This morning I felt like I should read from the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, both of which have to do with the rebuilding of Jerusalem by the Jews. The part that seemed to be highlighted to me this morning was the resistance of opposition, and the resiliency of the Jews, and patience of God.
The books are from the same time frame and historians believe the book of Ezra is written first, which makes some sense, as He never speaks about the work being completed, while Nehemiah does. These books are basically the historical record of the fulfillment of the prophecy given by Jeremiah some 70+ years earlier (See Jer. 29), and they were political and religious perspectives, and the Book of Daniel was the prophetic perspective of the same basic events.
Anyway, the sections that I wanted to look at come from both books - Ezra 4 and Nehemiah 4.
Ezra 4:1-5, 24 NIV:
[1] "When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, [2] they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
[3] But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.” [4] Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. [5] They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
[24] Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia."
- and -
Nehemiah 4:1-2, 7-9, 13, 15-18 NIV:
[1] "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, [2] and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble---burned as they are?”
[7] But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. [8] They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. [9] But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
[13] Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. [15] When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.
[16] From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah [17] who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, [18] and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me."
The reason these gained my attention this morning was that each is a record of opposition to rebuilding God's city, its protective wall and its temple. What I found interesting was that in Ezra the opposition was able to halt the rebuilding, but in Nehemiah, that Jewish people responded by arming themselves and resisting the opposition. They took up arms, and helped each other. They recognized the enemy was going to try to stop them and they pressed forward.
Second, I was thinking about the timing of God and His patience. We so often think that everything is going to go smooth if God is behind something, as He clearly was in this case. However, the enemy does not take kindly to God expanding His Kingdom, so we must expect some resistance, and know that God has not withdrawn His favor when resistance is encountered. Sometimes it is a matter of His timing, as I was reading yesterday about Jesus going up tot the festival, other times God is opening doors, and expecting us to step through them and apply our lives to the efforts. God was not worried about whether the enemy was resisting, for His plan was going to succeed whether the building stalled for a few years or not. God is infinitely patient, and we must learn to rely on His word and direction to guide us, not our emotions or efforts.
Finally I was encouraged by the Jewish people's resolve and resilience. They had in their minds and hearts an understanding that they were about something bigger then just their little sections of the wall. They were embarking on something significant in the history of their people and the history of their nation. They were stirred in spirit, AND resolute in effort. They were aware that the building had stalled previously, but now they were engaged and working together and guarding each other. They did need leaders to guide them and encourage them, and the Lord provided them.
Another interesting thing was they worked as families. They were each responsible for a section of the wall, and they all worked together to build the wall. They prayed, worked and were prepared to defend themselves and one another. What a great picture of the Body of Christ.
I guess I am just encouraged this morning that when God does start to move, that He backs it with His word, His encouragement, people who are stirred and leaders to guide the whole process. Thank You Lord that You are faithful, patient and our provider!
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