, let me tell you how this story used to get acted out at my house. When our boys were small someone in our family got them very interested in sword fights. Usually these were with lightsabers but any stick or dowel would work. This eventually led to a day when Bethany was standing at the sink, doing dishes with one hand and holding a foam sword in her other for defending herself.

In today’s passage we’ll see God’s work face opposition, the response of the godly leader, and the work continue under watch by faith in God’s protection.

Last week we covered Nehemiah motivating and organizing the work to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem. Everyone was pitching in from priests to perfumers and temple servants. They each had a section based on what they could handle and where they lived. Work was underway. But the work would face opposition. Today we come to chapter 4 where a guy named Sanballat and his compatriots get worked up about what is going on in Jerusalem and decide they need to do something about it. As we read the text I want you to notice the differences in the way Sanballat and his ilk act and the way Nehemiah behaves in response.

Let’s read verses 1 through 15 of chapter 4.

Nehemiah 4:1–15 ESV

1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 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?” 3 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!” 4 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. 5 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. 6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 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. 8 And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. 10 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.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12 At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” 13 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. 14 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.” 15 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.

This is the Word of God. Let’s pray and ask God to help us understand and apply it to our lives.

I. Work for God faces opposition 4:1-15

We were previously introduced to this guy Sanballat who was governor of Samaria and led the opposition to the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. He’s angry over the prospect of the walls being built, possibly because he saw the work as a challenge to his authority. He was against any good thing happening for the Jews. He expresses this anger as mockery.

It’s easy for us to look at this and write Sanballat off as obviously the enemy in the story and that is true, but let’s not skip over his downfall.

Consider this: How often does our jealousy or concern for our position come out as mockery?

He is opposed to anyone who would seek the welfare of the Jews because he sees their improvement of position as a direct threat to his authority, or perceived authority in the area. Them doing good, in his mind, is bad for him.

Salballat was a selfish leader and it is striking to compare his leadership with that of Nehemiah.

For a couple of moments let’s compare selfish leadership and selfless leadership.

A. Selfish leadership vs Selfless leadership

Selfish - concern for self and position

Mockery

Inward focus

threat of physical harm to those who don’t comply

rage at assumed slight or someone else’s advancement

Not valiant - not Christlike

Selfless - concern for others improvement and equipping for their good.

Motivation

Inspiration - v. 14 directs them to the awe inspiring God

defense of the faithful workers

love

valiant - Christlike

We see these two forms of leadership emerge even in the church from time to time. Which one describes your life?

After we read the jeering of Sanballat and some words from Tobiah the Ammonite (a Persian official governing the Ammonite region) beside him, we have an interjection and we see that the godly leader, Nehemiah responds by seeking God.

II. Godly leaders respond by seeking God. (v.4-5)

In verses four and five, Nehemiah interjects a prayer in his own voice.

Let’s see again what he prays:

Nehemiah 4:4–5 ESV

4 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. 5 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.

Praying to God showed that Nehemiah understood who was really in control of this building project and who was the only one who could truly protect them from this threat. I’m sure this threat was discouraging to the people. It was in direct opposition to what the king had allowed but they were here, about 1,100 miles from Susa. That’s somewhere around a 55 day journey.

He prays here for deliverance from their enemies. This is similar to what we see in the prayers for deliverance from enemies in the book of Psalms. If you want to see some you can check Psalm 74 or Psalm 79.

He prays that what they wish for him would be visited back on them. He prays that they would be thwarted and suffer captivity. This sounds violent to our modern ears and it is. But you need to understand the motive here.

His motive in this prayer is not revenge on these bad guys. His motive is to honor God. That is because God is the real subject of their insults and of the purposes that they don’t understand. This is not about striking back at someone who has come against you but about God doing justice to His enemies.

Sanballat and Tobiah and anyone with them had set themselves up not only as the enemy of the people but as the enemies of God, whom the people worked on behalf of to honor and glorify.

Nehemiah was praying for God’s justice on God’s enemies. He prays for God to conquer His enemies.

God’s justice does sometimes lead to repentance of people like Sanballat. Nehemiah leaves that unstated here of course.

