Shabbat Shalom! Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Nehemiah, the passage that we're going to read today found in Nehemiah chapter 4. And I'm going to only deal with the first nine verses of Nehemiah chapter 4. So follow me as I'm reading the first nine verses, beginning with verse 1. "But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and he took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and 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 burnt? Now to the Yad the Ammonite was by him. And he said, Even that which they build, If a fox go up, He shall even break down their stone wall. Hear, O our God, For we are despised, And turn the reproach upon their own head, And give them for a prey in the land of captivity, And cover not their iniquity, And let not their sin be blotted out from before thee, For they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. So built we the wall, And all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof, For the people had a mind to work.

And it came to pass, That when Sanballat and Tuviyah and the Arabians And the Ammonites and the Ashdodites Heard that the wall of Jerusalem were made up, And that the breaches began to be stopped, Then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together To come and to fight against Jerusalem And to hinder it. Nevertheless, We made our prayer unto our God, And set a watch against them day and night Because of them. And I'm going to stop here In the ninth verse of Nehemiah chapter 4. Now it's such a privilege to be under the sound of the word, To be able to sit together and hear the word of God for all of us.

And if I will not say anything today, We can get up this afternoon and go back to our home, We have heard the word of the Lord. Ultimately, the spirit of God is able to use the word of the Lord to speak to us, And help us in our walk here with the Lord. But nevertheless, I will make my comments today, Because we want to get some exposition on the passage that we read. Well, Nehemiah, one of the most wonderful men in biblical history among our Jewish people, A godly man, A man that had his heart for the Lord, for the God of Israel. He loved the people of Israel.

He wanted to be a builder, To be the one that would be an encourager in the midst of decline. And the Lord used him. He brought him all the way from Babel back to the land of Israel. And now you find Nehemiah stirring up the people of Israel, The Jewish community, to build the wall of Jerusalem. And they surely did the building of the walls of Jerusalem and the gates thereof. We spent a few meetings together studying Nehemiah chapter 3, And we saw how Nehemiah and his brethren, the Jewish people, Have builded the walls surrounding the city of Jerusalem. And all those ten gates that we have spoken about, Beginning with the ship gate and ending, of course, with the gate of inspection, The Mifkad gate.

Ten gates were erected and placed together. And now as the wall is being built, Find out that immediately the enemy began its attack. It is so interesting that throughout the scripture, Whether it is in biblical history, Namely among the people of Israel, Or among the body of Messiah, The church age in which we live in, You will notice that when you're going to start to build something, And you want to do something for the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, The enemy on an ongoing basis will not want you to build and to be successful. You and I know it very well in our own experience in our own life.

When we came to know Yeshua the Messiah, We know very well how some from our own family rejected us. Some of our own friends despised us. Some people that we used to be good friends with left us And no longer are befriending us as it used to be in the past. And we also find out that we have conflict on the job in our own work situation. We find out that there are conflict in our homes. Those of us who go to school find conflict. Wherever we are, we find out that we have entered into a conflict. And while these Jewish people only wanted to build the walls around the city of Jerusalem, The city which God gave to the Jewish people.

And yet opposition began. And so it will always be as we learn from these, Because whatsoever things were written the fourth time were written for our learning. Romans 15 and verse 4. And all this happened in order to be an example for you and I as believers today. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 11. And so we find out immediately as the walls of Jerusalem begin to be lifted up. Slowly and surely stone upon stone is being put all around the city. The gates are being placed. You remember the wood, the bars and everything is getting to be built. Immediately the enemy begins to attack. And so I would like you to notice that here we find in Nehemiah chapter 4, The enemies that attack God's people from without.

Later on we will find out that the people of God will also have enemies from within. But the fourth chapter of Nehemiah deals with the enemies that came from without. And so in the first three verses of Nehemiah chapter 4, We find out about the anger and the mockery by Israel's enemies. Because people were not happy that the Jewish people are now building the wall around the city of Jerusalem. And it got them angry and upset with the people of God. And so we read as we began in our chapter in verse 1, We find out a man by the name of Sanbalat. It says here in verse 1, And it came to pass that when Sanbalat heard that we builded a wall, He was rough, he was angry.

