In Judah it was said,
“The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much
rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”
Tobiah the Ammonite
was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on
it he will break down their stone wall!”
THE STUDY:
Over the last few days we have looked at “Ridicule”
and how it was used to try and discourage Nehemiah and the people. The ring
leader of this ridicule was Sanballet but he had people who were willing to
join in.
Tobiah echoed Sanballat’s
first argument and exaggerated it. The wall, he claimed, was so weak that even
a small animal would knock it down. This final insult was perhaps the most
disheartening. This of course was not at all true, for archaeological
excavations found Nehemiah’s wall to be about nine feet thick.[1]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
We walk away this morning with the understanding that the
enemy will not set limits upon himself. He will not only ridicule the
individual, the team, and/or the item used for the mission God has called them
too. He will even attack the project itself. One could look at this as a direct
ridicule toward God himself.
When ridicule arises while doing the will of the Father we
need to look at this as confirmation. We are doing exactly what the Lord wants
us to do.
APPLICATION:
When I look back on my life,
especially those days without the Lord, I see myself as Sanballet. I worked
with some wonderful folks who all attended the local Nazarene Church. I was
hard on them! I ridiculed them because of their beliefs. I would make fun of
them for not going out and partying like I did. What I found was that they stayed
true to the mission God had for them and that was to be a light into my darken
life. Because of them I am who I am today.
Today, God has a calling on your
life. You are going to be ridiculed by others because of it but you never know whose
life you may change. That person may be the next pastor, next missionary, Sunday
school teacher, etc. Endure the ridicule and be partakers of the blessings because
of it!
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Breneman, M. (1993). Vol. 10: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed.).
The New American Commentary (194). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Now when Sanballat
heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he
jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in
the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble
Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they
finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish,
and burned ones at that?”
THE STUDY:
Yesterday we looked at ridicule and how it
can be used as a weapon. We should not be surprised that when we are doing the
work of God we are going to be attacked by the Evil one and he will use all
kinds of weapons. One of those weapons will be ridicule! We read in these 2
verses three areas that were attacked by ridicule.
First, Sanballat ridiculed
the workers by calling them “feeble Jews” (4:2). The word feeble
means “withered, miserable.” He was saying that the people were like cut
flowers that were fading away. They had no human resources that people could
see, but the enemy could not see their great spiritual resources. The people of
the world don’t understand that God delights in using feeble instruments to get
His work accomplished (1 Cor. 1:18–31). The world glories in its wealth and
power, but God’s people glory in their poverty and weakness. When we are weak,
then we are strong (2 Cor. 12:1–10).
Then Sanballat ridiculed the
work itself by asking three taunting questions. “Will they restore it
for themselves?” must have evoked winds of laughter from
the Samaritan army. How could a remnant of feeble Jews hope to build a wall
strong enough to protect the city from the army? “Will they sacrifice?” implies, It will take more than prayer and
worship to rebuild the city! This question was blasphemy against Jehovah God,
for Sanballat was denying that God would help His people. “Will they finish in a day?” suggests that the Jews didn’t know how
difficult the task was and would soon call it quits.
In his final question,
Sanballat ridiculed the materials they were using. The stones
were taken out of the rubbish heaps and probably were so old and damaged that
they would never last when set into the wall. While it is true that limestone
is softened by fire, it is also true that the walls were “broken down,” while
the gates were “consumed with fire” (Neh. 2:13). In spite of what Sanballat
said, there was still plenty of good material for the builders to use.[1]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
We walk away this morning with the understanding that
nothing is exempt from the ridicule of the enemy. He will attack not only the
person but their peers, the job at hand, and even the material being used. What
we “can do” to combat ridicule is stay focused on the task at hand and keep the
faith.
APPLICATION:
GEORGE
STEPHENSON spent fifteen years to perfect the locomotive. WATTS worked for
thirty years on the condensing engine, and hard rubber cost GOODYEAR ten years
of study, poverty and public ridicule.
FIELD crossed the ocean fifty times to lay a
cable so men could talk across the oceans. BURBANK the plant wizard at one time
personally conducted over 6,000 experiments before finding the solution.
WESTINGHOUSE was treated as a mild lunatic by most railroad executives.
“Stopping a train by wind! The man’s crazy!” Yet he persevered and finally sold
the air-brake idea.
All of these people/organizations
were ridiculed but they never gave up. The stayed focused! Today you’re being
ridiculed by Satan and you may feel like giving up or quitting the faith. I am here
to tell you, “Nothing worth having will be easy, especially when it comes to serving
Christ.” Stay focused, hang on, and keep the faith, for our reward is not found
on this earth but in heaven.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Determined.
“Be” Commentary Series (50–51). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Now when Sanballat
heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he
jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in
the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble
Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they
finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish,
and burned ones at that?”
THE STUDY:
The root meaning of kāʿas is to vex, agitate, stir up, or provoke
the heart to a heated condition which in turn leads to specific actions. This verb is used five times to indicate the state
of vexation in men. Thus, king Asa was vexed or exasperated when he was rebuked
by the prophet Hanani (II Chr 16:10); likewise Sanballat when he saw builders
at work on the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 4:1 [H 3:33]). From these instances we
may gather that the state of vexation is not normally proper for a true child
of God. In fact, Eccl 7:9 teaches that the child of God should not be hasty in
spirit to be vexed, because such vexation rests in the bosom of fools.[1]
It is not unusual for the
enemy to insult the servants of God. Goliath ridiculed David when the shepherd
boy met the giant with only a sling in his hand (1 Sam. 17:41–47). Jesus was
mocked by the soldiers during His trial (Luke 22:63–65) and by the rabble while
He was hanging on the cross (23:35–37); and some of the heroes of the faith had
to endure mocking (Heb. 11:36).[2]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
We walk away this morning with the understanding that when
we are partakers of a great undertaking for God we will be recipients of great
ridicule from the enemy. Let us not
acted surprised by this!
APPLICATION:
British
critic and author Thomas Carlyle called ridicule “the language of the devil.”
Some people who can stand bravely when they are shot at will collapse when they
are laughed at. Shakespeare called ridicule “paper bullets of the brain,” but
those bullets have slain many a warrior.[3]
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
1016 כָעַס. (1999).
In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.
1999 (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.)
(451). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2]
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Determined.
“Be” Commentary Series (50). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3]
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Determined.
“Be” Commentary Series (49–50). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
