Picture in your mind’s eye a calm and quiet sea, blue as the sky above it. Not a wave, not a ripple is to be seen; it is smooth as polished silver, shining like a mirror, peaceful and still. On the sea is a boat, floating along as quietly and as gently as on a river. The man in the boat is having an easy time as he rows out to sea almost without an effort.
But what is that in the distance? It is a black cloud forming in the sky. Soon the wind begins to moan and sigh and it is evident that a storm is coming. The man in the boat at once rouses himself and prepares for action. It was an easy thing to go forward when all was still, but he will find it a very different matter to meet the rising storm.
Nehemiah the governor found this out. Up to this time all had gone smoothly and easily. The king had granted his request fully and freely. Asaph had given him the wood from the royal paradise. The committee, composed of the leading men in Jerusalem, had at once fallen in with his plan. The people, great and small, men and women, old and young, had responded to his appeal. The walls were being rebuilt; the trowels were busy; the rubbish was being cleared away, and all was bright, cheerful and encouraging. As Nehemiah walked around the city directing the builders, dressed as a Persian governor in a flowing robe, a soft cap and a gold chain around his neck, he might have felt that his work was easy. It is always a light task to direct and superintend those who are willing to work, and Nehemiah for some time went peacefully on his way, as the man in his boat rowed easily along in the still, untroubled water.
But what was that dark cloud rising north of Jerusalem? What was that moaning, muttering sound in the far distance? Could it be a storm coming, a terrible storm of opposition and difficulty? Surely it was, for we see Nehemiah rousing himself, and preparing to row his frail craft through troubled waters.
Nehemiah had seen signs of the approaching storm before the first stone had been placed on the city wall. No sooner had he revealed his plans to the people of Jerusalem, no sooner had they responded, “Let us rise up and build,” than something had occurred which might well make Nehemiah feel uncomfortable. He had received an insulting message from Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, a message which was evidently expressed in very scornful and unpleasant words. Sanballat ended by saying: “What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?” (Neh. 2:1919But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? (Nehemiah 2:19)). Do you, Nehemiah, intend to fortify Jerusalem, and then set up the standard of rebellion against Persia? Our master, the king, may be deceived by you, but I, Sanballat, see through your hypocrisy and your wicked designs.
Nehemiah’s answer was clear and to the point. He would have Sanballat know three things: We have higher authority than that of man for what we do. “The God of heaven, He will prosper us.”
We intend to go on with our work in spite of anything you may say or do. “We His servants will arise and build.”
It is no business or concern of yours. You, Sanballat, have nothing whatever to do with it. “Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”
Be content then, Sanballat, to manage your own province of Samaria, and to leave Jerusalem and the Jews to me and to our God.
No answer came back to Nehemiah’s response, and perhaps he and his companions hoped that this was an end to the matter, that the storm had blown over, and that Sanballat, when he saw that they were determined, and that they did not pay attention to his threats or his ridicule, would let them alone in the future.
But one day, quite suddenly, the clouds returned, and the storm rose. The work was progressing splendidly. The priests and the merchants, the goldsmiths and the apothecaries, the daughters of Shallum, earnest Baruch and white-headed Shemaiah, were all hard at work. Suddenly, as they looked up, they saw an unexpected sight. A great crowd of Samaritans were gathered together outside the northern wall, and they were standing still, staring at them, and watching their every movement as they built the wall.
Sanballat the governor was there with Tobiah the secretary at his side. His chief counselors had come with him, as had also the officers of his army. Dark and thick the storm was gathering, and surely the builders felt it, for the trowels stopped their cheery ringing sound, and all were listening, waiting and wondering what would come next.
The silence was broken by a loud, scornful voice, loud enough to be heard down the line of workers, and by Nehemiah as he stood among them. He knew that voice well; it was the voice of Sanballat the governor. In scoffing disagreeable words he was speaking to his companions, but he was talking about the builders, and talking for their benefit too, that they might feel the full sting of his sarcastic words.
“What do these feeble Jews?” What a poor, weak, miserable, downtrodden set of men! What can they do?
“Will they fortify themselves?” Do they really imagine they will ever finish their work, and fortify their city?
And how long will it take to build walls like these? Do they think it will be done immediately? “Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day?” Do they expect to offer the sacrifice at the beginning of their work, and then the very same day to finish it?
“Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?” Why, they do not even have the necessary materials. Where will they get their stone from? Are they going to try to do what is impossible? Do they think they can make good, solid building stone out of the heaps of rubbish, the crumbling, burned masses which are all that remain of the old walls?
Then, when Sanballat had done speaking, there followed the loud coarse sneer of Secretary Tobiah. “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.” Why, if a fox (or jackal) tried to get over their miserable wall, even his light foot would break it down.
We can imagine the burst of laughter with which the bystanders, the officers and courtiers of Sanballat would greet this speech.
What did Nehemiah answer? How did he reply to this cruel ridicule, these sharp, cutting, insolent words, that provoking laughter?
