It is easy to cooperate with others when things are going smoothly. When chaos occurs, cooperation can go out the window. However, chaotic times are when disciples need to band together and work to build up the community of believers.
Nuggets
- When we are doing God’s Will, Satan is going to try to stop us.
- The Jews had to be steadfast in their faith in God.
- They made a conscious decision to follow God’s Will.
Rebuilding under Difficult Circumstances
Rebuilding Together under Difficult Circumstances
The Council Has Spoken
Coordinating Spiritual Gifts
Collecting for Others
Chaotic times have the tendency to tear groups apart. However, that is when disciples need to band together and work to build up the community of believers.
Nehemiah lead the Jews through difficult circumstances. The band of believers who had returned to Jerusalem from exile to rebuild the wall were getting buffeted from without and from within.
How did they cooperate to get the wall built? This devotion ran long, so here we are going to look at the difficult circumstances. In the next devotion, we will look how they cooperated to get the wall built.
Let's Put It into Context #1
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines cooperation as “the actions of someone who is being helpful by doing what is wanted or asked for” and “association of persons for common benefit.”
Resource
Let's Put It into Context #2
The Israelites were coming back from exile. Nebuchadnezzar had defeated them in 604 B.C., destroyed Jerusalem, and deported some people.
The good news was the exile only lasted seventy years. In 586 B.C., Cyrus proclaimed that the Israelites could return. They weren’t forced to return but were allowed to return.
The bad news was the state of the city to which they were returning. The wall around Jerusalem had been broken. It wouldn’t keep anything out.
Nehemiah led the construction crew, as commissioned by Artaxerxes, to rebuild the wall. However, people in the surrounding countries weren’t too happy about that. Let’s check it out.
Opposition
“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria and said, ‘What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?’ Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, ‘Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!’ Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let their sin be erased from your sight, because they have angered the builders” (Neh. 4: 1-5 CSB)
When we are doing God’s Will, Satan is going to try to stop us. In this instance, he used Israel’s rival, Samaria.
Sanballat could have been the face of that rivalry. He loved his Samaria. He hated anything Israel.
Can we say major eruption?
Don’t get me wrong. God doesn’t have anything against love for country.
God does not like divisiveness that leads to acts of sin.
Whyte called that type of loyalty party spirit. He wrote, “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.”
Can’t we see the evidence of that today no matter the party to which we subscribe?
Rebuilt Anyway
“So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working” (Neh. 4: 6 CSB)
It is hard putting one foot in front of the other when have to navigate through opposition. The Jews not only put one foot in front of the other, but they also swung the hammer.
They didn’t just get through the day with their heads down. They took a stand against the opposition.
They proved they were not feeble. They could restore the wall.
But they were not by themselves. God was with them — and us — every step of the way.
What was their part — besides swinging the hammers? They had to be steady.
The Jews had to be steadfast in their faith in God. They kept their eyes on Him.
We had a whole series not long ago on diligence, consistency, and perseverance.
Devotions in the Consistency Needed for Spiritual Growth series
Did you see how the Jews accomplished building the wall? Together. As a team.
God wants us to be a community. He knows we are stronger together.
They found a way to settle their differences. Sometimes, I bet one person had to give up their position to move forward. But that person couldn’t do it all the time. Others would also have to give up so to accept that person’s position.
God didn’t create us to be alone. Hoyt reminded us that “Fellow ship is better than individualism in all noble service.” That means we have to work at the relationships.
The payoff is worth the work.
Did you catch how else the Jews did it? They made up their minds. They made a conscious decision to follow God’s Will.
I called Nehemiah’s team a construction crew. On second thought, I don’t think that paints an accurate picture. I doubt they were skilled workers.
I doubt they were all men. It would be my guess that everyone who went back to Jerusalem pitched in and did something.
God is going to use who He needs to use because He is going to have prepared us to the extent we need to be prepared. That means He is going to have someone who is in no way, shape, or form a techie and have her doing a daily devotional on the internet. Go figure.
How can God do that? Because it is all about Him, not us. It is how He works it out. It is His guidance.
Defense
“When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion. So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night. In Judah, it was said: The strength of the laborer fails, since there is so much rubble. We will never be able to rebuild the wall. And our enemies said, ‘They won’t realize it until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work.’ When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, ‘Everywhere you turn, they attack us.’ So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows” (Neh. 4: 7-13 CSB)
When bullying didn’t work, Sanballat and company decided to resort to violence. Hastings provided a good list. Go check it out if you are interested. It is quite a lineup.
Did you catch who else was warning Nehemiah the wall shouldn’t be built? Not all of the Jews had been exiled way back when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the city. Those who had stayed in the region counseled Nehemiah that they would be attacked. Yep, even some Jews didn’t want the wall rebuilt.
How did Nehemiah respond? With faith.
Hastings identified three of Nehemiah’s defensive weapons.
• God’s commands
• God’s promises
• God’s love
Nehemiah accessed these weapons through prayer. It wasn’t just a me-me-me prayer. It was a You-You-You prayer.
But Nehemiah did do more than just kick it into damsel-in-distress mode. He didn’t just sit back and expect a God to do all the protecting.
Look at verse 9. “So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night” (Neh. 4: 9 CSB).
Look at verse 13. “So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows” (Neh. 4: 13 CSB).
Oh, yeah. Don’t we have a lot of rubble in our lives? We have baggage from past sins.
We are labeled a certain way growing up, and we have to deal with that. I was labeled the flighty one growing up.
Oh, not anymore. I am no longer the mouse I was. It took time to change my perception of myself and to grow into who I was supposed to be.
But doesn’t putting up guards and grabbing the weapons signify we are relying on ourselves? Oh, no. I don’t think so.
What does God tell us to do? Watch. What does He give us? Armor. He wants us to be prepared to face our enemies.
When we are praying to God, we are saying that we know He is strong enough to control the situation — because we can’t. We acknowledge His power and our weakness.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
God wants us to pray. But at some point, we have to stop praying and do what He wants us to do.
The situation seemed very bad. The band of Jews could have splintered – and probably have been annihilated.
In the next devotion, we will look at how they banded together. Because of their cooperation, they were able to build the wall.
Father. You don’t want us to be alone. You want us to band together as a group of believers so that we can worship You. You want us to encourage each other and protect each other. Help us to lives as You would have us live. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: Rebuilding Together under Difficult Circumstances – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: The Council Had Spoken – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Are Spiritual Gifts Different? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Collecting for Others – Seeking God with Elaine