And he took a great indignation and he mocked the Jews, the Jewish people. Now you and I might say, well why does Sanbalat be so angry? What is his problem where the Jewish people are coming to build the walls that will protect the city that was given to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people by God? But you see Sanbalat is an ancient enemy of the people of God. In fact, he has a history of his forefathers, which we know them as the Samaritans, the Shomronim. They were a mixture of people that were part of the northern kingdom of Israel and part of the nations around from a great Assyria, And they went to the land of Israel, specifically in Samaria, and they constantly opposed the Jewish people.

The Jewish people were not always right. They were many times wrong in the manner of their conduct and God had to discipline them. But in the case of Nehemiah chapter 4, they were right by coming back to the land to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the walls thereof. But Sanbalat was angry. And not only that, he took great indignation. He was so upset that the Jewish people are now coming to rebuild that wall. But you see, we learn a lot about Sanbalat if you just go back for a moment to chapter 2 and verse 10, When Nehemiah had arrived with a group of Jewish people who came from Babylon when he came back.

At 444, 445 BC, when Sanbalat heard, look at this, it says here in verse 10, When Sanbalat the Hornite and Tuviyah the Ammonite, when they heard of it. What did they hear? They heard that some Jewish people came to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. That it grieved him exceedingly. That some men would seek the welfare of the children of Israel. It grieved him. He was an enemy of the people of God, the Jewish people. It grieved him that somebody actually cared for the people of Israel. He was satisfied to see that the walls are broken down, the gates are burnt with fire, people are scattered, unhappy, have problems in their life.

He was pleased with it. But when somebody came to build and to help them, it immediately grieved him exceedingly in his own heart. So you see what we find out, that in the beginning of the heart, there is a condition that was wrong in this person by the name of Sanbalat. Now by the time we get to chapter 4, he is really getting upset. Because the walls now are starting to climb up. The gates are already set up. And he is starting to say, wait a minute, this is serious. They are really going to do the job. You notice in chapter 2 and verse 19, there is another verse about Sanbalat.

"When Sanbalat the Horonite and Tuvia the servant the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they left us to scorn and they despised us." You see, that is how it began. When you see God's people walking with the Lord and starting to build and carrying on in the things of the Lord, they began to mock and to laugh at the people of God. And they said, "What is this thing that they do? Will they rebel against the king?" He said in chapter 2 and verse 19. Now we find out in chapter 4 and verse 1, Sanbalat was angry. He was wroth and he did not want to see the people of Israel progressing in building the wall and setting up the gates of Yerushalayim.

And isn't it so, brothers and sisters, it is said, "But when we become believers in Yeshua the Messiah and we enter into the body of Messiah, I can assure you that there are those who are not happy to see you growing spiritually, to see that you want to build the body of Messiah, you want to take your effort, your time, your energy, your means, and you want to build the things of God, there will always be those that are the enemies of the people of God who will not be happy with anything that is done for Yeshua the Messiah." And by the way, we know it very well, that behind the scene there is that old enemy of God, Satan himself who influenced man to oppose anything that is done for the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Anything that is done for God, the enemy is constantly opposing it. Now, if you will notice in continuing in the first three verses, the anger and the mockery of the enemies of Israel, you notice that in verse 2, we have the additional individuals that were opposing the Jewish community. We find out, in fact, in verse 2, and you can see that these are really the mixture, the Samaritan. It says that he spoke before his brethren and the armies of Samaria. In Hebrew, the word is tzavah shomronim. He has spoken to his brethren. Apparently, he must have been a man of influence. And he said, beloved brothers and sisters, notice how he's mocking the people of Israel, the Jewish people.

He says, "What do these feeble Jews?" And indeed, brothers and sisters, these Jewish people who came from Bavell, first of all, some of them came with Zerubbabel, then more people came with Ezra, and now the third group coming with Nehemiah, they were really feeble. They were not that great nation with power like in the day of Shlomo, the king of Israel. They were in a feeble situation. Because earlier, some 70, 80, 90 years before, they went astray from the God of Israel. They disobeyed the Lord. And the Lord sent them captive to Bavell. And now finally he's restoring them, and he restored a feeble remnant. A small group of Jewish people, 50,000 with Bavell, another few thousand with Ezra, and now about a thousand with Nehemiah.

