NEHEMIAH -- ROLE MODEL FOR 2001

by Alan Morrison

(Please read the Book of Nehemiah as preparation, or

at least the first 6 chapters)

PROLOGUE

Here in the Book of Nehemiah we have an

historical account of a portion of time centred around

the restoration of Jerusalem after the exile in

Babylon. We all know about the Babylonian conquest

of Israel -- about the fact that there was a judgement

for unfaithfulness. The Assyrians also came in

war against the Northern kingdom of Israel: first in

734 BC under Tiglath-Pileser; then in 722 BC

against Samaria. The Babylonian conquest took place

in 605 BC when Nebuchadnezzar attacked

Jerusalem. Then we find Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego in captivity in Babylon. Cyrus

the Persian leader then conquered the Babylonian

empire. There was a succession of leaders after

that in Cambyses, Darius 1, Xerxes 1 (Ahasuerus), and

Artaxerxes 1, for whom Nehemiah was the

drinks tester.

After the return to Jerusalem under Ezra in 458

BC, the building work was stopped as a result of

the Samaritans pressurising Artaxerxes. Nehemiah

received news of the broken down walls in

November-December of 445 BC. He began his journey

there early the following year. But first he

had to clear it with the king.

In chapter 2 of the Book of Nehemiah, the scene is

set for a most extraordinary vignette depicting

the relationship between the faithful believer and his

enemies when he dedicates his life to the Lord's

work. First, we find Nehemiah looking miserable

because of the state of Jerusalem in front of the king

-- a crime which could be punishable by death in those

days! No wonder he was "afraid" (v.2). But,

as a result of Nehemiah's famous "ejaculatory" prayer

(sometimes called an "arrow" prayer, v.4), the

king remarkably gives his permission for the

rebuilding of Jerusalem. Nehemiah then goes to

Jerusalem to begin the work. Little did he know to

what this would lead; for the building up of the

work of God is not a thing which happens in a vacuum,

but is guaranteed to cause havoc in the

world of men and demons.

The entire string of events which is charted in

this Book of Nehemiah was triggered off by the

report to Nehemiah that "The wall of Jerusalem is also

broken down, and its gates are burned with

fire" (Neh.1:3). Every gram of Nehemiah's being was

then thrown onto red alert. He knew that there

was nothing more he wanted -- needed -- to do than

repair and restore those walls and gates.

How can we translate the events recorded in

Nehemiah to our own day? This should be the case

with every believer of any era. On hearing that the

Church -- to which the old city of Jerusalem

pointed as a figure and type -- is being assaulted and

ruined, every believer should feel that same

acute desire for repair and restoration which was felt

by Nehemiah. And once one embarks on such

a pathway, one finds that it is a minefield of danger

and treachery. Thus, the experiences of

Nehemiah the rebuilder of old covenant Jerusalem

provide a trustworthy map for the experiences of

those today who seek to be rebuilders of new covenant

"Jerusalem" -- the church.

Thus, as Nehemiah represents the faithful believer

of any era, so Sanballat the Horonite and

Tobiah the Ammonite official represent the classic

enemies of the faithful and their faith at any point

in history. Wherever one finds faithful believers who

are courageous enough to be rebuilders -- to

take on the enemies who cause breaches in walls and

gates -- one will find the Sanballats and

Tobiahs. The present writer has met, and had dealings

with, a great many Sanballats and Tobiahs

during the course of his Christian life. Churches

today are brimming over with such characters.

They can be very subtle indeed; but once you know

their characteristics you will be able to spot

them with ease. They are very destructive, and a

great menace, but whatever the outcome, we must

always be aware that the "good hand of God" is truly

upon those who faithfully carry out the

defensive and protective work necessary for the people

of God (Neh.2:8).

What I want to share with you here is: 1) The

Seven Behaviours of the Enemies of the Faithful

Believer - as Exemplified in Sanballat the Horonite

and Tobiah the Ammonite's Reactions and Tactics

against Nehemiah; and 2) The Seven Responses of the

True Believer to the Enemies of the Church -

as Shown by Nehemiah's Responses to Sanballat and

Tobiah. For there is much we can learn from

exploring these two aspects.

So, first, the behaviour of the enemies of the

faithful believer, as seen in the actions of Sanballat

and Tobiah.

I. THE SEVEN BEHAVIOURS OF THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITHFUL

BELIEVER

One of the first things which we notice regarding

the behaviour of these enemies, when they

become aware of repairs and restoration, is that

1. They Become Seriously Disturbed

... and I mean DISTURBED!

"When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the

Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply

disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being

of the children of Israel" (Neh.2:10).

