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Nehemiah
Chapter Four
Nehemiah 4
Chapter Contents
Opposition of Sanballat and others. (1-6) The designs of
the adversaries. (7-15) Nehemiah's precautions. (16-23)
Commentary on Nehemiah 4:1-6
(Read Nehemiah 4:1-6)
Many a good work has been looked upon with contempt by
proud and haughty scorners. Those who disagree in almost every thing, will
unite in persecution. Nehemiah did not answer these fools according to their
folly, but looked up to God by prayer. God's people have often been a despised
people, but he hears all the slights that are put upon them, and it is their
comfort that he does so. Nehemiah had reason to think that the hearts of those
sinners were desperately hardened, else he would not have prayed that their
sins might never be blotted out. Good work goes on well, when people have a
mind to it. The reproaches of enemies should quicken us to our duty, not drive
us from it.
Commentary on Nehemiah 4:7-15
(Read Nehemiah 4:7-15)
The hindering good work is what bad men aim at, and
promise themselves success in; but good work is God's work, and it shall
prosper. God has many ways of bringing to light, and so of bringing to nought,
the devices and designs of his church's enemies. If our enemies cannot frighten
us from duty, or deceive us into sin, they cannot hurt us. Nehemiah put himself
and his cause under the Divine protection. It was the way of this good man, and
should be our way. All his cares, all his griefs, all his fears, he spread
before God. Before he used any means, he made his prayer to God. Having prayed,
he set a watch against the enemy. If we think to secure ourselves by prayer,
without watchfulness, we are slothful, and tempt God; if by watchfulness,
without prayer, we are proud, and slight God: either way, we forfeit his
protection. God's care of our safety, should engage and encourage us to go on
with vigour in our duty. As soon as a danger is over, let us return to our
work, and trust God another time.
Commentary on Nehemiah 4:16-23
(Read Nehemiah 4:16-23)
We must watch always against spiritual enemies, and not
expect that our warfare will be over till our work is ended. The word of God is
the sword of the Spirit, which we ought to have always at hand, and never to
have to seek for it, either in our labours, or in our conflicts, as Christians.
Every true Christian is both a labourer and a soldier, working with one hand,
and fighting with the other. Good work is likely to go on with success, when
those who labour in it, make a business of it. And Satan fears to assault the
watchful Christian; or, if attacked, the Lord fights for him. Thus must we wait
to the close of life, never putting off our armour till our work and warfare
are ended; then we shall be welcomed to the rest and joy of our Lord.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on
Nehemiah》
Nehemiah 4
Verse 2
[2] And he spake before his brethren and the army of
Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves?
will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the
stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
In a day — Do they intend to begin, and finish the work, all in
one day? For if they spend any long time about it, they cannot think that we
will suffer them to do it.
The stones — Will they pick up their broken
stones out of the ruins, and patch them together.
Burnt — Which stones were burnt, and broken, by the Chaldeans
when they took the city.
Verse 4
[4] Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their
reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of
captivity:
A prey — Give them for a prey to their enemies, and let these
carry them into the land of captivity.
Verse 5
[5] And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be
blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the
builders.
Cover not — Let their wickedness be in thy
sight, so as to bring down judgments upon them, that either they may be
reformed, or others may be warned by their example. God is said to cover or
hide sin when he forbears to punish it.
Provoked thee — They have not only provoked us
builders, but thee also.
Verse 6
[6] So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined
together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
The half — Unto half its height.
Verse 10
[10] And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens
is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the
wall.
Judah — The Jews now dwelling in Judah, some of them being partly
terrified by their enemies, and partly wearied with continual labour.
Rubbish — More than we are able suddenly to remove.
Not able — Being forced to spend our time in removing the
rubbish, and therefore we must desist for a season.
Verse 12
[12] And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by
them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return
unto us they will be upon you.
By them — Or, among them: whereby they came to the knowledge of
their counsels. Tho' these had not zeal enough to help in the work, yet they
had some concern for their brethren.
Ten tribes — Very often, a certain number for
an uncertain.
Be upon you — They will invade you every way,
by which we can come to you, or you to us; therefore keep watches on every
side.
Verse 13
[13] Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and
on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their
swords, their spears, and their bows.
Behind — Within the walls where they were not yet raised to
their due height, and therefore most liable to the enemies assault.
Higher — Upon the tops of the walls where they were finished,
and the towers which were built here and there upon the wall; whence they might
shoot arrows, or throw stones.
Verse 14
[14] And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and
to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them:
remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren,
your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
Looked — He looked up, engaged God for him, and put himself and
his cause under the Divine protection. That was his way, and should be ours:
all his cares, all his griefs, all his fears he spread before God.
Great and terrible — You think your
enemies are great and terrible. But what are they in comparison of God?
Especially in opposition to him?
Verse 16
[16] And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half
of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the
spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were
behind all the house of Judah.
From that time forth — Lest our enemies
should repeat their enterprize.
My servants — Of my domestick servants, and of
my guards.
Held, … — All their weapons: they stood in their arms prepared
for battle.
Were behind — To encourage them in their work,
sometimes to assist with their own hands: and to direct and command them in
case of an assault.
Judah — The Jews who were upon the wall.
Verse 17
[17] They which builded on the wall, and they that bare
burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the
work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
A Weapon — This is to be taken figuratively; being a proverbial
speech, as when they say of a man pretending kindness, he carries bread in one
hand, and a stone in another. Thus must we work out our salvation, with the
weapons of our warfare in our hands. For in every duty we must expect
opposition from our spiritual enemies.
Verse 18
[18] For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his
side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
Sounded — To call the people together, when, and where it was
necessary.
Verse 23
[23] So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the
men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that
every one put them off for washing.
Washing — When they were to wash and cleanse themselves from
some impurity, which might befal them or their garments.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Nehemiah》
04 Chapter 4
Verses 1-23
Verses 1-4
But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the
wall, he was wroth.
Sanballat: a study in party spirit
You must clearly understand, to begin with, that Samaria was
already, even in that early day, the deadly rival of Jerusalem; and also that
Sanballat was the governor of Samaria. And Sanballat was a man of this kind,
that he was not content with doing his very best to make Samaria both
prosperous and powerful, but he must also do his very best to keep Jerusalem
downtrodden and destroyed. And thus it was that, when Sanballat heard that Nehemiah
had come from Shushan with a commission from Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem, the exasperating news drove Sanballat absolutely beside himself. And
thus it is that such a large part of Nehemiah’s autobiography is taken up with
Sanballat’s diabolical plots and conspiracies both to murder Nehemiah and to
destroy the new Jerusalem. We see in Sanballat an outstanding instance of the
sleepless malice of all unprincipled party spirit.
1. Now, in the first place, diabolically wicked as party spirit too
often becomes, this must be clearly understood about party spirit, that, after
all, it is but the excess, and the perversion, and the depravity of an
originally natural and a perfectly proper principle in our hearts. It was of
God, and it was of human nature as God had made it, that Sanballat should love
and serve Samaria best; and that Nehemiah should love and serve Jerusalem best.
And all party spirit among ourselves also, at its beginning, is but our natural
and dutiful love for our own land, and for our own city, and for our own Church,
and for those who think with us, and work with us, and love us.
2. But then, when it comes to its worst, as it too often does come,
party spirit is the complete destruction both of truth and of love. The truth
is hateful to the out-and-out partisan. We all know that in ourselves. As many
lies as you like, but not the truth. It exasperates us to hear it. You are
henceforth our enemy if you will insist on speaking it. It is not truth that
divides us up into such opposed parties as we see all around us in Church and
State, it is far more lies. It is not principle once in ten times. Nine times
out of ten it is pure party spirit. And I cling to that bad spirit, and to all
its works, as if it were my life. I feel unhappy when you tell me the truth, if
it is good truth, about my rival. And where truth is hated in that way love can
have no possible home. Truth is love in the mind, just as love is truth in the
heart. Trample on the one and you crush the other to death. Now the full-blown
party spirit is utter poison to the spirit of love as well as to the spirit of
truth. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love rejoiceth not in iniquity, etc. But party
spirit is the clean contradiction of an that.
