Introduction
It’s
been one of those weeks when it feels like I’m beating my head against the
wall. Opposition and discouragement abound. A couple of months ago, the site
administrator of one of the “public” bulletin boards on the web started the
process of trying to get me to stop posting my lessons on their board calling
it spam and clutter. When I tried to explain to the administrator that I was
more interested in offering a means to eternal life than I was in offering a
means to immediate entertainment, his response: “It doesn’t matter.” It doesn’t
matter? Really? It doesn’t matter that God sent his Son to die on a cross so we
could be reconciled to him? I could not accept that! After a month of weekly
harassment, I finally reached an agreement with the administrator that paved
the way for me to continue posting my lessons on their board. Everything was fine
for a while but the harassments have started again even though I have been
faithful to the arrangement we previously agreed to. The mission to have the
lessons of this ministry read in every country in the world seems like a poorly
thought-out plan right now. Nevertheless, I believe that I am being obedient to
God’s call for my life and this ministry so I will continue to fight the fight
in the face of any opposition with the full knowledge that Jesus warned that I
would be hated because of him (Mk 13:13). I won’t be silenced because I am
still convinced that Christians desperately need sound biblical teaching even
while most are happy to migrate weekly to massive churches to be entertained by
concert quality worship teams complete with fog machines, well choreographed
light shows and tantalizing cinematography so that pastors can tell them that
God loves them and wants to take care of them. But are they being equipped? Are
they being transformed? Does the pastor care about who they are and who they
are becoming? Is the pastor leading the people to be faithful and obedient to
God’s Word? I honestly think that Christians want to grow and be faithful and
obedient to God’s will for their lives but do they have the tools to withstand
the opposition and struggles they will inevitably face? A couple of months ago,
I did a lesson on being equipped to face opposition and endure struggle (See “We Are At War” 11/28/12). According to
that lesson, one of the tools (weapons) available to assist us in our desire to
be faithful and obedient is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. I
got to thinking about that as I meditated on this week’s subject text from the
prophet Nehemiah and how he equipped his people with real swords so that they
could protect themselves in order to be faithful and obedient to God’s will for
their lives. Let’s look at this week’s subject text from the Book of Nehemiah.
Subject Text
Nehemiah 4:1-23
When Sanballat heard that we
were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He
ridiculed the Jews, 2 and
in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, 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 the stones back to life
from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they
are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of
stones!” 4 Hear us, O
our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give
them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from
your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. 6 So we rebuilt the wall till
all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. 7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah,
the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to
Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were
very angry. 8 They
all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble
against it. 9 But we
prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. 10 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.” 11 Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we
will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.” 12 Then the Jews who lived near
them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
13 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. 14 After I looked things over, I
stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people,
“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and
fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your
homes.” 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. 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the
other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers
posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials
did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore
his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed
with me. 19 Then I
said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is
extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the
wall. 20 Wherever you
hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” 21 So we continued the work with
half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came
out. 22 At that time
I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem
at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day.” 23 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.
Context
The
events of the Book of Nehemiah take place as the Jews are returning to
Jerusalem after their Babylonian exile. As a review and to give some texture to
our subject text, here is a timeline of events for our lesson:
586 BC –
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captures Jerusalem, destroys and/or burns all
the major buildings in the city including the Temple. Some of the city gates
and walls are burned and broken down in the military assault.
539 BC – Babylon is
conquered by Persia.
538 BC – Cyrus, king of
Persia, allows the Jews to return to
Jerusalem.
520-516 BC – Zerubbabel and
Jeshua lead the Jews to
reconstruct the Temple.
464-424 BC – Artexerxes I is
king of Persia.
445-444 BC –
Nehemiah, cupbearer to king Artexerxes, receives permission and returns to
Jerusalem after hearing from his brother that the city gates and walls are
still in ruin. Nehemiah leads the people to rebuild the city gates and walls.
