ENEMIES FROM OUTSIDE
A few years ago I was invited to play basketball at the Union centre in Chicago. We were just an average bunch of guys trying to get some excercise. As we were warming up a guy came up and asked if his team could play against us. We said sure. They ended up being the farm team of the Chicago bulls. All of them were professional athletes and HUGE. We were no match for them. Have you ever faced an impossible foe. Were you ever in a situation like that where you knew you couldn’t win?
Nehemiah 4:7 When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. 10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall." 11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work." 12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." 13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." 15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
The peoples which were living in and around Jerusalem were not concerned with Israel so long as they went about their own business. They were a conquered people. As long as Jerusalem remained a heap of rubble, it was no real threat. However, when they started getting together and began to rebuild the wall then their enemies took note of what was happening and they became a target.
The devil does not mind so much what we do divided and behind closed doors. He doesn’t resist the church that stays with the status quo. It is when the church unites it’s people and decides to make a difference in it’s community and the world that the devil begins to take notice. This is when he comes against it.
I have often said when facing severe resistance in an area of ministry that it must be a worthwhile direction since the devil is trying so hard to stop it. So how is the church to come against the devil when he attacks?
1. Overcoming Discouragement (10-12) – keeps us from finnishing
The Devil had a garage sale and offered all the tools of his trade to anyone who would pay their price. They were spread out on the table and each one labeled. Hatred, malice, envy, despair, sickness, sensuality -- all the weapons that everyone knows so well. But off to one side lay a harmless looking wood-shaped instrument marked "discouragement." It was old and worn looking but it was priced far above all the rest. When asked the reason why, the Devil replied, "Because I can use this one so much more easily than the others. No one knows that it belongs to me, so with it I can open doors that are tightly bolted against the others. Once I get inside I can use any tool that suits me best."
Often the first thing the devil does is to attack us through discouragement. The Israelites faced fatigue and feared the enemy at several different levels:
a. There is so much rubble (the task is too big) – Put yourself in their shoes. The Israelites had worked long and hard and still there was so much work to be done. Likewise the task before us may look enormous at times. When the 12 spies went out to view the promise land they brought back the report that there were giants in the land. Each of us face “giants” in our own lives – situations that are overwhelming. You look at the situation and grow discouraged – there is nothing I can do!
b. The strength of the laborers is giving out (we are not strong enough) - The workers were growing tired and their strength was beginning to give out on them. There are times when we can grow tired in service. You are so exhausted that you just want to throw in the towel. With your busy schedule and job situation you may feel like you have nothing to give. I know what that is like.
c. Wherever you turn, they will attack us (the enemy is too strong) - the people were hearing, both from the enemy and from others, that they would be destroyed and that they could not resist. Many feel that they have tried to do this or that but have failed so they should stop trying. God is calling us to do more than just survive!
As long as the devil can keep us terrified of thinking, he will always limit the work of God in our souls. -- Oswald Chambers
Num 13:33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
The people of Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers – and so that is how other people saw them as well. They failed because they had a grasshopper mentality and not God’s perspective.
What do you do when you grow discouraged? What helps you? Remember the story when David and his men returned home from combat only to find there town had been destroyed and their wives and children had been taken away:
1 Sam 30:4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep… 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. “Encouraged himself” – KJV
Yes the task is large – but so are the rewards! Reaching this nation seems impossible let alone reaching the whole world. Yet we know that it will happen because we have read the back of the Bible. We are not strong enough but we know that “when we are week God is strong”. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. Perhaps the issue is one of working smarter and not harder – trying to simplify our lives so that God’s work can take a priority. Yes the enemy is strong but “Greater is He that is within us that he that is in the world”. God’s power is far greater than anything we could face in the world.
A British soldier in WWI lost heart for battle and deserted. Trying to reach the coast for a boat to England, he ended up wandering in the pitch black night, hopelessly lost. In the darkness he came across what he thought was a signpost. He climbed it so that he could read it. As he reached the top of the pole, he struck a match to see and found himself looking squarely into the face of Jesus Christ. He realized that, rather than running into a signpost, he had climbed a roadside crucifix. Brown later wrote, "Then he remembered the One who had died for him -- who had endured -- who had never turned back. The next morning the soldier was back in the trenches. "
2. Overcoming Fear (15) – keeps us from starting
When the enemy heard that Israel knew their plans they stopped the attack. The people returned to the wall to work after the enemy knew that it’s plan had been found out. Likewise we need to know the plans of the devil and resist him at every point he would seek to destroy. This can be general and specific. There are some tactics which the devil uses all the time on everyone. There are sometimes also specific areas of weakness which the devil will attack you at. You need to be especially watchful at those points.
2 Cor 2:9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive -- I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes .
The ancient sport of falconry employed trained hawks in the chase of wild game. When the hawk was allowed to fly, it often rose too high for human eyes to see it against the blue sky. It was therefore not uncommon to carry a small caged bird called a shrike. The hunter could then easily tell where his hawk was located by watching the antics of the little creature in front of him, for it instinctively feared the falcon and always cocked its head to keep it in view.
3. Being Ready to Fight (16-23) – listening for the call from leadership
The strategy that Israel used is very interesting. They set up soldiers to keep watch over the people. Everyone was armed - even while they were working. The trumpet sounder stayed with the leader so that when the trumpet sounded everyone would join the fight at that specific area.
What can we learn from this? First, it is essential that every child of God be armed as they go about their work. This means that you should always be prepared to resist the enemy. It is not the job of the pastor or a select few in the church but the job of EVERYONE to keep watch and be ready to fight. This involves putting on the full armor of God. It also means growing in you knowledge and understanding of God’s word.
Secondly it means listening to the leadership. Everyone did not have a trumpet – it stayed with the leader. This implies trust. The people were willing to trust that their leader knew best where to attack. When the trumpet blew it meant that everyone was to drop what they were doing and join in the point of greatest conflict. One of the issues churches often face is trusting the leadership. They hear the trumpet but decide their issue is of greater importance.
We know that the devil will come against the church - especially when the church steps out to make a difference in the world. We need to be actively involved in watching our own hearts as we seek to serve because we will become targets.
A good offense is often the best defense. At the battle of Gettysburg a general came up to General Longstreet and said that he was unable to get his men to charge the enemy. The general replied "Very well, let them remain where they are; the enemy’s going to advance and will spare you the trouble."