If we study Nehemiah’s character, we shall find that he was a man of quick feelings and of a sensitive nature. He was not so thick-skinned that he did not feel hard speeches. He was also a man of great power and spirit. He must have felt much inclined to give Tobiah the bitter retort he so richly deserved, or to call upon his men to drive Sanballat and his party from the walls.
But Nehemiah did not speak out. He did not utter a single word to Sanballat or to his friends. He remembered that this was God’s work, not his, and he therefore took his hurt to God, not to man: “Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity.”
Then, quietly and steadily, as if nothing had happened, he took up his work again, and the people followed his example. They took no notice of the jeering company below, but they built on in silence, even more quickly and carefully because of the scoffs of their enemies.
Sanballat and Tobiah soon got tired of laughter and mockery, when they saw it did not upset the workers. They moved off unhappily, and the work went on as before.
Satan, the great enemy of souls, is the same today as he was in Nehemiah’s time. He never lets a good work alone; he never permits Christ’s servants to row in smooth water, but seeing work being done for the Master, at once he stirs up the storm of opposition.
The young man who is careless about eternity, and who is living simply to please himself, has an easy time; he will not come across even a ripple of opposition; his sea will be smooth as glass. But if he accepts the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and begins to try to do what is pleasing to his Saviour, at once Satan will stir up the storm of difficulty and opposition. Very often it begins, just as Nehemiah’s storm began, in laughter. It has been said that laughter hurts no one. That statement might be true if we were simply all body, but inasmuch as we have a spirit within us, it is not true that laughter cannot hurt. Surely it stings and cuts and wounds the sensitive soul, just as heavy blows sting and cut and wound the body. Satan knows this, and he makes full use of the knowledge.
The Christian, who is on his way to heaven, will not get very far before he comes across a Sanballat. He will have his taunt and jest all ready. “What is this I hear of you? Have you turned into a saint? I suppose you are too good for your old friends now. Do you think you are going to set the whole world right?” Or, if the words are unspoken, Sanballat has the shrug of the shoulders and the scornful gesture, which are just as hard to bear. Nor must the man who is attempting to please the Lord be surprised if he hears Tobiah’s sneer. “Just wait a bit,” says Tobiah, “let us see if it will last. Even a fox will throw down that wall. The very first thing that comes to bother him, the very first temptation, however small, will be enough to overturn the wall of good resolutions, and his religious professions will crumble into dust, and will be shown to be nothing but rubbish.”
It is well to be prepared for Sanballat and Tobiah, for any day we may come across them. How shall we answer them? Let us follow in Nehemiah’s footsteps; let us turn from man to God. God heard the taunt, even as it was spoken, and He says to each of His tried, tempted children:
For My Name’s sake, canst thou not bear that taunt,
That cruel word?
Is not the sorrow small, the burden light,
Borne for thy Lord?
For My Name’s sake, I see it, know it all,
‘Tis hard for thee,
But I have loved thee so, My child, canst thou
Bear this for Me?
Sanballat and Tobiah moved away from the walls of Jerusalem, and the work went on prospering; the gaps were being filled up, and already the wall was half its intended height (Neh. 4:66So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. (Nehemiah 4:6)), for the people were willing to work, and much can be done in a short time when that is the case. Not a word more had, for some time, been heard of Sanballat, and perhaps the builders assumed and hoped they had seen the last of their enemies. Then one day, suddenly, dreadful news was brought into the city.
Sanballat and his friends, having failed to stop the work by laughter and mockery, had decided to take stronger measures, and had agreed to resort to force. Dark secret plots were being formed to gather an army together, and to come suddenly upon the defenseless builders and kill them at their work.
All the surrounding nations were invited to join Sanballat in his enterprise. Not only the Samaritans in the north, but the men of Ashdod from the west, the Arabians from the south and the Ammonites from the east, were gathering together against Jerusalem. Psalm 83 is thought by some to have been written at this time, and it describes the great storm as it arose and threatened to destroy the defenseless city (Psa. 83:1-81<<A Song or Psalm of Asaph.>> Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. 5For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: 6The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; 7Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. (Psalm 83:1‑8)).
Poor Nehemiah! He saw the raging of the waters, and he felt that the little boat needed a careful hand at the helm. He had a double safeguard against this new opposition—a safeguard which may be summed up in the two words which the Master has given us as our watchword—“Watch and pray.” “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night.”
But the billows rose higher. Three mighty waves came sweeping on, and threatened to swamp Nehemiah’s frail ship.
The builders grew discouraged and tired. The cry was raised inside the city, “We had better give up attempting to work. The rubbish is too deep; it will never be cleared away. The men who are carrying it away are worn out. We cannot build the wall; it is no use to try any longer.” Verse 10: “And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.”
News was brought in from all sides, that any day, any night, at any moment, a sudden attack might be expected, for their enemies were boasting loudly to all they met that they were confident of taking the builders by surprise. Verse 11: “And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.”