They were a feeble group of people. God's people were feeble, but they wanted to come back to the things of the Lord and to rebuild Jerusalem and to worship God in the right way. And I tell you this, it's so true with all the conditions that are existing in Christendom today. Those who really want to stand for the truth of God and the truth of his word are but a few. And they are really feeble in many ways, just the same like our forefathers, the Jewish people here in Nehemiah chapter 4. They are feeble, but God is with them. And God is going to show through them his strength on behalf of his people.

And that's why we learn here a great lesson. Maybe the world will look at you and look at us and say, "What are you telling me about this Jesus, the Messiah? And why do you want so much to follow after him and to read his Bible and to learn from him and to meet with other believers together?" Look at the multitude of people who go elsewhere and do other things. And yet, the people of God are feeble. I think of the verse that we read in Matthew 18 and verse 20, "Where two or three are gathered together unto my name," Yeshua said. "I promise to be in the midst." Why didn't he say 200,000 or 300,000?

Why did he go as low as possible? Because he is satisfied with those who desire to be under the sound of his word and allow him to have authority over their lives. Even if there are two or three, he is pleased to be in the midst of them. And you see, brothers and sisters, in Nehemiah days, it was the days of small things. And I can suggest to you today, in the days of the Laodicean in which you and I live in, in the church age, we also live in the days of small things. Even though we'd love to have revival, and we love to see thousands of people get saved, and many come to church meetings, and everybody enjoy to come under the sound of the word.

We would love to see that, and God would love to see that, but the truth is that we live in a days of small things. Feeble. But God is in the midst of his own. He promised a blessing to his own people. I'm sometimes fascinated when I watch some programs about people who come to see a movie star. Thousands of people. Young people looking at that movie star, and they are getting crazy over that movie star or singer. But I said to myself, "I wish there would be so many people who will follow the Lord, and they will go crazy for Yeshua, the Messiah." But the truth of the matter is that it's not so.

The Lord is working in individuals' hearts one by one, and drawing us to himself. And you and I are really brought, even in the very fact that we are coming to a ministry meeting, and we are coming to a Bible class, and we're here in the Word of God. It's nothing but the grace of God. Because there are hundreds of thousands that reject the message of the Gospel today, while few here and there are drawn by him. And so it is nothing but the grace of God who works in our life. And you can see Sanballat is going to his Samaritan brethren, and he's saying now to them, "What are they doing?" And notice the four times the word "will they?" Notice it says in verse 2b, "Will they fortify themselves?" Number one.

Number two, "Will they sacrifice?" Number three, "Will they make an end in a day?" Number four, "Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burnt?" And humanly speaking, you might say, "How can they do it?" "How are they going to be able to do it?" "Enemies all surrounding them, and they are really feeble." Sanballat recognized that, and he's asking, and actually it is in mockery, "Will they do these things? Will they be able to fortify the city of Yerushalayim, continue in the sacrificial system?" You know, in other words, he was laughing at them. And you know many who wanted to serve the Lord, and people say, "You think you are going to be able to do it?" "This is too big of a work for you ever to be able to be successful in doing that." Well, of course, without the Lord, we can't do anything.

Remember, Yeshua said, "Without me, you can do nothing." But with the Lord's help, we are able to continue on and to build for the Lord and for the Lord's house. And that's why we can see here that the enemy opposes while God is able to help his people to build the house of the Lord. And here you can see the mockery of the people of God. I want you to turn for a moment to 1 Corinthians 16. The Apostle Paul said this already in the first early days of the church age. He said in verse 9, "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me." But there are many adversaries.

The Lord preparing blessing for mankind. But there are so many enemies. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul, this Jewish servant who were called to serve among the Goyim, the Gentile world. Can you imagine the suffering that he had experienced when he was going from city to city to Asia Minor presenting the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah? Can you imagine how much opposition he had experienced in his life? We have no idea what the Apostle Paul had experienced in his life. The suffering that he had experienced. Because he wanted to build the body of Messiah. He wanted to share the gospel with the world. I don't have to give you the list.

