The Leader & Opposition
Sometimes you read these stories from the Old Testament and they seem so remote, so removed from our modern world that you wonder whether they can have any relevance for us. I mean, as George pointed out last week, we wouldn't even think of getting out and building a church by ourselves. Building has become a skilled occupation. You need the right tools and you need to know how to use them without injuring yourself.
Yet as you read through a passage like this you realise that in fact some things haven't changed. The task may be different but the obstacles are much the same. The reaction of their enemies to their success was similar and the techniques used by those who oppose them have a very contemporary ring to them.
Nehemiah knew before he left Susa that he’d meet opposition. That’s why he asked the king for letters of authority. That’s why the king sent an armed troop with him.
The moment he arrives in Judea, he’s met by the local governors who immediately express their concern at his plans. They’re worried that he’s come to promote the welfare of the Jews.
That concern only escalates as Nehemiah and the Jews go about their task with gusto. Sanballat comes down from Samaria and begins what will be a campaign of opposition aimed at stopping the work. And the slowly escalating opposition takes a familiar course.
Mockery
‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.’ I’m sure you’ve heard the words before and you’ve probably even chanted them at some stage in your life. But of course there’s no truth to it is there? In fact words can hurt far more than sticks and stones and their effects can be far longer lived. Every teenager knows that if you want to hurt someone you poke fun at them. Point out their messy hair or the way their ears stick out or their weight or their lack of coordination. Laugh at their clothes or their old fashioned mobile or their computer game that everyone knows is last year’s model. You can even poke fun at them when they do well in a test or when the teacher praises them for something. It so easy isn’t it? You just need to find the place where they’re a bit sensitive or feeling vulnerable.
And that’s exactly what Sanballat does. He ridicules the Jews for their feeble efforts. No doubt that’s exactly how they’ve been feeling. There’s so few of them and the job is huge. They’ve tried it once before and their enemies have come in and knocked down the parts of the wall that they’d rebuilt; burnt the gates they’d hung in place. No doubt many of them were losing sleep waiting for the same thing to happen again.
So he touches a nerve. And then he adds to it by asking a simple question: “Will they restore things?” “Will they finish it in a day?” “Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish -- and burned ones at that?” You can hear the mocking laughter in his voice can’t you? “Can’t they see what it is they’ve started?” This is far too big a job for a few weak Jews, for merchants and artists like those goldsmiths and perfumers we heard about last week. Who are they kidding? The goldsmiths and perfumers had probably worked that out on about day 3 when their sore muscles started to really kick in. In fact look down at v10 and you’ll see that the Jews were already starting to voice those same concerns: “10But Judah said, ‘The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall.’”
It’s difficult when our opponents point out the things we already wonder about isn’t it? How do we share the gospel in a suburb like this? Didn’t Jesus point out just how hard it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God? Well aren’t we surrounded by rich people? Isn’t Australia full of people who are satisfied in their affluence? So when the atheists suggest Christians are kidding themselves and that life is good without God we get worried. What if they’re right? What if we are kidding ourselves?
And notice the other little phrase in there: “Will they sacrifice?” That isn’t a comment about rebuilding the Temple. It’s a comment about their faith; poking fun at the thought that they might pray to God so he’ll rescue them, keep them safe. Sanballat thinks history is on his side. He’s seen the Babylonians taking the Jews away in chains so he doesn’t think God has any power at all.
Now as I said this isn’t anything out of the ordinary. It’s the same sort of opposition that God’s people still encounter. And most of us are just as vulnerable, some of the time at least. We all suffer from a sense of inferiority at some level. Yet we also have a God who can do far more that Sanballat could imagine. In fact far more than we might imagine if only we’ll ask, if only we’ll trust him.
A Prayer for help
Nehemiah’s response to this verbal attack is not to throw back more words the way you or I might be tempted to. Rather he turns to God in prayer. It’s not a very nice prayer though, is it? “4Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders.”
Should we be embarrassed at the viciousness of this prayer? I mean it’s not very politically correct is it? Asking God to destroy them? To send them off to captivity. To keep their sins before him. i.e. never to forgive them.
But let me suggest 2 things about this prayer.
First of all when he talks about them being despised and insulted, it seems to me that the concern is not for their own dignity but for that of God. You see it’s really God who’s being insulted isn’t it? Jerusalem is his city. These are his people. The insults imply that God is unable to look after his own people.
Secondly what Nehemiah is doing is exactly what God tells us to do when we’re attacked by our enemies. Romans 12 tells us: “19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” Nehemiah is leaving it to God both to look after his people and to avenge those who are his enemies.
