But when Sanballat the
Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they
jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing?
Are you rebelling against the king?”
THE STUDY:
Not one brick has been
laid. Not one tree has been cut, Not one hour has been completed in the
rebuilding of the wall and already the criticism has begun. We read that Sanballat,
Tobiah, and Geshem are mocking and scorning Nehemiah and the people.
These enemies, especially
Sanballat and Tobiah, knew that Nehemiah had credentials from the king. Thus
they tried to stop the work by disheartening the people who were building. They
used ridicule as their tool. The enemies even accused the Jews of rebellion,
which would have brought back memories of the official action against Jerusalem
noted in Ezra 4:12.
When the enemies of God’s
work can find no legitimate basis for opposition, they may use ridicule,
questioning the significance of our labors. This sometimes does more harm than
even questioning one’s credentials or good intentions (which Nehemiah’s enemies
also did) because it attacks the very incentive for action. Ridicule is
especially hard to endure when the recipients are in the minority. Chrisitians
experiencing it should remember what Heb 11:36–39 says about the biblical
heroes of faith: “Some faced jeers and flogging.… The world was not worthy of
them.… These were all commended for their faith.” Jesus also suffered ridicule
and mocking on many occasions (Luke 22:63–64; 23:11), and his followers can
expect to face the same kind of opposition.[1]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that no matter how excited you are, no matter how motivated your team (family, church, co-workers) is to do the work of the Lord, there will always be someone who will be in opposition. How we deal with these individuals is what will be the key to success or failure.
APPLICATION:
I am reminded of my days before
Christ. I was Sanballat or Tobiah, ridiculing the believers and challenging their
walk with God. I was very hard on one certain individual at my work place. I
made fun of him, laughed at him, and even at certain times was angry with him.
WHY? One on the major reason for this was due to what he had and what I didn’t
have, PEACE! I felt I was fighting to succeed (survive) and he was sailing
toward success.
What he had was, what I now realize,
the key to it all, CHRIST! Nehemiah was anointed by God and blessed by the
authorities of the land and this is what gave him peace. He was not
disheartened or discouraged by all the negativism pointed in his direction. He
knew this project was going to succeed and God was going to be the key to it
all.
Today you may be facing something
in your life that can compare to Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the wall. You may
have people who are ridiculing and/or trying to discourage you and those on
your team. Remember this, with the anointing of Christ, whatever it may be that
He has you do, it will be successful. We read it time and time again in the
scriptures. We read it time and time again in the newspapers and books. We will
read it time and time again in our lives as long as we remain in Him.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Breneman, M. (1993). Vol. 10: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed.).
The New American Commentary (182–183). Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers.
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