It is
difficult to overstate the importance of Jerusalem’s city walls and gates. I’ve
already described above how Jerusalem came to be ruled by two different empires
in less than 100 years and would be ruled by a third within 250 years of first
being conquered by the Babylonians. Ancient history was filled with empires
seeking to expand their territories. Consequently, city walls and gates were
the primary means of defense. Think about it, construction of roughly 2.5 miles
of wall averaged approximately 40 feet high and 8 feet thick! That’s not like
the chain-link fence around your yard to keep the dog in. Those walls were
constructed to keep Israel’s brutal enemies out as long as possible!
Additionally, the walls served an administrative purpose. The walls signaled
that the Jews were a self-governed people set apart from the surrounding
nations. In this way, Israel could be a nation used by God to point the way to
God without corruption from surrounding nations. Without walls and gates,
enemies and enemy influences had their run of the nation and the people. This
was the source of the people’s disgrace which grieved Nehemiah and which motivated
Nehemiah to act. “The restored community was a tiny island in a vast, turbulent
ocean of pagan peoples. That harsh reality called for the book’s stern
measures. The danger was that if Israel to easily accommodated their neighbors,
the nations would eventually absorb Israel, thus extinguishing the community
and its precious heritage.”[1]
Text
Analysis
The
beginning of chapter four finds that the reconstruction of the city walls is
underway which elicits an angry outcry from the surrounding peoples. In vv. 1-3
we find Sanballat who was the governor of Samaria and Tobiah who was an
Ammonite official, possibly the governor of Ammon, along with men from other
surrounding nations insulting the Jews and their rebuilding efforts with the
hope of discouraging their efforts by criticizing the quality of their work. “He
[Sanballat] used a military parade of local troops as an occasion to make a
political speech directed against Judah’s enterprise. His barrage of questions
dismisses the Judean workers as ‘pathetic’ (NJB [New Jerusalem Bible]) and as
underestimating the size of their task. They had no magic wand to wave over the
debris and turn it into a rebuilt wall. Tobiah’s supporting quip pokes fun at
poor workmanship.”[2]
As
you will see, much of Nehemiah is written in the first person which is why it
is often referred to as the Memoirs of Nehemiah. In vv. 5-6 we read Nehemiah’s
prayer of complaint, protection and judgment against those who are opposing the
rebuilding project. It’s just two verses our of the 23 verses in our subject
text but it is a reminder that Nehemiah knows who is ultimately in charge even
as he uses all the earthly resources available to him to complete the
rebuilding project. Nehemiah knows that God’s provision and protection are paramount
to the ultimate success of the rebuilding enterprise.
In
vv. 6-14 we see that the Jews are making significant progress rebuilding the
wall as it reaches the 50% completion point. Consequently, opposition to the
project moved to the next level as well. What started as taunting and insults
early in the project has now become far more serious. The same group that had
previously troubled the workers began to realize that the project might
actually be successful. The damaged areas were being repaired and the gaps in
the walls were being filled in. Name-calling gave way to a plot of violence to
stop the rebuilding project. “Just where the enemy ‘coalition’ was mustering we
do not know, but we may be sure that it will not have been without a sufficient
show of strength to impress all who saw it. Furthermore, they no doubt made
sure that these same Jews were under the clear impression that their design was
only on Jerusalem and its wall-builders.”[3] Their
response was beautiful—faith and action! They prayed for protection because
they believed God would care for them and then posted guards, not to hedge
their bets against God’s failure to act but to take responsibility to fulfill
all aspects of their calling including protecting themselves. God is not a
wishing well where we can throw in a coin in the form of a prayer and then do
nothing expecting God to bow to our desires and deliver what we want. Nevertheless,
relentless attacks or the threat of attacks can demoralize even the hardened
warrior. One of the things that has a dramatic psychological affect on soldiers
and civilians within the theater of war is knowing that they could be killed at
any moment but not knowing if or when it’s coming. It is a constant grind on
the mind and psyche that eventually leads to demoralization and exhaustion. Nehemiah
recognized that he needed to act so he took immediate action to use the
resources available to him to protect the people physically. Nehemiah organized
the people and inspired them with the battle cry to fight for their families
