Coming crisis
[Nehemiah 4:7-14]
‘The thing we have to fear most is fear itself.’ At his inauguration on March 4, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appealed to a people in the midst of the anxiety and frustration of the Great Depression. At the time, an unprecedented economic crisis in the United States left 15 million people unemployed and a series of financial institutions such as banks went bankrupt, and extreme fear swept over the people. What was the most important thing at this time? Roosevelt perceived that restoring confidence was more urgent than any other economic policy in overcoming a recession. He saw the endless anxiety and defeatism brought about by fear as the essence of crisis. Roosevelt wanted to cut off the process in which a sense of crisis causes a sense of crisis and a crisis in turn amplifies the sense of crisis (Internet).
How about you? What kind of crisis do you have? Are you afraid? Are you worrying? Are you discouraged? Are you doubting? When you look at our church, what kind of crisis do you think will come? Personally, I think a “Crisis of Confidence” could come. What kind of crisis of confidence? Of course, we can talk about the assurance of salvation, the assurance of forgiveness of sins, the assurance of prayer answers, the assurance of guidance, and the assurance of victory. Rather, I think that a crisis of confidence can come when we do not believe in Matthew 16:18, the word of promise that the Lord will build His church, which is the body of the Lord. When we dwell in this uncertainty, it will soon become a crisis for our church. So when can this crisis of confidence come? It can come when the church is being rebuilt.
Looking at today's text, Nehemiah 4:7-14, we see that Nehemiah and the people of Judah faced a great crisis when the city of Jerusalem was being rebuilt. So, centering on Nehemiah 4:7-14, I want to think about the four crises under the title of “Coming crisis” and learn about the crises that will come to each of us in our individual lives, families, and churches. I hope and pray that we will be able to cope with the upcoming crisis wisely and faithfully by preparing well.
The first crisis is the growing number of adversaries.
Look at Nehemiah 4:7-8: “But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod … all plotted together ….” As the rebuilding of Jerusalem progressed, the number of enemies increased. At first, the opponents opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Sanballat, the Samaritans, and Tobiah and the Ammonites (2:10). Then, in 2:19, Geshem and the Arabs joined together to oppose Nehemiah and the Jewish people's rebuilding of Jerusalem. And in Nehemiah 4:7, we see that even a group of people called “the men of Ashdod” are uniting to oppose Nehemiah and the people of Judah rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Why did they unite? Their purpose was to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Likewise, Satan is still screaming like hell to prevent the church from being rebuilt. One way is not only to increase the number of external church enemies, but also to create internal church enemies. The adversaries of these increasing enemies are especially severe when the church is being built more and more firmly. In other words, the more the church is built, the more Satan strives to destroy the church by continuously raising enemies externally and internally to prevent the church from being rebuilt. This increasing enemy is an increasing opportunity for us. What kind of opportunity? It is an opportunity to realize our weakness and inability more deeply. At the same time, it is a wonderful opportunity to go further and experience God's power more deeply. It is also a good opportunity to pray more earnestly to God, and also a good opportunity to understand the heart of Heavenly Father by receiving answers to those prayers. It is a rare opportunity to see the glory of God.
The second crisis is a combined armed attack by adversaries.
Looking at Nehemiah 4:7-8, many opponents heard that the city of Jerusalem was being repaired and the ruined place was being repaired. So, they were angry and all plotted together. What was their intention? It was to go to Jerusalem and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it (v. 8). In other words, the opponents would unite and attack Jerusalem. Therefore, they wanted to stir up trouble against the people of Judah. Now the city of Jerusalem is besieged by the enemies. Sanballat and the Samaritans to the north, Tobiah and the Ammonites to the east, Geshem and the Arabs to the south, and the Ashdodites to the west were besieging Nehemiah and the people of Judah who were rebuilding Jerusalem. They all united against Nehemiah and the people of Judah to stop them from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
This union of adversaries reminds us of Luke 23:12 – “That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this they had been enemies.” In persecuting Jesus, we see the adversaries who avoid a united front. This phenomenon was already prophesied by the psalmist in Psalms 2:2 – “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.” Even now, the adversaries who oppose Jesus and His church are united in this way and are trying to attack the church together and create a stir in the church. And it seems that they are successful. The church is disrupting order in the church because it makes people unable to enjoy peace in their hearts due to noisy and complicated matters and confuses even the purpose of the church. Our Holy Spirit is the God who leads clearly, but Satan continues to confuse us. The combined attack of these adversaries is a good opportunity for our church to become more and more united in the Lord. It is an opportunity for us to gather together, hold on to God's word of promise with one heart and one mind (Ex. Acts 1:8) and devote ourselves to prayer (v. 14). Then, the whole church can be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ch. 2) and declare the gospel of Christ more boldly.
