Nehemiah 4

Testing Will Come (Chapter 4)

Verses 1-3

4 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble, even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”

This section starts with the phrase, “Now it came about…” the NKJV says, “But, it so happened…”   Does anything just come about, does anything just so happen?   We keep getting hit in the face with the realization that things happen for a reason, God is in control.   But what about when you and I get mocked and scoffed at for being a Christian?   Let it be an opportunity to learn patience and endurance; 1 Corinthians 4:12 and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;   And Jesus said,  Luke 6:28 (NASB) bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  Do you see the fury of the enemy?   And Sanballat doesn’t just keep this anger to himself; he builds a coalition of antagonistic comrades.   What a put down; “a fox could knock over this stone wall.   Really.  I want to just share about a little project I did a while back.  It is small potatoes compared to some of the building projects many of you have done.   Some of you are serious builders.  I saw this patio cover that Shane built, man that thing is engineered to withstand an F5 tornado.    My project was to assemble this industrial shelving unit that Dave Wright gave me.   I put it in my garage.   When I was showing off my completed work to my youngest son who is very mechanical and builds stuff in the automotive realm.   I was telling him how I put this together; look at all the storage space, and my son reaches out and grabs a shelf and yanks on it.   Solid; no movement at all, I had fastened it securely to the garage wall.   It was kinda cute,  Daniel just kinda smirked and gave it his nod of approval.   I don’t think he expected anything that robust from me.   It was an example where my work was tested and found to be substantial.   Everything we do in God’s Kingdom will be tested.  1 Corinthians 3:13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.   Testing will come; expect it.   Our work needs to be built on the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ.   The wise man built his house upon the rock, and the rains came tumbling down.   The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the house on the sand went splat.

Nehemiah Turns Discouragement Into Encouragement through Prayer

Verses 4-8

4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.   6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.   7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.   10 Thus in Judah it was said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubbish; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.”

As long as we’re here on earth the attacks will come.   Nehemiah’s response, prayer.   He pours out his gripes and complaints to God.   He expresses his anger to God.   And then what, he gets back to work. My exhortation to you would be, have a mind to work. Sometimes you may have to psych yourself up, but just get started, get the momentum going.

11 Our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”

Now that’s motivating; if I’m fighting for my brother, my son, my daughter, my wife and my house, I’d probably still be afraid, but I’d fight.  And he has a plan and a strategy; you guys station yourselves down here, and keep your weapons ready, and when the enemies come through, cut ‘em down. Sanballat and Tobia; these enemies of Israel are a picture of our enemy, the devil, Satan, Lucifer.    Our enemy doesn’t want to just hinder our work, he wants to kill us and put a stop to our work for the LORD.   I want to make application to our lives; On the one hand, I don’t want to give the devil credit for more power or abilities than he has.   On the other hand, I don’t want to minimize the threat we face from our enemy.   The threat is real; 1 Peter 5:8  Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Let’s briefly examine the doctrine of Satan.   

This isn’t going to be an exhaustive coverage of this doctrine, but it is good to be familiar with the wiles of the devil.   We will see the devil is real, he is a fallen angel and he is smart; but he is finite, he’s created by God therefore he’s no match for God.

We’re introduced to the devil in Genesis 3:1-6 (NASB) 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’" 4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

We get a glimpse of Satan’s fall in Isaiah 14:12-17 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!   You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!   13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.   14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’   15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.   16 “Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,   17 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’

In Ezekiel 28:11-15, the Lord curses the King of Tyre, but down in verse 12, the language seems to shift and the Lord seems to be talking about Lucifer.

Ezekiel 28:11 Again the word of the Lord came to me saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God,  “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13  “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.

14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.

Jesus said in Luke 10:17-20 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

We learn about Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11.   Suffice it to say that the devil used the same three tactics on Jesus that he’d used on Eve in the garden.  What was Jesus' response?  The Word of God.

• MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”  Deuteronomy 8:3

• YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.  Deuteronomy 6:16

• YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” Exodus 20:1-5

Satan often comes to us as though he were one of us

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (NASB) 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

The Lord Jesus Himself defeats Satan in Revelation 20:7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

So we saw that Satan is a created being (a cherub), he’s finite and he will have an end.   Satan’s power is limited.   The fact that people worship satan just astounds me.  To think that people settle for worshiping a fallen angel, when they could worship the one who’s worthy, the infinite creator of heaven and earth.   Before I committed my life to the LORD in my college days, I had been into some pretty dark stuff; some of the music I listened to; drunkenness, carousing.   Then when I first started following Jesus as my Lord, I felt a real pointed, direct attack from the devil (when I say the devil, I don’t necessarily mean Satan himself, he has a whole cadre of spiritual minions who do his bidding. Ephesians 6:12 says, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Our protection comes from the LORD in the form of spiritual armor: Ephesians 6:13-18 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Which ties right into this next section.   This is the culmination, the climax, the high point of this chapter.  Take careful notice…

15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.

This is such a lesson… teamwork, managing more than one thing at a time, spiritual battle and earthly work.   The biggest thing is that God will fight for us.    For those of you who like a good scuffle, you scrappy ones, you pugnacious people, in God’s kingdom you get to participate in the battle.  So, let’s get building and get ready for the /fight, it’s coming.