Nehemiah 2
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Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls (2:11–20)
11–16 In these verses, Nehemiah describes how he inspected the walls; he did it at night, so as not to attract attention.
17–18 Then he challenged the Jews to work with him to rebuild the walls of their city. They had become apathetic; they had ceased caring about the state of the city. It required an outsider to come and assess the situation and mobilize the community to action. And how did Nehemiah mobilize the Jews? By encouraging them, not by commanding them. “Come, let us rebuild the wall. . .” (verse 17).
19–20 However, whenever a work of God begins there will be opposition (1 Corinthians 16:8–9). And opposition to Nehemiah came in the form of Sanballat and Tobiah (verse 10), and also an Arab named Geshem, who was an influential leader in Arabia and southern Palestine.
But Nehemiah was not to be deterred. “The God of heaven will give us success,” he told them (verse 20). And he forcefully rejected their schemes to have a part in Jerusalem’s political and economic future. It seems that Nehemiah’s resolve became stronger as he confronted these men. That is often God’s way; though Nehemiah had many natural strengths, they would soon be tested and refined. We never know what we are capable of until we are put to the test. If we are truly doing God’s work in God’s way, God will use the opposition we face to “make” us, not “break” us.