In these past weeks and in the last few days, much has been said about the need (or otherwise) to bring in legislation to deal with religious hatred. Once again, our studies in God's Word are very timely! For here in this chapter we have an account of religious hatred and the right response to it. It is also a chapter that forces us to face up to some difficult biblical material.
As we've said before, our approach to the OT must be to see it through the lens of the NT with Jesus at the centre. We need to bear in mind the whole flow of salvation-history and ensure that the lessons we draw are appropriate for our own context.
1. The Reality of Opposition
We've already seen in ch.2 that the work will not go unopposed and here the enemies of God's people make their stand. The work that has been going on has greatly angered them (vv.1,7). Evil hates and is furious over the progress of God's good work. So they 'up the anti' and do their best to stop the work.
We're reminded many times in scripture that we are involved in a battle and will encounter opposition in this life. But the lesson to learn is that, first and foremost, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood" although it may present and channel itself in that way. Our battle is "against the rulers, against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). It was the same in N's day, but becomes much plainer in the NT.
The upshot of this is that our weapons and tactics must be appropriate for the battle - but we'll come to that later! For now, let's just acknowledge that we're in a battle, not for land or money but for the glory of God's name and the hearts, minds and souls of lost men and women. It is not a battle that can be legislated for by Govts, much though we value basic freedoms.
Notice too the approach adopted by Sanballat and his cronies. At first, they try to discourage the workers by ridiculing them and their work. Their words are harsh & hurtful; whoever said that 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me' was brave but wrong. Words are powerful and can wound deeply.
But when that seemed not to work, they escalated their attack with threats of violence (v.11), even using some of the Jews to unwittingly carry their propaganda (v.12). If words failed to stop the work, they were not afraid to use force.
We need to learn that the devil has many schemes and tactics that he can use, that he is a subtle foe and sometimes unsubtle too. We need to learn that fear of man can be a potent weapon in stifling Christian work and witness, be it fear of violence, of ridicule or of being passed over for promotion at work.
Our enemy is skilled and brutal. We need to recognise that.
2. The Impact of Opposition
The opposition faced by the Jews was real and it had a real impact on them. They were in the midst of a very difficult task. They had begun well but now, halfway through, the taunts of their enemies and the threat of violence combine to discourage them in their work (v.10).
I think we can all sympathise with them. The work was hard enough as it was, without all these threats. Living a godly life and seeking to win others to the Lord are hard enough tasks without the devil's schemes to contend with.
With enemies within and without, we can all too easily grow discouraged and dejected. Opposition is real and we know it, just as these did. We must expect to have to deal with setbacks of all kinds.
3. The Response to Opposition
But the greatest lessons of this chapter are how to respond to the opposition which is real and damaging. There are 3 things I want to mention from the example of Nehemiah here, as we remember that the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but mighty through God to bring down strongholds:
i) Prayer - Nehemiah prayed about the situation. That doesn't surprise us, we know he's a man of prayer and we want to be the same too. He gives the burden to the Lord in prayer and that enables him to give himself to the Lord in service.
In Ephesians 6 Paul teaches on the need for prayer in the spiritual battle, exhorting the believers to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests". He was aware of just how vital prayer is in the warfare we face. May the Lord help us to be that aware too.
But we need to deal with how Nehemiah prayed (vv.4,5). His prayer is a problem for many, even commentators. Some might even say that in these troubled times when many are trying to dampen down the fires of religious conflict that words such as these are explosive. How should we deal with them?
What we see here is quite similar to some of the (imprecatory) psalms where the psalmist prays for God to deal with his enemies. There are a number of things we can say:
i) Nehemiah's great concern in this work is not personal but for God's name to be glorified;
ii) frequently the language of such prayers is metaphorical rather than literal;
iii) our own hatred of sin and desire for justice may not be what it should be; judge not the Lord by feeble sense!
iv) ot is not wrong to pray for justice and vindication; evil needs to be dealt with;
It is on that last point that we need to remember where we are in salvation history in this book and then look forward to the coming of Jesus and his own response to evil and opposition.
Not for a moment did Jesus connive with evil, nor did he fail to denounce it and those who steadfastly opposed him ('woes' on the Pharisees et al). But, uniquely, Jesus is the one who combined perfect hatred for sin with a willingness to bear its consequences on behalf of his enemies. In Jesus, prayer for judgement on sin is met with his own self-giving for sin.
So we pray for success in the gospel, for God's kingdom to come in the hearts & lives of men & women. But it still remains that one day, all who are unrepentant will join the devil and his angels in a place of endless destruction. And that will be a just reward for their evil. To pray for God's kingdom to come is also to pray for that time. It isn't wrong to want God's creation to be rid of sin and for justice to prevail. But how we should long for people to be saved!
ii) Faith - Closely allied to his praying is Nehemiah's trust in God and his encouraging of the people to trust him. A number of times he tells them not to fear, to remember the Lord, knowing that "our God will fight for us" (vv.14,20). We must take up the shield of faith and continue to work, despite opposition.
iii) Work - Which is exactly what we see here. Faith in God goes hand in hand with continued hard work and with common sense precautions against attack. Cromwell famously said 'Trust in God and keep your powder dry' and that is what happens here as the people work with both sword and trowel in hand.
Here then is how to handle opposition biblically. In our own day, the battle is fierce and the work is as urgent as ever. We must pray without ceasing, trust the Lord implicitly and work resolutely!
