4:1 (3:33) Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews, 

 

Nehemiah organized a wall building construction program in Jerusalem which was so successful, that it gained the attention of the enemies of God. The enemies of God had already tried individual ridicule of Nehemiah, but that did not work. Now, Satan moved to stage two of his attack. He tried public ridicule.

 

Today, the enemies of God’s Word often use political means, compromising infiltration inside of the church, ridicule, treachery, and violent persecution in order to defeat God’s people. Nehemiah’s answer was to pray, act, and watch God work. 

 

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues and the army of Samaria he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

 

The satanic strategy was to ask questions in order to confuse the messianic believers and place them on the defensive. These were also questions that the children of Israel were asking themselves.

 

When a skeptic bombards a believer with difficult questions, then it is important not to be placed on the defensive. How did Nehemiah respond to his enemies? How did Jesus respond to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, Pilate, and Herod? How did Peter, Stephen, and Paul respond to the questions of their enemies? One must study the entire counsel of the Word of God to understand the questions of the enemies and how to answer them as well.

 

Nehemiah answered these attacks by ignoring the questions, praying, and then acting. Jesus would answer hostile questions with His own hostile questions. Peter, Stephen, and Paul answered from the Word of God.

 

4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

 

The enemy will use public sarcasm against the believer in an attempt to shift the believer’s focus on the insult rather than the God-given task at hand.  A fox is a very light-footed animal. The fox can walk or run over ground and not leave much of a track. Tobiah is saying that these feeble Jews are just a bunch of goldsmiths, priests, and women. They were building a wall that even a light-footed fox could knock down.

 

4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile! 

 

These sarcastic unbelievers violated the Abrahamic Covenant. Nehemiah prayed that they would receive curse for curse. God had already promised his protection for Israel. Nehemiah asked God to execute His promise.

 

4:5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended the builders!

 

It was the will of God for these walls to be rebuilt. It was the will of Satan to keep these walls down. The unbelievers were opposing God’s will. Opposing God’s will is a great evil.

 

Notice that Nehemiah prayed for God to take revenge. This type of prayer was allowed under the Mosaic Law. Prayer for individual revenge is not allowed under the doctrine of the church. In Romans 12:19, Paul wrote, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

 

It is important to note that God is in the revenge business, but man is not. God is very good at revenge, because he possesses omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. He knows the perfect solution to the problem. He possesses the means to carry it out. Man has no business in the revenge department, because he does not possess these divine qualities. If a man decides to execute revenge, then he may find himself caught in God's judgement.

 

4:6 So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. The people were enthusiastic in their work.

 

Nehemiah ignored the sarcasm of the enemy, prayed to God, and continued to build. The result was that the people were able to focus on the building project and not the insults of the skeptics. The walls were completed in only two months.

 

4:7 (4:1) When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.

 

The Ashdodites were the Philistines. They were west of Jerusalem. The Arabians were on the south. The Ammonites were on the east. Governor Sanballat and the Samaritans were on the north. Jerusalem was surrounded by enemies, just as they are today. However, God Himself has always been in their midst. The Abrahamic Covenant is the shield which protects Israel.

 

When public ridicule of the enemy does not work, then the enemy of God will turn to anger. The enemies of God joined together to find another way to stop the work of God.

 

4:8 All of them conspired together to move with armed forces against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it. 

 

The enemies of God now combined to attempt an extermination of the Jews. They wanted to combine and kill all of the chosen people of God. If God did not protect believers, then the enemies of God would kill every believer on the planet.

 

It is important to note that this type of physical persecution will be the same type of attack which liberals will place upon believers during the Great Tribulation. Those who hate the Word of God will attempt to kill every Jew and Christian on the planet.

 

The main goal of multiculturalism is the genocide of Christians. Multiculturalism will lead to the governmental policies of the Antichrist. Christians today are protected only because the Holy Spirit has placed a hedge of protection around them. Without this hedge, there would be no Christians on this planet. Liberals would martyr them and laugh and celebrate while they do it.

