SERVANTS & SOLDIERS

Nehemiah 4:1-23

  1. opposition arises - 4:1-3
    1. the work that was precious in the eyes of the Lord is but a theme for mockery in the minds of the enemy
      1. God’s will was for the wall of Jerusalem to be built
      2. God didn’t allow the wall to be built without opposition
    2. the earlier efforts to stop the work were not sufficient, so their efforts were intensified
      1. in chapter 2 they were laughing at them
      2. now there is rage and contemptuous sneering
    3. no work of God ever goes forward without satanically-inspired opposition
      1. satanic opposition can take many form
      2. many people have not joined this church because we do not have a building or lots of programs
  2. Nehemiah and the people responded by taking the problem to God in prayer - 4:4-6
    1. when adversity and discouragement surround us, the best place to go is to God
      1. take it to the Lord in prayer should be our first response, not 2nd, 5th, or 10th
      2. God is the only one with the power, wisdom and compassion enough to help
    2. this prayer called for God to bring judgment upon His enemies
      1. this is not the kind of prayer that a Christian should pray today
      2. the covenant made with Abraham: I will bless them that bless thee & curse them that curse thee
      3. not until the NT do we learn that we are to pray for our enemies
    3. the important thing for us to observe is the way the people cast themselves wholly upon God
    4. after praying they went back to work, trusting God - 6
      1. in the midst of adversity the people had a unified purpose & a desire to see the work completed
      2. opposition was overcome by their determination to work
      3. they knew they were doing God’s will, so they focused their energy on the task at hand
  3. the opposition intensifies - 4:7-8
    1. from mockery to open warfare
    2. Jerusalem had enemies on all sides
    3. the enemies of God never go away
      1. they will do anything that they think will bring them the victory
      2. nothing is beneath them (they have no morals, no sense of right and wrong)
  4. the response intensifies - 4:9
    1. prayer (without God’s help all personal efforts are futile)
    2. watching and ready
      1. prayer alone would have been presumptuous
      2. trusting God & taking sensible precautions are compatible actions
      3. no inconsistency between faith and hard work
      4. this action showed the enemy that the work would not stop
    3. work
  5. internal problems begin (discouragement) - 4:10-12
    1. loss of strength - "strength…is decayed"
      1. the wall was joined together and half way up
      2. they were half way finished and the newness of the project had worn off
      3. this is when discouragement usually sets in
    2. loss of vision - "much rubbish"
      1. their eyes were looking at something other than the wall
      2. they had lost the picture of the finished product
    3. loss of confidence - "we are not able"
      1. just a short time before the people had a mind to work
      2. the overwhelming demands of praying, working and watching had an adverse effect on them
      3. because of circumstances they lost their heart to work &the project looked to big
    4. loss of security
      1. they feared that the enemy might strike at any time - 11
      2. Jews that lived close to the enemy warned that when they left the city they would be ambushed - 12
  6. how Nehemiah dealt with the discouragement - 4:13-15
    1. he unified the people around the same goal (defending their family) - 13
      1. he put every man in a position where he could defend his family
      2. this removed one source of worry: when the family was at home some distance away, he did not know if they were safe
    2. he turns their attention back to the Lord - 14
      1. "remember the Lord" was to be their battle cry
      2. he reminds them of who their God is, "great and terrible"
      3. a proper view of God will puts all difficulties in the right perspective
    3. with their family secure and their faith in God renewed, they return to the work - 15
      1. God knows how to bring the counsel of the ungodly to naught
      2. all the secret plans of the enemy are known to God
      3. all of our thoughts and plans are known to God as well
  7. the rest of the wall was built with a military readiness - 4:16-23
    1. just because God had defeated the plans of the enemy, they did not become careless
    2. soldiers were placed around the city, but even the laborers carried a weapon - 16-18
    3. they were battle ready at all times - 23 (a Christian should be ready for battle at all times)
    4. Nehemiah reminded the people that God would fight for them - 20