Skip to main content

Building and Defending - Part 3

This is the final part of our story of Nehemiah and the Jews working on the wall while facing taunts and threats of attack from Sanballat, Tobiah, and others.

When their enemies heard that their plan was known to the Jews and that God had frustrated their plan, the Jews all returned to the wall, each to his work.  From that day on, half of the servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail.  And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building the wall.  The workers who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 

What happened in this final section of the story that we can use to apply to our lives today?
-  We've been wondering throughout the story why God would allow Sanballat and Tobiah to attack the Jews and cause confusing amongst them and deter them from building the wall.  Now in this part of the story it seems that it was to show his power.  When Sanballat and Tobiah learned that God had frustrated their plan, the people were allowed to return to the work.  God was always in charge, even when his people were facing adversity.  Is the same true today?  Is it true in your life?

-  How did the people respond once the imminent threat of attack had been removed?  Once their safety was established they returned to the work.  What would have happened if the people had dwelled on their previous threats?  If they had continued to live in fear, would the walls have ever been finished?  But they didn't dwell on previous trials, rather they learned lessons from them and carried weapons for protection from future attack while laboring.  Do we learn from our experiences to work and protect more efficiently in the future?  Do we hold on to previous trials and allow them to control us, or do we trust that the Lord is in control and will provide?

This is the final part of the story on Building and Defending that can found in Nehemiah 4:1-17

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who Wants to be Dilos?

You're probably wondering if that's a typo or not. While doing a search for these letters did actually reveal that there is a brand and some fictional character out there with this name - my real intent was to show that order matters. You see, if we reverse the letters, you then spell the word, S-O-L-I-D. Yet far too many of us are operating with a Dilos mindset instead of getting our priorities in order and becoming Solid. We chase money like it's the most important thing in the world. And while it's certainly necessary, if money is the number one goal of any individual, or even any business, failure is surely on the horizon. To better understand the significance of the order, let's go through them backwards. Dollars. Yes, money matters. But what good is all the money in the world if you're "dumb as a box of rocks" and lack the next component, Intelligence, and don't know how to manage (or keep) your wealth? Intelligence. Let's say yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Planes Fly in the Sky

Let me be very honest and candid about this - when I first read about the proposed airplane tax cut, I was not happy (just say it, I was mad!).  I thought that it was ludicrous to consider cutting tax revenue while counties are already struggling due to decreased sales and collections of local taxes.   However, unlike many people in today's culture, I didn't take to social media to start talking about how stupid the idea was and how much I disagreed with.  Instead, I started doing some research.  I looked up some information, asked some questions, had some conversations, and I learned some things. This was important for me to understand because I own a boat (I consider planes and boats luxury items) and pay Union County property taxes.  However, that boat hasn't been in Union for years.  It's housed and operated in a neighboring county.  There's not even anywhere that I can safely and legally operate my boat on public property in Union, yet I stil...
Post a Comment
Read more