Last week we saw the beautiful picture of the people of God coming together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem – people of different skills and occupations, young and old, men and women – all having to stop their usual work and take up the work of God.
• There is unity in the diversity. Never mind the differences in talents, skills or age, everyone participated together to see that the work is done and God’s Name glorified.
• This is a beautiful picture of the church, the Body of Christ, with different members of the Body doing different things, covering different segments of the work but working together as one people.
As expected, we see oppositions to God’s work. Nehemiah 4.
• Any genuine work of God will be opposed, naturally, by the godless as well as evil One.
• They are not necessarily always the same. Don’t have to blame the devil for everything. The godless will also oppose God.
• We are going to see the enemies’ attempt at stopping them, with ridicule, intimidation and threat. And it grows in intensity, from discouraging words to plots to kill them.
Let’s read Neh 4:1-6.
The enemies were not new. They were there in Neh 2 when the plan was announced.
• Now they were really angry because the work has started, despite their initial mockery.
• They just returned with greater zeal, taunting them with more ridicule.
• Neh 4:2 “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-burned as they are?”
The questions are directed at making you think, just in one direction – that you are too weak, too small a group, too incapable of doing such a thing.
• RIDICULE is the simplest way to discourage a person and get him to give up. It hits at the mind. It belittles you.
• And these words need not be wrong. They were indeed an inexperience lot, at least most of them, and even Nehemiah himself.
• We have in the workforce priests (3:1), perfume-makers (3:8), goldsmiths (3:8), merchants (3:31), and all of them led by a cupbearer.
• They might be right but this has nothing to do with their abilities or capabilities or skills. It has to do with God and His will. It is the work of God!
Tobiah’s mockery was even more graphic: "What they are building - if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!" (4:3)
• They were feeble Jews building a shabby wall. Even women were roped in to do manual labour. What can they really achieve?
• Precisely, if you look at it only from the human level.
Nehemiah was driven instead by the will of God for His people and for Jerusalem.
• He did not respond to them. He did not argue, debate or retaliate. He prayed.
• He ignored them and talked to God. Basically saying this: “Lord, you’ve heard what they say. Judge them accordingly.” Calling the perfect Judge to judge.
And after that? Neh 4:6 “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.”
• He ignored them and went back to work. The people continued to work on the wall with all their heart.
• That’s their focus and that’s where they put their heart into.
Shakespeare calls ridicule the ‘paper bullets of the brain’. They hit at your mind, at how you think, but they are actually ‘paper bullets’.
• Ridicule cannot harm us if we do not allow it to. Words can kill, people says. It hurts and it discourages. But we can choose NOT to take in the poison.
• We cannot stop the mocking and scorning but we can choose not to be distracted by it.
We don’t want to be disturbed by the words of men. We choose to listen to the truth of God’s Word and be led by it.
• We don’t press the playback button and meditate on the words of men, and suffer sleepless nights over them.
• We take delight in the Word of God and meditate on it day and night. Blessed is that man, Psalm 1 says.
Read Neh 4:7-15.
The enemies were very angry when they heard that the repairs to the walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed. They began to resort to INTIMIDATION.
• They plotted together to fight Jerusalem and stirred up trouble against it. They planned to sabotage the work.
Note the size of the threat. Besides Sanballat, Tobiah and the Arabs (Geshem), now we have a new player – the men of Ashdod. (Ashdod is at West in Philistia.)
• Now the opposition coalition literally surrounded Jerusalem. Everybody was unhappy with them. The opposition grew not just in intensity but in numbers.
Yet again Nehemiah and the people prayed. 4:9 “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.”
• Besides working on the wall, they now have to station 24-hour sentries (day and night).
• In order words, workers would have to stop work and be rostered to do guard duties. They have to work and defend themselves at the same time.
At this time the wall has reached half its height, meaning they had already laboured for some time and fatigue was setting in.