This isn't some minor commotion, or temporary

upset, that we're dealing with here. It means being

exceedingly grieved inwardly. It is a deep and

lasting stirring up of a well of hatred and resentment

reserved especially for the friends and co-workers of

God. We are just going to have to face up to

the fact that when anyone seeks the well-being of

God's people, in whatever form, the enemies of

truth will become highly vexed even beyond our

imagination. When a faithful child of God enters

into a situation whereby he or she seeks the

well-being of the saints, it is the equivalent of

throwing

a stone into a glasslike millpond. Confusion,

turmoil, agitation, perturbance, upheaval and

pandemonium occur.

"When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the

Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply

disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being

of the children of Israel" (Neh.2:10).

You can imagine it all breaking out first in the

Satanic realm. Then it spreads to the agents of this

realm on earth. There is a deep disturbance which

will set the scene for the foreseeable time to

come. Once this disturbance has occurred it will not

subside. It may appear to do so, but it will

simply be a case of the enemy "waiting for a more

opportune time".

The Sanballats and Tobiahs of this universe do not

take kindly to the emissaries of heaven

beginning a good work. How many pastors have

greenhorned their way from a seminary to a church

imagining that all they have to do is preach sweetly

and strongly from the Word of God and the

world and his friend will be eating out of their

hands? They will very soon discover that the

opposite is mostly likely to be true. If you want to

bring the Sanballats and Tobiahs out of their

hidey-holes, make a little noise on behalf of the Lord

and they will soon become highly agitated.

Linked in with this we notice another element

regarding the behaviour of these enemies, when

they become aware of repairs and restoration:

2. They Like to Disturb the Saints

"Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the

Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard

that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and

the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they

became very angry, and all of them conspired together

to come and attack Jerusalem and create

confusion" (Neh.4:7-8).

Not only do they themselves become disturbed but

they also try to create disturbance and

confusion in God's people. The creation of confusion

is a hallmark of satanic activity. This comes

about as a result of their anger: "It so happened,

when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the

wall, that he was furious and very indignant..."

(Neh.4:1). This shouldn't surprise us. The enemies

of truth are naturally angry (irrationally so) because

their emotions are determined by their parentage

(Jn.8:44), and the satanic realm is very angry indeed,

for a variety of reasons. First, the devil knows

that he only has a short time, which stirs up his fury

(Rev.12:12). Secondly, he is filled with wrath

towards God's people because they seem to receive so

much assistance from outside sources and,

what's more, "they keep the commandments of God and

have the testimony of Jesus Christ"

(Rev.12:16-17). Third, his irrational anger makes him

roam about wantonly seeking anyone to devour

(1 Pet.5:8). This anger causes him to thrive on

stirring up confusion; and his lackeys in the earthly

realm thrive on this also. Whenever the re is a smell

of confusion in the air, you can guarantee that

Satan and his agents have been active.

Ultimately, the demonic realm has no real power

over the saints (although they can exercise a

temporary inconvenience); and neither do their earthly

agents (1 Jn.5:18), unless we hand it to them

on a plate. In a very real manner of speaking, they

are all bark and no lasting bite. Because even

their most hideous persecutions merely provide a

gateway to the crown of life for the saints (e.g.

Rev.2:10), they have to resort to creating confusion

and disturbance (Neh.6:9), as if they have

nothing better to do with their time (which they don't

-- as they are merely treading water while they

await their final judgement!). As Thomas Brooks put

it in his treatise on"Precious Remedies Against

Satan's Devices" -- the devil's main aim with faithful

believers (as he cannot take away their faith) is

to put them in a "sad, doubting, questioning and

uncomfortable condition".

The Sanballats and Tobiahs will always try to

disturb the saints; and they never cease from their

attempts at disturbance, by whatever means possible --

as we shall see shortly.

Another thing that we notice regarding the

behaviour of these enemies, when they become aware

of repairs and restoration, is that

3. They Love to Ridicule the Saints

"So they said, 'Let us rise up and build.' Then

they set their hands to this good work. But when

Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official,

and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed

at us and despised us..." (Neh.2:18-19).

The moment you start setting about the building up

of the walls of Jerusalem -- old or new -- you

will become the target of total derision. Your faith

is a joke, your beliefs are a joke, your actions on

behalf of the Lord are a joke, your outspokenness

against pornography and homosexuality is a joke,

your hatred of abortion is a joke, your giving thanks

before a meal is a joke. In short, your whole life

is a joke. You are an object of ridicule, a fool to

be despised. Such ridicule is part of what is used by

them to break you down and make you filled with

doubts. Incidentally, their apparent hilarity is not

based on genuine humour, but is instead a mask for

their fury. For when it says "they laughed at us

and despised us", the Hebrew there shows that it is

not amusement in which they are indulging, but

they are exhibiting a very form of nasty mockery and

contempt.

