THE ENEMY, AND GOD! Nehemiah 4

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1 THE ENEMY, AND GOD! Nehemiah 4 Things are hotting up in Jerusalem! Under the leadership of Nehemiah the enemy is taking note of the hard work the people of Israel are involved in. And they have become apprehensive, the enemy is scared of what these former captives from Babylon have the potential to achieve. We considered last week v.10, And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. The people of Jerusalem were tired and distraught as they looked at the heaviness of the task before them. They surveyed all around them and they saw the much rubbish, and they were so exhausted. We all know what that feels like, so let s look at this passage and see what it has to teach us. THE PRESENCE OF THE ENEMY It seemed as if they were everywhere, - everyone knew them, In a conflict situation it is always necessary to be able to identify the enemy. Before we went on patrol we knew the identity of the enemy, We knew what he looked like; we knew where he lived, his phone number, the number of his car, the names of his family members and his friends and associates, where he worked, where he went for relaxation. We knew the identity of the enemy, and Nehemiah shows us also how important it is to be able to identify the enemy. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria, - even the very mention of that region was enough to run a chill down the spines of the Jewish people. The Samaritans had become a pariah, - despised by the Jews for inter-marrying with the Assyrians. Sanballat, however, was a practising Jew, and indeed, his daughter was married to no less than the grandson of Jerusalem s high priest!

2 D.G. 2 He was a Horonite (2:10, i.e. from Beth-horon), and that means he had influence over cities that controlled the major highway between Jerusalem and the Mediterrean Sea. Having influence with these towns, he had the power to greatly affect Jerusalem s economy. Tobiah was also a practising Jew, - his name Yah is good. He lived in a residence chamber within the old temple, and consequently he enjoyed aristocratic status. The reason he opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem was because it would weaken any political authority he still believed he had. He is called an Ammonite (Neh. 2:10,19) probably because his family fled to that territory following Nebuchadnezzar s destruction of Jerusalem. So, the two main protagonists were in actual fact Jews! They had infiltrated God s people! But then alongside them were men like Geshem. Geshem was an outsider, - he was an Arabian ruler of a place called Kedar. And then they attracted others (4:7), - so you see, it is nothing new for Jerusalem to be surrounded by enemy forces, even as it is today. The Presence of the Enemy was very real indeed. THE POWER OF THE ENEMY Because of their compromise in the face of Babylonian and Assyrian invasion the enemy had been rewarded, In reality they were only puppet rulers, and when Babylon told them to jump, they had to reply, How high? They had no real dignity; they hadn t the backbone or the wherewithal to confront any of the directives that came from higher authority. They had no real power, - they were compromisers and accomodaters and they had lost any true identity as Jews. The faithful Jew in Jerusalem hated them, and the authorities in Babylon treated them merely as an entity that was useful every now and again.

3 D.G. 3 Having said that though, they had to be watched because they had the potential to be dangerous, 4:10 our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. And they brought great fear upon God s people, 4:11, And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you. There was the presence of the enemy and the power of the enemy, because we find too THE PURPOSES OF THE ENEMY They hated, despised, loathed, reviled, detested, abhorred the people of Jerusalem who had just returned from Babylon. They looked upon these Jews as a contamination of their society. Now, what kind of a society had Sanballat and Tobiah been lording over before these Jews returned from Babylon? Read Jer. 52:12-16 Poor and destitute people were no threat to them! In Nehemiah, however, - and these people who had returned with him, - there was a threat to their sham of authority. And it was the purpose of the enemy to halt the people of God gaining a foothold in Jerusalem again. THE PLAN OF THE ENEMY The plan of the enemy was straightforward and plain, - to stop at all costs the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. It wasn t complicated or hard to understand; even the youngest child in Jerusalem could see the rascality of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. The people of Jerusalem did not need to form a committee to either identify the enemy or its plans, - these were so obvious to see. No one, - but no one, - in that city of Jerusalem could have failed to recognise the plan of the enemy.

