BACKGROUND:
Nehemiah established a new strategy to meet the threat of enemy infiltration. He positioned some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall with swords, spears, and bows.This must have been a difficult decision for Nehemiah. To place whole families together—including women and children—put tremendous pressure on fathers particularly. In case of outright attack, they would have no choice but to stay and fight for and with their family members. But Nehemiah knew it was the only decision he could make if they were to survive and succeed in rebuilding the walls.
Obviously fear gripped these people. So Nehemiah gathered them together and charged them to face the situation courageously (don’t be afraid) and to remember the great and awesome Lord who was on their side, and to fight to save their families. When their enemies heard that their plot had been discovered, they did not attack and the people resumed their construction work.
As the Jews continued their work they were more cautious. Nehemiah had half the men... work while the other half guarded them with spears, shields, bows, and armor. Perhaps they were divided around the wall: a few workers, next to them a few guards, a few more workers, more guards next to them, and so on. The officers in Jerusalem, who apparently had not yet been given responsibilities in the project, were enlisted to stand guard behind the workers. As some workers carried materials, presumably bricks and mortar, they each did so with one hand, while holding a weapon (probably a spear or sword) in the other. Each of the wall-workers (masons) worked with both hands but had his sword at his side. Though this arrangement meant fewer bricklayers were on the job, the work was well defended!
In addition Nehemiah stationed a trumpeter next to him—a man who would follow Nehemiah everywhere he went as he supervised the work. In case of an attack, the trumpet blast would rally the people to the place of attack. Again Nehemiah encouraged the people, this time stating that their God would fight for them.
The people worked diligently, from early morning till nighttime. Those living outside the city did not even return to their homes. Venturing outside Jerusalem at night would have been a dangerous risk. Through each night some workers stood guard, knowing the city was vulnerable to attack even then. They did not even take off their clothes to clean up after work; they kept a diligent watch at all times.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
What is the right response to opposition? - OR - What do you do when you're under attack?
#1. RELY ON GOD
v. 4-5 Nehemiah's prayer. "Here O God for we're despised. Turn their insults back over their heads and give them over as plunder in the land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight? They have thrown insults in the face of the builders."
Nehemiah is hot here. He's letting off steam! When you're being ridiculed you don't suppress it, you confess it. Rely on God. Admit it all to God. He says, "God, we're trusting in You to defend us." He doesn't get caught up in a name calling game. Instead of calling names, he relies on God.
Proverbs 26:4 says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." If you're getting ridiculed for your faith, or whatever, don't answer back. That's dumb! Then you're no better than the person who's ridiculing you. If you've got a project and people are taking pot shots at you, just rely on God. Pray.
The greater the opposition the more you need to pray, to depend on God. Leadership Law: When you're ridiculed don't take it out on people, talk it out with God. That's what Nehemiah does. He hears this initial ridicule but basically he ignores it and goes to God. The best response to ridicule is don't respond. Instead, you go and you pray and you keep on doing what you should be doing in the first place. The first verses says -- they ridiculed, they prayed, they rebuilt the wall. Ridicule can never stop you from doing what you're doing. Not unless you let it.
If you're a leader and you're under attack, the first thing you do is pray. You take it to God. Sometimes if you ignore the opposition the criticism dissipates, vanishes. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it intensifies. When they realized that ridicule wasn't working then in v. 8 it says they plotted together to fight against Jerusalem.
#2. RESPECT THE OPPOSITION
How do we know that Nehemiah respected the opposition? v. 9 "But we prayed to our God and we posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." They did the prayerful thing and then the practical thing. Both. It's fine to lay in bed at night and pray, "Protect me from the burglars." But you also need to get up and lock your door! Oliver Cromwell said, "Trust God and keep your powder dry." Petition without Precaution is Presumption. Rely on God when you're being opposed. But also respect the opposition. And the stronger the opposition, the stronger the response.
v. 9 "We prayed." Up to this time, Nehemiah has been doing the praying. Now all of the people are praying. Where did they get that idea? They've been watching their leader. Leaders lead by showing, not by telling. Nehemiah has been praying constantly for four chapters. The people are getting the idea that it must work. They start praying too. If you're a leader in your business and if you want other Christians to follow your lead, start praying. Nehemiah's constant prayer life had affected these people. The point I want to make is that corporate opposition requires a corporate response. Now the whole people of God are praying. They prayed and they posted a guard. Nehemiah sets up an alarm system. He sets up 24-hour guards. He posts a watch. He knows his opposition. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. A lot of leaders have lost because they've underestimated the opposition. Don't just pray. Be aware. Know your opposition and don't be ignorant about what's happening.
