Shabbat Shalom everyone. Please open your Bibles now. We are going to turn to the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah today. We are going to seek with the Lord's help to finalize the second chapter. Nehemiah, Nehemiah, chapter 2, is the passage that we're going to look into this ministry meeting. We are studying, of course, the book of Nehemiah. This man was a cupbearer, a Jewish man that was living outside of the country in Bavell, and he was ready to return to the city of Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down, and the gates that were burnt with fire. Today, I would like to read from verse 11, Nehemiah chapter 2, verses 11 to 20.

Those are the last portion of the second chapter. So I'm reading, please follow me. Beautiful passage. We read in verse 11, So I came to Jerusalem, and I was there for three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon, and I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook and viewed the wall and turned back and entered by the gate of the valley and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and the gates the roof are burnt with fire, Come, and let us build up the wall of Yerushalayim, that we be no more a reproach.

Then I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me, and they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tuvaya the servants the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they left us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build. But ye have no portion, no right, no memorial in Yerushalayim.

And I'm stopping here. This is the last verse of Nehemiah chapter 2. You know, as we studied the book of Nehemiah, we really fall in love with this man. This man, Nehemiah, his name means comfort of Jehovah. He was a man that really sought a blessing for the people of God. We really need this kind of men and this kind of women today, in this present day of the last days of the church age, of the Laodicean days. We need men and women that will rise up to be servants among the people of God, to be those that want to build rather than destroy, those that want to see the people of God growing spiritually, want to see the assemblies, the congregation growing both spiritually and also numerically, and that the people of God who are so much in need can get encouragement from those kind of servants like Nehemia.

And you see our own Jewish people historically needed such a man as Nehemia and God raised it for them in a time of decline. And so remember that in the first 10 verses of Nehemiah chapter 2, Nehemiah, who was a cub bearer, came to the king. The king saw him very sad and he said, why are you so sad? And you remember what he said to him. He says, listen, why shouldn't I be sad? Look at the condition when the city and the place of my father's sepulchre lies waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire. Why shouldn't I be sad? Beloved brothers and sisters, let me ask you a question.

When you look around and you see the believers, the people of God today, who are scattered and dispersed and divided. Not only the Jewish people historically were divided, the church is divided, the assemblies are divided, broken to pieces. How do you feel about it? Does it grieve you at your heart? Do you feel, oh boy, Lord, help me to be a blessing to the people of God? This is the kind of individuals that the believers need today. They're scattered and they're broken down of the people of God. They need, you and I need these kind of men and women to rise up and to be a blessing to the people of God.

Well, the king sent him. And he sent him not only, he gave him letter, he gave him lumber. He sent him all the way across the river, all the way to the land of Judah, to the land of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. And finally where we find ourselves today in the time when Nehemiah has arrived to the city of Jerusalem now let me add one more thing here and we're going to move on if you just turn with me to Daniel chapter 9 for one moment in verse 25 I want you to notice the prophecy that God gave to Daniel when Daniel was in Babel.

God gave to Daniel this prophecy concerning the future restoration of the temple in Jerusalem and the city of Jerusalem. This is the angel speaking to Daniel, telling him the word of the Lord, and in verse 25 he says, therefore I want you understand from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Yerushalayim unto the Mashiach the prince shall be seven weeks this is 49 years and three score this is additional 434 years two weeks notice the street shall be built and the wall even in troublous time and after three score and two weeks after 434 years Messiah shall be cut off but not for himself and the people.

Of the prince that shall come shall destroy again the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolation are determined and so on and you see beloved brothers and sisters, really, we find ourselves now in Nehemiah chapter 2 is a beginning of the fulfillment of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the streets of Jerusalem. It's about 444 BC, 445 BC, and now Nehemiah finally have arrived to the city of Jerusalem to fulfill the word of the Lord in Daniel chapter 9 in verse 25 and 26 that the Messiah ultimately will come after certain years, but the beginning wars of the counting will be from the building of the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

And so here is Nehemiah finally have arrived to the city of Jerusalem. Well, when he arrived to the city of Jerusalem, enemies already began against him. Remember in verse 10, we already read Sanballat the Horonite and Tuvaiah the Ammonite. They were grieved. They were not happy that someone came to seek for the welfare of the children of Israel. You know, it's kind of sad that when you come to Jerusalem to start to build the city, broken walls and burned down gates, you have people who don't like you to do that. And they were right there in the very same place. And you and I will notice this in our lives as believers that when you want to serve the Lord and you want to minister to the saints, you will find that it is not without opposition.

