Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. Nehemiah 4:17-21 (NKJV)
I get emails from Christian brothers and sisters throughout America, writing to give encouragement, and giving thanks for the devotionals they have received. Its such a blessing to see how God is speaking to them through these writings. I truly do give all the Glory to God, because it is He who leads and guides me as I write. Whats cool to me is the feeling of knowing I am able to serve along side these people in the ministry. Even though we may be separated by thousands of miles, we stand united as the Church. Information is exchanged of the battles theyre fighting, and scripture and prayer is the ammunition the Lord gives in return.
These are the same principles I see in the scriptures above. The people were working together to build what God had laid upon their hearts to rebuild. There was a distance between the workers upon the wall, but they kept in communication, and they supported each other.
Nehemiah was faithful in undertaking the rebuilding of the temple walls, as the enemy sought to destroy this work. But the people, united by God, and under the leadership of Nehemiah, held fast to what God had called them to do. They worked as a team, even though great distances separated them. They remained armed the whole time with their swords in hand. As Christian men and women, we too, should be united as a body of believers. And we, too, are told in Ephesians 6, to put on the whole armor of God, so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil.
And although we will occasionally, in our flesh, battle with those who dont have the same Christian goals or values as we do, were really not wrestling against their flesh and blood. Because we are told in Ephesians, our fight is against the rulers of the darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. So the battles are spiritual battles, which are being waged against us. So we are to arm ourselves, and to have our sword; our Word of God, as our only defensive weapon.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Ephesians 6:13, 17 (NKJV)
Ephesians 6 tells us there are several pieces of armor we are to have on. But our weapon, with which we will stand and defend ourselves with, is the Word of God. And so we will work together for Gods Kingdom, keeping a vigil towards the enemy, armed with our swords, as we continue to build that, which God has called us to build.
Notice how the people who were building the wall were never told to attack the enemy when they saw them. They were simply to be prepared to defend against the attacks. We see this same principle in the scripture above, where we are told to Stand. Again, there is no command given for us to go on the attack. We are told to stand our ground, and defend our position, using the sword, which is Gods Word.
That should tell us much with regard to the power contained within the Bible, and with how we are to use it. Were not to go around on a spiritual witch-hunt, looking for the enemy and attempting to attack him. We are to be about the business of building relationships, and sharing the Gospel message; serving those the Lord has placed within our lives, and standing firm when the enemy is attacking us.
We can see Nehemiah had a contingency plan for when the enemy attacked as well, and this was to sound the trumpet. By doing this, they would be notifying those fellow believers who werent directly next to them about the impending trouble; alerting them because they were in need of help. We, too, should be doing the same thing when we are being attacked spiritually. We need to find solid fellow Christians, armed with a solid knowledge of the Word of God, who will give us good counsel and be willing to pray with us when the enemy is throwing fiery darts at us.
One last thing we can learn from this story of Nehemiah and the people who worked together building the wall, and it is this; they worked from daybreak till the stars came out. This shows us the intensity and seriousness of the job at hand. It should be the same for us as well. We should realize the Lords eminent return, and this should motivate us to work diligently, making the most of the days.
STUDY QUESTION: What principles can we glean and implement in our Christian walk from the scriptures above?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you using the Word of God as your only defensive weapon when being attacked?
APPLICATION: Ask God to bring solid Christian believers into your life so you may have someone to call out to, when youre being attacked.
I get emails from Christian brothers and sisters throughout America, writing to give encouragement, and giving thanks for the devotionals they have received. Its such a blessing to see how God is speaking to them through these writings. I truly do give all the Glory to God, because it is He who leads and guides me as I write. Whats cool to me is the feeling of knowing I am able to serve along side these people in the ministry. Even though we may be separated by thousands of miles, we stand united as the Church. Information is exchanged of the battles theyre fighting, and scripture and prayer is the ammunition the Lord gives in return.
These are the same principles I see in the scriptures above. The people were working together to build what God had laid upon their hearts to rebuild. There was a distance between the workers upon the wall, but they kept in communication, and they supported each other.
Nehemiah was faithful in undertaking the rebuilding of the temple walls, as the enemy sought to destroy this work. But the people, united by God, and under the leadership of Nehemiah, held fast to what God had called them to do. They worked as a team, even though great distances separated them. They remained armed the whole time with their swords in hand. As Christian men and women, we too, should be united as a body of believers. And we, too, are told in Ephesians 6, to put on the whole armor of God, so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil.
And although we will occasionally, in our flesh, battle with those who dont have the same Christian goals or values as we do, were really not wrestling against their flesh and blood. Because we are told in Ephesians, our fight is against the rulers of the darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. So the battles are spiritual battles, which are being waged against us. So we are to arm ourselves, and to have our sword; our Word of God, as our only defensive weapon.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Ephesians 6:13, 17 (NKJV)
Ephesians 6 tells us there are several pieces of armor we are to have on. But our weapon, with which we will stand and defend ourselves with, is the Word of God. And so we will work together for Gods Kingdom, keeping a vigil towards the enemy, armed with our swords, as we continue to build that, which God has called us to build.
Notice how the people who were building the wall were never told to attack the enemy when they saw them. They were simply to be prepared to defend against the attacks. We see this same principle in the scripture above, where we are told to Stand. Again, there is no command given for us to go on the attack. We are told to stand our ground, and defend our position, using the sword, which is Gods Word.
That should tell us much with regard to the power contained within the Bible, and with how we are to use it. Were not to go around on a spiritual witch-hunt, looking for the enemy and attempting to attack him. We are to be about the business of building relationships, and sharing the Gospel message; serving those the Lord has placed within our lives, and standing firm when the enemy is attacking us.
We can see Nehemiah had a contingency plan for when the enemy attacked as well, and this was to sound the trumpet. By doing this, they would be notifying those fellow believers who werent directly next to them about the impending trouble; alerting them because they were in need of help. We, too, should be doing the same thing when we are being attacked spiritually. We need to find solid fellow Christians, armed with a solid knowledge of the Word of God, who will give us good counsel and be willing to pray with us when the enemy is throwing fiery darts at us.
One last thing we can learn from this story of Nehemiah and the people who worked together building the wall, and it is this; they worked from daybreak till the stars came out. This shows us the intensity and seriousness of the job at hand. It should be the same for us as well. We should realize the Lords eminent return, and this should motivate us to work diligently, making the most of the days.
STUDY QUESTION: What principles can we glean and implement in our Christian walk from the scriptures above?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you using the Word of God as your only defensive weapon when being attacked?
APPLICATION: Ask God to bring solid Christian believers into your life so you may have someone to call out to, when youre being attacked.
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