| Introduction To this point of the book of Nehemiah, we know thatthe wall was built. Now, we start to see how the wall was built. The howreally revolves around God doing it. Perhaps better put, the howrevolves around acknowledging that God is the one doing the work through his people (9, 15, 20). One commentator (Derek Thomas) labels this section, "Trust God… and keep the powder dry." I. The Opposition, 1-3, 7-8, 11. A. The same characters that have already been making life difficult show up again: Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem – Sanballat = 1; Tobiah = 3; Geshem = 7. B. This time, however, they bring all their friends with them: army = 2; Ashdodites = 7. 1. Notice how Nehemiah describes Sanballat – furious and indignant. a. The Bible tells us that we have three primary enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. 1) The world is the system of thought that we live in that is in opposition to the worldview the Bible describes. 2) The flesh is the leftovers of our sinful nature, the old habits and desires, that continue to have a pull on our hearts. 3) The devil is, well, the devil, who though defeated on the cross and resurrection of Christ, continues to be a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. b. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and all his friends stand here for the world, which is ALWAYS in opposition to the Church. 1) Let's not kid ourselves into thinking that we live a friendly culture toward Jesus or even a neutral culture. 2) And let's not kid ourselves into thinking that the world will ever be friendly and accepting of the cause of Christ. Rev. 6:15-17 – And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" 2. At the same time notice that the world does not have a logical argument against the Church. a. Sanballat resorted to mocking the work of the Church, which is not a logical argument. b. In his mockery, Sanballat was right about several things. 1) The Jews are a feeble group with no major public project experience. 2) They will fortify themselves. 3) God is indeed who is going to accomplish the work for them – sacrifice means trying to earn the favor of the gods. 4) They will indeed finish with unprecedented speed. 5) The wall will not be a thing of beauty. a) The stones were likely limestone, which would become very brittle when in high heat. b) They were not quarrying new stones, just using the rubble that was there from previous constructions. c) That's why Tobiah refers to the wall not being able to support even the weight of a fox. d) Now, one thing Sanballat and Tobiah failed to account for was that in some places the Jews built 12-foot thick walls, which meant that it really didn't matter what the construction materials were. 6) While thinking that his mockery would somehow discourage the building of the wall, Sanballat was nothing more than a prophet! c. Let us not be afraid of the arguments brought by the world because they are not sound and can be answered from the Word of God through the indwelling of the Spirit. 2 Cor. 10:4-5 – For the weapons of our warfare arenot carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…. C. Whether these enemies were serious about attacking or not, their message was one of destruction, 11. 1. Their coalition now included all the surround territories – Arabs to the south, Ammonites to the east, Samaritans to the north, and Ashdodites to the west. 2. Their strategy was to create confusion. a. In this strategy, we find a conflation of the strategy of two enemies of the Church: the world and the devil. b. Confusion is always detrimental to us and the enemy will use it to distract us. c. We will also hide behind confusion as an excuse for inaction. 3. The enemies will attack in unexpected ways, and that's why constant vigilance is a must! (more on this later) II. Response to the Opposition: Prayer and Action, 4-6, 9. A. Somehow Nehemiah heard about the enemies' plans and that drove him to prayer, 4-5. 1. This is an imprecatory prayer, that is, a prayer that asks God to judge and condemn Nehemiah's enemies. a. This type of prayer is somewhat common in the book of Psalms, common enough that we notice them. b. Today I am not going to take the time to see how an imprecation like this one fits with Jesus's teaching on the Sermon on the Mount concerning praying for enemies other than to say that there is considerable tension between the two. Mt. 5:44 – But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you 2. I do want to point out one way in which there is no tension between Nehemiah's prayer and the NT teaching – he turned the issue to God for vindication. Rom. 12:19 – Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rathergive place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. 3. Notice that the worst thing that Nehemiah could think of was that the enemies would have to bear their own sin. a. Perhaps we don't think this is a big deal because we don't really understand the magnitude of our sin and benefit of God's forgiveness. b. Blessedness ultimately is not relief from the enemies, but forgiveness of sins. Ps. 32:1-2a – Blessed is he whosetransgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity…. Ps. 130:3-4 – If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there isforgiveness with You, that You may be feared. B. But godly prayer is followed up with action, 6, 9. 