Introduction
‘When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 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?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!” Nehemiah 4:1-3
Opposition To The Rebuilding
When news got back to Sanballat about the rebuilding work, he became really angry and incensed, he then went on to mock the Jews in an attempt to intimidate them once again, Nehemiah 2:9-10 / Nehemiah 2:19.
It appears that he tried to make his associates and the Samarian army feel more powerful than the Jews, by making the Jews’ progress seem insignificant. Tobiah did the same by claiming that if a small fox goes and touches the wall that it will fall over, Lamentations 5:18.
Even though Sanballat was talking a big talk, he knew deep down that the Jews weren’t as weak as he making them out to be. The reason for him getting angry was probably because he saw the efforts of the Jews as an attack against his authority, Nehemiah 2:7.
‘Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 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.’ Nehemiah 4:4-5
While all the intimidation was going on, it would have been so easy for the Jews just to give up, but they didn’t, they prayed to God. They asked God to protect them from their enemy and Nehemiah calls on God to bring down judgment immediately on those who mocked and discouraged the work, Psalm 58:6 / Psalm 69:25.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Nehemiah’s short prayer here is parenthetical, and such prayers form one of the most striking characteristics of Nehemiah’s history. This is the first one, and others are in Nehemiah 5:19 / Nehemiah 6:9 / Nehemiah 6:14 / Nehemiah 13:14 / Nehemiah 13:22 / Nehemiah 13:29 / Nehemiah 13:31.’
‘So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.’ Nehemiah 4:6-9
Notice that they kept on working and at this point in time, they managed to build their walls up to half their height because the people had a mind to work for God and get the job done, Luke 9:62.
It’s clear that the Jews’ enemies were getting angrier and angrier because they see God’s people being successful. Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod, didn’t want them to succeed and they knew they had to act fast if they were going to have a chance at stopping the Jews.
Their plan was to cause as much confusion as possible, and they believed by doing this, the work would stop. However, the Jews were relying on God and they prayed to Him for help and strength and so, they began to watch and they were ready to fight.
They didn’t expect God to do everything for them, but they did want His help. Here we get another glimpse of Nehemiah’s leadership skills, he knows how to organise people for work, and he knows how to suffer under the threat of opposition.
‘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.” 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.” Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” 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. 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 families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:10-14
In these verses, we see that Sanballat was beginning to have a real negative impact on the Jews.
They’ve been working so hard on the wall and the gates, they were starting to get burned out and because they were so tired, they were starting to believe that the enemies were going to attack them at any moment. Even their Jewish neighbours were coming to them asking their fellow Jews to leave their work and come back to their homes.
Notice, however, what Nehemiah did to build the Jews’ faith up.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
1. He prayed to God, Nehemiah 4:9.
2. He set a watch day and night, Nehemiah 4:9.
3. He set armed men at ‘the lowest parts,’ i.e., places where the walls might be most easily attacked, Nehemiah 4:13.
4. He brought in the Jews with their families from the outlying areas, armed them and kept them overnight in the city.
5. He stationed armed men throughout the city near the construction workers.
6. He kept a close eye himself upon the situation.
7. He kept a trumpeter by his side so that in case of an attack, he could promptly order all hands to repel it, Nehemiah 4:18.
8. He called the whole assembly together, saying, ‘Be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and terrible’, Nehemiah 4:14.
9. He commanded the people to be ready to fight, Nehemiah 4:14.
10. And he ordered the work to go on full speed ahead! What a leader he proved to be!
This again demonstrates the leadership skill of Nehemiah, he saw a problem and addressed the problem in order for the people to continue working on the wall.
Nehemiah knew that God was with him, Nehemiah 2:18, but he still did everything which needed to be done to build up the faith of his people.
It’s clear that some of the Jews were afraid, hence why he encourages them not to be afraid. They are encouraged to remember the Lord who is great and awesome, in other words, they were to trust in God and when they fought God would fight for them and protect them from the enemy, Psalm 118:6.
‘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 our own work. 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 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 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. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 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 as workers by day.” 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.’ Nehemiah 4:15-23
Now that the Jews were organised and ready to fight and defend themselves, Sanballat now decides to change his mind about his initial attack.
It takes a good leader to get people to work but it takes a great leader to those same people to work and defend themselves at the same time. These Jews were committed to finishing the work of God.
Nehemiah’s defensive strategy basically involved each family protecting one another. The work was to continue, but the workers were to arm themselves. Nehemiah didn’t want their enemies to think that they were unprepared to defend themselves, hence why they have swords, bows and spears.
Nehemiah orders the Jews of the surrounding regions to come to Jerusalem in order to defend the workers and the work was so severe that the workers laboured and slept in their clothes. This implies that they were continually on standby, either to work or defend.
