What God has done
[Nehemiah 6:15-19]
Do you know what the word “anointed” means? In a religious sense, anointing has two uses, one of which is to consecrate something by anointing it with oil (Exod.30:23, Lev. 8:10-1 2). And the other is to anoint people to be priests (Exod. 29:7), prophets (1Kgs. 19:16), and kings (1:39). This indicates that whoever is anointed has the source of his authority from God. From here, the concept of the Messiah as a holy savior from Jehovah arose, and “Messiah” and “Christ” both mean “Anointed One” (Internet). Pastor Eugene Peterson said this about “anointing” in his book “Leap over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians”: ‘To be anointed in the Bible means to receive a work to do from God. It means that they are hired. That's what it actually means: ‘'I have work to do. I will leave it to you. And you can do it’ (Peterson). My personal opinion is that seeking an anointing is a great responsibility. The reason is because seeking the anointing means seeking work from God to do, but the question is whether we can do God's work ourselves or not. In other words, we must admit that God's work is not something we can do, but that the Holy Spirit who dwells in us does it through us. Because "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me", it must be God's work done by faith (Gal. 2:20). That is the anointing spoken of in the New Testament. In other words, the anointing was used as a symbol of the presence or indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Jn. 2:20, 27). However, the greater temptation (danger) lies in the illusion that we have become like God while experiencing God the Holy Spirit working through us in doing God's work. If we really become godlike when we do good or good things (Peterson), doing God's work by being anointed with oil is a great blessing and grace, but also a great danger and temptation. We fall into this temptation especially when work takes precedence over worship. In other words, when worship gets to the point of being instrumentalized for work (eg, like Saul), then we are not doing God's work, but ours. And when we do our work under the guise of being anointed, Christ is not honored through our service, but we ourselves are honored. Such deification work is nothing but denying the existence of God under the name of doing God's work.
Looking at today's text, Nehemiah 6:16, the Bible says that the walls of Jerusalem was completed “with the help of our God.” God anointed Nehemiah to complete the work that God had entrusted to him, the walls of Jerusalem. Then how did God work through Nehemiah? I would like to meditate on God's work in three ways: (1) Conspiracy, (2) Completion, and (3) Confidence.
First, “Conspiracy”.
If we look at Nehemiah 6:17-19, we can see the unceasing works of Satan. Look at verse 17: “Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them.” The word “in those days” here refers to the period during which the Jews were rebuilding the city of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah (Park). In other words, it refers to before the completion of the walls of Jerusalem (vv. 15-16). So, logically, verses 17-19 should have been written before verses 15-16 because it happened before verses 15-16. Nevertheless, the Bible writes after verses 15-16. Not sure why. One guess is that even after the completion of the walls of Jerusalem, it may be at the level of always being wary of not being proud and always be on the lookout for Satan's temptations. In the meantime, high-ranking people in Judah also had an affair with Sanballat and Tobiah, and continued to exchange letters to discourage Nehemiah. Sanballat and Tobiah must have been well acquainted with the affairs of Jerusalem because they kept exchanging letters. Based on Nehemiah 2:10, looking at this personal relationship, we might think that Tobiah may have lived in Jerusalem as an official under Sanballat in Samaria. At this time, it seems that Tobiah, his son, and the daughters of high-ranking officials in Judah were married. Look at Nehemiah 6:18 – “For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah.” Here, the person “Mushullam son of Berekiah” must have been an important official in Judah (WBC). In Nehemiah 3:4 and 30, “Meshullam” appears twice, and he is regarded as a strong supporter of Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In the end, what this means is that when Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, not only externally, but also internally, there were people who conspired with his enemies among the people of Judah who were rebuilding the walls together. Also, they spoke well to Nehemiah about Israel's enemies, and they also spoke badly about Nehemiah to their enemies. Look at verse 19a: “Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said ….” Also, the enemy Tobiah threatened Nehemiah with a letter (v. 19b).
