VIGILANT FAITH. Nehemiah 2:19-20 When God begins a work of saving grace through the preaching of the Gospel, we can expect opposition. Satan will not give up his territory without a fight. Geshem, the Arab, may have been in charge of an Arabian confederacy that included the southern part of Israel. The three who led the opposition- Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem- joined in opposition against the settled, walled city of Jerusalem because they had established a lucrative trade route carrying spices from the east to the Mediterranean Sea, from which they were able to get money. Also, Sanballat’s place was only eight or ten miles away from Jerusalem, and local leadership would no longer be under his domain.
It happens today just as it did then, when Sanballat and Tobiah accused them of rebellion. To them, the charge was that they were rebelling against the king. Today, the charge usually is that we are against the "status quo" and are "intolerant." "Upsetting the applecart... you are intolerant... why can't you leave well enough alone?" are common challenges. Enemies opposed the Jews with ridicule, mockery, and anger. Behind the challenges made by Sanballat and Tobiah was a design to intimidate the previously demoralized and weak-hearted Jews into believing the king of Babylon would come against them.
They mocked the Jews, saying they could never build a wall that would withstand the Persian army, which they expected to come to suppress a Jewish rebellion. Nehemiah didn’t tell them he had the king’s approval to rebuild, but he made it clear they had God’s approval. “The God of heaven will give us success!” God’s approval was all he needed. He had prayed in faith; journeyed 900 miles by faith; surveyed the area by faith; laid plans by faith, and now they were doing the actual work of rebuilding by faith. Those who opposed them had no part in God’s work because they had set themselves against God and His people.
A walk with God can be sustained only through perfect reliance on God and His word. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” We come to know God when we habitually walk and talk with Him. You don’t really know a person until you live with them. A walk of faith lifts us above sin and death into fellowship with the Lord of life. "The word of faith which we preach" is proclaimed so that those who hear it will receive eternal life. When it is heard with the hearing of faith, those who heed the message are saved.
The message from God is heard worldwide in creation, in the "goodness of God" that leads to repentance, and in the conscience of every person. It can be seen when the saints gather to "show the Lord's death till He comes." It can be seen in the "chaste conversation (manner of life)" of those who live the Christian life in quiet modesty before those who watch them. It is heard in "dreams... visions... and strong pain upon the bed." Every person has heard the voice of God in some way.
Faith is a fundamental aspect of all human experience. Very little of what we do is done purely by conscious, logical awareness. We are often assured, without thinking, that what we hope for is real. We believe things we do not see are real. In the doctrinal sense, we believe this universe and all that is in it were created by the word of God, not from things visible to our eyes. The material world is no more real than the spiritual world. Although we cannot see the spiritual world, where love, mercy, grace, truth, etc., are present, we know they are real because we have experienced them. It is no more complicated or unreasonable to believe that things were made by the spoken word of God than by physical activity.
Either way must be believed by faith. It is more reasonable to think that a supremely Intelligent Designer created intricate and profound things than to think that something came from nothing by chance, without a power behind it. Physical matter and the way it’s programmed to work are evident to us. We know matter perishes, and we know information does not. So where did the information come from?
We know the answer by faith. The Creator of all things has spoken through the prophets in the past and, more importantly, through His Son. We believe in Him and, consequently, have a real purpose in our lives. Our lives and activities now have meaning. We have complete confidence in a full, useful, and happy future for those who believe in Him by faith. It is by faith that we understand the way of approach to a holy God for people who have fallen in sin and "come short of the glory of God."
Nehemiah's noble disinterest in the challenges posed by lesser men must have infuriated them. He knew how to say a lot with few words. When a man has a humble dependence on the Lord and is true to God and His truth, enemies and obstacles do not change him. He remains true to his principles and is not ashamed to admit his dependence on God. A person's character stands out best under the attacks of evil men. It was obvious to those who opposed the work of God placed in Nehemiah's heart that they were up against a formidable opponent. This person was different from the acquiescence they were used to from people who were only surviving and lacked a dynamic leader.
Nehemiah had already told the Jews how the Lord God of Israel had led them, so neither he nor those with him in the work were moved by the enemies' threats. "The God of heaven, He will prosper us" was all he said in regard to their questioning the rebuilding. He identified the Jews as
"His servants," indicating they were under the highest authority. Then Nehemiah calmly and bluntly put the enemies in their place. "Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem." In other words, he was telling them to mind their own business and get out because they were trespassing on our property. They had to back off from their offensive charge when Nehemiah took the offense and made it plain that, under God's authority, he was in control of the situation, not them.
When God promises success in a work He has given us to do, He doesn’t say it will be easy, but that it will be successful when done for Him in the way He wants. A unified group of workers under the sovereign will of God, doing what God wants, is necessary. One “plants,” another “waters,” and “God gives the increase.” Opposition may be strong and unified, but the Lord we serve enables us to do our part, and when joined with the efforts of others, the result is what God wants when His people “Strive together for the faith of the Gospel.”