External Opposition to the Work
Bible Passage: Nehemiah 4
When a community or family unit is close-knit, it is difficult for external parties to intrude. On the other hand, when this community or family unit has members who cannot get along with each other, have differing principles, and act according to each of their wills and wimps, then is it all too easy for a troublemaker to enter and wreck this household.
We read in Chapters 3 and 4, Nehemiah leading the Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. This project was huge and it had to be coordinated well. I enjoyed reading Chapter 3 even though it was a long list of names of households and their assigned tasks because there is just so much cooperation and synergy behind the work allocated to the different households in the Jewish community. Each had his portion to complete and it had to be done well, for one gaping hole in any portion of the wall provided an opportunity for external intrusion.
The first signs of attack came in the form of Sanballat and his aide Tobiah’s words of mockery. Does it hurt to be mocked? Sure it does, but Nehemiah assessed the situation and chose not to respond to them at all. Who were the mockers? Sanballat, a Samaritan and Tobiah, an Ammonite, both outsiders to the faith. In their ridicule, they had showed disrespect not just to the Jews, but to God. There was neither a need to reason with them (the opposition had used plenty of sarcasm in their mockery; they would not be receptive to reasoning) nor to retaliate (more important to focus on work at hand, no benefit in retaliating).
Nehemiah prayed to God to deal with these two troublemakers, and continued leading the people with regards to the task at hand. A valuable lesson indeed, especially for many of us who are quick to retaliate, sometimes too quick. Winning a doctrinal debate may not win us a soul for God. Whilst holding fast to the grounds of hard doctrines is important, there are other ways to cause truth-seekers to ‘see’.
The opposition, out to create trouble, but who did not even cause a ripple, decided to recruit more members into the opposition team. Soon, the Jews were surrounded by opposition forces from the North – the Samaritans, from the East – the Ammonites, from the South – the Arabs and the West – the Ashdodites.
This time, Nehemiah took action in the face of a threat from the opposition to attack Jerusalem. He directed where appropriate and assigned duties to the people (v13), he also encouraged the people that God was with them and reminded them whom they were defending (v14). The people responded and co-operated with Nehemiah.
“Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.”
V17
The above is an interesting description of a scene of total preparedness then. What is our own situation today? Is it similar? Whilst we build our own faith daily through prayers, bible reading and attending services, have we remembered to also be ready to defend our beliefs and contend for our faith? Have we ever been caught off-guard when our friends give opposing comments or belittle our faith? Holding a weapon does not mean we have to start a quarrel or fight when an opposing comment is made. It means being prepared to speak up for God and for our beliefs. When a soldier goes into battle, he has pledged allegiance to his country and will be mentally prepared to stand up for his people and land. He does not sit on the fence. We are soldiers of God’s army. We must stand up for our faith in God.
There is also something else on my mind – do we recognise the opposition to our church community today and what are some things which can be done to defend ourselves against such opposition even as we strive to build ourselves up in the house of God?
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