Nehemiah - Chapter 4
1-6:
CONFRONTING MOCKERY
Everything had been running along smoothly for Nehemiah. The king had blessed his mission and provided for his construction needs and safety on the way to Jerusalem.
The people had rallied around him and had begun the work with much energy. God had called him to the work and had granted him wisdom how to organize the effort to restore the wall of the Holy City.
Suddenly everything changes and Nehemiah is confronted with opposition from outsiders and then from within his own people. Here we learn from his example how we can overcome adversity in our own lives.
Nehemiah's opponents, Sanballat and Tobiah appear once again with their familiar tone of sarcasm deriding the work and the workers. Sanballat mocked the Jews in a voice filled with animosity and spite. Tobiah added to the difficulty by degrading the work with a disparaging remark in verse 3 “... A little fox would break down whatever they built...”. These two mocked the Jews both for personal pleasure and to discourage the hard working builders.
Nehemiah responded with a fervent prayer: “O God, get revenge on them! Let them be overthrown! Do not forgive their sins”. Two aspects of his prayer require our attention:
First, notice that prayer was his priority. When confronted he did not shout back; he turned to God.
Second, Nehemiah prayed honestly. He told God exactly what he wanted, actually with surprising candor. He did not screen his words or worry about the anger that the Lord would surely hear from him. He was direct and clear.
After all was said and done, it certainly seemed that Nehemiah's prayerful response achieved its purpose because the workers continued to work until the wall had reached half the intended height. In spite of insults from opposing leaders, “... the people had a mind to work...”.
7-23:
CONFRONTING THE THREAT OF ATTACK
When mockery failed to stop the rebuilding, the enemies of Judah threatened to attack. They did not intend to actually take control of the city but merely to create confusion and to cause the work to cease. Sanballat and Tobiah had rallied an alliance against tiny Judah, and had surrounded the city. Sanballat and the Samaritans were to their north. Tobiah and the Ammonites were to their east. Geshem and the Arabs were to their south. The Ashdodites were to their west.
Once more Nehemiah responded in prayer. In addition to prayer, he set a watch against these enemies day and night, preparing for the attack.
Now the threat of the attack caused the spirit of the Jews to waver and their courage weakened. They began to gossip and murmur in discontent.
While mockery had no effect, military intimidation did. The enemies kept issuing threats, promising to attack secretly to bring the wall restoration to a quick end. Frightened Jews from outer areas began to complain to Nehemiah repeatedly. We are told that they fearfully complained “ten times” which is meant to convey complaining again and again.
Nehemiah was confronted now from within as well as without. Now he calls the people and places them behind the lower parts of the partially rebuilt wall. Now the enemies were sure to see the strength and readiness of the Jews. Nehemiah gave a strong pep talk to the congregation calling on the people to keep their focus on God, who he described as “great and awesome”. With their minds refocused, the Jews were ready to fight if necessary.
Once more his defensive strategy was successful. The immediate danger of attack seemed to diminish and the building started again. But from that moment onward, all were aware and prepared for attack. Clear and specific plans were put into place:
Half of the people worked while the other half stood guard.
All workers kept arms with them at all time for readiness.
A communication system was installed.
Workers camped inside Jerusalem to protect the walls at all times.
Verse 23 assures that Nehemiah and his leaders stayed with and camped with the workers. His willingness to join in the hardships strengthened the people to remain committed.
In spite of all the difficulties, the wall continued to rise.
Nehemiah faced opposition, and so will we. Just when we think it is safe and all is well, a spiritual battle will appear to challenge our strength, our willingness, and our faith.
But we can “remember the Lord. Great and awesome”. We can rejoice in the fact that “our God will fight for us” (verse 20). So, we should fully expect victory, we should pick up our spiritual weapons, put on the whole armor of God, and take on the battle.