We see it historically among our people Israel and we see it historically in the ecclesia age, in the church age. And we see it today, even in the life in which we live in today, there are those that simply do not want the building of the body of Mashiach. Paul warned us against this in Philippians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 3. He says some who really became like an enemy of the Lord because they didn't seek to see the building of the body of Mashiach. And how Satan is so causing us, and we have to be in our own hearts very careful. It's better to ask the Lord to pray for the people of God rather than to oppose the work of the people of God because we find ourselves turning against the Lord and against His will.

And so now you find out when Nehemiah arrived, and you see there are four things that we find here in verses 11 to 20. Number one, he arrived to Jerusalem and he's rising up at night and he began with planning how to build the wall of Yerushalayim. It says in verse 11, So I came unto Jerusalem, and I was there for three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. Neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. You know, Nehemia is not only a heavenly minded man and no earthly good.

He was really practical man. He says, listen, I'm going to build the walls of Jerusalem. Well, I got to see what's going on, right? You know, it's so true when a servant of the Lord is really observing what is going on. He's not a fool. He's listening to the voice of the Lord. You notice that he says here in verse 12, My God had put in my heart to do in Yerushalayim. The Lord laid upon his heart to build. And Nehemia was not foolish. He was just observing the situation. What does he do? First of all, he rested for three days. Verse 11, you know, he had a long journey from over the river.

When he has arrived to Jerusalem, he rested like Ezra did. Ezra also rested for three days. He waited until the time come. And look what Nehemiah does. He arose up in the middle of the night. Everybody was sleeping. Everybody was not aware of the fact that he was doing something at nighttime to prepare for building. You know, usually, who comes at night in general? The thieves. What they do at night, they come to break down, to tear, to steal. But Nehemia was doing exactly the opposite. He rose up at night, and instead of seeking to destroy, he rising up at night. He didn't even tell everyone anything of the plan that he had, but he wanted for himself to know what he's going to do.

So he got up at night, notice, he arose, He took some of the men that were with him and he said, I didn't tell anybody else as yet what my God had put in my heart to do in Yerushalayim. Because if you would tell right away immediately and then you know how things are spreading around, the information will come to the enemies of Nehemiah and the Jewish people and they would cause them to stumble. They will seek to stop them from building the walls of the city of Yerushalayim. But you notice the only one that he took with him, the few men, and then he only took with him one single beast, the beast that he rode upon.

Maybe it was a donkey. I do not know. A horse. I do not know what he rode upon. But he only took with him that one single animal. And you notice it's so beautiful that he said the word, my God had put in my heart to do something in Yerushalayim. You know, God lay things in our hearts. Maybe the Lord lays something upon your heart to do for the Lord's people. And God speaks to us through His Word in the power of Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God. He speaks to us and He lays things upon our hearts. You know, every service that we do for the Lord is a blessing for God's people.

God's people are being blessed, but God has to put it in our own hearts. He is the one who has to place it upon our own hearts. Later on, he said again in chapter 7, notice, my God had put it in my heart. This was his God, and it was the God that placed it in his own heart to do something in the city of Jerusalem, to build the walls of Jerusalem. Well, verses 11 and 12, Nehemiah is in Jerusalem, he rises up at night, and he is preparing a plan for building the walls of Jerusalem. Well, sometimes you and I also need to have a plan. Well, if we are going to do something for the Lord, we need to think, well, Lord, what should I do?

What will be the right thing to do? How can I be more useful in the things of the Lord? And how can I be more edifying? And you know, there's no magic in that, of course. Men can plan, but God is the one that has to be giving us the blessing. He has to bless his word among the people of God. Well, in verses 13, 14, and 15, this is the second thing that we learn here from this chapter. What Nehemiah does, he went out by night to see the conditions of the wars. So, he wanted to make a plan, he rose up. But now he leaves his place and he began to take a journey around the city walls.

