Nehemiah 4

CHAPTER 4THEME: Nehemiah’s response to opposition from withoutIn the preceeding chapter we saw that Nehemiahan ingenious fellowused a special strategy to get the wall around Jerusalem built. As we moved around the wall, we saw that different people were allocated a certain section of wall to repair so that the wall was going up all the way around the city at the same time. In this chapter we will see that they managed to build it about halfway up. The enemies found that the weapon of laughter did not stop the work, so now they are going to employ a new method to try to stop the building.

Nehemiah 4:1

Laughing at them hadn’t stopped themthe work progressedso now the enemy will use the weapon of ridicule before others. They mock that which was precious to God but despised by Sanballat.

Nehemiah 4:2

The questions which the enemy asked were pertinent questions. They were questions the children of Israel were asking themselves. They wondered if they would be able to complete the task. Ridicule is one method the enemy will use.

Nehemiah 4:3

Tobiah the Ammonitehe is a wisecrackercomes through with a sarcastic remark. It had a touch of humor in it, by the way. Now a fox is a very light-footed animal. A fox can walk over ground and not leave much of a track. A fox can run on a wall and not disturb a thing on it. What Tobiah is saying is that these feeble Jews are building a wall that even a light-footed fox would knock down. After all, some of the builders were goldsmiths, druggists, and women. My, how the enemy ridiculed them! Believe me, this was discouraging for these people who had been working so hard. What is Nehemiah going to do? The resource and the recourse of this man is prayer. Notice what he does.

Nehemiah 4:4

These men who tried to hinder the building were God’s enemies as well as the Jews’ enemies. This is a prayer under the Law. Under the Law, the Jews had a perfect right to ask for justice. They were correct to ask that a righteous judgment be made. God intends to do that, friend; that has never changed. However, the Lord Jesus Christ has reversed it for those of us who are believers today. Today we are told not to pray for revenge. We are definitely told in Eph_4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” In Rom_12:19 Paul wrote, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” There are certain matters that we should turn over to the Lord and He will handle them. If we attempt to handle them, it means that we are not walking by faith. There are certain things that I think we are to take care of. It is quite evident from Scripture that there are times when a rebuke should be given. We find that Paul told the Corinthians that they were to deal with the things in their church that were wrong. Paul told Timothy, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2Ti_4:2). Reprove means “to convict.” Rebuke means “to threaten.” Exhort means “to comfort.” The child of God is to use the sword of the Lord, which is the Word of God. That sword needs to be pushed into that thing which is corrupt and wrong in our lives.

It is also to be used to apply the balm of Gilead to a broken heart. There are times when a rebuke should be delivered. God help the preacher who is not faithful in that connection. We are living in a day when people grasp to themselves teachers with itching ears. They want a flowery message that just washes itself out into nothing. They don’t want to hear a message that deals with their indifference and the sin in their lives.

As a result, a great many churcheseven some so-called Bible churcheshave nothing to offer but that which is sweet. While it is true that there is a lot of Scripture that is sweet, there is some of God’s Word that is bitter. Many people feel that the bitter side should not be heard. Under Law, my friend, the people could pray that justice be brought to pass upon their enemies. We need to remember that those who are the enemies of the people of God are also the enemies of God Himself. However, the life of God’s people is not simply a life of prayer; it also is a walk and a warfare. So what did these people do?

Nehemiah 4:6

Nehemiah ignored the sarcasm of the enemy, prayed to God, and continued to build. So the opposition of ridicule was overcome by the people.

Nehemiah 4:7

When the enemy saw that laughing at them and ridiculing them are not going to stop the building of the wall, they begin to move in another direction. They are angry now.

Nehemiah 4:8

Once again we see that prayer is Nehemiah’s resource and recourse. His motto is now “pray and watch.” “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God.” It is fine to use pious platitudes when we back them up with something. I know many people who will say, “Let us pray about it.” Have you ever heard someone say that? What I want to know is, what are you going to do after you pray? When I was a pastor, I asked a man to do something. He said, “Well, I will pray about it.” I replied, “Wait a minute.

If that is your way of saying no to me, say it right now to my face, and I will find someone else to do it. I don’t think you need to pray about this matter. Either you will or you won’t. Which is it?” To tell the truth, he wouldn’t do it. He was just putting me off, and our conversation enabled me to find someone else for the job. There are many people today who simply mouth pious platitudes. Nehemiah could have uttered a pious platitude. He could have said, “We are trusting the Lord. We won’t do anything.” That is the easy way out. That is what many people are doing today. They say they are trusting the Lord, but what are they doing about it? If you really trust the Lord, you will be doing something. Nehemiah knew that the enemy was plotting to come against him, so he set a watch. This is what God expected him to do, of course. Not only was there trouble without; there was trouble within.

