Scripture: Ezra4:1-5; Nehemiah 4:1-6; Nehemiah 4:13-18
Since the beginning of time, the world has been opposed to the truth of God. In some ways, it has been organized and deceitful, while in other ways, it was personal and direct. But regardless of the style, it was, nearly every time, hateful, vicious, and oppressive. And within it all, I have never been able to come up with a reasonable excuse for all of the opposition to God’s ways, other than it's being human arrogance and self-aggrandizement, both of which are sins.
Satan will use anyone who will submit to his lies about the Lord. Hatred is a powerful emotion, and the devil is an expert when it comes to using any means at his disposal to attack our faith and trust in God. We are, as you all know, a weak and easily deceived creation. In Genesis 4:3-8, we read of the downfall of Cain through the murder of his brother Abel. Cain had given an offering of some fruit to God, while Abel had given a lamb who had been first born, as well as an offering of fattening. Cain’s gift was rather ordinary and routine, while Abel’s was the best that he could possibly give.
The first tactic that is attempted is to convince the Jews that others want to help them in the construction. The opposition tries to show them that they are sympathetic to their cause and faith, but the Jewish leadership won’t fall for the lies. The people who were trying to worm their way into the project may very well have been other conquered people who had been displaced from their homes to this new land, and they may have been concerned that the Jewish exiles were trying to reestablish their own authority and control, which might not have gone all that well for the others.
Fear of loss in respect, prestige, or worth is a powerful motivator! So why wouldn’t the Jews allow others to help in the rebuilding? The primary objection was, in my understanding, through their belief that if pagan hands were involved in the carrying and placing of the stones, that the temple could never be blessed as holy ground by their Jehovah God.
This is similar to the situation that Cain had created with his less than “Best Offering” to God, and those “other” people, in their sense of loss of respect, decided to bring the entire project to a halt, which, of course, they never did. But their hatred for the returning exiles grew and thrived, and improvement in their relationship became impossible for either party to ever establish again.
Here it is, years later, and the reconstruction of the wall around Jerusalem is progressing at an incredible rate! As we discovered last week, there were hundreds of people at work, representing skilled trades, clergy, regional administrators, everyday workmen, and even women. Eventually, the wall would be completed in about 4.5 years, even with all of the adversity that worked to slow them down.
During the work on the temple, we saw that it was probably other displaced people who opposed the reconstruction, but now it appears to be local occupational administrators who caused all of the problems. And what was their delaying tactic? Ridicule of the Jews, and demeaning humor of the efforts, to stir up the allies and occupational personnel.
The comments that were directed at the work were all based in slurs and other insinuations, intended to discourage the workers, and to encourage the occupiers. But how effective were these efforts to discourage the Jews? Very little, it seems – we read that the work continued unabated, until the wall was half completed. What was there that inspired the people, even as the taunts and insults continued to fly, with the intention of discouraging and dampening their desires to restore security for the city?
We need to remember that people of faith have one great means of hope and support at their disposal - and that is the power of prayer. When God’s faithful acknowledge the grace and compassion that is constantly flowing from the Lord’s heart, to sustain and encourage all in the tasks that our Lord God Almighty has already begun within us, we will never have to believe that the mission at hand might fail! And neither did the Lord’s people in Jerusalem, for we read that “the people worked with all their heart.” Satan never stands a chance of succeeding, when God fills his people’s hearts with hope!
Discouragers came with warnings, exhaustion wreaked havoc on their bodies, and Satan worked to fill the people with doubt. But Judah’s leaders took steps to prepare the people for whatever might come against them. Even while Nehemiah armed the workers to repel any attack that might come, he also encouraged them to remember that their God was with them, and that He would strengthen their arms for the work, and grant them courage to defeat their enemies. And when the Lord is on our side, He will see to the victory.
Consider the hope that verse 15 contains. “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 our own work.”
The Lord could certainly accomplish all of the tasks that He asks of us, and yet, He always involves His people and His Church. Whether in ministry, or mission, or outreach, or any other effort that He desires to be accomplished, He welcomes His faithful to be involved, working alongside of Him, watching what He does with and through us. It isn’t just that we are enabled to do the things that He asks of us, but that, for some reason, God wants to involve us in His work.
So what part are we to play in God’s work? Sometimes, it is a physical effort, sometimes we become intimately involved in the task, and other times, we simply proclaim just who it is that is doing the healing, or accomplishing the blessing. But each and every time, we must be aware of just what we are to do, and to never impose more of ourselves into the work than is requested.
May the Lord be praised in all that we are invited to do in His holy name!
