Nehemiah 4

One of the most effective weapons Satan uses to halt our progress and to hinder the work of the Lord is discouragement.  Discouragement leads to apathy, “what’s-the-use” attitudes.  It doesn’t matter what we are pursuing, we are subject to be discouraged if we take our eyes off our goal and purpose.

 

Nehemiah was heading up the rebuilding of Jerusalem after its destruction during Israel’s 70 years of exile.  The walls had been destroyed, the gates burned and the city lay in ruins.  When King Artexerxes gave the Jews permission to return and repair the temple of their God and secure the city, their spirits must have soared with thanksgiving.  They were even given letters to the local governors to supply whatever was needed to complete the job.

 

This elation was a backdrop for an attempt by Satan to spread discouragement and attempt to stop the work.  As the work progressed, he found willing subjects to do his dirty work.  Threats, mockery and negative comments were shouted daily at the workers as they repaired the wall around the city.  Like the proverbial water drip that eventually created a hole in a rock, they hoped to spread discouragement so the work would completely cease.

 

When things are going well, we might have a tendency to become complacent and think, “This is the way it will always be.”  That illusion is a dream-killer and can be fatal!  If we begin to think we are invincible, beware!  Satan may wage an attack that can undermine our confidence.   You see, our strength never lies within our ability alone, never!  We are vulnerable when we feel we are sufficient unto ourselves.  Quoting scripture such as “I can do all things…” will be our downfall, unless we complete the verse with “…through Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Long before Paul wrote to the Ephesians to “Put on the whole armor of God....Above all, taking the shield of faith…to quench all the fiery darts,” Nehemiah knew that principal worked.  He literally armed the workers, and they worked with one hand while wielding their weapons with the other.  Faith in God’s strength was their shield as they held their weapons while they worked.  Their weapons alone would still have left them defenseless without God’s intervention in answer to their “watchful” prayers and faith.

“Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them” (Nehemiah 4:9)

His formula worked:  Pray and watch.  Remember, this is what Jesus told His disciples when He left them waiting as He went further in the Garden of Gethsemane to pray before His crucifixion.  The workers on the wall didn’t even come down to change their clothes except to launder them.  They were constantly on guard and watched for each other—and prayed.

When we “work with God,” He supplies the tools and the means to do the job.  The workers on the wall were told: “…Our God will fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:20).  If we really want success, it is found in that mindset.

 “…And they said, Let us rise up and build.  So they strengthened their hands for this good work”

(Nehemiah 2:18).

 

“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof:  for the people had a mind to work”

(Nehemiah 4:6).

Having “a mind to work” comes with submission to the work God has called us to.  It doesn’t matter what the job is, if God called us to it, we can do it—through Christ who gives us strength and ability.  The moment we begin to feel like “we” did it, we are in serious danger of failing.  Alone we are no match for the devil and his tactics, but with God’s strength and backing:  We can build the wall, anywhere, anytime, anyhow!

 

“…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

~~Delores~~

 Notes from History

Artaxerxes agreed to send Nehemiah to Jerusalem, appointed him as Civil Governor for 12 years, and authorized him to complete the rebuilding of the wall (and gates) of the city, a task that took him but 52 days to accomplish ( Neh.6:15).

But Nehemiah did more than rebuild a wall, as we will learn. This book is also the story of the restoring of a people from ruin and despair to a new walk with God.

In parenthesis, as it were, Nehemiah says that he asked the king, "with the queen sitting beside him." There is obviously a reason for this inclusion. This queen was probably the queen mother, Queen Esther, the wife of Xerxes, and mother of Artaxerxes.

From secular sources we learn that there had been trouble in the province of Syria (just north of Judah), two years earlier. The satrap (governor) of that province had rebelled against Artaxerxes. It is likely that the king welcomed this opportunity to place a trusted man in the governorship of Judah and interpose a buffer between Syria and Egypt who were often at war in those days. Thus this proposed journey of Nehemiah was something the king found very satisfying.

 

                                

                                  

 

@ There's Good News June 301