| Introduction I am borrowing the title for this sermon from Derek Thomas's commentary on Nehemiah because I think it really captures what is going on here. Against all odds, Nehemiah was able to secure the Medo-Persian's approval to rebuild Jerusalem, particularly its walls. Upon arriving in Judea, he faced immediate opposition from the other regional powers represented by Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. Despite the opposition, Nehemiah organized the Jews in over 40 units and started rebuilding the wall. These three governors, now very upset about Nehemiah's audacity, pulled together their resources and threatened to attack Jerusalem if Nehemiah did not stop the work on the wall. So, Nehemiah called their bluff, mobilized all the Jews, and prepared them to defend Jerusalem. That is where we find ourselves today in the narrative of the book. I. Work after Victory, 15. A. The reason I called the planned attack on Jerusalem a bluff is that it was highly unlikely he was going to follow through because the Persian government would not look fondly upon an attack on one of its governors. 1. Once Sanballat saw that the Jews were serious, he folded. 2. It also became obvious to the enemies that God was the one overturning their plans. B. Once the threat was gone, they returned to work. 1. They pressed toward the mark of God's calling in their lives at that time. 2. They had a God-given goal and they were going to accomplish. Lk. 9:62 – But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." "Grant us, O Lord, to remember that it is not the undertaking of any great matter, but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory." Attributed to 16thcentury explorer Francis Drake, quoted by H.G.M. Williamson II. Faith That Works, 16-18. A. Nehemiah firmly believed in what the psalmist says. Ps. 20:7 – Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Ps. 127:1 – Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 1. We see evidence of that in how he talks to the people – always reminding them that it is God who is working and fighting for them (see 4:20). 2. We see that in how he prays often, which is the chief exercise of our faith according to Calvin. 3. This belief is also evident in his planning, organizing, using what was available around him, and working hard. "… there is no room for a dichotomy between faith and responsible action: prayer and trust in God go hand in hand with sensible organization of what resources were available." H.G.M. Williamson "Faith in God did not lead Nehemiah to conclude that the exiles could meet the enemy's threats armed with a copy of the Old Testament Torah!" Derek Thomas B. Nehemiah understood that though the immediate threat was over, the enemy was persistent, 16. 1 Pt. 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1. Nehemiah was a man of faith, and as a man of faith he was a realist. 2. So, he plans for potential, future attacks. a. Being a man of faith is not the same as being naïve. b. It means that you trust in God and because of that trust in all that God says, you keep your powder dry, ready to fight the enemy. 3. Nehemiah designated half of his personal detail to protect the work on fulltime basis. a. "My servants" here doesn't refer to slaves or household servants, but to some sort of elite detail that seemed to have more military training than the rest of the citizenry. b. Perhaps they were the detail usually assigned to the governor or maybe they were the escort that the king sent with Nehemiah from Persia, 2:9. c. Notice that their armaments are much more complete and professional than the rest of the people. 4. What I really want you to notice is that the other half of these professional soldiers became construction workers because that was what the work needed. a. Part of what allowed the Jews to complete the wall successfully in such a short period of time (52 days) under such unfavorable odds was the general willingness of the people of God to do whatever needed to be done. b. In this, we find a very important lesson for us. 1) The church (us!) was giving the task of discipling the nations. 2) This task is and all-hands-on-deck work. 3) Sometimes the discipling of the nations will need us to humble ourselves and do tasks and serve people who we think beneath ourselves, not because it brings us praise and recognition (good Instagram post), but because it just needs to be done. 4) A good illustration of doing what needs to be done is the allied invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach. a) That part of the allied invasion was a planner's worst nightmare. b) Nothing went as planned. c) Not a single platoon landed where they were supposed to land. d) Not only that, the pre-invasion air and naval bombardment managed to miss almost every single target. e) So, when the first and second waves of soldiers arrived at the beach expecting to find a relatively quiet landing, they were met with almost insurmountable machine gun, sniper, and