83. REBUILDING AFTER RUIN AND REPROACH

I am currently reading the book of Nehemiah in my personal morning Bible study, a book I have read on different occasions before.

Nehemiah, a Jew, was living in Persia along with many other Jews who had been taken captive years before by the king of Babylon and been transported from their homeland to this strange land. At one point, although living in Persia and serving as the king’s cupbearer, Nehemiah enquired about the few people who had survived and remained in Judah, him being genuinely concerned about their welfare. In Nehemiah 1:2-3 he records:

• “That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in GREAT AFFLICTION AND REPROACH: THE WALL of Jerusalem also IS BROKEN DOWN, and THE GATES thereof ARE BURNED WITH FIRE.”

Upon hearing this news, Nehemiah sat down and wept. He also mourned, fasted and prayed about the situation to the God of heaven. Given how far his people had come, how great, respected and feared they used to be by the nations around them and that they were still the people that God had called and specially chosen, it was sad to hear about them being in such a bad and shameful state.

Eventually, Nehemiah obtained favour from the king of Persia, who authorized him to return temporarily to Judah to rebuild and repair the wall and gates. The king issued letters to the governors and authorized the use of material from the king’s forest for the work. It therefore became known that Nehemiah was returning to Judah with the approval of the king, for the purpose of making reparations.

However, two men who clearly hated the Jews and had enjoyed seeing them down and out over the years were not pleased at all with this development. Verse 10 reads, “When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.”

Three days after he came, Nehemiah having quietly and privately surveyed the damage and ruins, he then called his people together so as to mobilize forces for the great work that needed to be done. In his account, he states:

• “So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

• Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and LET US BUILD UP the wall of Jerusalem, THAT WE BE NO MORE REPROACH. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.” (verses 11-18)

The enemies of the Jews, however, refused to stand idly by and watch them rebuild. The intention being found out, the number of persons who were against them began to manifestly increase, it seems. For, initially, mention was made only of Sanballat and Tobiah being grieved when they heard why Nehemiah had come but when the people determined in their hearts that they would rise up from where they had fallen and by the power of God’s might, would rebuild, a third enemy by the name of Geshem joined the fray, along with Sanballat and Tobiah. The Bible states:

• “But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?  Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” (verses 19-20)

God’s people were therefore NOT DETERRED in the face of these naysayers, as THEY HAD A MIND TO WORK. However, the enemies of their advancement and progress, did not back down. In Chapter 4, while the work was afoot, the people and their efforts were mocked, attempts were made to discourage them, hurtful words were spoken to make them feel hopeless and threats to their safety were also issued. THE PEOPLE OF GOD CONTINUED NONETHELESS, ALTHOUGH THEY HAD TO BE DULY DILIGENT AND PRAYERFULLY WATCH for the enemy’s attack. While they did the work, they were in a state of preparedness for any war that should suddenly be waged against them.

Nehemiah states in verses 1-3:

• “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.“

Opposition having reared its ugly head, Nehemiah did not hope to withstand these enemies in his own strength. He therefore prayed to God and the people persevered. In verses 4 to 16 and 21, in response to the wicked words and efforts of their enemies, he cried:

• “Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.“

He continued, in relaying the account, of how even more enemies joined the fray and combined forces in their efforts to get them to cease:

• “SO BUILT WE THE WALL; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: FOR THE PEOPLE HAD A MIND TO WORK. But it came to pass, that when SANBALLAT and TOBIAH, and the ARABIANS, and the AMMONITES, and the ASHDODITES, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.“

The further that the plans reached therefore, the more enemies manifested to try to stop them. When Nehemiah had merely returned to seek the people’s welfare, two men were openly in opposition. By the time he had spoken to the people and they had purposed in their minds that they were going to begin to rebuild, the number of opposing forces increased to three. When they had actually commenced the work and were making beautiful progress in making up the walls and repairing or stopping the breaches, the number of forces against them intensified even further, Geshem’s people, the Arabians, joining in to try to stop them and Tobiah’s people the Ammonites and also the Ashdodite people.

In giving the narrative, Nehemiah continues though:

• “And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you. 

• Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

• And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah…So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.”

