1. More Pressure!
As this small community struggle to rebuild the ruined walls, as a testimony to God and as a focus for their identity as his people, they faced much opposition, as we saw in ch.3. They had to be resolute and faithful. The earlier threats were seen off but their enemies have not gone away.
In this chapter there are further threats to the community, focussed upon Nehemiah as its leader. In particular, three strategies are employed by their enemies:
i) Trapped Through Talk - As the work nears completion, no less than four times Sanballat and Tobiah ask Nehemiah to meet with them. The implication is clearly that it is time to sort things out and to reach some kind of honourable agreement.
That is a very tempting offer. Very few people enjoy constant tension in relationships and, from a Christian perspective, we're told to do our best to live in harmony with others.
Nehemiah turns them down. Four times. Why? Because he can see through their deception. They're real intention is to harm him, not to discuss how they can peacefully coexist.
We really do need to heed our Lord's words that we must be "as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves". As believers we ought to be a blessing to the communities where we live, not a source of needless trouble. But we also need to be careful that we don't get drawn into positions of compromise through the desire to live at peace with others.
Peace that compromises the gospel is not peace, it's poison.
ii) Stirring Up Trouble - Having failed to draw Nehemiah into open compromise, they threaten to stir up trouble for him by making it known to the king that the rebuilding is more sinister than it seems and that they are rebelling against the state.
Those who want to stir up trouble for churches and Christians have many options open to them. This is one of them and in some places it can be a very potent weapon, claiming that the existence of the church can be a threat to society.
Often in the media, as debates are conducted over important issues that believers are concerned about, this point is often made, although perhaps with greater subtlety. It is said that all Christians are intolerant of others and want to force their religion on others and become a kind-of thought police.
Those kind of points need to be rebutted but often the way to do that is to simply show that they are, in fact, nonsense. Which is just what Nehemiah does here. He doesn't trouble himself with dealing clause by clause with the claims; he calls their bluff by calling them nonsense.
Again, he sees through their schemes. They want to frighten them and weaken their attempts at rebuilding (v.9). His reply should help to thwart their plans. But notice again Nehemiah's trust in God and reliance on him. They're trying to weaken their hands so he prays that God will strengthen his hands!
He's got to do what he can, on the ground, to deal with the attacks but unless the Lord strengthens him and the builders, all their resolve will be to no avail. They are vulnerable people and they need the Lord to protect and strengthen them. Action must always go hand in hand with prayer.
iii) Enemies Within - But not only did Sanballat and Tobiah attack from the front, they also had a man in the community. They used him to try to trick Nehemiah into open sin and so to ruin his standing with the people. If they succeeded here, the whole community would effectively fall apart.
This man, Shemaiah, feigned fear by staying indoors and tried to frighten Nehemiah and get him to go with him to the temple as a place of refuge. For Nehemiah to have gone into that part of the temple would have been sin. He wasn't a priest and must not go there.
But, again, Nehemiah is wise to their schemes and refuses to go. It's interesting that, although he knows exactly what's going on, Nehemiah doesn't openly say so but simply bats back the words of his enemies. He's being as wise as a serpent!
And it isn't just Shemaiah who's compromised by connections with the enemies. Vv.17-19 show that there were many who through marriage had a loyalty to Tobiah and acted on that, causing further trouble for Nehemiah.
For these people, such ties were stronger than the fact that they belonged to the people of God. We must be careful that we don't allow natural relationships to have precedence over the Lord's people and the Lord's work.
So in all sorts of ways, Nehemiah and the people were put under pressure to give in and give up. But they withstood the opposition through a combination of wisdom and faith, acting rightly and trusting God.
Verse 14 then tells us how he looked to God for judgement on Sanballat and Tobiah. He wasn't going to take things into his own hands. True justice comes from the Lord and it is to him he looked. If they refused to repent of their sin then they would face the Lord's anger. And Nehemiah left it at that.
2. Finished! (vv.15,16)
Despite all the struggles, both in terms of the work itself, their own relationships and the pressure from their enemies, the people actually finished the work in 52 days. Their enemies were quite distraught and fearful at this because it was a clear testimony that "this work had been done with the help of [their] God".
The gospel will make progress in this world, whatever the hardships that must be faced, however strong the opposition. That is something we can be sure of and rejoice in. Here is a book to encourage our own labour in the Lord, knowing that, as then, it is not in vain, because he is the Risen Lord who has all power and authority to act on behalf of his church.
3. Keeping On
As we close, I want to mention two things briefly:
i) The struggle never stops. Look how the chapter ends: Tobiah continues to harass Nehemiah, even when the wall is built. There is a salutary lesson for us here. The Christian life is an unremitting, unrelenting struggle. It will be worse at times and better at times but it will always be there. We must be ready for it.
ii) The building doesn't stop. They had the walls and gates in place; houses were next on the list. But even more necessary was the building of the community, which the book now moves on to. The framework of temple and walls was there; what they needed to do was flesh it out in lives that glorified God. The same is true for us. The framework of salvation is in place; what we must do is get on with the daily business of loving and serving the Lord and others. May he help us to do so. Amen!