And so they ignore the mocking and get on with rebuilding and soon the wall is joined together to half its height.
Wars and Rumours of Wars
But then the stakes get raised. Sanballat and Tobiah call their mates together to talk about what can be done. They’ve done it before so why not do it again. Attack them and disrupt the work. Burn down the new gates, maybe even knock over the weaker parts of the wall. Kill a few workers in the process and that’ll discourage them from going any further.
By now the king’s troops have returned to Susa and the Jews are on their own. Sanballat and Tobiah are the regional governors so they can do what they want. But before they can act, the word gets out. The Jews hear about it and what do they do? True to type, Nehemiah organises a prayer meeting. They pray for God’s protection. But they don’t just pray, do they? No, they also act. You know, believing in the power of prayer doesn’t mean you can remain passive in your Christian life. Nor does being an activist mean you don’t believe in prayer or in the power of God to intervene in our world. No, the two go together.
They prayed to God and they set a 24 hour guard against attack. But even that wasn’t enough. The words of their enemies were starting to bear fruit. There were complaints that the work was getting hard. The burden bearers were wearing out with the effort, the rubble was getting too much for them. You can imagine they’ve moved the top levels of rubble, but the further down you go the harder it becomes: the rocks are buried in dust and mud that has to be dug out before you can use them. The slope would be slippery making it doubly hard to get the stones out.
The Jews coming in from the surrounding towns realised just how vulnerable they were. There were just too many directions that an attack could come from. It was all true. What was he to do?
Well Nehemiah is not only a man of prayer but as we saw a couple of weeks ago he was also a strategist. He knows that their complaints are true so he comes up with a plan that will keep them safe at the same time as keeping the work progressing.
He chooses the places that are most vulnerable, the low points in the wall, and he sets groups there to be on guard. He puts them there in family groups - people who know each other and who care for each other, who’ll stick together if the worst happens.
Then he calls them together and gives them a pep talk. He reminds them who it is they’re fighting for and who it is who fights with them. And it works. The plot fizzles out and the work can begin once again.
But this time it’s different. Having prepared the people for battle Nehemiah realises that they need to remain battle ready. So from now on half of them work on the wall while the other half stand guard. They go to work with a bucket in one hand and a sword in the other. The builders keep their swords strapped to their sides. Nehemiah watches over the whole process with the trumpeter standing by him ready to call the men to arms if an attack came. And they arrange for all the workers from other towns to remain within the city rather than going back to their homes so they’re on battle alert the whole time.
A Personal Attack
If you jump forward to ch6 you’ll find the next stage in the escalation of this attack. Sanballat and Geshem the Arab send Nehemiah a message saying come out and parley in one of the villages on the plain. It sounds reasonable doesn’t it? Sit down and talk out our differences. But in fact they plan to assassinate him - and Nehemiah knows it. So he replies “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?” Four times they try and each time he ignores them.
So they try another ploy. They send an open letter. And again it has a very contemporary ring to it. “It is reported among the nations--and Geshem also says it--that you and the Jews intend to rebel.” How often do news reports start with something like that. “It has been suggested that ...” or “Reports coming in indicate that ...” And you never know whether there’s any truth to the reports, nor whether the reporter really cares. And in politics it’s often worse. Innuendo and suggestion without directly accusing anyone. (apart from the carbon tax of course) - (did you hear that Black Caviar was off her game last week because she was worried about the carbon tax)
And finally, Sanballat even manages to get the help of some of the Jews. A man named Shemaiah, a prophet, suggests Nehemiah should hide in the Temple because they’re coming to kill him. He wants to show him up, to make people think he’s a coward, that all his brave words were just an act. He knows that if he can hobble Nehemiah the rest will fall apart.
But Nehemiah isn’t fooled. God shows him that this is just a ruse. That he, along with a number of men in the city have been corrupted by Sanballat. And so the building goes on and the wall is finished. And in the end it’s their enemies who end up being shattered “for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”
I mentioned Jesus saying how hard it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. But then he added “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” The taunts of their enemies may have tempted them to think that this task was impossible, but Nehemiah knew otherwise. He knew they were working in the strength of the Lord. He knew that God would give them the help they needed to complete the work.
For us the work is just as difficult. Building God’s kingdom in Australia in the 21st century seems impossible at times. The number Christians in Church each week is down to something like 6% of the population. How can we possibly make an impact when we’re such a tiny minority? But the good news is this: We can do it with the help of our God. With God all things are possible. When we pray and then act great things can happen. In the words of Nehemiah: “Do not be afraid ... Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome,” and do all you can to resist our enemy and build God’s kingdom.