Nehemiah. Pt. 4 Faithful living in the middle of a battle

Nehemiah continued to pray to Jehovah for help and he devised a practical solution by setting guards in place for protection.  However, a new plot by the enemy unfolded.


Planning an ambush to stop the work

Some of the workers came to Nehemiah and reported that the people carrying out the rubbish and bringing up the new building materials were wearing out. Their strength was "decayed" which means the workers were stumbling or tottering as they carried their loads. They were physically exhausted. 

The enemy took note of this and plotted to come against them to attack because the workers were worn out and would not notice the enemies approach. They had a clear goal of killing the Jewish workers and stopping the reconstruction of Jerusalem. 

The Jews which lived near the foreign people living in the land heard of their intentions and sent warning to Nehemiah. 


Nehemiah 4:9-12 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of 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 relied on his clear thinking and devised a counter attack

The practical and logical thinking of Nehemiah came into play again. He devised a simple strategy to counter the enemies attack plans. He set some of the workers in higher and lower places with swords,  spears and bows so that they could repel any attack. 



Nehemiah's strong faith encouraged the people in the Lord

The strong faith of Nehemiah was also on display.  He encouraged all the rulers, nobles and people to not be afraid of the enemy because the Lord was on their side.  He exhorted them to stand fast, have courage and fight for their families if the situation warranted it. 

Nehemiah 4:13-14 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.

God exposed the enemies plans and made them as nothing

Nehemiah tells us that the enemies heard that their plan was known to all of the workers and to Nehemiah.  He specifically states that God brought the carefully laid plan to nothing. They were acting cowardly by wanting to ambush the unarmed workers.  Instead, they were met by a people armed and ready to fight if need be.  God unraveled their plan and the people returned to work on the walls. 

Nehemiah 4:15 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.

Clear headed Nehemiah established some more practical ways to thwart the enemy

Nehemiah put some more protections in place as he used the mind and gifts that God gave him for the work of God.  He split the workforce in half.  At all times half were working and half were on guard duty.  This also provided workers with a period of resting from carrying heavy loads of debris and building materials. 

Weapons in hand, watching with vigilance and working for God

Nehemiah made sure that those on guard duty had weapons and body armor (habergeons) as they watched for the enemy.  In addition each worker loading, carrying and unloading materials carried a sword in one hand while they did work with the other hand. 

Nehemiah 4:16-17 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.

Nehemiah kept a bugler close by his side.  A bugle is a trumpet like instrument that is used to make certain sounds that have specific meaning to the soldiers.  Nehemiah told all the people that since they were separated by a sizable distance they needed to listen for the bugle to sound. A modern bugler is pictured below. 

If a bugle sounded from one wall the people working on the opposite wall would run to assist the group who sounded the bugle. Nehemiah's faith was evident as he firmly declared "our God shall fight for us."

Nehemiah 4:18-20 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. 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.

The work continued on as the people worked and rested in shifts. Moreover they stayed in Jerusalem instead of going to their dwelling places so that there was always ample people to defend against an attack.  Furthermore, Nehemiah, the rulers, and nobles all did this and led by example. 

Nehemiah 4:21-23 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.

Listening for the Trumpet of Jehovah

Christians know that when Jesus Christ returns to the earth to take His bride (The Church) home that the event will be preceded by a trumpet sound that the whole world will hear. The Apostle Paul wrote about this in two different books of the New Testament. 

1 Corinthians 15:51-52  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1 Thessalonians  4:1-17  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

Points to Ponder.....

• Nehemiah teaches us that the child of God must always be alert for the advance of the enemy.

• Nehemiah teaches us that our hope is in the Lord and that we must rely upon Him to show us what to do.

• Nehemiah shows us the need for having strong and vibrant faith in the Living God. 

• Nehemiah shows us our need to use our minds to think of practical ways to reduce the opportunities for enemy attacks. For example, an alcoholic who is born again into God's family should seriously seek to stay away or limit his or her access to going to functions that serve alcoholic beverages. 

• Nehemiah teaches us that we need to serve Jehovah with the sword of the Spirit in hand (Ephesians 6:10-18), and be watching vigilantly as we work for Him.

• There is a trumpet that will sound one day. Are you ready?

Hymns like "Listen for the Trumpet; Sound the Battle Cry; Onward Christian Soldiers; Am I a soldier of the Cross?; A Mighty Fortress is Our God; Hold the Fort; Lead on O King Eternal; Rise up oh men of God; Stand up, Stand up for Jesus; Victory in Jesus and Who is on the Lord's side?" are just a few of the Christian hymns calling us to join the battle with our Lord.

Like a soldier, we must be prepared, equipped, vigilant, ready to respond to an attack and ready to obey our Lord's commands. The very moment that we are born again we enter the battle whether we know it or not.  We are now hated by the enemy of God, the devil. 

Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual in nature ( 2 Corinthians 10:1-6). The only offensive weapon is the Word of God which Paul says is the sword of the Spirit.  He also tells us that we lack nothing for this lifelong battle against our flesh, the world and the devil because God has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in Christ. 

May our loving Lord find us watching, equipped, and working, ready to do His will.

Bob