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Northwest Church of Christ 3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718 330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119 |
“Rising Up To Build” |
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I. Introduction.
A. The three Old Testament books, Ezra, Nehemiah, and
Esther, form the concluding section of Jewish history
recorded in that part of the Bible. They tell the story of
the Jews’ return to Israel from what had been the
Babylonian Empire. They recount the rebuilding of the
Temple at Jerusalem, and the reestablishment of the Jews’
national life in their homeland. These books cover a period
of about 100 years, from 536 to 432 B.C.1. Our focus is on the last 25 years of this period, from
457 to 432 B.C., when Nehemiah, as governor, and
Ezra, as priest, saw to the building of Jerusalem’s
walls, and its restoration as a fortified city.2. Nehemiah could be characterized as a man of
prayer, patriotism, action, courage, and
perseverance. Before he ever approached the
Persian king, Artaxerxes, about returning to
Jerusalem, he prayed for 4 months.3. As the king’s cupbearer, he was a man who was
trusted, and held an important position. Artaxerxes,
himself, was the stepson of Queen Esther, the
Jewess. This, no doubt, gave the Jews greater
prestige at his court, and, it could well be that
Esther was still alive when Nehemiah made his
request to go home.4. As has often been the case, and it is still so, today,
God provided the circumstances for events to take
place. These courageous people had to act within
those circumstances to accomplish their purposes,
and God’s will.B. Not only would the work of re-building Jerusalem’s walls
be difficult, it would be dangerous. The old enemies of the
Jews possessed much of the land of Israel: the Moabites,
the Ammonites, the Ashdodites, the Arabians, and, now,
the Samaritans, people who were for the most part,
transplants from Assyria and Babylon, who had taken the
lands of the exiled Jews.1. These enemies mobilized their armies to attack
Jerusalem, and stop the rebuilding of its walls.2. Once more, as a defense, Nehemiah turned to prayer
and, with faith in God, he skillfully arranged his
men and proceeded with the work – and finished the
walls in just 52 days.C. Nehemiah had a plan, and that plan was to accomplish his
purpose. Nehemiah had confidence in God, and that
confidence allowed him to accomplish his purpose. He led
Israel to rise up and build, and no enemy could stop the
work he had chosen to do for the God he chose to serve.II. Building With Your Guard Up.
A. Nehemiah’s, and Israel’s, enemies tried to knock him
down – but they could not knock him out. His response to
the challenge teaches us that we must rise up to build,
whenever God gives us the opportunity.B. Whatever we attempt to do, whatever goals we seek to
accomplish, we can be assured there will be opposition.
That opposition will attack us with the same weapons, and
for the same reasons, the enemies of Nehemiah attacked his
work. They will attack with:1. Anger (4:1).
2. Ridicule (4:1).
3. Questioning (4:2).
4. Criticism and Sarcasm (4:3).
C. These are the weapons of attack; as to the reasons for the
attack, they too are the same today as they were in
Nehemiah’s time: God’s will constantly comes into
conflict with peoples’ will.1. God’s will was clear and definitive: rebuild the
wall (Nehemiah 2:17-20; READ).2. But, God realized there’d be opposition to that
rebuilding.3. There was a conflict between the will of God and
the wills of some people.D. How did Nehemiah and the Israelites respond to the
opposition? (4:4-9). There was a two-fold response.1. There was, first, prayer (4:4-5; Re-Read).
Nehemiah talked to God about the opposition.2. Then there was action and perseverance (4:6-9;
Re-Read).a. Nehemiah and the people persisted in doing
God’s work and will.b. They kept at the job and encouraged one
another.c. They saw the opposition intensify as a
result of their persistence.d. So they prayed longer and worker harder to
get the job done. They kept their guard up
as they accomplished their mission.III. Conclusion.
A. When we rise up to build, endeavoring to do God’s will and
bring glory to Him, our enemy, Satan, will do everything
he can to defeat and discourage us.B. The loftier our goals, the greater our commitment, the
harder we work, the more we achieve, the more opposition
we can expect.C. How we respond to the roadblocks, how we overcome the
opposition, how we deal with the discouragement and
disillusionment, hasn’t changed since Nehemiah’s time at
Jerusalem: prayer, and perseverance. God’s power can
keep us going, keep us trusting Him, and keep us building
His kingdom.D. Centuries after Nehemiah and Israel rose up to build, Paul
wrote to the church at Corinth: “We are hard pressed on
every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed . . . knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.” (II Corinthians 4:8, 9; 14).E. (Illust).
Tell story of one of most dramatic moments at the 1968
Olympic Games, in Mexico City. At conclusion of marathon race – all runners back at Olympic stadium, winner declared. One lone runner entered stadium – last to return. Crowd saw him and stood and cheered him. He crossed the finish line – well after the first-place finisher.He was asked why he’d continued to run, knowing that he was so far behind. Looked at questioner and said: “You don’t understand. My country did not send me all this way to start the race. It sent me here to finish the race.”
F. Let’s “rise up and build” now and in the future.