Nehemiah and the people therefore continued in the mist of all of the attacks they faced, some subtle, some brazen and by the grace of God whose will was for the walls and the gates to be rebuilt, this was done. In chapter 6:1-16, Nehemiah stated:

• “Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

• Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words. And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

• Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

• Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, SHOULD SUCH A MAN AS I FLEE? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

• My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

• SO THE WALL WAS FINISHED in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ALL OUR ENEMIES HEARD THEREOF, AND ALL THE HEATHEN THAT WERE ABOUT SAW THESE THINGS, they were much cast down in their own eyes: FOR THEY PERCEIVED THAT THIS WORK WAS WROUGHT OF GOD.“

In reading a portion of one of the chapters in Nehemiah today, the lessons to the Church which are also God’s called and chosen people were clear. Whenever we, as the children of God are in a state of ruin and reproach because of our own disobedience, rebellion and sin, the enemy of our soul, the devil and those that he uses as minions are pleased, content and joyous at our downfall. They hope to never see us rise again and are delighted that we have been demoted from where we were and reside in a state of pain, anguish and humiliation.

When we later rise up in the midst of all our ashes and resolve in our hearts, that by the grace of God and according to his help and leading, we will repair the breaches in our lives and rebuild, the enemy does not remain passive or neutral about this development. No. He feels threatened by our intention and with a heart full of hatred against us, gets very upset about what we have set out to do. In short, he and those who follow in his ways are exceedingly grieved and so are determined to discourage and derail us, by any means necessary.

The devil, people in the world and sad to say, even persons who have made a profession of faith but yet position themselves as our enemies, will try to fill our hearts and minds with doubt, that we will not achieve anything and that our efforts will therefore all be for nought. They will try to get us to think that it is not worth it to try but that we should just remain where we are and wallow in our misery. They will ask us who we think we are trying to do such a work as this and try to convince us that we are too weak, that it will never happen and that we will permanently be defined by our downfall. They will provoke us, try to give the impression that they are for us and therefore want to work with us to help us and when we see right through their wickedness, will blatantly turn against us and accuse us to others. The aim is to defame, discourage and to keep us stuck in a sad state of humiliation, despair and disrepair.

NEVERTHELESS, once we have purposed, like Nehemiah and the Jews, that we will build, that we will repair and we rely on almighty God to help us, to guide us and to protect us, IT SHALL BE DONE. No devil in hell can stop us because it is not by might, nor by power but by the spirit of the living God (Zechariah 4:6). Like the Prodigal son, we have risen up and have determined that we will no longer continue on in a state of ruin and reproach (Luke 15:17-20). If God is for us, who dares to be against us? (Romans 8:31). We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37) and although we fell into disobedience, sell-will and sin, Proverbs 24:16 tells us “For a just man falleth seven times, and RISETH UP AGAIN…”

This is the reason why the prophet in Micah 7:7-11 could declare:

• “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: WHEN I FALL, I SHALL ARISE; when I sit in darkness, THE LORD SHALL BE A LIGHT UNTO ME. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, UNTIL he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: HE WILL bring me forth to the light, and I SHALL behold his righteousness. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.”

As the Psalmist stated in Psalm 11:1, we can then boldly tell our enemies who seek to suppress and keep us down, even as we proceed to build, “In the Lord put I my trust: HOW SAY YE TO MY SOUL, FLEE AS A BIRD TO YOUR MOUNTAIN?” Of a truth, we may be weak and weary of all that we have gone through but we serve a God that boldly proclaims, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” As the apostle Paul stated then, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that THE POWER of Christ may REST upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

We shall not run and we shall not retreat. For, like Nehemiah and the people, we have a mind to work and by the grace of God, the wall and gates of our lives which lie in ruins all around us, SHALL be repaired. We shall not remain desolate and in despair. For, God remains our heavenly Father and though he was angry with us but for a moment, upon our repentance and return, he will show us mercy.

In Isaiah 54:1-17, God told his people through his prophet, after they had been sorely chastened for their sins:

• “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

• For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

• O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.  In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake…No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

(Written on 31st July, 2025)

ADDENDUM

Nehemiah states in the book of Nehemiah 2:10, that the enemies of the Jews were sorely displeased when he came to Jerusalem. For, they understood that he had come with one purpose in mind, to seek the welfare of his people. The scripture states, “When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that THERE WAS COME A MAN TO SEEK THE WELFARE of the children of Israel.”

In meditating on this verse, I could not help but think of it symbolically, in terms of what Jesus Christ did for us. Nehemiah left the king’s presence where he served as his cupbearer and came to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall and the gates that lay in ruins. He was there to repair the bridges and to lead his people toward restoration, after which, when the work was finished, he would return again to the king.