James Hamilton, Jr. writes,

There is nothing wrong with praying for God to uphold justice against those who oppose His people. Nor is this in conflict with Jesus’ instruction, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). It is not loving to want someone to continue in their evil and avoid God’s justice. It is loving to desire that God would deliver someone from his or her evil by means of the revelation of His justice against them.Nehemiah’s imprecatory prayer calls for God’s justice against Sanballat and Tobiah’s wicked opposition to the good purposes of God. God’s justice against them may result in their salvation, but if they continue in unrepentant sin, God’s justice will result in their damnation. Nehemiah prays that they would not continue unpunished in their unrepentant sin. - James Hamilton, Jr.

Nehemiah bathed the work in prayer and then went back to work. Look at how verse 6 starts. It’s so matter of fact.

Nehemiah 4:6 ESV

6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

Let’s not skip over that too fast. He prayed to God, put his trust in God, and then picked the trowel back up. It says the people had a mind to work. God gave them a deep desire to do the work. He used Nehemiah to inspire them and then God sustained the desire that He gave them. Adn the work continued.

III. The work continues in faith and watchfulness.

Let’s continue to read in verses 15 through 23.

Nehemiah 4:15–23 ESV

15 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. 16 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, 17 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. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 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. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” 21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 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.” 23 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.

So the enemies of the people of God have a plan and it is frustrated. The building of the wall continues with half the workers’ attention given to defense. They had prayed and trusted God and kept their weapons close at hand. They were ready to defend the city and the work should the need arise from an attack.

I want you to see that God often accomplishes His purposes through ordinary human means.

Examples:

Birth of Jesus into the world - human birth

Jesus is fully God and fully man and yet was born to a virgin but still had to be born through the process of human birth. There were contractions and pushing. Then Jesus was born and lived an extraordinary life free from sin. But God works often through ordinary human means to accomplish His purposes.

He works extraordinarily in our ordinary.

2. The Spirit works through the ordinary means of grace to sanctify us and grow us.

We should be about the ordinary means of grace:

The Word

Prayer

The Ordinances - baptism and the Lord’s Supper

So what is the posture of the people as they face the opposition and continue to work they have been called to?

- Prayerful, prepared, and productive

There are a couple of different ways a leader could lead an army. He could lead from behind, telling each division where to go and what to do. There is another type of leader who leads from the front of the army. He’s right there in the trenches with his fellow warriors.

Illustration:

The scene in the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King towards the end, about 3 and a half hours in… When Aragorn leads the remaining soliders to the Black Gates to distract the enemy so that Frodo can get the One Ring to Mordor… He leads the charge. “FOR FRODO.”

Nehemiah armed the people. They were equipped for work and for defense. This is simiar to the work of a pastor. My job is to equip you for life and ministry.

Defense - Doctrine and understanding the Word.

Work - Life and Ministry

Conclusion:

The opposition to the rebuilding of these walls prefigures the opposition faced by the church and Christians. We face opposition as well.

The mockery, anger, and jeering of the world comes at us.

What form does the mocking of the world take?

Comments about the church and accusations of us being unloving or hateful when we proclaim what is right and wrong according to the Word of God. They jeer when we rightly proclaim that the Lord God is the true God and that there is salvation only in Jesus Christ.

The mocking comes in person, in culture, in politics, and via social media.

Against the threats that faced them the workers were on guard both day and night.

What might we be on guard about day and night as the church?

False Teaching

Idolatry, selfishness, greed

mission drift

The tools for defense and building:

The Word - the sword

Making disciples - the trowel

Verse 6 tells us that the people a “mind to work”. God gave the people a deep desire to see the work done and He sustained that desire during the time the wall was being built.

You might notice that they redoubled their efforts to see the work completed when facing discouragement. Let it be an encouragement to you today to not let opposition or discouragement keep you from pressing forward in the work that God has called you and us to.

Have a mind to work at making disciples, trusting that the God who gave you the deep desire to see the work done will sustain you during the work.

Without Him none of this is possible and everything would be meaningless.

PRAY