The above paragraph refers merely to the

ridiculing attitude of the world to your faith. It

gets far

worse in the church itself. Yes! In the church!

Churches are full of Sanballats and Tobiahs who will

ridicule your stand for truth, who will tell you that

you take your religion far too seriously, who will

accuse you of making mindless attacks on good

Christians when you expose falsehood and heresy,

who will turn others against you through lies and

innuendoes, who will amaze you with the intensity

of their contempt.

"So they said, 'Let us rise up and build.' Then

they set their hands to this good work. But when

Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official,

and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed

at us and despised us...".

If you want to build and do a good work, you will

be mocked and regarded with total contempt.

Another thing that we notice regarding the

behaviour of these enemies, when they become aware

of repairs and restoration, is that

4. They Engage in Deliberate Deceptions

"Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem

the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard

that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no

breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung

the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem

sent to me, saying, 'Come, let us meet together

among the villages in the plain of Ono'. But they

thought to do me harm" (6:1-2).

What would the Sanballats and Tobiahs of today say

to Nehemiah? "Hold on a minute,

Nehemiah, you're just being paranoid. Old San 'n Tob

are just a couple of nice guys who want to

meet with you. They only want to talk to you.

They're being very reasonable. But look at you!

What a persecution complex you've got -- as we can

also see from Neh.4:4; 6:9a,12-13. How easily

you think the worst of people! This is even after the

nobles of Judah have told you repeatedly

about Tobiah's "good works" (Neh.6:19)".

Well? Was Nehemiah paranoid? Did he really have

a persecution complex? That, of course, is

what his enemies would have said. This is always one

of their chief lines of defence when you work

out what game they are playing and expose them.

Because Sanballats and Tobiahs often have a

high degree of respectability -- due to the cunning

with which they operate and the lack of

discernment of the masses -- they can continue to pass

themselves off as being credible, even

AFTER they have been exposed by the Nehemiahs of this

world! This is because Sanballats and

Tobiahs are supreme masters of dissemblance. (A

"dissembler" is someone who successfully

manages to conceal his or her real motives). "Come,

let us meet together among the villages in the

plain of Ono". A meeting? Hehehehehe. Nice try

guys. But you're just a bunch of deceivers, like

your father. I would no more come to your phoney

meetings than I would go to a brothel !

Although they would no doubt deny it, and again

reprove Nehemiah for having a "persecution

complex", Scripture helpfully reveals the fact that

"all of them conspired together" (Neh.4:8). They

can call you paranoid till they are blue in the face,

but it is THEY who are the conspirators.

Then go and read Neh.6:10-13 for yet another

scheming deception organised by Sanballat and

Tobiah. They hired a secret informer (they ALWAYS

have informers, by the way) and induced him

to trick Nehemiah into some sacrilegious behaviour

which they could then spread around about him

in order to discredit him. This is the way they

always operate. They are entirely predictable. One

can enjoy an amusingly diverting game by working out

in advance all the ruses which Sanballats

and Tobiahs will engage in. You could even write

their scripts for them. The look on their faces

when you show them will be a picture to remember

forever.

Always remember that Sanballats and Tobiahs thrive

on *appearances*. It doesn't matter what

the underlying truth is, so long as they can make

things *look* the way they want them to look. So

they are very adept at writing showcase letters which

can be pointed to as "evidence" of their

innocence. They are very good at dropping the right

remarks in conversations which can then be

referred back to later as "evidence" of their good

intentions. In fact, they are experts in rewriting

history to suit their own ends! (This, of course, is

straight off the pages of Orwell's masterpiece

"1984", which could be read constructively by all

Christians wishing to attune themselves to

diabolical strategy).

You can imagine Sanballat and Tobiah rewriting

history in Nehemiah's time:- "Us? Do Nehemiah

harm? How could you even suggest such a thing? Just

look at the letter we sent him asking him

to meet with us. There's all the evidence you could

want. HE refused the meeting -- not us. It is HE

who is the hypocrite in all this, casting slurs on our

reputation by suggesting we wanted to harm

him. The man's deluded. Anyone can see that".

And most people will believe them. It's true!