3. By the just and righteous ordination of Almighty God all our sins
carry their own punishment immediately and inseparably with them. And party
spirit, being such a wicked spirit, it infallibly inflicts a very swift and a
very severe punishment on the man who entertains it. You know yourselves how
party spirit hardens your heart, and narrows, and imprisons, and impoverishes
your mind. You must all know
how party spirit poisons your feelings, and fills you with antipathy at men you
never saw, as well as at men all around you who never hurt a hair of your head,
and would not if they could.
4. Another Divine punishment of party spirit is seen in the way that
it provokes retaliation, and thus reproduces and perpetuates itself till the
iniquity of the fathers is visited upon the children to the third and fourth
generation of them that hate the truth and murder love. And, inheriting no
little good from our contending forefathers, we have inherited too many of
their injuries, and retaliations, and antipathies, and alienations also. And
the worst of it is that we look on it as true patriotism, and the perfection of
religious principle, to keep up and perpetuate all those ancient
misunderstandings, and injuries, and recriminations, and alienations.
5. Who, then, is a wise man, and endued with wisdom among you? Who
would fain be such a man? Who would behave to his rivals and enemies, not as
Nehemiah, good man though he was, behaved to the Samaritans, but as Jesus
Christ behaved to them? Who, in one word, would escape the sin, and the misery,
and the long-lasting mischief of party spirit? Butler has an inimitable way of
saying some of his very best and very deepest things. And here is one of his
great sayings that has helped me more in this matter than I can tell you.
4. “Let us remember,” he says, “that we differ as much from other men
as they differ from us.” What a lamp to our feet is that sentence as we go
through this world! And then, when at any time, and towards any party, or
towards any person whatsoever, you find in yourself that you are growing in
love, and in peace, and in patience, and in toleration, and in goodwill, and in
good wishes, acknowledge it to yourself; see it, understand it, and confess it.
Do not be afraid to admit it, for that is God within your heart. That is the
Divine Nature--that is the Holy Ghost. Just go on in that Spirit, and ere ever
you are aware you will be caught up and taken home to that Holy Land where
there is neither Jerusalem nor Samaria. There will be no party spirit there.
There will be no controversy there. (A. Whyte, D. D.)
What do these feeble
Jews?--
Feeble agencies not to be despised
When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember
that its smoothness, on which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to
all the inequalities having been slowly levelled by worms. It is a marvellous
reflection that the whole of the superficial mould over any such expanse has
passed, and will pass again, every few years, through the bodies of worms. The
plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man’s inventions; but
long before he existed the land was, in fact, regularly ploughed by
earth-worms. It may be doubted whether there are any other animals which have
played so important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly organised
creatures. Some other animal, however, still more lowly organised--namely,
corals, have done far more conspicuous work in having constructed innumerable
reefs and islands in the great oceans; but these are almost confined to the
tropical zones. (Charles Darwin.)
Intrinsic energy not to be gauged by magnitude
Remember that lofty trees grow from diminutive seeds; copious
rivers flow from small fountains; slender wires often sustain ponderous
weights; injury to the smallest nerves may occasion the most agonising sensation;
the derangement of the least wheel or pivot may render useless the greatest
machine of which it is a part; an immense crop of errors may spring from the
least root of falsehood; a glorious intellectual light may be kindled by the
minutest spark of truth; and every principle is more diffusive and operative by
reason of its intrinsic energy than of its magnitude. (J. Gregory.)
Censure should not interfere with duty
Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly
world may make on you, for their censures are not in your power, and
consequently should be no part of your concern. (Epictetus.)
Fool’s-bolts should be disregarded
What action was ever so good, or so completely done, as to be well
taken on all hands? It concerns every wise Christian to settle his heart in a
resolved confidence of his own holy and just grounds, and then to go on in a
constant course of his well-warranted judgment and practice, with a careless
disregard of those fool’s-bolts which will be sure to be shot at him, which way
soever he goes. (Bp. Hall.)
Petty criticism should be disregarded
It is often more difficult to endure the stinging of insects than to face the bravest
perils. Explorers in tropical countries find these tiny, noxious creatures much
more destructive of their peace and comfort than the larger and more deadly
animals which sometimes beset them. Many a man faces courageously a grave peril
who becomes a coward when a set of petty annoyances have worn his nerves out
and irritated him to the point of loss of self-control. Every man who attempts
an independent course of life, whether of thought, habit, or action, finds
himself beset by a cloud of petty critics, who are, for the most part, without
malice, but whose stings, inspired by ignorance, are quite as hard to bear as
they would be if inspired by hate. The misrepresentations and misconceptions
which good men suffer are a part of the pathos of life. The real answer to
criticism is a man’s life and work. A busy man has no time to stop and meet his
critics in detail; he must do his work, and let that be his answer to
criticism. (Christian Age.)
Verse 6
So we built the wall.
Fellowship in Christian service
1. They built it notwithstanding
sneers. “What do these feeble Jews?” Sanballat said. All the Sanballats are not
dead yet. Often, when you would attempt some new or difficult work for Christ,
there are a good many modern Sanballats ready to stand about and say, “You can’t
do anything; you are not strong enough; you are not experienced enough; you haven’t money
enough; the idea of your attempting such a thing!
2. they built the wall, notwithstanding active opposition they kept
right on steadily building. Said the great William Carey--who wrought such
wonders, and against such opposition, in modern missions--to his son Eustace,
“Eustace, if they say I am a genius, it is not true; but if they say I can
plod, that is true. Yes, I can plod, I can plod.” And a plodding persistence,
in the face of almost any opposition, is sure at last to triumph.
3. They built the wall, notwithstanding despairing friends. I have
been reading how General Washington, only a little time before the battle of
Yorktown, was in the very darkest time of the long, hard struggle. Friends on
every side were despairingly saying, “You can’t do it; you might just as well
give up.” But the great Washington would not let himself despair. Whoever else
might, he would not. He would keep at it; and, keeping at it, notwithstanding
the despair of friends, a nation’s independence was achieved at Yorktown.
4. They built the wall by prayer. I asked Mr. Spurgeon once how he
prayed. He answered, “I go to the Bible and find a promise applicable to my
need, then I reverently plead that promise before the Lord, asking Him to keep
it for Jesus’ sake; and I believe God will, and He does.” That is the prayer of
faith--the prayer of great grip on the Divine promise.
5. They built the wall by working together. Did you notice that “we”?
“So ‘we’ built the wail,” our Scripture says. Even one is worth something, but
two are worth more, and many striving together are worth immeasurably more.
Associate others with yourself, or yourself with others. It was because the Rough Riders
rushed up the heights of San Juan together, and because the coloured regiments
rushed up together, and together with them they were enabled to plant Old Glory
on the summit. Fellow ship is better than individualism in all noble service.
6. They built the wall by willingness on the part of each to do
whatever he could. Sometimes they bore burdens; sometimes they grasped swords
and spears; sometimes they stood sentinel. There was no selfish picking and
choosing. There was no mean declaring “I will do this, but I won’t do that.”
Each one was ready to do anything; the thing which seemed just then the thing
best to be done. It is no wonder that the wall went steadily and triumphantly
up.
7. They built the wall by courageous trust in God. Said Nehemiah, “Be
not afraid of them; remember the Lord.” (W. Hoyt, D. D.)
For the people had a mind
to work--
Conditions of success in Christian work
The chief characteristics displayed by Nehemiah and his
fellow-citizens in prosecuting their work were--
1. Earnestness. Earnestness is an important factor in all Christian
work and consists--
2. Persistency.
3. Union.
4. Courage.
5. Prayerfulness.
Summing up these characteristics, we may say to the Christian
worker, “Add to your work earnestness, and to earnestness persistency, and to
persistency union, and to union wisdom, and to wisdom courage, and to courage
prayer”; “for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ” (2 Peter 1:8). (W. P. Lockhart.)
A mind to work
This implies--
I. A recognition
of the duty of work.
II. A recognition
of the privilege of work.
III. An earnest
sympathy with, and longing for, the results of work. (The Church.)
A mind to work
I. The work.
Circumstances have changed, and the methods are altered, but the work is the
same. You are entitled to ask me, “What are we to do?”
