Discouraging questions

❓ Discouraging questions  ❓

and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “ What are those feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble —burned as they are?”

Nehemiah 4:2

Sanballat and Tobiah sought to bring the discouragement through criticism. Discouragement is such a powerful weapon because it is somewhat the opposite of faith.

In verse 2, Sanballat asks five questions which would discourage the Jews.

We know that people are trying to discourage us. We try to stand firm. Yet we fall! Why?

Because there is some small amount of truth in it!

Where faith believes God and His love and promises. Discouragement looks for and believes the worst - and tends to pretty much forget about who God is and what He has promised to do.

Analogy

Sanballat and Tobiah had no authority to actually stop the work. All they could do was to discourage the Jews into stopping.

In our life, Satan has no authority to stop the good work that God has started in our life . But he can discourage us. 

Incident 

A few days back, I met a young girl - 17 or 18 years. She had pimples all over her face. She tried so many treatments for the past four years but nothing has worked. Now, the mother(someone I know very well) has surrendered it to God and now there is some improvement. She was feeling so dull!

She told me, "Akka, whenever I enter the church, many people ask me so many questions about my face. I enter the church happily but as soon as I hear the questions, I become so discouraged akka". My heart went out to her. As a young girl, I was also in a very similar situation, but God gave me a great deliverance. I shared my testimony with her and encouraged her.

❓Are we asking questions that would discourage others? 😔

❓Are we making others doubt the plans God has for their life? 🤔

❓Are we putting stumbling blocks in their path of Spiritual growth? 

❓Are we taking away smiles from happy faces? 😶

❓Are we robbing the peace of others? 😢

May we use uplifting words and encourage those around us!

Jehovah Jireh - our Provider

Jehovah Jireh - our Provider 🔆

And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria,

”What are these feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore it for themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish up in a day?

Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?

Nehemiah 4:2

Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble —burned as they are?

❓What is the motive behind this question?

Sanballat comes to know that that the Jews are rebuilding their wall. The number of Jews were very less. They were not prosperous, they did not have much money as their city was in ruins. Building a wall requires a lot of money, man power and materials. So Sanballat asks in a mocking way if all the burned stones will come back to life and if they will build with them.

💎 "Will they revive the burnt stones (the stones that are burned) out of the heaps of the rubbish?" Will they do what is im-possible-solidify and make into real stone the calcined and crumbling blocks which are all that they will find in the heaps of rubbish? If not, how are they to procure material?

• Pulpit commentary 💎

We know that Nehemiah asked the king for timber.

🌲And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?

Nehemiah 2:8🌲

❓But what about the other materials?

Nehemiah walked with the faith that the Lord will provide! And He did! They finished the wall in 52 days!

🐏God provided a ram to Abraham on Mt. Moriah.

🌳God provided a leafy plant to Jonah to give shade to his head.

🥖God provided bread and meat to Elijah through ravens.

We are looking upto God for all our needs.

🙇‍♀ As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God.

Psalms 123:2 🙇‍♀

He knows what we want, what we need and the desires of our heart

He never let Nehemiah put down his head in shame. He made him walk with his head held high. In the same way, when we look upto Him, he will meet all our needs and make our faces shine!

🔆Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

Psalms 34:5 🔆

Considering others lower than you

Considering others lower than you

and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “ What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble —burned as they are?”

Nehemiah 4:2

The word "feeble" refers to weak, fainting, without strength etc. Sanballat referred to the Jews as "Feeble". Sanballat considered him higher than the Jews. That mindset made him speak insulting words.

Sennacharib insults Jerusalem 🤬

Sennacharib, king of Assyria, sent his supreme commander to Jerusalem. He called for the king. Officials from Hezekiah's palace went out to meet them. There, the Supreme commander threatens them. He tries to make a bargain with them. At that point, the officials request them to speak to them in Aramaic and not in Hebrew so that people sitting on the wall do not understand the threats.

❓But what does the commander say?

"Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

2 Kings 18:27

❓What happened next?

Sennacharib's fall

🧚‍♀the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp

⬅Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.

⚔One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword.

2 Kings 19

What do we infer?

Let us never look down on others like Sanballat or Sennacharib. What does the Bible tell us?

🙇‍♀in humility value others above yourselves.

