Title: Nehemiah's Victory/Nehemiah 2:9-10
Title: Nehemiah's Victory.
Bible: Nehemiah 2:9-10
Last time, we talked about the faith that Nehemiah prayed and could wait for the Lord to reveal His will by creating a certain situation, and also about the attitude of prayer that told God first by offering “silence for a moment” moment by moment. In addition, I looked at the life of true preparation in which I thoroughly prepared in the areas I needed to prepare for.
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Today we will continue to look at verse 9.
“I sent the commander of the army and horsemen to be with me, and I came to the governors on the west side of the river and reported the king’s scorn…”
Nehemiah, who had been praying and waiting for God's sign, was precious to finally get the king's permission with God's help and to rebuild the ruined walls of his people in Jerusalem.
At that time he was given considerable powers by the king. The office he received was governor of the land of Judah. In Nehemiah 5:14, it says, “It was twelve years from the time I was appointed governor of the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-two year of King Artaxerxes.” He was commissioned as governor of Judah for 12 years and returned home. When he was precious, the commander of the army and horsemen joined him and entered Jerusalem with a dignified appearance. King Artaxerxes, who showed such great favor to Nehemiah, was actually the one who stopped the construction of the wall. But what was the reason for his cooperation like that?
God, the master of history, not only moved the heart of King Artaxerxes, but also brought us to a historical situation where King Artaxerxes had to do it.
Three years before Nehemiah was appointed governor, the governorship on the west side of the river, that is, the area on the west side of the Jordan River, refers to the land west of the Jordan, including Phenice, Palestine, Syria, and the entire island of Cyprus. Governor Megabijus, appointed to rule the entire region, rebelled against the Vasa regime. It caused a coup. Originally, Megabijus was a general who made a great contribution to the Persian Empire by taking the lead in suppressing the Egyptian rebellion about 10 years before Nehemiah was appointed governor. So, it seems that he was approved by the king and was appointed governor over the area west of the Jordan River. However, he joined forces with the Samaritan governor Lehum and the scribe Simsae to revolt against the Persian regime, for unknown reasons. Rehum and Simsae were none other than those who accused the Jews.
King Artaxerxes saw Rehum and Simsae very loyal to the accusation that Ezra was precious, so if Ezra built the wall, he would surely betray the king, so how could he have known that they would participate in the rebellion? For this reason, King Artaxerxes was forced to help the Jews. By rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the king judged that it would also be beneficial for the Persian Empire in the event of a revolt in neighboring Samaria.
If you look at this, you can see that God, who is the master of history, not only moves people's hearts, but also creates the circumstances of history to be advantageous for Nehemiah, the man of God.
Look at Isaiah 45:8-7.
“I will make it known to the multitudes that there is no one but me, at the sunrise and at the setting. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the bread and create darkness; I form peace and create tribulation; I am the LORD, the one who does all these things.”
Whether at the sunrise or at the setting of the setting sun... Just as God creates light and darkness for all nations in the world, so God creates the peace and tribulation of that nation.
Whether it is a country where the sun is shining now or a country that belongs to the night after the sun has set, we can see that the rise and fall of all these countries is in the hands of our God.
After the failure of the revolts in Egypt and Samaria, Samiri's governor "Rehum" and scribe "Shimsae" were executed, but it is not reflected in history again. It was a man named Sanballat who took their place. Verse 10 says, “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobijah the Ammonite who had been a slave heard that a man who wanted to prosper the children of Israel had come, they were very grieved.”
Sanballat was once again an enemy of the Jews from the position of governor of Samaria. He was originally governor of Samaria and had the authority to govern all of Judah and its surrounding areas, but his position was reduced when Nehemiah, governor of Judah, took over.
Therefore, I think he must have been more wary of Nehemiah.
In order to finally strengthen his sphere of influence, he formed an alliance with Tobiah, the vice governor of Ammon, and Geshem, the vice governor of northwestern Arabia, under his control, and began to obstruct the construction of the walls of Nehemia.
Looking at the characteristics of their interference,
(1) Although they are deeply troubled in their hearts (Nehemiah 2:10), they laugh while lying face down outwardly (Nehemiah 2:19).
(2) In Nehemiah 2:19, they threaten by saying, “Are you trying to betray the king?”
(3) Nevertheless, as the wall is gradually being completed, looking at Nehemiah 4:7-8, “I am trying to interfere with you with violence”
(4) Still, their purpose is not achieved, so they finally seduce them with the reconciliation policy and plot to harm them. In Nehemiah 6:2, we read, “Sanballat and Geshem sent me, saying, Come, let us meet each other in a village on the plain of Ono, to harm me.”
