Thursday, February 6, 2014

Overcoming Fear And Discouragement

Nehemiah 4:1-23

“But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.  And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? 

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.” (Nehemiah 4:1-3) 

Nehemiah had all the paperwork authorizing him to build the wall so that there was nothing their opponents could legally do to stop them.  Determined to stop progress, Sanballat the Horonite, tried to discourage the people from their work by making fun of them and what they were doing.  Such an approach frequently cause people to lose confidence and stop trying.  He implied that the old stones would have been weakened by the fires when Jerusalem was burned, and while they looked good, would crumble under pressure, but they were in too much of a hurry to finish to do the job right.  

Tobiah said that they were doing such a poor job of construction that even a twenty pound fox running along the top would cause it to fall.  They made it a point to try to publicly humiliate the people

The Horonites were originally known as the Horites and were one of the groups Esau married into to father the Edomites.  The Ammonites were products of Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter.  Fifteen hundred years later, those unresolved family conflicts and guilt were still causing trouble.  Time doesn’t heal everything as people think.  Sometimes it just allows them to fester and get worse.

“Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. 

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” (Nehemiah 4:4-6)

Nehemiah prayed asking God to make others see they were angry because of their own rejection of god, not because the Jews were doing anything wrong to them.  He asked God not to forgive their sin in trying to hinder God’s work.

Instead of letting themselves be discouraged by the mocking, the people became more determined to complete the job and show them they were wrong.   It wasn’t long before the different sections began to join together, reaching half way around the city,  

“But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 

Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.” (Nehemiah 4:7-9)

When it became apparent that discouragement hadn’t stopped them and the wall might prevent their raids, Sanballat and Tobiah were joined by the Arabs, the main body of the Ammonites and some of the remnants of the Philistines, the Ashdodites.  Though they were afraid to officially take action and incur the anger of the Persian empire, they threatened to attack, much like unions frequently do to scare people away.

Nehemiah set guards to prevent being taken by surprise, and the people prayed and placed their faith in God.  They didn’t allow the threats to deter them.

 “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. 

And 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 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.” (Nehemiah 4:10-12)

When direct threats had little effect, Sanballat and Tobiah got Jews who weren’t involved in the construction to spread rumors and disinformation among the people in hopes of distracting them and stopping the progress. They insisted they would be attacked by surprise and not be able to defend themselves, and that exhaustion would cause them to be easily surprised and defeated.

“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.  And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” (Nehemiah 4:13-14)

To eliminate the people’s concerns and ensure that there would be no surprise attack, Nehemiah set armed troops at strategic places behind the wall.  He also reminded the people to trust in God to help them and to remember that construction of the wall would make it easier to protect their families and property.

“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. 

And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.  They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.  For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.” (Nehemiah 4:15-18)

Once Nehemiah had made arrangements to prevent surprise attacks and the opponents were aware that the people were not intimidated, the people returned to their construction.  Since they couldn’t be sure the enemy wouldn’t try raids, all the workmen were instructed to have their weapons within reach at a moments notice.  While it slowed the work, each worker had an assistant who was responsible to keep the weapons handy, and each one carried their swords on their belt.  A trumpeter was apointed and stationed where he could sound an alarm at a moments notice.

“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.  In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. 

So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.  Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.  So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.” (Nehemiah 4:19-23)

In case of attack, Nehemiah instructed everyone to come to where the trumpet sounded and concentrate their efforts there, because they would be unable to protect the whole system.  They would just have to depend on God to protect the rest of the project.

For the rest of the time, The workers, including Nehemiah, slept fully clothed to prevent any delays in case of attack.  They worked from dawn until the stars came out at night trying to get as much done as possible.




No comments:

Post a Comment