#4 Workers and Warriors Nehemiah 4

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”

Those words from Gilbert Keith Chesterton were certainly true in Nehemiah’s situation. His arrival in Jerusalem was a threat to Sanballat and his associates (2:10), who wanted to keep the Jews weak and dependent. A strong Jerusalem would endanger the balance of power in the region, and it would also rob Sanballat and his friends of influence and wealth.

When things are going well, get ready for trouble, because the enemy doesn’t want to see the work of the Lord make progress. As long as the people in Jerusalem were content with their sad lot, the enemy left them alone; but, when the Jews began to serve the Lord and bring glory to God’s name, the enemy became active.

Opposition is not only an evidence that God is blessing, but it is also an opportunity for us to grow. The difficulties that came to the work brought out the best in Nehemiah and his people. Satan wanted to use these problems as weapons to destroy the work, but God used them as tools to build His people. “God had one Son without sin,” said Charles Spurgeon, “but He never had a son without trial.”

When Sir James Thornhill was painting the inside of the cupola of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, at one point he finished an area and stepped back to view it. Had he gone back one step more, he would have fallen from the scaffolding and perhaps killed himself. Seeing the situation, a friend seized one of the brushes and rubbed paint over a part of the picture. The artist rushed forward to protect his work, and at the same time, his life was saved. When the picture of our life or ministry is not all we think it ought to be, perhaps the Master Artist is rescuing us from something far worse and preparing us for something far better.

Chapters 4 to 6 describe at least nine different tactics that the enemy used to try to stop the work on the walls. First, they attacked the Jewish people with ridicule (4:1-6) and plots of war (vv. 7-9). This resulted in difficulties within the Jewish ranks: discouragement (v. 10), fear (vv. 11-23), and selfishness (5:1-19). When attacks on the people failed to stop the work, the enemy then started to attack their leader, Nehemiah. They tried compromise (6:1-4), slander (vv. 5-9), threats (vv. 10-14) and intrigue (vv. 17-19); but none of these devices worked either. Nehemiah was “steadfast and unmovable” and led his people to finish the work in fifty-two days!

Referring to Satan, Paul wrote, “For we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11). This chapter presents four of Satan’s devices for opposing the Lord’s work, and it also tells us how God’s people can be steadfast and defeat the enemy. If you start building, you will soon be battling; so, be prepared!

British critic and author Thomas Carlyle called ridicule “the language of the devil.” Some people who can stand bravely when they are shot at will collapse when they are laughed at. Shakespeare called ridicule “paper bullets of the brain,” but those bullets have slain many a warrior.

It is not unusual for the enemy to insult the servants of God. Goliath ridiculed David when the shepherd boy met the giant with only a sling in his hand (1 Sam. 17:41-47). Jesus was mocked by the soldiers during His trial (Luke 22:63-65) and by the rabble while He was hanging on the cross (23:35-37); and some of the heroes of the faith had to endure mocking (Heb. 11:36). When the enemy laughs at what God’s people are doing, it is usually a sign that God is going to bless His people in a wonderful way. When the enemy rages on earth, God laughs in heaven (Ps. 2:4).

Sanballat and his friends had begun to ridicule the Jews even before the work on the wall had begun. “They laughed us to scorn,” wrote Nehemiah, “and despised us” (Neh. 2:19). What special relationship Sanballat had with the army of Samaria is not explained to us. Perhaps he had the army assembled as a show of strength to frighten the Jews. By making his initial speech before the army, Sanballat intensified the power of his ridicule as he made some important people laugh at the Jews.

First, Sanballat ridiculed the workers by calling them “feeble Jews” (4:2). Such statements are often persuasive: ridicule, opposition, and discouragement. Why should people like us attempt positive change in life? Why should we move toward the place of honor, wholeness, and security that comes from faith?

The reason that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down was that the hearts of the people were desolate. Listen again to Sanballat's stinging word of opposition: "What are those feeble Jews doing?" We hear, "What are those feeble believers attempting? Who do they think they are?" The Jews, some of whom had been back from exile for more than two generations, believed that they were the feeble people of God, that their enemies were too strong, that the work was too great.

They had internalized all the words of the enemy. So they had not attempted to rebuild for decades.

Part of the ridicule was ridicule of God. "Will they offer sacrifices?" said Sanballat. "What are they going to do, get God involved?" (They had rebuilt the temple, and the new temple was small and rather inferior.) "Would God do something for them? Be serious! Their God is feeble. They won't accomplish anything."

