BACKGROUND:
As I said earlier, Sanballat was displeased when he heard that Nehemiah had returned to Jerusalem to help the Jews. Sanballat, however, did not know of God’s interest in His people. Sanballat’s displeasure turned to intense anger. So with his associates, including Tobiah and Geshem, and in the presence of Samaritan soldiers, Sanballat ridiculed the Jews. He accused them of rebelling against King Artaxerxes and by a series of questions he suggested they were incapable of completing the project.
Ridiculing them, he said they were so inept in their work that a fox, weighing only a few pounds, would break it down by merely climbing up on it.
After praying, Nehemiah and the Jews continued with the work. Some Christians pray and then wait for things to happen, but not Nehemiah! As in all his efforts, he blended the divine perspective with the human. He faced Sanballat’s opposition with both prayer and hard work. Once he committed the problem to the Lord, he trusted God to help them achieve their goal.
And while praying and trusting, they rebuilt the wall to half its height. At this juncture their task was half completed. Sanballat and Tobiah’s efforts at demoralizing the Jews failed. The Jews rose above their enemies’ attempts at discouragement. Because the people worked so diligently and enthusiastically (with all their heart), they were able to complete half the job in a surprisingly short period of time.
The Jewish workers’ rapid progress naturally increased the threat to their enemies, who became very angry. So they decided to take more overt and corporate action. Joining Sanballat and the Samaritans from the north, Tobiah and the Ammonites from the east, Geshem and the Arabs from the south, were men from Ashdod, a Philistine city, from the west. They all plotted together to attack Jerusalem, apparently from all sides.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
One of the great tests of leadership is how do you handle opposition? Do you panic under pressure? Do you get uptight, loose your temper, blow up, become discouraged, give up? What do you do? If you're going to be a leader part of the job description includes putting up with attacks. We're going to look at how a leader handles opposition in Nehemiah 4. Sometime in the future, I will need to remember these principles, and so will you.
#1. THE TACTICS OF OPPOSITION
I'm going to mention three of them. There are many more but these three are mentioned in the text and people will use these to stop or stall a project. They're still used today.
1.The first tactic the opposition usually uses is ridicule. 4:1 "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the will he became angry and was greatly incensed and he ridiculed the Jews in the presence of the associates and the army of Samaria and he said `What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring stones back to life from those heaps of rubble burned as they are?' Tobia the Ammonite who was by his side said, `What are they building? Even if a fox climbed upon it, he would break down their wall of stones.'"
We have a clear example of this here. That's a powerful, effective tool. It's still used today. There are books out today on psychological warfare in the office place. How to psych out your competition. The world continually ridicules the church. Puts it down, argues, makes fun of God's people, characterizes them as weak, ignorant, fanatical people, all pastors are wimps or crooks. It's a constant ridicule. Why is it so effective? It's because it attacks our sense of self worth. A lot of times we can handle everything except ridicule.
The motive. "He became very angry and greatly incensed...." Ridicule is always the substitute for reason. Laughter is always the substitute for logic. If people can't reason you out of a position they'll just try to ridicule you. People who ridicule you are usually just afraid. Afraid that you're going to succeed. He uses name calling, "...those feeble Jews". He implies that they have a selfish motive. He makes fun of their beliefs. He overstates the case. All of these are typical tools of ridicule. He says "Are they going to rebuild it in one day?" No where is there any place they say they're going to rebuild it in one day. That's typical ridicule. They overstate their case, set up a straw man and then try to knock it over.
And notice this - ridicule is contagious. When Sanballat makes the initial ridicule Tobia, his side kick, chimes in and starts. There's always people who will ridicule you if somebody else will take the lead. They are cowards and won't do it on their own.
2. Resistance. Organized resistance. v. 6 "We rebuilt the wall until it reached half of its height and the people worked with all their heart. But Sanballat, Tobia, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to the wall of Jerusalem had gone ahead and the gaps were being closed they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it."
The opposition is getting organized. Instead of just a couple of critics we have a conspiracy. Sanballat has gathered all the disgruntled parties to resist the rebuilding of the wall. Sanballat and the Samaritans were in the North, the Arabs were in the south, Tobiah and the Ammonites were in the east, the men of Ashdod were in the west. The Jews were surrounded by these people who were conspiring against them. Have you noticed that negative people tend to gravitate together?
The purpose was to fight and stir up trouble. These folks are all around. Some people, their whole purpose in life, seems to be against stuff.
3. Rumor. v. 11-12. "Also our enemies said, `Before they know it or see us we will be right there among them and we will work to kill them and put an end to their work.'" The quickest way to spread a rumor is to feed on people's fears. The gist of the rumor is, We're going to get you from all sides. We're going to attack you and you're not even going to know what hit you. The fact is, they didn't have enough power to do this. But the rumor of an attack was enough to incite panic. Rumor is often used by opposition.
Two characteristics of rumors: 1) They are always spread by those closest to the enemy. v. 12 "Those Jews who lived near them." The Jews outside the city of Jerusalem, who lived near the enemy, they were the ones most negative. What happens when you're around negative people all the time? You get negative. You become infected. The point here is, if Satan can get somebody inside of the camp saying, "It can't be done." then he's got a major victory. He infiltrates the ranks.
2) They are exaggerated when they are repeated. "Then they told us ten times over." Circle that. What happens when a rumor is exaggerated ten times over? People start to believe it. I think it was Hitler that discovered if you tell a lie long enough people are going to start believing it. The point is: the negative always gets exaggerated in a project. Law of Leadership: Leaders don't swallow rumors. They may listen to them, chew on them, but they never swallow them. Because they are always exaggerations.
#2. THE EFFECT OF OPPOSITION
v. 10-11 "Meanwhile the people in Judah said, `The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall. Also our enemies will attack." When you're working hard and you're bombarded by ridicule, rumor and resistance you're going to get discouraged. That's the effect of opposition: discouragement.
When is discouragement most likely to occur? v. 6 "So we rebuilt the wall until all of it reached half of its height." Discouragement comes at the half way point. How many of you have half finished projects around your house? Four causes of discouragement:
1. Fatigue -- "the strength of the laborers is giving out" 2. Frustration -- "there was so much rubble" Frustration is usually a matter of perception. Actually the piles are getting smaller. 3. Failure -- "we cannot rebuild the wall" When you're tired, everything looks impossible. Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of all of us." 4. Fear -- "the enemies will attack us" The opposition always has two goals. One of them is to hinder God's word and one is to stop God's work.
That's why one of my hero's in Winston Churchill. Against incredible odds, he led a nation to victory in World War 2. I love what he said to a group of young men at Harrow School,October 29, 1941:
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
I love you guys. Stay Faithful. Stay the course.
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