It's so amazing. Notice it says here in verse 13, I went out by night. And he began to tell us the way in which he has gone. Notice he has gone by the gate of the valley. That's called in Hebrew, Shaar Haggai. And then he continued, even before the dragon well. This was Ein Hatanin. It's a name that they've given to these areas. And then he went into the Dang port, this called the Sha'ar Ha'ashpot. In fact, just a few months ago, when I was with our group, those of us that came to Jerusalem with me, we entered into the old city of Jerusalem through Sha'ar Ha'ashpot, through the dung gate that was existing already then.

And then he says, I went and I viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates of the roof were consumed with fire. So Nehemiah, in chapter 1, heard about it. But now in chapter 2, he sees it with his own eyes. You know, we can hear about condition that exists somewhere, But it is altogether another story to actually arrive to this place and to see it for ourselves. And to recognize, you see, it was not only stories that were told me when I was in Babel, I now see it with mine own eyes. And it must have grieved him. It would have hurt him.

He's walking around the walls of the city, enter into one gate, come out from another gate, go through the dunk port and so on, and watch the walls. And he sees broken walls, burned gates. Well, it was really what I was told about in Babel. Now I see it for myself. Just to make an application again, brothers and sisters. Sometimes we hear about the congregation or an assembly that are broken down. The people are divided. They're fighting among themselves. And you hear it from afar off. Oh, you know what? I heard about this church, this assembly. Oh, they used to be on fire for the Lord.

Look at them where they are today. Things are broken to pieces. Well, you hear it is one thing. But to visit and to actually speak to the people and see what's going on. And you find and you say, boy, what I was told, it's a real thing. God's people are broken and divided and scattered. It becomes very real. And if one is really convicted before the Lord, you pray and you ask, Lord, how can healing begin? How can a restoration begin? And you see, the lesson here, it's not only a lesson of Israel's history and a lesson of the body of Messiah today, but we can apply it to broken lives, broken marriages, broken families, broken friendships.

And why? Because the enemy constantly sows seeds of discords and causing problems to the people of God. And Nehemiah cared and he wanted to be a builder, a uniter, a person that is bringing the people of God together. And so notice what it says in verse 14 here. Then I went to the gate of the fountain. This is called Shar Ha'ayn. This is another one of the gates in Jerusalem. And then notice what happened. And it says, and to the king's pool. But there was no place there for the beast that was under me to pass. The rebel was so terrible of broken walls and stones one upon the other that there was no room for the animal to the other side.

And you see, he went by the gate of the fountain and by the king's pool. That king's pool is what we would know today the pool of Shiloach. That pool was very near to the king's palace there in Jerusalem turn to chapter 3 and verse 15 and notice what it says there but the gates of the fountain repaired and it gives you the name of the people and then it says and the wall of the pool of Shiloh the pool of Shiloh is the pool where the blind man of John 9 received his healing when Yeshua sent him and you remember he told him go and wash your eyes And the word shiloch comes from the Hebrew word lishloach, to send.

And indeed we may say it's applied to us of the Messiah, the king of the Jewish people who was sent by God to this world to heal the brokenhearted, to give sight unto the blind, To provide salvation to all of us who needed redemption and salvation. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 8. Just another remark on the king's pool. Isaiah chapter 8. We read of the reason that the people of Israel were taken captivity to Babel is because Israel was not appreciating and they refused what God had for them and God had to discipline His very own people. Isaiah chapter 8 in verse 5 And the Lord spake unto me again for as much as these people this is our Jewish people when they refused the water of Shiloach that go softly and rejoice in Rezin and Ramalia's son.

Now therefore behold the Lord bring up upon them the waters of the rivers strong and many even the king of Assyria and all his glory he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks. He shall pass through Judah. He shall overflow and go over. He shall reach even unto the neck and the stretching out of the wings shall fill the breath of thy land, O Immanuel. You see, what we read in Isaiah 8 happened long before what we read in Nehemiah chapter 2. And because our nation, the people of Israel, refused the waters of Shiloach, they ended up to be in captivity by the Babylonian.