Over and over again, the voices challenged, frustrated, and belittled the Jews. Why would it be different this time? The walls were broken because their hearts were broken. That remains one of the points of application for us. Most of us live with restrictions we don't need to live with. Most of us have stopped trying in some area of our life because we've grown so weary of failure. Most of us have things about us that we don't believe God can do. We've stopped talking to him about them. What's the point? And even if we did start, opponents would jump in and ridicule us: "If even a fox were to jump on that sad, ridiculous effort you're making, it would topple in a minute. It's not good for anything."

The word feeble means “withered, miserable.” The people were like cut flowers that were fading away. They had no human resources that people could see, but the enemy could not see their great spiritual resources. The people of the world don’t understand that God delights in using feeble instruments to get His work accomplished (1 Cor. 1:18-31). The world glories in its wealth and power, but God’s people glory in their poverty and weakness. When we are weak, then we are strong (2 Cor. 12:1-10).

Then Sanballat ridiculed the work itself by asking three taunting questions. “Will they fortify themselves?” must have evoked gales of laughter from the Samaritan army. How could a remnant of feeble Jews hope to build a wall strong enough to protect the city from the army? “Will they sacrifice?” implies, “It will take more than prayer and worship to rebuild the city!” This question was blasphemy against Jehovah God, for Sanballat was denying that God would help His people. “Will they finish in a day?” suggests that the Jews didn’t know how difficult the task was and would soon call it quits.

In his final question, Sanballat ridiculed the materials they were using. The stones were taken out of the rubbish heaps and probably were so old and damaged that they would never last when set into the wall. While it is true that limestone is softened by fire, it is also true that the walls were “broken down,” while the gates were “consumed with fire” (Neh. 2:13). In spite of what Sanballat said, there was still plenty of good material for the builders to use.

Tobiah the Ammonite was one of the visiting dignitaries at the Samaritan army inspection; and when it was his turn to make a speech, he ridiculed the finished product (4:3). You wouldn’t need an army to knock down the wall; a solitary fox could do it! Of course, much that Sanballat and Tobiah said was true from a human point of view; for the Jewish remnant was weak and poor, and the work was too great for them. But they had great faith in a great God, and that’s what made the difference.

How did Nehemiah respond to this ridicule? He prayed and asked God to fight the enemy for him. This is the third time you find Nehemiah praying (1:4-11; 2:4), and it will not be the last time. Nehemiah didn’t allow himself to get detoured from his work by taking time to reply to their words. The Lord had heard the sneering taunts of Sanballat and Tobiah, and He would deal with them in His own way and His own time.

Nehemiah’s prayer resembles the “imprecatory psalms,” such as Psalms 69; 79; and 139:19-22. We must remember that Nehemiah was praying as a servant of God concerned for the glory of God. He was not requesting personal vengeance but official vindication for God’s people. The enemy had blasphemously provoked God before the builders, and this was a terrible sin. The opposition of Sanballat and Tobiah against the Jews was in reality opposition against God.

The things people say may hurt us, but they can never harm us, unless we let them get into our system and poison us. If we spend time pondering the enemy’s words, we will give Satan a foothold from which he can launch another attack closer to home. The best thing to do is to pray and commit the whole thing to the Lord; and then get back to your work! Anything that keeps you from doing what God has called you to do will only help the enemy.

A common enemy and a common cause brought four different groups together to stop the work on the walls of Jerusalem. The references in verse 7 are to the four points of the compass: Samaria on the north, Ashdod on the west, Ammon on the east, Arabia to the south. Ringing the Jews on every side were enemies joined together, threatening ambush. The Jews must have been thinking, "What's the use under circumstances like this?"

Similarly, there are some among us who have lived shallow Christian lives for so long they're afraid to try anything else. "I make periodic stabs at coming back to church and getting right with God and trying to find this vital Christianity that other people seem to have. And I wish I could be someone in whom passion for Jesus would begin to well up. But every time I try it, all of the siren song of the world comes back again, and I find myself petering out. I've gone back to the old ways so many times, what's the use of attempting an honorable, Jesus-filled Christian life? There are too many people laughing at me. Too many people know my history. My feebleness is obvious to too many."The city was now completely surrounded by enemies! To the north were Sanballat and the Samaritans; to the east, Tobiah and the Ammonites; to the south, Geshem and the Arabs; and to the west, the Ashdodites. Ashdod was perhaps the most important city in Philistia at that time, and the Philistines did not want to see a strong community in Jerusalem.