But the list of the sufferings that the Apostle Paul had experienced in his life. Just to read to you a couple of verses in 2 Corinthians 6. It says in verse 4, in all things approving ourselves as the servants of God, the ministers of God, in much patience, in affliction, in necessities, in distress, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumulets, in labors, in watchings, by a pureness, by knowledge, by long sufferings, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love and faith, by the word of the truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers yet true, as unknown and yet all know, as dying and behold will live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

Shaul Paul said to the Corinthians when he told them about the fact that he was presenting the Lord's word and yet so much opposition he experienced in his life, in his life. So the Jewish people in Nehemiah also have experienced already enemies that have sought to destroy the work of the Lord. And so you notice that it is the Samaritan in verse 2 that is not only a mixture of physical relationship between some of them were from the 10 tribes of Israel and some of them were from the nations of the world, but it was a mixture of believing in the true and living God but also believing in false gods, in idols and other things that were contrary to the word of God.

they became enemies of the people of Judah when Israel were building the walls around the city of Jerusalem. Notice that we find out about Tuviah also in verse 3 of Nehemiah chapter 4. Now Tuviah the Ammonite was by him and he said even that which they build if a fox will go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. You see, he was laughing at these Jewish people. He said, you know what? Even if a fox will just sit on it, he will cause it to crumble. They will not be able to have these stones pile up so the wall will be finished. It will not stand.

Again, another way of mocking. Telling Israel, you are not going to be successful. Everything that you will try to do, it will crumble to pieces. And so we know very well that anything that we do with the strength of the Lord, God is able to help us to carry on in his ministry, in the work. But everything that we do with the energy of the flesh, it will crumble. It will not be successful. But thank God that the Lord was with them. Thank God that the Lord had sent them. You see, Nehemiah didn't go on his own. The Jewish people didn't go on their own.

They were returning now to rebuild what God had intended for them to build. Let me remind you that when Yeshua promised that he is going to build the assembly. In Matthew chapter 16. He said to Shimon Peter, Shimon Pertus, he said, "You are Peter, and upon your confession, upon this rock, I will build my assembly." My ecclesia. And then he continues, he said, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." And I can tell you, I can assure you, because it is the plan of God for the church, for the assembly. It is a plan of God for Israel. Eventually, God is going to bring about his promises that he has made to his own people.

And so, even though there are enemies, Nevertheless, God's promises will come to pass. He will give the necessary strength for the people of God. Now, what would you do in a case like that? You can get very discouraged. You know, when there are so many enemies. You know, I was told by a godly brother, years ago, that many men, who call them pastors or spiritual leaders, have given up. They say, "What's the use?" I have no energy to carry on, to work and to carry on, because they have given up. There have been so much enemies against them, so much opposition that they have given up.

And sometimes you and I can say, because we are so discouraged, because there are so many enemies coming on every hand, that we can also say, "Well, what's the use?" To spend my time and my energy and to participate in building the things of the Lord. What's the use? The world is against us. The flesh is against us. Satan is against us. So what's the use? And many, indeed, are discouraged. Even today, among the body of Messiah, there are many believers who stop to go to meetings, who stop to read the Bible, who stop to carry on with the things of the Lord. They are just more in the world, and no longer attending church meeting, congregational meeting, assembly meeting.

They are away from the things of the Lord, because they are so discouraged. That's why, as I mentioned before, we need men and women, brothers and sisters, who are like Nehemia, who says, "Lord, strengthen me, strengthen my brothers and my sisters, help me to be a vessel of honor in the midst of such a decline." And so, look, Nehemia is giving us an example. Look at his response to the anger and the mockery of Israel's enemies. In verses 4, 5, and 6 of Nehemia chapter 4, you see the response of Nehemia? He began by praying. He is taking his problems to the Lord, to the God of Israel. He turned his heart to God and asked for the Lord to help him.

And you notice he said those words, "Heal O our God." You know, when I read this passage, this statement, "Shma" in Hebrew, "Shma Eloheinu." You see, in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, it says, "Shma Yisrael, hear O Israel." He wanted the Lord, the God of Israel, to hear him. Now, of course, God knows everything, but Nehemia did something that is so wonderful. He called on God. Nehemia turned to God in prayer and he called on God to turn the enemy's reproach back to themselves. And so he says in verse 4, "Heal O our God, for we are despised and turn the reproach upon their own head and give them for a prey in the land of captivity." Verse 5 he continues and he says, "And cover not their iniquity and let not their sin be blotten out from before thee, for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders." Now, I want you to notice that he was praying the kind of a prayer that many Bible teachers called it the "impercatory prayer." It is a prayer of actually of curse and judgment upon the enemies of God.

