Nehemiah 03: Restoration Brings Opposition Pt1

INTRODUCTION

Nehemiah: Restoring A Nation:

“Restoration Brings Opposition” Pt1

INTRODUCTION

Last Lord’s Day, we began a series on the book of Nehemiah in which we are focusing on Nehemiah’s efforts to bring restoration among the remnant who had returned from exile to Jerusalem. Throughout this book, he leads the people of God in restoring the nation, beginning with the walls of Jerusalem in chapters 1-7, and then moving on to the restoration of the people themselves.

The things that Nehemiah does for his nation serve as a good example for us as we seek restoration in our own lives as Christians.

WHAT IS RESTORATION?

And what do I mean by restoration? A good parallel that I have used to illustrate what I mean when I use this term is restoring automobiles. You begin with a vehicle that does not look like it did when it first left the showroom floor, and your desire in restoring this vehicle is to get it to look like it did when it was originally designed and built.

This is what we are aiming for as God’s people — to return to what God first intended at the creation of mankind — that we would be individuals who submit to His rule as those who are made in His image. We are being transformed into the image of Christ so we can enjoy the relationship with Him that He made us to have. This is a daily, life-long process for all of us as we help others to be restored to God and grow in a relationship with Him and as we ourselves work in our hearts to accomplish the same.

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH

As we have been studying, Nehemiah did the work of restoration among the remnant that returned from captivity around 445BC and the years following. Because the hand of the Lord was with him for good, his desire to help the people of God in Jerusalem and his prayers were answered. King Artaxerxes, who Nehemiah served as the cupbearer, allowed Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem and gave him everything he needed for the job of building the walls and rebuilding the city.

OPPOSITION

But it is not the case that Nehemiah’s efforts were without opposition. God’s work seldom happens without some kind of opposition. It is just the case that Satan always looks for opportunities to oppose the purposes of God, so it should not surprise us that he desires to do this in Nehemiah’s situation.

We are first introduced to the enemies of the builders in chapter 2. I referred to this verse already, but in 2:10, their enemies are described:

“10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.” (, ESV)

Throughout the time that they are building the walls, these enemies try to stop the work, and there are some good principles for us to take from these chapters to apply to our own efforts of restoration.

Just as God’s work received opposition from these men, I believe wholeheartedly that Satan will respond the same today when we decide to get to work in bringing restoration.

So with these thoughts in mind, I would like to look at how the enemy tried to stop the workers from rebuilding the walls. All of our points today will start with the letter D:

DOUBT (2:19)

First, we see them try to get the workers to doubt. They hear about how the builders decided to get to work, and they told the workers in 2:19:

“19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”” (, ESV)

From the very beginning of the work, we see that there was opposition. There was hatred for their work. They did not want Jerusalem to be protected. They didn’t want to see this work get finished. So they question why it is that they are doing this work? “Who gave you the right to do this?” is what they are asking. They knew very well that king Artaxerxes had stopped the building. Why were they beginning the work again? They just want to plant that little bit of doubt in their hearts.

Do they really believe what Nehemiah told them. Do they really believe the hand of God was with him in his planning and in the king’s blessing? May it be the case that it was just coincidence and God wasn’t really with them? Are they in fact rebelling against Artaxerxes, the king who stopped the building of these walls?

So what is their response? They continue to trust God.

Look at verse 20 of chapter two.

“20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”” (, ESV)

They believed that God was with Nehemiah in his efforts to plan all this work, and they believed that God would bless their efforts in building. They won’t let the intimidation stop them. In chapter 3:1, they get to work.

DERISION (4:1-6)

But then, in 4:1-6, the enemies heard that they were working on the wall. They saw that trying to get them to doubt Nehemiah’s words did not work. So now, they decide to try mocking them in order to demoralize them. Let’s read verses 1-3.

“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!”” (, ESV)

They are enraged that the questions they asked to get the people to doubt were unsuccessful. So now they mock the workers. They don’t pull back punches here. Through some rhetorical questions, they try to show that the work they are doing will be unsuccessful. Look at the things they say to mock God’s workers: they call them feeble - which means that they are lacking the strength to get the job done. The speak as though the Jews are going to need a lot of help if they ever think they will get it done. “Will they do it themselves?” They better sacrifice to their God, that way they may have a prayer to get the job done… The way they speak, they believe it would take a miracle to turn the rubble that was before them into walls that would protect the city. Then Tobiah mocks them, saying that a fox could jump on the wall and break it down. Who needs men with battering rams when a fox can jump on the work they had done and get the wall to crumble?

