Nehemiah 4:10

The Bible says in Nehemiah 4:10-17, “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.[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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.” There was a lot of debris around the areas where the Israelites were working: evidently it was piled up very high. Therefore, the enemies had a plan to sneak up on the Israelites and kill them. According to verse twelve, they found out that the enemy was going to attack not just in one place, but everywhere around the entire wall. The Israelites were not going to stop building the wall, so they had to come up with a plan.

Once again we see that they did both practical things and spiritual things in order to get ready for their enemy. First, in verse thirteen they made sure that every family had weapons. Secondly, in verse fourteen they encouraged them, “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord.” Do not give too many thoughts to the power and hatred of the enemy. Get prepared, but do not fear, and make sure that you are trusting in the Lord.

In a time of violence and a time of crime, make sure that you are ready to defend yourself. In verse fourteen they were also reminded that they were not only defending themselves, but also their family and their homes: in other words everything that they had in life: “fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

In verse fifteen we are told that once the enemies saw that the Israelites were well prepared, the enemies’ own self-preservation kicked in and they backed off. They did not attack. The best way to not have a war is to be well prepared for war. If your enemies have any sense, they will not attack because they will see how well prepared you are.

Verses sixteen and seventeen tell us that even though the enemy did not attack this time, the people stayed well prepared and on their guard. Half the people did the work, and the other half guarded them. And those who worked had a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other. In other words, they believed in open-carry: both to be prepared and to be a deterrent.

Threats and dangers did not stop them from doing the work of the Lord. Comparing all of this to Christianity, we have weapons too: according to Ephesians chapter 6, spiritual weapons of salvation, goodness, truth, faith, prayer, and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do your work, but make sure you have all your spiritual weapons ready every moment of the day.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 4:18-23, “For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.[19] And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.[20] In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.[21] So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.[22] Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.[23] So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.” Before the days of modern communication technology such as the telephone, texting, email, etc., people still had a means to communicate. In this case Nehemiah organized them with trumpets. But as well as they were organized, notice that in verse twenty Nehemiah said, “our God shall fight for us.” Once again we see both the practical and the spiritual put into effect. As hard as they worked, they still had to sleep; and so they got more help from people to be guards while they slept. They worked so hard on this project that they did not even take time to change their clothes, except when the clothes got so dirty that they had to change them.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 5:1-10, “And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.[2] For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.[3] Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.[4] There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.[5] Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.[6] And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.[7] Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.[8] And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.[9] Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?[10] I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.” God is the source of freedom. God gives freedom to all human beings: the freedom to choose. Any time there is a lack of freedom, those who are rightly related to God always speak out for freedom. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” If you live in a country where freedom is important and is supported, then you are blessed indeed. In these verses the real problem was that people had lost their freedom. They lost their freedom for one of the most common reasons that people have lost their freedom in the history of the human race: financial reasons. Financial freedom is sometimes the most difficult to achieve. Notice that in these verses “usury” is condemned. Usury is the same thing as interest. Our modern financial system is based very much on the collecting of interest for money that is loaned. Sometimes the interest on loans is the biggest problem. In the life of some loans, more is paid on interest than the principal of the loan itself. In the modern world, the way to not be a slave to usury is to get out of debt and stay out.

Anyone who was involved in slavery over the centuries should have read verses eight and nine above. Just these verses alone make it very clear that slavery is not God’s will. They say, “And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.[9] Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies.” The Bible is against slavery and always has been.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 5:11-15, “Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.[12] Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.[13] Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.[14] Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.[15] But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.” Nehemiah told the people what was the right thing to do, and they did it. As it says in verse thirteen, “And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.” The same thing is supposed to happen with a Bible-teaching pastor and a congregation of believers. The pastor preaches and teaches the Word of God, and the believers are blessed by it, learn from it, and put it into action. God designed a Bible-believing church to work that way. In verse fifteen Nehemiah pointed out that the former governors had required that food and money be given to them. In other words, they were profiting off the congregation. Nehemiah did not do that. It says in First Timothy 3:3 that a pastor should not be “greedy of filthy lucre.” If you start or control a Christian ministry, my recommendation that if it is at all possible, do not make the ministry dependent upon a lot of money coming in. Of course, that will not always be possible. The more that the ministry is based upon money, the more that workers will be coming there in order to get some of that money too. Whether you have money coming in for salaries or not, make sure that the spiritual emphasis in serving the Lord is most important to you. Do not be greedy or materialistic in your approach or emphasis. Nehemiah said that the reason that he did not take money or material things from the people is because he had “the fear of God.” Evidently, some of the modern Christian organizations lack the fear of God.

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