Phil 2:3 🙇‍♀

God wants us to value others above ourselves. Destruction came to Sennacharib. His own son killed him. Yes, a person may be weak. But when the Holy Spirit is with them, God can do mighty things through them

A testimony :

From Saturday, I was thinking about this verse and preparing for honey drops. On Sunday, a man of God came to give the sermon. His voice was so weak. We were not able to hear him. Someone adjusted the mike. No change. I was thinking, "today we cannot hear the sermon. I think I should read the Bible ". Then his wife came up and they started worshipping. The worship was so so so good, such an anointed time. Then he started speaking! What a transformation! His voice changed completely! He gave a message based on Isaiah 41:13. I was amazed by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Yes, he was a small, weak man with a soft voice. But who is with Him? The Holy Spirit! Let us never look down on others at any point of time. May we always value others higher than ourselves!

🔆Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Zechariah 4:6🔆

Empty vessels make the most noise

Empty vessels make the most noise

and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble —burned as they are?”

Nehemiah 4:2

Sanballat hurled a series of insults against the Jews. He did this to insult them and make them discouraged and stop their work. But Nehemiah did not let the insults affect him.

David and Goliath

Goliath, a Philistine looked down on the Israelites. He taunted them with his words.

😰 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified

1 Samuel 17:11 😰

He used his words to terrify the Israelites. David went in the name of the Lord to fight against Goliath. Again, he uses words.

😈 "Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!"

1 samuel 17:44 😈

But David does not lose his cool! He does not get terrified. He answers calmly,

• "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands.”

1 Samuel 17:45

Yes, God did deliver the Philistine into the hands of Goliath and the Israelites.

In the same way, the enemy will scare you, terrify you with words. But we must realize that those words do not have any power.

🔙We must not let those words take us back.

📶We must go forward boldly in the name of our Lord, just like David did!

Nehemiah did not let the insults stop his work. He went forward in the name of our Lord!

😈Satan is an empty vessel and he makes a lot of noise. But we must learn to shut off his noise and open our ears to the words of our Lord!

Application

😰Are there voices in your mind that is bringing fear to you?

😱Are there voices that are terrifying you?

😰Are there voices that are discouraging you?

Let  us understand that these voices are from the enemy and learn to shut off these voices.

The words of God are encouraging, comforting. May we move forward with the words that God speaks with us!

Sowing seeds of discord

🍯Sowing seeds of discord

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria , he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble —burned as they are?”

Nehemiah 4:2 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Sanballat could have insulted the Jews in his private quarters where only a few people are present. But he chose to do it in front of his associates and the army of Samaria. He did this to sow seeds of discord in their hearts. Our words have the power to create a positive or negative impression about a person.

Potiphar's wife turns Potiphar against Joseph

We see that Potiphar's wife said evil things against Joseph in front of the entire household and Potiphar. She calls them and tells them.

🔴she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us!

Gen 39:14🔴

Potiphar trusted Joseph so much that he entrusted his entire household to Joseph. But the words of his wife turned him against Joseph. He took him and put him in prison.

 Seeds of discord in the family

❌There are six things the Lord hates—

no, seven things he detests : a person who sows discord in a family.

Proverbs 6:16,19❌

Are we sowing seeds of discord in our family by painting bad images of a person?

When a woman continues to say bad things about the man's family to the man, he will begin to get a negative image of his own family! I have seen this with my own eyes!

Who is at fault? The woman! May we never be the reason for sowing seeds of discord in families. It is something the Lord detests! May we be very careful in the words we use.

Am I painting good images? 🎨

We always delight in beautiful paintings. Given a chance, we would paint only good scenes. But why do we paint bad images of people to others? Let us make a conscious effort to not say bad things about others!

Never ridicule anyone

Never ridicule anyone

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews .

Nehemiah 4:1

When Sanballat heard that the Jews were re building the wall, he ridiculed the Jews.

Some of the synonyms of ridicule are : mockery, sarcasm, scorn, scoffing

In plain words : looking down on someone.

👱‍♂David was ridiculed by his brothers and Goliath.

👱‍♂Joseph was ridiculed by his brothers.

👱‍♂Noah was ridiculed by the men whom he tried to save.

But God did not let them down. He blessed them and raised them to a high position. They never went back. They did not let the ridiculing stop them. They kept going with the grace of God and reached great heights.

In our life, we would have been looked down on several situations. It would have been very very painful. But God will never let us down.

🔆Those who look to Him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame.