God’s people sometimes have difficulty working together, but the people of the world have no problem uniting in opposition to the work of the Lord (Ps. 2:1-2; Acts 4:23-30; Luke 23:12). As the enemy saw the work progressing, they became angry and decided to plan a secret attack against Jerusalem. Satan hates the Jews and has used one nation after another to try to destroy them (see Ps. 85 and Rev. 12). God chose the Jews to be His vehicle for giving the world the knowledge of the true God, the Scriptures, and the Savior (Rom. 9:1-5). “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22), and Satan wanted to prevent the Savior from coming into the world. If he could destroy the nation, he would frustrate God’s plan.

Nehemiah suspected that his enemies would launch an attack, so he posted a guard and encouraged the people to pray. The workers held both tools and weapons (Neh. 4:17) and were prepared to fight when the signal was given. “Watch and pray” combines faith and works and is a good example for us to follow in our work and our warfare (see Mark 13:33; 14:38; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2-4).

The Christian’s battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan and his demonic forces that use flesh and blood to oppose the Lord’s work. If we hope to win the war and finish the work, we must use the spiritual equipment God has provided (Eph. 6:10-18; 2 Cor. 10:1-6). If we focus on the visible enemy alone and forget the invisible enemy, we are sure to start trusting our own resources; and this will lead to defeat.

Some live with the rubble of a terrible past, raised in chaotic circumstances, perhaps. Some are experiencing tyranny in their life now, and the hopelessness that goes with it. "I've tried to forget the past. I've done my best to ask God to make things different. Why do I think it will be different this time?" There are people who are lonely, who have been afraid of being known for so long, who have learned to be isolated for so long, that they have given up on the question of ever being anything but lonely. For some, once there was a good path; once they had a loving family and a home and a community, but they have trashed it so badly or it's so far gone, they don't know where to go to find it again. And the ridiculing voices seem to grow stronger and stronger:

"Feeble...foolish...chaotic!" The enemies who are amassing to destroy their best efforts seem too strong.

But the walls were broken down not because the enemies were so strong but because the faith was so shattered. The thing Nehemiah had to speak to was not the impossibility of the task or the awesomeness of the foes. He had to talk about the invisible realities of the love and power of God, because until they changed inwardly, they would never succeed.

Pressures from without often create problems from within. It isn’t easy to carry on your work when you are surrounded by danger and daily face the demands of a task that seems impossible. If the Jews became discouraged, they would defeat themselves; and Sanballat and his allies would never have to wage war.

Discouragement is a key weapon in Satan’s arsenal. It was discouragement that kept Israel from entering the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13). “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we” (v. 31). The ten unbelieving spies “discouraged the heart of the children of Israel” (32:9); and as a result, the nation wandered in the wilderness forty years until the new generation was ready to conquer the land.

“We are not able!” is the rallying cry of all who take their eyes off the Lord and start looking at themselves and their problems. These discouraged Jewish workers were actually agreeing with the enemy who said they were feeble! (Neh. 2:19; 4:1-3) Sanballat had openly declared that the work would stop, and it almost did.

Why did this discouragement arise from the royal tribe of Judah? (See Gen. 49:8-12.) They had David’s blood in their veins, and you would think they would be men and women of great faith and courage. The answer is found in Nehemiah 6:17-19: Some people in the tribe of Judah were secretly cooperating with the enemy. The ties of marriage were stronger than the bonds of commitment to the Lord. According to 13:15-22, some of the leaders of Judah were not wholly devoted to the Lord, but were more interested in making money. The combination of marriage and money divided their loyalties, and they became the cause of discouragement.

In over 25 years of ministry, I have learned that, in the Lord’s work, discouragers are often doubters and compromisers. There is usually something wrong in their spiritual walk. They frequently lack faith in God’s Word, for one thing; and they are primarily interested in their own plans and pursuits. A double-minded person is unbelieving and unstable (James 1:5-8) and hinders the work of the Lord.

Nehemiah didn’t pay much attention to these complainers but went right on with the work. That’s the best thing to do. If you take time away from your work to listen to everybody who wants your attention, you will never get anything done. Nehemiah got his encouragement from prayer and the promises of God, and the occasional complaints of some of the people didn’t upset him.

