The enemies of Israel in the land were both frightened and furious. The Israelites were actually rebuilding the wall and reclaiming their place in the land. They were not longer acting as squatters or just wall-flowers of history, but were intent on establishing their home and their presence.
It had been such an impossibility to even try to rebuild that even in the enemies of Israel didn’t see it as possible. Afterall, the city was giant pile of rubble. But when the enemies heard that Israel was actually going for it, they were furious.
Mockery was their first tactic. We don’t think much of mockery being so bad, but it is purely evil. Those who are mocked will often eventually murder. The two go hand in hand. In a day and age where mockery is becoming the dialect of the human, this does not bode well.
So Israel prayed: Let their insults return on themselves.
The Israelites were building and building and now the wall was half-way finished. More peoples of the land were reacting. It was not longer just Sanballat of the Hornoites and Tobiah of the Ammonites, and the Arabs, now the Ashdodites of Philistia and more of the Ammonites were growing alarmed. The Israelites were actually doing it.
So the enemies of Israel plotted together to fight against Jerusalem. In the meantime the workers were getting discouraged (Neh 4:10):
“In Judah, it was said:
The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble,
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.”
The enemies intensified their plans. The plotted to infiltrate the work then rise up and kill them. The Jews in the outlying areas confirmed their intent as everywhere they turned they were being attacked.
Having been made aware of the plots, Nehemiah stationed guards at the walls. Half of the people worked on construction and half worked on guarding the people. And the work was cut by half a labor force which inevitable brought more discouragement.
But Nehemiah spoke up.
“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes” (Neh 4:14).
The plans of the enemies had been foiled. The Lord had exposed their plot as he has done so many times for God’s people.
“When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall” (Neh 4:15).
They still protected themselves. Wherever they worked they split into groups so one group could work and the other could guard. They made a plan if there was an attack, teh trumpets would sound and everyone would run to the battle. Each of the builders strapped around his waist his sword while he was working. Everyone spent the night inside the city so that they could stand guard by night and work by day.
“Each carried his weapon, even when washing” (Neh 4:23).
It was tense times. There were great and real fears from the people of the land that wanted them to stop and were willing to kill them to do so. There was discouragement from within from the sheer enormity of the task.
But the Lord was behind it. Nehemiah encouraged them to trust the Lord and continue.
They were perseceuted.
They prayed.
They persisted.
And they took their swords to their shower.
This is what it looked like to obey the Lord in a difficult hour.