4 D.G. 4 We have briefly looked then at the presence of the enemy and the power of the enemy, the purposes of the enemy, and the plan of the enemy. Where was God in all this? The enemy was so much to the fore that the people were frightened, where was God? Had He promised on something He couldn t deliver? THE PRESENCE OF GOD What kind of a God do we believe in? I believe that is an important question for today also. Is He merely a God that reacts to events and situations? Where is God when it seems He is nowhere to be found? Nehemiah trusted in the presence of God; we read in 4:13 how he responded to the presence of the enemy, Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. Now, you can be very sure that this response was taken after Nehemiah had spent time alone with God, - for we have seen thus far that he always sought God s face for the way ahead. Despite all the rubbish of Jerusalem he searched out God; despite the presence of the enemies he searched out God. The psalmist wrote, Psalm 5: 8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies Surely the presence of the enemy ought to make us seek more urgently the presence of God! Nehemiah spoke to the rulers in that dishevelled city of Jerusalem, v.14 Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible That was how he dealt with the ongoing situation, - he was giving them advice from his own experience. Nehemiah told them of the importance to be on their guard and indeed they were armed in readiness for possible confrontation with the enemy. And with their swords in their hands, their eyes open to the antics of the enemy he told them to remember the Lord. That seems to indicate that there were some of their number who had allowed things to get out of focus, - they are told to remember; surely that means some of them had forgotten!

5 D.G. 5 Does this story remind you, if indeed you need to be reminded? The presence of the enemy may be great; but in the midst of His people the presence of God is even greater. And when you can recognise the presence of God you also come to recognise THE POWER OF GOD 15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. This is a true account that Nehemiah is relating to us; look at how he writes, And it came to pass (4:1,7,12,15,16) Look where Nehemiah places all the glory, God had brought their counsel to nought. That is the power of God!! The enemy had surrounded and infiltrated the city of Jerusalem. It seemed as if they were staring at each new brick being put into place, but the proof of God s presence among His people was that they continued among the rubble and rubbish, and Nehemiah records that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. It continues to be the devil s work to oppose the building up of God s people. I do not believe that the whole world, - sadly, - will be saved. (Such a doctrine is known as Universalism ) There are millions entering out into eternity with no thought of God. There are many millions also who are seeking to serve him faithfully in accordance with His Word and they are being opposed at every juncture. In many Christian circles today we have got to make our way through the much rubbish that is lying all around us. Some of it is alluring and attractive and it could cause us to fall, but we have got to get up again and keep on building the wall, - it won t be complete until the King of kings comes to the new Jerusalem that is His Church.

6 D.G. 6 The building will continue; we need to be armed for conflict; we know our remit; and we know the presence of God and the power of God, for we know too THE PURPOSES OF GOD The walls of Jerusalem were being built despite the enemy and the greatness of the task, and it was the purpose of God that that wall should be built. And notice too in the building of the walls how important it was for all the people to be working together, 19 And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. 20 In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us When one grows tired, another comes alongside to help and to give encouragement. When one is thirsty, someone comes along with a cup of water; when they are hungry they bring a piece of bread. They were working together so that the purposes of God would be fulfilled in the building of those walls. We are co-workers together in all that God has called us too. The walls have to be rebuilt; it calls for commitment; it requires faithfulness to the task He has called us too. What would have happened if some had refused to build at all? The purposes of God are to be accomplished in the life of God s redeemed people, for they are all part of that great THE PLAN OF GOD By the time you come to the final verses of this chapter there are no signs of surrender, - you can clearly sense the hard work they are involved in, - there are no sounds of defeat. You know, that is one of the great advantages nowadays of holding on to this truth that our God has a plan that He drew up in eternity and that plan shall be fulfilled. He drew up the plan without the help of humanity or anything of His creation. That plan is the plan of God, Who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. His plans can never be nullified, overwritten, changed, or cancelled.

7 D.G. 7 No matter how great the world s military firepower or how clever its politicians the plan of God is irreversible and unchangeable. This plan He has laid out in His Word; the ultimate of which was when His Son died on a cross on the hill of Calvary to wash away the sin of His people by the shedding of His precious blood. Yes, God s plan is an unalterable plan, the fulfilment of which will see every redeemed child of God standing round the Throne praising His most holy Name. Nothing shall thwart this plan! That which God has spelled out in His Word will surely come to pass. Make sure to catch a hold of the fact that it is not determined by factors outside the Church or any rubble putting up to be inside the Church The walls of Jerusalem may be in rubble, - or, at best, halfbuilt, - but Nehemiah was confident that God would bless the work of His people and the task would be completed in accordance with the plan of God. CONCLUSION. This is the God we worship. He has not fallen foul of the powers of the day. What is happening around us today is prophesied in His Word, - He is not taken unawares or away off sulking somewhere because it seems He is not getting His own way, - that is not the God we believe in. Yes, the enemy is real, we know all about his presence, power, purposes and plan, but they have only been loaned to him for a little season. He knows, - because he knows God s Word, - that he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Yes, the presence, power, purposes and plan of God are being and will be fulfilled. In the face of the enemy then, what again did Nehemiah and the people do? v. 21 So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.