Make Progress in the Midst of a Mess
Background
The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse or intimidate the builders. The plot being discovered, Nehemiah adopted the most energetic measures for ensuring the common safety, as well as the uninterrupted building of the walls. Hitherto the governor, for the sake of despatch, had set all his attendants and guards on the work—now half of them were withdrawn to be constantly in arms. The workmen labored with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other; and as, in so large a circuit, they were far removed from each other, Nehemiah (who was night and day on the spot, and, by his pious exhortations and example, animated the minds of his people) kept a trumpeter by his side, so that, on any intelligence of a surprise being brought to him, an alarm might be immediately sounded, and assistance rendered to the most distant detachment of their brethren. By these vigilant precautions, the counsels of the enemy were defeated, and the work was carried on apace. God, when He has important public work to do, never fails to raise up instruments for accomplishing it, and in the person of Nehemiah, who, to great natural acuteness and energy added fervent piety and heroic devotion, He provided a leader, whose high qualities fitted him for the demands of the crisis. Nehemiah’s vigilance anticipated every difficulty, his prudent measures defeated every obstruction, and with astonishing rapidity this Jerusalem was made again “a city fortified.”
4:10 Judah said The Jewish people were lamenting their circumstances (compare note on Lam 1:1–5:22). Their resolve for the task of completing the wall is fading; they are in despair.
too much dirt This is probably a reference to walls that were still collapsed from Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:8–12; compare Neh 2:13, 17).
4:11 They will not know nor see The enemies of the Jewish people believed they could secretly undermine the work of the Jewish people and ultimately kill them.
4:12 ten times Possibly idiomatic for a large number (Gen 31:7; Num 14:22; Job 19:3). The people who had come in from the surrounding villages to work on the wall are being told by their friends and relatives to give up the work and protect themselves.
4:13 the deepest part It seems that Nehemiah places people as military guards according to their family or tribal distinctions in locations particularly vulnerable to attack, but still sheltered.
their swords, spears, and bows Swords and spears were the principal weapons used in hand-to-hand combat, while bows were customarily used at longer ranges.
4:14 Do not be afraid Nehemiah encourages both leaders of the Jewish people, and all those listening to his commands, to have courage and fight for one another.
the Lord Although the Hebrew word used here, adon, is the generic word for “lord” or “master” and not the divine name, the context suggests Nehemiah is talking about God (compare Neh 4:20).
III. Discouragement (4:10)
The battle moves now from outside the city to inside. Satan followed this same tactic in Acts 5–6 when he used Ananias and Sapphira and the complaining widows inside the fellowship of the church. He also used Judas inside the ranks of the apostles. How discouraged the workers were, with all that rubbish on the inside of the city and the danger lurking on the outside. Why did the tribe of Judah complain? Perhaps it was because they were secretly in league with Sanballat (6:17). Note in 13:15 Judah’s disobedience to the Law of God. When they said, “We are not able!” (v. 10), they were actually agreeing with the enemy (4:2). Discouragement and complaining spread rapidly and hinder God’s work. We do not read that Nehemiah paid much attention to their complaint; he kept on building, watching, and praying.
IV. Fear (4:11–23)
Fear and faith can never abide in the same heart. In v. 11, we have a rumor the enemy started that their armies would suddenly invade Jerusalem. The Jews living outside the city heard this report and carried it to Nehemiah ten times. How persistent Satan’s workers can be. Finally, Nehemiah set the guard on the walls and encouraged the people not to fear. Note that the work stopped from v. 13 to v. 15—exactly what the enemy wanted. Nehemiah saw the folly of this plan, so he put the workers back on the job, a weapon in one hand and a tool in the other. He also set a special watch with trumpets (vv. 19–20), but he did not allow the work to stop. These Jews are wonderful examples of what a Christian worker ought to be: they had a mind to work (4:6), a heart to pray (4:9), an eye to watch (4:9), and an ear to hear (4:20).
V 1–3: MALICIOUS MOCKING Sanballat and Tobiah are furious that the work is carrying on well and they mock the Jews. Sanballat maligns them before his own brethren and the Samaritan army, and Tobiah comments that even a fox on the wall will knock it down. God’s people have always been mocked by the unbelieving world and always will be. V 4–6: PRAYERFUL PERSISTENCE Nehemiah prays that God will deal with His enemies and they continue to build the wall, until the whole wall is built up to half its full height. The people have ‘a mind to work’. V 7–12: FEARFUL FRAILTY The opposition increases, as Sanballat and Tobiah are joined by Arabs, Ammonites and Ashdodites who conspire to come and attack Nehemiah’s men and cause confusion. Prayer is made and a watch is set day and night by Nehemiah. Judah, however, complains that the labourers’ strength is failing and there is so much rubbish that they cannot build the wall. They discourage the Jews nearby. The counter-attack of enemies outside, and the fear and frailty of God’s people within, give Nehemiah a challenging position to handle. V 13–14: POSITIVE PROVISION Nehemiah does two things: he reminds all the nobles, leaders and people that God is on their side and they should not be afraid; but he also positions armed guards at the gaps to protect the wall and its workers. Most biblical solutions involve a trust in God and a willingness to act wisely and boldly. V 15–18: BATTLING BUILDERS Nehemiah’s response, under God, brings his enemies’ plots to nothing. From then on, the team is both battling and building. Half do the building while the other half keeps an armed vigilance against possible attack. Every builder has a weapon with him and every soldier is prepared to build. They are encouraged by the presence with them of their leader, Nehemiah, and having a trumpet to sound an alarm if that is necessary. V 19–20: ENCOURAGING EXHORTATION Nehemiah encourages and exhorts them. God will fight for them and, if they are separated by an attack, the trumpet will sound and support will come from other members of God’s team. If they hear the trumpet, they are to go and fight for their brethren under attack. V 21–23: CONTINUAL COMMITMENT From daybreak until the stars appear, the work is resolutely carried on without break except at night time when the wall is guarded. Personal hygiene is maintained. Their clothes only come off for washing!