Most people will run with the Sanballats and

Tobiahs rather than the Nehemiahs. It has always been

that way and it always will be so. They are

of their father the devil and it is his work that they

do. The devil's work revolves around deception,

with which he easily deludes the people -- even the

majority of professing Christians. The same

hypnotic sway which Satan uses to control the masses

is used by the Sanballats and Tobiahs to pull

the wool over people's eyes. They engage in

deliberate and systematic deception; and it is this

which is the foundation of their lives -- but the vast

majority of people sleepwalk through it without

realising it. Such is certainly the case with the

people of the world, leading to the ultimate climax of

all deception (2 Thess.2:9-11). However, it is

through just the same process of satanic mesmerism

that so many Sanballats and Tobiahs have managed to

take over most of the world's denominations

and churches in recent years!

Another thing that we notice regarding the

behaviour of these enemies, when they become aware

of repairs and restoration, is that

5. They Set out to Destroy the Reputations of

Nehemiahs

The Sanballats and Tobiahs of this world (and

church) could never overcome a Nehemiah by

honest means, so they always have to resort to

skulduggery. Because of their obsession with

appearances and their supreme ability to manipulate

how things appear, one of the most effective

ways for them to operate is to destroy reputations.

This is one of their specialties. They do this in

two principal ways.

a) By Inducement to Sin

"For this reason he was hired, that I should be

afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might

have cause for an evil report, that they might

reproach me" (Neh.6:13).

Here, Nehemiah realised what was happening and

avoided the trap they had laid. In fact,

Nehemiah discerned that Shemaiah was a false prophet

who had presumably tried to pass off his

message as if it was from God. He also realised that

Shemaiah was a hireling of Sanballat and

Tobiah, sent by them to cause trouble for him. To

take sanctuary in the temple if one wasn't a priest

was against the Law of God (Num. 3:10; 18:7). It was

plain to Nehemiah that a true prophet of God

would not give him such a message, and that it was

designed to make him fall into sin. They were

presumably hoping that Nehemiah would be so worn down

by the opposition that he would be

willing to take such a course of action. They

specialise in wearing people down in order to make

them act out of character.

On this occasion, Nehemiah saw through the

deception. However, if they catch people off their

guard, very often they will fail to discern these

Sanballatish movements in advance. Sometimes,

they can make one feel so desperate that one will

consider taking wrong courses of action. That is

their aim. For example, they can drive a Nehemiah

into a corner to such an extent that he becomes

angry which, compared to their sweet reasonableness,

makes him appear to be the villain. Or, they

will try to intimidate him to such an extent that he

will become fearful and thus take a wrong turning

which they can then report with glee to the world.

Another effective way for them to destroy

reputations is

b) By False Insinuations

"Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before,

the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. In

it was written: It is reported among the nations, and

Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to

rebel; therefore, according to these rumours, you are

rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king.

And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim

concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, æThere is a

king in Judah!Æ Now these matters will be reported to

the king. So come, therefore, and let us

consult together" (Neh.6:5-7).

Here Sanballat was trying to make out that

Nehemiah was on a power trip -- setting himself up as

king. Such is a classic Sanballatish action, which we

have witnessed again and again. This is

because it is really the Sanballats and Tobiahs who

want the power, and when they see the

Nehemiahs of this world taking charge of the Lord's

repair-work at the Lord's bidding (and gaining

the respect of many), they make out to others that

these Nehemiahs are on an ego trip and are

power-crazy and arrogant.

These actions, designed to trash the reputations

of Nehemiahs, represent a major form of spiritual

warfare which must be seen for the slippery menace

that it is. Although it demonstrates the

bankruptcy of their weaponry, nevertheless such

tactics can prove very effective in their deceptive

campaign. Sanballat and Tobiah were continually

trying to catch Nehemiah off his guard. They

either wanted to induce him to make a mistake, or they

conducted a smear campaign. These are the

two main strategies used in order to ruin reputations.

The first is a situation over which one

can exercise some control, whereas with the second one

becomes a helpless victim.

Another thing that we notice regarding the

behaviour of these enemies, when they become aware

of repairs and restoration, is that

6. They Specialise in Bullyboy Tactics

Because the Sanballat and Tobiahs of this world

are devoid of any real intellectual or spiritual

substance, they always have to resort to subterfuge in

their bid to upset the objects of their enmity.

Therefore, you will discover that they are always

bullies who specialise in bullyboy tactics. Sudden

threats, roughness of tone, brusque manner, letters

with veiled or explicit intimidation -- in short,

anything which might make the sensitive saints

fearful, lack courage, and thus desist from their

work. The true saints are sensitive; and it is this

on this sensitivity which the Sanballats and

Tobiahs prey, as we can see from the many examples in

the Book of Nehemiah.

"For they all were trying to make us afraid,

saying, 'Their hands will be weakened in the work,

and it will not be done'" (6:9).

"My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according

to these their works, and the prophetess

Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have

made me afraid" (6:14).