1. Nehemiah prays and the next thing we hear is, "so we built the wall.", 6 a. Prayer and action go hand in hand. b. Sometimes the action may be waiting, but that waiting is a deliberate response to prayer. c. Prayer is followed by bold action – the wall was built all the way around to half of the fine height because the people had a mind to work. 2. When the enemies threatened again, the response is once again prayer and action, 9. a. Look at how matter-of-factly Nehemiah writes – threat à prayer à working on fortifying our protection. b. This is the pattern we find through the Scriptures. 1) Jesus prayed that the Father would let the cup of his wrath to pass from him, got up, and went to the cross. 2) The apostles prayed for boldness in the proclamation of the Gospel then they went out and boldly proclaimed the Gospel. III. Discouragement in the Face of Opposition, 10, 12. A. Constant opposition is a source of discouragement and the difficulty of the task was taking its tow on the people of Judah. 1. The work was massive and they couldn't begin building the wall because there was so much debris everywhere, 10. b. They weren't even close to being done. 2. The Jews who were leaving their families behind to come help build the wall were constantly pointing out that the enemy was everywhere, 12. a. It is interesting that Nehemiah included this irrelevant detail that they had already told him 10 times that the enemies were everywhere. b. It wears a person out to have to constantly deal with someone who is repeatedly pointing out the same problems. B. Here we see another enemy that we battle constantly – the flesh. C. This is a critical moment for the success of Nehemiah's mission and the continuation of the Church. 1. How is Nehemiah going to address these issues? 2. What will encourage the people to persevere? IV. Encouragement from the Lord, 13-14. A. Nehemiah gathers all the people together with all their equipment, 13. 1. To this point, they had been scared around the wall (remember they were divided into 41 groups). 2. Now, Nehemiah brings them all together and organizes them as an army – perhaps to show them that they are stronger than they think. B. But ultimately Nehemiah encourages them by pointing them to God, 14. 1. Remember the Lord – any sort of encouragement has to start here. a. He is great (biggest, largest, mighty) Dt. 10:17 – For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 1 Tim. 6:13-16 – I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. b. He is awesome (fearful, frightening) 1) He is the only one who should be truly feared. 2) He is the one whose presence is terrifying even to the most powerful beings. Is. 6:1-4 – In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robefilled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. c. This is the God who is on the side of the Church. d. He is the one who is for us – who will be against us? 2. Remember God and fight as if your life depends on it. a. There is this holy abandonment in living when we remember God as he is revealed to us in Jesus Christ. b. Do you find surprising that Nehemiah doesn't include fighting for oneself in the list? 1) When our minds and hearts are filled with God through Jesus Christ, we are freed to fight for other people. 2) We are no longer our main concern. c. Nehemiah's battle cry reminds us that our strategy to fight the world, the flesh, and the devil must be the same. 1) Your marriage is in shambles and needs to be rebuilt – you must begin by remember the great and awesome God who saved you in Jesus Christ. 2) You home is in chaos – you must begin rebuilding it by filling your mind with the great and awesome God who delivered his Son to death for you. 3) You are growing bitter because where you providentially are in your life – you must remember God the Son did not think that equality with God was something that should keep him from becoming like you and saving you. 4) Sexual lust is consuming you – fill up your mind and heart with the glories of God who crucified you with Jesus and brought you back to newness of life. 5) You are discouraged because anger gets the best of you – remember the great and awesome God who poured his wrath upon his Son on the cross so that he could pour his love on you.
Look at the result of remembering God and fighting for those who are around you, 15. This God who delivered Judah and Nehemiah has also delivered you. But he hasn't simply delivered you from enemies like Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. He delivered you from sin, from death, and from the wrath to come. In doing that, he has made you more than conquerors through Christ who loved you. The great and awesome God of the Bible found you in a miry pit, drowning in your sin. He took out of there and placed on the firm rock of Jesus Christ and filled you with songs of deliverance. NO ENEMY CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2017/12/victory-over-enemies-nehemiah-41-15.html
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