expository meditations on the book of nehemiah

ALTHOUGH we saw in the previous two verses of this sixth chapter of Nehemiah that there had been a period of calm in Jerusalem, because the enemies of Jerusalem had been discouraged by the success of the work in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Satan had not ceased his work. Although God gives his people periods when we are able to rest �beside still waters�, Satan never gives up and is always looking for ways to assault the work of God.

One very prevalent way Satan does this is by means of an enemy or enemies within the camp; that is that Satan infiltrates his servants within the walls of Jerusalem. Satan gains allegiance from people within the visible church and inside the congregation, and he also manages to place these people in places of influence where they can do the maximum amount of damage. This is what we see here in these three verses.

ENEMY INSIDE

The enemies of God had infiltrated Jerusalem to keep up the pressure of hindering the revival in Jerusalem. Tobiah had gained friends amongst the nobles of Judah. It is often amongst the privileged that Satan finds support, because often their place of privilege and ease is threatened by new life in the church of God. The means by which this allegiance was gained for Tobiah was through marriage. Here is an example of the danger of marriage between Christians and unbelievers. There is always the hope in the heart of the Christian who marries an unbeliever that love will prevail, and the unbeliever will be brought to believe, but experience shows that this is rarely the case. More often than not, it is the unbeliever who influences the believer away from Christ.

In the situation which existed in Jerusalem in the time if Nehemiah, these nobles found themselves obligated towards Tobiah, and constant communication was taking place between them and Tobiah, and much, if not all, was subversive. Tobiah�s purpose was to undermine Nehemiah�s authority.

On top of this Tobiah sought to bring Nehemiah into difficulty concerning his attitude towards Tobiah. These nobles were constantly singing the praises of Tobiah, and speaking openly of his good deeds, and so gaining support for him amongst the other people of influence in Jerusalem. Because of this, when Nehemiah warned the people against Tobiah, and asked them to have no dealings with him, the people felt he was being petty and vindictive, and so his words of warning fell on unresponsive ears. In this ways Tobiah gained authority in Jerusalem, and was able to influence people against the work of God.

Tobiah also sought to discourage Nehemiah. This was achieved by making sure Nehemiah knew of all this subversion, and making Nehemiah feel his impotence to put a stop to it. Enemies of the Gospel, like Tobiah, are very clever in the way they work. They are able to appear the good people, and the injured party, and so it is very difficult to discredit them, or curtail their influence. Tobiah heaped on the discouragement by sending letters by which he sought to intimidate Nehemiah.

APPLYING THIS HISTORY

We may well ask what all this has to do with us today. It is interesting, but is it relevant for Christians today, and the life of the church today. In fact it is very relevant. There are two main directions that Satan has to exploit this �enemy in the camp� strategy. Satan uses both with great effect. One is in the corporate life of the church, and the other is in the life of the individual believer. Let us look at each in turn.

a. The enemy in the corporate life of the church

It is a fact that there never is a congregation in the church of God which has 100% true believing people as its members. It may be true that all may have belief in the doctrines of the Bible in some measure or another, but there is a difference between having Bible knowledge and affirmation of these truths, and knowing real saving faith and discipleship of Jesus. It is not always very easy to discern the difference between true believers and those who outwardly appear to be believers. These people who don�t really know the Gospel will be found as workers within the congregation and doing a great deal of good. These people get elected to church councils, and will be found in places of leadership and influence.

Because these people are not true believers, they will be influenced by worldly wisdom, and this is a fruitful ground for Satan�s subversion. These people may be very sincere in their opposition when they oppose some aspect of the church�s work and life, and may feel they are the people who are right and showing prudence and sanity, but they are actually hindering the work of God. How many ministers of God have experienced the discouragement of hearing people opposing some vision for the advancement of God�s kingdom when people who have no true faith say that this can�t be done for some reason, which in human terms seems so plausible.

Then there are those who will keep the church in dead spirituality with arguments that the traditions of the past must never be changed, because they are what is right, and any change must be wrong. Traditions of the past must be valued, specially if they uphold the truth of the Gospel, but this must never keep the church from meeting the needs of people in the present. It is always important that the truth of the Gospel is not compromised, but this does not mean that we must remain in the culture of the past, or refuse to adopt things in the present day culture that will help to communicate the Gospel in the present.

However Satan may often cause hindrance to the work by causing people to oppose change in the mistaken belief that it is worldly or denying some cherished truth. Satan often follows this up by fermenting division within the body as people seek to support for their cause against those who are looking for change.