The Jews who lived in the outlying villages (3:2, 5, 7, 13) kept bringing a report to the city that the enemy was planning another surprise attack. Whether these Jews were merely spreading rumors or helping to promote a conspiracy, we don’t know; but they told the story repeatedly. (“Ten times” is a Hebrew phrase meaning “many times.” See Gen. 31:41 and Num. 14:22.) Nehemiah didn’t respond immediately and probably was praying for God’s guidance. He himself was not afraid of the enemy; but when he saw that his people were starting to become afraid, he began to act.

In his First Inaugural Address, on March 4, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said to a nation in the grip of an economic depression, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He may have borrowed the thought from Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, who wrote in his journal on September 7, 1851, “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.” Why? Because fear paralyzes you, and fear is contagious and paralyzes others. Fear and faith cannot live together in the same heart. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” (Matt. 8:26) Frightened people discourage others and help bring defeat (Deut. 20:8).

Nehemiah’s first step was to post guards at the most conspicuous and vulnerable places on the wall. The enemy could then see that the Jews were prepared to fight. He armed entire families, knowing that they would stand together and encourage one another. The Jews not only repaired the walls near their own houses (Neh. 3:28-30), but they stood with their families to protect their homes and their city.

After looking the situation over, Nehemiah then encouraged the people not to be afraid but to look to the Lord for help. If we fear the Lord, we need not fear the enemy. Nehemiah’s heart was captivated by the “great and terrible” God of Israel (4:14; see 1:5), and he knew that God was strong enough to meet the challenge. He also reminded the people that they were fighting for their nation, their city, and their families. If the nation was destroyed, what would become of God’s great promises to Israel and His plan of redemption?

It wasn't the enemies' voices that were the most persuasive; it was the voices of the Jews who came and said time after time, "They're too strong. We can't win. It will never work. They will kill us. We're hopeless losers." The voices of opposition had destroyed the hearts of the people. There wasn't faith or hope.

In the midst of all that, the ministry of Nehemiah was a breath of fresh air. He needed to speak the words of God at the right moment, and that's what he did. Again, it's one of the things that makes him a fine model of spiritual leadership.

When we face a situation that creates fear in our hearts, we must remind ourselves of the greatness of God. If we walk by sight and view God through the problems, we will fail, as did the Jews at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13:26-33). But if we look at the problem through the greatness of God, we will have confidence and succeed. That was the approach David took when he faced Goliath (1 Sam. 17:45-47).

When the enemy learned that Jerusalem was armed and ready, they backed off (Neh. 4:15). God had frustrated their plot. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (Ps. 33:10-11, nkjv). It is good to remind ourselves that the will of God comes from the heart of God and that we need not be afraid.

Nehemiah knew that he couldn’t interrupt the work every time he heard a new rumor, so he set up a defense plan that solved the problem: Half of the men worked on the wall while the other half stood guard. He saw to it that the people carrying materials also carried weapons and that the workers on the walls carried swords. In this way, the work would not be interrupted, and the workers would be ready in case of an alarm. The man with the trumpet stayed close to Nehemiah so the alarm could be given immediately. The people were prepared to fight (Neh. 4:14), but they realized that it was God who fought with them and He alone could give the victory.

When Charles Spurgeon started his church magazine in 1865, he borrowed the title from Nehemiah and called the publication The Sword and Trowel. He said it was “a record of combat with sin and labor for the Lord.” It is not enough to build the wall; we must also be on guard lest the enemy take it from us. Building and battling are both a normal part of the Christian life if we are faithful disciples (Luke 14:28-33).

Again, Nehemiah spoke words of encouragement to the people (Neh. 4:19-20). He reminded them that they were involved in a great work. After all, they were serving a great God and rebuilding the walls of a great city. He also reminded them that they were not working alone, even though they couldn’t see all of their fellow workers on the wall. God was with all of them and would come to their defense.

No matter what the workers were doing, or where they labored on the wall, they all kept an ear open for the sound of the trumpet. What an example for us to follow as we await the return of the Lord! “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thes. 4:16).

Nehemiah also instituted a “second shift” and required the workers from the other towns to stay in Jerusalem at night and help guard the city. It is often while we sleep that the enemy does his most insidious work (Matt. 13:25), and we must be on guard.

Nehemiah not only organized the workers and guards and encouraged them to trust the Lord, but he also set the right kind of example before them (Neh. 4:23). He was a leader who served and a servant who led. He stayed on the job and was alert at all times. He inspected the city’s defenses every night and made sure that the guards were on duty.

