Rebuilding the Family Unit: Instructions from the Book of Nehemiah part 3

by Scottie Joines 

“Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they made their hands strong for good.”(Neh 2:18)

When Nehemiah told the officials, Jews, Priests, nobles, and workers exactly what damage they were to deal with, while it may have sounded overwhelming, he also was quick to mention that the hand of God was good on him. Nehemiah had God’s blessing for the rebuilding of the city. Once again, we have an agreement made, an alliance to seek God’s will and once again, evil ears are pricked up and angry.

“But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard, then they mocked us and despised us. And they said, What is this that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”(Neh 2:19)

So far, every time there is an agreement made, the enemy gets angry. Could that be because the enemy seeks to divide us? It’s the old divide and conquer strategy. I have seen the enemy use it time and time again. Divide the people from the church, divide the children from the parents, divide the husbands from the wives, etc… They also added another enemy to the mix, they must have felt a little insecure. Then, they begin to taunt Nehemiah.


At this point in your rebuilding, if you have made ground and come together in unity with each other for this purpose, you will be taunted. Expect it. Here’s where the thoughts start to come like, “This will never work, I will never be able to trust again, it’s just not worth it, I’m not worth it, we would be happier apart, I’m just not “in love” anymore.” So on and so forth. Everyone has their own set of lies they tend to believe. Be ready for them, take them captive and kick them out! It’s the enemy taunting you!

“…for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful to God to the demolition of strongholds, the demolishing of arguments and every high thing lifting up itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ,” (2Cor 10:4-5)

Nehemiah’s answer to the taunting is this:

“Then I answered them and said to them, The God of Heaven, He will prosper us, and we, His servants, will arise and build. But you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”(Neh 2:20)

Nehemiah told the enemies straight up that they had no right there, they are servants of God and He will enable us to rebuild. PRAISE GOD!


We have got to take a stand for our families. We have got to take authority over these traps laid for us time and time again and begin to act like the sons and daughters of God that we are! When this happens, we must stand and pray together. I believe that if there isn’t prayer going on for the relationship “together” in agreement, diligently as if it were important to us, there will be no re-building. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but if we do not come together in prayer in our broken relationships, they are probably going to stay broken until we are humble enough to pray.