July 20, 2024 -- Nehemiah 2:19-20 -- Following Jesus in the face of great opposition

But when Sanballet 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?” Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and built, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 2:19-20 ESV

Nehemiah was a servant of King Artaxerxes, the ruler of all the region where the Kingdoms of Judah and Jerusalem formerly had power. He had granted permission for Nehemiah to begin rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Artaxerxes’ predecessor had granted permission to an earlier leader, Ezra, to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Ezra, and then his compatriot Nehemiah who joined him, had formidable opponents.

Sanballet was a regional governor, likely of the Moabites, who was opposing the rebuilding. Tobiah had married into one of the priestly families of the Levites. This was expressly forbidden. It shows how far God’s people had gone in straying from the LORD, allowing a non-believer to marry into the family of priests. The Ammonites were, like the Moabites, also descendants of Lot (Abraham’s nephew in the distant past). And Geshem completed the trio of governors who rose up, with real political clout, working to stop the building of the walls of Jerusalem.

Dear fellow Christians—when you engage in the work God has called you to do, you will face opposition. Those who know about God, but suppress the knowledge of His glory and His right to rule, will howl at your obedience. Jesus, our One, True King, sends you out to do His work. When you do so, you as His followers will face haters and mockers. In fact, there will be times you will begin to doubt your own ability to carry out the task you have in front of you.

Look at the words of Nehemiah. The God of Heaven will make us prosper. What is impossible, humanly speaking, what can not be carried out in human strength is possible because of the blessing of God the Father. What He sends His people to do, will be accomplished, based on the atoning blood of Jesus and His intercession, His prayers, on behalf of His people. It may be that you yourself, as you seek to do what you know is right, will begin to doubt your calling, or doubting your ability to carry it out. It is the God of heaven Who commands You. His Spirit will equip you with everything you need for doing this work. Your every task, your every activity carried out in Jesus’ Name is bigger and harder than what you can do. That is why the Spirit is given—so that you will bless Jesus for the gift of the Spirit. So that you realize through every step of the work you are doing, all your boasting is in God alone. You did not work in your own strength, but whatever it is you accomplished, you have completed it because God has given you everything you needed for godliness in order to carry out His work.

Finally, there are people who have no portion in Jerusalem. Their hatred of God is so evident, so persistent, they move from the category of people to be witnessed to into the category of enemies of God. The LORD has power over them. However, as long as they actively oppose the work of God, they are to be treated as those who have no part in Jerusalem, no part in the family of God. Through-out the rest of the book, Nehemiah patiently, and persistently, upholds the claim of God on Jerusalem, and does the work given to him. But he does not back down before the credible, powerful threat of this trio of men. He will persist in doing the work of the LORD. If the LORD puts a stop to the work before it is completed, but His servants remained faithful, well, blessed be the Name of the LORD. If the LORD allows victory to come despite great opposition, then the LORD adds greater condemnation to His enemies, proves His gracious power to equip His saints and so causes His saints to declare with even more enthusiasm “Blessed be the Name of the LORD”.

Glorious, All-Powerful Father in heaven, we confess how often we have started a project but looking at the suffering that might be attached to ourselves because we are involved with it and then consider the real (or imagined) opposition of the enemy our strength has faltered and our courage fled from us. Thank You, Father for the gift of Jesus—the suffering servant, Your Son, our Savior. Thank You that He learned obedience through all He suffered. Thank You that in His powerful Name there is salvation, full and free. Faithful Father, blessed Son, thank You for the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. Lead us, Spirit of God, into all the victory already given us in Jesus Christ. Steady our hands so that they will be folded in prayer when are starting to fill up with self-doubt. Put steel in our spines after such praying so that when we see the enemy we will know the victory is already won in Jesus and all our work is evidence that the King of Glory is claiming the kingdom of the world in the Majestic Name of the Father. Amen.

https://youtu.be/z-yJ3xMVUDI?si=vkJBD8Y0g9KUBj4L Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right

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