Sermon Tone Analysis

Nehemiah 4:1-23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2000

 

Enthusiastic Soldiers of the Cross /-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon/

 

When the Spartans marched into battle they advanced with cheerful songs, willing to fight.

But when the Persians entered the conflict, you could hear, as the regiments came on, the crack of the whips by which the officers drove the cowards to the fray.

You need not wonder that a few Spartans were more than a match for thousands of Persians, that in fact they were like lions in the midst of sheep.

So let it be with the church.

Never should she need to be forced to reluctant action, but full of irrepressible life, she should long for conflict against everything which is contrary to God.

If we were enthusiastic soldiers of the cross we would be like lions in the midst of herds of enemies, and through God's help nothing would be able to stand against us.

Introduction

 

Two Sundays ago we saw how the people responded to Nehemiah's challenge to rebuild the walls.

Nehemiah recorded the work completed by different people.

He described the completed wall in chapter 3.

In chapter 4 he takes us back to look at the opposition they encountered along the way.

The enemy was happy to leave them alone while the city was in ruins but as soon as Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the Jews he encountered opposition.

Chapters 4 to 7 detail this for us.

*/Today we will see 4 types of opposition/*:

 

I.

Ridicule              II.

Force                  III.Discouragement             IV.Fear

 

/Firstly/ Ridicule

 

*Nehemiah 4:1-3* /But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing?

Will they fortify themselves?

Will they offer sacrifices?

Will they complete it in a day?

Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall./

/ /

/a.

Sanballat Ridicules/

 

Sanballat and his cohorts had already laughed at them when they first decided to rebuild.

This time he brought his brethren and the army of Samaria along too.

This was to intimidate Israel.

By having them present he also had extra people to laugh at the Jews when he scorned them.

Sanballat asked five questions that were intended to make fun of the Jews and their work.

Let's look at their ridicule.

1.

The Workers - /What are these feeble Jews doing?/

The word /feeble/ means */withered, miserable./*

The people were like cut flowers that were fading away.

They had no human resources that people could see, but the enemy could not see their great spiritual resources.

The people of the world don’t understand that God delights in using feeble instruments to get His work accomplished.

*1 Corinthians 1:27* /But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;/

2. The Work - /Will they fortify themselves?

/This must have evoked gales of laughter from the Samaritan army.

/How could a remnant of feeble Jews hope to build a wall strong enough to protect the city from the army?

/This work was far too big for them to complete.

3.

Their God - /Will they offer sacrifices?/ implies, It will take more than prayer and worship to rebuild the city!

This question was blasphemy against Jehovah God, for Sanballat was denying that God would help His people.

Sanballat was ridiculing their faith in God.

 

4.

Their Commitment - /Will they finish in a day?/ suggests that the Jews didn’t know how difficult the task was and would soon call it quits.

After all they had tried to rebuild once before and were forced to quit.

They wouldn't finish this time either.

5.

Their Materials - /Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish - burned stones?

/In his final question, Sanballat ridiculed /the materials /they were using.

The stones were taken out of the rubbish heaps and probably were so old and damaged that they would never last when set into the wall.

While it is true that limestone is softened by fire, it is also true that the walls were broken down, while the gates were consumed with fire.

6.

The Finished Product - /a single fox could break this wall down /Tobiah the Ammonite was one of the visiting dignitaries at the Samaritan army inspection; and when it was his turn to make a speech, he ridiculed the finished product/.

/You wouldn’t need an army to knock down the wall; a solitary fox could do it!

Of course, much that Sanballat and Tobiah said was true /from a human point of view;/ for the Jewish remnant was weak and poor, and the work was too great for them.

But they had great faith in a great God, and that made the difference.

/b.

Nehemiah's Response - Worked & Prayed/

 

*Nehemiah 4:4-6* /Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity!

Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work./

/ /

/How did Nehemiah respond to this ridicule?/

He prayed and asked God to fight the enemy for him.

This is the third time you find Nehemiah praying, and it will not be the last time.

Nehemiah didn’t allow himself to get detoured from his work by taking time to reply to their words.

The Lord had heard the sneering taunts of Sanballat and Tobiah, and He would deal with them in His own way and in His own time.

Nehemiah’s prayer resembles the imprecatory psalms, where the Psalmist asks God to punish the wicked.

We must remember that Nehemiah was praying as a servant of God concerned for the glory of God.

He was not requesting personal vengeance but official vindication for God’s people.

The enemy had blasphemously provoked God before the builders, and this was a terrible sin.

The opposition of Sanballat and Tobiah against the Jews was in reality opposition to God.

 

But, Nehemiah also got on with building the wall.

He didn't allow the enemy's ridicule to distract him from his task.

The people had a mind to work and completed the wall to half its height.

Because God's work is so important we mustn't allow the enemy to distract us from it.

Satan will always find men keen to scorn the Lord's servants.

But we mustn't get into arguments with them or stop working.

Firstly we must pray and then press on with the work.

Application

 

The things people say may /hurt /us, but they can never /harm/ us, unless we let them get into our system and poison us.

If we spend time pondering the enemy’s words, we will give Satan a foothold from which he can launch another attack closer to home./

How should we respond to ridicule?/

We should pray and allow God to fight for us while we get on with the wall./

/Anything that keeps you from doing what God has called you to do only helps the enemy./

Are you listening to the enemy?

Have you been drawn into arguments with him?

Or do you trust the Lord to vindicate you and get on with building the wall?

/*That's the best thing to do!*

/ /

/Secondly/ Force

 

/a.

Sanballat Rallies His Armies/

 

*Nehemiah 4:7-8* / Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion./

When Sanballat saw that ridicule didn't work he changed his tactics.

He conspired with his allies to attack Jerusalem and stop the work directly.

A common enemy and a common cause brought four different groups together to stop the work on the walls of Jerusalem.

The city was now completely surrounded by enemies!