In the Bible the phrase that is used over and over again is "Watch and pray". Jesus said it. Paul said it. John said it. Peter said it. Watch is the human part -- post a guard. Pray is the divine part -- trust God. Watch is lock the door; pray is "God, I'm trusting You." You do both of these things. Rely on God and respect the opposition.
#3. REINFORCE YOUR WEAK POINTS
v. 13 Nehemiah had prayed and he had relied and respected the opposition. He had posted the guard. Then "Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families with their swords, spears and bows." He is reinforcing his weak points, the lower points. This is where the wall was maybe only a couple of feet high. Where it's ten feet high you don't have to worry so much. The weak points, the exposed places, he's making a strategic placement. He's reinforcing his weak points.
Do you know the weak points in your business? Do you know the weak points in your family? Do you know where you're most open to attack? That's the principle he's teaching us. Leadership Law: Good leaders know where they are vulnerable and they reinforce that area.
If you have to make a sales presentation. Know your weaknesses and anticipate the objections and be ready to counter those objections when you make the proposal.
v. 16 "From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half were equipped with spears and bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did the work with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. I said to the nobles and officials, `The work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there and our God will fight for us."
They are working all around the whole city. They couldn't fortify the whole city. They had no army. This is just a bunch of amateurs here building the wall. So Nehemiah said, Whenever you hear the trumpet blowing, everybody run to that side and we'll know the enemy is there and we'll fight them all together. I think the principle here is, Keep your lines of communication open during times of attack, times of opposition. Nehemiah turned the entire city into an armed camp. Everybody did two things. They worked and they carried a weapon.
Principle: Every time you start building for God, you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build your marriage, you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build up your own personal spiritual life you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build a church, that's a battle. Everytime a church starts building there is a battle. Why? Because Satan doesn't want churches built. He gets people to oppose you.
Leadership Law: Leaders must build and battle at the same time. If you start doing anything of significance in this world, somebody is going to oppose you. What do you do?
Nehemiah had three alternatives. When every body started opposing him with rumors, resistance and ridicule he could give up - Leave the wall and go fight -- do a preemptive strike - Build the wall and arm himself defensively.
Leaders must build and battle at the same time. You never leave the wall to fight the enemy. You could spend all your time putting out fires and never get your job done. You could spend all your time greasing the squeaking wheel (the critic, the complainer, the kook) and never get your dream or whatever God's called you to do, done. You've got to learn to build and battle at the same time.
Notice Nehemiah's building plan and battle plan in v. 13 "I stationed some of the people at the lowest points of the wall posting them by families." Why by families? When you are under attack, more than any other time, you need support. That's one of the benefits of a small group. When you're in a small group, you're less vulnerable to an attack of Satan. God never meant us to be Lone Rangers. There is support and encouragement in small groups.
Nehemiah posted by families. If a guy is working on the wall and his family is on the other side of town, he's in constant fear of "What if the enemy's attacking over there? They may be getting my family." So Nehemiah put all the families on the wall and they stayed together. If the enemy attacked at my point it's do or die! My family's there. If I don't defend them and turn and run, my family's going to get killed. There's value in support.
Principle: Never fight a fight alone. When you're facing opposition, get some support. That is one of the purposes of the church. Every Sunday I preach, I know that on Monday morning you’re going back to work and get you’re going to get beat up! We need support. It's tough in the business world. It's tough being a Christian at school. It's tough having Christian attitudes in a society where everything says "No, don't live for Christ; live for yourself!"
#4. REASSURE THE PEOPLE
v. 14 "After I looked things over I stood up and I said to the nobles and the officials the rest of the people, `Don't be afraid! Remember the Lord is great and awesome. Fight for your brothers and your daughters and your homes." He's rallying the troops. He's relieving their fears. He's reinforcing their confidence. He's raising their morale. That's the task of leadership.
When your business/family/church is under attack, the task of leadership is to reinforce the people, raise their morale. Don't be afraid!
What did he say that renewed their confidence? "Remember the Lord." That's where our confidence comes from. Remember the Lord! It's interesting that a lot of wars have been fought with slogans that started "Remember..." The Spanish-American War was "Remember the Maine." World War I was "Remember the Lucetania". In Texas it was "Remember the Alamo". World War II was "Remember Pearl Harbor". All of those battle cries were based on defeats -- Remember that defeat back there, now let's go get them!
Nehemiah does the exact opposite. He doesn't say, Remember our defeat! Remember when we got exiled to Babylon! He says, "Remember the Lord!" He's saying, "Let's look at the future. Get our eyes off the opposition and get our eyes on the Lord." When you're under attack, if the devil can get you to focus on the opposition he's won a major victory. You either focus on the opposition or you focus on the Lord. You can focus on the financial statement or you can focus on the Lord. You can either focus on the rising interest rates or you focus on the Lord. You either focus on the economy and it's jitters or you focus on the Lord. What are you going to focus on? "Remember the Lord!"
