Nehemiah 4:1-15
Nehemiah led
the people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
We often encounter difficulties and
disruptions from people around us in our works and ministries. Let’s look at
the book of Nehemiah, and see how to stay resilient in times of oppositions,
challenges and difficulties, in order to fulfil the ministry that God entrusted
us.
Chapter 4 of Nehemiah records that in
the process of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah and the Jews were
attacked and opposed constantly.
Sanballat was the governor of Samaria.
Samaria was located north of Judah, while Jerusalem was within the boundary of
Judah. Sanballat could be aspiring to become the governor of Judah, but the
return of Nehemiah had caused his plan to fail.
More than three hundred years ago before
Nehemiah, northern Israel was captured by the
Assyrians. Majority of the people were exiled (722 BC).
Sargon, king of the Assyrians, brought his captives from other places
and resettled them in the land of Israel. Those foreign captives intermarried
with the Israelites who were left behind, and they gave birth to hybrids who
were then called the Samaritans.
Like Ezra and Nehemiah, some Jews
returned to Jerusalem, but they never interacted with the Samaritans. Jews
considered the Samaritans to be a people with impure pedigree. Subsequently,
the relationship between these two peoples turned worse.
After more than four hundred years,
until the time of Jesus, their enmity towards one another deepened. However,
Jesus crossed over the ethnic boundary to rescue the Samaritans. Jesus told
about a story of a “good Samaritan”, and challenged the xenophobic mindset of
the Jews.
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding
the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and
in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “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?” (Nehemiah 4:1-2)
Here is a series of doubting “will”.
Sanballat was ridiculing the Jews for being delusional, that they were
daydreaming.
In addition to this, Tobiah, the
Ammonites, intensified the opposition and said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it
would break down their wall of stones!” He
deeply despised and looked down on the works of the Jews.
Nevertheless, the Jews were not bothered
with the ridicules. They continued to focus on building their walls, and the
walls was half built.
The project of wall rebuilding went on
smoothly because, the Bible says “all the people put their efforts into it, and
neither did they give up, nor did they lose their faith. They persisted and
persevered in their works.”
Despite such a progress, their problems
escalated. Subsequently, there appeared more and more enemies. From north of
Jerusalem came Sanballat; and Tobiah, the Ammonite, came from the east; and the
Arabs came from the south, while the Ashdod came from the west.
These peoples saw that the rebuilding
project of the Jews went on well, and they rose and intimidated and sought to
destroy their project. They conspired to invade Jerusalem, and cause confusion
in the city. The Jews were encircled on all sides, and they were indeed trapped
in between!
At the same time, there was a spilt
among the Jews. Some Jews said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble
that we cannot rebuild the wall.” 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.” (v 10-11
Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times
over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” (v12)
Sometimes, we will face this type of
predicament in our work and ministry. Stress, enemy, opposing forces, they come
from all sides, could be human factor or other factors like the outbreak of
pandemic. The adversities grow stronger and stronger.
Moreover, they display their anger
before us, and threaten us, cheat us and ridicule us! They despise our work and
ministry and think that we cannot do anything. They come to disrupt and destroy
our works when we have gained some progression.
We are already weak, and we are few in
number. And then we hear not from our enemies, but our co-workers who suggest
that we should give up the rebuilding work. They mention not only once, but “ten
times” they warn us of the coming attacks from all sides. We face stress that
comes from all sides on a daily basis.
Have we become fearful when we face such
difficult moments? Are we therefore giving up? Having a peace talk? Surrender?
Truly there are reasons too real for us to stop the works. Nehemiah didn’t give
up when he was facing such a cause!
Prayers coupled with Plan and Execution
Sanballat and Tobiah ridiculed the Jews
to weaken their determination in rebuilding the walls. Nehemiah did not succumb
himself to their insultation. He sought God together with the Jews, and they
pleaded with God to interrupt and judge those enemies who were disrupting their
sacred works (v4-5).
