Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Anger
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Analytical
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Anger
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Sanballet was a persion politician
Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem was a threat to Sanballet and his associates because they wanted to keep the Jews weak and dependent.
A strong Jerusalem would endanger the balance of power in the region, and it would also rob Sanballat and his friends of influence and wealth.
When things are going well, get ready for opposition.
The enemy is ok if no progress is made.
The second you start to make progress in the Lord and it starts to bring the Lord glory then get ready!
The enemy does not like progress.
He does not desire that your life bring Glory to God and cause others to want to follow Jesus.
As long as the people of Jerusalem were content with their sad state, the enemy left them alone; but, when the Jews began to serve the Lord and bring him glory, the enemy became active.
Opposition is evidence that the Lord is working and it is also an opportunity for us to grow.
He became furious
Sanballet’s anger showed that he was more disturbed than he would admit.
When the enemy comes at with you with anger, we recognize it for what is.
In most cases, this anger is sin and not from the Lord.
The person who is coming at you is struggling and you may not be the problem.
The enemy has chosen you as the target and its really not about you.
He mocked the Jews
Pathetic Jews
Feeble Jews or Weak Jews
This word here means withered and miserable
Some of these Jews are perfumers and some of them in their 70 and 80s.
The enemy calls them out and says you feeble Jews.
The enemy laughs, jeers and mocks
Can they restore it themselves?
They have no clue what the task is they have taken on.
The Samaritan army is laughing at them thinking they could build a wall that would protect them
Will they offer Sacrifices?
This question is a mocking and really is do they think they can pray the wall up.
It is a mocking of their worship to God and that it will take more than prayer and worship to rebuild the city.
Will they ever finish it?
This suggest the Jews didn’t know how difficult the task was and would soon call it quits.
They are mocking the Jews in what God has called them to do.
It would be interesting to know how many in this room has had a parent, a friend, realtor or a coworker tell you at some point that you should not buy a house or move or work in Rockaway Beach.
Can they bring these burnt stones back to life?
Sanballet ridiculed the materials they were using
This is a common tactic of the enemy.
The enemy constantly calls for question what God chooses to use to bring him Glory.
The enemy throws out doubt.
You are not good enough, you don’t have the right abilities, you don’t have the right stuff, you don’t wear the right clothes, you were not made for this and you name it.
Tobiah joins in on the fun
When the enemy begins to attack, he does not have a problem of finding others who will join in.
When others post about the church in a negative way, it is easy to find others who will join in.
Tobiah says even if a fox climbed up what they are building he would break down their stone wall.
Haha They are laughing.
Nehemiah’s response
Many wish that it would say in Nehemiah 4:4 that Nehemiah then mocked them back and for every line that Sanballet and Tobiah had Nehemiah had a better one.
Oh yeah, “Your parents named you Sanballet”
Nehemiah doesn’t do that
He prays
Notice who Nehemiah prays to.
He Prays to our God.
It is important when we face opposition that we stay focused on the Lord.
Nehemiah is working on behalf of God’s people.
He is doing what God called him to do.
When he prays, he does not turn to the enemy and start calling out the enemy or praying to the enemy.
Nehemiah cries out to the Lord.
1 Peter 2 says of Jesus
Don’t return mockery with mockery.
(parenting, be the parent)
SO WE BUILT THE WALL
Sometimes attacks from the outside energize the inside to stay focus on the task at hand.
The Lord will use opposition to refocus us on what he has called to do.
In my experience, attacks from the outside drew those on the inside together to keep pressing forward.
“The things people say may hurt us, but they can never harm us, unless we let them get into our system and poison us.
If we spend time pondering the enemy’s words, we will give Satan a foothold from which he can launch another attack closer to home.
The best thing to do is to pray and commit the whole thing to the Lord; and then get back to your work!
Anything that keeps you from doing what God has called you to do will only help the enemy”
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996).
Be Determined (p.
53).
Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
The enemy comes against them and threatens physical attacks
To the north were Sanballat and the Samaritans; to the east, Tobiah and the Ammonites; to the south, Geshem and the Arabs; and to the west, the Ashdodites.
Ashdod was perhaps the most important city in Philistia at that time, and the Philistines did not want to see a strong community in Jerusalem.
Their enemies are surrounding then on all sides.
These enemies might not have normally got along but they have no problem uniting for the sake of coming against the people of God.
They will unite against the work of the Lord.
(We experienced this is Rockaway, People who impeached each other in government because they did not like each other were always united against the work of the Lord)
We prayed and stationed a guard
Pray but also station a guard.
If an app keeps attacking you, then delete the app
If a thought keeps attacking you, battle the thought and put a guard against it.
If a friend keeps attacking, then put a guard against that friend
Tim Edwards says that teens who have 5 hours of social media and screen time are more likely to have suicidal thoughts then teens who spend 1 hours on it.
The enemy may be using that to take you out.
Pray and limit the time you are on there.
Doubts sets in
Here is where some of the doubt comes from
Jews who did not want to participate in what the Lord was doing started to attack.
Other versions say 10 times.
Many don’t want to engage in what the Lord is doing or taking light to darkness have lots of opinions about what we should or should not be doing.
Parents not wanting to raise their children here.
(Coming against entertainment)
Fight for future generations
Building and defending the entire time
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