1. Bear the insignia of your religion before the world. Let all men
know that you are the followers of Christ.
2. Maintain His public worship.
3. Christianise the world.
II. The mind. This
implies--
1. Readiness.
2. Heartiness.
3. Cheerfulness.
4. Thoroughness amid discouragement and opposition. (T. Davies, M.
A.)
A mind to work
I. The work the
Jews had to perform. The work they had undertaken was one in which it was
natural to suppose they felt the deepest possible interest. It will be admitted
that the work they had undertaken was a great work. Then as to the magnitude of
the work, it is indescribable--it is, in a word, to seek the present and
eternal salvation of a guilty, ruined, and perishing world. Nor must good men
lose sight of the fact, that this glorious work is to be accomplished, not by
miracle, nor by a Divine power or agency in the abstract, but by the feeble,
and of itself powerless, instrumentality of Christian men, as accompanied with
the sanctifying and saving influences of the Holy Spirit of God.
II. The obstacles
which, in the prosecution of their work, the Jews had to encounter. The Church,
then, must never forget that her adversaries are both numerous and powerful.
But have not the Church’s greatest difficulties often proved her greatest
blessings? It has led the Lord’s people both to see and to feel more of their
dependence upon Him.
III. The spirit in
which the jews carried on their work. They had their minds, that is to say,
their souls, in it, and they were determined to accomplish it. They loved their
Master, their work, and each other.
IV. The success of
which their labour was productive.
1. Are there any of us who are engaged in the Lord’s service, but
whose hearts are not in it?
2. Are there any who have no disposition to labour for the Lord Jesus
Christ? (Essex Remembrancer.)
A mind to work
We have here--
I. co-operation.
“The people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah was, of course, the ruling spirit. He
was only one man, but he was one of those men who count for thousands. He was
one of those men who not only embody but create the spirit of an age and lead
it on to victory. He was only one man, but in this world men have not to be
counted but weighed; and it is when men are weighed--weighed as to their
intellect, their convictions, their courage, their principles, their
self-denial--that it is seen that one man is not as good as another. All the
great epochs of the world have gathered around one man, just as the restoration
gathered around Nehemiah, and so filled his soul that the electric power of his
patriotic purpose enkindled the hearts of the people with a flame that never
expired till the work was done. Then as ever, it was seen that the world’s work
must be done by a combination of men who toil with the brain and who toil with
the hands. Nehemiah was architect, clerk of the works, diplomatist, general, all
in one. But he could have done nothing unless he had been able to secure the
co-operation of the people. There is here a lesson on the value and the
necessity of co-operation in work for Christ. Success in war is due to two
principles--the one is divide your enemy, and the other is unite yourselves. On
these two conditions success is certain. Real and vital co-operation in Church
work will be equally successful. There may be a Church and no co-operation. It
may be a mass, but not a body. Many individual men do far more than a society,
because the individual men work, and the society does not, but thinks that it
has fulfilled all its duty when it has appointed a committee, with its usual
complement of officers. You would think that an army had strangely misconceived
its mission if because it saw its staff-officers it lay down and left the
fortunes of battle to be settled by them. But this is just what is done by
societies which devolve on committees the whole work.
II. Cheerful
resolution. There is a great deal of work done in our world, and has always
been, in which there has been no mind at all, either in the shape of
intelligence or goodwill. I suppose that some of the greatest structures of the
world were so built--the Pyramids, the great aqueducts of Rome and the
Coliseum. The slaves had not a mind to work, but had an eye to the rod of the
taskmaster. You will search this book in vain for the trace of a taskmaster.
They had a mind to work, and not to criticise or cavil. This is a suggestive
warning to all such characters in our day. Many have a mind only to think, and
not to work. You ask them to come and set their shoulder to the wheel, but they
prefer to spend their time in solving, so far as they can, sundry theological
or religious fiddles. H by their thinking they accomplished anything, then they
might think on, but they are like a corn-mill, the stones of which are
perpetually revolving, but there is no corn between them, and so they only
grind themselves. More doubts are removed and more difficulties are solved by
working than by thinking. “If any man will do the will of God,” etc. Some
people have a mind to speak, but not to work. Speech is good enough in its
place. The end of all talk should be action. As a rule most work is done where
there is least noise. When a machine goes noiselessly, it means that the
friction is reduced to the smallest possible quantity, and that the force is
not wasted on the process, but comes out in the accomplished work. At the
building of Babel there was far more noise than at the building of the temple,
but the temple was the successful work. Their heart was in their work, and by
their heart we mean chiefly their purpose and their cheerfulness. He that works
without a will is nothing better than a machine, and may be worse. When people
have a mind to work there will be no unseemly ambitions, no quarrels for posts
of honour. The man who can lighten labour with a song is likely to be a good
worker. He will be like a soldier, who marches best to the rhythmic throb of
the drum, and to the sounds of inspiring music. As to Christian work, none can
be entitled to such a name unless it be cheerful. God loveth, we are told, not
a giver, but a “cheerful” giver. If we show mercy we are to show it cheerfully.
We are to serve the Lord with gladness. We are to come into His presence with
songs. Saints are to be joyful in the Lord.
III. Work crowned
with success. (Enoch Mellor, D. D.)
The secret of success in the
work of the Lord
I. That we have a
great and an important work devolving upon us: to aid in raising the world from the ruins
of the fall, and restoring it to something of its former order and beauty, that
the Lord may dwell among us. This work has been committed to the Church. It is
her high corn, mission. This work must commence with our own hearts.
II. That this work
must re engaged in with consecrated zeal and activity.
III. The diligent
use of all appointed means. Nehemiah having set his heart upon his work,
judiciously employed every means calculated to promote it.
1. Let us stimulate each other to engage vigorously and unitedly in
this work. Generally speaking, there is only a small fraction of every Church
that engages actively in the great purposes of religion.
2. Having brought all the truly pious up to a proper point, we should
then address ourselves, every one to his proper sphere of labour.
IV. That in the use
of means the work must be followed up with fortitude and perseverance.
Such was the perseverance of the Jews in rebuilding the walls, that they never
pulled off their clothes, except for the means of cleanliness, during the whole
of the work; but continued night and day working. There was no time for delay
or indulgence.
V. That to insure
the successful issue of the work, there must be an entire dependence on the
blessing of god. Here was the grand secret of Nehemiah’s success. He first
sought Divine direction, then employed the means, and then implored the Divine
blessing. In no other way can we account for the rapid progress of the work,
and its successful issue in so short a time. (G. Richards.)
Rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem
Consider--
I. The persons by
whom the work was mainly performed.
II. The spirit in
which it was accomplished. In a great multitude of instances the work of
conversion or reform is begun too near the surface. You ask the hand to work,
and what is wanting is the mind to work. What we want is, not a new power but a
new disposition, to have the mind newly cast in the image and character of God.
It is in vain to change the hand of the watch if the mainspring is defective;
it is in vain to heal the muscle or the sinew if there is no life’s blood in
the heart; it is in vain to mould the mere image of a man if the spirit of life
is not communicated. All these typify the man without the mind, without the
will. (J. W. Cunningham, A. M.)
Advance in solid column to Christian work
When General Grant was in front of Richmond, and his army had been
repulsed in the Wilderness, he called together his co-commanders and held a
council, and asked them what they thought he had better do. There were General
Sherman and General Howard, now leading generals, and all thought he had better
retreat. He heard them through, and then broke up the council of war and sent
them back to their headquarters; but before morning an orderly came round with
a despatch from the General directing an advance in solid column on the enemy
at daylight. That was what took Richmond and broke down the rebellion in our
country. Christians, let us advance in solid column against the enemy; let us
lift high the standard, and in the name of our God let us lift up our voice,
and let us work together, shoulder to shoulder, and keep our eye single to the
honour and glory
of Christ. (D. L. Moody.)
Absorbing work is successful
A gentleman who recently visited Mr. Edison’s great laboratory, at
Menlo Park, and whose son was
about to enter upon business life, asked the Professor to give him a motto for
his boy, so that he might remember it as a guide and stimulus in after-life.
