The great work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem would not be accomplished without formidable opposition! It is seldom the case that the Lord’s work is not opposed. One great lesson for the church is to understand the meaning of opposition. Often we think that if we face obstacles along the way, we must not be doing the Lord’s will as if the Lord’s work is trouble-free. Quite the opposite! The Lord’s work is usually full of trouble because it is usually against the grain of everyone and everything else. Opposition is more than likely confirmation of the Lord’s will. This certainly was the case for Nehemiah!
Another great lesson for the church is that when facing opposition, we must remain faithful to the Lord and to the task at hand. Sanballat and his friends were able to postpone the work for a while, but Nehemiah encouraged the people to be about the work of the Lord! They resumed their project, working with one hand and holding a sword in the other. These were hard, tense days, but they remained faithful to the Lord and faithful to the task.
In addition, we should observe another lesson from this text. Opposition can be crafty! First, they taunted the people and that worked temporarily. Second, they conspired against Nehemiah. So when they could not stop the people, they went after the leader. They sent a man to Nehemiah with a message, which had the appearance of sincerity and truth. The message was “Run and hide.” Nehemiah knew this was an attempt to stop the work.
The result? The wall was finished in 52 days and everyone knew this was the work of the Lord! If you have a Word from the Lord, let not the words of men keep you from it!
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