Nehemiah
Strategy
Nehemiah 4
August 24, 2003
Intro:
A. A Son’s Best Friend, Citation: Jeanette Naaktgeboren, Maple Lake, MN. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."
My three-year-old grandson obviously had food on his mind when he headed for the church kitchen, leading his father by the hand.
However, neither his father nor the ladies he approached were prepared for Gregory’s strategy.
If the ladies had any thought of denying his expected pleas for an advanced sampling of food, they were disarmed by a moving demonstration of a healthy father-son relationship.
Still holding his father’s hand, Gregory looked up at the ladies and proudly announced: "I want you to meet my friend, Dad!"
B. That is a great strategy for a three-year-old!
1. And today, as we continue our study of the book of Nehemiah, I believe that there are some things that we can learn about strategy in Spiritual Warfare!
2. I believe that whether you are spiritually mature or you are a spiritual three-year-old, there is some wisdom here in the fourth chapter of Nehemiah…
I. The Story
Attack #1: Sanballet and Tobiah become angry
Nehemiah 4:1-6 (NIV), When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?" 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building--if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!" 4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. 6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
1. Well, Sanballet and Tobiah have moved from “disturbed” to “angry.”
2. We saw that coming, didn’t we?
3. We knew they weren’t going to just stay “disturbed!”
4. They mocked and ridiculed the people back in chapter 2.
5. But Nehemiah responded to their ridicule and the people began the work.
6. Chapter three records where the people worked.
7. Nehemiah begins at the Sheep Gate and tells who worked on it and moves completely around the wall of Jerusalem describing who worked where until he comes back to the Sheep Gate at the end of the chapter.
8. The people have begun the work on the wall and the gates and now Sanballet and Tobiah are angry about it.
9. Verses 1 – 3 record what they two of them were saying.
Response: The people prayed.
1. Nehemiah records the prayers of the people in verses 4 &5.
2. They prayed that God would take care of their enemies.
3. They knew they were doing God’s work and they prayed for God’s protection from their (and His) enemies.
Result: Work continued
1. Verse 6 records that the wall work continued.
2. Nehemiah says they rebuilt the wall to half its height.
3. And Nehemiah says they did the work of the Lord with all their heart.
4. No half measures for God’s people, but whole-heartedness.
Attack #2: Sanballet and Tobiah become very angry
Nehemiah 4:7-9 (NIV), But 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.
1. Well now don’t you just feel sorry for these two?
2. Now they’re not just “angry,” they’re “very angry!”
3. First they were “disturbed,” then they were “angry,” and now they are “very angry.”
4. Now it appears that they have rallied some allies: the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod.
5. And they are all “very angry.”
Response: The people prayed and posted guards
1. Again the people prayed in the face of opposition.
2. Again the people responded to the attacks of the enemy with prayer.
3. And this time they decided to post guards.
4. After they prayed, they felt lead to post guards.
5. You see, they didn’t just sit back and expect God to take care of the problem for them.
6. They prayed to God and asked God to enable them to defend themselves.
7. They prayed AND posted a guard!
8. They were cooperating with God in the defense of themselves and the city.
Result: Threat was met
1. Nehemiah said that because they prayed and posted guards, the threat was met.
2. The threat was met because they prayed and did something about it.
Attack #3: Discouragement and fear
Nehemiah 4:10-23 (NIV), 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!" 21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.
1. Even though the threat had been met, the people became discouraged.
2. They got their eyes off their success (half way!) and got their eyes on the challenge.
3. It happens that way every time.
4. When you dwell on the half-empty glass, you will get discouraged.
5. When you allow your mind to dwell on the challenges instead of the successes, you get discouraged.
6. Listen to what the people said…
a. “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
b. “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.’”
c. Some said ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
7. They took their eyes off their success and let their minds dwell on the challenges and discouragement and fear came over them like a huge umbrella.
Response: People posted with swords and encouragement
1. So Nehemiah came up with ways to protect themselves while the people continued to work…
a. He stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall with swords.
b. He had half of the men work while the other half were equipped with weapons.
c. He had the officers posted behind all the people.
d. He had the workers carry tools in one hand and swords in the other.
2. And Nehemiah gave them some important works of encouragement.
a. “Don’t be afraid of them.”
b. “Remember the Lord who is great and awesome.”
c. “Fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
Result: Enemies frustrated and work continued
1. When their enemies heard that they were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, they all returned to their own work.
2. They overcame discouragement and fear with a tangible response to the attack and encouragement.
II. The Summary
The attacks of the enemy were inevitable.
Satan himself stirred the enemy.
Satan liked having God’s people in exile and captivity and slavery.
And when God decided their exile was over, Satan got upset.
Satan stirred up his demons and his demons found ready soldiers in Sanballet and Tobiah.
Sanballet and Tobiah moved from “disturbed” to “angry” to “very angry.”
The attacks were predictable!
Satan is sly, but he is also predictable!
When God’s people start cooperating with the Spirit of God and synergation happens, Satan is going to get upset—you can count on it!
