When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 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?”
Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”
Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 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.
So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
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.”
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.”
Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
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. 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 people, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
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.
My thoughts -
Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem was destroyed and its gates burned down. He wept for the destruction of his homeland. And then, as the king's cupbearer, he decided to see if he could do something about it. With the king's blessing he returned to Jerusalem and began the task of rebuilding.
Rebuilding is a difficult task, whether it is a city, a home, or a life. That difficult task is made even harder when the work becomes interrupted by trouble makers like Nehemiah's was here.
I can't understand or explain why, but some people just want to see others fail. Maybe they're miserable and they want to bring others down to their level. Maybe they're stuck in a pattern of self destructive sin and want believe that it's "normal". Maybe they just find joy in the suffering of others.
Who's to say why some people do the things that they do? But when you're putting the pieces of your broken life back together the last thing that you need is someone telling you that you will fail, that you're not good enough, that it's impossible, that you deserve to be in the hell you're in. The last thing you need is someone to convince you that you should remain broken.
I love Nehemiah's response to this. First, he prayed. Second, he prepared. While Nehemiah had faith that the Lord would protect them from their enemies, he still posted armed guards.
Nehemiah's enemies bullied and intimidated. They made things up about him, even that he was leading a revolt against the king he had faithfully served and who's blessing he had received for this task. Nehemiah trusted in God, prepared for confrontation, and faithfully continued the work he set out to do.
It was a difficult task, made even more so by those determined to see him fail, but Nehemiah trusted God and did his job. 52 days later the wall was rebuilt and the Lord was worshipped in Jerusalem once again.
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