Overcoming Opposition In our Pastor’s Welcome class I always share my belief that the single greatest outward indicator of your spiritual health is your commitment to the local church. Scripture portrays corporate worship as the primary expression of our faith. If that expression is weak in your life, we can assume it is hiding other, less obvious, struggles. Let me be clear, church attendance doesn’t save you, but not attending church (or frequently switching churches) often reveals growing concerns—whether those concerns are spiritual or moral in nature.
I say that because attending church is one of the first things that we stop doing when we face doubt. A Barna survey found that roughly two-thirds of Christians experience doubt. Out of those who experienced doubt, the most common response was to stop attending church. The lack of fellowship among believers cannot help but have a negative impact upon your faith. On the other hand, those who became more involved in the church, along with reading the Word of God, brought them through their doubts—and, in most cases, they were left with a much stronger faith.
The covenant community has struggled with doubt from the beginning. The prevalence of spiritual warfare exists on several fronts. Temptations arise from the world, the flesh, and the devil. If that represents the greatest threat to our faith, then the stronger they get, the weaker we become. Strengthening opposition inevitably raises doubt in the minds of even the most committed disciples. Overcoming external opposition involves persevering through internal doubts within the context of the covenant community.
Read Nehemiah 4:1-14
I. Seek Divine Justice (1-6)There is a repeating pattern in this passage that begins with an explanation of what the opposition was up to followed by a combination of prayer and action from Nehemiah and the builders. So this section begins with the jeering and taunting of Sanballat and Tobiah (1-3) followed by Nehemiah’s prayer (4-5) and the commitment to continue building (6).
We noted the beginning of the work in the previous chapter. Now we see the escalation of oppression from their enemies. Sanballat’s displeasure upon Nehemiah’s arrival (2:10) quickly turned into jeering and taunting as the volunteers began to gather (2:19). Now that the building has begun in earnest, he is “greatly enraged” (v.1). His tactics did not change, but he took them to another level, and involved a wider audience (v.2a).
Nehemiah provides several examples of the kinds of things Sanballat said (v.2b). He mocks them for being feeble and incapable of completing such a difficult challenge. He questions their ability and willpower. We can assume these taunts occurred so often that the people did begin to experience some doubts. Later on (v.10) we learn that the people of Judah feared the strength of the builders was failing and the rubble was too much and the work was too great a task for them to complete alone. Those are the doubts that arose after hearing the same taunting questions for several weeks.
Tobiah is like the little scrawny sidekick with a sharp tongue (v.3). You can almost hear his high-pitched voice as he mocks the quality of their work suggesting it will easily topple. The lies of the enemy began to find a foothold. Even though the wall was nine feet wide, they began to doubt its strength. And the support of King Artaxerxes likely minimized any true threat from these local authorities.
Nehemiah prays again (v.4). But this is not simply a prayer for God’s protection as we might expect. He actually prays for God’s just judgment to fall upon their enemies. He is calling upon the Lord to give Sanballat and Tobiah an experience of exile. May their taunts be turned against them. May the very things they mock Israel for become concerns of their own.
His prayer continues and broadens to include their just judgment (v.5). Nehemiah prays that they not experience...
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