Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 182 - Nehemiah, God's Builder - Part 4 (Nehemiah 3:1-2 NKJV) Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel. {2} Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. ...(Nehemiah 3:32 NKJV) And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs. (Nehemiah 4:1-5 NKJV) But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. {2} 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?" {3} 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." {4} 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! {5} 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. Nehemiah chapter 3 is a long list of those making heroic efforts to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. It was a well-coordinated team effort. There were a few snooty nobles who refused to work (3:5) but some that did (3:8). Some such as Hanun and co. did a huge amount of work repairing "one thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate" (3:13), while others just repaired the wall in from of their own house (3:23). Baruch worked carefully (3:20) and some who were quite unused to working in stone, such as the goldsmiths and merchants pitched in anyway even though it was "not their gift" (3:32) When it comes to building God's kingdom we may find that the hour calls us to do things we have never done before and do not feel gifted, trained or equipped for. Once on the mission field I was asked to be an Agriculture lecturer for a few months because I have a Science degree and the regular lecturer was ill. But my degree was in Chemistry - and Inorganic Chemistry at that, and I had taken no biology subjects at all! Every day I came home feeling a fraud! It was a very stressful few months but I survived it and God blessed it (and I learned a lot about agriculture very quickly). Often the job has to be done and everyone has to pitch in. You might have to do office work, or knock on doors, or build walls. I have built a dormitory and a house on the mission field (with the help of others). I am slow and steady at such work but if the job needs doing then - you do it. I think that the modern emphasis on "knowing your spiritual gift" sometimes produces overly specialized Christians who refuse to move outside the area they feel called in. We need to know when to stick to our knitting and when to pitch in and help anyway. When the wall was being built to half its height, and some tangible evidence of progress could be seen, the opposition came. The common critical time for most projects is between half and two-thirds of the way through. When you are far enough along to be weary but not yet in sight of the end. This is precisely when Satan struck! Satan is a mocker and a scoffer. Satan pours scorn on the work of God - and Sanballat and Tobiah were his spokesmen. This was no casual comment but a public ridiculing before "his brethren and the army of Samaria". The comments got back to Nehemiah - and presumably to the Jews. Nehemiah was furious; so furious in fact that I wondered at his attitude. Why would he call it a sin and ask God never to forgive or forget and to hand them over to be plundered? What is so serious about ridicule? Surely he could shrug it off and build - just forget it? Why would a joke about a fox causing the wall to collapse be so serious, indeed a sin deserving captivity and the attention of God? Part of the answer is that it was public ridicule and shaming. Another part of the answer is that they were ridiculing what God was doing. When the Pharisees called the miracles of the work of the Devil it got a similar serious response (Mark 3:28,29). A third part of the answer is that ridicule is very destructive and that God detests mocking, scoffing and insulting of others. Jesus even said that having contempt for your brother and calling him "fool" made you guilty of hell-fire! (Matthew 5:22). People are so precious, and mocking and contempt are so damaging, that God gets serious when we put others down and especially so when they are clearly engaged in the work of God. "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! {5} 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." (Nehemiah 5:4,5). The fourth and perhaps greatest part of the answer is that God identifies with His people and His work. When Saul persecuted the early Christians the voice on the Damascus Road said "Saul, Saul why are you persecuting Me?" To persecute the Church is to persecute Jesus and to insult the work of God is to insult God and to provoke His servants is to provoke the Almighty. That is why Nehemiah says "; for they have provoked You to anger". Who did Sanballat provoke? More than just Nehemiah - their insults were aimed at Heaven and it was from Heaven that Nehemiah wanted a response. This encourages me to see that the work of God, including my own ministry, is indeed taken seriously by God. It is His work in progress, not just mine, and the reproaches that fall on me, also in some way fall on Him. It also tells me that I can commit my cause to God in prayer and He will hear it, because it is His cause and His name also. Nehemiah didn't stomp on over to Sanballat and Tobiah and punch them in the nose (though he may have felt like it). He took the matter to God. He asked God to take it very seriously and to deal with it. Then he left it there and got on with the job of building the wall. When rumors, insults, mocking and scoffing come your way and you get all steamed up - do what Nehemiah did - take it to God, and let your "steam" go upward to the throne. Mocking and scoffing and contempt can cut you to the heart and shrugging it off does not work for the "big stuff". It has to be resolved. It has to be taken to God. Tell God that it hurt, tell God that it got to you, and tell God what you want done and that you want justice. Read many of the Psalms where David pours out his heart to God about conflicts in his life. David did not "just forget it" and neither did he go and take revenge, rather David took his pain to God and placed his cause before the throne. Mocking, scorn and contempt have destroyed many Christian workers. Contempt can break the heart and crush the spirit. The disdain that faith missionaries are sometimes held in can be the most painful part of being in ministry. I sometimes wonder if, when some Christians get to heaven they will hear "X was meant to be an apostle but you crushed his spirit and Y was supposed to be a prophet but you scorned her words and rejected her and Z was to be a youth worker but you only had contempt for his dreams, now all these have not lived to their potential and have been filled with pain because of your tongue." Christians must learn to build up the servants of God and encourage the work of God and to cheer on the builders of the wall. God wants whole servants and completed works. You can help Him achieve this by being an encourager and a strengthener of the hands that build the wall. Blessings, John Edmiston Were you blessed by Eternity Daily Bible Study? 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