7c But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
10In Judah it was said,d “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”e 13So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
15When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 16From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.f
When oppositions seriously encroached on many fronts, what did Nehemiah do? How would that be a model for us today?
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The enemy mobilizes its forces, escalating the attack, and begins to plan direct violence. When you begin to move with God to change things in your life for the better, you will find that you are met first with derision, and if you keep persisting, someone is going to get very upset with you and attack you in a vicious, perhaps physical, way.
But see how Nehemiah reacts, He still relies on prayer (Nehemiah 4:9). But he does more than pray. He posts a guard as well. Prayer and preparedness! This blending of the resources of the spiritual life with those of the material world is a marvelous picture of how believers ought to face threats, recognizing that we need action on both levels.
Still the enemy persists, and he launches a propaganda campaign. There was an enormous amount of debris and broken stones that had to be cleared away before they could get to the walls. It must have been very discouraging.
The enemy immediately takes advantage of that weakness and discouragement (Nehemiah 4:11). Have you ever faced something like that? Were you ever threatened at work when you tried to correct an immoral or illegal practice that was being carried on around you? Perhaps someone said to you, Keep that up, and you may lose your job here. You may have been threatened with demotion or with eviction from your apartment. You may even have been invited out in the parking lot to face a physical attack. These kinds of things are possible when we begin to right wrongs.
Nehemiah’s response is very deliberate. First, he carefully looks over the situation and evaluates what is needed. This approach is necessary if we are going to improve our own lives. We must observe exactly where we are under attack. What are we addicted to? A wrong habit, a drug, an attitude of mind? Bitterness of spirit? When we have identified the source of attack, we must post a guard at that point.
Then, second, Nehemiah reviews the spiritual resources available to them. They had a power at work in their lives that their enemies knew nothing about. The great and awesome God who was with them would stand with them in their peril. When they remembered this, they became reassured and renewed in courage. The enemy saw that they could achieve nothing with their attacks.
One of my favorite passages of the New Testament is found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Paul is a prisoner in Rome, and Timothy, a rather timid young man, is all alone and feeling discouraged in the great pagan city of Ephesus. The great apostle writes to him this word of advice: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead (2 Timothy 2:8). Timothy was not alone. God was with him. Jesus is risen! He is awesome. He is strong. He is powerful. Reckon upon Him, and you will be able to stand against the most subtle temptation and the most dangerous threats that come against you.
What are two necessary responses when we are under attack? When we feel a bitterness of spirit, what spiritual resources are available to be victorious?
When opposition encroached on many sides, Nehemiah remembered God’s promises and also enlisted the help of his people. He did not try to do anything on his own but instead asked the people to share the burden and to do more. Sometimes we take it upon ourselves or only a few will be overly burdened when troubles arise within our lives or church but I like how Nehemiah involved the people and also reminded them what they were working for as well. Hard work is seen to be a lot more manageable when we all do our part. Great way to change our mindset from what can God or others do for us to what can I do to help my community and others around me.
When oppositions arose, Nehemiah simply pointed the people to the Lord. He knew there was no way they would defeat the enemies by their work alone but needed to fully depend on God. Yet, he still planned and prepared his people to protect Jerusalem and themselves. He did not simply sit and pray with no actions. I admire Nehemiah for this because he is a planner & a prayerful man. I hope that we could be like Nehemiah when opposition arises. May we stand firm in our faith and fully depend on the Lord. May we also use the gifts and resources He has given us when the battle comes.
Nehemiah always turned to to the Lord in times of opposition. Sometimes we tend to turn to a friend or family member when we are in trouble, but just like Nehemiah, our first response should be turning to God. One of my goals in life is to be a prayer warrior like Nehemiah. With God on our side, we can really do anything.
It’s actually insane to think about the lengths Nehemiah and the others went to complete their work. Not only did Nehemiah plan extensively to request everything from the king, he is quick on his feet to come up with a solution to the opposition he faces. And while it’s easy to give him credit, his first response was to ask God for protection, and this was given in the form of this plan. It’s interesting because I always thought everyone has their specific role in the church, but in this case, everyone is doing everything. Everyone works on the wall and defends both themselves and others. It’s a great example of what unity in the church should look like: to rely on others and be dependable for them at the same time, all working towards the same goal.
Daniel shared:
In verse 9 there is a continuation of the two-way street approach that Nehemiah does where he is reliant on God and keeps him in the loop in regards to his life, but he also moves to action himself and stations a guard to protect the workers against the enemy. I think having faith in God is all good but having absolute faith that God will protect you without fail is just asking for trouble, as Nehemiah does here. This isn’t a one way street where you pray to God all of your troubles and have everything be fixed, it’s two ways where you have to put in the work too as God can’t work with you if you don’t work at all. So, when there’s opposition in my life, I can’t just pray and be lazy about it, I have to be like Nehemiah and do the grunt work in preparing and arming myself against what may come. I can’t just expect to be bulletproof, I have to be futureproof through prayer and hard work. It’s like praying to be dry and then walking out into the rain. No matter how much prayer you do, you’re going to get wet unless you’re prepared with an umbrella or cover of some sort, can’t expect God to cover and cushion every little thing in your life.
From brother Don
Upon finding out about a conspiracy to attack the Jews while building the wall, Nehemiah exhibits a balance between faith in God and readiness, first praying, then employing some of the wall builders as guards. Upon further intimidation by threat of a surprise attack, Nehemiah strategically postions men at the lower parts of the wall. He then reminds the people of how awesome and great their God is, and that they have no reason to be afraid of their enemies. He even gives weapons to those that are working, in case of an attack. Further, Nehemiah kept a trumpeter beside him at all times, in the event that they would need to sound the alarm to summon the people together for battle, and displayed perpetual diligence, ensuring that they all remained ready to fight.
The first thing that comes to my mind for us today is Jesus’ words to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsame when he had gone to pray and came bakc to find them sleeping the first time: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” (Matthew 26:41). Jesus asks the same vigilance of us as Nehemiah displayed in today’s passage. We too can utilize the resources we have been given to guard against attack from the enemy- staying vigilant in God’s Word and in prayer. Further, in His Word we are reminded of His promises, and, like those building the wall, are told not to be afraid! And finally, just as Nehemiah kept the trumpeter nearby to summon God’s people to battle, we can stay close to the body of believers so that we can fight together.
In all of this, though, we would do well to remember, as Nehemiah certainly did: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord,” (Proverbs 21:31).