"Tobiah sent letters to frighten me" (6:19b).

Such enemies of the faithful are ALWAYS bullies,

and they rely on the shock nastiness of their

words to intimidate the sensitive saints, who are very

easily upset by this behaviour. However, if I

may quote the present writer from a recent article on

the subject of bullying (

www.diakrisis.org/cosmic_bullying.htm ):

<<<Always remember that bullies never win in the

final analysis, even if they do *appear* to gain

some advantage in the short term through their

pugilism, innuendoes, falsehoods and subterfuge.

Truth is always a victim in this life; but in the end,

it is always a victorious victim. One day, all the

bullies who have ever existed in this universe will

woefully and painfully discover that for

themselves!>>>

And Sanballat and Tobiah, together with all their

imitators, will be among them!

Another thing that we notice regarding the

behaviour of these enemies, when they become aware

of repairs and restoration, is that

7. Their Ultimate Aim is the Destruction of All

Nehemiahs

If all else fails (which it usually does!), the

Sanballats and Tobiahs of this world will resort

to strategies designed to bring about the destruction

of Nehemiahs. They will ultimately be

prepared to kill, both spiritually and physically:

"Our adversaries said, "They will neither know nor

see anything, till we come into their midst and kill

them and cause the work to cease" (Neh.4:11).

And they will use whatever means necessary in order to

realise this. Their sole aim is to cause the

good work to cease and their evils to hold sway.

The present writer recalls a case some years ago

in which a man wrote a preface in the respectable

Crockford's clergyman's journal in the UK which was

very critical of Robert Runcie, then Archbishop

of Canterbury. The piece received much publicity in

the press. As a result, the bishops were highly

indignant and made some very nasty public remarks

about the poor man who wrote the preface. The

nastiness built up and within a week it was reported

that the man had uncharacteristically

"committed suicide". Judge it how you will. But they

got their way. "They will neither know nor

see anything, till we come into their midst and kill

them and cause the work to cease". That is

their aim. (Incidentally, to see the Sanballat

bishops queueing up after the "suicide" to give

glowing

eulogies about this poor man was more nauseous than

can be imagined).

It may not even be physical death which they seek

to bring upon the saints, as spiritual

destruction will suffice. They may seek to drive a

Nehemiah to such distraction that his faith is

pressed out of recognition and he either goes mad or

becomes a stranger to himself. Many saints

have been driven mad and alienated by Sanballats and

Tobiahs. Many saints have been made to

cease their work and been effectively "killed off" by

Sanballats and Tobiahs. Does this make their

victims failures in the eyes of God? Not at all.

Many faithful saints down the centuries have been

effectively closed down and their work stopped by

Sanballats and Tobiahs. That does not make

them failures and losers but victims and martyrs.

Many of such saints are catalogued in Scripture.

In Hebrews 11, for example, we find faithful saints

with productive ministries being "stoned", "sawn

in two" (a probable reference to Isaiah), "tortured",

"mocked and whipped", etc. (Heb.11:35-37).

These men were not failures but martyrs and examples

for those who came after. Their "defeat" was

only an appearance, their ultimate reward was the

Crown of Life.

Those are the seven principal behaviours of the

enemies of God's work -- Sanballats and Tobiahs

-- when they become aware of spiritual building work.

So how should believers respond to this

barrage of enmity? A good place to discover that is

in the responses of the original Nehemiah to his

detractors.

II. THE SEVEN RESPONSES OF TRUE BELIEVERS TO THE

ENEMIES OF

THE CHURCH

A first response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

1. Put Our Trust Totally in the Lord

This may sound over-simplistic and easy to say,

but it is the plain truth and we must stand by it.

This had been Nehemiah's approach right from the start

(Neh.1:4-10), and he never wavered

throughout. He continually brought his own case

before God, asking for divine recognition and

assistance. After the first confrontation with

Sanballat and Tobiah, he said to them: "The God of

heaven Himself will prosper us..." (Neh.2:20). He

later reassured his fellow-workers in rebuilding by

telling them: "Our God will fight for us" (Neh.4:20).

When our backs are against the wall, we have

no choice but to place out trust in the God of

miracles. He may not always remove us from the

danger, for it may be our time to be persecuted or

even martyred. But He will, at the very least,

provide supreme strength to face difficulty, or a way

of escape into another realm. In Nehemiah's

case, God restrained Sanballat, Tobiah and the others

and brought their plot to nothing (Neh.4:15).

We must put ourselves in His hands entirely and trust

Him to deal with the outcome.