The prayer of Nehemiah was not to take
revenge, and it did not come out from his selfishness, but it revealed God’s
righteousness, and with an intention to accomplish God’s works.
So, the Jews continued to focus on their
works. But their difficulties did not stop right then. They faced disruptions
more and more from their enemies, one after another. Still, they prayed to God
and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat (Nehemiah 4:9).
Today, you don’t have to bother if
someone does ridicule your faith and your thoughts, and criticize your works
without reasons. You also don’t need to feel discouraged by the adverse
environmental factors.
You can just tell God how you feel, and
remember His promises, then you would have courage and strength to continue to
move on.
Nehemiah did not yield to the
circumstances even when he had to face a further problem of internal spilt. He
made some defensive plans. He ordered the people to take up their swords,
spears, and bows, and stationed them behind the lowest points of the wall at
the exposed places, posting them by families for defense.
We notice something very important. On
one hand, Nehemiah prayed to God, and on the other hand, he “posted a guard day and night to meet
this threat.” (v9) He “stationed the people behind the lowest points of the
wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears
and bows.”
It doesn’t mean that we don’t need to do
anything when we rely on God and pray to Him. It doesn’t mean that when we sit
for examination, we don’t have to study after we have prayed to God.
Therefore, we must pray to God and at
the same time, study hard by ourselves. We need to do our part and fulfill our
role. Nehemiah combined his prayer, work preparation and start acting on them
altogether.
Though the Jews and he trusted in God,
they took actions to keep watch over the works that was entrusted to them by
God.
Let’s examine ourselves. We often pray
but we might not be putting effort in trying to understand God’s heart desire.
We never learn and study the effective ways of solving our problems. We lack
courage and commitment to implement our remedy plan.
The correct attitude would be to pray,
to think through, to study and to take action and to try to solve the
difficulties.
Instill Vision and Team Building
Nehemiah also encouraged the nobles and
the officials, and said, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and
fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your
homes.” (v14)
Nehemiah emphasized the power of God and
that the peoples needed to rely on God for victory. Nehemiah was not a tragic
hero who fought alone, but he valued very much a team ministry. In the name of Almighty
God, he purposely encouraged those nobles, officials, and the rest of the
people to come together to resist their enemies.
Nehemiah also gave them a long term and
relevant vision or goal: to build a lasting and stable home for their families
and children. Nehemiah reminded all the people to pay attention to God’s call
and their work goals, and he reinstated God’s powerful protection.
Today, if you are entangled by all sorts
of problems in your works, and you are depressed, frustrated, and troubled, you
can remember God’s goals given to you in your lives and works, and that God
shall help you move towards your goals. Press on!
Conclusion
In this new year, it is hard to predict
future economic and political trends, but the only thing that can be predicted
is the continual Covid-19 pandemic.
Let’s pray to God that He would help us
overcome difficulties and challenges, for God is the One who puts the burden of
the sacred works in our hearts, and He would surely keep it so that we could
finish His works.
Let all of us contribute our efforts and
be united in doing the works of God. We should work tirelessly, resolving to
take action to solve the problems, God will surely help us solve our
difficulties, for He is pleased with our serving and our attitude, and He loves
and protects us. He is our Rock, Rescue and Security. We shall not be shaken.
In verse 15, it says, “When our
enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it
or “frustrated their intention”, we all returned to the wall, each to our
own work.”
When we trust in God and pray and be willing to labor with
Him, He would surely work and accomplish His own works in frustrating the
devil’s attack. Hence, our plans for God and their implementations will not be
merely dreams, and it shall be fulfilled, and we shall actualize His goals for
us. We will then experience deeply that God is true and alive, and our hearts
will enjoy real peace in the process. It is indeed something very wonderful!
Ask God to grant you his faith, courage,
commitment, giving spirit and genuine peace, so that we can witness and
experience His wonderful acts in the year 2021. Amen!