He therefore typified Jesus Christ in this regard. For, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, left heaven and came to earth to seek the welfare of human beings as lost and ruined sinners. The spiritual damage was grievous and there was nobody else that was able to step in to make a difference, so much so that in Ezekiel 22:30, God conveyed through his prophet of the sinful, hapless and ruined state of mankind “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

Nehemiah heard about the ruinous state in which his people lived physically and did not think of someone else going to take charge of the restorative work which needed to be done. Indeed, there was no one that was rightly positioned to get it done. He therefore prayed about the situation and asked God for favour with the king and when the king allowed him to make request, he asked that he send him to Jerusalem.

Similarly, in Isaiah 59:15-16, the Word of God states of the spiritual ruins in mankind that God observed that “…the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.”

God therefore resolved to come to earth himself, which he did in the form of Jesus Christ who is God the Son. Given that Jesus was God, God dwelled among man. John 1:1-2 says of him where he is described as “the Word”, that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”

John 1:10-14 states further of him:

• “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus Christ himself stated when he was on earth, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” In short, like Nehemiah did for the people of Jerusalem, Jesus came to seek the welfare of the people, not just Israelites but of the whole world.

Even as Nehemiah wept out of a genuine care, concern and love for the physical state of Jerusalem when he heard about the physical ruins of the wall and the gates, Jesus wept over the state of Jerusalem when he saw the dilapidated spiritual condition that the people were in. Luke 19: 41 and 42 reveals, “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

Jesus wept because although he had sacrificially come through love, to repair the breach of their hearts and to turn them back to God, many of his people rejected him. They believed that they could rebuild with the broken bricks of the law. Yet, the Word of God states in reference to Jesus, that, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”

Like Nehemiah, Jesus sought to do the work that God wanted him to do and for which he had come to earth. He stated, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” (John 4:34). However, like Nehemiah, he faced much opposition, the devil trying to inject doubt into his mind as to who he was and to tempt him to fall into sin, so that he could then bring an evil report against him. People spake all manner of evil against him, falsely accusing him of all sorts of things and tried their best to frustrate the work he was about. Yet, he set his face as flint and he declared in Matthew 16:18, “…upon this rock I WILL BUILD my church; and the gates of hell shall NOT prevail against it.”

In Isaiah 50:6-9, it prophesies of his experience:

• “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.”

In John 19:30, when he had completed the purpose for which he had come, he declared while on the cross and before he died, “It is finished.” Now, as a result of the spiritual hedge that he has repaired through his death and blood shed, mankind now has an opportunity to enjoy restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead. No longer do those who believe by faith in his finished work, that he rose from the dead and have confessed the truth that he is Lord with their mouths, need to walk around in shame, despair and humiliation. Yes they have sinned and have suffered and yes their lives were in tatters, ruins and disrepair. But when Jesus came and did the work that he did for sinful man, the wall of reparation was rebuilt and the gates re-erected.

(Addendum written on 31st July, 2025)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article and Addendum to be interesting, informative, beneficial or edifying, you may also be interested in reading the following:

Under the ‘SINGLE Daughters’ page:

• Note 189 – ‘Dear Sanballat and Tobiah…’
• Note 299 – ‘Foxes, Grasshoppers And The Spirit Of Discouragement’
• Note 262 – ‘What People Say vs What God’s Word Says’
• Note 41 – ‘Silencing The Naysayers’

Under the ‘BIBLE-BELIEVING Daughters’ page:

• Note 86 – ‘They Say I Can’t But By God’s Grace I Will’
• Note 63 – ‘After They’ve Done Their Worst, Yet Still, I Rise’
• Note 176 – ‘How You Gonna Curse Who God Has Blessed?’
• Note 244 – ‘Dear Enemy Of My Soul – I Will Not Retreat!’
• Note 174 – ‘Grace And Glory – The Lord Will Help Me’

Under the ‘BROKEN Daughters’ page:

• Note 31 – ‘A Magnificent Work Of Grace’
• Note 33 – ‘A Comeback Better Than Before’
• Note 43 – ‘Judah And Its Babylonian Captivity’
• Note 45 – ‘Mocking Motivates Me’
• Note 54 – ‘Afflicted And Tossed With Tempest’
• Note 56 – ‘Pursuing God’s Path? Expect Opposition’