In the northern kingdom by the Assyrians. But now Nehemiah comes back and what does he see when he's looking at the walls and we're looking at the gates? What does he see? Everything is broken down. He's going from one place to another and by the pool or the king's pool there was no place for even his beasts to pass through because the rubbish, the rubble was so great there. And Nehemiah was not pleased with that. And so we read now verse 15 Nehemiah eventually goes back to the same place where he started notice it come in verse 15 we read then I went up by the night by the brook and I viewed the wall and I turned back and entered to the gate of the valley this is Shaar Haggai the valley gate and so I returned in a sense you can see that he may have gone around the ancient city of Jerusalem Jerusalem observing all the walls and making a plan how he's going to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

That tells us also something very important because if we are going to be builders, we got to know all the things that are going on among the people of God so we can be helpful. We often take one side with one person and another side with another person. We often are very unfair in our judgment and our deliberation. We are not always having the grace of God in our dealing with God's people. But Nehemiah knew everything that was going on. We are talking about the physical wall in Nehemiah's time, but we applied this to the spiritual life of the people of God. And so Nehemiah definitely was an example in the way that he planned, he observed, he had been a very gracious man, he understood what's going on, and he ultimately now is ready to build the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

Now verses 16, 17, and 18, it is the third point that we learn here in this passage that we read today. In this passage, Nehemiah now encourages the Jewish people to rise up and to build. Again, his name is Nehemiah. He's a man that represents comfort. The comfort that comes from the Lord. And he's now an encourager to build and to raise up again the walls that were broken down. To remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that walls are raised for two reasons. Number one, to separate and number two, to protect. And God's people, you and I, also need walls in our life, biblical walls, not human walls, not walls of pride and walls of sectarianism, but we need biblically sound walls of protection and separation.

Protection from the enemies, separation from that which is contrary to the word of God. And so you find out in verses 16, 17 and 18 that he's encouraging our Jewish people of old to rise up and build. And so we begin in verse 16 now, the Jewish people there were really in a condition, in a state of sleep. Perhaps you and I can speak of ourselves. How many times? Oh yes, we are believers. We belong to the Lord. We are going to heaven. Our sins have been forgiven. But we are not really exercising our own hearts to live for the Lord. Yeah, we go to a meeting and we do some so-called Bible things a little bit.

But we are in a state of sleep. Look at the condition. Look what we find out in the next verse 16. He says the rulers knew not whither I went or what I did neither had I as yet told it to the Jews this is the whole Jewish community there to the priests to the nobles to the rulers and to the rest that did the work he didn't tell them anything and it's kind of sad everything is falling apart, nobody does anything, you have to wait for one man to come from overseas, you might say, to do the work. Everybody is still kind of, you might say, staying around and in a state of sleep.

And that tells us, brothers and sisters, of a time how we can be in such a condition. We're not exercised, or you might say, stirred up in our hearts to serve the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. Well, nobody knew. He already have gone around. Everybody was still there, you might say, in a state of sleeping. And here a man coming from over the rivers by the name of Nehemiah. God had laid upon his heart to come and to start to stir up the people to build. We see them all in a state of sleep. Remind me of some verses from the Bible that, for example, the apostle Paul Shaul said to the Ephesians, or to the Thessalonians.

Turn to Ephesians 5, verse 13. Paul is saying to believers, he doesn't talk to unbelievers, he's saying to believers in Yeshua the Messiah, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever does make manifest is light. Wherefore, he said, awake thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead, And the Mashiach, the Messiah, shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. He is not speaking to unbelievers, the apostle Paul, in Ephesians 5, verses 13 on to 17.

He is speaking to the local believers at Ephesus. He says, look at the condition. Look at everything that is amiss among the people of God. What are you going to do about that? Are you going to stay in a sleeping condition? Well, let somebody else do the Job. I don't need to be participating in anything. What Paul says, wake up. And you know, he's quoting what the Lord said to our own people, Israel, through the prophets years earlier. Awake thou that sleepest. Arise from the dead and the Mashiach, the Messiah. Christ will give you light. You know, you and I need to be a time awakened.

