The Battle Begins

7/31/2011 7:38:56 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  He had faith to challenge others PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Nehemiah 2:9-10

                Message of the verses:  “9 ¶  Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10  When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.”

                This is more like an introduction to this third main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary, and he calls this first small sub-section “Traveling.”  It covers the verses that are seen above.

                I remember the name Sanballat from the first time that I heard the preaching on this book back in the late 70’s or early 80’s.  A dear man of God, Pastor Ralph Burns, who was the very first Pastor that I had after becoming a believer in 1974 taught through this book in my early days at Grace Baptist Church, Westlake, Ohio.  Pastor Burns went to be with his Lord and Savior early this year and was 91 years old. 

                Now remembering from the book of Ezra when he came to Jerusalem he did not want an escort for he thought that would cause the king to ask him why he could not trust in the Lord for protection on the journey, but Nehemiah, being the new governor of Jerusalem had to take an envoy with him. 

                Throughout this book it will be seen that the enemy of the Jews at this time when Nehemiah was alive would be three that Nehemiah would face.  Sanballat who was from Beth Horan, which is about twelve miles from Jerusalem, would be the main enemy, and then there was Tobiah who was an Ammonite and Geshem who was an Arabian and also went by the name Gashmu as seen in Nehemiah 6:6.

                The Moabites and the Ammonite were great enemies of Israel and they go back to the 19^th chapter of Genesis.  In that chapter we find the destruction of Sodom and Gemariah and the only survivors were Lot and his two daughters.  Lot’s two daughters got him drunk twice and while he was drunk they each slept with their father and the result was the Ammonites and the Moabites.  Now the grace of God can also be seen here, for although they were not allowed to worship in the temple or tabernacle for ten generations as can be seen from Deuteronomy 23:3-4, there is one famous Moabite whose name is Ruth that not only has a book in the Bible called by her name, but was the great grandmother of King David and is found in the bloodline of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

                One can see the hand of God in bringing Nehemiah to Jerusalem, for is he had not had the letters from the King of Persia and not had the detachment of men from the king then there could have been a lot of trouble for Nehemiah.  God was protecting Nehemiah for this work that He would have done.

                In verse ten we see these enemies of the Jews, and I have to believe that Satan was behind the workings of these enemies, for it is made clear throughout the Bible that Satan is the enemy of the Jewish people, and when it comes to anti-Semitism it can be sure that Satan has been behind all of it.  Satan hates the Jewish race because it is the Jewish race that the Messiah was born into and He is the One who will seal the doom of Satan forever.

                Dr. John MacArthur writes these words to describe Sanballat and Tobiah:  “These men were probably also behind the opposition described in Ezra 4:7-33 which stopped the work in Jerusalem.  Sanballat served as governor of Samaria (Horonaim being a town in Moab, he was probably a Moabite) and Tobiah of the region East of the Jordan River.  These district magistrates were leaders of Samaritan factions (see chapter 6) to the North and East.  They had lost any recourse to prevent Judah from rebuilding since God’s people were authorized to fortify their settlement against attack from enemies such as these two officials.  To overtly attack or oppose the Jews would be to oppose the Persian king.”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Just as Nehemiah faced three enemies so all believers today face three enemies today and they are the world, the flesh, and the Devil.  The Lord has defeated these enemies at the cross, but they can kind of be described as a chicken with its head cut off running around not knowing it is dead. 

                As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I am provided with protection from these enemies, but sometimes I don’t use this protection that is provided me.  There are countless numbers of believers who die for their faith, more now in this modern age than all of those who have died before this age.  I have read that the number is around 1000 people a day who die for the cause of Christ.  It would seem that Satan is winning a big battle because of this, but that is not the case, and it would not be the case in the book of Nehemiah.

                The Apostle Paul writes in what has been called the resurrection chapter, that is 1Cor. 15 these words about the death of a believer:  “"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.  "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’” (1Cor. 15:54b-55)  

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Ephesians 6:10-18 (The spiritual armor)

2.       Philippians 4:11-13 (Learning Contentment)

3.       Romans 12:1-2 (Living Sacrifice)

4.       Proverbs 3:5-6 (Trusting the Lord to lead my life)

5.       Psalm 139:23-24 (Search me O God)

7/31/2011 9:19:21 AM