KEEP PRAYING, WATCHING, BUILDING
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 9, 2019 under PM Bible Study |
PM Bible Study Group: October 9, 2019 from Nehemiah 4:1-23
Theme: Nehemiah 3 shows us how various groups of God’s people can work together to do various portions of God’s work until all is done.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
The people of Jerusalem were building a wall. And a wall suggests ‘separation’.
From the very beginning, God had called the people of Israel to be a separate people—not in the sense of being secluded from this world, of course; but in the sense of being a distinct people from the ways of this world while living in it. When God first gathered His people together at the Mountain to give them His holy law, He told them that they were to be a “special treasure” to Him “above all people” (Exodus 19:5). In a similar way, God has called us in Christ to be a distinct people to Him in holiness; telling us, “Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). It is a great honor to be God’s people—called out in Christ—made distinct from this world. It’s a distinction that requires our practical holiness, and that we actively separate ourselves from the wicked patterns and habits of this world.
But with that honor also comes persecution. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” This is illustrated to us in Nehemiah 4. The people of Jerusalem were seeking to restore themselves as God’s distinct people in this world. They had returned to their city after seventy years of captivity in Babylon because of their failure to be distinct. And now, they were rebuilding their broken-down city wall. This resolve, however, was being responded to with persecution from the ungodly nations that surrounded them. Nehemiah—in his ‘diary’ of events that occurred in the rebuilding of the wall—tells us about the opposition he and his people felt.
Nehemiah 5 will go on to tell us about troubles and oppositions that came from within the Jewish people themselves. And Nehemiah 6 will tell us about the opposition that Nehemiah himself received personally. But Nehemiah 4 focuses specifically on the opposition that came from outside enemy forces. We should expect such opposition—and learn to bear up under it. In his commentary on Nehemiah, Dr. Harry Ironside wrote, “Every fresh attempt to ‘try the things that differ’ will provoke the ire of the worldly-righteous mass; but what is of God is of too much value to be surrendered at the behest of fleshly foes” (p. 103). And so, the example we find in this chapter teaches us that, in the face of the threats against God’s work—especially when it comes to the resolve to live as a separate people unto the Lord—the best thing for God’s people to do is to remember that the Lord fights for them … and to keep right on working.
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Now; the details of these new threats come right after the description we find in Chapter 3 of the way that the work of rebuilding had been arranged. The labors had been divided among the people according to the ten city gates. The work had begun and was well-underway—and that’s when we find …
1. THE THREATS (vv. 1-14).
These threats come in various forms. In the first five verses, we find that they came in the form of discouraging talk. Verses 1-2 tell us;
But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?” (vv. 1-2).
We’ve already encountered some of the opponents in our reading of this ‘diary’. Nehemiah mentions this particular man in 2:10—Sanballat the Hornite. And notice the nature of his discouraging and mocking comments. He said that the Jewish builders were “feeble”; and indeed, perhaps they were from their many years of suffering. He mentioned that they lacked the means to build themselves up for the work. And even if they did get anywhere in the work, he asked, what would they then do? Would they sacrifice? With what? Would God accept them after all their years of exile? And how long would the enormous work of completing the wall take? Could it be done “in a day?” And look at what they had to work with—burned up stones that had been piled up into ‘heaps of rubbish’. The striking thing about these criticisms is that they had elements of truth to them. So often, the opponents of God’s work are correctly pointing out the human limitations of the workers. The devil himself loves to highlight our failures and limitations. But these mocking comments, though they may contain an element of truth, fail to recognize the power of God.
Now another man we’ve encountered before chimes in on the mocking. His name is Tobiah the Ammonite. We also find him in 2:10; and with Sanballat, also again in 2:19. He stands along beside Sanballat in his ridicule.
Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes upon it, he will break down their stone wall” (v. 3).
This snide comment is more than just an example of the poor quality of Ammonite humor. This is a not-so-veiled threat. If only a fox could knock down this wall, then what would enemy troops be able to do? These words of discouragement could be overwhelming. And the devil knows how to put them to use in keeping us from going forward in God’s work. But look at how Nehemiah responded. He didn’t answer those who mocked. Instead, he turned to God Himself.
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 (vv. 4-5).
Nehemiah’s prayer may seem harsh. “Do to them as they intend to do to us!” It is what is often called an ‘imprecatory’ prayer in that it involves an ‘imprecation’—that is, a calling-down from God of a curse upon one’s enemies. There are many such prayers in the Psalms. They may make modern people feel a little uncomfortable. But it’s important to note that Nehemiah doesn’t ever propose to rise up and become the answer to his own prayer. He leaves it all in the hand of God—and keeps right on working. The apostle Paul wrote, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). May it always be that we never take vengeance in our own hand; but always leave room for the wrath of our God. He is always a righteous Judge.
Now; the first effort was in the form of discouraging comments and ridicule and mockery. But when those do not stop the people of God, the devil and his ambassadors will then very often shift their method, and resort to open threats. That’s what we find in verses 6-9. Nehemiah wrote;
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.
Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion (vv. 6-8).
In verse 1, we’re told that the enemies of God’s people were furious. And now, in verse 7, we find that an old enemy mentioned in 2:19 joined in (that is, the Arabs); and a new enemy also came along—the Ashdodites. And the same Hebrew word as we find in verse 1 is mentioned again—that is, they were ‘furious’; but now, it is intensified. We’re told that they now became “very angry” when they saw that their words of discouragement were unsuccessful in stopping the people, and that the work carried on to the point that the gaps in the wall were being closed.