Now, it is very important for us to just distinguish the prayer that Nehemiah prayed when Israel as a nation were under the law because the Messiah hasn't come of yet and the prayer that we, you and I as believers, are exhorted to prayer after the Messiah came and finished the work on the tree in the present-day dispensation. He prayed a prayer that is called by many Bible teachers, it's a very difficult name, it's called "impercatory prayer." It's actually a prayer of curse upon those that oppose the ways of the Lord. Now, look at this again and I want you to notice that. He says in verse 4, "For we are despised, turn their reproach upon their head, give them for a prey in the land of captivity." In other words, send them to captivity like you have sent us in the past.

Then verse 5, "Cover not their sins or iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee." Notice it's a very strong prayer. But we have to understand here that Nehemiah understood that what they are doing was not only against the Jewish people. It's not only even against Nehemiah himself. But Sanballat and Tuviyah and the Samaritan, they were actually going against the plan of God. What they were doing, they are trying to go against God. And this is exactly what Nehemiah said, they have provoked thee to anger. It was against God that Sanballat and Tuviyah was going against. And you know brothers and sisters, people don't understand when they are causing persecution of the people of God, they are actually going against God.

When Shaul was persecuting his Jewish brethren who believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, Yeshua said, Shaul, Shaul, lama tir defeni? Saul, Saul, why do you persecute? Not them, but me. The head in heaven and the body here on earth are linked with each other. See, Israel, the nation, is linked with the living God. And by hating the Jewish people and opposing the Jewish people and mocking the Jewish people and hindering the Jewish people and persecuting the Jewish people, it's actually going against God. And that's why, beloved brothers and sisters, prayed such a prayer. There are many psalms in the Hebrew scriptures that are called impercatory psalms.

It's a psalm that is actually the writer, mostly of them, David, is a psalm of prayer, of judgment upon the enemies of God. Let me read psalm 137. This is the famous psalms that one of the Leviim, the Levites wrote, at a time when the Jewish people were in Babel. Sometimes God had to discipline his own people. And here is a psalm of restoration. And you remember this psalm 137 where we read there, by the rivers of Babylon, verse one, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remember Zion. We hung our harps upon the willow in the midst of the rough. And there, they that carried us away captive, they required of us a song.

And they that wasted us, required of us mercy, saying, sing unto us one of the songs of Zion. And the Jewish people who were there in Babel, they said, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? They couldn't sing because they were away from the Lord. Now they are in the land. Now they can sing in the land. And yet now they have an enemies in the land, around them. And so they said, when they were in Babel, in verse five, "If I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." In Hebrew, "I meshkachech Yerushalayim tishakach yamini." Beautiful statement.

We have it on many, many places in Israel today. "If I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." "If I do not remember," verse six, "let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." But now look at the rest of the psalm, is impeccatory prayer. Seems to be very strong prayer. Look what they are saying. It says in verse seven, "Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Yerushalayim, who said, raise it, raise it, even to the foundation thereof." And look at that prayer, beloved brothers and sisters. A prayer of vengeance against God's enemy.

He said, "O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." You and I might say, what kind of a prayer it is. It is a prayer of revenge, a prayer of curse upon the enemies of God. See, those Jewish people who were in Babylon understood, that God has a plan to restore Israel back to himself. And the people of Edom, and the nations of Babylon, they are the one that reject God. you see Babylon from Genesis 11, Babel, to Revelation 18, 17 and 18.

Babylon, the great, you might say, throughout the history of humanity, Babel always represents the world who rejected God. And so they are praying, in light of their understanding of the mind and the plan of God. And they are praying this impercatory prayer, which is a prayer of curse upon the enemies of God, and the enemies of God's people. And here we find again Nechamia. He is praying in a very similar way. But we also know that in the present day, for you and I as believers, we are to pray somewhat differently. Now turn to Matthew chapter 5. Yeshua have taught the disciples how to pray, and to distinguish between the two.