You cannot do it. It's got to be that the Spirit of God has to do this work in our hearts. And we need to pray that the Lord will help us in this. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Here he's writing to another group of believers in another different area. And he's saying to them, You are the children of light, verse 5. And the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night. They that are drunk and drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet of salvation.

For God has not appointed us unto wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah let us not sleep he's saying don't you think brothers and sisters you and I need that today in these last days we also need to be awakened in our hearts to serve the Lord and do something for him here in this world well those unfortunately Jewish people in the time of Nehemiah they were in the land already they perhaps were going to the temple already because the temple was already built but notice as we read not the whole Jewish community not the priests not the nobles not the rulers not the rest of the people which now he was going to awaken them to build none of them knew anything that was going on they were in a state that was rather sad you know in a future day when God is going to restore our people Israel you know the prophets of old saying to Israel very similar in the prophet Isaiah and the prophet Jeremiah and the prophet Zechariah is awakening the people of Israel.

Israel ultimately will have to be awakened as a nation to be restored back to the Messiah Isaiah 51 17 awake awake stand up or Jerusalem. Isaiah 52 and verse 1, Awake, awake, put on thy strength or Zion. Yerushalayim, Zion, the same place. The Hebrew word Uri, Uri, Get up, Yerushalayim. Don't stay where you are in a state of sleep. The Messiah is coming. He's going to restore you. He's going to establish the Messianic kingdom in the future. They wake up, he's saying. Them in chapter 60 and verse 1 of the prophet Isaiah arise and shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Zion Yerushalayim Israel that's in the future just when the messianic kingdom is going to be established in a future day but they do not know that when Nehemiah came.

Nehemiah came and he is now stirring them up to wake up. And so he's telling them, and I'm back in Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 17. Now Nehemiah point the Jewish people to the condition of the city of Jerusalem. And look at what he says to them in verse 17. And I said unto them, you see, they were not with him. They were sleeping at that time when he went out at night and spiritually speaking they did not do anything about the building of the walls before Nehemiah came and so we read then said unto them you see the distress that we are in how Yerushalayim lays waste the gates hereof are burnt with fire.

Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach now you know one thing i love about him again and again one thing there are many things i love about Nehemiah but you notice he identify himself with the people he doesn't come and say oh you bad Jewish people you do not get up to build the city of Jerusalem I am the good one who is going to come to fix all your problems no he says to them you see the distress that we are in and then he said that we be no more a reproach he affiliated himself with the brothers and sisters of his own people the Jewish people he says look brothers and sisters look what's going on Don't you see the distress that we are in and how Jerusalem is lying in waste and the gates thereof are burnt with father?

Don't you see this? You know, again, I think it is kind of sad when we don't respond to the call of the Lord. Don't we see what's going on among the body of believers? I'm not saying that we're going to fix every problem. But why don't we be used to be a blessing to God's people? Maybe we need to make a visit. Maybe we need to give a phone call. Maybe we can go and help somebody who has a need somewhere. I don't know what it is. Don't you see Nehemia is saying to them? You know, sometimes, brothers and sisters, speaking for myself as well, we are so selfish.

Our hearts are hardened. We are just occupied with our own problems. And we don't realize the needs that are existing among the people of God. It's me, mine, and I. Never mind anybody else. And that's not right. Nehemiah had a right attitude. When Israel's inner failure, he identified with them. But he also encouraged them to be a blessing and to serve among the people of God. He's saying to them, don't you see? Look around. Many people are sick in our midst. Many people are discouraged in our midst. Sometimes they're at a meeting. Sometimes they are not at a meeting. Sometimes they read the Bible. You don't know.

And we need to help each other. We are part of the body of Mashiach. We have to have this kind of attitude in our lives. We can't fix everything. But we got to be used by the Lord. Don't you see what's going on he's saying to them? Look at the condition that's existing. Jerusalem is lying waste. The gates are burnt with fire. What are you going to do about it? Okay, here, brothers and sisters, come. Let us begin to build the walls of Jerusalem. Remind me of certain other verses that we have in the New Testament. You know, we all have gifts. We are part of one body.