The late Dr. Alan Redpath explained why the Jews succeeded in getting their work done and keeping the enemy at bay: The people had a mind to work (v. 6), a heart to pray (v. 9), an eye to watch (v. 9), and an ear to hear (v. 20); and this gave them the victory (Victorious Christian Service, Revell, 1958; pp. 76–79).

“Therefore … be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58, nkjv).

When the words of ridicule first started, what Nehemiah did first was pray. Verses 4-6:

Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

Nehemiah began not by giving lectures to the workers, organizing raiding parties against the enemies, or creating propaganda campaigns to put a different spin on the words that they were saying. He didn't begin with any kind of human response to the problem. The first thing he did was go to God and say, "Fight for us, Lord." He prayed for God to do battle with their enemies (even to the point of not forgiving them). As New Testament believers, we know that we can love our enemies at the same time that we can resist falsehood. God has punished his own Son in their place and ours. But Nehemiah didn't have as clear an understanding of that in his time. What he did know was that somebody needed to stop these voices, to say "no" to these words of opposition, terror, lies, and ridicule. "Lord, you fight for us." His first instinct was to go to God.
Leaders need to do that. They need to be those who speak to God about problems, those for whom God has a big place at the center of things.

Not only do leaders need to speak to God about us in prayer, but they need to speak to us about God.

Look at verse 14: After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight.

The reason he called on them to fight back was that the Lord was great and awesome. Remember verse 9: "We prayed to our God, and we posted a guard." The first response was to turn to God, and then out of that grew a response that had the possibility of making changes.

The second thing Nehemiah did was teach the people to fight. He spoke personally about the possibility of standing firm. He encouraged the people that the Lord would use them, and their circumstances were not hopeless. It was what we might call discipleship in the New Testament, which is to stand people in place, speak to them of their world, remind them of the presence of God; to present men and women mature in Christ. James says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (4:7b). You don't have to be a victim forever. You're the beloved of God. Discipleship is to train, encourage, build up, and strengthen people so that in their own part of the "wall," instead of giving way to fear, they are filled with hope and confidence and they move forward.
What leaders ought to avoid is creating dependence on themselves. Nehemiah didn't say he was the critical person. What he did say was, "Every one of you can hold a tool and a sword and can stand your ground." Paul uses very similar language in Ephesians 6:13: "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the evil day comes, you may be able to stand your ground...." God can and will strengthen every one of us to have the faith we need to move forward.

Let's read the closing description of the efforts Nehemiah made to help the people rebuild the wall. Verses 17b-23:

Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"

So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

You can imagine this scene: tools in one hand, spears in the other. Some were working, some were guarding. But everyone was being taught to fight. Everyone was being strengthened to say, "Lord, put me to the task you've called me to. The changes we're attempting to make are the right ones to make." Each person was given the possibility of making a contribution.

Let me conclude with a couple words of application. The community had to succeed together. Someone would stand guard while the others worked, and then they would reverse their roles. That meant that there had to be cooperation, awareness, sensitivity, insight into what was going on in another person's life. We're meant to be people who can carry both a sword and a tool. But we also need to be part of a community, and there are times when we need to rest and someone else needs to stand guard for us. We need to have people who know us well enough that they can speak to us of the things in our lives where we need help, who can either challenge or strengthen us.

Are we building the kind of relationships in which somebody will come if we blow a trumpet? If we fall, will there be people there to help us up again? It may be true that this church restricts those kinds of relationships by the way we treat each other, but I don't think so. Over and over again, I've seen that those who are willing to have their hearts knit to another, who are willing to open up, who are willing to know and be known, will have found a community of people available for such relationships. It may take a while. I'm not saying it's easy. But the only way to defeat the enemy finally, to stand firm finally, is to do so together. The voices of our enemies are too persuasive. We've heard them too long. They know our weaknesses too well. We can't stand firm if we do it by ourselves.

The second word of application is that I would encourage you to believe in and support those who lead in whatever setting you're aware of, whether it's national Christian leadership, local church leadership, your home fellowship, or wherever. And the kind of leaders we ought to listen to are those who have made a big place in their lives for God, who speak to him first, who speak of him often, for whom God is first before any worldly skill, riches, degrees, or slick patter-all the other things that we often turn to for leadership in the church. The kind of leaders we ought to listen to will strengthen us. They will teach us to strap on a sword and pick up a tool and make progress.