Mr. Edison laughed a little at the novel request, and then said, “Well, I’ll
give him this--tell him never to look at the clock!” Which means this--that the
man who succeeds to-day is not the man who does just what he has contracted to
do and no more, but the man who throws his heart into his work, feels a genuine
interest in it, and does not grumble if he has to work ten minutes after office
hours.
Putting heart into work
An employer, pointing to two men working side by side in his shop,
said, “Though I pay them the same wages, one of them is worth twice as much to
me as the other, because he puts his heart into everything that he does. He is
interested. He is always anxious to do his best. His neighbour, on the
contrary, thinks only of his wages. He will shirk whenever he thinks that he
can do so and not be found out. I cannot trust him. I have to watch him
closely, or he will
send out work that is imperfect, and will injure the reputation of the shop.”
“Well, what does the man you commend gain by putting his heart in it, if you
pay the same wages?” “Nothing at present except the satisfaction one feels in
trying to do his duty.”
Verses 7-18
But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobtah, and the
Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls . . .
conspired all of them together.
Foes of the faith
It is well we should know our enemies, and then we can
better resist them.
I. think of those
foes of the faith Nehemiah had to withstand.
1. There was Noadiah the prophetess. She would have put Nehemiah “in
fear.” She used a sacred position and the name of God to cheek the efforts of a
good man. Noadiah could threaten, instil doubts, and arouse dread. The Church
to-day lacks courage. Too many Noadiahs are prophesying evil things, and
leading others to believe that Christian missions, Christian social efforts,
Christian gospel preaching, and Christian hopes of the final triumph of truth
are only doomed to disappointment, but the Noadiahs are often wrong.
Pessimists, philosophical or ecclesiastical, are all the prey of paralysis.
2. Then there was
Shemaiah (Nehemiah 6:10), who was “shut in the
temple.” He pretended that great danger approached. He sought to allure the
Reformer into a state of inactivity. He said: “Let us shut the doors of the temple, for
they will come and slay thee; yea, in the night, they will come and slay thee.”
However, Shemiah had his price. He had been hired. Money dictated his actions
as it does that of many mercenary hinderers of the truth, especially the men
who say, “We exist for the benefit of the people.”
3. Then there was Sanballat the Horonite. He was a most dangerous
enemy. He had a position at Samaria, the nearest strong city. He had special
influence also with the garrison. Of him it is said, “Sanballat was very wroth,
and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews and spake before his brethren
(relations), and the army of Samaria.” He said, “What do those feeble Jews?
Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the
stones out of the heaps of rubbish
that are burned?” He raged. His anger was like Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, heated
seven times hotter than usual. It was like the fires of the Inquisition that
did put out evangelical truth throughout Spain, and nearly through France.
Sanballat was most irritating to Nehemiah, for he taunted him bitterly. He
sought in every way to check the work by abuse of the courageous leader.
Sanballat, indeed, was a bitter east wind.
4. Tobiah, who lived at Ammon, was another enemy. He had power over a
province. He had probably reached his post by flattering when a slave in the
imperial court. Nehemiah calls him the slave (Nehemiah 2:19) (where servant should be
rendered slave). He was a sprung-up, conceited opponent of the truth. He
assumed that wisdom would die with him. This Tobiah was acquainted with the
internal state of Jerusalem, and had shown contempt for the efforts of
Nehemiah. He said, “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even
break down their stone wall” (Nehemiah 4:3). He ridiculed their aims,
and kept up a constant intrigue with those within who were disaffected (Nehemiah 6:17). This man, even after the
temple was finished and the walls built, managed to establish himself in the
sacred place itself, because he had relationship with the chief priest (Nehemiah 13:8). This man may represent
those who are traitorous betrayers, and who now cast ridicule upon the truth,
or on efforts after the truth--those who, pretending to help Protestant truth,
are its betrayers.
5. Another enemy was
Geshem or Gashmu an Arabian (Nehemiah 6:6). Geshem and Gashmu seem to
have been identical. He was an Ishmaelite. He was a wild, characterless
man--”an idle chatterer.” He had nothing to lose and everything to gain by
opposition. He brought false charges against Nehemiah as one who only wished to
set up a sovereignty, and to be independent of the central power at Susa (Nehemiah 6:6). Most dangerous of all
enemies was this Geshem, or Gashmu, for he could insinuate that mean motives were the
spring of holy efforts. He was a whisperer. Oh, how very many Gashmus there are
even now! They are of no importance, save that they can spread reports, and do
much damage. Gashmus will say that they pretend to be anxious about the cause
of God, when they are only anxious to gratify their own ambition. Or Gashmu
will say that Christians only desire advance in material prosperity. The
Gashmus are too indifferent to understand the enthusiasm of Christians.
6. Noadiah, Shemaiah, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gashmu were united. They
were cunning and cruel. They had allies within Jerusalem. Some were
half-hearted. Individually we have traitorous tendencies to indifference and
ease in our souls. We have many enemies whom we find represented by the
Ammonites and Arabians. They are such as these--doubts as to whether we are
converted, or unbelief as to Christ’s acceptance of us, or superstitious and
self-righteous leanings, seductions of the world, of pleasure, of wealth, of
fame, desire to have the good opinion of the world, desire to be known rather
as “good fellows” than good Christians. To be without temptation would be to be
without that element that goes to form character. “Better have the devil’s war
than have the devil’s peace.”
II. Nehemiah
teaches us how to resist the enemies of the truth.
1. He resisted by establishing sentinels, setting the watch to give
warning; he resisted by placing weapons into the hands of all. Our weapons of
defence are God’s commands, God’s promises, God’s love. Nehemiah resisted by
teaching the people to keep behind their defences. We, when assaults on our
faith or temptations come, should get behind the walls, should keep within
conscience--keep within the Word.
2. Nehemiah resisted his foes by pressing all into service. “None
were despised.”
3. Nehemiah resisted his foes by inspiring his people with confidence in God. God
is mightier than our foes.
4. Nehemiah resisted also by insisting that there should be no
parleying with the enemy. “Answer him not again.” He resisted by leading the
people to be as unrestful in toil as unceasing in outlook. “They laboured, and
half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars
appeared” (Nehemiah 4:21). He inspired his followers
with courage, saying, “Be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and
terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives,
and your houses.” And again, “Our God shall fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:14; Nehemiah 4:20). Words these worthy to be
the battle-cry of the Church. Moreover, Nehemiah resisted best by setting an
example of courage. “Should such a man as I flee?” All Christian life should be
courageous. Shall we, in view of the value of our souls, yield to evil? The more we work
for Christ and watch against evil, the stronger we shall become. Soldiers are
not kept idle while in garrison; work of some kind is always found for them. If
unemployed they would soon become flabby, weak, and without muscle. There is
ever something in Christian life to develop the watchful and the heroic. Persistency
prevailed. We are told that “when his enemies heard of the fact that the wall
was finished they were much cast down in their own eyes” (Nehemiah 6:16). Walls had risen which they
could not batter. Crestfallen, the enemies had to depart. Chroniclers might
have said of them, as it was written of Charles VIII. of France, and his
expedition against Naples, “They came into the field like thunder, and went out
like a soft shower.” So went away, in the time of Nehemiah, the enemies of
God’s struggling Church. “God brought their counsel to nought.” (F.
Hastings.)
And to hinder it.
The builders interrupted
I. The work
Nehemiah was commissioned to do.
II. How Nehemiah’s
work was hindered.
1. By ridicule.
2. By weariness (verse 10).
3. By fearfulness (verse 12).
Many now feel that there is danger in building the walls of Zion.
4. By bribery. No other cause so weakens the Church as defection in her own membership.
III. The measures by
which Nehemiah accomplished his work.
1. Prayer.
2. Sagacious efforts.
3. Single-ness of aim. Nothing could divert him.
4. Enthusiasm. Zeal in one heart sets other hearts burning. There is
a suggestive legend of the venerable Bede which tells us that when he was old,
with eyesight almost gone, one of his scholars led him to a heap of stones, and
told him they were people; this was enough. The aged servant was true to his
commission. With fiery tongue he preached the gospel. He ended as usual with
the doxology, “To whom be glory through all the ages.” Then from that heap of
stones a voice rose, “Amen venerabilis Bede!” True zeal springs not from
impulse, but from conviction.
