Work And Weapons

Since the beginning of time people have fought with each other

A group of historians has compiled the following info.

In the last 5600 years the world has seen only 292 years of peace

During this same period there have been 14,351 wars

In which 3.64 billion people have been killed

The property damage value is equal to a belt of gold around the world over 96 ½ miles wide and 36 feet thick

Since 650 BC there have been 1,656 arms races and 1640 of them have ended in war

The remaining 16 ended in the economic collapse of both countries involved

But there is a war that is not counted in those statistics

A war that started before time began and is still going on today

It is a war between God and Satan

It really is no war at all

God is All-powerful; Satan’s power is limited

God is All-knowing; Satan’s knowledge is limited

God is Eternal; Satan was created

God is Everywhere; Satan can only be in one place at a time

So Satan really can not win a fight with God, so he picks on God’s children instead

In Nehemiah 4 we see this struggle between Satan and God’s people

On Satan’s side are Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites

On God’s side are Nehemiah and the Jewish people who are trying so hard to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem

One of the struggles was a military one, in which the Jews had to be ready for

So lets read Nehemiah 4:12-23

A little background for this event

True to God’s promise of judgment He brought the Assyrians and Babylonians to deliver His chastisement upon wayward Judah and Israel

In 722 BC the Assyrians deported the 10 northern tribes and scattered them all over the known world

Several centuries later, from 605-586 BC God used the Babylonians to sack, destroy and nearly depopulate Jerusalem

God chastised His people with 70 years of captivity in Babylon

It was during this captivity that we read about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

During the Jews captivity, world empire leadership changed hands from the Babylonians to the Persians

The book of Ezra begins with the decree of Cyrus, a Persian king, to return God’s people to Jerusalem

Zerrubabul and Joshua led the first return and rebuilt the temple, Ezra led a second return

And the book of Nehemiah chronicles the third return to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem

Nehemiah - who’s name means “Jehovah comforts” - was a famous cupbearer for king Artaxerxes I

Which is a position of great responsibility

His role of tasting the king’s wine to prevent him from being poisoned places Nehemiah in a position of trust and confidence as one of the king’s advisers

This position gave Nehemiah a unique opportunity to ask the king for special permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem

So armed with royal letters, Nehemiah traveled to Jerusalem

He found a disorganized group of people and a defenseless city with no walls to protect it

So he organized the people into groups and assigned them to specific sections of the wall

The construction project was not without opposition however

Sanballat, Tobiah and others tried to halt the work with insults, ridicule, threats and sabotage

In each case Nehemiah employed a strategy to frustrate the enemies

This brings us to chapter 4

We see the workers here going about their business

That is what we were created to do - work

Gen 2:15 tells us God created Adam and put him to work in the garden

Man is a worker, either for God or against Him

The Lord said “He that is not for me is against me”

We should all be workers for God

As we look at this passage in Nehemiah we find some suggestive thoughts for workers

I. The Worker’s Position

V 13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

We may not like the lower places

Because there we are more exposed to the wrath of the enemy

We would much prefer the higher places in Christian work

Where we could see and be seen

Lowly slum work is never so pleasant to some as preaching in a pulpit or on a platform

These workers had grace enough to go where they were sent

And to do their part gladly knowing that each piece of work was a needful part of the great whole

This is such an important part of church work

Everyone doing their part, matter how small or insignificant you may think your part is

It is the little things that count, that cause a church to continue on