The one is a prayer that the people of Israel are praying prior to the coming of the Messiah, under the age in which they live in. The Messiah hasn't come as yet. The Messiah was going out to die, and everything pointed to his death and resurrection. And so in Matthew chapter 5, when Yeshua came, he taught the disciples, in verse 43, 44, and 45, to pray in this manner. Ye have heard that it had been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that he may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh the sun to rise on evil and the good, he sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.

You notice what it says in verse 43, it had been said, the law. But I say unto you, I'm coming right now to teach you something that you have to learn for this present day dispensation or era of the days in which the Messiah has finished the work on the cross and he's building the body of believers. I say unto you, and you notice what he says, to pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you in Matthew 5:44. Now mind you, brothers and sisters, to be honest, if somebody persecutes you, you probably want to pray the prayer that Nehemiah prayed. You're going to wish him well for the one who persecutes you?

Oh God bless you. You probably want to go to Nehemiah chapter 4. That's what you and I might want to say in our own hearts and maybe sometime when we are not in the right condition with the Lord, we probably would say so. But the Lord taught us this. And you see, that's why we need to understand. I know it's not always easy. And we need the Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh, for us to distinguish what was in the time before the Messiah came and what applied for us in the time after the Messiah came. We need to understand that we cannot make solid and not rightly divide the word of truth.

Now, I want you to see it's not only what Yeshua said, because he said it before he died. Well, look a little bit further in Romans chapter 12 and verse 17. Now, you cannot say, well, Yeshua didn't die as yet. The cross hadn't been behind him. Here, the Apostle Paul now speaking to believers after the Messiah died, after he was buried, after he rose from among the dead, after he was ascended unto heaven, after the Holy Spirit of God came to indwell the believers. He teaches in Romans chapter 12 and verse 17. He said, Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

If it is possible as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him to drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap call the fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. You see, this is what the Lord is teaching us for this present day dispensation. This era in which we live in dealing with believers from among all the nations of the world. And so, Nehemia prayed in light of what he understood in his present day, yet you and I have to be very careful not to pray in such a way as Nehemia prayed.

The opposite, we are to learn from what Yeshua the Messiah have taught us. Nehemia was 100% right. The Levite who wrote Psalm 137 was 100% right. And you and I, in order to pray today, to be like Yeshua taught us, this way we will be right as well if we will pray like Yeshua have taught us to pray. Now, he said in verse 6, Saul built with a wall, verse 6, and all the wall was joined together unto half thereof, for the people had a mind to work. So imagine now, in spite of the opposition, in spite of the mockery, according to verse 6, Nehemia and his brethren, the Jewish people, they continue to work, and I want to encourage you, and listen, if we are going to be so discouraged because we are going to have a lot of enemies as believers, and then we are not going to do anything for the Lord, really we lose out.

How do we lose out? By turning away from the Lord, going to the world, stop to serve the Lord, stop to live for the Lord, we are going to lose out. God is going to use somebody else. He can use whomsoever he will. But he won't use you, he won't use me, he won't use his people. And we should ask the Lord to help us, to encourage us. Can you imagine when you have somebody like Nehemia, when everyone is mocking, and laughing at them, and so on, Nehemia is the one that stirred the brethren. And perhaps others among the people are also stirring each other and saying, let's continue on.

I want to tell you that these people that we find here, in this area, that we find here, these Samaritans, and old situations that existed, this is an old story which continues today. It continues today in the land of Israel. You don't have to know much, just turn your television and you find out that a couple of days ago there was a shooting, attack against a family who lived by Judea and this area and passed by with their car. They were shot to death. Another time, you find out that a boy going to a house, climbing over a fence, going to a Jewish home and killing a young girl of 13 years of age.

This same story is repeating itself now since the time of Nehemiah, but it's not even since the time of Nehemiah. It's in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham has these two sons. Isaac and Ishmael. And a constant friction between Ishmael descendants and Isaac descendants. It's the same old story. And the enemies are today in existence in the land of Israel even though Israel today is still in a state of unbelief. But spiritually speaking, it's also in your life and mine. We will get it all the time. My wife was telling me just reading a book about some history of believers, Jewish believers, who wanted to serve the Lord and how much opposition they had because of their desire to minister the gospel.