The third crisis is discouragement.
Look at Nehemiah 4:10 – “Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.’” The people of Judah were discouraged because of the multitude of work. They were discouraged because there were still many mounds of dirt left, but now they heard the news of the adversaries' united front and military reverence. The city of Jerusalem had been destroyed before, and the piles of earth and stones scattered here and there had to be removed and the walls rebuilt, so the work had to be doubled. As a result, the people of Judah were discouraged because they had too much to do. Also, how discouraged must they have been when they felt that the number of opponents was increasing and the attacks were getting worse in this yard where half of the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt? This discouragement was truly dangerous in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The reason is because discouragement can quickly pollute the entire rebuilding atmosphere, as it leads to an attitude of not trying any more, apathy, and hopeless inertia (Packer).
Our souls may become discouraged because there is a lot of work in rebuilding the church, which is the body of the Lord. At first, there are times when we do church work with a joyful heart, but gradually the work comes as a burden. There are many volunteers who eventually burn out. Why is this happening in the church? It is because of discouragement. The discouraged soul eventually feels that church work is a heavy burden. I think it is tolerable that our hearts are discouraged by external factors. However, if the cause of the discouragement is ourselves, it is not easy to endure. If we look at ourselves and see our weaknesses, inadequacies, and foolishness, and become discouraged, it will only lead us to fall deeper and deeper into the swamp of discouragement. However, there is a more terrifying cause of discouragement than this. That is God. In other words, the discouragement that comes when, like the psalmist, it seems like God is covering His face and when we cry out in pain and feel like there are no answers to my prayers, the discouragement is truly fatal. It can almost make us feel hopeless. In doing so, we should rather long for God in despair. The reason is because God will give hope to those who long for God in despair (Jer. 29:11). He is the Lord of hope who restores and revives our souls. Therefore, we should rather look to God in despair (Ps. 43:5).
The fourth crisis is fear.
News of a conspiracy was brought to Nehemiah and the people of Judah by Jewish informants that the adversaries would unite and launch an armed attack. What was particularly frightening was the report that there would be a surprise attack from different directions simultaneously entering Jerusalem (White). Look at Nehemiah 4:11-12: “Also our enemies said, ‘Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.’ Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, ‘Wherever you turn, they will attack us.’” The news of this conspiracy to stop the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem by ambush and slaughter when Nehemiah and the people of Judah did not know or see was enough to frighten the hearts of the discouraged people of Judah.
Henry Thoreau, an American thinker and naturalist, is said to have written in his reading on September 7, 1851: “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear”. Why? The reason is because fear paralyzes us. Fear is contagious. It can also paralyze others. Fear and faith can never revolve in our hearts. Fearful people discourage and defeat others. Look at Deuteronomy 20:8 – “Then the officers shall add, ‘Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.’” In recruiting soldiers to go to war, if there is a person who is afraid and trembles in his heart, the hearts of the other recruited brothers must not fall away like his heart. So, the Bible says that the brother who is afraid should go home. The Lord's church is a victorious church, but it is also a militant church. However, in the church's spiritual warfare, if there is one among its spiritual soldiers who is afraid of Satan's attack, if the fear gradually infects all the members of the despot church because of that one person, that spiritual warfare cannot be won. The spread and controlled by fear, the soldiers will have no choice but to watch the work of Satan destroying the church in a daze. Let us all hold on to Isaiah 41:10 – “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Fear and faith can never revolve in our hearts. We must not be afraid, but only have victory through faith in God.
A crisis will come when the church, which is the body of the Lord, is being rebuilt. Adversaries who try to stop the establishment of the Lord's Church will gradually increase. And the adversaries will unite and conspire against the church. As a result, the church may become discouraged and fearful. But we must keep in mind. ‘Increase opposition is increase opportunity!’ We should rather use it as an opportunity to long for God in the midst of discouragement and despair. When we do, God will give us hope. Also, when we are afraid, we must look (rely on) the great and fearful God. Therefore, we must experience the power of God who strengthens our hearts and makes us bold. In the midst of this, we must all join in the work of building the Lord, who promises to build the body of the Lord (Mt. 16:18) and continues to fulfill that promise. Victory!