We're going to run into threats again in the next chapters. But the enemies never do mount a charge or come in force. That is because as the feeble believers become strong inwardly, the enemies realize they are no match for them. They succeed only as long as the believers destroy themselves. These enemies threaten to go to the king; they threaten warfare, ambush, killing; they threaten everything. But they never do any of it. The only thing they do is infiltrate and deceive. And most often what we fear and are overwhelmed by is a thousand times worse in our mind's eye than it is in reality. The thing that's hanging us up is our lack of belief that God will fight for us, that he is present, that he keeps his promises.

Nehemiah 4:1-6. While the enemies scoff, Nehemiah prays to God, and continues the work.

Verse 1. when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth—The Samaritan faction showed their bitter animosity to the Jews on discovering the systematic design of refortifying Jerusalem. Their opposition was confined at first to scoffs and insults, in heaping which the governors made themselves conspicuous, and circulated all sorts of disparaging reflections that might increase the feelings of hatred and contempt for them in their own party. The weakness of the Jews in respect of wealth and numbers, the absurdity of their purpose apparently to reconstruct the walls and celebrate the feast of dedication in one day, the idea of raising the walls on their old foundations, as well as using the charred and moldering debris of the ruins as the materials for the restored buildings, and the hope of such a parapet as they could raise being capable of serving as a fortress of defense—these all afforded fertile subjects of hostile ridicule.

Verse 3. if a fox go up—The foxes were mentioned because they were known to infest in great numbers the ruined and desolate places in the mount and city of Zion (Lamentations 5:18).

Verses 4, 5. Hear, O our God; for we are despised—The imprecations invoked here may seem harsh, cruel, and vindictive; but it must be remembered that Nehemiah and his friends regarded those Samaritan leaders as enemies to the cause of God and His people, and therefore as deserving to be visited with heavy judgments. The prayer, therefore, is to be considered as emanating from hearts in which neither hatred, revenge, nor any inferior passion, but a pious and patriotic zeal for the glory of God and the success of His cause, held the ascendant sway.

Verse 6. all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof—The whole circuit of the wall had been distributed in sections to various companies of the people, and was completed to the half of the intended height.

Verses 7-21. But … when Sanballat … heard that the walls … were made up, and … the breaches … stopped—The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse or intimidate the builders. The plot being discovered, Nehemiah adopted the most energetic measures for ensuring the common safety, as well as the uninterrupted building of the walls. Hitherto the governor, for the sake of dispatch, had set all his attendants and guards on the work—now half of them were withdrawn to be constantly in arms. The workmen labored with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other; and as, in so large a circuit, they were far removed from each other, Nehemiah (who was night and day on the spot, and, by his pious exhortations and example, animated the minds of his people) kept a trumpeter by his side, so that, on any intelligence of a surprise being brought to him, an alarm might be immediately sounded, and assistance rendered to the most distant detachment of their brethren. By these vigilant precautions, the counsels of the enemy were defeated, and the work was carried on apace. God, when He has important public work to do, never fails to raise up instruments for accomplishing it, and in the person of Nehemiah, who, to great natural acuteness and energy added fervent piety and heroic devotion, He provided a leader, whose high qualities fitted him for the demands of the crisis. Nehemiah’s vigilance anticipated every difficulty, his prudent measures defeated every obstruction, and with astonishing rapidity this Jerusalem was made again “a city fortified.”

4:1 furious … indignant: These two words together mean “burning with rage.”

4:2 Sanballat gathered men from the army of Samaria, his local militia, and then mocked the Jewish people with sarcastic questions. these feeble Jews: The verb from which the adjective feeble is derived is used of a woman who is no longer able to bear children (1 Sam. 2:5), of a fisherman whose trade fails (Is. 19:8), and of the inhabitants of a defeated land (Hos. 4:3). fortify … offer sacrifices … complete it in a day … revive the stones: Sanballat poured contempt on the Jewish people and on their God. The reference to reviving the stones came from the fact that the stones of the former wall had been burned. When limestone is subjected to intense heat, it becomes unsuitable for building.

4:3 Tobiah, the aide of Sanballat (2:10, 19), carried Sanballat’s jest (v. 2) even further. Tobiah declared that if a small creature like a fox jumped on the wall, the wall would collapse because of its flimsy construction.

4:4, 5 Nehemiah did not respond to his opponents (vv. 2, 3). Instead, he prayed that the Lord would not forgive them. Nehemiah believed that when the people of God were involved in the work of God, any assault on them was an assault on God. In this case, to despise the Jewish workers was to despise God Himself.

