Think about how words are used by people to cause anger or to hurt the cause of Christ. Here are just a few examples:
- Goliath to David.
- Messiah in Is. 53 and the fulfillment of it with Jesus on the cross with those who would mock Him.
This is what will take place in this passage as Sanballat will show forth his anger by the words that he uses against God and His prized possession Israel. He is a master of trying to divide and hurt through words.
Nehemiah 4:1 ( ESV )
1 £ Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews.
At the very mention, of the Jews building the wall Sanballat, lost his temper. Some men are like this, when they hear of others who are trying to make a difference, they will become angry at them. The words that are used here describe just how angry Sanballat had become. The first word for angry has the idea of a person who is writhing in pain or wound up tightly. Just the idea of the Jews working on the wall tore at his very being. The second word carries with it the idea of to be troubled at what he heard or provoked. When these emotions began to brew within Sanballat's heart his first reaction was to do what he did next.
Sanballat, began to laugh at and mock the Jews, for their work that God had placed upon their hearts. He wanted to belittle them in front of others.
Nehemiah 4:2 ( ESV )
2And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves?£ Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”
One of the key elements to mocking a person, is when we can do it in front of others. We want others to join with us in the, "fun." Sanballat wanted to use his brothers and the army of Samaria to go against Israel. He wanted to humiliate Israel in front of the crowd. He took joy in having people hear his blasphemous words. Have you enjoyed mocking another person in front of others at their expense? Why do we do this kind of thing? Ultimately, by cutting down another person, we don't look so bad, and we receive the glory.
Look at how he addressed the Israelites in this verse.
- Called them feeble Jews-He drew attention to their physical being. He was calling them a wretched and miserable people.
- Restore it for themselves-Can they really fortify these walls? Can they really support themselves?
- Will they sacrifice-Here is probably the roughest one. He mocked them spiritually. Will their God hear their prayers or their sacrifices to Him? I think not, must have been his idea. What a blasphemous man, as it was God who wanted them to rebuild the wall. It would be by God's strength that they would accomplish the work.
- Finish in a day-They will surely grow tired of the work and quit, when they realize how long it will take. You will never finish what you started. (Does this sound familiar?)
- Will they revive the stones out of the heap of rubbish?-The best part is this: Our God loves taking that which is discarded and making it whole again. He loves doing that which is impossible.
Nehemiah 4:3 ( ESV )
3Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”
Just like we saw earlier in this book when one person begins to mock, he will usually draw others in for the kill. People will always want to be part of the crowd. They will want to join the fray. Tobiah, Sanballat's little buddy doesn't want to be left out. He basically says that an army would waste its time destroying the work. As far as he was concerned, just by letting a little fox cross it the walls would come tumbling down. You can almost hear the laughter of Sanballat and the army gathered around him.
Nehemiah 4:4 ( ESV )
4Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.
Once again what is the first thing that Nehemiah does when confronted. He prays. How often do we attack back when men speak or say vile things about us? How often do I want to just let them know what is really going on? I wish that my heart was more like Nehemiah.
Look how Nehemiah prayed to His Lord when this trial came his way. This is the prayer of a warrior before God. He would first of all look to His Lord to watch over them.
- We are despised-We should first of all lay out our situation before the Lord. He knows what is going on but He wants us to talk to Him about the situation.
- Turn back their taunt on their own heads-Lord, you have heard what evil has been spoken against me. I now ask that these words will be found out. It is not my place to judge these men but it is yours so I ask Lord allow them to be shamed by what they have said.
- Make them captives-Deal with them physically if you have to in order to draw them to you.
Now comes the hard part of Nehemiah's prayer which was, "Lord, deal with them spiritually." Listen, do not take this prayer as something that you do when you are mad at people. Nehemiah prayed this way because these people's greatest desire was to tear down God's people, and His work. By doing this they were trying to tear down the very name of God. Nehemiah's motive here was not revenge but rather he was jealous for the name of God. That is the key in this passage.
We should shout out that sins are an abomination before God. ( This includes all sins though not just a select few that we may not do.) Listen, our world will one day tremble at the voice of God for how we have lived. Ministers, Sunday School Teachers and all spiritual leaders should never back down from the truth. We must realize an important fact in all of this as Nehemiah did in this passage. God I am asking you, not me, to judge this world by your righteousness. One day our God will make it all right.
Nehemiah 4:6 ( ESV )
6So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
Here is the amazing part of the passage. What should we do after we have prayed and given the situation over to the Lord? Look at what Nehemiah did in the passage. No matter what people say, what they do to me or how they respond to the work of God, I am going to keep on building. When you and I keep on building even when people sling untruthful words at us God will bless. When we keep working on, it causes others around us to keep moving on. No matter what Lord, give me a mind to continue the work and not stop what you have called us to do.
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