Nehemiah 4
Notes
Transcript
Handout
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.
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.
We should prepare ourselves (and even more so new Christians) for persecution. In all honesty, if Satan isn’t attacking you one of three things is happening: he’s just got through beating you down, he’s getting ready to beat you down, or you’re already on his side. If we look at the example of Christ, all throughout His ministry there were people trying to discredit Him, ridicule Him, mock Him, and in the end they succeeded in having Him put to death.
Not only does this occur in our personal lives, but also in the life of our church. In many cases, when a church gets on fire for the Lord, opposition is soon coming. It is well known that opposition soon comes when change occurs in a church, and unfortunately it’s not always from those outside the church but also within. It can be new members that are faced with the challenge of the establishment - they perceive a threat. It can be new ministry - God moves and satan quickly retaliates by placing obstacles in the way. A person or group of people feel the urge of God to move in one direction and soon there is opposition to them personally or corporately. It can be discouraging, it can be frustrating, and it can be devastating - in any of these cases, satan wins. So what happens? We enter into a phase of “status quo”. We get tired of fighting battles, we get run down by the opposition, we concede and give in or worse give up.
Nehemiah was facing the struggles of opposition, and while it was not within the returning remnant but also within those who were the “left over” Jews. They had just started rebuilding the walls of the city when it caught the eyes of those in opposition and word quickly spread. If the Jews regained their strength, Sanballat and those in his “gang” could potentially lose their power and influence. They were more interested in their position, recognition, and honor as local leader than what God was doing with His people. They had to stop the Jews, and they knew they had to stop them. Keep them weak and they could control them.
Opposition to the Building
Opposition to the Building
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!”
Sanballat is also referred to as the “Horonite”, who was governor of Samaria. Horon was located in an area between the tribal territories of Ephraim and Benjamin in Northern Israel. He felt the building strength of the Jews would jeopardize his authority and influence, which ultimately would impact his wealth through the payoffs received from local businesses and commodities sold. What was the first method he used? Ridicule - he tried his best to tear them down.
“feeble Jews”
“they surely can’t rebuild themselves”
It would take more than God to rebuild the wall
They don’t even have the necessary materials, they’re using burned, cracked stones!
Tobiah the Ammonite - the Ammonites originated from the incestuous relationship between Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and his younger daughter, resulting in the birth of Ben-ammi.
Tobiah mocked the strength of the wall, suggesting it would collapse under the weight of a fox.
These opposers wanted them stopped in any way, form, or fashion - and they tried their best to get it stopped.
Response
Response
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.
Nehemiah and the Jews faced this opposition as best they could, they prayed and then they persevered.
Nehemiah prayed to God and poured out his heart.
We are despised
Turn their reproach (disapproval, disgrace) upon their own head
Give them over to captivity
The results of their opposition to God, and God’s response is noted in scripture (Isaiah 11:14, Jeremiah 9:25-26, Zephaniah 2:8-9).
14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.
25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
But even in the opposition, Nehemiah and the people continued their work. As a result, they had brought it to half its original height.
Plotting
Plotting
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.
The fact that they continued to work and had completed half the wall infuriated the opposition. Here we get a fuller list of who was opposed to the work. Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites.
Now, words of discouragement were not enough, they plotted against the Jews. How will we stop them?
Again, Nehemiah faced this challenge with prayer. But notice they also took action - they set a guard as a protection against them (the opposition) day and night.
To often we (Christians) have the faith to pray, but not the drive to do. We pray and turn it over to God, but then sit on our blessed assurance waiting for God to perform a miracle instead of continuing to do His work.
I see a great opportunity here at our church - we have a desperate and immediate need for a family ministry. If we want to remain relevant in our community, we have to get something here for parents and their children. I ask that we come together in prayer as we seek God’s direction in how we should do this, but more importantly I ask that God place it on our hearts to come together and make this ministry a REALITY. So, where do we start? First, we have to do as these leaders in the bible, come together to pray, clean the rubble from our foundation, and work together to see the ministry come to fruition. Our first opportunity to reach children in our community is through Vacation Bible School. While we are going to hold a one-day VBS this year, we will need teachers, we will need music leaders, we will need games and activities, we will need crafts, but most of all we need the church praying for this outreach ministry and the person God has called to help lead.
Discouragement
Discouragement
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.”
One of the hardest things (I think) to do is “keep on keeping on” in the face of opposition and discouragement. The opposition knew this was a hard task and used that as a way to antagonize those working to complain about their fatigue.
Physically, the workers were exhausted. We have to remember, they had to remove all the rubble before they could rebuild.
The workers were worn out. Long hours had them not only physically, but mentally and emotionally spent. Don’t you find you’re easier frustrated when your tired and worn out?
Knowing their weakness, the opposition used this as a way to get the Jewish workers grumbling and complaining about the heavy work load and long hours. They were trying their best to start a revolt from within. Don’t we see this with “antagonizers”? They love to just poke and prod and try to stir up controversy!
How did they do this? Remember, many of these in opposition were “related” to the workers and had infiltrated the ranks. Disguised as workers, they were really trouble makers.
But here is how they (and we can) overcome. They had to draw of the strength of the Lord. When we get discouraged, we have to keep pressing on.
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul gives us a great example! We have to remember the setting here - Paul was in prison, probably in Rome, awaiting trial and execution. If anyone had a reason to be discouraged, it was Paul! But he knew giving in to discouragement would ultimately lead to defeat - and he wouldn’t give satan that satisfaction.
When we are at our weakest, we need to turn to the Lord more than ever and ask Him to sustain us from the feelings of despair and defeat. Then, we have to get up and get back to work.
Threats & Intimidation
Threats & Intimidation
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.
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.
Their enemies meant business - even if it meant killing the Jews to get their way. They plotted an attack. Rumors of the attack was whispered in the countryside, and it was played up to the highest - they’re going to surround you and come at you from every direction - and it will be when you least expect it. They were using a fear tactic.
Once Nehemiah heard of the threat, he immediately responded. He prepared for combat. Now, isn’t that just an ungodly way to respond… Shouldn’t Nehemiah have prayed for the concern and expected God to take care of it? Oh church, how often do we pray, but then don’t act! Now might be a good time to do a study on the spiritual warfare we face daily! I mean, we are told we are to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. We are in a constant battle in this life, and must prepare for warfare!
The way Nehemiah faced the threat was to make sure each family had swords, spears, and bows. The opposition had been found out! As the old saying goes, beware your sins will find you out! In verse 15, it got back to the enemies that they knew, that God had not heard their heathen prayer, and that they were continuing their work on the wall.
The builders came back together with their swords on their side. A trumpet was used to sound the call if an attack was to be made because they were so spread apart, and they knew God would see the work complete. Notice how this worked: half of them worked during the day while half kept watch, and then they switched jobs.
Could you image what we could do as the corporate body of Christ to change the world if we came together to do the build the Lord’s kingdom instead of arguing over things that have no eternal value?
One thing we must remember, we are not in this war of life and we don’t fight spiritual battles alone. We are stronger as the corporate body of Christ. If we try to live life alone, it is a hard, lonely, discouraging task that will weaken us over time. We need the support of other believers. This is why we see mature, godly men called to teach younger men, and mature, godly women to teach younger women. We must see the need to not only evangelize, but to mentor other Christians so they too can grow stronger in their faith.
Verses 21-23 shows us that the effort to rebuild the wall was a constant battle. So is life. It is an ongoing work, a constant battle, but together - we can see the Lord’s work completed.