Bible Pathways - June 7, 2007
In Today's Scripture Reading:
Builders opposed and ridiculed; Nehemiah's prayer; weapons for the workers; evils corrected; plots of adversaries; walls completed
Nehemiah determined to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, even though there was fierce opposition. He armed workers with their swords, their spears, and their bows (Nehemiah 4:13). He also said: Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible (to be reverenced). . . . our God shall fight for us. So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared (4:14,20-21; compare Numbers 14:9; Exodus 14:13-14). Working about 12 hours a day left little time for anything else. The Israelites' faith had been strengthened through the reading of God's Word.
Sanballat again attempted to stop their work, saying: Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono (Nehemiah 6:2), about 28 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Nehemiah replied: 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? (6:3).
After Sanballat made five attempts to meet with Nehemiah, he then accused him of rebelling against the king of Persia (6:5-7). When this failed, Sanballat hired a prophet to foretell Nehemiah's death.
Eleven times it is recorded that Nehemiah prayed (1:4-11; 2:4; 4:4-5,9; 5:19; 6:9,14; 13:14,22,29,31). He encouraged his workers, saying: The God of heaven . . . will prosper us. . . . for the people had a mind to work. . . . So the wall was finished . . . in fifty and two days (2:20; 4:6; 6:15).
Once we recognize that the battle is the Lord's (I Samuel 17:47), and God is the One who allows the opposition, we will not panic. Instead, we will seek to learn what the Lord expects of us in order to qualify to have our prayers answered. People of faith, though a minority, will always find a way to accomplish God's will. In serving the Lord, one great temptation is that many will find excuses to wait for a more convenient time rather than to put the Lord first and do their best with what they have. Jesus said: I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work (John 9:4).
Christ Portrayed:
By Nehemiah and other Jews who had bought back (redeemed) some Jews who had been sold to the heathen as slaves while in Persia (Nehemiah 5:8). We, which He hath purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28), were redeemed when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Word Studies:
4:7 breaches =/i> gaps; 4:10 decayed =/i> giving way; 4:20 resort ye thither =/i> assemble there; 5:3 dearth =/i> famine; 5:7 usury =/i> interest; 5:10 exact of them =/i> require; 6:8 feignest =/i> made up the story.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for The Arabic International Shortwave Radio Broadcast sponsored by Mrs. Peggy Via; The English International Shortwave Radio Broadcast sponsored by Donna Summerlin, Rudell Burgin, and E.L. Gersiek Assistant to the Ex. Dir. of the IBRA: Terry Hall Government Official: Rep. Mike Pence (IN) Country: Thailand (60 million) in Southeast Asia Major languages: Thai and English Limited freedom of Christian ministry; Buddhism is the state religion 92% Buddhist; 4% Muslim; 2% Chinese folk-religionist; 1% Christian Prayer Suggestion: Put on God's whole armor so that you may be able to successfully stand up against Satan's evil attacks (Ephesians 6:11).
Optional Reading: II Corinthians 9
Memory Verse for the Week: Psalms 19:7
