However, the great work was soon noticed by their enemies. When Sanballat heard of the construction work, he was far from happy, in fact he was furious and very indignant. He did not resort to violence but to discouragement by mockery (v1-3). We read about Sanballat and Tobiah in chapter 2:10 when they were disturbed when they heard about Nehemiah coming to help the people of Jerusalem. Thy tried to prevent the work even starting. Now, of course, the work was in full swing, and they were furious. They referred to them as ‘feeble Jews’ and mocked them by saying, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.” Their derogatory words were meant to discourage the workers. He also was despising and full of sarcasm about their prayers and their commitment to God before his followers and the army of Samaria. He tried to make Nehemiah and his co-workers appear small. We are reminded that Tobiah was with Sanballat (v3).
It was true that most of these were not professional builders, but he overlooked the fact that they had a great God on their side, and they were doing His work. It was a huge task, but God was on their side, and He would see to it that it was completed.
Nehemiah’s response was to pray (v4,5), “Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.” He didn’t argue or tell them that he had the king’s permission, he simply took it to God for he recognised that they were going against God, and their actions were not only against Nehemiah and his followers but against the Living God.
What a lesson for us when we are confronted by opposition, ridicule and discouragement. Simply take it to God. He can deal with them.
One might think that Nehemiah was seeking revenge, but he was asking God to deal with it. There is nothing wrong with pouring our hearts out to God, even to the point of asking Him to deal harshly with those who treat us badly, but we must remember that we must submit to His will and let Him deal with them accordingly. When we are confronted or surrounded by evil it is godly to ask Him to wipe them out. There is nothing wrong in asking God to thwart the actions of evil people, but we must leave it to Him.
Did the opposition deter Nehemiah, no, in fact the opposite (v6) “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”
Did God answer them, yes, He gave them ‘a mind to work’. Romans 12:1,2 reminds us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
The devil goes for our mind, he wants to confuse our minds and will by getting us to conform to the world. God wants to transform us. Satan wants to discourage, deflate, and demoralise us so let’s not focus on that, but on God. Let Him change us and give us ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16)
What a lovely phrase that is ‘the people had a mind to work’. How we need that! Many times, in our personal and church lives we can be discouraged but the way to success is found in that phrase.
There was still work to be done, the wall was half finished.
Sanballat and Tobiah were getting a large following, the Arabs, the Ammonites and Ashdodites, a large company and their mockery now turns to conspiracy to violence when they heard that the walls were half built, and the gaps closed. They conspire to attack and create confusion (v7,8).
From sarcasm, we go to threats and to cause confusion. We can often be scared off by threats but often these are the devil’s tricks to take our eyes of The Lord.
Ashdod was the nearest Philistine city to Jerusalem. It was situated on the Mediterranean coast between Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. Ammonites descended from Ben Ammi, son of Lot through his incestuous relationship with one of his daughters when they got him drunk. His stepbrother was Moab through Lot’s other daughter, first mentioned in Genesis 19:37,38. During the Exodus, the Israelites were prohibited by the Ammonites from passing through their lands. The Ammonites soon allied themselves with Eglon of Moab in attacking Israel. The Arabs were descendants of Ishmael.
Again, Nehemiah’s response was to take it to God in prayer (v9) “Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.” I like the way this verse begins, ‘nevertheless’. It is as if nothing was going to stop them from trusting in God. Despite what was going on around them they prayed.
They prayed and set a watch. How we must do likewise. The evil one and his followers may try to ridicule us and prevent us from doing God’s will, but we must give it to God and depend on Him. Praying is vital but it doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing. We must continue in the strength of The Lord. Someone has commented that some may have questioned whether they needed to set a watch when they had prayed. Surely God could protect them, and the work was His. Praying and watching together showed their trust in God. We don’t go ahead in ‘gay abandonment’ (to use an old-fashioned phrase and one which may be confused in today’s pc culture), but careful to do God’s will. Even though they set a watch or guard, they still had to trust God.
Jesus said that we should, “watch and pray….” (Matthew 26:41). I like to think that this is praying with our eyes open. I’m not saying that God couldn’t have removed their enemies, but they needed to be on their guard. The context of Jesus’ words was when the disciples kept falling asleep when he went to pray to His Father, and he told them to watch and pray so that they do not enter into temptation. This was leading up to the crucifixion and they needed to be on their guard against Jesus’ enemies and the soldiers who were on the prowl.