and property. Furthermore, the language suggest that Nehemiah did this in a
kind of military context. “Nehemiah gathered the people together in full battle
order in the manner of the ancient conscript army and addressed them in a way
reminiscent of the preparation for a ‘holy war’…By calling together in a show
of strength all those who had been scattered in small groups along the length
of the wall, he was quickly able to restore moral…Nehemiah was careful to
choose a spot for this gathering that would not go unnoticed by the enemy.”[4]
Nehemiah encouraged them emotionally and psychologically by reminding them that
God was still the one who was in charge of the project. “Nehemiah sets the
whole enterprise within the context of the religious tradition of his ancient
people’s struggle for freedom within the land promised to them, a struggle
which, indeed, had been waged not merely by their ancestors but, according to
biblical tradition, by God himself fighting on their behalf.”[5]
Nehemiah’s
strategy and leadership pays off when the opposition realizes in v. 15 that
their plot has been exposed and the Jews show themselves to be formidable
opponents particular in partnership with God. The text seems to indicate that
opposition ended but really it just subsided because Chapter 6 finds Sanballat
and his band of troublemakers back at it. However, in the interim, Nehemiah seems
to fine-tune his military strategy in vv. 16-23. In these closing verses, we
find the Jews always at the ready to confront any opposition while at the same
time performing the duties of rebuilding the damaged walls and gates. The text
tells us that while half the men worked on the wall, the other half stood
behind them with spears, bows, shields and armor. Each builder had a sword strapped
to his side ready to be drawn if the order were given to do so. However, the
enterprise was still a vast construction venture and not a military exercise.
As a result, the workers necessarily needed to be spread out. Therefore,
Nehemiah developed an audible warning system in the form of a trumpet blast
that signaled those who were dispersed along the wall to converge on the
trumpet blast in preparation for military conflict where God would lead them in
battle. Nehemiah established day and night guard rotations and describes his
personal commitment and the commitment of those who were under his immediate
charge that they never took off their clothes and even carried weapons with
them when they went out to get water. His point was that they were always ready
for whatever might come their way. Their commitment to their task was truly
amazing! Remember the Jews had been living in the city for nearly one hundred
years without having done anything to repair or rebuild the walls or gates.
Now, under the leadership of Nehemiah, the wall was rebuilt in 52 days!
However, I wanted to point out something that really made me smile and
something I want to use to make a deeper theological point. For the most part,
Nehemiah divided the people into those who worked on the reconstruction of the
wall and those who were assigned to protect the people who worked on the
reconstruction of the wall. However, there was another group of people I would
like to highlight. You can find them in v. 17. These were the people who did both.
Nehemiah describes them as men who carried materials in one hand and a weapon
in the other hand. As a carpenter and someone who handles weapons, this image
was at least amusing from a practical perspective but illustrates an important
theological parallel—we can’t do the hard work of being faithful and obedient
to God’s will without being prepared to do battle against the opposition and
obstacles that will inevitably stand in our way. Nehemiah’s men used real
swords as weapons against their opposition while our weapon, our sword is the
sword of the Spirit which is God’s Word (Eph 6:17). Without this sword, that is
the Word of God, to protect us, we will soon be overrun by our enemies.
Application
So
now that we know that all we need is God’s Word to overcome the obstacles in
our lives, all our problems are solved. Except that truth is not a new truth.
It’s not my truth, it’s God’s truth and it has been available to all of us for
millennia. So why are so many Christians ill-equipped to face the enemy that
battles against them daily? How is it possible that so many can sing praises to
God at the top of their lungs with raised hands and flowing tears on Sunday
morning only to find themselves falling right back into the same old sins as
soon as they walk out the doors of the church in some cases? It’s because
Christians, just like their unbelieving counterparts, are more interested in an
experiential encounter and emotionalism than actually learning how to enter the
battle armed with the sword of God’s Word. Researcher and sociologist George
Barna writes, “The spirituality of Americans is Christian in name only. We
desire experience more than knowledge. We seek comfort rather than growth.