And now, the threat became very dangerous and very active in nature. These enemies began to conspire together to come and attack Jerusalem and ‘create confusion’. That is a very familiar tactic of the devil. We’re told in Scripture that he roams about like a roaring lion—and that terrifying ‘lion’s roar’ is meant to throw its victim into a state of panic and confusion. But look again at how Nehemiah and his people responded to this open threat;
Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night (v. 9).
Because the threat was a practical one, they took a very practical measure and ‘set a watch’ around their work. But they prayed—and kept right on working. The devil’s worst nightmare—if we can put it that way—is to see the people of God continuing to remain faithful to Him and do the work He gave them to do in spite of his threats.
When one method doesn’t work the devil switches to yet another. So now we find, in verses 10-14, the threat of ongoing fear. This is a kind of attack that is long, and relentless, wearying, and that is designed to wear God’s people down over time. In verses 10-12, we read;
Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.” So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us” (vv. 10-12).
Notice the devil’s three strategic methods of an ongoing threat. First, there is the discouragement that comes from looking over the enormity of the work and feeling overwhelmed by it. And with the people made tired and overwhelmed, then comes the threat of enemies coming and killing them when they least expect it. The devil knows how and when to capitalize on our weariness. And on top of this was the bad report from others of the surrounding Jewish people—telling the builders that they were putting everyone else in danger. Guilt! Oh, the devil is good at this kind of stuff; isn’t he?
But Nehemiah responded by not allowing the people to focus on this threat or to stop their work. Instead, he responded to it by taking action against it. We’re told in verse 13;
Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows (v. 13).
But that alone wasn’t enough. They not only needed to arm their bodies, but also their hearts. And so, we find in verse 14 that he says this:
And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “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” (v. 14).
What great council in the face of the devil’s perpetuation of ongoing fear. “Remember the Lord, great and awesome”. He also called upon the people to remember what was at stake. He called them to remember how their loved ones depended upon them. And he kept them at the work. Once again, the efforts of the enemy of God’s people were thwarted.
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Now; all of that illustrates to us the threats that the people experienced. We often find the same kind of threats thrown at us from the enemy of our souls in our work of living for Jesus—and in our work of being His distinct and holy people in this world. But in the case of the people of Jerusalem, the threats only led to …
2. THE RESPONSE OF VIGILANCE (vv. 15-23).
This passage teaches us an important lesson in our battle for the faith. The external enemies, in Nehemiah’s case, were not the real threat to watch out for. The God of Israel was fighting for them; and so, they didn’t need to stop because men threatened them. Those enemies could only do what the almighty God permitted them to do—and nothing more. Instead, the greatest threat to the people of God—and to the work, He had given them to do—was a fearful doubting about God Himself. Such doubt could freeze them into inertia.
So Nehemiah established the hearts of the people in vigilance as they did the work—that is to say that, in the context of confidence of God, he kept his people in a state of careful and practical watchfulness. First, we see they were vigilant in that they kept the work going while keeping armed. In verses 15-18, we read;
And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me (vv. 15-18).
It must have added greatly to the difficulty of the labors to have to hold tools in one hand and weapons in the other. But this gives us a picture of how the apostle Paul and his co-laborers in the gospel sought to do their work; “by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left” (2 Corinthians 6:7). We must always keep the armor on, and the weapons of our warfare in hand, as we work in the service of our Lord. That’s just a matter of keeping ‘vigilant’ as God’s distinct people.
But having weapons was not enough. We can all have the weapons of our warfare in hand; but if we are not also vigilant in keeping united in heart, we might end up using them against each other! We go on then to see that the people kept the work going while keeping unified. We read in verses 19-20;
Then I said to the nobles, the 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” (vv. 19-20).
Note that the trowel was used to build up the wall, the sword was used to defend against the attacks, and the trumpet was used to bring the people together. This pictures the power of God’s word in the church to edify, defend, and unite. The devil works very easily when the people of God operate on their own—without a sense of unity and of being a body. We must be vigilant, then, to listen for the call to gather together to be built-up together in God’s word, to defend one another against the lies of the enemy, and to strengthen one another as the body of Christ.
Keeping armed and keeping unified—as great as these things are—are still not enough. We go on finally to see how the people kept at the work vigilantly while keeping diligent in it. In verses 21-23, we read;
So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing (vv. 21-23).
There really could be no way for the great work of building the wall to be accomplished unless everyone kept at their post, and kept on doing their work—even when it was hard to do, or dangerous, or unpleasant, or sacrificial in nature. But this great task—the task of building the wall that distinguished God’s people from this world—had a clear goal in mind. And it had the help of the almighty God. There would be a successful end to the work—if the people kept at it and didn’t surrender to the threats of the enemy. The apostle Peter wrote;
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 5:8-11).
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Eventually, the wall was built. The people of God established a clear distinction between themselves and this world. And when it was finished, Nehemiah wrote this in his ‘diary’;
And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God (6:16).
Let’s not allow ourselves, then, to be discouraged in the work by the threats of men—or of the devil. Let’s remember our God—turn their threats over to Him—and keep vigilant in the work to His glory!
EA