Not only us here, but all believers. And everyone of God gave us a gift. We are members of one body, the hands, the fingers, the head, the feet, the toes. We are members of one body. Now, you know very well when, let's say, you have a certain pain in your hand and you can't use your left hand. You have to do everything with the right hand. You can't do the same thing with one hand that you can do with two hands. You cannot do with one feet. You have two feet. You've got to use both of your feet in order to be able to walk around and to do things for the Lord.

You and I are members of a body of Mashiach. And every one of us is responsible to function, to do our part. So beautiful to see Nehemia, how he's encouraging him. He says, look at the condition. Try to do something about it. Come, he said, let us build up the walls of Jerusalem that we will be no more a reproach. The Hebrew word reproach is cherpa. Busha ve cherpa. What a shame when the world looks at the condition of the body of the Mashiach. And they look at us and they say, you are the people of God. Yeah, you're Jesus. Yes, don't tell me about your Yeshua.

Look at the condition that exists in your midst. You can't even handle each other. You don't even have patience with each other. Don't you tell me about the love of God. You first of all practice this in yourself. Don't tell me what I need to do. They would tell us. And you remember our people of Israel who were in Babylon by the rivers of Babylon. There we sat down and we wept when we remember Zion. And then they that took us captive said unto us, Sing unto us one of Zion's songs. They were mocking the Jewish people who were supposed to be in Jerusalem. But they found themselves in Babel by the rivers of Babylon and so here we see this can apply to us today but there was a man that came to seek to help them come, let us not I alone he's saying about himself, let us build it it's not a one man show, Nehemiah and everybody else, no it's let us, he says all us Jewish people who are in Jerusalem and the surrounding let us together build the walls and so in verse 18 Nehemiah share of God's hand and the king's words with the Jewish people he says listen what I'm telling you it's not something that came only from my head he says listen the hand of my God was good upon me I told them of the hand of my God You see, he was so much dependent upon the help of the Lord, the God of heavens, the God of Israel.

He says, really, it's not me alone, it is the hand of my God. And even further, he's saying to them in verse 18b, and also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. In other words, it's not only God in heaven that his hands were upon me, but the king, Artaxerxes, he agreed with it. He approved it. He sent me to come to Jerusalem to do this work. And then he continued, look at the response. It's so nice to see when he motivated the Jewish community of those days to begin the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Because it says in verse 18, And they said, let us rise up and build.

So they responded, you see. They were not just leaving that for him alone. They responded. Sometimes we hear the expression, the movers and the shakers. You know, we need those brethren that are moving us, shaking us, awakening us, not causing us trouble, but building us, encouraging us to be builders. That's what we need. Trouble, we have plenty. We don't need that. You'll see it in the next two verses. Problem will come we need the movers and the shakers the godly men and women brothers and sisters who are saying I'm going to serve the Lord you see one day we are going to stand before the Lord and the Lord is going to ask you and I what have you done for Yeshua the Messiah and we have to tell him Lord you know what I was busy see you know there is a time when we preach the gospel we often say there is time for pleasure, there is time for business there is time for family it's time for myself but a very little time for God and here we see that we see how Nehemiah was speaking to these people of Israel when they were sleeping he woke them up and now they said let us come and build up the wall now again I want to mention that that is by applying it to our own hearts because we cannot look at each other and say he or she.

I have to search my own heart about this and the Lord has to waken each and every one of us to do the work of the Lord well listen when you're going to begin to do the work of the Lord it's not going to be smooth sailing it would be nice if it would be smooth sailing because right there and then the enemy going to try to discourage us just like he did here you notice the last two verses of chapter 2, the enemies of the Jewish people opposing the work of the Lord. It says, but, notice the change here, but, but when Sambalat the Choronite and Tuviyah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they left us to scorn and despised us and said, what is this thing that ye do will ye rebel against the king then answered I them and I said unto them the God of heaven he will prosper us therefore we his servant will arise and build it but ye have no portion no right no memorial in Jerusalem You don't have any portion.