Faith must come on our terms or we reject it. We have enthroned ourselves as
the final arbiters of righteousness, the ultimate rulers of our own experience
and destiny.”[6] Christians
are more interested in being entertained than they are being transformed. And
I’m going to place the blame for this squarely at the feet of pastors who are
more interested in maintaining their empires than they are with the holiness of
their people. This is especially true in the case of extremely large churches
where pastors know only a very small percentage of people on a personal level
who attend their churches. Consequently, we rationalize and subconsciously give
these pastors permission to compromise. It goes something like this: ‘With
thousands of people attending weekly, how can one man be expected to insist on
a life of holiness without being able to validate if that demand is being
incorporated into the lives of those attending? Better to give the people what
they want and make them feel better since life is already hard enough. That way
they’ll keep coming back and maybe even bring a friend with them next time who
has also been beaten down by life and needs to feel better about themselves.
Better to just tell them that God loves them and not insist on any stringent demands
for transformation and holiness.’ I know that many of you out there think I’m
really hard on large churches and in some respects you’d be right. But I’m
really hard on all churches and church leaders who see church as a business
venture or an enterprise to feed the ego of ministry leaders and professionals
who try to hide behind banal religious objectives like: “Our goal is to create
an environment where people can bump into Jesus” or “We are here to tell you
that God’s not mad at you but loves you” or “We are here to know God and to
make him known.” How come churches never say: “We don’t have to tell you that
we are Christians because it is reflected in the holiness of our lives!” It’s not
because I don’t like the Church. Instead, it is precisely because I love the
Church that I am critical. However, there are some with decades more experience
and who are smarter and far better qualified than I am who are significantly
more harsh. Dr. Larry Crabb is one of those people and he writes, “You must
remain alert to compromised spiritual leadership who entice you more with the
hope of blessing than with the promise of holiness, who lead you to think that
My love makes Me more concerned with your present comfort than your eternal
joy. Resist them. Leave their churches. Do not attend their conferences or read
their books.”[7] Still
think I’m harsh? I wonder if any of these pastors realize that their people are
the ones who are intended to be Jesus to a broken and hurting world. Do you
realize that you, as a believer, are intended to be Jesus to a broken and
hurting world? Does your life reflect Jesus? Not just the Jesus that loves
people and serves people but the Jesus that is holy; the Jesus that is prepared
to sacrifice everything for the benefit of others? If not, what are you doing
about it? Jesus is not going to miraculously appear so that unbelievers can
bump into him. You might be the closest thing to Jesus some people will ever
get. That responsibility should weigh heavily on you. What will you do? Will
you be prepared or will you expect someone else to fulfill that responsibility?
Like Nehemiah’s workers, we
have a job to do as followers of Christ. We have the duty to mature in word and
deed so that our lives reflect Christ more and more every day. That can be
extremely difficult and monotonous at times. In our culture, people are constantly
chasing the next “high”—physically, emotionally, psychologically and
spiritually. Considerable energy is expended in ministry making sure that
people who attend church are moved by the church’s weekend production. However,
everything is based on the desire to get to the next emotional high; the next
mountaintop experience. This is not what the life of faith is about. Instead,
the life of faith is like a long marriage relationship. This past weekend
before my girls went back to college for spring semester, we all went to dinner
in downtown Denver. While we were there, we walked through the lobby of the
building where my wife and I first met 30 years ago. It brought back a rush of
memories of when I saw her for the first time and how beautiful she was. I know
I loved her then but I don’t remember what that felt like. I know that if you
talk to my wife she will tell you that it has often been very hard to be in
love with me for the last 30 years yet I know that she loves me. You see, the
foundation of our marriage is love, but it is the kind of love that is forged
in the fire of knowing each other intimately. It has very little to do with
feelings and emotions even though feelings and emotions are part of our
relationship like every relationship. This doesn’t happen accidentally but with
very specific intentionality. This is the same relationship principle we are to
use in our relationship with Jesus. It is not an accident that the Bible calls
Jesus the bridegroom and the Church his bride. It includes an intentionality of
knowing one another like a husband and wife learn to know each other intimately
over time. There are some specific practices you can engage in that will add to
the intentionality of being in a relationship with Jesus:
Read the Bible – I know this can be very difficult given some Bible
translation so let me offer you an option that has worked very well for me. I
always struggled reading the Bible as a devotional exercise because I would get
bogged down in the technicalities and found myself studying the minutiae
instead of simply reading the text. Therefore, about 8 years ago, I picked up
Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible
and started reading it as a devotional. It was hard at first because it is a
paraphrase and I wasn’t used to it. However, it reads like a book because it
has no verse markers or commentary. I don’t use it as study only as a
devotional which, I believe, was Peterson’s intended use. Using it this way, I
read through the entire Bible at least once every year just for the joy of
it—no study, no analysis only God’s Word.