A second response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

2. Make a Declaration of Intent to Them

When confronted with Sanballats and Tobiahs, we

should leave them in no doubt of where we

stand, that we plan to continue our work, and that

they have no right whatsoever to interfere in it. It

may make them mad; it may induce them to intensify

their actions; it may get us cast out or

even killed, but do it we must. This was Nehemiah's

response. He answered and said to them: "The

God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we

His servants will arise and build...". We're

going right ahead. Your opposition means nothing to

me. A mosquito crawling on my arm.

Business as usual.

Show them your determination not to be moved.

"Here I stand, and can do no other". We shall

not be moved. We WILL do this, at all costs. Make

your declaration of intent, so that they and the

whole world knows your goal and direction.

A third response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

3. Make a Declaration of their True Position Before

the World

The Sanballats and Tobiahs have no place in the

Church of Jesus Christ -- just as the original

ones had no place in old covenant Jerusalem. These

people worm their way in by skulduggery and

stealth, nepotism and family connections into the

heart of God's work and then use their privileged

position to oppose it. The reason they get away with

it is because most people do not have the

courage to stand up to them and expose them for what

they are -- and those that do stand up tend to

be isolated and stand alone.

Nehemiah would have none of it. How we need

Nehemiahs today! He told them straight: "You

have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem"

(Neh.2:20). That was the truth, squarely

put. Neither Sanballat the Horonite nor Tobiah the

Ammonite had any heritage, right or memorial in

Jerusalem. Sanballat was a syncretistic Yahweh

worshipper from Samaria, whose own name

probably means "The Moon-God has given life". He was

apparently politically savvy enough

to became governor of Samaria in 407 BC. He was also

religiously suave enough to get his

daughter accepted for marriage to one of the

grandchildren of the high priest Eliashib (Neh.13:28).

But Nehemiah told him truthfully: "You have no

heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem".

Period.

Tobiah was also a smooth operator who could worm

his way into the heart of God's work in order

to be able to oppose it. How stupid so many are to

allow them to do so unopposed! Tobiah had

cultivated a multitude of connections in all the right

places (Neh.6:17-18). And he had an easy walk

into Jerusalem. In fact, so easy that the high priest

had given him his own huge room in the temple

to use as his headquarters -- a room which was

previously being used to store all the temple

offerings (Neh.13:4-7). Amazing! But what did

Nehemiah do? Did he take on board the popular

contemporary baloney about Tobiah's "good works"

(Neh.6:19). Did he incant in a pious

voice about the need to be gracious? Did he listen to

all those who would wag their fingers at him

telling him how he mustn't uproot the Tares? Not at

all. In fact, as he reports: "I threw all the

household goods of Tobiah out of the room" (Neh.13:8).

Brilliant! What a great lesson for us. Tell

them straight: "You have no heritage or right or

memorial in Jerusalem". Expose them for all to

see.

Sanballat and Tobiah were ascribing false

authority to themselves in thinking that they could

call

the shots to Nehemiah. They had no heritage, right or

memorial in Jerusalem, and thus had no hold

over Nehemiah or his work. But they acted as if they

did. Even in the apostolic era this kind of

infiltration was common in churches (Gal.2:4; Acts

20:29-30; 2 Pet.2:1; Jude 4). Similarly, churches

today are bursting at the seams with Sanballats and

Tobiahs who have no place there, using their

vantage point to sow their own seeds and further their

own ends, usurping false authority to

themselves, convincing everyone that they are

Christians yet, at the same time, engaging in the

subtle or explicit suppression of God's servants.

Well the time has come for them to be exposed.

Those of a nervous disposition will predictably say:

"It is wrong to name names". But name them

we must. Make a declaration of their true position

before the world. Just as Nehemiah did.

A fourth response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

4. Show Them that They are of Little Consequence to

You

If there is one thing which Sanballats and Tobiahs

hate above all else it is when the objects of

their enmity show scant regard for them. In short,

they cannot bear to be ignored. They are

determined to shake you to the very foundations. But

when they see that they have failed, they

become most incensed. After Nehemiah had received the

phoney request for a meeting from

Sanballat, Tobiah and the others, he refused to come

to them and instead he replied by sending

messengers, saying: "I am doing a great work, so that

I cannot come down. Why should the work

cease while I leave it and go down to you?" (Neh.6:3).

Again, a brilliant response. Show them that

they are of no consequence to you and that they are

braying into the wind. You have better things

to do than waste time on their irrelevant meetings.