(5) But it didn’t work, so after that, he bribed the prophet Shemaiah to prophesy. In Nehemiah 6:10, “They will come to kill you.” Nehemiah and the workers said that they should flee to the temple and save their lives. .
However, despite all obstacles, the castle was finally completed in 52 days.
When the enemies finally saw that God was with Nehemiah, they said they were afraid and discouraged (Nehemiah 6:16).
Even today, there are three major hindrances against the Church of God, such as Sanballat, Tobias, and Geshem. In the Heidelberg Confession of Faith, the three forces of evil are introduced.
(1) Satan is the ruler of the power of the air and deceives and accuses the saints. It's like Sanballat. It is the leader.
Ephesians 2:1-2 “He made you, who were dead in your trespasses and sins. In those days you walked in them, following the customs of this world, and following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”
Sons who disobey God, the spirit working on unbelievers, is destroying the faith of believers today, just as Sanballat and Tobijah, when they saw Nehemiah, ridiculed and downplayed Nehemiah, threatened and tried to use violence. It also means that they threaten in the same way to destroy them.
In Hebrews 11:36 and below,
This is still the case today. When we first planted a church on the island, a lot of middle school students came. Among them, what I am missing is that Ha Mi-soon, the daughter of Goo-sik Ha, attended church very diligently and her faith was growing beautifully. However, the only sound we hear is that if we only come to church, we will be beaten by our father and then kneaded. One day, after worship, I was passing the house when I heard a beating and crying from the room.
Still, he leaves the church while being beaten. But one day, the father came to the church with a mongoose. I hit my daughter with a club when she came out of the service, but I just stopped her.
At that time, perhaps he could not have beaten me, who was wrapped around him, he dragged him home and kneaded it until he kneaded it. It means don't go to church. Fire blazes through his eyes. It is completely oppressed by the disobedient spirit, Satan. The woman could not bear the pain her husband gave her, so she drank herbs and committed suicide. The student eventually dropped out of church.
There seems to be no business in the hawk.
Even in the city of this kind of family, we occasionally meet while visiting. There are believers who are beaten by their husbands because of their faith in Jesus, conflicts between fathers and mothers, conflicts between families, conflicts with children.
Just as Nehemiah suffered from Sanballat, so today believers are suffering through the sons of disobedience. Evil forces trying to destroy believers
(2) It is the lust of sin. This is like Tobiah.
In Augustine's Confessions, "O God! The reason I did not repent quickly was because I wanted to give up on pleasure and live for the fun of life, so I could not cut the chains of the world, so I delayed believing in Jesus and repenting. I confess.”
There are actually some believers whose walls of faith are being destroyed because they can't stop sacrificing the world.
David passed.
2 Timothy 4:10 says, “Demas, because he loved this world, left me and went to Thessalonica; Cresces to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.”
How sweet the pleasures of sin are, the servants of the Lord can know that they are mercilessly destroyed.
Not only that, but the forces of evil that destroy believers?
(3) It is said to be the power of money in the world. It's like Geshem.
While attending the Grand Tribunal, I met a saint who skipped the holy water on Sunday because he could not close the family door because of work to make money. That would be upsetting to God. Because of money, there are saints who live like enemies between siblings and their children's parents.. They are caught by the power of money. This breaks down the walls of faith.
1 Timothy 6:9 “Those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into destruction and destruction.”
By “destruction” it means “destruction.” If you are caught by this force, you will be destroyed and you will be destroyed.
These three are the forces of evil that destroy the saints today.
It is like the three evil forces: Sanballat, Tobias, and Geshem.
However, Nehemiah completely trusted God, so he did not yield to the power of evil and completed the wall in 52 days. It is recorded in Nehemiah 6:16 that the enemies were afraid and discouraged when they saw that God was with Nehemiah.
It is faith that acts as a shield against such attacks of evil forces.
That's why Ephesians 6:16 says, "Over all things, having the shield of faith, by this you are able to extinguish all the scourges of the evil one."
The forces of evil cannot in the least affect those who have faith.
I explained it to you once, but at least the following five things must be firmly believed.
(1) Faith to receive salvation. Belief that you will surely go to heaven.
(2) Belief in forgiveness of sins The belief that if you repent, you will surely receive forgiveness.
(3) Faith of guiding God will surely guide me”
(4) Faith in answering prayers.
(5) Faith of victory. I need to have faith that I can overcome the forces of evil with the strength that the Lord gives me.
Nehemiah's faith was unwavering and strong, so no matter how much the wicked attacked him, his heart did not waver. In the end we won.
In the name of the Lord, I pray in the name of the Lord that you and I have strong faith, so that even today, you will be victorious in the forces of evil that are trying to break down the walls of our faith.
Let's pray.