His Work, His Way, For His Glory:  

The Story of Nehemiah 

Nehemiah 3-4 

Sharing God’s Battles 

Good morning! I want to invite you to open your bibles to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah…For those of you who are just joining us, or if you were unable to attend last week, here is a brief recap of what we found last week.  

Nehemiah’s historic place in history 

586 – Jews taken into exile
539 – Cyrus defeats Babylon and establishes the great Persian Empire
538 – Cyrus makes a decree for the Jews to come back to their homeland
516 – Temple was reconstructed under the guidance of Zerubbabel and Jeshua
458 – Ezra the Priest goes to Jerusalem to help spiritually lead the community
445 – Nehemiah comes to Jerusalem to help rebuild the walls 

Let’s pause here for a moment and take in the bigger picture…History: Why hadn’t the walls been rebuilt yet?
Last week I shared with you about the prophecy Moses makes in Deuteronomy 30 (one of the most important chapters in the Bible!) about the return of the people to the land following their repentance. Moses predicts that they will have circumcised hearts by the Spirit of God and live under a new covenant. This prophecy is later fleshed out in more detail by the prophet Jeremiah (31) and Ezekiel (36-37). So, what Nehemiah is looking for is the sign of the prophets. Now, the people had returned from exile and were initially overwhelmed by the task of rebuilding the ruins of Jerusalem that lay before them. God sends the prophet Haggai, and the godly governor Zerrebrubal and the priest Joshua to help encourage the people to the work.  

However, by the time of Nehemiah, though the temple was rebuilt, the walls were still broken down. I shared last week that the broken walls were a sign of the spiritual condition of the people. There was an apathy, a complacency, and a lack of concern to pursue God’s purposes for them. They seemed to be content with just trying to survive and get by the best they could. There weren’t idolaters like the previous generation, they were orthodox in their beliefs – it’s almost as if they were saying: we’ve done enough! We have restored the temple, repopulated the land, and maybe a future generation will see the Davidic king, and the promises Moses, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel lay out; this is our time to simply catch our breath and enjoy the small beginnings the Lord has given us.  

However, as we will see in Nehemiah, the service to the temple was slack (not giving their tithes to keep it in proper operation), the people were intermarrying the local populations around them, and there was continued economic disparity that violated the law of Moses. Worst of all, the temple had not been visited by God the way it had under Solomon. In short, the people who were supposed to be preparing for the way of the Lord were complacent, and lukewarm. And the fact that almost a hundred years had gone by with no one attending to the walls was a sign of this. And so, Nehemiah comes to share God’s vision with the people and remind them of God’s great purposes for them as a nation. Those purposes can be summarized by the prophet Malachi (a near contemporary of Nehemiah).  

Malachi 3:11 – Nehemiah believed all of this – he believed in this “vision” which the prophets spoke of – and he knew the only way for this vision to be realized was for the people to prepare, to seek the Lord, to be obedient, to rebuild Jerusalem, renew themselves spiritually by returning to their first love. However, as we will find today, anytime a work of God begins there is always opposition by Satanic forces. What are Satan’s tactics and how do we deal with them? We’ll find out from Nehemiah today. Let’s pray… 

Exposition of Nehemiah 3-4
In chapter 3, the work of rebuilding the walls commences. Nehemiah records for us all of those involved. I won’t spend time reading through all of these names, but they are recorded for us here as a memory and a memorial of who was involved and how they together sacrificed for the work of God. Last week, at the end of chapter 2 we found that the unholy trinity of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gesham began to mock the people, we witnessed the beginning of opposition.  

Sanballat and Tobiah mock the project – Neh. 4:1-3
Okay, so first question to ask is: Who are these guys and why are they opposed to the work of rebuilding the walls? According to historical sources, here is what we know: 

Sanballat – Governor of Samaria 

Tobiah – Influential political leader in Jerusalem (Ammorite) 

Gesham – Influential political leader from Kedar 

Obviously, a thriving Jewish-state and renewed Jerusalem, independent and self-sufficient would be a political threat to their power and the balance of power in the region (not too unlike today). So, what is their tactic? Mockery. 

Satanic Tactic #1: Slander
The spiritual solution? Nehemiah 4:4-6 

Spiritual Solution to Slander: Righteous Prayer
Interesting that Nehemiah does not even bother to respond to them – he ignores them; and instead, he pleads with God in prayer. And look at what he prays: for God to be the one to thwart their plans because they are ultimately mocking him. I think there is something important to note here: at this level, Nehemiah does not bother trying to defend himself. I think there is something to this friends! By refusing to engage in a twitter battle over whose better and more righteous, Nehemiah ignores them and just keeps on working (but he does pray!). So, when slander doesn’t work, what’s next? Nehemiah 4:7-8 

Satanic Tactic #2: Threats
Now, their opposition moves from mocker and slander to an actual threat. So how does Nehemiah respond? 

Spiritual Solution to Threats: Trusting Prayer – Nehemiah 4:9
Here he acts wisely to keep guard, but ultimately he encourages everyone to trust God’s protection and providence in keeping them safe from the enemies attacks. Nehemiah 4:10-12 

Satanic Tactic #3: Family Pressure
Here we have family pressure for safety concerns. This one is tricky because the concerns are legitimate, and it’s coming out of a place of genuine love and concern. But concerned family members can at times be barrier to what God wants to do. Jesus even warns us about allowing family ties to keep us from doing God’s will, and taking the necessary risks needed for the sake of the mission. Example: Paul and his well-meaning friends in Acts 20.  

Spiritual Solution to Family Pressure: Purposeful Prayer – Nehemiah 4:13-14
Nehemiah goes back to the purpose God has, and then he includes families in the process. But when there is pressure on you to abandon or rethink or accommodate what you know in your heart is God’s plan, the best thing to do is to prayer with purpose, and then find ways to include your family in it. With these elements in place, lets see what Nehemiah does: Nehemiah 4:15-23. So, what do we see here? The work prospers under Nehemiah’s wise and bold leadership and his refusal to be intimidated by Satanic opposition.  

Main Idea: God’s people share His battles by entrusting themselves to His care and courageously sticking to His cause. 

Application: Sharing in God’s Battles Today for His Church Today 

Summary of Nehemiah’s Strategy: Pray, Adapt, Stay the Course
In drawing out some connections for our day, I want to remind you of the posture to which God calls us as His servants and the purpose of the spiritual armor. Ephesians 6:10-13. The nature of the battle: spiritual forces of evil personified in people, institutions, and ideas. These are Satan’s main weapons, and in all of this Paul says that we do our fighting by standing – standing firm, entrusting ourselves to God, and staying the course to that which He has called us.