5. His securing the co-operation of the people. “Every one to his
work.” When Wesley was asked the secret of his success, he replied, “To my
voice in the pulpit on the Sabbath the people add a thousand echoes during the
week.” (Monday Club Sermons.)
Hinderers
Nehemiah had enemies and hinderers in his great undertaking.
I. Those who said,
“ye shalt not do it.” Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, etc. These are the least
to be dreaded.
II. Those who said,
“you ought not to do it.” Those were the Jews who dwelt by these Samaritans.
They were near neighbours to them; so near as to be influenced by their threats
and their derision. This was a danger far more serious than that which came
directly to the good governor from the wicked Sanballat. The solicitation of
friends was far more likely to weaken his forces than the intimidation of foes.
This would tend to consolidate the people for defence, while that would draw
them off little by little, a few to this village and a few to that, until a
considerable part of them would be found to have melted away. The pleas of
friendship are stronger than the threats of enmity. This kindly interest shown
in their welfare, this fear in their behalf, and the possible need of them at
home--these were strong inducements to them to desert and go back to their various
villages. This is a plea, too, which can be repeated many times. So while the
threats are recorded as repeated twice, this call to return to those who loved
them was made in one form or another as many as ten times. Let the Church of
Christ and let the Christian man beware of these friendly voices which urge them
to withdraw from
the service on which they have entered, or from some special part of it,
because it may involve some danger or some sacrifice. It is those who live near
the enemy who reinforce his threats with their friendly entreaties; who add to
their” You shall not do it,” their own “Please do not do it.” Especially if we
are-in any way building the walls of Jerusalem, helping the cause of God and
His kingdom, we will be wise to beware of the call of those we have just left
to enter on this service when they say, “Ye must return to us,”
III. Those who said,
“we cannot do it.” This was the most pressing peril that could befall Nehemiah
and his mission.
A deserter is more demoralising than a dozen foes. One taken from the helpers
and added to the hinderers makes a difference of at least two. Their complaint
is twofold.
1. They find that their strength has given out.
2. That there is much “rubbish,” in the midst of which they had to
build. Out of the past city came the obstacles to the building of the future
city. Some of the worst hindrances to the accomplishment of our work as
Christians and as Christian Churches are those whose origin is in our own past
selves, lives, habits--the rubbish which has fallen from the neglected walls of
our own living. For the future, daily penitence and prayer will prevent the
accumulation of so much rubbish that we cannot build. (George M. Boynton.)
Rebuilding the wall
The enemies of the Jews felt that the rebuilding of the walls of
Jerusalem was a menace to their own welfare and local supremacy. They must
arrest it.
I. They tried
laughter. God’s people at work on the walls of Zion are continually told that
it is no use, they shall have their labour for their pains. A hundred years ago
William Carey was dubbed “the consecrated cobbler” for proposing the
evangelisation of India, but to-day all Christendom delights to do him honour.
God crowns the heroism that can face an epithet. All efforts at political and
social betterment are met in the same manner. The same is true of the rebuilding
of personal character. It is hard work to rebuild the walls of manhood out of
the rubbish-heaps of mislived years while old comrades stand by pointing their
fingers and cracking jokes, but by God’s grace it can be done.
II. Their
opposition assumed the form. Of threatening (Nehemiah 2:19). A good work is always in
the realm of danger, because it is in the nature of lese majeste--rebellion
against the prince of this world. A reformer never goes scot-free. Loss of
business or social standing, ostracism, political decapitation, are some of the
penalties which a true man is ever called upon to confront in the discharge of
duty.
III. They proposed a
compromise (Nehemiah 6:2). Duty knows no compromise.
The only way to serve God is unreservedly. The only way to avoid evil is not to
tamper with it. The apparently innocent diversions of Vanity Fair gave the
Pilgrim more trouble than all the giants and lions along his way. Diluted
theology and limp morals will sap the vitality of the most vigorous man or
Church. Right is right; to dilute it makes it wrong. Truth is truth; to
adulterate it makes it error. Duty is duty; to alloy it with disobedience makes
it sin. Conclusion:
Observe how these efforts were met.
1. By prayer. John Knox is said to have bedewed the walls of his closet
with hie tears of supplication. George Washington was glad to profess his
dependence upon God. Abraham Lincoln, when asked if he was accustomed to pray,
answered, “The man who would assume to perform the duties of the Presidency
without seeking Divine guidance must be a blockhead.” No man can ever afford to
spend a prayerless day.
2. A watch was set. The countersign was given; it was the same that
long afterwards rang from the lips of the Roundheads in their struggle for
English freedom, “God with us” (verse 20). The authorship of the famous maxim,
“Trust in God and keep your powder dry,” may be traced to Nehemiah. No
enterprise fails that is backed by faith and works.
3. Nehemiah and his men kept on working. Prayer, vigilance, and
patient continuance in well-doing can work wonders. (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)
The soldier builders
I. Combination of
prayer and watchfulness.
II. Combination of
precept and example (Nehemiah 4:14-15; Nehemiah 4:18.)
III. Every builder
was also a soldier.
IV. A mutual
co-operation went hand in hand with personal work and responsibility. (J. M.
Randall.)
A bold and united front to the enemy
It was therefore necessary to present a bold and united
front to the enemy, and to be soldiers as well as builders; and it was only by
similar zeal, diligence, and unity that they could hope, under the blessing of
God, to encircle Jerusalem with wall! and bulwarks. Nelson, the day before the
battle of Trafalgar, took Collingwood and Rotherham, who were at variance, to
the spot where they could see the fleet opposed to them. “Yonder,” said he,
“are your enemies; shake hands and be friends like good Englishmen.” Let
Christians learn to cultivate unity in spirit, and as far as possible unity in
action. Let us ascend from the minor specialities in which we differ, the
narrowness and jealousy of sect and party, to the grand platform of truth,
wherein we are all agreed. (J. M. Randall.)
Verse 9
We made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch.
Watch and pray
I. The duty of
prayer.
1. Prayer implies trust.
2. It implies acknowledged weakness.
3. It realises Divine power. Hence in the Christian life that man is
only safe, prosperous, or happy who is constantly on his knees.
II. Active
vigilance and duty. God’s help is not intended to favour indolence, but to
encourage exertion. The husbandman knows that God gives the increase, and
therefore ploughs and sows. A man may talk, says Jay, about casting his care
upon God, and may sing “Jehovah-Jireh” with all his energy as long as he
pleases, but if he is idle, dissolute, foolish, he only tempts God, not trusts
Him, for if a man will not work neither shall he eat. We have to carry on a
greater work than Nehemiah. An enemy is endeavouring to prevent us building our
eternal habitations, to hinder our work of preparation for heaven. Let us give
our mental, moral, intellectual ability to working out our own salvation,
knowing that God worketh in us to will and to do. (Homilist.)
Piety and prudence
I. The appeal of
the church of God.
1. Recognising their weakness and dependence, they prayed unto God.
2. In spite of discouragements these men prayed. “Nevertheless.”
3. They must have been encouraged by remembering what relation God
sustained towards them. “Our God.”
4. They united in supplication.
II. The reliance of
the church upon itself. “Set a watch.”
1. There are enemies all around us.
2. God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves.
3. Our enemies are vigilant and untiring.
4. Our enemies conspire together. There is an unholy alliance of the
forces of evil. (The Study.)
The union of prayer and watchfulness
This union is equally pleasing and profitable. It keeps our
devotion from growing up into rank enthusiasm, and our diligence from sinking
into the wisdom of the world which is foolishness with God. The life of the
Christian is held forth as that of a warfare. What, then, can be more
reasonable than to betake ourselves to prayer and vigilance?
I. Let us make our
prayer to God.
1. It is recommended by God Himself--“Call upon Me in the day of
trouble,” etc.
2. The very exercise of prayer is useful.
3. Prayer is the forming of a confederacy with God.
II. Set a watch,
because of our enemies, night and day.
1. Impress your minds with a sense of your danger.
2. Study your constitutional weakness and failings.
3. Observe how you have already been foiled or ensnared.
4. Guard against the beginnings of sin.
5. Avoid the occasions of sin.
Nothing is more dangerous than idleness. Our idle days, says
Henry, are the devil’s busy ones. Stagnant waters breed thousands of noxious
insects; but this is not the case with living water. (William Jay.)