We also are urged to watch in connection with the second coming of Jesus. Just as one would set a watch in case a thief or burglar came, we are to watch so that His coming does not take us by surprise, not that we could possibly know when it will occur, but to be ready and prepared. The Gospel (Good News) is all about saving us from our sin and making us fit for the Kingdom of God. We do not know when he will come but we can and must prepare now, by repenting of our sin and receiving Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.
A similar word for watch is ‘vigilant’ and Peter tells us that we should be sober and vigilant because the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Interesting that the word ‘sober’ is also used. We use it as the opposite of being drunk, which has a ring of truth about it. It indicates that we should be careful and not allow anything to distort our intentions or our vision, like excess alcohol would do.
The devil comes in all sorts of disguises, and angel of light – which we might not think is bad and might welcome, but a roaring lion, I think we would avoid at all costs. If we give the devil a foothold, he will devour us or lead us astray. How we need to be on our guard!
Judah, the strongest tribe, said, “The strength of the labourers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” (V10)
Up to now the discouragement had come from outside but now there was grumbling from within. It is one thing to start well but we must finish well too. They were tired and weary. Not only were they building but there was much rubbish to be sorted and removed. The walls had been in ruins for around 100 years, and they needed to remove the stuff which was no good for re-use before rebuilding. It was not an easy job. Up to then the people had ‘a mind to work’ but things were getting on top of them, and they were weary. This was a recipe for disaster and could have spread. What was Nehemiah to do to raise their morale and that of the rest of the people?
There is a lot of rubbish in our lives and as Christians we need to remove it so that our lives will display God’s glory. A clean up is often required, our habits, our talk, our likes and dislikes, often have to be removed and rebuilt. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that we are new creations, the old has gone the new has come. It is not easy, but it is necessary.
I don’t know about you, but I am a hoarder, I resent throwing things away and I usually find that if I do discard something I will need it next week. I am like my mother who rarely threw anything away, bits of paper with notes and comments written on them, and when she passed away, we had the unenviable task of throwing things away. However, some things must be discarded, especially useless things and things which will be a hinderance to our spiritual life.
In verse 11 the adversaries took advantage of the morale and planned an attack to stop the work, but also to kill them. Maybe they got wind of the grumbling and planned their attack at a weak point when the people were tired and discouraged. However, God gave the people advanced warning (v12). He was in control and there were faithful Jews around who heard the plot and told Nehemiah and his workers, not once but ten times and they seemed to think that it was ‘curtains’ and there was no hope. They were in earnest and God used them to help the workers.
Not so, Nehemiah (v13,14) who said, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
He positioned men behind the lowest parts of the wall and at the openings, with weapons to defend themselves. He could have done nothing and said he was trusting in God, but there comes a time when we have to fight.
Galatians 6 tells us to put on the armour of God. A battle is raging, and we need to be ready to defend and attack.
It appears that some had stopped working for fear, but God thwarted the plans of the enemies and when their enemies got to know that Nehemiah and his workers were aware of their plot, they withdrew, and all the workers returned to work (v15).
The devil wants to stop God’s work, but we must carry on.
Following this event Nehemiah planned his strategy and provided the workers with armour, spears, shields and bows. Some were wielding weapons while others built, but also, some held a weapon in one hand and trowel in the other. Each of the builders had a sword at their side as they built. Nehemiah also had a trumpeter at his side to sound the alarm (v16-18).
This was no easy job and needed careful planning and full commitment. Nehemiah spoke to the nobles, rulers and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” He was a great leader, motivator and encourager. He didn’t minimise the enormity of the task, and he took precautions especially for those some distance away and made plans for sounding the trumpet alarm. Note, however, the last phrase – “Our God will fight for us” (v19-23). His confidence was in God.
He laboured with them from dawn until dusk and those on guard also. He asked them to stay in Jerusalem to guard overnight. He set the example, and they all didn’t even take their clothes off, except for washing. They didn’t have radio contact like we might today, so they did what they could and used trumpets to communicate and sound the alarm.
Once again this is a picture of us being ready for The Lord’s coming when the Bible says that the trumpet will sound.