Remember what the Lord is like. "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome." Underline "awesome". A couple of sentences earlier where he said "Don't be afraid" underline "afraid". In the Hebrew that is the same word in both places -- the word for afraid and the word for awesome. The point that he's saying here is that when you fear God then you're not going to fear other people. The fear of God replaces the fear of man. If I don't fear God then I'm afraid of men. If I'm afraid of men then I'm not afraid of God. If I'm afraid of God -- reverential fear -- then I don't fear anybody else. Because I know that what I'm doing is pleasing to Him.
Jesus said this in Luke 12. He said "Don't be afraid of people who can kill your body and then they can't do anything after that. Fear the person who can send you to hell after your body's dead." If you have a healthy respect for God and you reverence Him and you realize how powerful He is you're not going to have any problem fearing other people.
Then Nehemiah challenges them. "Fight for your brothers and your sons and your daughters and your wives and your homes." He challenges them to fight for their lives. Everything is on the line here.
V/. 19 "I said to the nobles and officials, `The work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there and our God will fight for us." He's got a trumpet as a rallying point. That's a point of reassuring the people
#5. REFUSE TO QUIT
v. 15 "When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work." We know there is opposition out there. There are critics. They are ridiculing, rumoring. But that doesn't matter. We're going to keep on keeping on. We refuse to be distracted. They all returned to the wall. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
v. 8 "They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it." That's the first goal of opposition: to stir up trouble.
The second goal is in v. 11 "We will kill them and put an end to the work."
When you're being opposed there are always two oppositions. They want to hinder your work and they want to stop your work. When you know that the opposition's goal is to get you to quit what do you do? Don't quit! You keep on working no matter what!
Calvin Coolidge said, "Press on. Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are the overwhelming power."
In spite of the opposition we've looked at, v. 21 "So we continued to work..." They refused to quit. "...with half of the men holding spears from the first light of dawn till the stars came out at night. At that time I also said to the people, `Have every man and his helper stay in 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."
They worked through the night. He told all the people who lived outside of Jerusalem who were commuting in to work on the wall, "You stay here". When you're under opposition, when you're under attack, it's time to stick together. They even slept in their clothes, that's how committed they were. Nehemiah led the way. He sets the work pace. He's showing endurance, being the prototype. He's enduring the same hardships the people are enduring, facing the same dangers. Leadership Law: Leaders model persistence. They are the last to give up. They are the last to jump ship. They refuse to quit.
What does the devil want you to give up? What has he been tempting you to give up on? Reading through the Bible in a year? A career? A dream? A marriage? An idea? A ministry at church? What does he want you to give up? Your life group? If you know that that is what he wants you to give up what should you do? Keep going!
There is an old legend that one day Satan had a garage sale. He was selling all of his tools that he had used over the centuries. Lying, hatred, malice, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, pride, all of these different things. Over in the corner there was one tool that was priced more than all the other tools put together. It was so priceless that nobody bought it. Why? Because it was "Discouragement" That's Satan's most important, powerful tool. A Fundamental Principle of the Christian Life: God Can’t use discouraged Christians
Satan may not get you to commit an immoral sin, but he can get you discouraged! A discouraged Christian is an ineffective Christian. That means that we've taken our eyes off the Lord and put them on the circumstance. Since Satan never sold it, he's still using it today. Whenever we give up, the devil wins. One of the fundamental principles of the Christian life is Don't give up!
I want to let go, but I won't let go.
There are battles to fight,
by day and by night
for God and the right
so I'll never let go!
I want to let go, but I won't let go.
I'm sick, 'tis true, and worried and blue and worn out through and through, but I’ll never let go.
I want to let go, but I won't let go.
I will never yield.
What? Lie down in the field
And surrender my shield?
No, I'll never let go!
I want to let go, but I won't let go.
May this be my song, mid legions of wrong, O God keep me strong
So I'll never let go.
Galatians 6:9 (AMP) says, “And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”
Persistence is the ultimate test of leadership. This is the acid test. How do you handle it when the going gets tough? When somebody laughs at you or criticizes you for being a Christian that may hurt but it cannot stop you.
The secret of success is you simply outlast your critics. How do you get to be an oak tree? An oak tree is just a little nut that refused to give his ground.
It doesn't take a lot of intelligence but if you just hang on you'll outlast the critics. There is nothing the devil would rather do than stall us and stop us and move us into neutral so resist discouragement and keep on.
By the grace of God, that is what I am attempting to do here at COV. I've got my share of critics who have lied about me, spread rumors about me, riddiculed me, mocked me, despised me. There are folks out there waiting for me to quit - praying that I'll quit. Waiting for me to give up and give in. By the grace of God, I will never quit. I will keep on until He makes it clear that my work here is done.
By the grace of God, I emplore you - stay at it. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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