You don't have any memorial You don't have any rite in the city of Jerusalem He said to those three individuals That became the enemies of the Jewish people Now who are those people? Now a few things I would like to suggest here about these individuals first of all you notice that in verse 10 we only have mention of two of them this is Sanbalat de Horonai and Toviyar de Amonai then later on at the end of verse 19 we have added another one by the name of Geshem he was an Arabian now in all these three individuals we can learn some spiritual lessons who are those representing for us today In biblical time, obviously you know that Sanballat, the Choronite, he's really coming from the land of Moab Moab had one of the towns called Choron and he came from this area Then the other one was Toviah, he was from Amon And you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, these two names, Moab and Amon, are the children that came out of Lot who had a relationship with his two daughters when he was drunk.

And they were, in a sense, a relative to Abraham. And in a sense, what you're really being represented by those two is the flesh that's existing within us. Our old nature, the flesh. The Lord Yeshua had to teach Nicodemus or Nakdimon in John chapter 3. Yeshua said to Nicodemus, to Nakdimon, you must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. That's why I said unto you, you must be born again. What does he tell us? That people that may have the appearances if they are part of the people of God, but in reality they were actually not born again.

And you see these individuals, they claim that they have rights over the city of Jerusalem, but actually they did not. And this is a great lesson to learn in a life today you notice how often time people haven't come to know Yeshua as their Lord and Savior they are not born from above or yet they are religious or yet they would go to church meetings or congregation meetings but they've never applied the blood of Yeshua HaMashiach for themselves and are not born again. Born from above. They haven't been born from heaven, from above. They are not really part of the family of God. And that's why you may apply this to these kind of individuals that have been entering into among the people of God, but they were never born again.

And no wonder that they oppose the work of the Lord. No wonder they introduce things that are not sound and not right. No wonder they do not submit to what the Lord says in His Word. I'm not saying that you've got to be a scholar, but there are clear-cut things that are taught in the Word of God. And by the way, just to remind you, the Lord said to Israel, in Deuteronomy 23 and verse 3, He said, An Ammonite and a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. Even unto their tenth generation, they shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever. Why God give Israel an answer?

Because, verse 4, they met you not with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt. And because they hired against thee Bilaam, the son of Beor, of Petor, of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless, the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Bilaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curse into blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. Thou shalt not seek their peace, their shalom, nor their prosperity all thy days forever. Now, of course, you and I immediately are going to say, well, Ruth, the Moabitish woman have entered into the congregation of the Lord. Well, you see what we learned, that under law, she could have never entered in.

But the representation of the Messiahship in his sacrifice have allowed her to come in on a basis of grace and grace alone. And what we really learned that historically, you see, these two men who oppose the people of Israel, those two men, Sambalite and Tuviyat, they were descendants of these two nations that oppose Israel throughout history. And their representation, actually, they were family. But they were not born again. It reminds me again of the two brothers of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. One of them was born from above by virtue of the fact that he offered a sacrifice. The other one was not by virtue of the fact that he refused to come to God on the basis of the bloodshed of an animal.

And therefore Cain went out of the presence of the Lord. And it was never, ever written in Scripture that he ever came back. So there's lessons to learn. But there's a second thing we can learn from verse 19 of these three individuals all of a sudden we find them in Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 19. By the way, we'll find them again later on. They were constantly opposing the Jewish people historically. You might really say also, beloved brothers and sisters, that even though we are believers today, we have three enemies that constantly cause us to stumble and to fall and not to be builders among the people of God.

And we know those enemies very well. We have them in the expression of the flesh, the world, and Satan. Those are the three enemies that every believer has in hell or his life. We are struggling every day. You have it, and I have it. And these three enemies constantly seek to hinder us from walking with the Lord. The world, 1 John 2 tells us, love not the world. Nor the things that are in the world for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That world means the world system that rejects God and rejects Yeshua, the Messiah.

That's what he means. He doesn't mean don't love people, don't love trees, don't love things that God has provided us in this world to enjoy, but he tells us love not that system that deny God, that deny the things of Yeshua, the Messiah. What about the flesh? Walk in the Spirit, Galatians 5, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. You see, brothers and sisters, you and I still have this old nature. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and they are contrary to each other. That's why we are struggling every day with pride, with arrogance, with lust with covetousness, with all that which hinder us from spiritual growth, we have the old nature in us and your old nature and my old nature is not better than the old nature of the unbeliever we all have the same Abba and Emma, the same father and mother, namely Adam and Eve but what about the third enemy You see in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 Satan himself is attacking the people In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 14 Look what Paul said to the Ephesians He says stand therefore having your loyens girt about with truth And he gives you all this list But you see what he said in verse 12 of Ephesians chapter 6 We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand in an evil day and having done all to stand, stand.