Another avenue of Satan�s exploitation of the enemy within is when personalities within the church membership, and even the leadership, fall out over some issue, or a clash of personality takes place. Satan ferments this, again tempting people to take sides, and so the spiritual life of the church is harmed. In these situations Satan always seeks to play up who is right and who is wrong, and seeks to destroy love under a cloud of self-righteous indignation. The truth is that we never know more than a fraction about the reasons for the dispute, and so are totally unable to make any proper judgement, nor have we any right to do so because we are fallen sinners ourselves. The only Christ-like way in these circumstance, the way Satan seeks to prevent, is to love both parties in the dispute without taking sides, and without judging.

b. The enemy within the life of the individual believer.

The other enemy within the camp is that which effects every individual believer. This is the enemy of our sinful nature or our flesh. The apostle Paul warns us that the flesh is sinful, and there will always be a conflict between the flesh and the spirit. Paul speaks of this conflict in Galatians 5:17 where he tells us "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want".

It is difficult to determine in this verse whether the word �spirit� should have a capital letter or not. If it is printed with a capital letter as is the case in my version of the NIV, then �Spirit� means the Holy Spirit who dwells within the believer. If it is spelt with a small �s�, then it means the new spirit within the believer - the new nature created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness. It practice the result is the same which ever way we feel may be right. The Holy Spirit dwells within the new holy nature of the believer, and so the believer, as Paul says here, wants to be holy, but is prevented by the sinful nature, the flesh.

The flesh cannot be changed, it can only be mortified or put to death. This we do by living by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). However Satan has this enemy within the camp, our sinful nature, and he knows exactly in each of us what will excite this sinful nature, and our spiritual state at any time in order to exploit our sinful nature to the best advantage.

Then just as Tobiah sought to discourage Nehemiah by innuendo and suggestion, Satan is constantly seeking to undermine our faith and confidence with his fire darts of discouragement and suggestion and temptation.

THE EXAMPLE OF NEHEMIAH

In the face of this assault of the evil one through planting enemies in the camp, what was Nehemiah�s reaction? Can we learn anything from his example?

At first chapter 7 does not seem very promising. However as we meditate on what we read here, and perhaps plough through the rather boring account of a census, there are things we can observe which are helpful.

Firstly we see that Nehemiah got on with the business of life, and the business of being governor of Jerusalem. By this we see that he did not allow himself to be discouraged by the opposition that he was experiencing, or with the difficulties of the situation. Instead he got on with the business of his life for God. This is good example for us. It may not be easy, but the worse thing we can do, which gives Satan the victory, is to allow the situation to get on top of us, and prevent us from working for God, and living the life God has called us to.

Secondly, we may notice that he gathered around him, and into the service of God, those who were committed to God and the safety and reviving of Jerusalem. Notice in chapter 7 and verse 2 that Nehemiah recruited his brother Hanani and the commander of the citadel, Hananiah, to join in the protection of the city, and to prevent the city being infiltrated from outside. It is always good and helpful to seek the help of others, specially when the work is difficult, and when there is opposition. On our own we may be weak, with others to help we remain strong. Further it is always good to share the burden of the work, because the work of God is too great for just one to engage in. Also if we have others working with us, we have those with whom we can discuss, and seek a corporate wisdom under the guidance of God, and so escape making bad decisions. Nehemiah also organised all the various duties with all those who were willing to help so that the work would go on.

Thirdly, it is apparent from chapter 7 and verse 5 that Nehemiah was seeking to live close to God, and walk in the will of God. He engaged in the census, not from any desire of his own, but because God directed him to do so. This is the most important of the lessons we may learn from Nehemiah here. The more virulent is the opposition, the more closely and diligently must we seek to live in the presence of God. By living close to the Lord, we imbibe the atmosphere and influence of heaven. We receive the encouragement of the love and wisdom of God. We are lifted up by the joy of fellowship with God, and with the joy of living in the salvation of the Lord. If we are not living close to the Lord, then we will make wrong decisions, and be prone to discouragement. Further we will be guided by God. Undoubtedly the census was necessary for Nehemiah to know how the future of Jerusalem should be conducted.

CONCLUSION

The enemy will never cease in his opposition to the work of God. The enemy activity within the church, and within the believer, will undoubtedly bring much trial and difficulty, but we are in the hands of God, and working to fulfill God�s purpose in the world. Like Nehemiah, let us hold fast to the Lord, and live close to him, and go on with the work of glorifying God in this world.