THE RESPONSE

So how does Nehemiah respond? It is no surprise that he keeps on doing what he has done so much already in this book. He prays to God. He knows that the mocking can be demoralizing. Words are powerful. They can hinder the strongest of people. But God is stronger, so Nehemiah asks God to help them be successful. The language that Nehemiah uses may not be comfortable for us. But with these men opposing the purposes of God, Nehemiah prays, understanding that as long as these men remained, they would do all that is in their power to trouble God’s workers. He understands what God feels about these men. They are not opposing just men, but God. So Nehemiah prays that God would, without mercy, remove these wicked men from the land. You see prayers like this in both the Old and New Testaments — prayers were God’s people call upon the Lord to bring judgment and to rid them of those who trouble them.

The builders here would not be demoralized. They continued to trust in the Lord. We are told in verse 6 that they got the wall joined together to half it’s height. The words of their enemies would not keep them from doing what’s right. They had a mind to work. They were devoted to it.

DREAD (4:7-14)

OK, so now what can the enemy do? What can Satan do to stop these builders who are intent on getting the work done? Well, let’s look at verses 7-8:

“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.” (, ESV)

They just won’t let up! They decide to turn up the heat! If words won’t stop the builders, let’s attack them! You have the Arabs from the south, Sanballat and those from Samaria from the north, and Tobiah and the Ammonites from the east, and the Arabs from the west. You have enemies from every direction desiring to join together to come against God’s people. Now, it is difficult to know for sure if they were just giving threats, or if they were really going to come and fight. It may just be words because they may have heard about the letters that Nehemiah brought from the king that showed the king’s blessing of Nehemiah’s work. Nonetheless, the news of the plotting of Sanballat and Tobiah and their allies makes it’s way to Jerusalem.

So what does Nehemiah and the builders do? It’s no surprise, in verse 9: they prayed again! They prayed, and then they did what was necessary to prepare for any attacks that may have come.

But then in verses 10-11, it does seem like these threats led some to get discouraged. They were afraid that they would not have the strength to fight off the enemy while they are working, and that by the time they saw the enemy coming, it would be too late.

From a human standpoint it might be argued that Nehemiah missed a good opportunity to give up. But he didn't give up against these odds. He did what he could, stationing more people at the places in the wall more vulnerable to attack. Then he stood up and said, don’t be afraid of these guys... you need to REMEMBER THE LORD. The Lord is faithful. He is great and awesome, and He is on our side. We have the Lord, and remember at what we are fighting for. We are fighting for our family, our homes. We cannot give up!

But Nehemiah didn’t depend upon their own strength or fighting ability. He knew that the only way they could be victorious was to trust in the Lord!

Think about this: Never after any victory in Bible history; never did God appear on the scene after the battle and say to His people: "I have to hand It to you. You did it all by yourself; all I did was watch and you overcame the enemy." You will not find such a passage. Those who trusted in the Lord were the ones who won their battles. When the Israelites came into the Promised Land, God fought for them.

And Nehemiah knew that He and the builders were not acting alone in their restoration project, and in any battle that may come.

APPLICATION

There are so many great examples about how to deal with what the enemy throws at us to try to get us stop the work of restoration we are doing for the Lord. Satan’s tactics have not changed. He still tries to stop us from doing our work by getting us to doubt or to fear what man can do to us. He still tries to demoralize God’s people through the mocking of the world. And he still tries to deceive God’s people. The question we need to ask ourselves as we bring this lesson to a close is: How will we respond as Satan tries to stop our work of restoration?

Will we trust in the Lord.? Will we pray? Will we do what is necessary to strengthen each other? Will we continue to share the Gospel with those who are lost and with those who have fallen so they can be restored to a relationship with Christ?

Or will we be paralyzed by fear? Will we do little to call a brother or sister to repentance because we are afraid they will get upset with us? Do we put off sharing the Gospel with someone because we are afraid they won’t like us any more or that it will hurt our relationship with them? We may often say things like, “I just don’t know what to say to them,” when in reality we are just afraid and lack the courage to do what is right.

Will we be demoralized by how others despise us or look down on us or criticize what we do? We too often desire the worlds approval for all that we do. We desire praise, and when we get the opposite, we just shut down and stop working. We need to remember that if the world hated Jesus and His disciples, then they will hate anyone who shines the light of Christ to them. The world will try to call us judgmental. They will say that our work is worthless or meaningless. They will even say that we are acting immoral based on their standards. Remember this: the fact that you may get criticized or judged by the world does not mean that Jesus is not pleased with you, and what is most important for us as Christians is that JESUS be pleased with us, not the world. Our goal is not to seek to please men in the world, but God.

Will we allow Satan to lead us to doubt? Satan will always throw his flaming arrows to cause us to doubt. Did God really say that He created the world in 6 days? Did God really say that homosexuality is a sin? Does God really say that sex outside of marriage is a sin? The list could go on and on. Satan will always try to get us to doubt what God has said, and we cannot let him. We need to stand firm in the teaching of scripture and not allow anything said by the servants of Satan in the world to lead us to doubt.

Let us resolve today to not be paralyzed by fear, demoralized when people despise us, or moved to doubt the God who gives us life, breath, and all things.

CONCLUSION