11So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claima in Jerusalem.”
What type of challenges did Nehemiah encounter? What type of challenges are you encounter?
Reflect and share to your friends. Post a comment here too if you want.
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem – the men who opposed the rebuilding of the wall – stood outside the covenant of promise. None of the three had any claim to the promise of God to inherit the land. That is why Nehemiah took this stand.
The form their opposition took is also prophetic of our struggles. They first mocked and ridiculed. This is usually the first weapon the enemy employs. You may have felt it when you began to recover from your ruin. Your friends laughed at your desires to change. They may have ridiculed your religious convictions and resented with scorn your implied criticisms of their conduct.
Also, Nehemiah’s enemies began to threaten and slander him with charges of rebellion and disloyalty. If ridicule does not work, then the opposition stiffens and becomes openly unfriendly and threatening. It is the next level of resistance that those who seek to rebuild will encounter.
These are but pictures for us. They picture the opposition and the resistance that we will experience from Satan himself. What was true of these opposing forces in Nehemiah’s case is true also of Satan. He is a usurper who has tricked us and led us astray. Yet he has no right to do so. Jesus came to restore God’s property to Him and to loose the hold of the devil upon the human race. That is what He does in our lives. So when we face resistance, we must see it as something God allows to strengthen us, but Satan has no real right to our lives.
We do not need to be bound by habits from the past. No matter how innocently they may have begun, we do not need to be slaves to drugs, sex, alcohol, tobacco, or whatever may be controlling and limiting us. Remember Paul’s great cry, I will not be mastered by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12). Why? Because he was under the power of God. This is what Nehemiah declares here. There is no necessity to be a slave to a hot temper or a critical attitude or a complaining spirit. These areas of ruin in our lives can be set aside because we are expecting God to grant us the grace to stand.
That is why, with great determination, Nehemiah clenches his fist and says, Look, the God of heaven is with us. He will give us success. We, his servants, will start rebuilding. Do what you like. It is not going to stop us. You are usurpers and have no right to this land.
What we are tracing here are the steps of recovery from ruin. There are three of them that we have covered so far: First, a deep concern that leads us to prayer and sorrow; then, an opportunity for change to which we must make response; and then, the facing of the facts of our situation honestly and squarely. When we begin these steps, we have well begun the process of change. Let us take them with confidence that God will enable us to rebuild our walls and restore our gates to His praise and glory and our grateful relief.
When we face ridicule and opposition, do we recognize their ultimate source? What steps can we take to recover from destructive habits or ruin in our lives?
One of the challenges that we see in these verses is Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem all standing in opposition of Nehemiah and the vision he has for Jerusalem. Nehemiah faces verbal mockery; in response he points out that more than anything this is Gods vision for Jerusalem and that God is backing his servants that will fulfill His vision. These days I am facing challenges seeking balance. It’s easy for me to get sucked into one thing and be all consumed. Instead I need to seek balance so I don’t burn out! An example – running. At one point I was running 60 miles a month and 4 times a week, which is kind of a lot. It slowly decreased and now I barely run 10 miles a month because running has become a chore rather than a choice. Instead now I’m trying to run 2 times a week and run at places I enjoy or run with people I enjoy hanging out with. Balance 🙂
Nehemiah faced challenges from past enemies of Israel, which were some of the people who were displaced from the promised land originally. They were trying to mock and intimidate him into not doing what God had put on his heart. In the same way when we are doing things for God or serving Him, people can mock or try to denigrate our desire to live our lives for God. But like Nehemiah we must know what God has promised us and to stand firm in our God’s promises.
From our brother Daniel:
Day 10: What type of challenges did Nehemiah encounter? What type of challenges are you encounter?
Interestingly enough, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem are the highlighted challenge Nehemiah encounters since they “…threaten and slander him with charges of rebellion and disloyalty.” According to Ray Stedman.
However, after rereading it multiple times, I can’t help but noticed how Nehemiah told no one about what God had put in his heart until later on. He proceeded to inspect and see what needed fixing without notifying anyone or allowing people into his plans.
This is a challenge because usually, people would come together to discuss a plan and share different ideas to make it fool proof and diverse. Instead, Nehemiah went with what God put in his heart and proceed to follow it with no regards of others.
It’s definitely a different way of doing things because you’re relying on what God puts on your heart instead of the benefits and influence from those around you. That itself is challenging.
Verse 17 was scary and cringey in my opinion because as an introvert, just saying anything to a crowd seems like a potential anxiety attack. While being confronted by haters?! Sheesh. I definitely struggle with following plans and choices confidently whether it’s future decisions or as simple as who to pass the ball when playing basketball.
Nehemiah follow what God put in his heart to the point where it was his only influence. If we are thinking business side of things, the target audience is slim. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem rebuttal was the result but the plans lead up to it was the challenge.
When God put something in my heart, I’m always tempted to ask advice from others or even team up with others to fulfill the plan instead of relying on God first. Nehemiah resistance from asking others deserves respect.
Nehemiah told no one about his plan or about what God had put on his heart to do for Jerusalem. I think this was for a reason because he encountered a problem, opposition from the governors and officials. We know from yesterday’s passage that Sanballat and Tobiah were greatly displeased to hear that Nehemiah was concerned for the welfare of Jerusalem. Again in today’s passage, we see they despised Nehemiah after hearing of his plans. They even questioned if Nehemiah was rebelling against the king. I think I’m currently encountering an obstacle of what to do next in my ministry. I pray that God would instill a vision and plan in me to do God’s work in my community. I admire Nehemiah’s diligence in how he went out to Jerusalem to see the brokenness for himself and his willingness to rebuild the walls knowing that he would encounter obstacles.
by ruby:
Nehemiah encounter opposition and ridicule of his project in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. This make me thought abt the times that I attempt to fix a bad habit in my life but other seen as unnecessary because it has become so commonly practice and being embraced as normal. I guess this is true whenever we try to rebuild relationship with God through repentance there is always voices that deem this effort as useless and extra.
I love how Nehemiah plans before he starts his work. He scopes things out and takes note of what preparations are needed to occur for the rebuilding of the wall. And at the end of the day, despite the statements by others that ridicule him, he has faith that God is continuing to help Him and He knows that these are enemies and oppositions of God.
In the passage today I noticed that Nehemiah going to Jerusalem alone to inspect the broken down walls was heavily emphasized. I think in this segment its telling me that sometimes you just have to trust God and go and do what God is telling you to do even if it poses many risks. Nehemiah encounter many challenges such as vulnerability, risk that the others will not want to help him, and also people not supporting the idea(Sanballat/Tobiah). This passage also kind of remind me the doctrine of election where Sanballat and Tobiah are said to not have claim or passage into Jerusalem while the others are able to. This is an interesting passage and it also reminds me that even with all these hardships, like Nehemiah was having, Am I really clinging onto and relying on God like Nehemiah did? I really have to reassess my self and really pray and ask God to be the center of my life and also to constantly rely on Him especially when obstacles come my way.