“So I stationed from the lowest parts of the place, from the back of the wall, in the higher places; even, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.” (Neh 4:13)So, Nehemiah stations people at the exposed places, and he places them in families. When he saw their fear, he gave them a pep talk.
“And I saw. And I rose up and said to the nobles and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”(Neh 4:14)Nehemiah was a genius! He knew people would fight for their families! When we are under attack, we don’t attack our families, we get together and we fight the enemy! We remember the Lord has blessed the rebuilding of our families and He will fight with us!
When the enemies found out that God had frustrated their plans, they were able to return to the work of rebuilding. Sometimes after winning a battle, it feels like you can relax and not worry about any more attacks for a while, but according to Nehemiah, it is not so.
“And it came about from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work, while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the Captains were behind the whole House of Judah. Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding the weapon. As for the builders, each one wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.” (Neh 4:16-18)I think this means we are to stand watch at all times for attacks from the enemy and never let our guard down, even while we are working or carrying burdens. We may feel that we can’t go on, especially if our burdens are heavy, but God will never give us more than we can handle. The sword here could represent the Bible and the trumpet, prayer. The trumpeter standing near Nehemiah played a very special part. The work that was being done was so expansive that they needed a loud alarm in case they were attacked again. They were to blow the Ram’s horn to gather together and God would fight for them!
“And I said to the nobles and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In whatever place you hear the sound of the ram's horn, gather there to us. Our God will fight for us.” (Neh 4:19-20)This sounds too much like prayer in agreement to me. At this point in the battle, especially when an army of enemies had been amassed, I’m under the impression that the Ram’s horn represents the prayer of intercessors in our church body on behalf of our families. When the attack is great and we feel weak, I believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with calling the elders of your church to pray over you and for you. That’s what we are called to do as brothers and sisters in Christ. But a major point that we cannot miss is the need to be watchful AND pray.
“Watch and pray, that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is eager, but the flesh is weak.” (Mat 26:41)I want to end this series with a quote from The Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentary. The point made here is one that I believe is the key to keeping our walls in tact after we complete the rebuilding process.
“If we think to secure ourselves by prayer only, without watchfulness, we are slothful and tempt God; if by watchfulness, without prayer, we are proud and slight God, and either way, we forfeit our protection.”
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