The model of a Christian warrior
I. His
prayerfulness.
II. His
watchfulness. Watchfulness without prayer is pre sumptuous pride, but prayer
without watchfulness is presumptuous sloth. Confidence in the help of God must
not prevent the use of all proper means for safety and deliverance. God
promised Paul the lives of all on board the ship in which he sailed; but they
were to use the means of safety. “Some on boards, and some on broken pieces of
the ship; and so it come to pass that they escaped all safe to land.” While the
Christian is surrounded with a powerful conspiracy of all the principalities of
evil, he should aim at a military discipline of his heart and his thoughts. His
conscience, like the trumpeter at Nehemiah’s side, should be always awake.
III. His industry.
IV. His exalted
courage, associated with a holy caution.
V. His
cheerfulness in the performance of his arduous duties. (R. P. Buddicom.)
Nehemiah’s devotion
The hardiest devotion is the healthiest. The devotion of
the cloister is for the most part like the ghastly light that hovers over
decomposition and decay; the devotion which characterises the diligent,
spiritually-minded man of business resembles the star which shines on in the
storm as in the calm--when the sky is clouded as when it is serene. (R. P.
Buddicom.)
Praying and doing
I. Praying is the
most important step of life. If a bad man would be good, the first step should
be that of prayer. And our last breath when we leave this earth for the other
world is prayer.
II. If our prayers
are to bless us, we must pray earnestly.
III. Moreover, when
we pray we are not to neglect the means of making our prayer effectual. We are
to do as Nehemiah did--pray to God, and set a watch. I am not afraid of
thieves; but while I pray to God to let His angels encamp about my house and
guard it, I do not expect the angels to come into my lobbies and lock the
doors. I can do that. While we pray we are not to neglect any means at our hands for doing the
work for which we pray. In the same way, a working man who earns a couple of
pounds a week may pray, “O Lord, provide for me, and keep me from debt.” It is
right thus to pray, but then let not the working man neglect the means which
are in his power to fulfil the prayer; let him put by two or three shillings a
week to provide for any time of need. Some people seem to think that religion
is a kind of spiritual charm, like the horse-shoe that our superstitious
forefathers nailed behind the front door to keep out the “bogies.” They think
that religion is for them to say prayers and go to church, and then God will
keep them from hell. Oh, no.
IV. While we pray
for success, let us take heed to watch for opportunities of doing good. A
wealthy farmer, whose haystacks were numerous, and whose barns were full of
corn, on reading in the newspapers about the great distress in the time of the
cotton famine, prayed earnestly at the family altar that the poor might be fed
and clothed, but he did not send any donation to the fund, and the next Sunday
he uttered the same prayer. On the way to church the little son said, “Father,
I wish I had your corn.” “Why, my boy, what would you do with it?” “Father, I
would give it to the hungry
people for bread.” It is no use praying that the hungry may be fed if you will
not help to feed them from your full cupboard. The purpose of prayer is--asking
God to give you power to do good, and then seeking opportunities to exert that
power. (W. Birch.)
The two guards, praying and watching
In the text I see two
guards.
I. First guard,
prayer.
1. It was a prayer that meant business.
2. It was a prayer that overcame difficulties.
3. It was a prayer that came before anything else.
4. It was a prayer that was continued.
5. It was a prayer that was home-made.
6. It was a prayer that went to the home of prayer.
7. It was a prayer saturated with faith.
II. Second guard,
watchfulness. This setting of a watch was--
1. A work appointed.
2. A work carefully done.
3. A work continued.
4. A work quickened by knowledge.
(a) Ungodly relatives. Be patient, gentle, loving towards them. Do
nothing that will give them occasion to blaspheme.
(b) The evil tendencies of our corrupt nature.
5. Watch for yourself when you see another fall, lest you should fall
in the same place.
III. I finish by
putting the two guards together. Neither is sufficient alone. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Watchfulness needed
An old writer, speaking of men as stewards of God, urges upon them
as wise traders and servants to look to themselves carefully, and take care of
four houses which are under their charge.
1. Their warehouse, or heart and memory, wherein they should store up
precious things, holy affections, grateful remembrances, etc.
2. Their workhouse, or their actions, wherein they retail to others,
for God’s glory, the grace entrusted to them.
3. Their clock-house--their speech--which must always, like a well-tuned
bell, speak the truth accurately; and meaning also their observance of time,
redeeming it by promptly doing the duties of every hour.
4. Their counting-house, or their conscience, which is to be
scrupulously kept, and no false reckonings allowed, lest we deceive our own
souls. (J. M. Randall.)
Watchfulness and prayer
A believer’s watchfulness is like that of a soldier. A
sentinel posted on the walls, when he discerns a hostile party advancing, does
not attempt to make head against them himself, but informs his commanding
officer of the enemy’s approach, and leaves him to take the proper measures
against the foe. So the Christian does not attempt to fight temptations in his
own strength: his watchfulness lies in observing its approach, and in telling
God of it by prayer. (W. Mason.)
At rest, but ready
At Christmas-time soldiers are in the habit of decorating
their barrack-rooms, and are fond of putting mottoes cut out of gilt paper
amongst the holly on their whitewashed walls. Last year I noticed in one room
these two. Over the door there was, “At peace, but still on guard”; and in
another place, “At rest, but ready.” Are not these equally applicable to
spiritual life? If we have left our sins at the foot of the Cross, we should be at
peace and rest, but on our guard against temptation, watching for the coming of
the Lord. (The Quiver.)
And there is much rubbish.
The hindrances of rubbish
I. That there is
too much “rubbish” in the pulpit. Carlyle, in giving a whimsical instance of
the importance attached to etiquette at the Court of Louis XVI., while the
infuriated mob were demanding entrance to his private apartments, compares it
to the house-cricket still chirping amid the pealing of the trump of doom. And
so, too, when the ambassador for
Christ doles out to souls perishing for the Bread of Life the
vain speculations of metaphysics and philosophy, he ought to be held
accountable for the spiritual slumber which such narcotics are certain to
produce.
II. Another reason
why the walls of the spiritual Jerusalem are not built up with more rapidity is
because of the “rubbish” about the post. The minds of multitudes are bewildered
and turned aside from the pursuit of the one thing needful by unprofitable
discussions concerning the modes of baptism and the disposition to magnify
unimportant things into essentials.
III. The heaps of
“rubbish” about the Lord’s table is another reason why the walls of the
spiritual Jerusalem are built up so slowly.
IV. Then there is
the “rubbish” of flimsy excuses which blocks up the path of life. (J.
N. Norton.)
Removing rubbish
The ancient Jerusalem was but an imperfect type of the true city
of God, which through the ages prophets have panted for and poets have sung, a
city of truth, and righteousness and love; of liberty, equality, and
fraternity, in a far fuller sense of the words than Rousseau dreamed of. For
ages men have been building against opposition malignant and persistent, and
with sure if slow progress. And we are building to-day. In a moment of pause we
look round and still we say, “There is much rubbish.” What rubbish do you meet
with.--
I. In English law.
II. In English
society.
III. In English
life.
IV. In church life.
V. In our
libraries.
VI. In newspapers
and magazines.
VII. In our minds.
VIII. In our hearts.
(David Brook, M. A.)
Rubbish
We have to build the wall of the Church for God, but we cannot
build it, for there is so much rubbish in our way. This is true--
I. of the building
of the Church, which is the Jerusalem of God.
1. When the apostles began to build for God, there lay before them
towering heaps of rubbish.
2. Soon after apostolic times came the old Roman rubbish.
3. At present there is still much rubbish coming from the world, the
flesh, and the devil.
II. This is equally
true of the temple of God, which is to be built in each one of our hearts.
