Friday - Nehemiah 4 - A Bunch of Rubbish

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n the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, "the people had a mind to work" (Nehemiah 4:6). However, they had a couple of things going against them. First, there were enemies who harassed them (Nehemiah 4:1 & 7). Just like Zerubbabel and Ezra faced opposition to their work on the temple, Nehemiah faced it as he worked on the walls.  Secondly, the task was very great.  Despite their diligence, the workers came to a point when they realized that the job was gargantuan.  They said, "There is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall" (Nehemiah 4:10). It was Sanballat that brought their focus onto the "heaps of rubbish" rather than on the building of the wall.  Not that the 2 things weren't connected, they were. But in building anything, it is vital that the focus of the builders stays on the result, not on the current mess.

So, Nehemiah prayed. And, the people prayed. Then, with their faith in God, they not only continued to build and to carry away the rubbish, they also set up guards to watch for threats of violence against them. In fact, half of the work force stood as armed guards while the other half continued to labor in building. Not only that, but the workers also were armed in case of an attack. And, they had trumpeters who were assigned to sound their horns if an attack came; that way all of those on guard (and the workers too) could rush to defend their brothers at the place of the attack. Their vigilance was at its peak (Neh. 4:23).

We in our day also must stand up against the spiritual attacks of Satan and his imps. But, let's not neglect our primary priority, which is... building. Our "Nehemiah" is building the walls of His church. We are co-laborers together with Him (I Cor. 3:9) in evangelism and discipleship.