I really encouraged him. He said to me, you think you have problems? Just look at this. Look at that. And you and I can say to each other, you think you have problems? Look at the problems that many believers have experienced in their life. And so we should just encourage ourselves like David in the Lord and continue on. And so now the Jewish people, it says in verse 6 that the people had a mind to work. They wanted to work. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. They continued to build the wall and it says that the wall was joined together, all the wall, but not all the way high.

It was half thereof. They're already surrounded all Yerushalayim with all the wall, but it was not quite high enough. It was half the size. But the people were bent on working. They were encouraged. They continued. So look at this. When plan A doesn't work with God's people's enemy, then they go to plan B. And so notice in verse 7 and 8, you find again Sanballat, Tuvaya, the Arabian, which is Geshem, and another group is being added, a group called the Ashdodite. These are the Philistines. They also began to participate in their opposition against the people of Israel. And so we read in verse 7, "And it came to pass that when Sanballat and Tuvaya and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodite heard that the wall of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very rough." Now you see, brothers and sisters, I want you again to notice we have here Sanballat, he was from Moab.

You have here Tuvaya, he was from Ammon. You have here the Arabians, this is Geshem, here's the Arabic nations around, and then the Ashdodite. Ashdod is the town today that is really north of the Gaza Strip. And that town was one of the five cities that belonged to the Philistines. One of them was Gaza, one of them was Ashdod, then Ashkelon, and Ekor. There were five cities that belonged to the Philistines. So you can see the same old story repeating itself today like it was many, many years ago. Moab, Ammon, the Arabic nations around, including the people of Gaza, the Philistines, the Palestinians of today who oppose the people of Israel.

We will not let them build that land. We will not let them live in that land. We have to remove them out of the land and perhaps place them in the Mediterranean. That's what really the enemies of Israel want to do, want to put all the Jewish people in the Mediterranean. And there they're going to let them drown. But that's not the plan of God. The plan of God is to give His own people, Israel, the promised land. That's the land that belonged to the Jewish people. So you notice now, you actually have them all surrounding the nation of Israel. And so you find out in verse 8, when they could not succeed to discourage the Jewish people by laughing at them, the next thing to do is by physically harming them.

And that's why it does say in verse 8, and they conspire all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to completely hinder. So I want you and I also to understand that's the way the enemy works. The enemy, first of all, trying to trick us, to laugh at us and discourage us. But if it doesn't work, he's coming against us by force. In fact, there are the two expressions that we find out in the Brit HaChadasha, in the New Testament. He appears to us as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And when he doesn't succeed to trick us as an angel of light, then he continues as a roaring lion.

In 1 Peter chapter 5, he's coming as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And that's exactly the pattern that we see here in Nehemia chapter 4. He first came against them by laughing at them and mocking at them. And when the people had a mind to work and to build and when they saw that the walls of Jerusalem is starting to climb up higher, they say, that is not what we wanted. Let's do something about it. Let's gather forces together and now go and attack and fight against the city of Jerusalem. Let us consume those people. This is the pattern that happened actually also in church history.

You know, we read that when the men rejected the Messiah, they hung him on a tree. And it's not only that the Jewish people refused him, by the Roman soldiers putting him on the tree, it's proved to us that all of us are guilty in the death of the Messiah. But what about the early believers? They killed John the baptizer, Yohanan Amatbil. They cut off his head. And what about Stephen? In Acts chapter 7, they stoned him to death. Because he told them that Yeshua was the Messiah. And we can continue on. What about James, Yaakov? He himself was killed. You can read it in Acts chapter 12.

The enemies of God's people, if they are not succeeding to say, oh, they are not going to continue with the things of God, they are continuing by force to oppose the people of God. What about Shimon Petos? They put him in jail in Acts 4, in Acts 5, in Acts 12. They thought, oh, he will not speak for the Lord anymore. They would lock him in jail. And what about Shaul, Paul himself, in Acts chapter 16 and on, they put him in prison. And much of his ministry, and many of the letters that we have in the Brit HaChadasha were written from a man who was sitting in prison.