artillery fire. f) Almost every officer from the first and second waves were killed as soon as the transport vessels dropped their ramps. g) On top of that, the landing ended up happening at a much higher tide than expected. i. So, when the transport vessels would drop their ramps, the GI's would walk out into water that was above their heads while carrying over 80 lbs. of equipment. ii. So, they would bale all their equipment out just to get to shore. h) When they get to shore, they don't have radios, weapons, or explosive charges that they need to do their jobs. i. So, you have communications officers, army engineers, navy Sea Bees, all without equipment. ii. What do they do? They charge against the enemy iii. They grabbed M-1 riffles or carbines from dead soldiers and charge up the cliff against an entrenched enemy of formidable force. i) On that day, on that moment, everyone became infantry regardless of what their job was – except for the medics because they were too busy caring for hundreds of wounded. j) Later on, several of these men were interviewed and asked, "Why did you do it? Why not just hide and wait till you could do the job that you were there to do?" k) The answer was invariably, "Because it needed to be done." It just needed to be done. c. Sometimes in discipling the nations things just need to be done. 1) Soldiers will need to build walls. 2) Engineers will need to pick up arms. 3) You and I will need to get out of our comfort zone and just do what needs to be done. C. Everyone had a building and fighting assignment, 17-18. 1. Those who were in charge of clearing the debris so that the wall could be built collected and carried rubble with one hand and held a weapon with the other, 17. a. These workers were the closest to the enemy since they worked ahead clearing the construction site. b. So, they needed to be on a heightened state of alertness. 2. Those actually building the wall worked with a sword attached to their hips in case the enemy attacked unexpectedly. 3. These two verses teach us that we go about our calling always alert, knowing that the enemy may attack at any moment. 4. That's really the only way to resist his attacks. 1 Pt. 5:8-10 – 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. III. Strength in Gathered Numbers, 19-23. A. Nehemiah realizes that any of the 40 working units by itself would have a difficult time resisting an attack of the enemy, but together they could strengthen each other and stave off any attacks, 19-20. 1. So, he put in place a system to call everyone together: whenever you hear the trumpet call, drop whatever you are doing and run toward the sound so that together we defeat the enemy. 2. This call of the trumpet reminds me of two things: a. One is that we do need each to fight the enemy, that together we can resist the attacks of the enemy. b. The other is the Lord's Day. 1) All during the week, we are working at building the kingdom God, discipling the nations in our small units: at home, work, school. 2) On the Lord's Day we are called together to be re-energized for the work of God and to hear that God will fight for us. B. Discipling the nations is hard and long work even when the church is gathered and united behind it, 21-23. 1. The work hours were long, from dawn to till after dark, 21. 2. It didn't end at dark – all the workers slept on site for protection of the work and efficiency, 22. 3. Nehemiah didn't even change clothes so that no time would be wasted, 23. a. The last clause is a bit difficult to understand because it can be translated several ways. 1) It can be taken the way that it is here, which would mean either that they took the clothes to wash themselves or to wash the clothes. 2) It can also be translated as "each kept his weapon when drinking" – if this is the sense, then it means that they could react immediately to any attack. b. Either way, it conveys an extremely heightened level of readiness for battle. 4. These verses teach us that there are really no breaks from discipling the nations. a. In an entertainment crazed culture, this sounds like blaspheme. b. But the truth is that every moment of every day, we are discipling the nations – either to observe whatever Christ has taught us or to rebel against Christ.
As you go home later today, I want you to think about how the construction of this wall 2,500 years ago mirrors our call to disciple the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We face constant opposition and the enemy will attack us, but it is God who fights for us. There is absolutely nothing that is beneath us in serving Christ and sometimes we just do what need to be done in order to disciple the nations. In all that, one thing we keep in mind: whether consciously or not, we are constantly discipling the nations either to follow Christ or to rebel against him.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2018/01/trust-in-god-and-keep-powder-dry.html
|  | Send olympiabp blog feed to OBPC Podcast |  |  | |