Here we can see Satan's constant work. What is surprising is that Satan's ploy takes a more savage form of attack with each step in the construction of Jerusalem's walls (White). First it was open ridicule (4:1-3), then news came of an armed attack by building a formidable united front (4:7-12), and then a proposal to settle it through dialogue. Then an assassination plot disguised as an offer to resolve it through dialogue followed (6:1-3). Then came an open letter containing slanderous accusations (6:5-6). And when the walls of Jerusalem were almost completed, they tried to make Nehemiah sin against God through the false prophet Shemaiah and make the people of Judah lose trust (6:10-13). In the midst of this, Tobiah, who appears from chapter 2:10, constantly exchanges letters with high-ranking figures in Judah and eventually uses a strategy to get their children married to each other (intermarriage), trying to frighten Nehemiah and prevent him from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. What should we do if we find ourselves in a similar situation? Hymn “Simply Trusting Every day” answers this question: “Simply trusting ev-'ry day, Trusting through a stormy way; Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly, Trusting as the days go by; Trusting Him whate'er befall, Trusting Jesus, that is all” (v. 1 and chorus).
Second, “Completion”.
Look at Nehemiah 6:15 – “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.” The work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was completed in 52 days. ‘The twenty-fifth of Elu’ is about September 20th in the current calendar. This work started around the end of July and was completed around September. As we have already meditated on, the time when Nehemiah first heard about the problem of Jerusalem was “Kislev,” that is, around the 11th to 12th months of our calendar (1:1). And when he told King Artaxerxes of his plan, it was “Nisan,” that is, around March-April, four months after our calendar (2:1). Then, after receiving permission from the king, it took Nehemiah two to three months to leave from Susa and come to Jerusalem, and he arrived in Jerusalem between April and May and between June and July. This period of time took longer than the 52 days during which the walls of Jerusalem were completed, indicating that Nehemiah came from the palace of Susa to Jerusalem. How was Nehemiah able to complete the walls of Jerusalem with the people of Judah in a short period of 52 days? We can think of several secrets for this:
- The most important secret to completion is to prepare a lot through prayer.
The completion of Jerusalem's walls took only 52 days. But before that, the "month of Chislev," when Nehemiah first heard about Jerusalem's problems, that is, the "month of Nisan," when he informed King Artaxerxes of his plans to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem from November to December in our calendar. From March to April, he prayed to God for four months. Nehemiah, who had heard the bad news from his homeland, told his brother Hanani (1:2-3) that the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed, the gates had been burned, and the remaining people were suffering disgrace and suffering. So, Nehemiah, who mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” (1:4). He pleaded with God for the matter until he revealed his plan to King Artaxerxes. The reason is because Nehemiah knew that it was more important to move God with his petition than to move the man, King Artaxerxes (Lee). In other words, Nehemiah, as a man of prayer, was more conscious of God than man, so he looked at Almighty God, the King of Kings, rather than King Artaxerxes, the King of Media and Persia, who boasted the greatest strength and power at the time.
We too must look to God. We too must pray to God. The reason why we fast one meal a day for 40 days and cry out to God while preparing for the evangelism meeting is because only God can open the heart of our new believers. Therefore, when we cry out to God in prayer, God hears our prayer and opens the hearts of our newly born believers to hear the gospel and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord. What is the word of promise that we are holding on to and seeking? This is the Acts 16:14: “… The Lord opened her (Lydia's) heart to respond to Paul’s message.”
- The secret to completion is to experience God's presence.
After praying to God, Nehemiah took action. In other words, he offered a living prayer, a prayer with action, to God. He continued to pray to God and moved into his action. At that time, “because the gracious hand of my God was upon Nehemiah (2:8, 18) King Artaxerxes granted Nehemiah's request.
- The secret to completion is a life led by a purpose.
Nehemiah was an unstoppable leader. Although he could have diverted his mind and attention from his enemies after he began rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he did not divert his mind and attention from the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He was able to do this because he had the 3 C's: (a) Conviction: the conviction that this is the mission given to me by the Lord, the certainty of victory, etc., (b) Confidence: Confidence based not on confidence, but on the faithfulness of the Lord. Confidence in his faithfulness that the word of the Lord will be fulfilled no matter what. (c) Consistency: A life of walking one way in fulfilling one's mission, not one way or another. For Nehemiah, the purpose was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
- The secret to completion is excellent risk management.
