Miracles at the last moment -5

Introduction

Proverbs 21:31 “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.”

            In the above passage we see the horse is prepared for the big day. But the victory comes from the hands of the Lord. In our lives, we may not be having any signs of miracle, but the Lord God will give us victory at the last moment. The Lord will supply all our needs at the right time.

Miracle of Nehemiah’s victory

Nehemiah 12:27,43 “And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.”

            Over here see the people were rejoicing at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah had to go through many problems while constructing the wall of Jerusalem. Initially it was all going well but when they progressed they faced many challenges. Today, let us see how Nehemiah handled the problems spiritually.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Nehemiah 4:1,3,4 “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. 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. 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”

            Over here we see Nehemiah reaches the next level in prayer which is the spiritual warfare. He did not fight with his enemies literally but he fights in prayer. In the above passage we see Nehemiah faces oppositions from Sanballat, a government official and Tobiah an ammonite. From Deuteronomy 23:3 ‘An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:’ We learn ammonites were against the children of God. But Nehemiah did not fight with these two but he fought in prayer. Even in our lives, we should not pray to destroy our enemies. We should pray to destroy the evil spirits in our enemies. As part of today’s meditation let us see what are the weapons that Satan brought against Nehemiah are and how he fought in the spiritual warfare.

Ridicule

Nehemiah 4:3 “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.”

            Over here we see Tobiah was mocking at the people when they were building the stone wall. Here the Satan uses the weapon of ridicule to hinder the work of the Lord. Mockery is the weapon of Satan to defeat the children of God. In some cases, mockery comes out of jealousy. Only when people want us to bring us down, they ridicule us. Our Lord Jesus himself was mocked by the people as we read Luke 22:63 ‘And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him.’ Satan uses this weapon to distract his children from the Lord God. When Nehemiah faced mockery, he handled it spiritually.

            In Nehemiah 4:4 ‘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:’ We see Nehemiah battled the mockery with his prayer. He did not fight with the scorners. He brought everything to the attention of the Lord in prayer. As recorded in Psalm 1:1 ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.’ We the children of God should distance ourselves from the people who ridicule us. And at the same time we should not hurt others by mocking them. Therefore in order to overcome ridicule, we must submit everything in prayer like Nehemiah.

Discouragement

Nehemiah 4:10 “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.”

            Here we see Satan discourages them from doing their job. The discouragement made people to think that they became weak. All these while Satan was trying to deceive them from outside but now he started to kindle confusions from the inside. Even in our lives, we might be talented and skillful but the discouragements we face will not let us shine. In Acts chapter 5, we read that Satan has made Ananias and Sapphira and the complaining of the widows inside the fellowship of the Church.

            In Nehemiah 13:15 ‘In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.’ This passage clearly tells us why they faced discouragement in their lives. They did not follow the commandments of the Lord God. When we truly observe and adhere to the commandments of the Lord, we shall never be put to any form of discouragements.

Fear

Nehemiah 4:11 “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.”

            Here the Satan threatens the people that they will be killed. Satan uses the weapon of fear to hinder the work of the Lord. We read in Nehemiah 4:12-13 ‘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.’  Though the Jews tried to scare the people by speaking about it for ten times, Nehemiah did not give up. Nehemiah encouraged them by putting them in order of families to fight it out. As we read in Nehemiah 4:20 ‘In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.’ The Lord God fought for his people at that point of time. The Lord took away all their fears and battled it out for them. Therefore, only when we make a spiritual warfare like Nehemiah we can fight against the weapons of Satan.

Key learnings

Nehemiah 4:6 – When ridiculed, we should not stop our work and the vision, we need to stand firm.

Nehemiah 4:9 – Our hearts need to pray constantly.

Nehemiah 4:20 – Let us have an attentive ears to hear the trumpet sound.

Amen.