There is oftentimes in Christian people the old rubbish--
1. Of legal thought, of legal acting, of legal fearing.
2. Of old habits.
3. Of worldly associations.
4. Lofty thoughts of ourselves, engendered by worldly prosperity and
spiritual acquisitions. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Rubbish
But in our text we read of an unexpected difficulty pleaded by the
men of Judah--a weary, trying, and depressing task, entailing much toil and
little show of progress. So in the Christian’s inner life; there lies in his
way a heap of broken resolutions, of former good intentions never carried out;
a ponderous mass of indolent excuses for doing nothing; a rubbish pile of petty
procrastinations, promising that some day we will improve, but putting off that
day from time to time! It does indeed need Divine help and aid to summon up energy
and to commence, beginning at once, that arduous work of removing the rubbish
and ruins and starting afresh. So, also, those who would do good to others, who
would rebuild God’s Zion and populate the kingdom of Christ with souls, must
expect to find in their way a heavy and inert mass of ignorance, apathy, and
opposition. We shall find at first disappointments and failures heaped up high
in our path, but, like the faithful men of Jerusalem of old, let our answer be,
“We will rise up and build,” and the encouraging voice of the true Nehemiah,
the real Restorer of the Heavenly Zion, will greet us with the promise, “The
God of heaven will prosper” you! (W. Hardman, LL. D.)
Verse 11
And our adversaries said, They shall not know.
The craft and cruelty of the Church’s adversaries
I. A strong
combination against the church of god.
II. A wicked design
they were combined in.
III. A bloody means
propounded.
IV. A subtle way
projected for the affecting of this. (Matthew Newcomen.)
Satanic subtlety
I. In this
serpentine, crafty, and malicious dealing of these wicked men appeareth the old
serpentine nature and malice of Satan.
II. The next
property of the serpent that appeareth in them is that they mercilessly would
murder them when they had once thus suddenly invaded them.
III. The last
property of Satan appeareth here in these wicked men, in that they would gladly
overthrow this building of Jerusalem, that it should never be thought of any more. (Bp.
Pilkington.)
Verse 14
Remember the Lord, which is great.
The power of memory
Consider--
I. The power of
memory.
II. The application
of the text to ourselves.
1. Parents should remember that God regards them as stewards, to whom
are committed the care, the instruction, and the discipline of their offspring.
2. Children should remember that forgetfulness of the claims of home,
of a father, of a mother, is a forgetfulness of God.
3. Employers should “remember the Lord” in the example which He
furnishes of gentleness, patience, kindness, forbearance, and deep humility.
4. Servants should “remember the Lord,” that He “took upon Him the form of a
servant.” Conclusion: Remember the promises He has made, the deliverances He
has wrought, the blessings He has conferred, the invitations He has given, and
the relations He now fills. Remember Him--in calamity to trust Him, in
prosperity to praise Him, in danger to call upon Him, in difficulty to expect His interference.
Remember Him, for it is your duty, it is your privilege. Remember Him, for He
never forgets you. (W. Horwood.)
God is on the field
Always believe that God is on your side. “He is on the field when
most invisible.” In one of the great continental cities the regalia are not
kept behind iron bars as in the Tower of London, but lie upon an open table. It
might appear an easy thing for some thief to snatch a diamond or a jewel from
the glittering array, and yet no man dare put out his band to take one, for
that table is charged with electricity, and woe to the person who touches it.
The protection is complete; you cannot see it, but there it is. Only live in
daily--hourly communion with Christ. Don’t break the spiritual connection, and
you are as safe from Satan and sin as the jewels from the devices of the thief.
Greater is He that is for us than all enemies that can be against us. (E.
Abbott.)
Verse 15
Every one unto his work.
Specialty of work for each man
There is something beautiful to me in the thought that there is a
specialty of work for each man. In work, as in character, disposition, history,
and destiny, there is a specialty; and when the Church arises to the New
Jerusalem, it will not be to sit there as one vast photographic likeness, nor
shall one be able to say of its members, “I have heard their history,” when the
story of one has been told. The history of the Church will be made up of
individual histories; and each one shall possess its own peculiar interest.
Your history will be none the less interesting when mine has been told, nor
mine when you have related yours. Your head and heart will not be as mine, nor
mine as yours; we shall not be mere fragments of a universal Church; but we
shall be fully, roundly, and conspicuously ourselves, in the Church of which we
make a whole, and perfect, and unexampled individual. (H. W. Beecher.)
Every man at his place
In that fearful national catastrophe which befell England, i.e.,
the loss of the ironclad Victoria, the staunch steadfastness of our
British sailors was grandly illustrated. When the crash came, instead of a wild
rush on deck of all below, every man remained true to his post. All knew that a
serious collision had occurred, yet the most perfect order was maintained. The
engineers kept their eyes on the indicator and moved their levers as directed,
in spite of the fact that their lives were in imminent danger. Even when it was
seen that the vessel was settling down, and all were called on deck, the men
ranged themselves in line, and the order, “Right about face,” was obeyed,
though while in the act the vessel heeled over, and all were precipitated into
the sea. Our personal duty:--The only way to regenerate the world is to do the
duty which lies nearest to us, and not to hunt after grand, far-fetched ones
for ourselves. If each drop of rain chose where it should fall, God’s showers
would not fall as they do now on the evil and the good alike. (Charles
Kingsley.)
Our own duty to be attended to
There is a story with which many of the present generation have
been made familiar in our reading books which has an important application to
Christian life. The story is that a German, with an ear sensitive to music, one
day entered a church, and, being distressed by the discords of the singing, put
his fingers in his ears; but there penetrated through them a single clear, rich
soprano, singing in such perfect tune, that he was moved to listen. The singer
never faltered because of the jarring notes, nor increased the volume of her
voice to drown them. She kept steadily on till one after another came into
accord with her sweet tones, till she brought the entire body of singers into
harmony.
Verse 17-18
Every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the
other hand held a weapon,
The work and warfare of life
Life is work, and life is warfare; and these are ever commingled.
Our text is but an epitome and sample of that larger and longer work which
fills the broad area of all human history.
I. This life is to
men a scene of toil. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” is the
universal and unchanging law of human life. Inaction is no blessing. The spirit
of man stagnates and sickens under it, and it issues in a weariness which is
worse than the fatigues of labour. Activity is needful to the true enjoyment of
life. Adam was not inactive in paradise (Genesis 2:15). Heaven is a rest, but not
a rest of indolence. There “His servants do serve Him.” The true labour of life
involves self-denial, apprehension, patience, fatigue, disappointment. Every
man has a work that is specific and peculiar to him. The great Taskmaster never
set two of His creatures the same task. Amid much general sameness, there is
the strictest individuality. Life’s work is twofold.
1. The secular department. How great is the number of human
avocations! And in each of these avocations what a number of workers! And each
one has a task given him to do which is as distinct as himself, which no one
can do but he, and which is defined by his circumstances, his relations and his
endowments.
2. The spiritual department. The work of the soul and of eternity;
the end of which is--“to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever.”
II. This life is
also a scene of conflict. We have to fight--
1. Against ourselves. As internal wars are ever fiercest and most
painful, so the battle-ground of a Christian’s own heart is that on which he is
called to wage the severest fight and win the hardest victory. We have to
overcome our sluggishness, our unbelief, our sensuality, our concupiscence, the
heavy clog of sense, and the fierce impulse of corruption.
2. Against men. This enemy is called the world. And by it we mean
that vast mass of maxims, opinions, beliefs, pursuits, ways, habits, opposed to
the mind and service of God, which characterise human society.
3. Against spirits. The devil and his angels, numerous, powerful,
malignant (Ephesians 6:12). (R. A. Hallam, D. D.)
Construction and contention
We have here illustrated two principles--
I. construction.
Each of us is put into the world to be a builder, and himself is the building.
Each separate disciple is a “habitation of God, through the Spirit.” If your
faith, your work, your prayers, your watchfulness shall ever succeed in
edifying you into anything like a completed Christian, your character will be
an edifice where God’s glory will be more distinctly manifest than it is over
any altar, where His praise will resound more acceptably than from the grandest
organ, and where His truth is more effectually preached than from the most
eloquent pulpit of any cathedral in the world.
1. Because character is a building it is not therefore to be
understood that there is no need in the Christian life for an instant change,
or conversion. That comes before the building can be begun to any purpose, or
on any right plan. All must be sound at the base. If any man should try to
build on a false foundation his work would come to nought. No outside clamps
would hold it up. Except ye be converted, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of
heaven.