And you and I listened to what he has to say 2,000 years ago by divine inspiration. It is amazing. What we learn from that, that even though there will be physical persecution of the people of God, the persecution of the saints become the seed of the gospel. The more you persecute them, the more they grow. The more you kill them, others the Lord is raising. Remember when our Hebrew people were in Egypt and Pharaoh wanted to destroy our Jewish people, whatever he tried to do didn't work. The more he sought to destroy our Jewish people, the Hebrews, a greater and a greater and a greater nation.

It's very similar in this age of the church age. The more you persecute the believers, the more the Lord is using this occasion to raise others. This is amazing, brothers and sisters. You and I live in this country, we are so privileged. We don't have any idea what persecution means. We are so blessed to live here in this country, to be able to sit for an hour and listen to the word of God. Well, that believers like you and I in prison in many countries, in a former Soviet Union, in China, in a Muslim country where they cannot open their Bible like you and I do it today.

And they would love to do so without fear, but they can't. But that's the way Satan is working. He's opposing God's people. He tried to do it by mockery and trickery and whatever, but when it does not work, he continues and he's trying to go and to oppose them even up to the end. Go to Psalm 83. And Psalm 83 is one of the most famous psalms that teach us about the enemies of the people of God, the people of Israel. It's actually a psalm that shows us what's going on in the Middle East today is really nothing new. It is that which were predicted by divine inspiration.

In Psalm 83 and verse 1 says, Keep not thou silent, O God, hold not thy peace, be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult. They that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people. They consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. That's what they say. We don't want that the name of Israel will be in remembrance. Now look at the list. Who are they that say so? In verse 5. For they have consulted together with one consent.

They are confederate against thee. And then he gives you the list. The tabernacle of Edom. The Ishmaelite. Of Moab and the Hagarians. Gebel and Ammon. Amalek. The Philistine. With the inhabitants of Tyre. Ashur also joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot Selah. Look at the list. This is the exact group of people that today are opposing the people of Israel as well. And it's not new because when the psalmist wrote this psalm, it was a long time ago. Before the Messiah came into this world. When Israel as a nation was living there and experienced this opposition in Israel's history. And who are they?

All the same nation that we have in Nehemiah, chapter 4. Sanbalat, the Moabites. Tuviyah, the Ammonites. The Arabians, Geshem. And Ashdodai, the Philistine. All the same nation. And you know, you and I as believers also have the same old enemy. His name is Satan. Who is sending others to oppose the people of God. And causes them not to grow and not to serve Him and to live for Him. And many times, unfortunately, we allow Him to defeat us. Because we are not leaning on Yeshua, the Messiah. Well, let's conclude with verse 9 for this ministry. For this ministry meeting today. So what is the answer? Well, here's the answer.

Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God. And set a watch against them day and night because of them. There's two things we mention here. The first thing is prayer. And the second thing is watchfulness. Doesn't it remind you what Yeshua said in the garden of Gethsemane before He died on the tree? He said to the disciples, watch and pray. In Matthew chapter 26, verse 40 and 41. Watch and pray. And this is very challenging for us. Dear brothers and sisters, do we take the time to pray? To talk to the Lord. To tell Him our problems. To pray for our brothers and sisters. To ask for the Lord for mercy and grace in relationship to our need.

Our home need. Our family need. Our personal need. Our collective needs. The country in which we live in. The country in which we live in. Do we pray? And secondly, are we watchful? Are we discerning things that are happening around and are watching as we are exhorted in Scripture? You know, in Romans chapter 12, it says continue in prayer. In Ephesians chapter 6, it says praying always. In Philippians chapter 4, it says and in everything by prayer. In Colossians 4, it says continue in prayer. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 17, it says pray without ceasing. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 8, men should pray everywhere. And in James chapter 5 and verse 16, pray one for another.

Yaakov James said to the brothers and sisters, and you and I also need the Lord's help in continuing in prayer in our day-by-day life. And also to watch. Because the enemy is sick every day to cause us to fall, to stumble, to stay away from the Lord. And it is only as we watch and pray that we are able to continue on like the people of Israel in a day of Nehemiah. We prayed and we were looking around and we were discerning. We were looking around and we were discerning. We were careful. Therefore, we were able to continue on in building the wall of the city of Jerusalem.

Well, brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us to continue on for the Lord.