And he gave us that list And you see, we have this lesson to learn here, that we really also have this problem with Satan who attacks us. So, perhaps with these three individuals, Sambalite, Tuvaya, and Geshem, we can really see the enemies of the believer. As we walk here with the Lord and we seek to build among the people of God. And you notice what these three did in verse 19b. They were laughing, and they were mocking Nehemiah and the Jewish community. It says, they laughed us to scorn, and they despised us, and they said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?

You know, of course, when you look at these Jewish people, who are they? They were nobody, in a sense. They were in such a poor condition at that time. Everything is broken. What they could do? And so they laughed at him. I listened to some messages about the passage in Nehemiah and some of those Bible teachers said, you know, I remember years ago when I went, I left my Job and I had my heart to gather believers and to share the gospel. I went from door to door. I went to do some visitation. I went to do all kinds of things. We had meetings together.

We were studying the word of God and people were telling me are you out of your mind are you going to be successful to gather people together and to form a local assembly you see of course on our own we have no strength we are no match for the enemy but the Lord is able to do so the Lord is able to bless the people of God even though people will laugh us to scorn. And people despise the people of God. The Hebrew word they laugh us to scorn is Vayal'igulanu. It's a terrible word. They are laughing and mocking at them. Who do you think you are?

Well Nehemia said earlier, it is the hand of my God upon me. It's not me. I'm but a vessel. It is God who is the builder. He is the master builder. We're building on the foundation that Yeshua the Messiah is the chief corner stone. He is the one we built upon. Not upon ourselves. You remember when Yeshua said to Shimon Petrus you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my assembly my ecclesia. He didn't mean it upon Peter but he meant upon Peter's confession that Yeshua was the son of God the Messiah of Israel you are the Messiah the son of the living God upon Yeshua we can build upon ourselves we cannot build anything and that's why we can have confidence when we preach the word of God when we share God's word in the power of the Holy Spirit of God we can have confidence that God will use it.

Even if it seems to be very shallow and maybe it doesn't seem to be much influence it doesn't seem to have a big things going on but the power of the Spirit of God have an effect upon those who will listen. The Lord is able to do His work and we trust in Him like Nehemiah did. And so the final verse, brothers and sisters in verse 20 of Nehemiah chapter 2 then answer I unto them and I said unto them the God of heaven he will prosper us therefore his servant will arise and build see we don't trust ourselves but we trust Elohei Hashamayim the God of heaven he going to give prosperity not ourselves He's going to prosper the building of the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

Therefore, because we have an assurance that he will bless it, we, his servants, are going to get up and going to build. And then he said to them in closing, But you, you have no portion, no chalek, you have no right, and you have no memoria, no zikaron in Yerushalayim. Again, to remind you that these were the Samaritans, the Shomronim. There was a mixture of them. They were really not those who devoted themselves to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They worshipped Jehovah, but they also worshipped other gods. Those were the Shomronim of which we read in chapter 4 and verse 1 and 2. And I'm going to close with these words.

But it came to pass, Nehemiah 4, verse 1 and 2, that when Sanballat heard that we build the wall, he was angry, he was wroth. And he took great indignation, and he mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren, the army of Samaria. And he said, what do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? You see, he spoke, he told this to the Samaritan, to the rest of them who were there around him. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, these Jewish brethren, with the encouragement of Nehemiah, rose up to build the walls of Jerusalem.

And so you and I have to ask ourselves the same question. Are we going to be those that will build among the people of God or not? Are we going to be the ones who say, listen, I want to take part, maybe not the big part, but a little part in the work of the Lord. I'm going to do something for my Messiah, for Yeshua, and for the people of God. And I can tell you that will give you joy in your heart because it is a blessing to be builders among the people of God.