And not only was there discouragement inside the city and threatened danger without, but the number of workers was lessened upon the city wall, for men arrived from different parts of the country, saying that it was absolutely necessary that their brethren who had come up to work on the wall should at once return home. They were needed to guard their families and their homes from the approaching enemy. Ten times Nehemiah received deputations of this kind (verse 12), and the spirits of the builders sank lower and lower.
But Nehemiah, like a true leader, rose to the occasion, and did not allow himself to be cast down. He did not make light of the difficulties he saw around him, but he faced them bravely, and in the hour of trial his people did not desert him.
One day (verse 14), looking towards the north, Nehemiah saw the enemy coming. But all was ready; the weapons were laid where they could be taken up in a moment. No sooner was the alarm given than the work stopped, and the whole company of builders was changed into an army of soldiers. Swords, spears and bows were to be seen on the walls instead of trowels and hammers.
Nehemiah had carefully arranged the position which each man was to occupy. He drew up his soldiers after their families, probably giving to each family the part of the wall nearest to their own house so that they might feel that they were fighting for their homes, their wives and their children. Then when all were ready, Nehemiah called upon them to be brave in the defense of their city, and not to fear the foe. “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
The enemy approached, but instead of taking Jerusalem by surprise, as they had boasted they would, they found they were expected, and that there might be strong resistance if they advanced further. They were afraid to make the attempt. God guarded the faithful city, and Sanballat and his allied forces withdrew. No sooner had the enemy beaten a retreat than the work began again. “We returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.”
But from that time on, the sword and the trowel must never be parted. Each builder worked with a sword hanging by his side; each porter held a tool in one hand, and a weapon in the other: They were always on the alert, ever ready for action.
Nehemiah had brought with him from Shushan a large company of faithful servants or slaves in whom he had complete confidence. He divided them into two groups; half worked at the building, filling up the gaps left by those who had returned home; the rest stood behind them, guarding the shields, spears, bows and swords which were kept ready for immediate use.
By Nehemiah’s side stood a trumpeter, ready to blow an alarm at the first sight or sound of the enemy. For, said Nehemiah, “I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.”
So the work and the watching went on all day long, and when the sun set over the Mediterranean, and the stars came out in the quiet sky, and darkness made the work impossible, still the watching went on as before. Those who had labored at the building all day lay down and slept, while others kept guard on the wall. The workmen who lived outside the walls were requested by Nehemiah to stay in the city all night, in order to increase the strength of their force.
As for the governor himself and the little body of faithful servants, they gave themselves hardly any rest, either by night or by day. They were almost always on duty. Not one of them even undressed for bed all that long time of watching. If they laid down to sleep, they laid down in their clothes, ready at any moment for the attack of the enemy (Neh. 4:2323So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. (Nehemiah 4:23)).
In this way, day by day, the work grew and the walls rose higher. Strong lines of defense once more encircled the city, and the prayer of the captives in Babylon, offered so earnestly and with so many tears, was already receiving an abundant answer. “Do good in Thy good pleasure to Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.”
The scene changes. Nehemiah and his workmen fade away; the walls of Jerusalem become dim and obscure, and, in their place, we see coming out, as in a dissolving view, other figures and another landscape. We see the Master, Christ Jesus, standing in the midst of His countless laborers and workmen, the great company of His faithful servants. We notice that each one is working busily at the special work the Master has given him to do. This work is varied; no two laborers have exactly the same task.
But in one respect we notice that all the Master’s servants are alike: they all carry a sword, for it is not possible for any one to be a worker for Christ without also being at the same time a soldier. Nor is it difficult to see the reason for this, for, if we serve Christ, we are certain to meet with opposition. Satan and his mighty hosts will come against us, to hinder and to oppose us.
Let us, then, be prepared for their attack. Let us set a watch against them. Satan and his forces always watch for our weakest point. Let us find out what that point is. What is the weak part of our defenses? Is it selfishness? Is it pride? Is it lack of prayer? Is it bad temper? Is it an unkind spirit? Whatever it is by which we are most easily led astray, that is our weak spot, and there we ought to set a double watch.
King David saw the need to set a watch: unguarded, hasty words would come out of his mouth. But knowing a weak point in his defenses, there he set a strong and powerful guard. He called upon God Himself to keep out the enemy at that weak place: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”
Let us not only watch, but let us always be ready to fight. Never let us lay down the sword of the Spirit or the shield of faith. Never for a moment let us put off our armor, for we never know when the next attack may come. The unguarded moment is the moment for which Satan always watches, and which he knows only too well how to use.
Above all, let us pray, for the watching and the fighting will be of no avail unless we ask for and obtain strength from on high. “Our God shall fight for us,” cried Nehemiah to his discouraged men. They had prayed day and night for the help which bore them safely through. “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” “Ask, and it shall be given you.”
Christian, seek not here repose,
Cast thy dreams of ease away,
Thou art in the midst of foes,
Therefore, watch and pray.
Gird thy heavenly armor on,
Wear it ever night and day,
Near thee lurks the evil one,
Therefore, watch and pray.