OVERCOMING OPPOSITION

REVIEW

Nehemiah: Restoring the Testimony of God ~ Stephen Kaung

Nehemiah (ne-he-mi’-ah) = Jehovah comforts; Jehovah has consoled; the comfort of GOD; i.e., the aid of the LORD; (roots = [1] to comfort; [2] Jehovah).

John 14:16 AMP 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever…

Restoration of the Temple by Ezra represents the born again experience wherein a person receives a new Spirit. The restoration represents transformation by the renewing of the mind?

God provides the conversion, but He does not build the wall. That is our responsibility. God makes covenant, man must keep it.

Did you ever wonder why God did not build a wall around the Garden of Eden?

Genesis 2:15 AMP

15 And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it.

Walls are not built with a single stone, at best, you could make door, but never a wall. The responsibility for what comes into a church doctrinally falls on the Pastor, as under-shepherd, he is doorway to the fold. The protection and nurturing and overall safety and health of the flock requires a wall. Corporately, we are that wall.

The rebuilding of the wall is a picture of the establishment of corporate worship, witness, and labor.

1 Peter 2:5 NLT

5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

Stephen Kaung - Nehemiah: Restoring the Testimony of God

Together we can create and outer court where the lost can come and experience the worship and presence of God. Where the broken and hurting can experience conversion and transformation.

The walls of Jerusalem represent separation from Babylon, the place of confusion. The fewer the walls, the more confusion, whether in an individual, church, or nation.

Walls are not built by regulations, it is built by separation through intimate knowledge and relationship with Jesus.

Religion provides rules aimed at isolation. A relationship produces separation from the world while still allowing a person to love and serve humanity.

Stones, irregular, various shapes, colors, and sizes; no 2 exactly the same. Not bricks, uniform, neat, and dead. A living testimony to the Kingdom of God.

Stephen Kaung - Nehemiah: Restoring the Testimony of God

God’s people are in spiritual captivity today, and the testimony of Jesus is almost unknown. In the same way, long ago, the children of Israel were in captivity; the city lay in ruin, and the temple destroyed, and God had no name or testimony on earth. He was the God of heavens, but not the God of the heavens and the earth. But there was a remnant willing to leave everything behind and go back to the ruins because they wanted to rebuild and honor God’s name. They wanted to worship God, to serve God, and satisfy God’s heart..

God’s call to His people today is to come out of the complexity and the perplexity of the world (Babylon) and return to the simplicity that is in Christ (Jerusalem), gathering together unto His name. “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Return to Jerusalem to worship Him, to offer spiritual sacrifices to Him, and to serve Him, that the Lord Jesus may again have a name on this earth.

What is the concern of your heart today? Is it that since you live comfortably, you do not care for the testimony of Jesus? True, it will be difficult for those who want to maintain the testimony of Jesus. There will be many afflictions and reproaches. Your brothers and sisters are already on the verge of spiritual annihilation. Do you give yourself to prayer for the Lord’s testimony? Do you plead with God on their behalf? If you do, I believe the burden of the Lord will come upon you—as with Nehemiah - to go back and rebuild the wall and city. Oh, that God’s people may be built up together for the testimony of Jesus and the glory of God!”

Stephen Kaung - Nehemiah: Restoring the Testimony of God Christian Fellowship Publishers

BACKGROUND

During this Old Testament Biblical period, from which the Book of Nehemia is take, God was never called the God of the heavens and the earth? He was only called the God of the heavens. The Earth was lost by Adam. While the earth still belonged to God, He was not the God of it.

2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

During the period of time in which God had no worship, no defined representation in the Earth, He had no no testimony of himself to show to the world.

REMINDER!

1 John 4:4 NLT

4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

NEHEMIAH CHAPTER 4

From without and within.

Nehemiah 4:1–3 NLT

1 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, 2 saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”

Remember the antagonists of our story that we discussed earlier in this series?

The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names Sanballat

Sanballat (san-bal’-lat) = Hate in disguise; the enemy is secret. Chaldean: A hidden branch. Hatred (or throne) in secret.

Sanballat the Horonite;

The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names Tobiah

Tobiah (to-bi’-ah) = Distinguished of the LORD; Jehovah is good.

Nehemiah 4:4–5 NLT

4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”

There times when God means to establish a thing, whether it agrees with our sensibilities or not.

Consider Ananias and Sapphire:

Acts 5:1–11 NLT

1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” 5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.” 9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” 10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

If lying is a capital offense? Why aren’t I dead already?!?

I can answer the second question; God knows the difference between weakness and wickedness.

As to the first...

As in our time, there is much at stake in the restoration of God’s witness in the Earth.

Nehemiah 4:6 NLT

6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm.

A picture of spiritual growth. Boundaries established.

Nehemiah 4:7–17 NLT

7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” 15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon.

This is a picture of the maturing believer recognizing and embracing spiritual warfare.

Much of spiritual warfare in the life of a believer isn’t binding and loosing (see Matthew 18:18), bur rather takes place in the discipline of the thought life.

2 Corinthians 10:5 TPT

5 We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.

Nehemiah 4:8–23 NLT

8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” 15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm. 19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!” 21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. 22 I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. 23 During this time, none of us—not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water.

The pedigree, nor the profession defined who worked on the wall. All worked on the wall. Possessions, titles, and professions where seen as tools that could useful to building the kingdom, and not the defining goal of their lives.

Nehemiah 4:7–23 NLT

7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” 15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm. 19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!” 21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. 22 I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. 23 During this time, none of us—not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water.

Next Week we will discuss the opposition from within beginning in Nehemiah Chapter 5.