Nehemiah 4

In verse 1, Sanballat became very angry when he heard that the Jews were rebuilding the wall. He reaction mocked them and tried to discourage them from finishing the wall. He insinuated that the task was pointless, because there was too much rubble and some of the stones had been burned. He asked sarcastically if they could really hope to offer sacrifices, finish the work in a day, or revive the stones from the dusty rubble. Likewise, Tobiah said that if a fox were to jump on the wall, it would collapse. The Expositor's Bible Commentary states that disputes between Persian governors were quite common.

There are a lot of times when we also face opposition and discouragement when we try to do God's will. Just as the prophets were persecuted for carrying out God's will, we will have to face that same persecution. Jesus also said that because he was persecuted, we will be persecuted, too. The early church certainly experienced this, even facing arrest and execution for their faith in Christ. However, the result was that the church grew tremendously, spreading throughout the Roman empire and changing the entire known world.

Verses 4 and 5 present an unusual prayer. Nehemiah prays that God would return this persecution on their enemies and that their enemies would be taken captive to a foreign country. He also prays that God would not forgive their iniquity and asks God not to let their sin be blotted out, because they had demoralized Israel. The Expositor's Bible Commentary points out that Nehemiah did not retaliate himself, but rather asks for God's vengeance on Israel's enemies. It also points out that we need to understand that there was a divine purpose at work in rebuilding Jerusalem and that opposition to this divine purpose is seen as opposition to God himself, not just opposition against Israel.

Verses 7 and 8 mention that the opposition grew as work progressed and gaps in the wall began to be closed. According to verse 6, the people were working heartily on repairing the wall. It clearly wasn't something were doing just out of compulsion, but rather something that they wholeheartedly believed God wanted them to do. It appears that opposition to rebuilding Jerusalem was also growing, as the verse mentions the Israelites having trouble with the Arabs, Ammonites and Ashdodites. These groups formed an alliance with Sanballat and Tobiah to fight against Jerusalem and try to bring the rebuilding to a halt.

In verse 9, Nehemiah's response was to take the matter to God and to place guards around the clock. Verse 11 shows that Israel's enemies were planning to infiltrate the workers and kill them to bring the work to a halt. Nehemiah's response to that threat was to have families armed with swords, spears and bows in addition to the guards who were stationed around the wall. The Expositor's Bible Commentary points out that guards were stationed at the most vulnerable points around the wall, namely the lowest points and exposed places.

Verse 14 says the when Nehemiah saw their fear, he rose and spoke to the nobles, officials and the rest of the people. He told them not to be afraid of their enemies. He told them to "remember the Lord who is great and awesome" and told them to fight for their brothers, sons, daughters, wives and houses. The Expositors Bible Commentary points out that the best way to dispel fear is to remember that the Lord alone is to be feared.

The Israelites returned to their work when their enemies discovered the plans for attacking Jerusalem had been frustrated. From that point on, half of the people worked on the wall while the other half stood guard. Nehemiah mentions in verse 17 that those doing the work took their load in one hand and a weapon in the other one. He recognized that there were large gaps in the wall that may still be vulnerable to attack, so he told them to rally to him when they heard the sound of the trumpet. The Expositor's Bible Commentary points out that there is a disagreement over how many trumpeters were actually used. Some think one person was assigned to stay with Nehemiah, while others think there was a system of alarms. It quotes the ancient Jewish historian Josephus as saying that there were trumpeters in 500 foot intervals.

Nehemiah then states that the work continued and ordered that the workers spend the night within Jerusalem so they could be a guard during the night and a worker by day. The kept their weapons close at all times, even during a simple task such as retrieving water.

[JT]