Notice also here that these dissemblers sent

quasi-"polite" requests four times to Nehemiah; but

when they saw that they made no inroads into his life

they changed their tone entirely with the fifth

attempt and became nasty and abusive, making snide

insinuations. This is absolutely classic

satanic behaviour. The present writer has observed

this on countless occasions in the actions of

Sanballats and Tobiahs. They are all very smarmy at

first, wearing a toothy grin as they try by

stealth to upset your apple-cart. But when they fail

with that, they begin to show their true beastly

natures. That was how it was for Christian on the

road to the Heavenly City, in his encounter with

Apollyon. First the great beast tried to woo him back

to the City of Destruction with soft entreaties;

then when that failed he became violent and abusive.

If you hang out against them long enough,

they will show their true colours. Or, as we have

always maintained about Sanballats and Tobiahs,

give them enough rope and they will someday hang

themselves!

Remember then, always show these Sanballats and

Tobiahs that they are of little consequence to

you, and that your divinely-appointed work is far too

important to be messed up by their pathetic

schemes.

A fifth response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

5. Let the Lord Have the Ultimate Vengeance

One may have to take divinely-appointed actions

against Sanballats and Tobiahs -- especially if

they are passing themselves off as Christians. But

this is not likely to be the end of the matter. Even

if you "chuck Tobiah's stuff out of the temple", he

may still come back at you with the force of a

thousand demons. When this happens, one is powerless

in human terms to withstand it. But,

fortunately, there is a principle of Scripture which

can be soundly relied upon -- the fact that we can

leave all vengeance and punitive judgements to the

Lord (Deut.32:35; Rom.12:19). Nehemiah was

aware of this principle, and he was not slow to invoke

it in his prayers:

"Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their

reproach on their own heads, and give them as

plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their

iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out

from before You; for they have provoked You to anger

before the builders" (Neh.4:4-5).

No one sins against us personally: they only sin

against God. So there is no real need for us to

feel affronted, hurt, personally abused, etc., even if

that may be the case. It is not US who should be

provoked to anger, but the Lord Himself. Leave it

with Him, and He will deal with it. "Lord, turn

their reproach on their own heads".

A sixth response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

6. Become Fulltime "Watchmen"

The enemies of the Lord and His work cannot be

ignored. We may have better things to do with

our lives than play ball with their silly meetings or

rise to their provokings; but nevertheless we need

to keep a watchful eye on them. This was the strategy

of Nehemiah when he realised what Sanballat

and Co. were about: "All of them conspired together

to come and attack Jerusalem and create

confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our

God, and because of them we set a watch

against them day and night" (Neh.4:8-9). Pray and

watch; watch and pray.

How alert we need to be. The enemy is stealthy.

Their father, Satan, is extremely wily. After all,

he has had many thousands of years to perfect his art,

whereas we little believers have only been

around a comparatively short time. True, we have the

infinitely-wise Scriptures to assist us at every

turn; but I can assure you that Satan knows those

Scriptures far better than any of us!

There is a certain class in the Old Testament

which were known as "watchmen". There were

watchmen who actually kept watch over homes and

cities; but there were also spiritual watchmen.

To Ezekiel, God said: "Son of man, I have made you a

watchman for the house of Israel; therefore

hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from

Me" (Ezek.3:17). To the children of Israel,

the Lord said: "I set watchmen over you, saying,

'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said,

'We will not listen'." (Jer.6:17). Nehemiah also knew

the importance of having spiritual watchmen:

"We set a watch against them day and night". This was

a necessity when confronted with the

cunning kind of enemies with which he was dealing.

And it is also necessary in our own day. Every

believer needs to be something of a watchman. Every

church needs its watchmen. Yet, it is amazing

how so many of those plainly exercising a watchman

type of ministry are despised, criticised and

abused. But that is part of the "payoff" in the life

of the watchman. If it was good enough for

Nehemiah, it should be good enough for us.

A seventh response to the enemies of the church,

based on Nehemiah's behaviour, is to

7. Take Up Arms

We are not referring here to the forming of a

local militia! Some Christians think that we should

take up physical weapons to defend ourselves against

any enemies of God's work; but this would be

to overlook important differences between the Old and

New Covenants. Nehemiah lived under the

auspices of a theocratic earthly nation, part of whose

divinely-appointed role was to take up arms

against its spiritual enemies in order to preserve the

purity of national Israel. Under the New

Covenant, we live under the auspices of a spiritual

nation (1 Pet.2:9) drawn from every earthly

country, tribe and language, whose role is the

evangelisation of the world. When James and John

wanted to command fire to come down from heaven and

consume a Samaritan village because it did

not receive the Lord Jesus Christ, He rebuked them and

said: "You do not know what manner of

spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to

destroy men's lives but to save them"

(Lk.9:55). Our role, under the New Covenant, is to

use spiritual weaponry as plainly directed by the

Lord, as we shall shortly see. (Herein lies the heart

of the error of the historical Crusades and even

of the Inquisitions). However, we can certainly make

an application today, in a spiritual sense, of the

directions for warfare given to those living under the

Old Covenant. In Nehemiah, we read the

following directions about taking up arms against

spiritual enemies:

"So it was, from that time on, that half of my

servants worked at construction, while the other half

held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore

armour; and the leaders were behind all the house

of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who

carried burdens, loaded themselves so that

with one hand they worked at construction, and with

the other held a weapon. Every one of the

builders had his sword girded at his side as he built"

(Neh.4:16-19).