Psalms 34:5🔆

At the same time, we must be careful that we never ridicule anyone. Our words must be seasoned with grace.

🍯Gracious words are a honeycomb,

sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24 🍯

We must never tease or make fun of anyone even in a fun way. It might hurt them. Our words must bring healing to the one who hears them. It must be sweet to their soul!

Why was Sanballat angry?

❓ Why was Sanballat angry?  😡

🌀 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews.

Nehemiah 4:1🌀

On the succession of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, around 930 BCE, the Israelite Kingdom split into two kingdoms:

▪the Kingdom of Israel ( containing Samaria) in the north

▪the Kingdom of Judah (containing Jerusalem) in the south.

Nehemiah came to build the wall in Jerusalem that lay in ruins. The wall was re built to protect the city and its citizens against the attack of the enemy.

Sanballat was the governor of Samaria. He was one of the rivals of Jerusalem. So he was angry see the city of Jerusalem being made safe and secure.

‎

Walls catch the attention of the enemy 👿

When the city lay in ruins, Sanballat was happy doing his work in his own place, Samaria. He can attack the city whenever he wants. But as soon as he heard that the wall is being rebuilt, he became angry.

Let us consider Job.

What did Satan say to God about Job?

🏠“ Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?"

Job 1:10 🏠

The hedge that God has put around Job caught the enemy's eyes. Satan cannot do anything when a wall of protection is around us. This makes the enemy angry.

❓Are you building your wall today?

❓Are you repairing your wall today?

👿Yes, it will make the enemy angry!

😢But, don't be discouraged!

😊Keep building like Nehemiah!

Sanballat hearing good news

Sanballat hearing good news

👂When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews.

Nehemiah 4:1👂

 Hearing good news about others

Who is Sanballat?

Sanballat the Horonite — or Sanballat I — was a Samaritan leader and official of the Achaemenid Empire of Greater Iran who lived in the mid to late 5th century BC and was a contemporary of Nehemiah.

The walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins. Nehemiah went upto Jerusalem to build the walls and he started the process. When Sanballat heard this, he became angry! He was an opponent of the Jews and he did not like this turn of events. They were very angry at the undertaking, and had great indignation. It vexed them that Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

❓ How do we respond to good news about others?

🔆Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

🔆Christ came to seek the welfare of the children of the world.

😭The wall of Jerusalem lay in ruins.

😭The lives of people around us are in ruins.

🏡Nehemiah helped the people to rebuild the wall.

🏡Christ helped the people to rebuild their lives.

How do we react to all this?

Do we react like Sanballat at times?

It need not be anger. It may be sadness, jealousy, envy, bitterness. Let us analyze ourselves and learn how we react when we hear good news about others! 

May we praise God for the blessings in the lives of people around us! May we never give into envy/jealousy or anger!

Going the extra mile

🏃‍♀ Going the extra mile 🏃‍♀

Meremoth, son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section.

Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the entrance of Eliashib’s house to the end of it.

Nehemiah 3:4,21💞

The wall was repaired by many people. They repaired certain sections of the wall. But some people did not stop with one portion- they repaired more than one section.

Who were they?

1. Meremoth, son of Uriah

2. People of Tekoa

3. Binnui

4. Meshullam

These people had so much zeal for the Lord that their names have been recorded twice in chapter 3! What a blessing!

❓What does the phrase "go the extra mile" mean?

" to make more effort than is expected of you "

This phrase is taken from the what Jesus said is Matthew 5.

👏If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

👕If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.

🏃‍♀ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

❓To whom do we have to do this?

To the evil person, says Jesus!

Rebekah going the extra mile

❓What does the senior servant of Abraham ask Rebekah?

💦I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’(Gen 24:45)

❓What does Rebekah do and say?

🏺“She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also. 🐫

 (Gen 24:46)

When he asked Rebekah for water, Rebekah could have said:

▪Please get it yourself. Its difficult to go down into the spring and come back up.

▪Okay, I will give you a drink.

But she quickly lowered her jar and volunteered to get water for the camels too. She certainly knows that camels drink a lot of water! I often think, this trait of Rebekah enabled her to get a wonderful husband, Isaac.

🔆 Application 🔆

❓Today, are we longing to go the extra mile in serving our Lord?

❓When someone asks us for something, do we go the extra mile?

👩May we be like Rebekah and give others more than what they ask/need!