• 4:10 “The strength of the labourers is giving out and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
When it is half done, it also means there is another half to go.
A friend of mine from the Helping Hand runs the marathon. He has already completed 9 or 10 marathons. He said the most difficult part of the run is the halfway mark. You are already very tired and your knees are aching, and yet there’s another same distance ahead of you, as that which you’ve covered. All the energy and effort that you’ve put in to reach this point, you are going to exert the same for the next half of the race, but now with a half-drained body.
With the added stress, morale was low and yet they heard rumours.
• 4:11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."
• We will ambush them and kill them. That will end the work!
• 4:12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." The phrase ‘ten times’ (Hebrew) means repeatedly.
Nehemiah has to organise the defence and encourage the people to look to God.
• 4:13 “Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.”
• He has to station families at the most vulnerable areas and arm them with weapons.
Then he said to the people - 4:14 “Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
• Overcoming challenges take much more than just courage; Nehemiah was driven by a firm faith in God. Don’t fear; God is present. And this is God’s plan and God’s work.
• Remembering the Lord will cast fear aside. Faith and fear cannot co-exist in the same heart. Look at the challenges through the greatness of God.
4:15 “When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.”
• The enemies backed off because God had frustrated their plot. It was not Nehemiah’s good plan or defence strategy. God defeated the enemy’s schemes.
• Ps 33:10-11 “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”
Do the will of God and we will have nothing to fear. Doing contrary to God’s will, you have everything to fear.
• When we do God’s work, it does not mean that everything will be easy. It just means that God is with us and He will help us accomplish His work and fulfil His will.
• There will be challenges and oppositions, trials and tribulations - ridicule, intimidation and threats - but we choose to remember the Lord who is great and awesome.
Notice this pattern:
• When they were ridiculed, Nehemiah prayed and “so we rebuilt the wall…” (4:6)
• When they were intimidated, they prayed and “posted guard day and night” (4:9)
• When they were threatened, Nehemiah armed the families with weapons and said, “remember the Lord” (4:14).
Trusting God does not mean we do nothing. We pray and work, we pray and station guards, we remember the Lord and fight… We remember Him and do whatever we can.
• Our prayer does not replace our responsibility to do what we can.
• We do our best and God will grant us success. Neh 2:20 “The God of heaven will give us success.”
SET THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE - the Stonecutters
A tourist saw a group of workers at a construction site. Curious as to what they were doing, he approached the first worker and asked, “My dear friend, what is it that you are doing?”
The man continued his work and grumbled, “I am cutting stones.” Realising that the bricklayer wasn’t happy to talk, he moved toward the second and repeated the question.
The worker stopped his work and said he is a stonecutter and he’s putting up this wall. The traveller thanked him and moved on.
When he reached the third worker, he once again asked the same question. This time the worker paused, stood up and pointed to the site, looking skyward and said, “I am a bricklayer and I am building a cathedral.”
Let us be driven by the vision of building the church of God.
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COMMUNION
1 Cor 15:56-58 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. THEREFORE, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
This is the life of the redeemed. God has given us victory in Christ – victory over sin, death and Satan. We have this new life in Christ, THEREFORE:
• We stand firm (steadfast). Have you been faithful? Have we compromised?
• Let nothing move you (immovable). Are you discouraged or distracted?
• Devote fully to God’s work (abounding). Are you serving God? Are we serving with zeal?
Prayer:
Thank you, dear Father, for the gift of life and life eternal in Jesus. Thank you Jesus for setting us free – free from sin and death and harm from the evil one. Your sacrifice made us righteous. Help us stay faithful and be obedient to Your ways. Renew us as we take this bread and cup. Strengthen our faith in You and your Word. Let no adversity distracts or draws us away from You. Bless all who take the bread and cup today, in Jesus’ Name we pray, AMEN.
1 Cor 11:23-24 The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." LET US TAKE THE BREAD TOGETHER
1 Cor 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." LET US DRINK THE CUP TOGETHER
