Further Thought: 

Ellen G. White, “The Builders on the Wall”, “A Rebuke Against Extortion”, and “Heathen Plots”, pp. 635–660, in Prophets and Kings.

“The opposition and discouragement that the builders in Nehemiah’s day met from open enemies and pretended friends is typical of the experience that those today will have who work for God. Christians are tried, not only by the anger, contempt, and cruelty of enemies, but by the indolence, inconsistency, lukewarmness, and treachery of avowed friends and helpers” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 644.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“In Nehemiah’s firm devotion to the work of God, and his equally firm reliance on God, lay the reason of the failure of his enemies to draw him into their power. The soul that is indolent falls an easy prey to temptation; but in the life that has a noble aim, an absorbing purpose, evil finds little foothold. The faith of him who is constantly advancing does not weaken; for above, beneath, beyond, he recognizes Infinite Love, working out all things to accomplish His good purpose. God’s true servants work with a determination that will not fail because the throne of grace is their constant dependence” – Page 660.

Discussion Questions:

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Read Nehemiah 6:1-13. Why does Nehemiah see the work he is doing in Jerusalem as a “great work” (Neh. 6:3)? What were the attempts in this case to stop him?

Chapter 6 describes many attempts on Nehemiah’s life. Sanballat and Geshem kept sending Nehemiah letters in order to get him to come to them under the pretext of a meeting. However, the meeting was in the plain of Ono, which was in enemy territory, and thus gave away the true intent of the invitation.

Doing a “Great Work”

Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem see a window of opportunity that will last only until the wall is finished and the gates are shut. The Jews have the protection of the Persian king, and therefore their enemies cannot conquer them through a full-frontal attack. But if they get rid of the leader, they will stunt the progress or perhaps even stop the Jews forever. They are not giving up. Even if Nehemiah is not responding, they keep trying. It must have been frustrating to Nehemiah to have to deal with opposition at every turn. He responds to them by stating, “I am doing a great work” (Neh. 6:3, NKJV).

By the world’s standards, Nehemiah was doing a great work as a cupbearer for the king, which was a prestigious occupation, one of the highest in the land where he served as an advisor to the king. But building a city that was in ruins, that had no apparent worldly significance? That’s what he calls a great work? Nehemiah considered the work for God as “great” and more important because he realized that the honor of God’s name was at stake in Jerusalem.

Also, when God set up the sanctuary services, He instituted the priesthood. In order to keep the sanctuary holy and special in the minds of the people, He allowed only the priests to perform the duties inside the temple. On our own, we have a hard time seeing the holiness of God; therefore, God made provision to help the Israelites come into the presence of God with reverence. Nehemiah knew that temple courts were for everyone, but not the inner rooms. By his words, about meeting inside the temple, Shemaiah not only shows himself to be a false prophet by suggesting something that was contrary to God’s directive, but also exposes himself as a traitor.

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Read Neh. 4:1-23. What did the Jews do under Nehemiah’s leadership to stand up to opposition? Why was it important for them to prepare themselves to fight, rather than just do nothing, believing that God would protect them?

After starts and stops, the people began working again.

Watchfulness While Working

The Jews prayed, and then Nehemiah set up an active guard. The people rotated through shifts during the day and nighttime in order to be prepared for any looming attacks. Nehemiah also organized the people around the wall with weapons so that each family was ready to fight. Additionally, he divided his servants into two groups, with one working and the other holding weapons. There were also special provisions for all those who worked on the wall, as they were closest to the danger. Each one of the builders held a sword with one hand and with the other added bricks/stones and mortar to the wall. They were prepared to face the opposition. They did their part; God did the rest. Nehemiah’s faith in God’s protection is inspiring. However, he didn’t sit on the couch and expect God to do everything. They prepared to the best of their abilities.

The two passages, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses” (see Neh. 4:13-14; NKJV), and “Our God will fight for us” (see Neh. 4:19-20; NKJV) are some of the most inspirational statements found in the Bible.

The Jews could have stopped building once again because of the persistent opposition, but, this time, instead of being overcome by fear, they held onto the promise that God would fight for them. When we encounter opposition for the name of God, for our beliefs, or for what God calls us to do, we should remember that “God will fight for us”.

In the end, the Jews realized that the Lord was behind what they were doing, and this gave them the courage to press on ahead.

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What did the “enemies” do in Ezra 4:6-24 in order to stop the work in Jerusalem?

The “people of the land” wrote letters of accusation against the Jews and their work first to Darius (Ezra chapters 5 and 6), then to King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) as well as Artaxerxes. They were doing everything in their power to stop the work in Jerusalem.

Work Stoppage

The people of the surrounding nations claimed that if the city were rebuilt, the king would lose his power over it because Jerusalem had always been a place of rebellion and trouble in the past. Unfortunately, King Artaxerxes was swayed into believing that the Jews were building only because they wanted to gain their independence and therefore incite confrontation. He ordered the work to cease, and the people sent an army to prevent further building of the city. This forceful approach brought the work for God to a halt.

Read Ezra 4:23-24. Why did the Jews stop building? Didn’t they know that God wanted them to rebuild the city? What got in the way?

It is apparent that the Jews realized that God had called them to rebuild the city and the temple, but because of the strong opposition, they were afraid. Perhaps they came up with excuses such as “Now must not be the right time”, or “If this were truly what God wanted us to do, He would have provided a way”, or “Maybe we weren’t supposed to come back here at all”. When opposition gets in the way of doing what we believe God calls us to do, we have the tendency to question and doubt God’s guidance. We can easily convince ourselves that we made a mistake. Fear can paralyze our minds, and our thoughts turn to despair and helplessness instead of being focused on the power of God.

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While “Facing Opposition”, Ezra and Nehemiah still went ahead with their work. We too must
“Go, Preach My Gospel”, Hymn 378 and
Hymn 377, “Go Forth, Go Forth With Christ”.

The way to encourage the people building the temple was to send in two prophets:
Hymn 413, “God Has Spoken by His Prophets”

With the opposition, the people forgot about the power of God and should be singing
Hymn 88, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”,
Hymn 90, “Eternal God, Whose Power Upholds” and now that we have the history of Jesus, we can add hymns like
Hymn 229, “All Hall The Power of Jesus’ Name”,
Hymn 294, “Power in the Blood” or even
Hymn 415, “Christ the Lord, All Power Possessing”.

In rebuilding the temple, ’God made provision to help the Israelites come into the presence of God with reverence’:
Hymn 36 “O Thou in Whose Presence”.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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