Memorize key Bible verses – When I was taking my oral examination for graduate
school, I had to defend my theological positions using the Biblical text.
Consequently, I had to memorize nearly 200 verses as part of my preparation. I
probably can’t recite them today under direct interrogation but they have
somehow become part of me as a person. I have surprised even myself at times
when I’m having a theological discussion with someone and I can suddenly recall
previously memorized verses. This is part of being prepared in all situations
to interact with all people using a Biblical worldview
Listen or read targeted Biblical teaching – Many listen to sermons on
Sundays and think they have done their part to edify themselves but this is
only a small part of what is necessary. Listen to sermons, read books and read
blogs (maybe like this one) to stretch your mind. You have been called and
saved by the One who created the universe. If you’re going to be in a relationship
with him, simply listening to a sermon on the weekend isn’t going to cut it.
Think of it this way, if you spent an hour a week with your spouse and that was
it, how well would you know your spouse? For that matter, how long do you think
you’d be married?
Study the Bible – This is where a good study Bible is important. Try
to steer clear of The Message and the King James Bible for your study bible. The
Message Bible is only a paraphrase of the Bible and the King James Bible is not
a terribly good translation of the original Hebrew and Greek in some cases.
Find a study Bible that includes commentary and then purchase one additional general
commentary that covers the entire Bible. Then choose one topic or passage to
study and spend sufficient time coming to a clear understanding of that given
topic or passage and its intended application. The goal is not to glean small
independent details but to develop comprehensive understanding of the overall Biblical
narrative and its truths and how those truths relate to daily life. Also,
seriously consider participating in a church Bible study group led by someone
who is competent or participate in formalized programs like Bible Study
Fellowship (BSF) or Community Bible Study (CBS).
Note
that all of my recommended practices include the Bible as the focal point. Some
of you are saying: “It’s easy for you to say, the Bible and Bible study is your
business.” Let me remind you that the Bible, Bible study and this ministry are
not my “business.” There’s nothing in it for me from a “business” perspective.
It is no more my “business” as being married to my wife is my “business.” The
Bible, Bible study and this ministry are about a love relationship with Jesus
and preparation for the ongoing fulfillment of a calling that has grown out of
that relationship. Truthfully, none of us can fully pursue our calling or enter
the battle of life without a weapon and remember that our primary weapon is the
sword of the Spirit that is the Word of God. We can only confront life and
engage with our culture and society if we are properly prepared with a Biblical
worldview. That doesn’t happen without the Bible! Therefore, when we carry out
our calling as Christians to be holy and a light in a dark world, we must do so
with all the resources available to us but always, always With A Sword In One Hand that is God’s Word.
[1] William
Sanford LaSor, David Allan Hubbard and Frederic Wm. Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old
Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Willam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), p.
564.
[2] L. Allen
and T. Laniak, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther:
New International Biblical Commentary, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Publishers, 2003), p. 104.
[3] H. G. M.
Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, Word Biblical
Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985), p. 226.
[4] Ibid.,
p. 227.
[5] Ibid.
[6] George
Barna, The Second Coming of the Church,
(Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 1998), p. 23.
[7] Dr.
Larry Crabb, 66 Love Letters: A
Conversation with God that invites you into His story, (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson, 2009), p. 72.
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