2. We must not take the impression that the formation of Christian
character consists in putting pieces of moral propriety together--a patchwork
of merits without any all-controlling Divine principle. In all buildings there
must be one “design,” an organising principle held clearly in the builder’s
mind. In the structure of character this organising principle is the in working
life of Christ. It is the will of God. The spiritual laws are just as
necessary, in order to success in a righteous life, as the mechanical laws in
order to architectural success. The first of those laws is that God is the
centre and object of all religious affections; the second, that Jesus is the
way to the Father. Hence--self-renunciation--yielding the heart--submission to
the Heavenly Will is the inmost necessity of a Christian character. To the
question how we
shall build character fair and strong, the answer is--“Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ.” Into every particle of life must run this secret power of the
Holy Christ--like the builder’s invisible design spreading through all the
beams and braces and apartments of the house, or else it will be no “habitation
of the Spirit.” Christian character means a righteous will, a purpose
consecrated to God, and acting in all well-doing for man. You may grow in
character by doing, thinking, and feeling more vigorously for God and your
brother-man. Construction, then, is the multiplying of that inward spiritual
energy out of which right outward deeds will be sure to come. It is
replenishing the stock of life in the heart. It is making conscience quick,
watchful, unbending. It is cultivating loyalty to the voice of God in the soul.
It is the increase of humility, sincerity, temperance, integrity, patience,
sweetness of temper, submission, benevolence. Additions to these, by whatever
means, by Bible and prayer, and sacrament and labour, by the study of them in
the lives of heroic saints, are the positive building of character.
II. contention. In
the positive process of achieving good, hindrances are met. It has been said,
“There is nothing real or useful that is not a seat of war.” Take construction
without resistance.
If I ignore the fact of sin and forget temptations and simply go
on cultivating good, as if there were no opposite, presently I shall find these
sins are making assaults on me from behind: my work will be undermined, my pious pains
spoilt; I shall be no true builder. On the other hand, take resistance without
construction. This will produce a hard, censorious, belligerent type of piety.
The sword will crowd out the gentle arts of peace. It makes soldiers against
Satan, but not tillers of the soil of God. We become clever disputants, but not
good, trusting, patient, loving, holy men and women. Looking out so sharply for
the Ammonites and Ashdodites the walls do not go up. We want the watchful eye
of the old anchorite, without his austerity. We want the practical activity of
the modern reformer without his blindness to the personal foes in his own
heart. We want one hand for service, one for battle; when this is understood
Christ’s Church will be filled with consistent believers and fearless soldiers.
(Bp. Huntington.)
The sword and the trowel
The stirring incident suggests lessons to the workers in God’s
cause to-day.
I. The Church of
God has still a great work to do for the salvation of the world. The walls of
many a Jerusalem are down and need building up. Injustice, oppression, and
wrong are found in many places.
II. How is the
Church to accomplish all this work? Consider the people named in the text.
1. They had a wise and skilful leader. It is said that Alexander the
Great was strolling among the tents of his soldiers on the eve of some great
battle. Hearing some of his men engaged in conversation in one of the tents, he
stopped to listen. The men were losing courage and heart, and said so. As they
deplored their insufficiency for the task of the morrow, he slipped up to the
door of the tent, and swinging back the canvas, said, “Remember that Alexander
is with you.” Nehemiah told the people of a greater than Alexander. In all
aggressive movements there must be aggressive leaders.
2. All the people were willing to help. The danger in these days is
to leave the work to a few, to recognised leaders and officers. This is always
foolish; in the Church of God it is fatal.
3. Each one had a work and did it. God has a piece of work for each
one of us to do. Some have to stand in the front; others have to stand in the
rear. Some work in the blaze of day, and others work out of sight. I sometimes
admire the bridges which cross the Thames. As I have sailed under them, I have
thought about the divers who had to work below the surface of the water to lay
the foundation of some of the strong work which carries the weight of the
whole. The work these divers did out of sight was all-important. If they had
done it badly the whole would have suffered in consequence. It may be so with
our work.
4. They did the work in dependence upon God. They did their secular
work in a religious spirit. (C. Leach, D. D.)
The work of a Christian
This is well set forth by the occupations of a builder and a soldier.
1. There are heaps of rubbish to be removed. There must be a true
repentance, a confessing and forsaking of sin.
2. Foundations deep and strong must be laid. Christ the one
Foundation.
3. The wall must be carried up, little by little, etc. There must be
a growing up into Christ, an advance in grace day by day.
4. This must be done according to the settled plan, by rule and
square. Our rule is the written Word.
5. The Christian has to carry on his work in troublous times. He must
stand bravely at his post, like a sentinel on watch. He must stand where his
Captain has placed him. Obedience to Christ is the glory of the Christian
soldier. We must believe where we cannot see, and trust where we cannot trace.
The end will justify all His dealings with us and by us. In the Peninsular War,
the captain of a division was placed by Wellington at a point remote from the
field where s battle was about to be fought. He was expressly ordered to remain
there, and on no account to quit his post. When the battle was raging fiercely
the captain could no longer endure the inaction of his position, and so left it and
joined in the fight. The enemy were driven from the field, and fled in the very
direction that Wellington had anticipated, and where the captain with his men had
been posted. The general felt confident that their flight would be cut off; but
great was his anger when he found that his orders had been disobeyed, and the
post vacated. It is said that he never again employed the captain in any
important affair, and that the latter died of a broken heart through the loss
of his reputation as a soldier. (J. M. Randall.)
Verse 19-20
The work is great . . . and we are separated upon the wall.
The common work of the Master
In time of war you visit the camp. There is flying from the
flagpole in the sun the stars and stripes. You look upon the men in their
scattered avocations. A few men are playing, a few men are cleaning their guns,
a few men are cooking, here and there a sentry is pacing back and forth, some
men are lying on
the grass asleep, there is no common life, there seems to be no common purpose,
there appears to be no common endeavour, or action. But suddenly the bugle sounds
the call, or the drum its roll, and instantly the men spring to their feet,
drop their cards, awake from their slumber, leave their cooking utensils, anal
stand ready to meet the enemy, ready to do the bidding of their commander. Deep
down in their hearts there is a common purpose, and that flag that floats at
the topmost pole and over their camp indicates what that purpose is. So
Christians are to gather
in the name of Christ--you, merchant--you, lawyer--you, physician--you,
minister--you, teacher--you, parent, each in your several place, each doing
your several work. Whenever the drum shall beat its roll-call, you are to be
ready, not merely to do your
own work, but to stand shoulder to shoulder in serried ranks, to do the common
work of the Master, in fulfilment of the common aim which has really united
you. (Lyman Abbott.)
Verse 20
So we laboured in the work.
Perseverance
The builders not only began well, but they persevered to the end
of their work. Perseverance is s great element of success. It was George
Stephenson’s motto, “Persevere”; and the celebrated mathematician, Arago, tells
us that his master in mathematics gave a word of advice which he found in the binding
of one of his text-books. Puzzled and discouraged by the difficulties he met
with in his early studies, he was almost ready to give up the pursuit. Some
words which he found on the waste leaf used to stiffen the cover of his
paper-bound text-book caught his eye, and interested him. It proved to be a
short letter from D’Alembert to a young person disheartened, like himself, by
the difficulties of mathematical study, and who had written to him for counsel.
“Go on, go on, sir,” was the counsel which D’Alembert gave him. “The
difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance.” This maxim
followed out made him one of the greatest astronomers of his day. And
Christians must persevere in the work of God. (J. M. Randall.)
Perseverance
A Christian negro was once asked the meaning of
perseverance, and he said, “Masse, me think it mean hang on, hold fast, and no
let go.” And when some one questioned John Wesley on the remarkable success of
his followers, “Sir,” he said, “they are all at it, and always at it.” (J.
M. Randall.)
Verse 23
None of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off
for washing.
The necessary and the unnecessary
Some people waste all their energy in putting off and on their
clothes: their
whole life is a question of clothes; they cannot do anything until their
clothes are right. Nehemiah showed how he distinguished between the necessary
and the unnecessary. We must attend to health if we are to attend to successful
toil. Time is not wasted that is spent in obeying the laws of life. (J. Parker, D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》