4:6 Nehemiah went back to work immediately, and the people followed because they had a mind to work.

4:7, 8 When their ridicule did not stop the work on the wall, Nehemiah’s opponents tried a threat of attack. The opposition against Nehemiah had started with two people (2:10) and had grown to three (2:19). Here it had become a multitude, one which surrounded Jerusalem. Sanballat was a Samaritan; Samaria was north of Jerusalem. The Arabs were to the south, the Ammonites to the east and the Ashdodites to the west.

4:9 Prior to this verse the prayers recorded in the Book of Nehemiah are individual prayers. This one was a group prayer. Nehemiah’s spirit had affected the entire group of workers. They not only prayed, but they set a watch and did what was humanly possible to protect themselves from attack.

Leadership Principles from Nehemiah, Part 3

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE (PARTLeaders Adapt to Adversity (4:8, 9)

Many people run from adversity; wise leaders expect it to happen occasionally. Wherever change and progress are underway, competing interests inevitably rise to challenge them. At that point, leaders must decide whether they will accept the challenge and meet it, or turn tail and let their opponents set the agenda.

Nehemiah’s adversaries were a group of Jews from racially mixed backgrounds and Gentiles who had a vested interest in seeing that Jerusalem remained unprotected (Neh. 4:7). During the seventy years of Judah’s exile, they had established dominance over those left behind. Therefore, Nehemiah’s plan to rebuild the walls and revitalize the city threatened to end their monopoly on contro 3).

Nehemiah responded to their opposition with resolute faith and prayer and measured resistance. Rather than escalate a touchy situation, he defended against attack and kept on working. Thus he adapted to adversity rather than run from it or overreact to it. God eventually rewarded Nehemiah’s perseverance with the completion of the wall (6:15).

4:10 Under the circumstances, some of the workers became discouraged. The wall was half finished (v. 6), but the task was taking its toll. The words of the fatigued laborers appear as a song or poem in the Hebrew text.

4:11, 12 While the Jewish workers became discouraged (v. 10), the opposition intensified. The adversaries began a whispering campaign among the Jewish people to stop the building of the wall. These enemies used fear as a weapon, and they used the Jewish people to do their dirty work.

4:13 I positioned men: Because there was no Jewish army, the people had to defend themselves. Nehemiah placed men strategically on the wall. From the high places on the wall, men could see the approaching enemy. Other men defended the low places of the wall.

AWESOME

(Heb. yare˒) (Neh. 1:5; 4:14; Gen. 32:11) Strong’s #3372: The Hebrew word translated awesome is derived from the Hebrew verb meaning “to fear.” In this context, the word does not mean “frightening.” Rather it suggests the quality that inspires reverence or godly fear. In some Bible passages, “fearing” and godly living are so closely related that they are almost synonymous (Lev. 19:14; 25:17; Deut. 17:19; 2 Kin. 17:34). Thus while ordinary fear paralyzes a person, godly fear leads to submission and obedience to God. The person who properly fears God avoids evil (Job 1:1) and walks in God’s ways (Ps. 128:1).

4:14, 15 nobles … leaders … rest of the people: Nehemiah’s strategy was to address both leaders and laypeople. In this way, all the community would have “ownership” of the same ideals. fight for your brethren: Nehemiah reminded the Jewish people that they were not mercenary soldiers earning a salary or hoping for loot. Not only were their own lives at stake, but so were the lives of their loved ones. God answered Nehemiah’s prayers. The people were inspired by his wise words and returned to their tasks.

4:16–18 Nehemiah armed the workers and divided his own servants into two groups. Half of them worked on the wall and half of them stood guard. Since the builders needed both hands to work, their swords were hung on their sides. Those who carried baskets of debris on their heads held their weapons in one hand and supported the load with the other.

4:19, 20 Nehemiah instituted an alarm system for those who worked on the wall. Apparently the workers were scattered all over the wall and separated so far from each other that some were beyond the reach of the human voice. For that reason, a trumpeter with a ramhorn stood near Nehemiah wherever he went. If the wall was attacked, the alarm would gather all of the people quickly to the danger spot. Our God will fight for us: These words evoked the spirit of the Exodus (Num. 10:1–10). God had fought for their ancestors, and now God would fight for them.

^{^[1]}Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. 1999. Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary . T. Nelson Publishers: Nashville