 

4:9 So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them both day and night. 

 

Nehemiah’s response was prayer. Guards were posted day and night. The satanic world will use violence to remove the teaching of the one true God off of this planet. These temple sacrifices pointed to the atonement of Christ, so the enemy attempted to eliminate this threat to his satanic kingdom.

 

Often, carnal Christians will say “I will pray about it". but they will do nothing about it. This is just a subtle way of saying “not interested” to God. It would be better for the carnal Christian to just say “no” so that the job can be given to someone else.

 

Many carnal Christians will say that they are trusting the Lord, but they will not do anything. If they were really trusting the Lord, then they would do something about it.

 

Nehemiah recognized the enemy’s attack. He prayed and acted by establishing a guard. 

 

4:10 Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”

 

Satan’s biggest weapon is discouragement. His most lethal weapon comes from inside the assembly. Satan will plant unbelievers inside of powerful assemblies which are working for God. He will also influence carnal Christian’s to discourage others who are doing God’s work. The carnal Christian does not have enough bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God to know that he is being used by the enemy.

 

4:11 Our adversaries also boasted, “Before they are aware or anticipate anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!” 

 

The enemy hates the Word of God so much that if possible, he would execute a sneak attack on every believer, kill him, and remove the message of the one true God off of this earth. This is why God must protect every believer on this earth. The anti-semitic purgings of the Jews and the slaughters of Christians throughout history are evidences of Satan’s extermination policy of vocal believers. 

 

4:12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly about all the schemes they were plotting against us.

 

The Word of God is the warning for believers today. Those who are vocal for Christ will be placed on the devil’s hit list.

 

4:13 So I stationed people at the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places. I stationed the people by families, with their swords, spears, and bows.

 

What was Nehemiah’s response? He prepared his people for physical battle. He placed every man in close proximity to his own home. This way, each man could defend his own home and family. This made the men much more comfortable when he was building.

 

4:14 When I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” 

 

The Jews at this time had no standing army. They did not have enough gold and silver to hire mercenary soldiers. They had to create their own weapons and protect their families.

 

Great generals often used battle cries to rally their troops, such as “Remember the Alamo!” or "Remember Golaid". Nehemiah’s battle cry was “Remember the Lord.” The children of Israel were outnumbered, just as the Texans were at the Alamo.

 

4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work. 

 

The surprise attack was no longer a surprise, so the enemies retired.

 

4:16 From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people of Judah 4:17 who were rebuilding the wall. Those who were carrying loads did so by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon.

 

These men had a shovel in one hand and a sword in the other hand. They were ready to work for the Lord or fight for the Lord. Every believer today needs to be prepared to do the same. First, he needs to train himself in the entire counsel of the Word of God. After his education, then he needs to work and fight. Some Christians never get past a first grade biblical education. They become spiritual casualties on the field of battle. Their lack of bible doctrine places themselves and other soldiers in danger.

 

4:18 The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter remained with me.

 

The trumpeter was standing next to Nehemiah.

 

4:19 I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another.

 

The manual work was very demanding.

 

4:20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there with us. Our God will fight for us!” 

 

If the workers were attacked, the trumpeter would sound the alarm to  signal the soldiers to report to their battle stations.

 

4:21 So we worked on, with half holding spears, from dawn till dusk.

 

The men worked long hours.

 

4:22 At that time I instructed the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day. 

 

The workers had to sleep at their work stations.

 

4:23 We did not change clothes—not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water.

 

The workers did not have time to put on their pajamas. These workers brought their weapons of war with them to the dinner table.

 

The satanic world system does not appreciate men who work and fight for Christ. They would rather not have them around. For this reason, the prepared believer may not get to sleep in his pajamas every night. He will often have to sleep at his work station. He will have to work and protect his family. He will have to bring his sword to the dinner table. There is a price for serving in the Lord’s army. Only those filled with bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God are willing to suffer it.