4 Warding Off Opposition
Sanballat’s extreme anger over the rebuilding program suggests that the Samarian governor assumed a degree of jurisdiction over Jerusalem—jurisdiction increasingly threatened with each course of stones the Jews add to the fortifications. That the belittling allied opposition actually takes the project quite seriously becomes clear in their conspiracy to attack from all directions. The inhabitants of formerly Philistine Ashdod represent the western flank, with Sanballat of Samaria to the north, the Ammonites to the east, and the Arabs to the south. Thanks to Jewish informants who spoil the element of surprise and allow Nehemiah to implement a strategic defense plan, Sanballat and company abandon their plot, and the Jews resume work but remain on high alert.
Nehemiah’s habit of coupling petitionary prayer with practical action becomes increasingly evident as this account of his bold activities unfolds (v. 9; cf. 2:4; 6:9, 14).
Ver. 10. And Judah said, &c.] Several of the men of Judah: the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed; through much labour, in carrying heavy loads of stone and timber to the builders, and yet more through fear of the enemy: and there is much rubbish; which ought to be removed, but that the labourers were so weak that they could not do it: so that we are not able to build the wall; to finish it before the enemy comes to attack us.
Ver. 11. And our adversaries said, they shall not know, &c.] Our designs upon them: neither see; or perceive what we are about to do: till we come in the midst of them; with an army suddenly, at an unawares, and unexpected: and slay them; they being unarmed, and not prepared to defend themselves: and cause the work to cease; as it must in course, the builders being slain.
Ver. 12. And it came to pass, when the Jews that dwelt by them, &c.] Near Samaria, Arabia, and Ashdod, and had intelligence of their designs: came, they said to us ten times; that is, they came to them at Jerusalem, and often told them, as this phrase ten times signifies, see Gen. 31:7. from all places whence ye shall return unto us: they will be upon you, come which way you will, so that ye are in the utmost danger: or from all places; where you are repairing and rebuilding: return to us; that ye may enjoy peace and prosperity with us under Sanballat, &c. and escape the wrath and fury you are now exposed to; or from all places we come, that ye may return to us; so De Dieu; these Jews, though they pretended to be friends, to their brethren, yet seemed to be in friendship with their enemies, and sought to discourage them, and weaken their minds, and cause them to cease building.
Ver. 13. Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, &c.] Where the wall was lowest, and the enemy could more easily break it down, or get over it: and on the higher places; where the wall was higher; or rather on the towers upon the walls, as the word signifies the tops of rocks, which are dry and smooth, see Ezek. 24:2, 8. I even set the people after their families; according to their rank, number, strength, and valour: with their swords, their spears, and their bows; with weapons they could use both near, and at a distance.
Ver. 14. And I looked, &c.] Took a view of the people, and observed that they were in their proper place, and sufficiently armed, and also whether the enemy was coming: and rose up and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people; who were under their nobles and rulers, as their captains and commanders: be not ye afraid of them; of their enemies, their numbers, and their threats: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible; who is greater than they, and is to be feared and trusted in by his people, and is terrible even to the kings of the earth: and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses; intimating, that they were in danger of losing all that was near and dear, valuable and precious to them, if they did not fight for them; and therefore it became them to quit themselves like men, and be strong.
Nehemiah fought the enemy without by delegating tasks, and he fought the enemy within by encouraging his followers. Swords, spears, and bows were employed to keep the outside enemy at a distance and to protect the work already accomplished. Nehemiah was not into the “Can’t we all just get along?” philosophy. Because he realized that the threat from the outside posed a real and present danger, he stationed armed guards. This was followed by an encouraging address in which Nehemiah wisely did not appeal to the human element, but rather he pointed to God’s character and greatness. The imperative, “Do not be afraid of them,” was followed by the reason for a fearless attitude, “Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome.” The refrain, “Remember the LORD,” was used by Moses to encourage the generation that would enter the Promised Land (Deut. 8:18). The same refrain encouraged the exilic community during the time of Jeremiah (Jer. 51:50). “Remember the LORD” now gripped the hearts and minds of the faithful who needed a fearless attitude and trust in God to continue their fight.
12. when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times—i. e., repeatedly. From all places whence ye shall return unto us, they will be upon you. The plot being discovered, Nehemiah adopted the most energetic measures for ensuring the common safety as well as the uninterrupted building of the walls. Hitherto the governor, for the sake of despatch, had set all his attendants and guards on the work—now half of them were withdrawn to be constantly in arms. The workmen laboured with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other; and as, in so large a circuit, they were far removed from each other, Nehemiah, who was night and day on the spot, and, by his pious exhortations and example, animated the minds of his people, kept a trumpeter by his side, so that on any intelligence of a surprise being brought to him, an alarm might be immediately sounded, and assistance rendered to the most distant detachment of their brethren. By these vigilant precautions the counsels of the enemy were defeated, and the work was carried on apace.
4:10 Nehemiah’s problems were internal as well as external. Whether the slogan in this verse was an oft-repeated jingle or a song sung by the workers, it clearly reflected the discouragement and pessimism within the city.
4:11–12 Another possible translation of the second half of v. 12 is, “they said to us repeatedly from all [their] places, ‘You must return to us,’ ” suggesting that the Jewish people outside Jerusalem were encouraging the workers from their towns laboring in Jerusalem to leave before the city was attacked.
4:13–14 Nehemiah’s skill as a leader is exemplified in these verses. Although enemies surrounded him and the people were discouraged, he took action.