So lets summarize what Nehemiah and the people did in response to these attacks…
A. People prayed
1. Did you notice how many times they prayed in response to the attacks?
2. Nearly every time, Nehemiah mentions an attack, he also records a prayer response.
3. The people cooperated with the Spirit of God by praying every time there was an attack.
B. People stationed with swords
1. After they prayed, they came up with a response to the attack.
2. They prayed first and acted second.
3. They prayed and felt the Spirit’s leading and they followed it.
4. They stood up with their swords to defend themselves.
5. They prayed and then they took up their swords.
C. Workers worked with one hand
1. Even the people who worked had weapons.
2. They carried a weapon in one hand while they worked with the other.
3. Some had their swords strapped to their sides.
4. There were people stationed around who did nothing but carry weapons and keep watch, but even those who worked carried a sword.
D. Alert system enacted
1. Whenever there was trouble, the trumpet would sound.
2. Whenever someone encountered trouble, they were all alerted.
3. And when the trumpet sounded, they all gathered to the trumpet.
E. Remained diligent
1. They were diligent about defending themselves and finishing the work.
2. They didn’t change their clothes.
3. They kept their weapon with them even when they went for water.
4. They were diligent about what they were doing and did not let their minds stray from God’s work.
III. The Strategy
A. The necessity of alertness.
1. Today as we work together with each other and the Spirit of God, synergation is building.
2. Today we can expect attacks just as Nehemiah’s people did.
3. Today we can expect that as synergation happens, and the Spirit of God starts to move amongst us, we can expect that Satan will get wind of it and he will stir up his demons.
4. His demons will find willing people to begin the attacks against us.
5. We must expect it; we must not be surprised by it; we must remain alert for it.
6. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV), Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
7. We must constantly be in a state of alertness.
B. The necessity of prayer.
1. I cannot overemphasize this enough!
2. We must constantly be in a state of prayer!
3. Ephesians 6:18 (NIV), And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
3. If we are going to cooperate with the Spirit of God, we must be praying.
4. If you have the gift of tongues, use it!
5. But even if you don’t-pray anyway!
6. We must be praying and seeking guidance in how to meet the threats that we receive.
7. We must seek the leading of the Holy Spirit where to post the guards and what they must do to meet the threats.
8. We must have prayer alerts.
9. We must have people who will sound the trumpet when trouble is encountered.
10. We must have people who do nothing but take their posts and pray.
11. We must have workers who work and pray.
12. But I cannot overemphasize the importance of prayer!
C. The necessity of Bible study.
1. Nehemiah’s people used their swords and so should we!
2. I walked into FedEx one night with my Bible and I heard one of the security guards say to another, “That brother’s got his sword.”
3. Ephesians 6:17 (NIV), Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
4. Our Bibles are weapons.
5. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV), For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
6. We wage war differently.
7. We wage war against every stronghold, every argument, and everything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
8. We take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.
9. And the weapons we use to wage this type of warfare with are the Bible and prayer.
10. The place we learn to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ is the Word of God.
11. The place where we learn what the strongholds are and how to demolish them is the Word of God.
12. We must constantly be studying our Bibles.
13. The workers must carry their weapons and so must the prayer/watchmen!
D. The necessity of encouragement
1. But not only will there be people who come against us, fear and discouragement will come against us.
2. Satan will try to get us to take our eyes off Christ and our successes and get our eyes onto the challenges themselves.
3. Satan works on everyone with fear and discouragement.
4. We need to encourage one another.
5. We need to speak words of life and victory and hope to one another.
6. We must not minimize the power of fear and discouragement in our lives, but we must overcome it with words of encouragement to one another!
7. We must not become tools of Satan ourselves and begin speaking words of ridicule or discouragement or negativity.
8. Ephesians 4:29 (NIV), Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
9. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV), Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
10.Hebrews 3:13 (NIV), But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
11.Hebrews 10:25 (NIV), Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
12.Therefore let us encourage one another!
E. The necessity of diligence.
1. We must stick with the great work God has given us!
2. We cannot let ourselves get distracted!
3. I spoke with a young man the other day who was proud of him self for doing something that he said was for “a great cause.”
4. I thought to myself later that we are doing something here, something that nothing else could possibly be measured as a greater cause!
5. We are involved in the greatest cause there has ever been!
6. We must constantly remind ourselves that the souls of men and women and boys and girls is at stake!
7. 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV), Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
8. We must remain diligent about the work of the Lord!
Conclusion:
A. This is our strategy.
1. The wise chess player knows his enemy and anticipates his next move.
2. We may not know the enemies next move, but we have access to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit who does.
3. Like that three-year-old boy we can walk with wisdom beyond our years by simply putting our hand in Daddy’s hand.
4. We are in a war!
5. A war for the souls of men and women, and boys and girls!
6. We’re in war for the eternity of souls!
7. We are a team just like these people building the wall.
8. There is an enemy and the enemy is real!
9. We must recognize and understand the enemy and PLAN to defeat him!
B. So in conclusion, I want to say that as we embark on this great work of synergation, that we will encounter enemies…
1. “Don’t be afraid of them.”
2. “Remember the Lord who is great and awesome.”
3. “Fight for the souls of your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your neighbors.”