As the walls of Jerusalem were completed, the enemy's attacks became more and more ferocious and stronger (mockery, news of an armed attack by building a united front, disguised assassination plot, slander, appearance of false prophets). Whenever he encountered these crises, Nehemiah showed his excellent crisis management. He overcame the crisis through prayer, and also set up a guard through the act of prayer to avoid the crisis. In addition, he constantly challenged the people of Judah to fully trust and have confidence in God, so that they looked to the great Lord rather than maximizing the crisis. He showed courage to the people of Judah and averted a crisis with God-given discernment. Nehemiah was an excellent crisis manager.
- The secret to completion is patience or endurance.
The period of 52 days would not have been a short period for Nehemiah and the people of Judah. The difficulties and crises they faced required a lot of patience and endurance from Nehemiah and the people of Judah. But why did they not give up rebuilding Jerusalem's walls? The reason is because they had hope. It was because they had a dream in their hearts of the completion of the walls of Jerusalem.
One day during a prayer meeting with church leaders, I challenged them. We challenged ourselves to draw a picture in our hearts that our church raises and dispatches workers with a Christ-centered dream like the 300 soldiers of Gideon. Then we will be able to endure with patience no matter what difficulties and crises we encounter.
In a word, the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, which was God's work, had been done “with the help of our God” (6:16).
Third and last is confidence.
Look at Nehemiah 6:16 – “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” The work God has accomplished, that is, the completion of the walls of Jerusalem, has been seen and heard by all the enemies and the people of the Gentiles. When they did, they all became afraid and lost their self-confidence. The reason is because all the enemies and the Gentiles knew that the completion of the walls of Jerusalem was accomplished by the God of Israel. In other words, all the enemies and the Gentiles knew that it was impossible to complete only with the human strength of Nehemiah and the people of Judah. Because God was with Nehemiah and the people of Judah and helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, all the enemies and the people of the Gentiles around the world knew that the walls were completed. In the end, God caused all the enemies of Nehemiah and the people of Judah to lose confidence of the Gentiles.
What we realize here is that even through our enemies, God breaks down our self-confident attitude by cutting down all the branches we want to rely on. For example, if we rely on ourselves, God makes us unable to rely on ourselves even through the work of our adversaries making us afraid or discouraged. Therefore, in the end, God makes us depend only on Him. Another fact is that those who rely on God will not be discouraged by people and circumstances. Nehemiah led his enemies through various problems and difficulties. But it is not stated in the Book of Nehemiah that he was discouraged. In other words, Nehemiah, who completely depended on God, was not discouraged by his enemies. Even when the people of Judah were discouraged (4:10ff.), Nehemiah the leader was not discouraged.
Our God is the God who moves trust from self-confidence to God-confidence. Therefore, God makes those who trust in Him lose the confidence of those who oppose God's people. Listen to the confession of Rahab the prostitute in Joshua 2:9-11: “… "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”
The book “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing God’s Will” by Henry Blackgarvey and Claude V. King says: ‘In the Bible, the tasks God gives to His people are always “God-sized”’. This encounter with God brings a crisis to our confidence (Black Garvey & King). When we take on a “God-sized” task, we can test our beliefs: ‘Either I show faith through my obedience to God or discover my weak faith (disobedience). The reason people in the world are not drawn to Christ and His church is because God's people lack the faith to try things that only God can do’ (Black Garvey & King). The great God gave Nehemiah the task of God’s size. His anointed Nehemiah, in the midst of any adversary's threats and complicity, fulfilled the task by his faith. That's why the enemies and everyone everywhere were afraid and lost confidence. What is the ‘God-size’ mission that the Lord is giving us today? It is to build a church where the Lord is the body. The Lord will establish the church, which is the body of the Lord. I hope and pray that we will be able to participate in the work that the Lord is establishing by faith.