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.
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