This is tremendous advice in terms of spiritual

warfare. But how can we apply it to ourselves

today, living under the New Covenant? By applying New

Covenant principles. The apostle Paul

tells us:

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war

according to the flesh. For the weapons of our

warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling

down strongholds, casting down arguments and

every high thing that exalts itself against the

knowledge of God, bringing every thought into

captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor.10:3-5).

In Israel of old, all attacks against the Lord and

His nation were expressed primarily in a physical

sense against the power of the earthly nation; and the

rebuttals were conducted on the same level --

sword against sword. Spiritual warfare was won

according to the outcome of an earthly battlefield.

There was a theocratic nation involving a

politico-religious system to defend. However, in

terms of

the present age, our warfare exists principally in the

world of ideas. All attacks against the church

are expressed primarily in intellectual terms. It is

true that there are physical persecutions, but we are

forbidden from violently resisting these and

encouraged to regard them as a form of blessing by

which we can become evangelists and apologists in

unusual places (Mt.5:11-12; 5:39, 44;

Lk.21:12-15; Rom.12:14; 1 Cor.4:12-13; 1 Pet.4:14).

However, the attacks which we are required to

resist are those in the world of ideas. "For the

weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in

God for pulling down strongholds, casting down

arguments and every high thing that exalts itself

against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought

into captivity to the obedience of Christ".

For "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to

put to shame the wise, and God has chosen

the weak things of the world to put to shame the

things which are mighty" (1 Cor.1:27). Therefore,

in imitation of Nehemiah, believers today are to "take

up arms" in spiritual terms as a public rebuke

of spiritual falsehood, spiritual deception and the

usurpation of spiritual authority. We must openly

engage in casting down arguments which are opposed the

truth which we love.

But this is not a one-sided thing, whereby we

become obsessed with warfare so exclusively that

the building work is neglected. Notice how the

defensive strategy worked with Nehemiah. "Every

one of the builders had his sword girded at his side

as he built". The building was the main work,

with the sword at the ready in case of necessity. So

should it be with us. We must resist being

sidetracked by the sword to such an extent that we

fail to build.

When the Lord Jesus said to Peter, "On this rock I

will build my church", He was not speaking

about steeple funds or pew replacements or

congregational hall extensions, and all the other

paraphernalia of institutional church life! The rock

on which He would build His church was Peter's

confession of the Deity of Christ: "You are the

Christ, the Son of the Living God". The fact

that Jesus Christ is God provides the foundation of

everything in which we are involved. The denial

of that is the spirit of antichrist (1 Jn.4:2-3). The

building of the church has to do with the

proclamation of spiritual truth on earth, as we engage

in the world of ideas among men. It has to do

with being able apologists for the faith in a largely

antichristian world. It has to do with the injection

of objective reality into a populus brainwashed with

subjectivism. As soon as one engages in that

kind of building, one encounters vicious, mendacious,

power-usurping opposition. This is why we

need to carry our swords as well as our trowels.

EPILOGUE

It is providential that Nehemiah was surrounded by

people who worked faithfully alongside him.

But it might have been a very different story if he

had found himself all alone. He would then most

likely have suffered the same fate as Isaiah or

Jeremiah. However, whatever happens, as Nehemiah

advises: "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord,

great and awesome..." (Neh.4:14). Do you

believe that? Do you put your trust in Him in the

midst of all the turmoil? Whatever happens, the

Lord will be there steering you through it or

providing the way of escape. As the psalmist puts it:

"For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can

leap over a wall" (Psa.18:29). That is

supernatural assistance.

The experience of Nehemiah at the hands of

Sanballat and Tobiah provides us with the supreme

"role model" for this year of 2001 -- a great example

of how to engage in our building work and then

stand up to the forces which oppose it. This will

often be dangerous. It can sometimes get scary. It

is guaranteed to cause turmoil and anger around us.

But it cannot ultimately fail. "The gates of

Hades shall not prevail against it". For the building

of the church does not have its successes

emblazoned on the pages of earthly history books, but

in the rescue of souls from endless vanity

into a fruitful eternity.