Nehemiah 4:10

This is the time to be careful, because the Devil can hurt you most severely from the inside. One of Satan’s greatest weapons against God’s people is discouragement. I received a letter some time ago from a young missionary couple serving in the jungles of South America. It was their first term of service, and they were very discouraged. From their letter it sounded as though they were ready to come home. They said, “You do not know what it means to us to listen to your radio program late at night down here in this foreign land, among people whose language we do not yet understand.” The Devil, of course, was using his weapon of discouragement. We, too, were discouraged and were ready to take our program off that particular station in South America. Then the Lord undertook in a marvelous way, and we were able to continue broadcasting the program. We were so glad, because we know the Bible teaching is an encouragement to these young folk. Oh, how wonderful the Lord is to us, friend! The Devil uses discouragement in all our lives.

Nehemiah 4:11

The enemy took advantage of the Jews’ discouragement, and they planned a surprise attack. “We are going to take them when they are not looking for us.” What will be Nehemiah’s strategy against a surprise attack?

Nehemiah 4:13

Nehemiah put every man in the position where he could defend his own family, which made him more comfortable when he was building, of course. With his family at home, some distance away from him, a builder did not know whether or not they were safe. So Nehemiah put them with their families and armed them well.

Nehemiah 4:14

“Remember the Lord” was to be their motto, their rallying cry. As you may remember in the Spanish-American War, our nation’s battle cry was “Remember the Maine.” In World War I it was “Remember the Lusitania.” In World War II it was “Remember Pearl Harbor.” Napoleon always reminded his soldiers of some past history to stir them up to fight. When Paul the apostle wrote his swan song to a young preacher named Timothy, he gave him a rallying cry. The correct translation of 2Ti_2:8 is, “Remember Jesus Christ!” That is the rallying cry of believers today. “Remember the Lord” was the rallying cry for the Jews in Nehemiah’s day.

Nehemiah 4:15

The Jews could go back to work now. the enemy had retired. They found they could not surprise the Jews. Nehemiah is an ingenious fellow. He still has more strategy. I like himI wish I had him around today.

Nehemiah 4:16

I love this. Each builder had a trowel in one hand with which to build, and in the other hand he carried a sword with which to defend himself. These two weapons or instruments should be in the hands of believers today. The trowel represents the fact that believers should build themselves up in the most holy faith. That is for the inside. I disagree with folk who say that when a person is saved he should jump right in and start witnessing. I really don’t think new converts ought to be used in a ministry. They first need to learn from experience that Jesus saves and keeps and satisfies. It is wonderful to hear that So-and-So was saved yesterday, or last week; but let us hear from him in a year or two years from today to see if he has been built up in the faith. You see, we need to be built up. The trowel needs to be in our hand. Also we need to hold the sword of the Spirit. That is also important. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God with which we defend ourselves. We need the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other. Spurgeon put out a magazine years ago called The Sword and the TrowelI think it is still in existence. I was in Spurgeon’s church some time ago and stood in his pulpit. What a great man of God he was, and an example of one who believed that you ought to hold the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other.

Nehemiah 4:18

Nehemiah said, “I will watch. When you hear the trumpet, come to that spot, and we will meet the enemy head on.”

Nehemiah 4:21

I don’t know what union these men belonged to, but they certainly worked longer than eight hours. They worked from the rising of the sun until the stars appeared in the sky. Believe me, they were tired and weary in the work of the Lord.

Nehemiah 4:22

To men who had come from far away places, like Jericho, Nehemiah said, “Stay close by, because we want you to be ready to guard at night.”

Nehemiah 4:23

I was just about ready to say to Nehemiah, “Boy, I’ll bet you got dirty during all that time.” But Nehemiah says, “Of course when we took a bath we took off our clothes.” (You see, there is humor in the Bible, friend. Even in a crisis like this, the Lord inserted a little humor.) Otherwise they never removed their clothesday or night. They were on guard all of the time. Oh, to be so clothed today with the armor of God! There are trying times ahead. Real difficulty is going to arise which will cause Nehemiah to become angry and which almost disrupted the work of the Lord.